Chapters 17 & 18 Unit Test Study Guide Flashcards
John Tyler and the Whigs
Despite their differences, President Tyler and the Whig Congress enacted much positive legislation. The “Log-Cabin” bill enabled a settler to claim 160 acres of land before it was offered publicly for sale, and later pay $1.25 an acre for it. In 1842 Tyler did sign a tariff bill protecting northern manufacturers.
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pessimism abounded.
Aroostook War
Beginning in February of 1839 and lasting a little over a month, the war was the culmination of a long dispute over the international boundary between the United States and British North America, particularly at the Maine and New Brunswick border.
Texas annexation
One unique feature of the annexation agreements was a provision permitting Texas to retain title to its public lands. The U.S. annexation of Texas and a dispute over the area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River brought about the Mexican-American War.
Oregon Country Dispute
The signing of the treaty ended the joint occupation with the United Kingdom, making most Oregonians south of the 49th parallel U.S. citizens. The terms of the Oregon Treaty were essentially the same ones that had been offered earlier by the Tyler administration, and thus represented a diplomatic victory for Polk.
James K. Polk’s Election
When the Whig-controlled Senate refused to approve the treaty, Texas annexation became the key issue of the 1844 election.
Polk and California
James Polk considered control of California important for international trade routes, maintaining peace, and securing a balance of power in Congress.
The Mexican American War
It paved the way for so many other important events, from the expansion and dispossession of indigenous people, the California Gold Rush, and American Civil War. It added the states of California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming to the United States
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. The conflict over the Wilmot Proviso was one of the major events leading to the American Civil War.
Mexican Cession
This treaty, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including the present-day states California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming
Gold Rush
The rush for gold redirected the technologies of communication and transportation and accelerated and expanded the reach of the American and British Empires
Popular Sovereignty
This principle maintains that the source of governmental power comes from the will of the people. Popular sovereignty is based on the concept that government exists in order to benefit the citizens. If the government isn’t operating to benefit the citizens, then the government should cease to exist.
Election of 1848
Taylor’s victory made him the second and final Whig to win a presidential election, following William Henry Harrison’s victory in the 1840 presidential election. Like Harrison, Taylor died during his term, and he was succeeded by Fillmore.
Free Soilers
The Free Soil Party was a key part of the growing anti-slavery movement that culminated in the Republican Party capturing the presidency in 1860.
Seventh of March speech by D. Webster
In one of the most controversial speeches ever delivered in Congress, Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts risked his reputation and career by urging compromise on issues related to slavery in order to preserve the Union.
Young Guard
They were active during World War II, until January 1943. They carried out several acts of sabotage and protest before being destroyed by German forces. Most members of the Young Guard, about 80 people, were tortured and then executed by the Germans.
Compromise of 1850
The bills provided for slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty in the admission of new states, prohibited the slave trade in the District of Columbia, settled a Texas boundary dispute, and established a stricter fugitive slave act.
Fugitive Slave Law
Passed on September 18, 1850 by Congress, The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves.
Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Manifesto, also known as the Ostend Circular, was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused. Cuba’s annexation had long been a goal of U.S. slaveholding expansionists.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Officially titled “An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas,” this act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery above the 36º30’ latitude in the Louisiana territories, and reopened the national struggle over slavery in the western territories.
Matthew Perry
On July 8, 1853, American Commodore Matthew Perry led his four ships into the harbor at Tokyo Bay, seeking to re-establish for the first time in over 200 years regular trade and discourse between Japan and the western world.
