American Expansion and Change Quiz Review

Flashcards to review key terms and concepts related to Territorial Expansion, The Age of Jackson, and The Worlds of North and South.

What is Manifest Destiny?

The belief that the United States was destined to expand across North America.

What does Cession mean in the context of territorial expansion?

The formal giving up of rights, property, or territory, especially by a state.

What is Annexation?

The incorporation of a territory into an existing political entity such as a country or state.

What was the Indian Removal Act?

A law passed in 1830 that authorized the forced removal of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi River.

What was the Trail of Tears?

The forced relocation of Native American tribes, particularly the Cherokee, from their homelands in the southeastern United States to the West, resulting in significant hardship and death.

What was the Tariff of Abominations?

A protective tariff passed in 1828 that was designed to protect industry in the northern United States, but which harmed the South by increasing the cost of manufactured goods.

What was the Nullification Crisis?

A sectional crisis in the United States during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, which involved a confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government over the state's attempt to declare the federal tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void within the state.

What was the significance of the term 'America's breadbasket'?

Refers to the North's agricultural production, especially of grains.

What is a Reaper?

A mechanical device used for harvesting crops.

What is a Plantation?

A large-scale agricultural estate, typically found in the South, specializing in cash crops such as cotton or tobacco and often relying on enslaved labor.

What is a Cotton Gin?

A machine for separating cotton from its seeds.

Who was Eli Whitney?

The inventor of the cotton gin.

What was the National Road?

A significant early road in the United States that facilitated westward expansion, and also was the first highway.

What was the Erie Canal?

A canal in New York that connected the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River.