CIVIL WAR Key Figures

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: SS.912.A.2.1: Review causes and consequences of the Civil War

Nat Turner Slave in Virginia who started a slave rebellion in 1831. Led the state legislature of Virginia to a policy that said no one could question slavery.

Henry Clay Clay was called ‘the Great Compromiser’ because he played a major role in formulating the three landmark sectional compromises of his day: the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Tariff Compromise of 1833, and the Compromise of 1850.

Sojourner Truth American abolitionist and feminist. Born into slavery, she escaped in 1827 and became a leading preacher against slavery and for the rights of women.

Harriet Tubman A United States abolitionist who was 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.

Dred Scott American slave who sued his master for keeping him enslaved in a territory where slavery was banned under the Missouri Compromise.

John Brown An abolitionist who attempted to lead a slave revolt by capturing Armories in southern territory and giving weapons to slaves, was hung in Harpers Ferry after capturing an Armory.

John C. Calhoun A prominent U.S. statesman and spokesman for the slave- plantation system of the antebellum South.

Frederick Douglas An eminent author, speaker, and human rights leader in the anti-slavery movement and the first African-American citizen to hold a high U.S. government rank.

Stephen Douglas A senator from Illinois who ran for president against Abraham Lincoln. Wrote the Kansas-Nebreaska Act and the Freeport Doctrine.

Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves, was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865).

Jefferson Davis An American statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865.

John Wilkes Booth An American stage actor who, as part of a conspiracy plot, assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865.

Ulysses S. Grant An American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.

Robert E. Lee The commander of the confederate army who had opposed secession but didn't believe the Union should be held together by force.

William Tecumseh Sherman Union general who used a scorched earth strategy and marched an army of 62,000 men from Atlanta toward Savannah, Georgia. It is often cited as the first example of total war.

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson Famous Confederate general whose death became an icon for Southern heroism