Early Republic, War of 1812, Jacksonian Democracy, and Western Expansion

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering early United States history from the 1790s Federalists and Republicans through the War of 1812, Market Revolution, Jacksonian Democracy, and Manifest Destiny expansionism.

Federalists (Late 1790s)

A political faction led by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams that supported a strong central government and executive branch, pro-British foreign policy, Hamilton's financial programs, social hierarchy based on a "Natural Aristocracy," and the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Republicans (Late 1790s)

A political faction led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison that advocated for limited central government, strict construction of the Constitution, pro-French foreign policy, democracy for white men, and opposition to Hamilton's economic policies and the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

An uprising by western Pennsylvania farmers opposing an unpopular $25\%$ excise tax on whiskey, serving as the first major domestic test of authority for the newly established federal government.

Treaty of Greenville (1795)

A peace agreement concluded after the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers in which Native American tribes in Ohio ceded territory to the United States in exchange for $\$25{,}000$ in trade goods.

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Federalist legislation passed during the undeclared naval war with France that lengthened the naturalization waiting period from $5$ to $14$ years, empowered the president to deport foreign nationals during wartime, and established criminal penalties for criticizing the president or Congress.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Republican political statements authored in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts declaring that individual states possess the authority to nullify unconstitutional federal statutes.

Gabriel Prossor Conspiracy (1800)

A planned slave uprising in Virginia inspired by biblical teachings and the rhetoric of the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions; the conspiracy to march on Richmond and capture the governor was betrayed, leading to the execution of $27$ Black men.

Midnight Judges

Federalist judicial officers appointed by President John Adams in 1801 during his final days in office to secure Federalist influence over the federal judiciary prior to Thomas Jefferson taking the presidency.

Judicial Review

The legal doctrine established in Marbury v. Madison (1803) affirming the Supreme Court's authority to nullify acts of Congress deemed inconsistent with the United States Constitution.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France during Thomas Jefferson's presidency for $\$15\text{ million}$, effectively doubling the geographic territory of the United States.

Impressment

The coercive British naval practice of capturing and kidnapping American sailors to force them into service aboard Royal Navy warships during the Napoleonic Wars.

Embargo Act of 1807

An economic policy of "Peaceful Coercion" enacted under Thomas Jefferson that prohibited all American exports to foreign nations and banned British imports, causing severe economic depression for American farmers and New England maritime commerce.

Feme Covert

A legal common-law doctrine meaning "covered woman" under which a married woman's civic and legal status was subsumed by that of her husband.

Tecumseh

A Shawnee leader who attempted to establish a pan-Indian confederacy to halt United States territorial expansion onto Native American lands.

War Hawks (1810)

A cohort of congressional Republicans, led by Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who urged military action against Great Britain to defend national honor, protect shipping, halt British inciting of Indians along the Great Lakes, and annex Canada.

Treaty of Ghent (1814)

The agreement terminating the War of 1812 under the principle of Status Quo Antebellum, returning relations to their prewar baseline without designating a winner or loser.

Battle of New Orleans (1815)

A decisive American military victory over Great Britain fought after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, which elevated General Andrew Jackson to national heroism and caused domestic confidence to surge.

Era of Good Feelings (1816–1824)

A historical period following the demise of the Federalist Party during which the Republican Party functioned as the sole dominant national party, marked by growing internal political fractures and the expansion of democracy exclusively for white men.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

A sectional agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while prohibiting the spread of slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase territory north of the $36^\circ 30'$ parallel.

Market Revolution (1815–1840s)

A transformation of the American economy defined by advancements in transportation, commercial cash-crop farming, factory production, wage labor, pro-entrepreneur legal structures, bank expansion, and cyclical economic booms and busts.

Erie Canal (1825)

A major man-made waterway connecting New York City to Lake Erie, spurring mass migration to the Great Lakes and establishing New York City as the nation's primary economic center.

Lowell Textile Mills

Massachusetts manufacturing facilities that employed approximately $5{,}000$ young women and girls by 1830 at wages of \2\text{--}\$3$ for a $70$-hour week; worker walkouts in 1834 and 1836 caused mill management to substitute female native labor with immigrant workers.

Separate Spheres

A nineteenth-century ideology assigning distinct domestic and civic functions based on gender: men occupied the public sphere of business and politics as breadwinners, while women oversaw the domestic sphere as homemakers and mothers.

Corrupt Bargain

Andrew Jackson's accusation regarding the outcome of the 1824 presidential election, wherein the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after Speaker Henry Clay endorsed Adams.

Spoils System

The political convention implemented by Andrew Jackson following his 1828 presidential victory that rewarded partisan supporters with government administrative appointments.

Indian Removal Act of 1830

Federal legislation mandating the relocation of eastern Native American populations to territories situated west of the Mississippi River.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

A Supreme Court decision affirming the territorial sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation against state encroachment; Georgia and President Andrew Jackson disregarded the ruling, allowing state removal policies to proceed.

Trail of Tears (1838)

The forced $1{,}200$-mile expulsion march of the Cherokee Nation to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, during which more than $25\%$ of the population perished.

Nullification Crisis (1832–1833)

A constitutional crisis triggered when South Carolina nullified the federal Tariff of 1828; it concluded after Congress passed a compromise tariff and the Force Bill, both of which South Carolina accepted while symbolically nullifying the Force Bill.

Bank War

The political conflict between President Andrew Jackson and supporters of the Second Bank of the United States, marked by Jackson's 1832 recharter veto and his subsequent withdrawal of federal deposits to place in state institutions.

Second Political Party System

The national party framework active from the 1830s through the 1850s composed of the Democrats, who supported Jacksonian policies, and the Whigs, who formed to oppose them.

Manifest Destiny

The expansionist doctrine formulated by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845 claiming that Providence had allocated the North American continent for the United States to develop and overspread in the name of liberty and self-government.

Mormon Exodus (1846–1847)

The mass migration of roughly $12{,}000$ Latter-day Saints led by Brigham Young to the Great Salt Lake valley in Utah to escape persecution.

Lone Star Republic (1836–1845)

The independent state established by American settlers following their successful 1835–1836 revolt against Mexican authority, maintaining unrecognized independence until admitted as the 28th U.S. state in 1845.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

The treaty ending the Mexican-American War in which Mexico surrendered $525{,}000\text{ square miles}$ of land to the United States in exchange for a payment of $\$15\text{ million}$.

California Gold Rush

The rapid influx of tens of thousands of migrants into California that began in 1849 following the initial discovery of gold in 1848.