Unit 3: Westward Expansion

Vocabulary flashcards covering the major political, social, and territorial developments of Unit 3: Westward Expansion in the 1800s.

Sectionalism

The growth of divisions between the North and South, primarily focused on the issue of whether to allow slavery in the new territories of the United States.

Missouri Compromise

A legislative agreement where Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine entered as a free state; it dictated that all states north of $36^{\circ} 30'$ would be free territories.

Corrupt Bargain

The nickname for the Election of 1824 in which Henry Clay chose John Quincy Adams as President in exchange for a Cabinet position, despite Andrew Jackson winning the popular vote.

Andrew Jackson

The 7th President of the United States, elected in 1828, known as the "People's President" or "Man of the Common People" for his opposition to the political elite.

Spoils system

A practice under Andrew Jackson of giving government jobs to political supporters.

Indian Removal Act

An 1830 law signed by Jackson that relocated eastern Indians west of the Mississippi River, resulting in the eviction of about $100,000$ Native Americans.

Trail of Tears

The forced trek of the Cherokee in 1838-39 where up to $25\%$ of the Indians died while being moved westward.

Bank of the U.S. Veto

Action taken by Andrew Jackson, who viewed the national bank as a privileged institution and the enemy of the common people.

Nullification Crisis

An 1832 conflict where South Carolina declared federal tariffs null and void; Jackson obtained authority to use armed forces to enforce federal laws before South Carolina backed down.

Worcester v. Georgia

Supreme Court ruling that the Cherokee nation was a "distinct community" with self-government where Georgia laws had no force, establishing federal authority in Indian affairs.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that God had given the United States the right to expand its territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

A massive land acquisition from France by Thomas Jefferson that doubled the size of the U.S. and provided control of the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans.

Texas Annexation (1845)

The process by which Texas, after breaking away from Mexico, was added to the United States.

The Mexican Cession (1848)

Territory including modern-day California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada that Mexico was forced to give up after losing the Mexican-American War.

Industrial/Market Revolution

A period in the mid-1800s where the US economy shifted from self-sufficient farming toward urban industrial employment in the North and increased reliance on slave labor in the South.

Seneca Falls Convention

A meeting in upstate New York led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton to advocate for women's property, legal, and voting rights.

Declaration of Sentiments

A document from the Seneca Falls Convention stating that "all men AND women are created equal."

Frederick Douglass

A former slave who became a leading abolitionist.

Dorothea Dix

A reformer dedicated to improving conditions for the mentally ill and establishing hospitals.

Horace Mann

A leader in the Common School Movement who campaigned for public education as the bedrock of democracy.

Women's Christian Temperance Union

An organization that worked to end the consumption of alcohol.

Homestead Act

An 1862 law that allowed U.S. citizens to file for $\text{160 acres}$ of free land in the west to settle and farm.

Dawes Act

A law allowing the federal government to divide Native American reservations into small pieces for individual ownership to encourage assimilation into white society.

California Gold Rush of 1849

A period when a massive influx of people seeking gold reinvigorated the economy and led California rapidly to statehood.

Compromise of 1850

Legislation that admitted California as a free state, established popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession, outlawed the slave trade in DC, and passed a Fugitive Slave Law.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

An act that repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed the issue of slavery in new territories to be decided by popular sovereignty.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A Supreme Court decision ruling that enslaved people were property, not citizens, and could not sue in federal court.

John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

An attempt by abolitionist John Brown to start an armed revolt of enslaved people by attacking a federal armory in Virginia.

Election of 1860

The election of Abraham Lincoln, which confirmed deep divisions over slavery and states' rights, leading $11$ Southern states to secede from the Union.