Unit 4 Vocab (1800-1860) - except Ch 11 Flashcards
Industrial Revolution
A period from 1790 to 1860, when the US reorganized work routines, built factories, and exploited a wide range of natural resources - shift to cheap labor and mass production of goods
Division of Labor
A system put in place in the 1820s and 1830s that used multiple semiskilled workers to make goods, rather than 1 expert worker - cheaper and more efficient, but eroded workers independence and wages
Mineral-based economy
A shift to coal and metal by the 1830s - manufactures ran their machinery with coal burning steam engines, and started fabricating many metal products
Mechanics
Skilled craftsmen who invented and improved tools for industry - British government prohibited these people from migrating to America, to preserve their industrial domination
Waltham-Lowell System
The system of recruiting thousands of women to work in factories - providing them with rooms in boarding houses and other activities. This was done since manufacturers could pay women less money for the same work
Machine tools
Machines that made parts for other machines - allowed identical parts to be mass produced, and was pioneered by Americans
Artisan Republicanism
The ideology of production based on liberty and equality - craft workers saw themselves as small scale producers, equal to one another and free to work for themselves
Unions
A group of workers who banded together to bargain with their employers for more rights and freedoms
Labor Theory of Value
The theory that the price of goods should reflect the labor needed to make them, and the income should primarily go to the producers (workers), not factory owners or merchants
Market Revolution
The result of the huge increase in production of goods and the new transportation systems being constructed - caused a massive migration of people to the Greater Mississippi River Basin where they created an industrializing society similar to the Northeast
Erie Canal
A 364 mile waterway connecting the Hudson River and Lake Erie - financed by the New York legislature in 1817. Allowed western producers to access eastern markets and the Atlantic, and eastern producers to access western markets - connected the region
Middle Class
The group of people between the wealthy owners and propertyless laborers - huge expansion of this class during the Industrial Revolution. They were the mechanics, manufactures, traders, etc.
Self-made Man
The man who made his fortune from nothing - became a central theme in popular culture, and inspired many to seek fortunes
Benevolent Empire
The religious organizations created by the middle class, intended to promote conservative social reform and help those with poverty. Led by Congregational and Presbyterian ministers, the goal was to reduce alcohol and other vices that resulted in poverty - it created conflict as many poor people didn’t want to be told what to do
Sabbatarian Values
The idea that nothing should be done on Sunday except for religion - the Benevolent Empire attempted to impose these values on society, which resulted in opposition from workers and freethinkers, as they didn’t want to be told how to spend their one leisure day
Moral Free Agency
The central message of preachers like Finney, it said that man was a “free agent” who could choose salvation - it was a doctrine of free will, but was used to support religious conversion
American Temperance Society
A society which was taken over by evangelical Protestants in 1832, and sought to curb the consumption of alcohol - employed revitalist methods and was a huge success
Nativist Movements
A movement in which American-born citizens condemned immigration - in response to influx of Catholic and German immigration, and asserted the superiority of the Protestant religion and cultural values
Franchise
The group of people who had the right to vote - the expansion of this population symbolized the Democratic Revolution
Notables
The social “betters” of society, who dominated the political system - they were wealthy landlords, planters, and merchants
Political Machines
A term to describe the political parties - run by professional politicians and efficiently wove together the interests of diverse social and economic groups
Spoils System
The term critics used to describe Van Buren’s use of patronage, for he promoted thousands of his friends to government appointments - Van Buren argued that this was a fair system, as it would change based on who was in power
Caucus
A meeting of party leaders, to organize and set policy
American System
A system created by Henry Clay, which was an integrated mercantilist program of national economic development similar to the Commonwealth System - what he based his presidential candidacy on
Internal Improvements
Public projects intended to improve overall life, like roads, canals, banks, and more
Corrupt Bargain
After Henry Clay used his influence to thwart Jackson’s election, in favor of Adams, he was appointed to secretary of state (the stepping stone to president) - Jackson and his supporters called this a corrupt bargain, and vowed to oppose Adams and Clay
Consolidated Government
A powerful and potentially oppressive national administration - Van Buren declared Henry Clay’s American System to be this
Tariff of Abominations
The southern term for the tariff of 1828, which significantly raised duties on raw materials, textiles, and iron goods - enraged the South
Nullification
The argument that a state has the right to void a law passed by Congress within its borders - contested issue
States rights
The idea that since state-based conventions had ratified the Constitution, sovereignty law in them, not the people - little support for this in the text of the Constitution. It was used to support nullification
Second Bank of the United States
Founded in Philadelphia in 1816, it had a 20 year charter and its most important role was to stabilize the nation’s money supply and prevent inflation
Indian Removal Act of 1830
Created by Jackson, it created the Indian Territory and promised money/reserved land to natives who would give up their ancestral holdings - forced removal of natives from the east
Trail of Tears
The forced Cherokee march from Georgia to Indian Territory - 3,000 Indians died of starvation and exposure along the way, a huge percent of the total population
Classical liberalism/laissez-faire
The idea that the government should have a very limited role in the economy - literally means “hands-off”, it was supported by Jackson
Whigs
A second national party created in mid-1830s, the Whigs were the more liberal party, supported by northern merchants and urban cities - Whigs and Democrats competed fiercely for the next 2 decades, and each appealed to a different cultural group
Panic of 1837
An economic recession caused by the reduction in British money sent to the US, and the drop in world cotton prices - state governments defaulted on debts, and it started a major depression
Specie Circular
A declaration passed in 1836, which required the treasury to only accept gold and silver for payment for internal land - critics mistakenly charged that this caused the Panic of 1837
Ethnocultural politics
The practice of voting along ethnic and religious lines - became a prominent feature of American life
Coastal Trade
The trade in slaves from the Atlantic coast to the huge market in New Orleans - it was highly visible, northern abolitionists condemned it
Inland System
The other slave trade route, it was when traders marched from rural town to town looking for slaves in the northern south, then marched them to markets in the Deep South - more extensive than the coastal route but less visible
Chattel principle
The principle that slaves were the moveable property of their owners, and their body and soul belongs to that person
Benevolent Masters
The way many slave masters saw themselves - believed they were committed to the welfare of their slaves and that they preserved family and relations among them - others were more honest about the human cost of slavery
Republican Aristocracy
The affluent planters of the South - the equivalent of the nobility in other countries, they were the head of society and politics
“Positive good” Argument
The argument that slavery was a beneficial institution because it gave white elite an elegant lifestyle and provided tutelage to the genetically inferior Africans
Gang labor system
The system in the Deep South where masters with 20 or more slaves organized disciplined teams supervised by an overseer who would order them around doing tasks - it increased productivity, but was harder on the slaves than the previous task system
Slave Society
A society in which the institutions of slavery affects all aspects of life - the South was an example
Alamo
A base in Antonio defended by Texas garrison, Mexican president Santa Anna led an army to capture it and wiped out the garrison. But American newspapers romanticized the event to arouse anti-Mexican sentiment, causing many adventures to flock to Texas to defend its claim of independence
Secret Ballot
The system of voting secretly on a ballot, rather than by voice - it was a more democratic system
Black Protestantism
A new form of Protestantism created by African-Americans, it ignored doctrines of original sin and predestination, and preachers didn’t use biblical passages calling for unthinking obedience
Task system
The slave system in place during the Revolutionary Era, it was where slaves had to complete a precisely defined job each day at their own pace - many worked hard and finished in early afternoon, after which the rest of the day was theirs
