APUSH - Unit 1 : The Young Republic

Bill of Rights

-First 10 amendments of Constitution
-Drafted by James Madison —> satisfy anti-fed. demands
-Protected individual liberties
-Reserved undelegated powers to the states (not too much power to fed. gov.)

Two visions of America: Jefferson and Hamilton

-Hamilton —> wanted commercial, industrial nation w/ strong central gov., national bank, and broad view of Constitution
-Jefferson —> favored agrarian republic of yeoman farmers, more state power, and strict view of Constitution

Washington’s Foreign Policy

-Strict neutrality, commercial relations w/o political commitments (stay out of European conflict)

-Safegaurd American independence and economic stability during French Rev.

Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793

-Declaration by G.Wash. stating that US was neutral in France and GB’s war
-Established executive right in foreign affairs and initiated American isolationism

Judiciary Act of 1789

-Organized federal judicial branch, establishing Supreme Court, 6 courts, 13 district courts, office of Attorney General

Hamilton's Financial Plan and 3 Reports

-Goal to stabilize and grow economy
-Proposed full funding of national debt, federal assumption of Rev. War debts, creation of BUS, protective tariffs, and indirect taxes on goods

Whiskey Rebellion

-Armed uprising (western PA) of farmers protesting Hamilton’s whiskey tax
-G. Wash. led militia to suppress revolt, showed power of gov. to enforce federal laws

Jay Treaty (1795)

-negotiated w GB to prevent war + address post Rev. War issues
-GB left western frontier + allowed trading rights
-impressment + illegal seizures continued —> divided Feds. & Reps. + angered France

Washington's Fairwell Address

-G.W.’s retirement address warning against domestic + foreign threats
1. permanent foreign alliances
2. political parties

XYZ Affair

-French agents (X, Y, & Z) forced bribes + loans from US diplomats before treaty negotiations
-sparked anti-French sentiment —> led to Quasi-War (undeclared)

Federalists

-Led by Alexander Hamilton + John Adams
-supported in Northeast + New England
-advocated for central gov. + loose view on Constitution + industrial economy + diplomatic ties w GB

Democratic Republicans

-Led by Thomas Jefferson + James Madison
-supported in South + West
-favored states’ rights + strict view on Constitution + agrarian economy + support Revolutionary France

Republican Motherhood

-women’s role = raising patriotic + educated republican sons
-expanded educational opportunities for women, but no political rights

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

-4 laws passed by Federalist Congress to suppress political opposition
-Longer citizenship requirements, allowed deportation, criminalized negative speech against federal officials

Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions

-Anonymous statements protesting Alien & Sedition Acts
-By James Madison + Thomas Jefferson
-Argued state right to nullify unconstitutional laws

Hartford Convention

-Secret meeting of Federalists that opposed War of 1812 & Dem. Republicans
-Drafted constitution amendments, need 2/3 congress vote to declare war + impose embargos

Election of 1800

-Election tie between Jefferson & Burr, resolved by the house (Jefferson wins)
-First peaceful transfer of power between opposing parties, prompted 12th amendment

Jefferson's Political Agenda

-Focused on reducing federal gov., repealing excise taxes (inl. whiskey), reducing military, paying national debt
-Promotes agraian “empire of liberty”

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

-Jefferson buy 828,000sq mi from Napoleon’s France for $15 mil
-Doubled size of US, secured control of Mississippi River + New Orleans
-Forced loose constitutional construction to execute purchase (against Jefferson’s values)

Hamilton-Burr Rivalry

-Political & personal feud between Hamilton + President Burr
-1804 duel in NJ, Hamilton wounded, end of Burr’s political career

Lewis and Clark

-Commissioned by Jefferson
-Tasked w exploring Louisiana Territory
-Established diplomatic contact w Natives, made detailed maps, documented resources, & strengthened claims over Oregon Country

Treaty of Greenville

-After Battle of Fallen Timbers
-Coalition of tribes ceded most of Ohio and Indiana to US gov. in exchange for goods + formal land recognition
-Opened Old Northwest to white settlement

"Western war with Eastern labels"

-Describes War of 1812
-Driven by Western expansion (Canadian land, eliminating Native resistance) while publicly justified by Eastern maritime issues (impressment)

Tecumseh and the Western Confederacy

A Pan-Native political and military alliance organized by Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa ("The Prophet") to resist white encroachment and land cessions in the Old Northwest. They allied with the British during the War of 1812.

Battle of Tippecanoe

Battle in Indiana Territory where U.S. forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison destroyed Tenskwatawa’s forces at Prophetstown. It broke Tecumseh’s Pan-Native alliance, drove Tecumseh into a formal alliance with Great Britain, and fueled Western demands for war.

“Virginia Dynasty”

Term referring to the 24-year period (1801–1825) during which three consecutive two-term U.S. presidents were Democratic-Republicans from Virginia: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.

War Hawks

A faction of young, aggressive Democratic-Republican congressmen from the South and West—led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun—who pushed for war against Great Britain in 1812 to defend national honor, annex Canada, and stop Native raids on the frontier.

War of 1812

Conflict between the U.S. and Great Britain caused by impressment, neutral trade violations, and British assistance to Native tribes. Ending in a military draw, it fostered American nationalism, stimulated domestic manufacturing, led to the collapse of the Federalist Party, and expanded westward settlement.

Battle of New Orleans (Jan., 1815)

Major American victory led by General Andrew Jackson, fought two weeks after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. It made Jackson a national war hero and created a widespread patriotic belief that the U.S. had won the War of 1812.

Treaty of Ghent (Dec., 1814)

Peace treaty that ended the War of 1812, restoring pre-war territorial boundaries (status quo ante bellum). It made no mention of impressment or neutral rights, as European peace had rendered those issues moot.

John Marshall's Supreme Court - Marshall’s Three Principles

Federal jurisprudence under Chief Justice John Marshall (1801–1835) that established judicial authority and economic nationalism based on three core tenets: (1) Judicial Supremacy and Review, (2) Federal Supremacy over State Governments, and (3) Sanctity of Private Contracts and Property Rights.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Landmark Supreme Court case in which John Marshall declared part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional, establishing the precedent of judicial review—the Supreme Court’s authority to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.

McCullough v. Maryland (1819)

Supreme Court ruling that affirmed Congress had implied powers under the "Necessary and Proper" Clause to charter the Second Bank of the U.S., and established that states could not tax federal entities ("the power to tax involves the power to destroy").

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Supreme Court ruling that broadly interpreted the Commerce Clause, establishing that federal authority over interstate commerce overrode state-granted monopolies.

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

Supreme Court decision protecting private contracts against state interference, holding that Dartmouth's royal charter was a binding contract that New Hampshire could not unilaterally alter to make the college public.

The “Era of Good Feelings”

Period coinciding with James Monroe's presidency marked by intense national pride, economic growth, and one-party political rule following the collapse of the Federalists, though masked by emerging sectional rivalries over slavery, tariffs, and internal improvements.

Monroe Doctrine

Foreign policy statement issued by James Monroe warning European powers that the Western Hemisphere was closed to future European colonization and intervention, in exchange for U.S. non-interference in European domestic affairs.

Missouri Compromise

Legislative agreement brokered by Henry Clay that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance in the U.S. Senate, while banning slavery in the Louisiana Purchase territory north of latitude $36^\circ 30'$.