This week we will be discussing slavery, sectionalism, and state’s rights, leading up to the US Civil War.

Here are our terms for the week:

Slavery- the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labor.

Indentured Servitude- a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. After 7 years, the person was freed from servitude.

Cotton-the most produced cash crop in the US during the 1800’s.  Used for making textiles(a fiber or filament used in making cloth).

Cotton gin-a machine made by Eli Whitney to separate cotton from the seeds.  It greatly sped up the process.

Sectionalism–loyalty to one’s own region or section of the country, rather than to the country as a whole.

Bleeding Kansas- A series of violent confrontations between pro-slavery and pro-abolition people in the Kansas territory between 1854-1859.

States rights-All rights not given to the federal government by the Constitution and not forbidden to the States.