APUSH Unit 5 Civil War Notes (1844–1877): Causes, Conflict, and Lived Experience

Election of 1860

Presidential election in which Abraham Lincoln won without carrying Southern states, convincing many white Southerners they had lost meaningful federal power and accelerating secession.

Free labor ideology

Republican belief that a society of small farmers and wage laborers promoted opportunity and dignity, contrasted with a slave-based labor system.

Popular sovereignty

Policy (associated with Stephen A. Douglas) that settlers in a U.S. territory should vote to decide whether slavery would be allowed there.

Constitutional Union Party

Party in 1860 (candidate John Bell) that tried to avoid the slavery debate and emphasized preserving the Union through compromise and enforcement of existing laws.

Second party system (collapse)

Breakdown of the older Whig-Democrat compromise politics; by 1860, national parties could no longer contain sectional conflict, contributing to crisis.

Sectional victory

An election outcome dominated by one region (e.g., Lincoln’s North-based win), causing the losing region to doubt it could protect its interests through normal politics.

Secession

A state’s attempt to withdraw from the United States, raising the constitutional question of whether the Union is permanent or a voluntary compact.

States’ rights (as used in secession arguments)

Constitutional claim that states retained sovereign power—including leaving the Union—often invoked in practice to defend slavery and its security.

Border states

Slaveholding states that stayed in the Union (notably Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware), strategically important for rivers, rail lines, and the security of Washington, D.C.

Confederate States of America (C.S.A.)

Government formed by seceded states in February 1861, with Jefferson Davis as president, seeking independence and protection of slavery.

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in Charleston Harbor attacked by Confederate forces in April 1861 after the Union tried to provision it; its surrender helped shift the crisis into open war.

Civil War (1861–1865)

War between the Union and the Confederacy after secession that decided whether the Union was permanent and ultimately ended slavery in the United States.

Union war aim (initial)

At the start of the Civil War, the Union’s primary goal was preserving the United States, not immediate universal emancipation.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy of blockading Southern ports, controlling the Mississippi River, and applying pressure on multiple fronts to grind down the Confederacy over time.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln’s wartime executive order effective Jan. 1, 1863, declaring freedom for enslaved people in areas in rebellion; it reshaped war aims and aided Union strategy but did not instantly free everyone.

13th Amendment

Constitutional amendment ratified in 1865 that permanently abolished slavery throughout the United States.

Gettysburg

July 1863 battle that ended a major Confederate invasion of the North and inflicted severe losses on Lee’s army, boosting Union momentum.

Vicksburg

July 1863 Union victory that secured control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy, weakening Confederate logistics and cohesion.

Hard war

Union approach (especially in 1864–1865) targeting the Confederacy’s capacity to wage war by damaging infrastructure and resources supporting armies, not only fighting enemy troops.

Appomattox Court House

Site where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865, symbolizing the collapse of major Confederate resistance.

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who opposed or criticized the Union war effort, reflecting significant political dissent within the North.

Habeas corpus (suspension)

Legal protection against unlawful detention; Lincoln’s wartime suspension in certain contexts sparked debates over civil liberties versus national security.

Contraband of war

Term used by Union forces for enslaved people who escaped to Union lines, treating them as confiscated enemy “property” and pushing federal policy toward emancipation.

United States Colored Troops (USCT)

Black soldiers recruited by the Union in large numbers after emancipation became a central war aim; their service added manpower and strengthened claims for rights and citizenship.

New York City Draft Riots (1863)

Violent unrest in response to Union conscription, driven by racial tension, class resentment, and fears of job competition, illustrating internal Northern conflict during the war.