Dual Enrollment Unit 5 Vocabulary

Alien and Sedition Acts

Four measures passed in 1798 during the undeclared war with France that limited the freedoms of speech and press and restricted the liberty of noncitizens.

Bank of the United States

Proposed by the first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, this opened in 1791 and operated until 1811 to issue a uniform currency, make business loans, and collect tax monies.

Democratic-Republicans

Led by Thomas Jefferson, believed people should have political power, favored strong STATE governments, emphasized agriculture, strict interpretation of the Constitution, pro-French, opposed National Bank

Embargo Act

Attempt in 1807 to exert economic pressure by prohibiting all exports from the United States, instead of waging war in reaction to continued British impressment of American sailors; smugglers easily circumvented the embargo, and it was repealed two years later.

Federalists

Party of Hamilton / Washington; favored storng central government, manufacturing, pro-British, loose reading of constitution

Jay's Treaty

Treaty with Britain negotiated in 1794; hated by Democratic-Repuplicans because of its pro-British nature

Lewis and Clark Expedition

a mission to the Pacific coast commissioned for the purposes of scientific and geographical exploration.

Louisiana Purchase

President Thomas Jefferson's 1803 purchase from France of the important port of New Orleans and 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains; it more than doubled the territory of the United States at a cost of only $15 million.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

First U.S. Supreme Court decision to declare a federal law — the Judiciary Act of 1789 — unconstitutional.

Revolution of 1800

First time that an American political party surrendered power to the opposition party; Jefferson, a Republican, had defeated incumbent Adams, a Federalist, for president.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Legislation passed in 1798 and 1799 by two state legislatures; written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, the resolutions advanced the state-compact theory of the Constitution. Virginia's resolution called on the federal courts to protect free speech. Jefferson's draft for Kentucky stated that a state could nullify federal law, but this was deleted.

Whiskey Rebellion

Violent protest by western Pennsylvania farmers against the federal excise tax in 1794.

XYZ Affair

Affair in which French foreign minister Talleyrand's three anonymous agents demanded payments to stop French plundering of American ships in 1797; refusal to pay the bribe was followed by two years of undeclared sea war with France (1798-1800).

Adams-Onis Treaty

an 1819 agreement in which Spain gave over control of the territory of Florida to the United States and the western boundary of the LA Purchase was firmed up

American System

Program of internal improvements and protective tariffs promoted by Speaker of the House Henry Clay in his presidential campaign of 1824; his proposals formed the core of Whig ideology in the 1830s and 1840s.

Battle of New Orleans

Last battle of the War of 1812, fought on January 8, 1815, weeks after the peace treaty was signed but prior to the news' reaching America; General Andrew Jackson led the victorious American troops.

Era of Good Feelings

Contemporary characterization of the administration of popular Republican president James Monroe, 1817-1825. One party rule...a time of national pride.

Fort McHenry

Fort in Baltimore Harbor unsuccessfully bombarded by the British in September 1814; Francis Scott Key, a witness to the battle, was moved to write the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Hartford Convention

Meeting of Federalists near the end of the War of 1812 to protest the War of 1812; proposed several constitutional amendments; war ended before Congress could respond; the meeting made the Federalists look traitorous.

McMulloch v. Maryland (1819)

1819 US Supreme Court decision in which Chief Justice John Marshall, holding that Maryland could mnot tax the national bank, supported the authority of the federal government over the states.

Monroe Doctrine

President James Monroe's declaration in 1823 that the Western Hemisphere was no longer open to European colonization, and that the US would not interfere in European affairs.

Tecumsah

a Native American leader of the Shawnee who led a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and became an ally of Britain in the War of 1812.

War of 1812

War fought with Britain, 1812-1814, over issues that included impressment of American sailors, interference with shipping, and collusion with Northwest Territory Indians; settled by the Treaty of Ghent in 1814.

Judicial Review

The right of the Supreme Court to declare whether an act of Congress is constitutional or not

Flecther v Peck (1810)

Established firmer protection for private property and asserted the right of the Supreme Court to invalidate state laws in conflict with the federal Constitution.

John Marshall

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court appointed by John Adams. He was a Federalist whose decisions tended to strenghten the power of the national government.

strict constructionist

a person who interprets the Constitution in a way that allows the federal government to take only those actions the Constitution specifically says it can take

loose constructionist

A person who interprets the Constitution in a way that allows the federal government to take actions that the constitution does not specifically forbid it from taking