U.S. History: A New Nation through the Antebellum Era

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key terms, historical debates, political parties, economic systems, and social reform movements from the Early Republic to the Antebellum era.

Temperance Movement

A social reform movement that urged individuals to abstain from alcohol.

Benevolent Empire

A network of religious campaigns and voluntary organizations dedicated to social reform.

Holiness Movement

A religious movement centered around the concepts of sanctification and perfectionism.

Charles G. Finney's Revivalism

A religious revival approach that strongly emphasized human action and choice in salvation.

Immediatism

An abolitionist concept that demanded an immediate, uncompromised end to slavery.

Declaration of Sentiments

A foundational document that laid the framework for women to secure constitutional equality and full rights as citizens.

Age of Revolution

A global political, social, and economic period that transformed politics and society, highlighted by revolutions in America, France, and Haiti.

Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (1807)

Federal legislation that officially designated the international importation of enslaved people into the United States as a federal crime.

Polygenesis Theory

A theory proposing separate origins for human races, fueling scientific and political debates over the concept of race.

Millenarianism (Amerindian Practice)

A prophetic movement and religious practice among Native Americans aimed at restoring traditional social and spiritual order.

Industrial Revolution

A period of technological innovations, such as James Watt's steam engine and the Erie Canal, which propelled urbanization, industry, transportation, and communications.

Market Revolution (Agriculture)

An economic transition that transformed subsistence farming into commercial, market-based farming.

Nativism

An ideology and political stance that favors native-born citizens over foreign immigrants.

Horace Mann

The 'Father of Education' who advocated for public schooling valuing American freedom and industrial development, inspiring foreign leaders like Domingo Faustino Sarmiento.

Alexander Hamilton's Financial Plan

An economic program that created the Bank of the United States backed by gold and silver and levied taxes, though criticized for binding wealthy interests to the federal government.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Controversial laws passed by Federalists that ignited national debates over free speech, civil liberties, and what it meant to be American.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

A landmark Supreme Court decision that formally established judicial review by declaring an act of Congress unconstitutional.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

A land deal with France that doubled the geographic size of the United States and motivated rapid westward expansion.

War of 1812

A military conflict between the United States and Britain that renewed American patriotism, encouraged expansionism, and brought about the end of the Federalist Party.

Impressment

The British practice of seizing sailors from American vessels and forcing them into naval servitude.

The Star-Spangled Banner

A patriotic poem written by Francis Scott Key while he was detained aboard a British ship during the War of 1812.

Jeffersonian Republicanism

A political philosophy emphasizing limited government, strict construction, and reducing the size and power of the federal government.

Monroe Doctrine

A cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy that echoed an assertive, Federalist-style stance against European intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

Missouri Crisis

A major sectional controversy and debate over the expansion of slavery into newly organized western territories.

Nullification Theory

A states' rights doctrine championed by John C. Calhoun asserting that individual states have the constitutional authority to ignore or void federal laws.

Whig Party

An anti-monarchical political party modeled after British opponents of the crown, primarily unified in the United States by their opposition to Andrew Jackson.

Anti-Masonic Party

A political faction fueled by the disappearance of William Morgan and popular fears that a secret society of Freemasons controlled the republic.

Trail of Tears

The forced relocation of approximately 50,000 to 60,000 Native Americans under Andrew Jackson, resulting in around 4,000 deaths and ongoing debates regarding cultural genocide.