APUSH Period 4 Vocabulary

Agrarian

concerning farms, farmers, or the use of land

Battle of New Orleans

A battle during the War of 1812 where the British army attempted to take New Orleans. Due to the foolish frontal attack, Jackson defeated them, which gave him an enormous popularity boost.

Capitalists

people who own and operate factories and other businesses in pursuit of profits

Cotton gin

A machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793.

Deism

A popular Enlightenment era belief that there is a God, but that God isn't involved in people's lives or in revealing truths to prophets.

Eli Whitney

Invented the cotton gin

Embargo

an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country

Gabriel Prosser

In 1800, he gathered 1000 rebellious slaves outside of Richmond; but 2 Africans gave the plot away, and the Virginia militia stymied the uprising before it could begin, along with 35 others he was executed.

Hartford Convention

Meeting of Federalists near the end of the War of 1812 in which the party listed it's complaints against the ruling Republican Party. These actions were largley viewed as traitorous to the country and lost the Federalist much influence.

Adams-Onis Treaty

Agreement in which Spain gave up all of Florida to the United States

American System

Economic program advanced by Henry Clay that included support for a national bank, high tariffs, and internal improvements; emphasized strong role for federal government in the economy.

Election of 1828

Jackson defeats John Quincy Adams in this election, becoming our 7th President.

"Era of Good Feelings"

A name for President Monroe's two terms, a period of strong nationalism, economic growth, and territorial expansion. Since the Federalist party dissolved after the War of 1812, there was only one political party and no partisan conflicts.

Francis Cabot Lowell

American industrialist who developed the Lowell system, a mill system that included looms that could both weave thread and spin cloth. He hired young women to live and work in his mill.

Gibbons v. Ogden

Regulating interstate commerce is a power reserved to the federal government

Alexis de Tocqueville

French political writer noted for his analysis of American institutions (1805-1859)

Andrew Jackson

The seventh President of the United States (1829-1837), who as a general in the War of 1812 defeated the British at New Orleans (1815). As president he opposed the Bank of America, objected to the right of individual states to nullify disagreeable federal laws, and increased the presidential powers.

Bank War

Jackson believed the Bank of U.S. had too much power and was too rich. Vetoed the 2nd Bank charter and withdrew government money from the US Banks and put it into "pet banks".

Black Hawk War

Chief Black Hawk of Sauk tribe led rebellion against US; started in Illinois and spread to Wisconsin Territory; 200 Sauk and Fox ppl murdered; tribes removed to areas west of Mississippi.

Democrats

Party led by Jackson - "Common Man"; pro states' rights; against the BUS

Five Civilized Tribes

Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Seminoles; "civilized" due to their intermarriage with whites, forced out of their homelands by expansion.

Indian Removal Act

(1830) a congressional act that authorized the removal of Native Americans who lived east of the Mississippi River

Antebellum

Occurring before a war

Artisan

A skilled craftsperson

Baltimore and Ohio railroad

The first company to begin actual road operations, which opened a thirteen mile stretch of track in 1830.

Commonwealth v. Hunt

(1842) a landmark ruling of the MA Supreme Court establishing the legality of labor unions and the legality of union workers striking if an employer hired non-union workers.

Cult of Domesticity

idealized view of women & home; women, self-less caregiver for children, refuge for husbands

Abolitionist

A person who wanted to end slavery

Amistad

The name of the ship on which enslaved Africans revolted against their captors.

Cotton kingdom

Areas in the south where cotton farming developed because of the high demand for cotton

Denmark Vesey

United States freed slave and insurrectionist in South Carolina who was involved in planning an uprising of slaves and was hanged (1767-1822)

American Colonization Society

A society that thought slavery was bad. They would buy land in Africa and get free blacks to move there. One of these such colonies was made into what now is Liberia. Most sponsors just wanted to get blacks out of their country.

David Walker

He was a black abolitionist who called for the immediate emancipation of slaves. He wrote the "Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World." It called for a bloody end to white supremacy. He believed that the only way to end slavery was for slaves to physically revolt.

Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions

The resolutions passed at the Woman's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls in 1848 calling for full equality, including women's suffrage.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

(1815-1902) A suffragette who, with Lucretia Mott, organized the first convention on women's rights, held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. She issued the Declaration of Sentiments which declared men and women to be equal and demanded the right to vote for women. She co-founded the National Women's Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony in 1869.

Frederick Douglass

(1817-1895) American abolitionist and writer, he escaped slavery and became a leading African American spokesman and writer. He published his biography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and founded the abolitionist newspaper, the North Star.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

(1811-1896) American author and daughter of Lyman Beecher, she was an abolitionist and author of the famous antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Henry David Thoreau

American transcendentalist who was against a government that supported slavery. He wrote down his beliefs in Walden. He started the movement of civil-disobedience when he refused to pay the toll-tax to support him Mexican War.

