M's Flashcards
Macon’s Bill No. 2
The 1810 law that replaced the Non-Intercourse Act and gave the president power to prohibit trade with any nation when it violated U.S. neutrality
James Madison
“the father of the Constitution” and the fourth president of the United States
Manifest Destiny
the belief that the American nation was destined to eventually expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean and to possibly embrace Canada and Mexico
“Marbury vs Madison”
an 1801 lawsuit brought by William Marbury, one of President Adams’s “midnight appointments,” against Secretary of State James Madison to force delivery of his commission as a justice of the peace in the federal district, with Supreme Court Justice John Marshall refusing to rule on the request, claiming that the law giving the Supreme Court jurisdiction over such matters had exceeded the constitutional grant of powers and thus was unconstitutional
Marshall Court
the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall from 1801 to 1835, who delivered the majority opinions in a number of critical decisions that served to strengthen the power of the federal government and restrict the powers of state governments
John Marshall
The Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and a Federalist, appointed early in 1801
Maryland
the first proprietary colony, granted in 1632 to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, which was intended to be a refuge for English Catholics, of which Calvert was one
Massachusetts Bay Colony
the colony established in 1629 by a charter granted to the Puritans of the joint-stock company called the Massachusetts Bay Company and settled by the Puritans as a model what a Christian society ought to be
Massachusetts Circular Letter
A document passed in 1768 by the Massachusetts legislature urging other colonial legislatures to pass petitions calling on the British Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts
Massachusetts Government Act
One of the Coercive Acts, it greatly increased the power of Massachusett’s royal governor at the expense of the legislature
“Mayflower Compact”
The document by which the Pilgrims established a foundation for orderly government based on the consent of the governed
Mechanical Reaper
An invention of Cyrus McCormick, patented in 1834, that enabled a crew of six men to harvest in one day as much wheat as fifteen men could using older methods
Mercantilism
The concept that every nation’s goal should be to export more than it imported (a favorable balance of trade) and that economic activity should be regulated by the government
Mexican Cession
The land ceded to the United States by Mexico at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War
Mexican-American War
a conflict between the United States and Mexico that began in 1846 as a result of ongoing American interest in the far western lands then held by Mexico
Minutemen
colonial militiamen trained to respond at a moment’s notice
Missouri Compromise
an agreement proposed by the House Speaker Henry Clay in 1820 that broke the deadlock between the even number of slave-holding and free states about admitting Missouri- where slavery was well-established - as a state in the Union Maine was admitted as a free state at the same time that Missouri was admitted as a slave state, and slavery was prohibited in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory, north of the southern boundary of Missouri
Monroe Doctrine
a statement made by President Monroe in his annual message to Congress that the American hemisphere was “henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers”
James Monroe
the last of the “Virginia Dynasty,” the president who was handpicked by the retiring President Madison and elected in 1816 with only one electoral vote opposed, a symbol of national unity
Mormon Migration
under the leadership of new church leader Brigham Young, the overland journey of some 85,000 Mormons in 1846 to settle near the Great Salt Lake in what is now Utah (but was then owned by Mexico)
Mormon Republic of Deseret
the Mormon settlement founded in 1846 in Utah by Brigham Young
Mormon War
the incident caused by the series of events in which President James Buchanan decided (as a result of public outrage over the Mormons’ polygamy) in 1857 to replace Brigham Young with a non-Mormon governor; threats of Mormon defiance led Buchanan to send 2,500 army troops to compel Mormon obedience to federal law; Young responded by calling out the Mormon militia and blocking the passes through which the army would have to advance, resulting in a standoff that was resolved in 1858, with the Mormons accepting the new governor and Buchanan issuing a general pardon
Mormons
members of a unique religion, called “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” founded by Joseph Smith at Palmyra, New York, in the 1820s; the most successful group in the United States that established communal experiments in the mid-nineteenth century; they had a highly organized, centrally controlled system, which provided security and order for the faithful
Morrill Land Grant Act
an 1862 law that offered large amounts of the federal government’s land to states that would establish “agricultural and mechanical” colleges
Mountain Men
Adventurers who ventured into the Western frontier to trap beavers for their pelts