Foundations of US History: Colonization to Manifest Destiny

Vocabulary terms and historical concepts covering United States history from early colonization through the era of Manifest Destiny.

God, Gold, and Glory

The three powerful motives that drove the Age of Exploration.

Columbian Exchange

The unprecedented global transfer of goods between the Old and New Worlds triggered by the Age of Exploration.

Mercantilism

An economic system where colonies exist solely to generate profit for a mother country by producing raw materials.

Battle of Saratoga

The critical turning point of the Revolutionary War that shifted the conflict in favor of America.

Laissez-Faire

Thomas Jefferson’s "hands-off" or "lazy" government philosophy regarding economic and governmental intervention.

Judicial Review

The Supreme Court's power to declare laws unconstitutional, establishing profound checks and balances within the government.

Strict constructionist

A political philosophy, famously held by Thomas Jefferson, that the government can only do what the Constitution explicitly permits.

Louisiana Purchase

A land acquisition that doubled the size of the country but required a loose interpretation of the Constitution, contradicting Jefferson’s strict political views.

Monroe Doctrine

An policy established in $1823$ that warned European nations there would be no more colonization in the Americas.

Cotton gin

An invention that triggered a staggering rise in cotton production and a tragic increase in the enslaved population in the South.

Factory girls in Lowell

Women in Massachusetts who sought grueling factory work to earn independent money and attend educational lectures.

Erie Canal

An infrastructure project that revolutionized trade by linking western farmers to markets in New York City.

Battle of New Orleans

An event during the War of $1812$ that made Andrew Jackson a national hero and fueled his path to the presidency.

Election of 1824

The presidential election where Andrew Jackson was defeated because he did not win the majority of electoral votes, throwing the decision to the House of Representatives.

Spoils system

The controversial practice of rewarding loyal political supporters with government jobs, regardless of qualification.

King Andrew

A political cartoon depicting Jackson as a monarch to criticize his unprecedented expansion of presidential veto power.

National Bank Veto

Andrew Jackson’s destruction of the national bank because he believed it favored the wealthy elite over the common man.

Panic of 1837

The systemic fallout and crippling national economic depression triggered by the destruction of the National Bank.

Worcester v. Georgia

A landmark Supreme Court case that ruled in favor of Cherokee sovereignty, which Andrew Jackson blatantly ignored.

Trail of Tears

The horrific forced relocation of the Cherokee people across a $2,000\,\text{mi}$ journey.

Manifest Destiny

The deeply ingrained belief that it was America's job and fate to expand civilization westward to the Pacific Ocean.

Mountain men

Explorers who paved the way for westward expansion by mapping rugged trails and harvesting pelts.

Oregon fever

A massive wave of westward migration driven by economic desperation following the Panic of $1837$.

James Cape Polk

The President who actively used the ideology of manifest destiny to justify war with Mexico.

Plucked eagle

A political cartoon representing Mexico after being stripped of its northern territories following the Mexican-American War.

1849 Gold Rush

A rapid population spike in California following the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill.

Compromise of 1850

An agreement that allowed California to enter the Union as a free state.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

Legislation established to maintain the balance of representation in Congress between slave and free states.