Stacy/Ellington, Fabric of a Nation for AP® U.S. History, 2nd Edition - Key Terms and Definitions from Period 4 (1800-1848)

abolitionist

Member of the movement seeking to end the system of slavery.

Adams–Onís Treaty

Treaty negotiated by John Quincy Adams and signed in 1819 by which Spain ceded all of its lands east of the Mississippi River to the United States.

Alamo

A Texas fort captured by General Santa Anna from rebel defenders on March 6, 1836. Sensationalist accounts of the siege of the Alamo increased popular support in the United States for Texas independence.

American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS)

An abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1833 that became the most important northern abolitionist organization of the period. The society featured prominent orators and activists such as Frederick Douglass. Members argued slavery was neither economically nor morally viable. The group often met with violence.

American System

A national economic plan proposed by Henry Clay in the 1810s and 1820s to promote the U.S. economy by combining federally funded internal improvements to aid farmers while protecting American manufacturers by placing high tariffs on imported goods.

American system of manufacturing

Manufacturing methods that emphasized mechanization, waterpower, division of labor, and the use of interchangeable parts. The introduction of the American system in the early nineteenth century greatly reduced the number of artisans and small shops but, through standardization, increased the productivity of American manufacturing.

Amistad

A slave ship on which a slave rebellion took place in 1839 while the ship was headed for Cuba. The mutineers were captured two months later, and their ship was towed to Connecticut, still technically a slave state. There, the mutineers sued for their freedom, and in 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court declared them to be free because it was illegal to import enslaved people from Africa to America.

Barbary States

Coastal states in North Africa that sanctioned piracy to gain wealth from other weaker nations in the Atlantic world. The pirates would often seize American ships and hold the sailors for ransom in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Battle of Horseshoe Bend

An 1814 battle in which Tennessee militia led by Andrew Jackson fought alongside Cherokee warriors to defeat Creek forces allied with Britain during the War of 1812.

Battle of New Orleans

Battle in the War of 1812 that ended a British attempt to invade the United States through the city of New Orleans. While the Battle of New Orleans took place after the Treaty of Ghent officially ended the war, the British and U.S. forces in the American southwest had not yet received word of the cessation of hostilities. General Andrew Jackson’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans led to a rush of nationalism in the United States and launched his political career.

boom–bust cycle

An economic cycle where strong national economic growth is often ended by a sudden fall in prices, often called a “panic,” and followed by a long economic contraction and high unemployment. Boom–bust cycles continued throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the United States.

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

A Supreme Court ruling in 1831 that denied the Cherokee claim to be a separate sovereign and independent nation, ruling that all American Indian nations were “domestic dependent nations” rather than fully sovereign governments.

“come outer” movement

A protest movement whose members would often abstain from political office, activity, or voting to protest the government and other organizations’ complicity in slavery.

Corps of Discovery

The expedition organized by the U.S. government to explore the Louisiana Territory. Led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and aided by American Indian interpreters like Sacagawea, the expedition set out in May 1804 and journeyed to the Pacific coast and back by 1806.

“corrupt bargain”

An allegation by Andrew Jackson of a secret agreement between Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams in the 1824 presidential election that Clay would urge his supporters in the House of Representatives to support Adams over Jackson in exchange for an appointment in Adams’s cabinet. Andrew Jackson’s supporters expressed outrage over the perceived deal, while Adams and Clay denied the exchange.

cotton gin

A machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 to remove seeds from short-staple cotton. The cotton gin dramatically reduced the time and labor involved in deseeding, facilitating the expansion of cotton production in the South and West.

cult of domesticity

New ideals of womanhood that emerged alongside the middle class in the 1830s and 1840s that called for women to remain within the domestic sphere and devote themselves to the care of children, the home, and hardworking husbands in part to promote the moral and spiritual development of their children.

Declaration of Sentiments

Penned by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it was a call for women’s rights in marriage, family, religion, politics, and law, first issued at the 1848 Seneca Falls convention. The document mirrored the language of the Declaration of Independence.

Democratic Party

One of two parties that resulted from the split of the Democratic-Republicans in the early 1820s. Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren emerged as leaders of the Democrats.

deskilling

The replacement of skilled labor with unskilled labor and machines.

Embargo Act

An act passed in 1807 that prohibited American ships from leaving their home ports until Britain and France repealed restrictions on U.S. trade and ceased British impressment of American sailors. While the act was intended to assert U.S. neutrality between British and French trading partners, it had a devastating impact on American commerce.

Erie Canal

Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was an important internal improvement that spanned 363 miles from Lake Erie to the Hudson River, thereby providing access, via the Great Lakes, through the canal, and down the Hudson, to trade between the Midwest and the Northeast.

Force Bill

A bill passed by Congress in 1833 in response to South Carolina’s Ordinance of Nullification. It gave the president the authority to use military force to enforce national laws—in particular theTariff of 1832.

