Emancipation Proclaimation- Lincoln's speech, written to free Conferderate slaves

contrabands- escaped slaves

54th Massachusetts Infantry- consisted mostly of free African Americans, and in July 1863 this regiment led a heroic charge on South Carolina's Fort Wagner

Copperheads- midwesterners that sympathized with the South and opposed abolition

Habeas corpus- a constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment

Clara Barton- volunteer nurse during the Civil War who later founded the American Red Cross

Battle of Gettysburg- a key battle that finally turned the tide against the Confederates

Pickett's Charge- nearly 15000 men took part in this attempt by George Pickett to attack the Union position on Cemetary Ridge, in it Pickett lost over half his men

George Pickett- general who commanded the largest Confederate unit at the Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg Address- Lincoln's speech in which he praised the braver of Union soldiers and renewed his commitment to winning the Civil War

Wilderness Campaign- a series of battles designed by the union to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia

William Tecumseh Sherman- provided a key victory for Lincoln, carrying out a Union plan to destroy southern railroads and industries, and helped Lincoln to get reelected

total war- destroying civilian and economic resources

Appomattox Courthouse- small town where Lee surrendered to Grant, thus ending the Civil War