AP US History: Democratic-Republican Era, Age of Jackson, and Age of Reform

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Democratic-Republican Era, the Age of Jackson, the Age of Reform, and foundational social studies legal and political terms from the lecture notes.

Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

Also known as the Florida Purchase Treaty and the Transcontinental Treaty; under its terms, the United States paid Spain $\$5\text{ million}$ for Florida, Spain recognized America's claims to the Oregon Country, and the United States surrendered its claim to northern Mexico (Texas).

American System

A set of proposals by Henry Clay that called for a national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements, with the overall goal of achieving American economic self-sufficiency.

Andrew Jackson

U.S. general who defeated Native Americans at Horseshoe Bend and commanded the victory over the British at New Orleans; he became a national hero from his War of 1812 service and rode that fame to the presidency.

Battle of New Orleans

A major battle of the War of 1812 that took place after the war ended; American forces inflicted a massive defeat on the British, protected the city, and propelled Andrew Jackson to national prominence.

Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

An 1807 incident in which the British warship Leopard attacked the American warship Chesapeake after its commander refused a boarding search for Royal Navy deserters; the attack killed or wounded 20 Americans, led to the impressment of four alleged deserters, and prompted calls for war.

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

Supreme Court case that prevented New Hampshire from altering Dartmouth's charter to make it a public institution, ruling that the Constitution's contract clause applied to charters and that state laws could not invalidate contracts.

Embargo Act (1807)

Congressional law that halted all U.S. exports until British and French interference with American merchant ships ended; it caused widespread domestic economic hardship with little foreign effect and was repealed in 1809.

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

Supreme Court case establishing the Court's authority to invalidate state laws that violate the Constitution, specifically preventing Georgia from rescinding a land grant despite it being fraudulently made.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Landmark Supreme Court case that struck down a New York monopoly granted to steamboats operating between New York and New Jersey, thereby broadening federal power over interstate commerce and curbing states' rights.

Henry Clay

American statesman from 1810 to 1852 who served as a congressman, Speaker of the House, senator, and secretary of state; known as the Great Compromiser for orchestrating the compromises of 1820, 1833, and 1850, and launched three unsuccessful presidential campaigns.

Impressment

The forceful drafting of American sailors into the British Royal Navy; over ten thousand Americans were seized between 1790 and 1812 under claims of being British deserters, serving as the principal cause of the War of 1812.

John Marshall

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835 who established the principle of judicial review and authored foundational rulings embedding Alexander Hamilton's Federalist interpretations into the Constitution.

Louisiana Purchase

An 828,000-square-mile territory bought from France in 1803 for $\$15\text{ million}$; it doubled the size of the United States, secured control of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, and relied on a loose construction of implied constitutional powers under Thomas Jefferson.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Supreme Court ruling that established the doctrine of judicial review by voiding a portion of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that granted powers exceeding constitutional bounds.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Supreme Court case asserting the supremacy of federal law over state legislation by striking down Maryland's attempt to tax the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank of the United States.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

A sectional agreement authored by Henry Clay that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while outlawing slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of $36^\circ 30'$.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Foreign policy principle warning European powers against further colonization in the Western Hemisphere, pledging non-interference with existing European colonies, and promising U.S. abstention from European conflicts.

Non-Intercourse Act (1809)

Trade law replacing the Embargo Act that reopened American foreign commerce to all nations except Britain and France; it failed to protect American merchant shipping and was repealed in 1810.

Panic of 1819

Severe economic depression following post-War of 1812 expansion, caused in part when the Second Bank of the United States called in loans and raised interest rates to curtail inflation, sharpening tensions between Eastern commerce and Western agriculture.

Second Bank of the United States

National bank chartered in 1816 based on Hamilton's original institution to hold tax deposits and regulate circulating money; it became heavily disliked by western farmers and land speculators following the Panic of 1819.

Treaty of Ghent (1815)

Treaty concluding the War of 1812 that restored prewar territorial boundaries and referred unsettled disputes, like Great Lakes ownership, to future commissions while remaining silent on the war's initial causes.

War Hawks

Young Democratic-Republican members of the 12th Congress from the South and West, led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, who pushed for war against Britain to protect maritime rights, conquer Canada, and halt frontier conflicts with Native Americans.

Corrupt Bargain

Contested political deal in the election of 1824 wherein Henry Clay guided House votes toward John Quincy Adams in exchange for his appointment as secretary of state, prompting accusations of foul play from Andrew Jackson.

Daniel Webster

Renowned orator, constitutional attorney, senator, and secretary of state who served as a primary champion of northern nationalism and unionism during the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s.

Democratic Party

Political organization originating from the Democratic-Republican party; it took shape following the contested 1824 election to coalesce around Andrew Jackson's 1828 presidential bid.

Exposition and Protest

Anonymously authored essay by Vice President John C. Calhoun invoking the compact theory to argue that the Tariff of 1828 was unconstitutional and that South Carolina held the sovereign right to nullify it.

"His Accidency"

Derogatory nickname given to John Tyler by Whig opponents after he assumed office following William Henry Harrison's death in 1841 and consistently vetoed the Whig legislative program.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Statute granting the president power to negotiate resettlement treaties with southeastern Native American tribes, trading ancestral lands for unsettled western territory and funding their relocation.

John C. Calhoun

South Carolina statesman who served as vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, authored Exposition and Protest, steered the 1832-1833 nullification battle, and championed southern states' rights from 1828 to 1850.

John Quincy Adams

Son of President John Adams who served as secretary of state, helped acquire Florida, shaped the Monroe Doctrine, and pursued an active nationalistic agenda during his presidency before serving as a U.S. representative.

