Unit 4/5 Test Flashcards
12th amendment
allowed electors to vote for a party ticket, meaning the runner-up in a presidential election was no longer appointed vice president
Jeffersonian Republicanism
nation governed by middle- and upper-class property owners; government is only as large as necessary
Midnight appointments
before Adams left office, he filled as many government positions with Federalists as he could; Jefferson refused to recognize these appointments
Marbury v. Madison
William Marbury sues James Madison for not certifying his appointment; Chief Justice John Marshall rules that Marbury has a right to his position but that the court cannot enforce this right; establishes judicial review
Judicial review
the right of the Supreme Court to review or challenge the constitutionality of executive, legislative, or administrative acts; established by John Marshall in 1803 through Marbury v. Madison
Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson sent James Monroe to France to purchase New Orleans for $2 million; France offered the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million in order to fund Napoleon’s army
Essex Junto
a group of New England Federalists who planned to secede from the United States after the Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark Expedition
exploration of the trans-Mississippi West led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark; led to stronger US claims to the Oregon Territory and improved relations with Native Americans
Embargo Act of 1807
shut down America’s import/export business, severely damaging the US economy (especially in the New England states, which were reliant on foreign trade)
Non-Intercourse Act of 1809
reopened trade with most nations except for Britain and France, the US’s two most significant trade partners
Macon’s Bill No. 2
reopened trade with France and England, promising that if one country renounced its interference with American trade then the other would be cut off
War Hawks
Democratic Republicans led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun who sought war with Britain
Hartford Convention
Federalists met in Connecticut to discuss major Constitutional changes/possible secession in response to the War of 1812; eventually caused the demise of the Federalists since they were seen as traitors
Henry Clay’s American System
work towards national growth that was lobbied for by Henry Clay; protective tariffs on imports, improvements to interstate roads, rechartering of the National Bank
Era of Good Feelings
a time of brief unification for the country after the demise of the Federalists; ended with the election of John Quincy Adams in 1824
McCulloch v. Maryland
John Marshall rules that states could not tax the national bank, establishing the precedence of federal law over state law
Panic of 1819
financial scare caused by the National Bank tightening credit to repay war debt; resulted in a sharp increase of bankruptcies, unemployment, and debt imprisonments
John Quincy Adams
6th president of the US; Secretary of State under James Madison; former Federalist
Monroe Doctrine
policy of mutual noninterference between Europe and the Americas; claimed America’s right to intervene anywhere in the Western hemisphere if it felt that its security was threatened
Missouri Compromise
admitted Missouri as a slave state and carved out a portion of Massachusetts to form Maine, a free state; drew a line along the 36th parallel and prevented slavery in those states above the line
Coffin Handbill
accused Andrew Jackson of murdering his men during the Indian wars
Spoils system
trading jobs for political favors (“to the victor go the spoils”); demonstrated by Jackson replacing many government officials with his political supporters after being elected
Jacksonian Democracy
political philosophy that restructured a number of federal institutions and extended voting rights to most white men over 21; replaced Jeffersonian Democracy
Indian Removal Act
forced resettlement of thousands of Native Americans; ordered by Jackson and passed by Congress in 1830
Trail of Tears
forced relocation of thousands of Cherokees from Georgia to Oklahoma lasting from 1835 to 1838; thousands died of sickness/starvation
Nullification
individual states have the right to disobey federal laws if they find them to be unconstitutional
Tariff of Abominations
protective tariff passed during the Adams administration that became a point of interest during the nullification debate
South Carolina Exposition and Protest
published anonymously by John C. Calhoun; argued that states who felt the 50% tariff was unfairly high could nullify the law
Tariff of 1832
meant to solve the Tariff of Abominations but failed to lower rates; both were later nullified and South Carolina passed a resolution forbidding the collection of tariffs
Force Bil
Jackson’s reaction to the South Carolina resolution; authorized the president to use whatever force he deemed necessary to enforce federal tariffs
Specie Circular
ended the government policy of selling land on credit; preferred “hard cash” (gold & silver) due to Jackson’s distrust of paper money
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
