Building a New Nation: Period 4 (1800–1848)

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering the economic, political, religious, and social developments of the United States from 1800 to 1848, including the Market Revolution, reform movements, and the conflict surrounding slavery.

Market Revolution

Nineteenth-century economic transition away from self-sufficient production to the production of goods for sale.

Lowell System

A system that combined textile production into a singular place, ending the putting-out system.

Lowell Girls

New England farm girls who worked in a textile factory in Massachusetts and lived in company-supervised boarding houses.

Commonwealth v. Hunt

Pioneering Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that declared labor unions legal.

Nativism

Fear of and opposition to immigrants.

American “Know-Nothing” Party

Third party founded in the 1850s that was anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic.

Erie Canal

Transportation route of $363\text{ miles}$ that connected the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.

Mechanical Reaper

McCormick's invention that vastly increased the productivity of the American grain farmer.

King Cotton

Southern belief that England was economically dependent on southern cotton and would thus come to their aid in war.

Gabriel's Rebellion

A plan by enslaved African American men in 1800 to destroy the system of enslavement in Virginia.

Vesey Conspiracy

A planned insurrection by enslaved individuals that led South Carolina to respond with harsher slave laws and further protect enslavement in the state.

Nat Turner Rebellion

Occurring in 1831, one of the largest rebellions by enslaved individuals, which resulted in Virginia imposing additional restrictions and harsher laws against blacks rather than ending slavery.

American Colonization Society

Organization founded in 1817 to send blacks to Africa.

David Walker

Abolitionist who wrote An Appeal to Colored Citizens of the World, calling for black unity and a fight to immediately end enslavement in the United States.

The North Star

Frederick Douglass's anti-slavery newspaper published starting in 1847 demanding an immediate, uncompensated end to enslavement.

The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison's fervent abolitionist newspaper that preached an immediate end to slavery.

Free Soil Party

Northern anti-slavery politicians who opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Cult of Domesticity

Nineteenth-century belief that women occupied a specific position as caretakers of the “private sphere” (the home).

Seneca Falls Convention

Memorable 1848 meeting where women made an appeal based on the Declaration of Independence and sought the right to vote and an end to coverture.

Oberlin College

The first institution of higher learning to open its doors to women and blacks.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival that sparked a number of reform movements as well as new churches.

Burned Over District

The region of western New York that experienced especially intense religious revival meetings.

Mormons

Religious group founded by Joseph Smith that eventually established a cooperative commonwealth in Utah.

Oneida Colony

Successful commune that manufactured stainless steel animal traps and silverware.

Shakers

Longest lasting of the utopian experiments in communal living (even though they opposed both marriage and free love).