Market Revolution

The nineteenth-century economic transformation in America from localized subsistence farming and artisan workshops toward distant cash markets, giving rise to an industrial working class and reshaping social patterns.

Martin Van Buren

Eighth U.S. president, vice president, and senator whose single presidential term was compromised by the Panic of 1837; he lost re-election in 1840 and later allied with the Free Soil Party.

Nullification

The constitutional doctrine asserting that sovereign states, having entered a constitutional compact, retain the ultimate power to invalidate and refuse obedience to federal laws they deem unconstitutional.

Panic of 1837

An economic depression spanning 1837 to 1844 triggered by crop failures, foreign monetary tightening, and the destabilization of banking and currency following Andrew Jackson's dismantled Second Bank of the United States.

Pet banks

State financial institutions favored by Andrew Jackson's administration that received federal money withdrawn from the Second Bank of the United States after Jackson's 1832 charter veto.

Spoils system

The practice of granting government appointments to partisan supporters and loyalists; Andrew Jackson was heavily criticized for this practice despite replacing only around 20 percent of federal officeholders.

Tariff of Abominations

Name given to the protective tariff enacted in 1828 whose steep duties on imported manufactures prompted southern outrage and precipitated the South Carolina nullification crisis of 1832.

Trail of Tears (1838)

The forced displacement of around 18,000 Cherokee people from their southeastern lands to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, during which nearly 25 percent died from sickness, exposure, and exhaustion.

Whigs

Political party established in 1832 to combat the perceived monarchical power of Andrew Jackson; led by Henry Clay, it promoted internal improvements, high tariffs, and a national bank until fracturing over slavery in the 1850s.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Supreme Court case ruling Georgia's assertion of jurisdiction over Cherokee lands unconstitutional due to federal treaties; Andrew Jackson disregarded the judgment and proceeded with removal using military authority.

American Anti-Slavery Society

Abolitionist society established in 1833 advocating immediate, uncompensated emancipation through moral persuasion; it welcomed women into its full operations and activities.

Abby Kelley

Prominent abolitionist orator in the American Anti-Slavery Society whose 1840 election to a previously all-male business committee triggered a schism among William Lloyd Garrison's supporters and critics.

American Colonization Society

Organization established in 1817 that advocated resettling freed Black Americans in West Africa; it founded Liberia in 1827 and encouraged free African Americans to migrate there.

American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society

Moderate abolitionist organization formed in 1840 by the Tappan brothers in opposition to William Lloyd Garrison's radical platform; it supported standard political participation through the Liberty Party.

American Society for the Promotion of Temperance

The premier national temperance society, founded in 1826, that dispatched traveling agents to preach total abstinence from liquor and urged personal sobriety pledges as well as state-level prohibition laws.

Brook Farm

Utopian communal experiment founded near Boston in 1841 by transcendentalist George Ripley, emphasizing balanced physical labor and intellectual study, which folded following an 1847 fire.

Compensated Emancipation

A reform approach proposing financial compensation to slave owners for their freed slaves to reduce opposition to emancipation; occasionally practiced on small scales by purchase and liberation.

Cult of domesticity

The nineteenth-century cultural ideal maintaining that women's proper sphere was centered on home life and family, where they were expected to provide religious guidance while remaining outside commerce and politics.

Declaration of Sentiments

Manifesto adopted at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention that utilized the framework of the Declaration of Independence to demand legal, social, economic, and political rights for women, including voting rights.

Dorothea Dix

Reformer and educator who campaigned for the humane care of the mentally ill, lobbying state governments to construct dedicated mental hospitals and remove patients from county jails and almshouses.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Women's rights reformer who helped convene the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, and advocated for women's suffrage throughout the nineteenth century.

Frederick Douglass

Escaped slave and preeminent Black orator and abolitionist who established the antislavery paper The North Star and served as a leading spokesperson for civil rights until his death in 1895.

Gradual Emancipation

A policy for phasing out slavery incrementally, often by freeing children born to enslaved mothers upon attaining a specified age, as utilized by several northern states following the American Revolution.

Horace Mann

Educational reformer who served as secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, establishing lengthened school terms, teacher-training institutions, and an expanded secular public curriculum.

Liberty Party

Third-party political movement organized in 1840 to halt the spread of slavery into the territories and end slavery in Washington, D.C.; it ran James G. Birney for president before merging into the Free Soil Party in 1848.

Lucretia Mott

Quaker reformer and abolitionist who partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to organize the Seneca Falls Convention for women's rights in 1848.

Maine Law (1851)

First statewide prohibition law enacted in the United States, banning the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages except for strictly medicinal uses.

Sarah and Angelina Grimke

Sisters from a South Carolina slaveholding family who moved north to join the abolitionist and women's rights movements, lecturing and publishing widely against slavery and gender inequality.

Second Great Awakening

Wave of Protestant revivalism occurring from 1790 to 1840 emphasizing individual moral responsibility and salvation through good works, which laid the ideological foundation for antebellum social reform movements.

Susan B. Anthony

Women's suffrage activist who collaborated with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to create the National Woman Suffrage Association after the Civil War; the Nineteenth Amendment is named in her honor.

Transcendentalists

Nineteenth-century literary and philosophical thinkers who maintained that fundamental truth could be discovered through individual spiritual intuition rather than empirical observation or institutional authority.

William Lloyd Garrison

Radical antebellum abolitionist who established the antislavery journal The Liberator and helped organize the American Anti-Slavery Society to demand immediate emancipation.

Coerce

To persuade or compel an unwilling party through the application of severe intimidation, pressure, or physical force.

Judicial review

The constitutional authority of the Supreme Court to evaluate federal or state laws and executive directives to confirm their validity and compliance with the U.S. Constitution.

Nullify

To officially invalidate, overturn, or render legally void and without binding effect.