an uprising of slaves in Virginia led by enslaved preacher Nat Turner in which 50 whites were killed
Slave codes
restrictive laws preventing Black people from congregating and learning how to read; government response to Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Whigs
political party most notable for their opposition to one or more of the Democrat’s policies
Martin Van Buren
8th president of the US (Jackson’s 2nd vice president); took over during the panic of 1837
Panic of 1837
financial crisis that lasted until the mid 1840s; caused by Jackson’s Specie Circular and distrust of paper money
William Henry Harrison
first Whig president elected in 1841; “Log Cabin and Hard Cider” Campaign; died of pneumonia 30 days in office
John Tyler
took over after Harrison’s death and was known as the “president without a party” because he vetoed numerous Whig bills despite being a Whig himself
Boom-and-bust cycles
alternating phases of economic growth and decline
Cotton gin
invented by Eli Whitney; sped up cotton processing by enabling quicker removal of seeds; led to a sharp increase in slavery dependency in the South
Interchangeable parts
invented by Eli Whitney; products are made with the same parts; boosted mass production + manufacturing by making construction/repairs easier
Machine-tool industry
produced specialized machines for growing industries like textiles and transportation
Assembly line production
dividing the labor into a number of tasks and assigning each worker one task
Samuel Slater
“Father of the American Industrial Revolution;” designed the first American textile mills
Lowell system
guaranteed employees housing and cash wages to entice workers to come work in their factories
National Road
spanned Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio; made east-west travel easier
Erie Canal
constructed in 1825; linked the Great Lakes region to New York and thus to European shipping routes
Canal Era
era in which other regions tried to duplicate the success of the Erie Canal; ended in 1850 as railroads developed and became more convenient for travel
Telegraph
primitive telephone system in which people communicated though Morse code; first method of long-distance communication
Manifest Destiny
widely-held American belief in a God-given right to the Western territories
Battle of the Alamo
13-day siege in 1836; Mexican troops led by Santa Anna reclaim the Alamo Mission in San Antonio de Bexar, killing most of the Texians and Tejanos inside
Gold rush
discovery of gold in the Caifornia mountains in 1848 caused over 100,000 people to make their way to the state in just 2 years
Cult of Domesticity
the notion that men should work while women kept house and raised children
Southern paternalism
the belief that the slave system benefited all its participants, even enslaved people
Forty-Niners
prospectors in the California gold rush of 1849
Squatters
settlers who ignored the requirement to buy land; moved onto unoccupied tracts and claimed them for their own
Second Great Awakening
period of religious revival in the 1820s and 30s among Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists; saw the creation of many new denominations like Evangelicals and Mormons
Temperance movement
social movement promoting complete abstinence from the consumption of alcohol; some societies sought outright prohibition of liquor
Transcendentalists
nonconformist Unitarian writers/philosophers who drew inspiration from European romanticism; known for writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau
Compromise of 1850
passed through Congress in 5 separate bills; admitted California as a free state, established popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession, outlawed the slave trade in Washington DC, established a stronger Fugitive Slave Law
Fugitive Slave Law
passed by Congress as a part of the Compromise of 1850; required that all escaped slaves be returned to their owners and required citizens to hunt them down, even in free states
Seneca Falls Convention
women’s rights convention held in New York in 1848; organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott and considered the birth of the women’s rights movement
National Woman Suffrage Association
founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1869; wanted a constitutional amendment to secure votes for women
Horace Mann
secretary on the Massachusetts Board of Education; pushed for public education reform
American Colonization Society
antislavery group established in 1816 that sought to repatriate enslaved people to the newly formed country of Liberia
Gag rule
adopted by Congress from 1836-44 to suppress discussion of the slavery issue and prevented Congress from enacting any new legislation pertaining to slavery
Frederick Douglass
former enslaved person who gained fame as a writer and advocate of freedom; began publishing his abolitionist newspaper The North Star in the 1840s
Harriet Tubman
escaped slavery and returned south repeatedly to help more than 300 enslaved people escape via the underground railroad
Underground railroad
network of hiding places and “safe” trails utilized by enslaved people escaping their masters
James K. Polk
