Great Awakening Vocab

Andrew Jackson

The 7th president whose populist policies expanded executive power and reshaped American democracy during the Jacksonian Era.

John C. Calhoun

A Southern political leader and vice president who strongly advocated for states’ rights and nullification.

Henry Clay

A powerful senator known as the “Great Compromiser” for crafting major sectional compromises.

Martin Van Buren

Jackson’s political ally and 8th president who inherited the economic collapse known as the Panic of 1837

John Quincy Adams

The 6th president whose “Corrupt Bargain” election symbolized growing political tension.

Daniel Webster

A Northern senator who defended nationalism and union in debates against states’ rights advocates.

Robert Hayne

A Southern senator who argued for nullification and state sovereignty in the Webster–Hayne Debate.

Webster-Hayne Debate

A Senate debate that highlighted the growing divide between nationalism and states’ rights

Nicholas Biddle

President of the Second Bank of the United States who clashed with Jackson during the Bank War.

Stephen Austin

The “father of Texas” who led American settlers into Mexican-controlled Texas.

Sam Houston

Leader of the Texas Revolution and first president of the Republic of Texas.

John Tyler

The 10th president who pushed for the annexation of Texas at the end of his term.

Santa Anna

The Mexican president and military leader defeated by Texans during their fight for independence.

Annexation

The act of adding a territory to the United States, most notably Texas in 1845.

Nullification

The theory that states can invalidate federal laws deemed unconstitutional.

Spoils system

Jackson’s practice of rewarding political supporters with government jobs.

“currupt bargain”

The alleged deal between Adams and Clay that secured Adams’s 1824 victory and enraged Jacksonians.

Tariff of Abominations

The 1828 tariff hated by the South for raising duties on imported goods.

South Carolina Exposition and Protest

Calhoun’s document arguing that states could nullify federal laws.

Specie Circular

Jackson’s order requiring payment for western land in gold or silver, contributing to the Panic of 1837.

Tariff of 1833

A compromise tariff designed by Henry Clay to ease sectional tensions over the tariff crisis.

“Trail of Tears”

The forced removal of Cherokee people from the Southeast to Indian Territory, resulting in massive death and suffering.

Panic of 1837

A severe economic depression triggered by Jacksonian financial policies and the collapse of state banks.

Force Bill

A law giving Jackson military authority to enforce federal tariff laws during the nullification crisis.

Democratic Party

The political party formed around Andrew Jackson’s ideals of limited government and states’ rights.

“Pet” banks

State banks that received federal funds after Jackson removed money from the national bank.

Whig party

A political party formed in opposition to Jackson, supporting federal power and internal improvements.

Cyrus McCormick

Inventor of the mechanical reaper that revolutionized agriculture.

Eli Whitney

Inventor of the cotton gin and promoter of interchangeable parts.

Robert Falton

Inventor of the steamboat, which transformed transportation.

Samuel F. B. Morse

Inventor of the telegraph and Morse code, enabling instant communication.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Women’s rights leader who organized the Seneca Falls Convention.

Susan B. Anthony

Influential women’s suffrage advocate who pushed for voting rights.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalist writer who emphasized individualism and nature.

Henry David Thoreau

Transcendentalist who promoted civil disobedience and simple living.

Herman Melville

Author of Moby-Dick who explored themes of human struggle and individualism.

Nativism

The anti-immigrant sentiment that sought to protect American-born workers and culture.

James Russell Lowell

A poet and social critic associated with the American Renaissance.

Joseph Smith

Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

Brigham Young

Leader who guided Mormon settlers to Utah after Joseph Smith’s death.

Mormons

A religious group founded in the 1830s that migrated west for religious freedom.

William H. McGuffey

Author of popular school readers that taught literacy and moral lessons.

Noah Webster

Writer of the first American dictionary that standardized American English.

Edgar Allan Poe

Dark Romantic writer known for gothic stories and poems.

Oneida Community

A utopian religious community practicing communal living and shared property.

Cult of Domesticity

The belief that women should remain in the home to promote morality and nurture families.

Dorthea Dix

Reformer who campaigned for humane treatment of the mentally ill.

William Miller

Preacher whose followers (Millerites) believed Christ would return in 1844.

James Fenimore Cooper

Early American novelist known for frontier stories like The Last of the Mohicans.

Horace Mann

Leading educational reformer who advocated public schooling and teacher training.

Louisa May Alcott

Author of Little Women who depicted women’s experiences and family life.

American Temperance Society

Organization promoting the reduction or abolition of alcohol consumption.

Second Great Awakening

A religious revival movement promoting evangelicalism, reform, and social activism.

Hudson River school

A group of landscape painters celebrating American nature and nationalism.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first women’s rights convention held in 1848.

Declaration of Sentiments

The document from Seneca Falls demanding equal rights for women.

Zachary Taylor

Mexican-American War hero who later became president.

James K. Polk

Expansionist president who oversaw the Mexican-American War and Manifest Destiny.

David Wilmot

Congressman who proposed banning slavery in land gained from Mexico (Wilmot Proviso).

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the U.S. was destined to expand west across the continent.

“Spot” Resolutions

Lincoln’s challenge to Polk to prove the exact spot where American blood was shed in Mexico.

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

The treaty ending the Mexican-American War and granting the U.S. vast new western lands.