Chapter 17 Flashcards
protective measure passed by Congressional Whigs, raising tariffs to pre-Compromise of 1833 rates
Tariff of 1842
diplomatic row between the United States and Britain; developed after British troops set fire to an American steamer carrying supplies across the Niagara River to Canadian insurgents, during Canada’s short-lived insurrection
Caroline
American ship captured by a group of rebelling Virginia slaves; the slaves successfully sought asylum in the Bahamas, raising fears among Southern planters that the British West Indies would become a safe haven for runaway slaves
Creole
series of clashes between American and Canadian lumberjacks in the disputed territory of northern Maine, resolved when a permanent boundary was agreed upon in 1842
Aroostook War
belief that the United States was destined by God to spread its “empire of liberty” across North America; served as a justification for mid-nineteenth-century expansion
Manifest Destiny
slogan adopted by mid-nineteenth-century expansionists who advocated the occupation of Oregon territory, jointly held by Britain and the United States; though President Polk had pledged to seize all of Oregon, to 54 degrees 40’, he settled on the forty-ninth parallel as a compromise with the British
“fifty-four forty or fight”
antislavery party that ran candidates in the 1840 and 1844 elections before merging with the Free Soil party; supporters of the (…..) sought the eventual abolition of slavery, but in the short-term hoped to halt the expansion of slavery into the territories and abolish the domestic slave trade
Liberty Party
revenue-enhancing measure that lowered tariffs from 1842 levels thereby fueling trade and increasing Treasury receipts
Walker Tariff
measures introduced by Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln, questioning President James K. Polk’s justification for war with Mexico; Lincoln requested that Polk clarify precisely where Mexican forces had attacked American troops
spot resolutions
short-lived California republic, established by local American settlers who revolted against Mexico; once news of the war with Mexico reached the Americans, they abandoned the Republic in favor of joining the United States
California Bear Republic
key American victory against Mexican forces in the Mexican-American War; elevated General Zachary Taylor to national prominence and helped secure his success in the 1848 presidential election
Battle of Buena Vista
ended the war with Mexico; Mexico agreed to cede territory reaching north-west from Texas to Oregon in exchange for $18.25 million in cash and assumed debts
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Northern Whigs who opposed slavery on moral grounds; they sought to prevent the annexation of Texas as a slave state, fearing that the new slave territory would only serve to buttress the Southern “slave power”
Conscience Whigs
amendment that sought to prohibit slavery from territories acquired from Mexico; introduced by Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot, the failed amendment ratcheted up tensions between North and South over the issue of slavery
Wilmot Proviso
Virginian who was a Democrat but ran for Presidency as a Whig following the death of Harrison; hostile to a centralized bank, vetoed many tariffs, and was still highly Democratic despite being a “Whig”
John Tyler