Herman Melville

American writer whose experiences at sea provided the factual basis of Moby-Dick (1851), considered among the greatest American novels.

Impressment

British practice of taking American sailors and forcing them into military service

Industrial Revolution

A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.

Interchangeable parts

Identical components that can be used in place of one another in manufacturing

John Marshall

American jurist and politician who served as the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1801-1835) and helped establish the practice of judicial review.

Lewis and Clark

Sent on an expedition by Jefferson to gather information on the United States' new land and map a route to the Pacific. They kept very careful maps and records of this new land acquired from the Louisiana Purchase.

Louisiana Purchase

territory in western United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million

Marbury v. Madison

This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review.

Noah Webster

American writer who wrote textbooks to help the advancement of education. He also wrote a dictionary which helped standardize the American language.

Non-Intercourse Act

1809 - Replaced the Embargo of 1807. Unlike the Embargo, which forbade American trade with all foreign nations, this act only forbade trade with France and Britain. It did not succeed in changing British or French policy towards neutral ships, so it was replaced by Macon's Bill No. 2.

Henry Clay

A northern American politician. He developed the American System as well as negotiated numerous compromises.

James Monroe

He was the fifth president of the United States (1817-1825). His administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida (1819), the Missouri Compromise (1820), and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine (1823).

John Quincy Adams

Secretary of State, he served as sixth president under Monroe. In 1819, he drew up the Adams-Onis Treaty. The Monroe Doctrine was mostly Adams' work.

McCulloch v. Maryland

Maryland was trying to tax the national bank, and Supreme Court ruled that federal law was stronger than the state law.

Missouri Compromise

"Compromise of 1820" over the issue of slavery in Missouri. It was decided Missouri entered as a slave state, Maine entered as a free state, all states North of the 36th parallel were free states, and all South were slave states.

Monroe Doctrine

an American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers

Jacksonian Democracy

A policy of spreading more political power to more people. It was a "Common Man" theme.

John C. Calhoun

South Carolina Senator - advocate for state's rights, limited government and nullification.

John Tyler

He was elected Vice President and became the tenth President of the United States (1841-1845) when Harrison died, was responsible for the annexation of Mexico after receiving a mandate from Polk, and opposed many parts of the Whig program for economic recovery.

Martin Van Buren

(1837-1841) Advocated lower tariffs and free trade, and by doing so maintained support of the south for the Democratic party. He succeeded in setting up a system of bonds for the national debt.

Nullification Crisis

A sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by the Ordinance of Nullification, an attempt by the state of South Carolina to nullify a federal law - the tariff of 1828 - passed by the United States Congress.

Panic of 1837

When Jackson was president, many state banks received government money that had been withdrawn from the Bank of the U.S. These banks issued paper money and financed wild speculation, especially in federal lands. Jackson issued the Specie Circular to force the payment for federal lands with gold or silver. Many state banks collapsed as a result. A panic ensued (1837). Bank of the U.S. failed, cotton prices fell, businesses went bankrupt, and there was widespread unemployment and distress.

Roger B. Taney

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court when Dred Scott decision was made

Erie Canal

A canal between the New York cities of Albany and Buffalo, completed in 1825. The canal, considered a marvel of the modern world at the time, allowed western farmers to ship surplus crops to sell in the North and allowed northern manufacturers to ship finished goods to sell in the West.

Factory Girls Association

In 1834, mill workers in Lowell organized a union known as this, which staged a strike to protest a 25 percent wage cut. Two years later the association struck again, against a rent increase in boardinghouses. Both strikes failed, and a recession in 1837 nearly killed the organization.

Factory System

A method of production that brought many workers and machines together into one building.

Know-Nothings

the American Party; anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic

Lowell System

Dormitories for young women where they were cared for, fed, and sheltered in return for cheap labor, mill towns, and homes for workers to live in around the mills.

Manumission

release from slavery

Nat Turner

Leader of a slave rebellion in 1831 in Virginia. Revolt led to the deaths of 20 whites and 40 blacks and led to the "gag rule", outlawing any discussion of slavery in the House of Representatives.

Peculiar Institution

A euphemism for slavery and the economic ramifications of it in the American South. The term aimed to explain the seeming contradiction of legalized slavery in a country whose Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal". It was one of the key causes of the Civil War.

Planter Class

Whites that owned 20-50 slaves & 800 or more acres; political, social, & economic domination; only about 5% of Southern population.

