Key Terms:
|
|
popular sovereignty
- The idea that the people of given territory should decide whether it should be a free or slave area created by Lewis Cass.
Free Soil party
- A political party in the 1848 and 1852 elections that were against the expansion of slavery saying it would limit opportunities for free laborers; organized by Lewis Cass and Zachary Taylor.
California Gold Rush
- Thousands of miners moved to Northern California after hearing about the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, all the migrants got California to organize a government and to apply to be a state. It blew the cap off the slavery lid Zachary Taylor had been sitting on.
Underground Railroad
- A network of people who helped slaves escape from the South to reach Canada. To stop this Southern planters and congressmen worked towards a stronger fugitive slave law.
Seventh of March Speech
- Speech made by Daniel Webster that encouraged people of the north to support the Compromise of 1850.
Compromise of 1850
- California was admitted as a free state, New Mexico and Utah was open to popular sovereignty, it ended slave trade in Washington D.C. which introduced a stronger fugitive slave law. Did little to help the growing conflict over slavery.
Fugitive Slave Law
- Part of the Compromise of 1850, and it made high penalties for anyone who helped slaves escape and it encouraged all law enforcement officers to participate in catching runaways.
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
- Between the U.S. and Great Britain saying that both would protect the neutrality of Central America and that neither would try to take control over any future waterway. Was later revoked by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901.
Ostend Manifesto
- A secret proposal from the Franklin Pierce administration to purchase Cuba from Spain but once leaked it was abandoned because of opposition in the north.
Opium War
- War between Britain and China to secure the right of British traders to sell opium to Chinese, eventually leading to the Treaty of Wanghia between the U.S. and China.
Wanghia, Treaty of
- Between the U.S. and China which have the U.S. the same trading concessions as other nations. President Tyler and Caleb Cushing colaberated to make this happen.
Kanagawa, Treaty of
- Matthew C. Perry convinced Japanese to sign it which ended Japan's 200 period of economic isolation by securing American coaling rights in their ports.
Gadsden Purchase
- The U.S. got more land from Mexico for $10 million which would be used to facilitate the construction of the southern railroads.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
- Slavery in the Kansas and Nebraska territories was to be decided by popular sovereignty which revoked the Missouri Compromise of 1820.