A term used in the mid-19th century to describe pro-slavery activists from the slave state of Missouri who crossed into Kansas to force it to become a slave state.

A set of beliefs held and taught by a group, especially a church or political party.

An attack on the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas, by pro-slavery forces in 1856 during the Bleeding Kansas crisis.

A term used to describe the socio-political system in the Southern United States where slaveholding was a central institution.

The principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, often through their elected representatives.

To withdraw formally from a federation or body, especially a political state (e.g., Southern states seceding from the United States to form the Confederacy).

Relating to the Confederate States of America, the collection of eleven Southern states that seceded from the United States in 1860-61.

n the context of the Civil War, it refers to the United States, especially the Northern states that fought against the Confederate states.

A confederation of secessionist American states existing from 1861 to 1865, formed by the Southern states that seceded from the United States.

Relating to the beginning or introduction of a system, policy, or period.