APUSH: Chapter 10 + 11 - Key terms

"Peculiar Institution"

A euphemism for slavery and the economic ramifications of it in the American South. The term aimed to explain away 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.

"Sambo"

was an extreme sterotype of slaves. the sambo acted out the role that the white world expected them to. This was in most cases, only an act in front of the white people

Agricultural Specialization

Specialization is a method of production where a business, area or economy focuses on the production of a limited scope of products or services to gain greater degrees of productive efficiency within an overall system.

American Party

Political organization that was created after the election of 1852 by the Know-Nothings, was organized to oppose the great wave of immigrants who entered the United States after 1846

canal age

Period of time in which numerous water transportation canals were built

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.

Corporations

a company or group of people authorized to act as a single entity (legally a person) and recognized as such in law.

Cult of Domesticity

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

Cult of Honor

Importance of southern white male to keep their dignity, authority and manhood. This often took the form of avenging insults, which was a social necessity and the gentlemen's obligation. An example of this is the scenario with Senators Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner.

Cyrus McCormick

Invented the mechanical reaper

De Bow's Review

a widely circulated magazine of "agricultural, commercial, and industrial progress and resource" in the American South. It convinced many southerners to join in secession.

early skilled worker unions

Groups of skilled workers uniting against the use of the factory system which deskilled many workers. This union fared poorly, because it struggled against the handicap of hostile laws and hostile courts

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 system

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

Factory System

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

Free blacks prior to 1860

We're treated differently, even in the north. Faced racial discrimination, segregation, and worse pay.

Free Labor

the northern belief that slavery was dangerous not because of its effect on blacks, but because of what it threatened to do to whites, they argued that at the heart of American democracy was the right of all citizens to own property, to control their own labor, and to have access to opportunities for advancement.

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.

Gang system

The organization and supervision of slave field hands into working teams on southern plantations.

Harriet Tubman

United States abolitionist born a slave on a plantation in Maryland and became a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad leading other slaves to freedom in the North (1820-1913)

Interchangeable parts

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

International Slave Trade Domestic Slave Trade

(Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves); outlawed in 1808; increased internal slave trade.

John Deere

Invented the steel plow

Know-Nothings

the American Party; anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic

Limited liability laws

Individual stockholders risked losing only the value of their own investment if a corporation should fail, and that they were not liable for the corporation's larger losses

Lowell System

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

Machine tools

machines that made parts for other machines

Middle class

A social class made up of skilled workers, professionals, business people, and wealthy farmers

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

Nativism

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

P.T. Barnum

the famous and unscrupulous showman, opened the American Museum in New York in 1842, not a showcase for art or nature, but a great freak show populated by midgets, Siamese twins, magicians, and ventriloquists, eventually launching his famous circus

Paternalism / Patriarchy

Used to justify slavery; guided much of the Southern rationale for slavery; a slave holder had control over women, children, and his claves; A "Paternal" relationship between slaves and masters.

Robert Fulton

American inventor who designed the first commercially successful steamboat and the first steam warship (1765-1815)

Samuel F.B. Morse

invented the telegraph

Second Great Awakening

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

Slave codes

Laws that controlled the lives of enslaved African Americans and denied them basic rights.

Slave family

The family unit in slave communities, though marriages were not legally recognized; slaves being resold was a constant threat to familial unity.

Slave music

Music created by slaves for the purpose of religion, work and recreation - became the foundation for later styles of music known as gospel, jazz, and blues

Social Mobility

Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society's stratification system to another

Steel plow

Invented by John Deere and was strong enough to cut through the tough prairie sod of the Midwest and the Plains.

Task system

A system of slave labor under which a slave had to complete a specific assignment each day. After they finished, their time was their own. Used primarily on rice plantations.

Truck farming

Commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because truck was a Middle English word meaning bartering or the exchange of commodities.

Underground Railroad

a system of secret routes used by escaping slaves to reach freedom in the North or in Canada