Free-Soil Party

A party founded by political abolitionists in 1848 to expand the appeal of the Liberty Party by focusing less on the moral wrongs of slavery and more on the benefits of providing economic opportunities for northern white people in western territories.

gag rule

A rule passed by the House of Representatives in 1836 to postpone action on all antislavery petitions without hearing them read to prevent congressional debate over slavery. It was renewed annually until 1844.

Haitian Revolution

Revolt against a racialized social hierarchy and French rule by free and enslaved Black people between 1791 and 1804 in the French colony of Saint Domingue on the island of Hispaniola. The revolution led to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first independent Black-led nation in the Americas, in 1803.

Hartford Convention

A secret convention in 1814of Federalists opposed to the War of 1812. Delegates to the convention considered a number of constitutional amendments, as well as the possibility of secession. After news of the convention spread, public sentiment turned against the Federalists, and the party never fully recovered.

Hudson River School

A mid-nineteenth century American artistic movement in which artists painted romanticized landscapes, mainly of New York’s Catskill and Adirondack Mountains.

Indian Removal Act

An 1830 act, supported by President Andrew Jackson, by which American Indian peoples in the East were forced to exchange their lands for territory west of the Mississippi River. The act also voided all prior land treaties.

judicial review

The Supreme Court’s ability to rule on the constitutionality of cases at both the federal and state levels. The policy had the effect of solidifying a more federalist interpretation of the constitution and the powers of the government.

Judiciary Act

Act passed in 1801 by the Federalist-controlled Congress to expand the federal court system by creating sixteen circuit (regional) courts, with new judges appointed for each, just before Democratic-Republicans took control of the presidency and Congress.

Liberator

Radical abolitionist newspaper launched by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831. Through the Liberator, Garrison called for immediate, uncompensated emancipation of enslaved people.

Liberty Party

An antislavery political party formed in 1840. The Liberty Party, along with the Free-Soil Party, helped place slavery at the center of national political debates.

Louisiana Purchase

The U.S. government’s 1803 purchase from France of the vast territory stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from New Orleans to present- day Montana, doubling the size of the nation.

Marbury v. Madison

A Supreme Court decision in 1803 penned by Chief Justice John Marshall that established the authority of the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of federal laws, also known as judicial review.

market revolution

Innovations in agriculture, industry, communication, and transportation in the early 1800s that increased efficiency and productivity and linked local producers to distant markets. It also solidified the connections of northern industry with western farms and southern plantations and eliminated independent shops and artisans in favor of factory mass production.

McCulloch v. Maryland

A Supreme Court decision in 1819 that reinforced the federal government’s ability to employ an expansive understanding of the implied powers clause of the Constitution. The court ruled that the state of Maryland was unable to tax the Second Bank of the United States, allowing the federal government the right to establish a federal bank while rejecting the ability of states to tax it.

Missouri Compromise

A compromise generated to maintain the balance of power between slave and free states in the U.S. Senate. The 1820 act established the southern border of Missouri as the boundary between future slave and free states admitted from the Louisiana Territory.

Monroe Doctrine

The assertion by President James Monroe in 1823 that the Western Hemisphere was part of the U.S. sphere of influence and off limits to future European colonization. Although the United States lacked the power to back up this claim, it signaled an intention to challenge Europeans for authority in the Americas.

multiplier effect

The diverse changes spurred by a single invention, including other inventions it spawns and the broader economic, social, and political transformations it fuels.

mutual-aid society

An organization formed by laborers to care for members who were unemployed, ill, or injured and unable to work. Such organizations required dues from their members, and these dues were used to care for those who could no longer work and for their families. Before unemployment insurance and health care, mutual-aid societies helped workers survive changes in the new industrial economy.

Nat Turner’s rebellion

A slave uprising in Virginia led by Nat Turner in 1831. Turner’s rebellion generated panic among white Southerners, leading to tighter control of Black people through the passage of stricter slave codes in southern states.

National Republican Party

One of two parties that resulted from the split of the Democratic-Republicans in the early 1820s. Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams emerged as leaders of the National Republicans.

National Road

A road built using federal funds that ran from western Maryland through southwestern Pennsylvania to Wheeling, West Virginia, also called the Cumberland Road. Completed in 1818, it was part of a larger effort to improve infrastructure. The road bridged the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and accelerated western settlement and commercial expansion.

nativist

An anti-immigrant American involved in public campaigns against foreigners in the 1840s. Nativism emerged as a response to increased immigration to the United States in the 1830s and 1840s, particularly the large influx of Catholic immigrants.

Non-Intercourse Act

An act passed by Congress in 1809 allowing Americans to trade with every nation except France and Britain in an effort to spur a sagging economy following the Embargo Act of 1807. The act failed to stop the seizure of American ships or to improve the economy.

North Star

The abolitionist newspaper started in 1847 by fugitive from slavery and antislavery activist Frederick Douglass.

nullification

The legal doctrine that individual states maintained their sovereignty despite union, because the federal union was created by the states, thus maintaining the right to declare federal laws unconstitutional and, therefore, void within their borders. South Carolina attempted to invoke the doctrine of nullification in response to the Tariff of 1832.

