Early American History: Federal Power, Economic Growth, and Social Reform

Vocabulary flashcards covering presidential administrations, industrialization, economic programs, Jacksonian democracy, the Second Great Awakening, and reform movements.

Strict Construction

The political belief that the federal government can only exercise powers explicitly written in the Constitution.

Loose Construction

The belief that the Constitution gives the federal government implied powers through the Elastic Clause to pass laws that are necessary and proper.

Impressment

The practice by the British Navy of boarding American merchant ships to forcibly take sailors and compel them into British military service.

Embargo Act

A trade ban enacted under President Thomas Jefferson that stopped American ships from trading with foreign ports to avoid war and punish European interference.

Louisiana Purchase

The 1803 acquisition of 875,000 square miles of land from Napoleonic France for $15\text{ million}$, doubling the geographic size of the United States.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

A government-funded military exploration authorized by Thomas Jefferson to map the western territory and secure a path to the Pacific Ocean.

Haitian Revolution

A successful slave rebellion in Haiti that ruined France's military budget, leading Napoleon to sell the Louisiana territory to the United States.

Whiskey Rebellion

A 1794 uprising suppressed by President George Washington using state militias, demonstrating federal authority under the Constitution.

Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

Controversial laws passed during John Adams's administration that extended residency requirements, authorized immigrant deportation, and criminalized anti-government speech.

Election of 1800

The presidential election in which Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams, establishing a peaceful transition of political power without civil conflict.

War of 1812

A conflict fought against Great Britain over trade restrictions and impressment, which stimulated domestic American manufacturing and national unity.

Era of Good Feelings

A period of national pride and political unity under the Democratic-Republicans during James Monroe's presidency following the collapse of the Federalist Party.

Monroe Doctrine

An 1823 foreign policy declaration by James Monroe warning European powers that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further colonization or interference.

Henry Clay

A Kentucky politician, leader of the Whig Party, and champion of the American System who advocated for government-funded infrastructure and active economic development.

American System

Henry Clay's economic plan featuring protective tariffs on imports, federal funding for roads and canals, and a centralized national bank.

Water-Powered Mills

Early industrial structures utilizing fast-moving rivers to turn water wheels that generated mechanical power for manufacturing equipment like textile looms.

Water-Powered Mills

Early industrial structures utilizing fast-moving rivers to turn water wheels that generated mechanical power for manufacturing equipment like textile looms.

Erie Canal

A transportation canal completed in 1825 that connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, linking western farmers directly to eastern shipping ports in New York City.

Nullification Crisis

A confrontation in 1832–1833 triggered by the Tariff of 1828 in which South Carolina declared federal tariffs null and void within state borders.

Indian Removal Act

An 1830 law signed by Andrew Jackson authorizing the forced displacement of the Five Civilized Tribes from their eastern lands to western territory.

Worcester v. Georgia

A legal ruling in which the Supreme Court decided Georgia could not violate Cherokee sovereignty, which Andrew Jackson famously refused to enforce.

Trail of Tears

The forced march of Native Americans from their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi to western Indian Territory, causing thousands of death.

Trail of Tears

The forced march of Native Americans from their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi to western Indian Territory, causing thousands of death.

Second Great Awakening

A widespread religious revival during the 1820s and 1830s that emphasized moral agency, individual choice, and perfectionism to improve society.

Temperance Movement

A reform effort aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and promoting total abstinence to prevent domestic issues, poverty, and violence.

Common School Movement

An educational reform spearheaded by Horace Mann in Massachusetts to establish tax-supported, free public schools administered by local systems.

Seneca Falls Convention

An 1848 women's rights meeting in New York organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton that launched the demand for female suffrage.

Declaration of Sentiments

A document written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton modeled on the Declaration of Independence that demanded legal equality and voting rights for women.

Nat Turner's Rebellion

An 1831 uprising led by an enslaved preacher in Virginia that killed approximately 60 white people, resulting in stricter Southern laws restricting Black individuals.

Frederick Douglass

An escaped enslaved man who became a prominent abolitionist orator and writer, publishing the antislavery newspaper The North Star.

Sarah and Angelina Grimké

Sisters from a slaveholding South Carolina family who became vocal abolitionist speakers after witnessing the realities of slavery.

American Colonization Society

An organization founded in 1818 advocating for freeing enslaved people and assisting their relocation to Africa, specifically the colony of Liberia.

American Anti-Slavery Society

An abolitionist group formed in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison that called for immediate, uncompensated emancipation of all enslaved people.

Liberty Party

A political party formed to fight against slavery through direct political action.