A's Flashcards
Abolitionists
People who were strongly opposed to slavery in the United States and believed that all slaves should be freed
Adam-Onis Treaty
The 1819 agreement under which the Spanish gave up their Florida territory and drew the boundary with Mexico all the way to the Pacific ocean; the US, in exchange, agreed to assume $5 million in debts owed to American merchants
Charles Francis Adams Sr.
President Lincoln’s Ambassador to Great Britain during the Civil War who, along with Secretary of State William Seward, strongly warned Europeans not to interfere; therefore, Britain and other European countries such as France
John Adams
A Federalist and the second president of the US
John Quincy Adams
The candidate who ultimately won the 1824 election for president but was frustrated by the Jacksonian opposition at every turn, such as his push for active federal government in the areas of internal improvements and Indian affairs
Administration of Justice Act
One of the Coercive Acts, it provided that royal officials accused of crimes in Massachusetts could be tried elsewhere, where chances of acquittal (judgement that a person is not guilty) might be greater
Age of Jackson
(also called “the age of the common man”) the period under President Andrew Jackson that marked a transformation in the political life of the United States characterized by an egalitarian spirit (all people are equal and deserve equal opportunities) among the people
Age of Reason
Enlightenment thinker Thomas Paine’s detailed explanation of the rationalist posture that attacked traditional Christian values and was read widely in the US during the post-revolutionary years
Alien Act
A 1798 law that raised new hurdles in the path of immigrants trying to obtain citizenship and was aimed at actual or potential Republican opposition to President John Adam’s administration, with the result that a number of editors were actually jailed for printing critical editorials
Amendments to the Constitution
Statements that guarantee certain individual rights and amend original dictates of the Constitution; the first ten amendments are known as the “Bill of Rights”
American Colonization Society
An organization founded in 1817 that established the colony of Liberia in 1830
American Revolution
(1736-1787) The war fought by American colonists to gain independence from Britain
American Society for Promotion of Temperance
A group organized in 1826 that advocated the abstinence of intoxicating liquors; it was strongly supported by Protestants, but just as strongly opposed by the new Catholic immigrants
Annexation Treaty with Texas
Negotiated by President Tyler’s new secretary of state, John C. Calhoun, an 1844 agreement by which the US would make Texas a US territory; rejected by the Senate because of Calhoun’s identification with extreme proslavery forces and his insertion of proslavery statements into the treaty
Antebellum Culture
American society in 1840, characterized by transition and instability, with responses being two-fold- a movement toward reform and a rising desire for order and control
Antifederalists
Those opposing the Constitution in the struggle over its ratification
Appomattox
The site in Virginia where General Robert E. Lee was cornered by General Ulysses S. Grant and was forced to surrender in 1865; other Confederate armies, still holding out in various parts of the South surrendered over the next few weeks
Army Act
An 1867 law passed by Congress that reduced the president’s control over the army
Benedict Arnold
A general who served brilliantly with the American army in the War of Independence, but then later joined the British and led their troops against the Americans
Articles of Confederation
A framework for a national government devised in 1776 by a committee appointed by the American Congress, which provided for a unicameral Congress in which each state would have one vote, essentially preserving the sovereignty of the states and creating a very weak national government
Articles of the Constitution
The Preamble, Article I - (Legislature); Article II - (Executive); Article III - (Judiciary); Article IV - (Interstate Relations); Article V - (Amendment Process); Article VI - (Supremacy Clause); and Article VII - (Ratification)
Assassination of President Lincoln
Before he learned the news of the surrenders, Lincoln was shot in the back of the head while watching a play in Ford’s Theater in Washington by pro-Southern actor John Wilkes Booth
John Jacob Astor
The first American millionaire, who made his money from the profits of the American Fur Company after establishing a fur post at the mouth of the Columbia River; he challenged the British claim to the northwest and sought to influence Congress to pass trade restrictions against British furs
Auburn, New York
The site of the first of the new penitentiaries, built in 1821, whose purpose was not to just punish, but to rehabilitate
