Unit 8 Civil War & Reconstruction Vocabulary

Individual Rights

• Personal liberties and freedoms

• Government regulations and restrictions

• Social responsibilities and duties

• Economic privileges and benefits

Debt

• money owed

• money earned

• money saved

• money invested

Secede

• to join a union

• to leave or withdraw from the Union (United States)

• to negotiate a treaty

• to form a new government

Sectionalism

• showing concern only for a region's needs & interest.

• a belief in the superiority of one region over another.

• the process of uniting different regions into one.

• a focus on national interests over regional ones.

Reconstruction

• the act of rebuilding following the Civil War

• a period of economic growth

• the establishment of new states

• the signing of the Declaration of Independence

Manifest Destiny

• A 20th-century political movement advocating for civil rights.

• The belief that the US should expand its territory across North America.

• A doctrine that promotes isolationism in foreign policy.

• A philosophy that opposes westward expansion.

Popular Sovereignty

• Independent power given to the people

• Power held by a single ruler

• Authority derived from divine right

• Control exercised by a foreign government

Emancipation

• the act of giving someone their freedom

• a legal document for property ownership

• a type of government regulation

• a form of economic assistance

Sharecropper

• A tenant farmer who receives a portion of the crop

• A farmer who owns the land and crops

• A laborer who works for wages on a farm

• A person who rents land for a fixed fee

Federalism

• Political system where power is centralized in the national government

• Political system in which power is shared between the national government and state governments

• Political system that promotes complete independence of states

• Political system where state governments have no authority