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Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was a 19th-century belief in the United States that the nation was destined to expand westward across North America and settle the continent -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a legislative agreement passed in 1820 that aimed to resolve the issue of slavery in the new states being admitted into the Union. It allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state, and Maine to enter as a free state, maintaining a balance between slave and free states in the Senate. -
Texas annexation
The annexation of Texas refers to the process by which the Republic of Texas, which had declared independence from Mexico in 1836, became a state of the United States in 1845 -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) was a conflict between the United States and Mexico stemming from territorial disputes and the annexation of Texas -
Wilmot Proviso
Known as the Wilmot Proviso, his amendment would have prohibited slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico -
Compromise of 1850
a series of five laws passed by the U.S. Congress in September 1850, primarily aimed at resolving tensions between slave and free states resulting from the Mexican-American War -
Harriet Beecher Stowe & Uncle Tom’s Cabin
In the summer of 1849, Harriet's 18-month-old son, Samuel Charles, died of cholera. This crushing grief was incorporated into Uncle Tom's Cabin; Stowe said it helped her understand the pain enslaved mothers felt when their children were sold away from them. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford (Supreme Court Case)
The Dred Scott v. Sandford case was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1857 that ruled against Dred Scott, an enslaved man, and ultimately had significant implications for the legality of slavery and the rights of African Americans -
Harpers Ferry (John Brown)
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a failed attempt by abolitionist John Brown in 1859 to initiate a slave revolt by seizing the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). -
King Cotton
"King Cotton" was a term used in the antebellum South (before the Civil War) to describe the economic dominance of cotton in the region