Cotton and cotton-growing considered, in the pre-Civil War South, as a vital commodity, the major factor not only in the economy but also in politics.

Belonging to a period before a war especially the American Civil War.

Formal withdrawal of states or regions from a nation.

Enacted by Congress in 1793 and 1850, these laws provided for the return of escaped slaves to their owners.

Movement to end slavery.

Political party of the 1850s that was anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant.

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

United States abolitionist who published an anti-slavery journal (1805-1879).

Law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow slavery.

To preserve, honor, or celebrate the memory of.

Pretending to have feelings, beliefs, or virtues that one does not have.

Arrangement of events in time.

Three-dimensional photograph of a whole object.

To deceive by elaborate trickery.

A change in a gene or chromosome.

Hazy; vague; uncertain.

Person, thing, or circumstance causing inconvenience or annoyance.

An animal that eats both plants and animals.

Going beyond proper limits, shocking.

The war between the United States and Mexico in which the United States acquired one half of the Mexican territory (1846-1848).

Lands sold by Mexico to the US following the Mexican War

Divided into sharply opposed groups.

Sharply contrasted in character or purpose.

Loyalty to one's own region of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole.