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U.S. History

Key Terms

U.S. HistoryKey Terms

Key Terms

Army of the Potomac
the Union fighting force operating outside Washington, DC
Army of the West
the Union fighting force operating in Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Mississippi River Valley
Confederacy
the new nation formed by the seceding southern states, also known as the Confederate States of America (CSA)
contrabands
enslaved people who escaped to the Union army’s lines
Copperheads
Democrats who opposed Lincoln in the 1864 election
Crittenden Compromise
a compromise, suggested by Kentucky senator John Crittenden, that would restore the 36°30′ line from the Missouri Compromise and extend it to the Pacific Ocean, allowing slavery to expand into the southwestern territories
Emancipation Proclamation
signed on January 1, 1863, the document with which President Lincoln transformed the Civil War into a struggle to end slavery
Fort Sumter
a fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, where the Union garrison came under siege by Confederate forces in an attack on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War
general in chief
the commander of army land forces
Gettysburg Address
a speech by Abraham Lincoln dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863
greenbacks
paper money the United States began to issue during the Civil War
habeas corpus
the right of those arrested to be brought before a judge or court to determine whether there is cause to hold the prisoner
Sherman’s March to the Sea
the scorched-earth campaign employed in Georgia by Union general William Tecumseh Sherman
total war
a state of war in which the government makes no distinction between military and civilian targets, and mobilizes all resources, extending its reach into all areas of citizens’ lives
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