The American Civil War

Study this list of terms related to the American Civil War and learn all about the conflict between the Union and the Confederacy over slavery and secession. Review important battles, military terminology, and key figures in the abolition movement like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abolish
    do away with
  2. abolition
    doing away with a system or practice or institution
  3. abolitionist
    a reformer who favors putting an end to slavery
  4. Abraham Lincoln
    16th President of the United States
  5. amendment
    a statement that is added to a proposal or document
  6. American Civil War
    civil war in the United States between the North and the South; 1861-1865
  7. Andrew Johnson
    17th President of the United States
  8. antebellum
    belonging to a period before a war
  9. arsenal
    all the weapons and equipment that a country has
  10. Battle of Bull Run
    either of two battles during the American Civil War
  11. Battle of Fredericksburg
    an important battle in the American Civil War
  12. Battle of Gettysburg
    a battle of the American Civil War
  13. bayonet
    a knife fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
  14. blockade
    a war measure isolating an area of importance to the enemy
  15. brigade
    army unit smaller than a division
  16. campaign
    related operations aimed at achieving a particular goal
  17. canteen
    a flask for carrying water; used by soldiers or travelers
  18. carpetbagger
    an outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously
  19. casualty
    someone injured or killed in a military engagement
  20. cavalry
    troops trained to fight on horseback
  21. Chancellorsville
    a major battle in the American Civil War
  22. civil war
    a war between factions in the same country
  23. Confederacy
    a group of Southern states that broke away from the U.S. in 1860–61
  24. Confederate
    of or having to do with the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War
  25. Confederate States of America
    a group of Southern states that broke away from the U.S. in 1860–61
  26. conscript
    enroll into service compulsorily
  27. conscription
    compulsory military service
  28. desert
    leave in order to join an opposing cause, country, or army
  29. desertion
    withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility
  30. draftee
    someone who is drafted into military service
  31. Dred Scott
    United States slave who sued for liberty after living in a non-slave state; caused the Supreme Court to declare the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional (1795?-1858)
  32. emancipation
    freeing someone from the control of another
  33. expansion
    the act of increasing in size or volume or quantity or scope
  34. federal government
    a government with strong central powers
  35. Frederick Douglass
    United States abolitionist who escaped from slavery and became an influential writer and lecturer in the North (1817-1895)
  36. Gatling gun
    an early form of machine gun having several barrels that fire in sequence as they are rotated
  37. Gettysburg Address
    a three-minute address by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg (November 19, 1863)
  38. hardtack
    very firm unsalted biscuit or bread
  39. Harper's Ferry
    a small town in northeastern West Virginia that was the site of a raid in 1859 by the abolitionist John Brown and his followers who captured an arsenal that was located there
  40. Harriet Tubman
    United States abolitionist born a slave on a plantation in Maryland and became a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad leading other slaves to freedom in the North (1820-1913)
  41. haversack
    a bag carried by a strap on your back or shoulder
  42. Henry Clay
    United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states (1777-1852)
  43. infantry
    an army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot
  44. ironclad
    sheathed in iron plates for protection
  45. Jefferson Davis
    president of the Confederacy during the American Civil War
  46. John Wilkes Booth
    United States actor and assassin of President Lincoln
  47. kepi
    a cap with a flat circular top and a visor
  48. manifest destiny
    a policy of imperialist expansion said to be inevitable
  49. Mason-Dixon line
    the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania
  50. Missouri Compromise
    an agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories
  51. musket
    a muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel
  52. North
    the region of the United States lying to the north of the Mason-Dixon line
  53. plantation
    an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale
  54. proclamation
    a formal public statement
  55. Reconstruction
    the period after the American Civil War when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union; 1865-1877
  56. rifle
    a firearm with a long barrel
  57. Robert E. Lee
    American general who led the Confederate Armies in the American Civil War (1807-1870)
  58. secede
    withdraw from an organization or polity
  59. secession
    formal separation from an alliance or federation
  60. segregation
    a social system that provides different facilities for minority groups
  61. siege of Vicksburg
    a decisive battle in the American Civil War
  62. slavery
    the practice or system of owning people as property
  63. South
    a group of Southern states that broke away from the U.S. in 1860–61
  64. sovereignty
    government free from external control
  65. states' rights
    a doctrine that federal powers should be curtailed and returned to the individual states
  66. Stonewall Jackson
    general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War whose troops at the first Battle of Bull Run stood like a stone wall (1824-1863)
  67. territory
    a region marked off for administrative or other purposes
  68. Ulysses S. Grant
    18th President of the United States
  69. Underground Railroad
    secret aid to help people escape slavery in the U.S.
  70. Union
    being of or having to do with the northern United States and those loyal to the Union during the American Civil War
  71. William Tecumseh Sherman
    United States general who was commander of all Union troops in the West; he captured Atlanta and led a destructive march to the sea that cut the Confederacy in two (1820-1891)
  72. Yankee
    an American who lives in the North
Created on Fri Feb 10 10:17:03 EST 2017 (updated Wed Apr 12 10:33:46 EDT 2017)

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