Chapter 12 vocab. (all sections) Flashcards
Majority
More than half
Suffrage
The right to vote
Whigs
Formed in 1834, formerly known as the National Republicans, wanted the federal government to control the economy, included eastern business people, former Federalists, and southern planters
Democrats
Jackson and his supporters, included factory workers in the East, and frontier farmers
Caucus
Private meeting
Nominating convention
Party where delegates from all states chose the political party’s candidate to run for president
Alexis de Tocqueville
From France, known for his observations on American democracy
Old Hickory
Name for Jackson by the soldiers that served under him because he was tough
Spoils system
The practice of rewarding supporters with government jobs
Kitchen cabinet
Jackson’s unofficial cabinet because his real cabinet was not qualified (only Martin Van Buren was a good cabinet member)
Nicholas Biddle
President of the Bank of the United States since 1823, disliked by Jackson
Pet banks
Banks that the money was put in instead of the national bank, called pet banks because Roger Taney (Secretary of Treasury) and his friends controlled them
Tariff of Abominations
Highest tariff in the nation’s history, protected manufacturers, but hurt Southern planters
Nullification
The right to cancel a law that is considered unconstitutional
States’ rights
The right of states to limit the power of the federal government
Secede
Withdraw
Nullification Crisis
The period of time when South Carolina threatened to leave the union and passed the Nullification Act
Sequoyah
Created a written alphabet for the Cherokees in 1821
Indian Removal Act
The law that made Indians move to the west of the Mississippi River because white settlers wanted to settle in the Indians’ original land because they found gold there
Trail of Tears
The route that the Indians walked on while leaving their lands and going to new lands west of the Mississippi River
Chief Osceola
Led the Seminole Indians in the Seminole War from 1835 to 1842
Seminole War
The Seminole Indians resisted removal in Florida and fought the United States Army, costliest war waged by the United States to get Indian lands (spent around 20 million in the war effort), more than 1,500 soldiers died
Martin Van Buren
8th president, took oath of office in March 1837, was a politician and not a war hero
Panic of 1837
Worst economic crisis that the USA had encountered by that time, caused by the many acres of public land that the government had sold in the west, speculators bought a lot of the land and ran out of money, so borrowed money from the pet banks and caused many to close
