Ap US History Chapter 18 Vocabulary

AP US History Chapter 18 Vocabulary

General Lewis Cass – veteran of War of 1812, Democratic party, but supported popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty – soverign people of territory should determine status of slavery
Reasons for popularity – public liked it because accorded with democratic tradition of self-determination; politicians liked it because it seemed compromise btw abolitionists and south
Zachary Taylor – Hero of Buena Vista, , Whig candidate, wins presidency in 1848
Whig Platform – dodged troublesome issues, extolled virtues of candidate
Free Soil Party platform – for Wilmot Proviso, against slavery in territories, for federal aid, free government homesteads for settlers
Gold fever – Sutter’s Mill – 1848 – discovery of gold caused influx of thousands to California, applied for statehood; slavery issue
1849 – California applied for statehoods – South responded with opposition because it would enter as a free state
Sectional balance – admission of California would create imbalance toward free states
Underground Railroad – chain of antislavery homes through which runaway slaves transported from slave states to Canada
Harriet Tubman – most famous runaway slave, rescued more than 300 slaves; “Moses”
Henry Clay – Great Pacificator or Great Compromiser – proposed a series of compromises, make concessions for both North and South
Senator Stephen Douglas – Little Giant – 37, helped Clay
Senator John C. Calhoun – Great Nullifier, championed the South in his last formal speech
Daniel Webster – upholded Clay’s compromise measures; urged reasonable concessions to South including new fugitive slave law
William H. Seward – against concessions, argued that legislature must obey “higher law” than the Constitution
Millard Fillmore – took over presidency after Taylor died in office; was vice president
Compromise of 1850 – California entered as a free state, New Mexico/Utah open to popular sovereignty; Texas lost land and was paid $10 million, Washington D.C. would stop slave trade, new fugitive slave law
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 – Bloodhound Bill – slaves could not testify in their own behalf, denied jury trial, opposed because could set dangerous precedent; caused many Northerners to join antislavery ranks
North’s response to the law – many moderates driven into antislavery groups, Underground Railroad accelerated
Election of 1852 – Franklin Pierce, dark-horse candidate, won; Whig candidate = Winfield Scott “Old Fuss and Feathers”
Whig Party had split in 1852; antislavery Whigs accepted Scott but despised platform which endorsed Fugitive Slave Law
Franklin Pierce – compliant, cabinet included aggressive southerners
Jefferson Davis – secretary of war under Pierce, future president of Confederacy
William Walker – tried to grab control of Nicaragua and legalize slavery; overthrown, killed
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 – stipulated that neither America nor Britain would fortify or secure exclusive control over waterway; impeded progress towards canal later on
Commodore Matthew Perry and “Gunboat Diplomacy” – Japan had become isolationist; Perry commanded fleet that arrived and forced Japan to open trade with US
Black Warrior – Spanish officials seized an American steamer; diplomatic crisis, Pierce’s time to provoke war withj Spain and seize Cuba
Ostend Manifesto – top-secret dispatch that urged administration offer to buy Cuba, or else war; news leaked out, withdrawn
James Gadsden – Gadsden Purchase – bought a chunk of Mexico from Santa Anna who was back in power
Kansas-Nebraska Act – by Stephen A. Douglas; opened Nebraska Territory to popular sovereignty; required repeal of Missouri Compromise; intolerable to many Northerners
Proposed Union Pacific Railroad – two places – from California to Chicago