AP Chapter 10 Flashcards
Revolution of 1800
Electoral victory of Democratic Republicans over the Federalists, who lost their congressional majority and the presidency. The peaceful transfer of power between rival parties solidified faith in America’s political system.
Judiciary Act of 1801
Passed by the departing Federalist Congress, it created sixteen new federal judgeships, ensuring a Federalist hold on the judiciary.
Midnight Judges
Federal justices appointed by John Adams during the last days of his presidency. Their positions were revoked when the newly elected Republican Congress repealed the Judiciary Act.
Marbury v. Madison
Supreme Court case that established the principle of “judicial review”—the idea that the Supreme Court had the final authority to determine constitutionality.
Tripolitan War
Four-year conflict between the American navy and the North African nation of Tripoli over piracy in the Mediterranean. Jefferson, a staunch non interventionist, reluctantly deployed American forces, eventually securing a peace treaty with Tripoli.
Louisiana Purchase
Acquisition of Louisiana Territory from France. The purchase more than doubled the territory of the United States, opening vast tracts for settlement.
Corps of Discovery
Team of adventurers, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, sent by Thomas Jefferson to explore Louisiana Territory and find a water route to the Pacific. Louis and Clark brought back detailed accounts of the West’s flora, fauna, and native populations, and their voyage demonstrated the viability of overland travel to the West.
Orders in Council
Edicts issued by the British crown closing French-owned European ports to foreign shipping. The French responded by ordering the seizure of all vessels entering British ports, thereby cutting off American merchants from trade with both parties.
impressment
Act of forcibly drafting an individual into military service, employed by the British navy against American seamen in times of war against France, 1793–1815. Impressment was a continual source of conflict between Britain and the United States in the early national period.
Chesapeake Affair
Conflict between Britain and the United States that precipitated the 1807 embargo. The conflict developed when a British ship, in search of deserters, fired on the American Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia.
Embargo Act
Enacted in response to British and French mistreatment of American merchants, the act banned the export of all goods from the United States to any foreign port. The embargo placed great strains on the American economy, while only marginally affecting its European targets, and was therefore repealed in 1809.
Non-Intercourse Act
Passed alongside the repeal of the Embargo Act, it reopened trade with all but the two belligerent nations, Britain and France. The act continued Jefferson’s policy of economic coercion, still with little effect.