11th president of the US; nominated as a “dark horse” by the Democrats
Polk’s Four Goals
acquire Oregon Territory from the British; acquire California from the Mexicans; lower tariffs; establish an independent treasury
Oregon Treaty
signed with Great Britain in 1846; established a northern border with Canada and allowed the US to acquire Oregon, Washington, and parts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana
Mexican-American War
began in 1846 and ended in 1848; territorial conflict caused by the US seeking to obtain Mexican land
Slave Power
what Northerners use to refer to the Southern slaveholders who were allegedly pulling the strings behind the Mexican-American War
Wilmot Proviso
proposed Congressional bill preventing the extension of slavery into any territory gained from Mexico; did not pass through Congress
Free-Soil Party
single-issue party opposed to the spread of slavery; didn’t want to compete with Black people for labor in the new territories
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
ended the Mexican-American War in 1848 and gave almost all of the modern Southwest to the US
Mexican Cession
region in the Southwest that was ceded to the US after the Mexican-American War; US paid $15 million for Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah
Gadsden Purchase
US purchases land in southern regions of Arizona and New Mexico for $10 million to build a transcontinental railroad
Popular sovereignty
territories decide by vote whether or not to allow slavery within their borders
Stephen Douglas
Democrat politician from Illinois who designed the Kansas-Nebraska Act; lost to Lincoln in the 1860 presidential race
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
antislavery novel published by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852; set the framework for the Civil War
Kansas-Nebraska Act
created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and established popular sovereignty, drawing in both pro and antislavery groups & resulting in Bleeding Kansas
Republicans
political party of antislavery Whigs, northern Democrats, and former Free-Soilers; dominant in the North as opposed to the Southern Democrats
Border Ruffians
pro-slavery Missourians who temporarily relocated to Kansas to sway popular sovereignty in their favor
John Brown
radical American abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow slavery in the United States
Bleeding Kansas
a series of violent political confrontations between the antislavery “Free-Staters” and the pro-slavery “Border Ruffians” between 1854 and 1861
Sumner-Brooks Incident
Preston Brooke, nephew of pro-slavery Senator Andrew Butler, beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner over the head with a cane after a speech in which Sumner attacked both the South and Butler
James Buchanan
15th president of the US elected in 1856 by the Democrats
Dred Scott v. Sandford
landmark case in which Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney ruled that Black people were not US citizens and thus could not sue in federal court; nullified the Missouri Compromise and Kansas-Nebraska Act
Abraham Lincoln
16th president of the US elected in 1860; took over at the beginning of the Civil War and emancipated enslaved people
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
series of 7 debates between Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln and Democrat incumbent Stephen Douglas for the Illinois Senate seat (also known as the Great Debates of 1858)
Harper’s Ferry Raid
failed attempt by John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over the US arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA
Confederate States of America
after South Carolina’s secession from the Union, six other states joined to form this coalition
Jefferson Davis
president of the Confederacy during the Civil War
Greenbacks
fiat (not backed by gold or silver) paper money issued by the US government during the Civil War;
Homestead Act
US federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land (homestead) at little or no cost
Anaconda Plan
planned blockade of Southern ports that called for an advance down the Mississippi River, cutting the South in two
Battle of Gettysburg
Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army was defeated, preventing them from expanding the Confederacy to Northern states
Battle of Vicksburg
battle in which the North captured the last hold of the South on the Mississippi River, gaining control of the region and splitting the South
Sherman’s March
led by the Union’s General Sherman across the South using scorch earth warfare; high point was the burning of Atlanta
Habeas corpus
legal concept that one is innocent until proven guilty; Lincoln suspended this right during the Civil war to arrest anti-Union/pro-Confederate advocates
Emancipation Proclamation
presidential proclamation/executive order enacted by Lincoln on January 1, 1863 that freed over 3 million enslaved people in the United States
13th amendment
outlawed slavery in the United States
Draft riots
violent disturbances in New York City as a result of working-class discontent with the draft requiring them to serve in the Civil War
