American Politics and Westward Expansion, 1800–1840

Vocabulary flashcards covering major people, policies, court cases, and cultural concepts shaping U.S. politics, Indian removal, and westward expansion during the early 19th century.

Deference

Traditional practice of showing political respect to social ‘betters’—elite men with pedigree, wealth, or military fame—in early U.S. republican culture.

Natural Aristocracy

Belief that certain men, by virtue of birth, education, or virtue, were best suited to govern; underpinned early-republic deference.

Universal Manhood Suffrage

The expanding doctrine that all adult White men, regardless of property ownership, should have the right to vote.

Bucktail Republican Faction

New York political group led by Martin Van Buren that built mass party loyalty and wore deer tails in their hats.

Martin Van Buren

New York politician who organized disciplined party machinery and pioneered the spoils system.

Spoils System

Practice of rewarding party supporters with public jobs—summarized by the phrase “to the victor belong the spoils.”

Election of 1824

Five-way presidential race decided in the House of Representatives after Andrew Jackson failed to secure an Electoral College majority.

Corrupt Bargain

Jacksonian charge that John Quincy Adams secured the presidency in 1824 by trading cabinet posts (notably to Henry Clay) for House support.

John Quincy Adams

Sixth U.S. president (1825-1829); backed the American System of tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements.

American System

Henry Clay’s program of high protective tariffs, a national bank, and federally funded roads and canals to foster national growth.

Tariff of Abominations (1828)

North-favored 50 % import duty denounced by southerners as unconstitutional and harmful to their economy.

States’ Rights

Doctrine asserting that individual states retain sovereignty and may judge the constitutionality of federal actions.

“South Carolina Exposition and Protest”

Anonymous 1828 essay by John C. Calhoun arguing that states could nullify harmful federal laws like the high tariff.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Law authorizing President Jackson to negotiate the relocation of southeastern Native nations to lands west of the Mississippi.

Five Civilized Tribes

Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole peoples who had adopted many Anglo-American customs yet were forced west.

Trail of Tears

Forced 1838–1839 march of about 15,000 Cherokee to Indian Territory; roughly 4,000 died en route.

Cherokee Phoenix

Bilingual (English & Cherokee) newspaper begun in 1828 that showcased Cherokee literacy and adaptation.

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

Supreme Court case that ruled the Cherokee were a “domestic dependent nation,” not a foreign state that could sue.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Marshall Court decision upholding Cherokee territorial sovereignty and invalidating Georgia laws on Native land.

Tribal Sovereignty

Legal principle that Native nations possess inherent authority over their internal affairs and territory.

Black Hawk’s War (1832)

Brief conflict in Illinois and Wisconsin after Sauk leader Black Hawk tried to reclaim ancestral lands; ended in U.S. victory and massacre.

James Fenimore Cooper

Author whose 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans romanticized frontier conflict and reinforced pro-removal stereotypes.

George Catlin

Painter who toured with an “Indian Gallery,” depicting Native peoples as exotic ‘savages’ for White audiences.

Corps of Discovery

Exploring party led by Lewis and Clark (1804-1806) that mapped the Louisiana Territory to the Pacific.

Meriwether Lewis

Jefferson’s private secretary chosen to command the Corps of Discovery into the West.

William Clark

Co-leader of the Corps of Discovery; skilled mapmaker who charted routes to the Pacific.

Sacagawea

Shoshone woman who served the Lewis & Clark expedition as interpreter and symbol of peaceful intent.

Peace Medal

Silver medallion bearing a U.S. president’s image, presented to Native leaders by explorers and traders to signal alliance.

Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

Accord in which Spain ceded Florida to the United States and fixed the U.S.–Spanish border at the Sabine River.

Filibuster (19th-century)

Private American adventurer who launched unauthorized military expeditions, often to seize foreign territory.

Long Expedition

1819–1821 filibuster effort by James Long to create an independent Republic of Texas in Spanish territory.

Northwest Passage Myth

Long-sought but nonexistent all-water route across North America linking Atlantic and Pacific trade.

Beaver Hat

Waterproof, glossy headwear that spurred a lucrative fur trade and deeper U.S. penetration of western lands.

Spoils Politics

Broader system of granting government positions based on party loyalty rather than merit, pioneered in the 1820s.

Tariff Protection

Economic policy of taxing imports to encourage domestic manufacturing, central to Clay and Adams’s agenda.

Natural Aristocracy (revisited)

Early republican ideal that virtue and talent, not inherited titles, should define society’s leaders—later challenged by mass democracy.