Ordinance of Nullification

A law passed in 1832 by South Carolina proclaiming several congressional tariff acts null and void within the state and threatening secession if the federal government tried to enforce the tariffs.

Panic of 1819

The nation’s first severe economic depression, due largely to irresponsible banking practices and a decline in American exports such as cotton. The panic lasted four years, slowed previously rapid westward expansion, and resulted in widespread bankruptcies and mass unemployment, generating the loss of millions of acres of land and businesses in nationwide bankruptcies, and resulting in massive popular protests.

Panic of 1837

The Panic of 1837 started in the South and was rooted in a collapsing land and cotton market, as American cotton prices plummeted. The panic resulted in mass unemployment, bankruptcy, deflation, and discontent.

Romantic era

The early nineteenth-century artistic and philosophical movement that challenged Enlightenment ideas of rationality, materialism, and classicism by asserting the prominence of the subjective and emotional national world. The movement originated in Europe in the late eighteenth century and was widely expressed in the arts as the triumph of senses over rationalism.

Second Bank of the United States

Bank established in 1816 that distributed national currency and regulated state banks after the First Bank of the United States’ charter expired. It ceased operation in 1836.

Second Great Awakening

A series of Protestant revivals, larger in number than the First Great Awakening, from the1790s to the 1830s, that spurred social-reform movements in response to the changes brought about by the market revolution. Prominent leaders of this movement were Charles Grandison Finney and Lyman Beecher.

Second Seminole War

A war between the Seminole nation, including enslaved Blacks who had escaped captivity and joined the tribe, and the U.S. government from 1835 to 1842 over whether the Seminole people would be forced to leave Florida and settle west of the Mississippi River. Despite substantial investments of men, money, and resources, it took seven years for the United States to achieve victory.

separate spheres

Widespread belief in the nineteenth century that men and women had separate roles and should occupy separate places in society. According to this belief, men should occupy the social public sphere, while women belonged in the domestic private sphere.

spoils system

Also known as the “patronage system,” introduced by Andrew Jackson, in which federal offices or “spoils” were awarded based on political loyalty. While supporters claimed it encouraged robust political participation, opponents claimed it encouraged corruption. The system remained in place until the late nineteenth century.

Tariff of 1816

A protective tariff designed to increase the cost of imported manufactured goods to improve domestic sales.

Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abominations)

A protective tariff that substantially raised tariff rates and extended duties to include raw materials such as wool, hemp, and molasses. It was passed despite opposition from southeastern states.

Tejano

A Mexican resident of Texas. Although some Tejano elites allied themselves with American settlers, most American settlers were resistant to adopting Tejano culture.

temperance

The movement to moderate and then ban the sale and consumption of alcohol that emerged in the early nineteenth century as part of the larger push, mainly by middle-class reformers, to improve society.

Trail of Tears

The forced march following passage of the Indian Removal Act of some 15,000 Cherokees from Georgia to areas west of the Mississippi River that were designated as Indian Territory, beginning in 1831. Inadequate planning, food, water, sanitation, and medicine led to the deaths of thousands of Cherokees.

transcendentalism

A Romantic-era movement founded in the 1830s, proposing that individuals look inside themselves and to nature for spiritual and moral guidance rather than to formal religion or organizations.

Treaty of Ghent

The accord signed in December 1814 that ended the War of 1812 and reestablished the pre-war status quo regarding land claims between the United States and Britain.

Treaty of New Echota

A treaty made in 1836 in which a small group of Cherokee men agreed to exchange their land in the Southeast for money and land in Indian Territory. Although the treaty was obtained without tribal approval, it was approved by the U.S. Congress.

union

A group of organized allied workers seeking rights and benefits from their employers through collective efforts. By collectively bargaining, workers may negotiate with employers with more strength than the individual worker.

utopian society

A community formed in the first half of the nineteenth century to embody alternative social and economic visions and to create models for society at large to follow.

War of 1812

War between the United States and Great Britain from 1812 to 1815. The war was one consequence of ongoing conflict between Great Britain and France, as each nation sought to forcibly restrict U.S. trade with the other. While the war resulted in little territorial gains by either side, it solidified foreign recognition of the United States as a power and pushed the United States to create a stronger military and national economic foundation in the event of future wars.

Whig Party

Named for the British political faction that overthrew King James II in the Glorious Revolution, the Whig political party formed in the 1830s to challenge the power of the Democratic Party generally, and Andrew Jackson in particular. The Whigs attempted to forge a diverse coalition from around the country by promoting commercial interests and moral reforms.

white supremacy

An ideology promoted by southern planters and intellectuals that maintained that all white people, regardless of class or education, were superior to all Black people.

yeoman farmer

A non-slaveholding independent landowner. Although southern yeomen farmers had connections to the plantation economy, many realized that their interests were not always identical to those of the planter elite.