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