Unit 5 Events/Vocab

Front

What was a conflict between the United States and Mexico, sparked by territorial disputes over Texas and exacerbated by broader tensions, resulting in the U.S. gaining significant territory in the southwest?

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Mexican-American War

Front

In 1845 involved the incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States, a contentious decision driven by political and sectional interests, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of the Mexican-American War.

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The annexation of the Republic of Texas into the United States

Front

Refers to the territory ceded to the United States by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) after the Mexican-American War, comprising present-day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

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Mexican Cession

Front

What was the proposed U.S. legislative amendment in 1846 that sought to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War?

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Wilmot Proviso

Front

What was a package of legislative measures aimed at addressing the territorial and sectional disputes arising from the Mexican-American War, including the admission of California as a free state, the establishment of territorial governments in New Mexico and Utah, and the resolution of Texas's boundary?

Back

The Compromise of 1850

Front

Is a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, which played a significant role in shaping public opinion against slavery in the United States by vividly depicting the harsh realities faced by enslaved individuals, contributing to the abolitionist movement.

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Uncle Tom's Cabin

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Passed in 1854, was a U.S. law that repealed the Missouri Compromise's restriction on slavery in the territories and instead introduced the principle of popular sovereignty, allowing residents of the territories to decide the slavery question, leading to heightened tensions and violence in the region.

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Kansas-Nebraska Act

Front

In the 1850s marked a response to the divisive issue of slavery, bringing together anti-slavery activists, Free Soilers, and former Whigs to form a political entity committed to preventing the expansion of slavery into new territories, ultimately playing a key role in the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

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Republican Party

Front

Was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that enslaved individuals, even if taken to free states or territories, were not entitled to freedom, further exacerbating tensions over slavery and contributing to the lead-up to the American Civil War.

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Dred Scott v. Sandford

Front

Were a series of seven debates in 1858 between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen A. Douglas during the Illinois senatorial campaign, primarily focusing on the issue of slavery expansion, with Lincoln's articulate arguments gaining national attention and setting the stage for the 1860 presidential election?

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Lincoln and Douglas Debates