Chapter 15 Review

Terms

Popular Sovereignty – idea that political power belongs to the people

(voting)

Wilmot Proviso – document stating that no slavery would ever exist in the

lands of the Mexican Cession

Sectionalism – favoring the interests of one section or region over the

interests of the entire country

Compromise of 1850 – California would enter the U.S. as a free state. Utah

and New Mexico would decide the issue by popular sovereignty

Fugitive Slave Act – law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves and

allowed officials to arrest those slaves in free areas

Uncle Tom’s Cabin - antislavery novel that exposed the harsh reality of

slave life

Kansas-Nebraska Act – plan that would divide the rest of the Louisiana

Purchase into 2 territories – Kansas and Nebraska. The people

there could decide on allowing slavery. The slavery issue

between the North and South returned.

Pottawatomie Massacre – raid in Kansas led by John Brown that killed 5

pro-slavery men. It started a war called “Bleeding Kansas.”

“Bleeding Kansas” – 200 people in Kansas killed over the issue of slavery

Dred Scott v. Sanford – Supreme Court decision that stated that since slaves

were not citizens, they could not sue. It also said that the

Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

Lincoln – Douglas debates – debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen

Douglas over the spread of slavery

John Brown’s raid – John Brown and his men attempted to take over the

arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in hopes of starting a slave

rebellion. It failed because he didn’t have enough supporters.

Brown was convicted and hanged.

Secede – to formally withdraw

People

Harriet Beecher Stowe - Wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin (antislavery novel)

John Brown – abolitionist who led raids in Kansas and Harpers Ferry,

Virginia. He was caught and hung after the raid in Virginia.

James Buchanan – 15th President. Elected because he had not been involved

with the debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Dred Scott – slave who filed a law suit after living in Missouri, which was a

free territory. The Supreme Court ruled against him.

Abraham Lincoln – 16th President of the United States. He was antislavery.

Confederacy - South Carolina was the first states to leave the Union. They

were joined by other southern states and formed the Confederate

States of America, or Confederacy.