if (typeof xBookGlossaryTermsObj == "undefined") {
var xBookGlossaryTermsObj = { };
}
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['oregontrail'] = "Oregon Trail: The route west from the Missouri River to the Oregon Territory. By 1860, some 350,000 Americans had made the three- to six-month journey along the trail.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['goldrush'] = "gold rush: The rapid influx of migrants into California after the discovery of gold in 1848. Migrants came from all over the world seeking riches.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['compromiseof1850'] = "Compromise of 1850: Series of acts following California’s application for admission as a free state. Meant to quell sectional tensions over slavery, the act was intended to provide something for all sides but ended up fueling more conflicts.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['fugitiveslaveactof1850'] = "Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: Act strengthening earlier fugitive slave laws, passed as part of the Compromise of 1850. The Fugitive Slave Act provoked widespread anger in the North and intensified sectional tensions.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['uncletomscabin'] = "Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Novel published in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Meant to publicize the evils of slavery, the novel struck an emotional chord in the North and was an international best seller.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['kansasnebraskaact'] = "Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1854 act creating the territories of Kansas and Nebraska out of what was then Indian land. The act stipulated that the issue of slavery would be settled by a popular referendum in each territory.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['republicanparty'] = "Republican Party: Party formed in 1854 that was committed to stopping the expansion of slavery and advocated economic development and internal improvements. Although their appeal was limited to the North, the Republicans quickly became a major political force.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['bleedingkansas'] = "Bleeding Kansas: The Kansas Territory during a period of violent conflicts over the fate of slavery in the mid-1850s. The violence in Kansas intensified the sectional division over slavery.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['dredscottdecision'] = "Dred Scott decision: 1857 Supreme Court case centered on the status of Dred Scott and his family. In its ruling, the Court denied the claim that black men had any rights and blocked Congress from excluding slavery from any territory.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['harpersferryvirginia'] = "Harpers Ferry, Virginia: Site of the federal arsenal that was the target of John Brown’s 1859 raid. Brown hoped to rouse the region’s slave population to a violent uprising.";
xBookGlossaryTermsObj['confederatestatesofamerica'] = "Confederate States of America: Nation established in 1861 by the eleven slave states that seceded between December 1860 and April 1861.";