Key Historical Terms and Events

Natchez Trace

• A historic forest trail within the United States, extending roughly 440 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers.

• A modern highway connecting major cities in the southeastern United States.

• A famous hiking trail in the Rocky Mountains.

• An ancient trade route used by Native Americans in the Midwest.

Free Soilers

• Members of a political party in the United States that opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

• A group advocating for the abolition of all forms of slavery in the United States.

• Supporters of the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

• A political faction that promoted the idea of manifest destiny.

Wilmot Proviso

• A proposal to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War.

• A law that established the boundaries of Texas after the Mexican-American War.

• An agreement to allow slavery in all newly acquired territories from Mexico.

• A treaty that ended the Mexican-American War.

Dred Scott Decision

• An 1857 Supreme Court decision that ruled that African Americans, whether free or slave, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court.

• A landmark 1964 Supreme Court case that ended segregation in public schools.

• A 1787 law that established the Northwest Territory and prohibited slavery in the region.

• A 1850 law that allowed for the capture and return of runaway slaves.

Abolitionist

• A person who advocated or supported the abolition of slavery in the United States.

• A person who promotes the use of fossil fuels.

• A person who supports animal rights and welfare.

• A person who advocates for the expansion of slavery.

Protective Tariff

• A tax on exports to encourage foreign trade.

• A duty imposed on imports to raise their price, making them less attractive to consumers and thus protecting domestic industries from foreign competition.

• A subsidy given to domestic producers to lower their prices.

• A regulation that limits the quantity of foreign goods that can be imported.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• An 1854 law that allowed for the creation of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise by allowing settlers to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries.

• A 1861 law that established the boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska without any provisions for slavery.

• A 1850 agreement that settled the status of slavery in the newly acquired territories after the Mexican-American War.

• A 1854 act that prohibited slavery in all territories west of the Mississippi River.

Northwest Ordinance

• An act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, passed in 1787, that created the Northwest Territory, the first organized territory of the United States.

• A treaty signed in 1783 that ended the American Revolutionary War.

• A law that established the process for admitting new states to the Union in 1789.

• A document that outlined the rights of Native Americans in the Northwest Territory.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• The treaty that ended the American Civil War

• The treaty that ended the Mexican-American War, resulting in U.S. acquisition of territories including present-day California, Nevada, and Utah.

• The treaty that established the border between the U.S. and Canada

• The treaty that granted independence to Texas

Constitution of 1832

• A revised constitution of the state of Mississippi that replaced the original 1817 constitution and addressed issues such as representation and suffrage.

• A federal law that established the voting rights of African Americans.

• A document that outlined the powers of the federal government in the United States.

• A state constitution that was never ratified and is considered obsolete.