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Civil War Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Sectionalism | Restriction of interest to a narrow sphere; undue concern with local interests or petty distinctions at the expense of general well-being. |
Fugitive | A person who has escaped from a place or is in hiding, especially to avoid arrest or persecution. |
Secede | Withdraw formally from membership in a federal union, an alliance, or a political or religious organization. |
Abstain | Formally decline to vote either for or against a proposal or motion. |
Popular Sovereignty | The principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives. |
Border ruffians | Pro-slavery activists from the slave state of Missouri, who in 1854 to 1860 crossed the state border into Kansas Territory to force the acceptance of slavery there. |
Arsenal | A collection of weapons and military equipment stored by a country, person, or group |
Secession | The withdrawal of eleven southern states from the Union in 1860, leading to the Civil War. |
States rights | Political powers reserved for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution. |
Border state | Any of the slave states that bordered the northern free states during the US Civil War. |
Blockade | An act or means of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. |
Offensive | An attacking military campaign. |
Rebel | A person who rises in opposition or armed resistance against an established government or ruler. |
Yankee | An inhabitant of New England or one of the northern states. |
Blockade runner | A vessel that runs or attempts to run into or out of a blockaded port. |
Ironclad | Covered or protected with iron. |
Casualty | A person killed or injured in a war or accident. |
Emancipate | Set free, especially from legal, social, or political restrictions. |
Ratify | Sign or give formal consent to (a treaty, contract, or agreement), making it officially valid. |
Habeas corpus | A writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention. |
Draft | Compulsory recruitment for military service. |
Bounty | A sum paid for killing or capturing a person or animal. |
Greenback | A dollar bill. |
Inflation | A general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money. |
Entrenched | (of an attitude, habit, or belief) firmly established and difficult or unlikely to change |
Total war | A war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded. |