Chapter 10 - A Democratic Revolution (1800-1844)

Question 1

Franchise

Answer 1

The right to vote. Between 1820 and 18600, most states revised their constitutions to extend the vote to all adult white males. Black adult men gained the right to vote with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868). The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) granted adult women the right to vote.

Question 2

Notables

Answer 2

Northern landlords, slave-owning planters, and seaport merchants who dominated the political system of the early nineteenth century.

Question 3

Political Machine

Answer 3

A highly organized group of insiders that directs a political party. As the power of notables waned in the 1820s, disciplined political parties usually run by professional politicians appeared in a number of states.

Question 4

Spoils System

Answer 4

The widespread award of public jobs to political supporters after an electoral victory. In 1829, Andrew Jackson instituted the system on the national level, arguing that the rotation of officeholders was preferable to a permanent group of bureaucrats.

Question 5

Caucus

Answer 5

A meeting held by a political party to choose candidates, make policies, and enforce party discipline.

Question 6

American System

Answer 6

The mercantilist system of national economic development advocated by Henry Clay and adopted by John Quincy Adams, with a national bank to manage the nation’s financial system; protective tariffs to provide revenue and encourage industry; and a nationally-funded network of roads, canals, and railroads.

Question 7

Internal Improvements

Answer 7

Public works such as roads and canals.

Question 8

Corrupt Bargain

Answer 8

A term used by Andrew Jackson’s supporters for the appointment by President John Quincy Adams of Henry Clay as his secretary of state, the traditional stepping-stone to the presidency. Clay had used his influence as Speaker of the House to elect Adams rather than Jackson in the election in 1824.

Question 9

“Consolidated Government”

Answer 9

A term meaning a powerful and potentially oppressive national government.

Question 10

Tariff of Abominations

Answer 10

A tariff enacted in 1828 that raised duties significantly on raw materials, textiles, and iron goods. New York senator Van Buren hped to win the support of farmers in New York, Ohio, and Kentucky with the tariff, but it enraged the South, which had no industries that needed tariff protection and resented the higher cost of imported duties goods.

Question 11

Nullification

Answer 11

The constitutional argument advanced by John C. Calhoun that a state legislature or convention could void a law passed by Congress.

Question 12

States’ Rights

Answer 12

An interpretation of the Constitution that exalts the sovereignty of the states and circumscribes the authority of the national government.

Question 13

Second Bank of the United States

Answer 13

National bank with multiple branches chartered in 1816 for twenty years. Intended to help regulate the economy, the bank became a major issue in Andrew Jackson’s reelection campaign in 1832.

Question 14

Indian Removal Act of 1830

Answer 14

Act that directed the mandatory relocation of eastern tribes to territory west of the Mississippi. Jackson insisted that his goal was to save the Indians and their culture. Indians resisted the controversial act, but in the end most were forced to comply.

Question 15

Trail of Tears

Answer 15

Forced westward journey of Cherokees from their lands in Georgia to present-day Oklahoma in 1838. Nearly a quarter of the Cherokees died en route.

Question 16

Classical Liberalism, or laissez-faire

Answer 16

The principle that the less government does, the better, particularly in reference to the economy.

Question 17

Whigs

Answer 17

The second national party, the Whig Party arose in 1834 when a group of congressmen contested Andrew Jackson’s policies and conduct. The party identified itself with the pre-Revolutionary American and British parties - also called Whigs - that had opposed the arbitrary actions of British monarchs.

Question 18

Panic of 1837

Answer 18

Second major economic crisis of the United States, which led to hard times from 1837 to 1843.

Question 19

Specie Circular

Answer 19

An executive order in 1836 that required the Treasury Department to accept only gold an silver in payment for lands in the national domain.

Question 20

Ethnocultural Politics

Answer 20

Refers to the fact that the political allegiance of many American voters was determined less by party policy than by their membership in a specific ethnic or religious group.