Early American Republic: From the Constitution to Antebellum Reform

Vocabulary flashcards detailing key political, economic, legal, and social terms from the early American republic through the Jacksonian era and antebellum reform movements.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments added to the United States Constitution in $1791$, insisted upon by Anti-federalists to protect civil liberties such as free speech, arms, and due process against federal power.

Judiciary Act of 1789

The federal legislation that organized the federal court system and established a Supreme Court initially composed of six justices, with John Jay named as the first Chief Justice.

Report on the Public Credit

Alexander Hamilton's economic proposal outlining the payment of the national debt, federal assumption of state debts, a whiskey excise tax, a national bank, and protective tariffs.

Louisiana Purchase

The $1803$ territorial acquisition in which the United States purchased the entire Louisiana territory from France under Napoleon for $\text{\$15 million}$, doubling the country's land area.

Embargo Act of 1807

A law championed by Thomas Jefferson that prohibited American ships from departing to foreign ports, intended to prevent British and French attacks but costing roughly $30{,}000$ sailors and dock workers their jobs.

Macon's Bill No. 2

An $1810$ law that offered exclusive American trade privileges to whichever foreign power (Britain or France) first ceased attacks on American shipping.

Battle of Tippecanoe

A November $1811$ battle in the Indiana territory where William Henry Harrison's forces defeated an attack by the Prophet; recovered British rifles intensified American demands for war with Britain.

War Hawks

A faction of newly elected congressional representatives in $1810$ who pushed President James Madison to declare war against Great Britain in $1812$.

Battle of New Orleans

A major engagement on January 8, $1815$, in which Andrew Jackson's force of $4{,}500$ troops successfully defended a bottleneck between swamp and river against $7{,}500$ assaulting British soldiers.

Treaty of Ghent

The peace agreement signed in Belgium roughly two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans that formally ended the War of $1812$ with no changes in territory.

Hartford Convention

A December $1814$ gathering of New England Federalists who proposed constitutional amendments to curb presidential and war-declaring powers, an act that led to the national collapse of the Federalist Party.

Era of Good Feelings

The period from roughly $1815$ to $1820$ during James Monroe's presidency marked by economic growth, heightened national pride, one-party Republican governance, and temporary reduction of sectional friction.

Convention of 1818

An accord between the United States and Great Britain establishing the $49\text{th}$ parallel as the northern border with Canada and creating joint occupation rights in the Oregon territory.

Transcontinental Treaty

A treaty in which Spain sold Florida to the United States for $\text{\$5 million}$ and established a defined western boundary running along the Sabine, Red, and Arkansas Rivers to the $42\text{nd}$ parallel.

Monroe Doctrine

An $1823$ foreign policy declaration declaring the Western Hemisphere closed to future European colonization, while pledging that the United States would refrain from intervening in European matters.

Second Bank of the United States

A national banking institution chartered in $1816$ for a term of $20\text{ years}$ to manage federal finances and regulate state and local banks.

Erie Canal

A $300\text{-mile}$ canal constructed between $1817$ and $1825$ connecting Buffalo to Albany, cutting transit time to New York City to six days and cementing New York City as the nation's premier trade port.

Samuel Slater

A British mechanic known as the father of the American Industrial Revolution who memorized British mill plans and constructed the first water-powered textile mill in Rhode Island in $1790$.

Cotton Gin

An $1793$ invention by Eli Whitney that increased seed-cleaning efficiency from $1\text{ pound}$ to $50\text{ pounds}$ per worker daily, which revitalized slavery across the Deep South.

Panic of 1819

The nation's first major economic depression, triggered when Britain reduced cotton imports, leading to a collapse in land and crop prices, widespread bank runs, and bitter sectional resentment in the South and West.

McCulloch v. Maryland

An $1819$ Supreme Court ruling affirming the constitutionality of the Second Bank of the United States under the necessary and proper clause and establishing that states cannot tax federal entities.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

A legislative compromise engineered by Henry Clay that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while outlawing slavery in remaining territories north of the $36^\circ 30'$ parallel.

Corrupt Bargain

The charge leveled by Andrew Jackson alleging that Henry Clay steered the contested $1824$ House presidential vote to John Quincy Adams in exchange for an appointment as Secretary of State.

Tariff of Abominations

The Tariff of $1828$ that raised protective duties on imported goods to roughly $50\%$, causing intense outrage among Southern planters who feared expanding federal authority.

South Carolina Exposition and Protest

A document written anonymously by Vice President John C. Calhoun setting forth the doctrine of nullification, arguing a state convention could declare an unconstitutional federal law null and void.

Force Act

An $1833$ congressional measure requested by Andrew Jackson authorizing the use of federal military force against South Carolina to collect import tariffs.

Compromise Tariff of 1833

A compromise brokered by Henry Clay that resolved the Nullification Crisis by gradually lowering tariff rates from $37\%$ to $17\%$ over a $10\text{-year}$ period.

Pet Banks

State-chartered banking institutions allied with Andrew Jackson into which federal funds were redirected from the Second Bank of the United States beginning in $1833$.

Specie Circular

An executive order issued by Andrew Jackson in $1836$ mandating that government public lands be purchased exclusively with hard specie (gold or silver), which triggered a crash in land prices.

Whig Party

A political party formed around $1834$ to oppose Andrew Jackson, advocating a national bank, federally funded internal improvements, high protective tariffs, and loose constitutional construction.

Second Great Awakening

A widespread religious revival from $1800$ to $1840$ emphasizing egalitarian salvation, which prompted sharp rises in church attendance and fueled reform movements like temperance and abolitionism.

William Lloyd Garrison

An abolitionist who founded the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator in $1831$ and co-founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in $1833$, advocating immediate emancipation without compensation.

Gag Rule

A procedural rule adopted by Congress spanning from $1836$ to $1844$ that automatically tabled all anti-slavery petitions to suppress legislative debate over the abolition of slavery.