Civil War Vocabulary

Belief that individual states have rights that cannot be violated by the Constitution.

Declaring a law null and void

Admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. Established the 36°30’ N latitude as the northern boundary for slavery

Admitted California as a free state, did away with the 36°30’ line for northern limit of slavery, and established a stronger Fugitive Slave Act

The act of separating from a nation or state and becoming independent; the withdrawal of eleven southern states from the Union in 1860, leading to the Civil War.

Proclamation Georgia adopted in support of the Compromise of 1850. Georgia agreed to support the compromise, the North would support the Fugitive Slave Act and stop trying to ban slavery in the new states.

Court case in which the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scot was the property of his owner and did not have the right to sue for his freedom.

Election of Abraham Lincoln as a Republican, ran on the platform of stopping slavery from spreading in the new territories

The 16th president of the United States, Lincoln preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves.

Decree announcing the freedom of slaves in the rebelling states.