Horace Mann

Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education; "Father of the public school system"; a prominent proponent of public school reform, & set the standard for public schools throughout the nation; lengthened academic year; pro training & higher salaries to teachers.

Joseph Smith

Founded Mormonism in New York in 1830 with the guidance of an angel. In 1843, Smith's announcement that God sanctioned polygamy split the Mormons and let to an uprising against Mormons in 1844; translated the Book of Mormon and died a martyr.

Liberia

In 1820, the American Colonization Society created a colony in West Africa for freed slaves to go. By the 1840s this colony had its own constitution and became and independent nation.

Lucretia Mott

A Quaker who attended an anti-slavery convention in 1840 and her party of women was not recognized. She and Stanton called the first women's right convention in New York in 1848.

Mormons

Church founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah; religious group that emphasized moderation, saving, hard work, and risk-taking; moved from IL to UT.

Oneida

A group of socio-religious perfectionists who lived in New York. Practiced polygamy, communal property, and communal raising of children.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

American transcendentalist who was against slavery and stressed self-reliance, optimism, self-improvement, self-confidence, and freedom. He was a prime example of a transcendentalist and helped further the movement.

Seneca Falls Convention

(1848) the first national women's rights convention at which the Declaration of Sentiments was written

Shakers

Utopian group that splintered from the Quakers; believed that they & all other churches had grown too interested in this world & neglectful of their afterlives; prohibited marriage and sexual relationships; practiced celibacy.

Secession

Formal withdrawal of states or regions from a nation.

Second Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals starting in 1801, based on Methodism and Baptism. They stressed a religious philosophy of salvation through good deeds and tolerance for all Protestant sects. The revivals attracted women, Blacks, and Native Americans.

Tecumseh

A Shawnee chief who, along with his brother, Tenskwatawa, a religious leader known as The Prophet, worked to unite the Northwestern Indian tribes. The league of tribes was defeated by an American army led by William Henry Harrison at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Tecumseh was killed fighting for the British during the War of 1812 at the Battle of the Thames in 1813.

The "Prophet"

a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God

Treaty of Ghent

December 24, 1814 - Ended the War of 1812 and restored the status quo. For the most part, territory captured in the war was returned to the original owner. It also set up a commission to determine the disputed Canada/U.S. border.

Turnpikes

private roads built by entrepreneurs who charged travelers a toll, or fee, to use them

War Hawks

Southerners and westerners who were eager for war with Britain. They had a strong sense of nationalism, and they wanted to takeover British land in North America and expand.

Panic of 1819

Economic panic caused by extensive speculation and a decline of European demand for American goods along with mismanagement within the Second Bank of the United States. Often cited as the end of the Era of Good Feelings.

Seminole Wars

conflict that began in Florida in 1817 when the Seminoles resisted removal

Tallmadge Amendment

This was an attempt to have no more slaves to be brought to Missouri and provided the gradual emancipation of the children of slaves. In the mind of the South, this was a threat to the sectional balance between North and South.

The Corrupt Bargain

refers to the presidential election of 1824 in which Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, convinced the House of Representatives to elect Adams rather than Jackson

Worcester v. Georgia

Supreme Court Decision - Cherokee Indians were entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments which would infringe on the tribe's sovereignty - Jackson ignored it.

Specie Circular

Issued by President Jackson on July 11, 1836, it was meant to stop land speculation caused by states printing paper money without proper specie (gold or silver) backing it. It required that the purchase of public lands be paid for in specie. It stopped the land speculation and the sale of public lands went down sharply. The panic of 1837 followed.

Spoils System

A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.

Trail of Tears

The Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their lands. They traveled from North Carolina and Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas-more than 800 miles to the Indian Territory. More than 4,000 Cherokees died of cold, disease, and lack of food during the 116 day journey.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

1842 - Established Maine's northern border and the boundaries of the Great Lake states.

Webster-Hayne Debate

Hayne first responded to Daniel Webster's argument of states' rights versus national power, with the idea of nullification. Webster then said, "Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable."

Whigs

They were conservatives and popular with pro-Bank people and plantation owners. They mainly came from the National Republican Party, which was once largely Federalists. They took their name from the British political party that had opposed King George during the American Revolution. Their policies included support of industry, protective tariffs, and Clay's American System. They were generally upper class in origin. They included Clay and Webster.

William Henry Harrison

He was an American military leader, politician, the ninth President of the United States, and the first President to die in office. His death created a brief Constitutional crisis, but ultimately resolved many questions about presidential succession left unanswered by the Constitution until passage of the 25th Amendment. He also led US forces in the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Morse Code

a system of dots and dashes that represent the alphabet

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones.