Unit 4.1-4.2: Democracy in America/Religion & Reform

Election of 1824

No one won a majority of electoral votes, so the election wen to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay urged his supporters in the House to vote for Adams. Jackson and his followers were furious and accused Adams and Clay of a "corrupt bargain." With the Democratic-Republicans split, the election ended the Era of Good Feelings.

Popular Democratic Culture

End of one-party dominance; new political parties emerged with mass campaigns, rallies, etc.

Andrew Jackson

The 7th President of the United States (1829-1837), who won the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. As president he opposed the Second Bank of the U.S., objected to the right of individual states to nullify federal laws, ordered the removal of Natives from the South, and increased presidential powers.

Era of the Common Man

Jacksonians claimed, when they had victory in the election of 1828, that America had now entered a new and better era of democracy, one for the common man (especially landless men who could now vote).

Nullification Crisis

A sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by the Ordinance of Nullification, an attempt by the state of South Carolina to nullify a federal law - the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 - passed by the United States Congress. Jackson threatened to use force to collect taxes (Force Bill). Ended with compromise Tariff of 1833.

Second Bank of the U.S.

A national bank chartered by Congress in 1816 that President Andrew Jackson opposed. He vetoed the chartering of the bank and withdrew the government's funds.

Reasons Jackson Hated the Second Bank of the U.S.

He argued it was unconstitutional, harmful to states' rights, dangerous to liberty, and favored the wealthy.

Indian Removal Act of 1830

Passed by Congress under the Jackson administration, this act removed all Indians east of the Mississippi to "Indian Territory" in order to secure fertile land for Americans in the South, especially to expand cotton plantations.

Trail of Tears

The forced removal of Cherokees from the South to "Indian Territory" in what would become Oklahoma, during which at least 4,000 natives died. It was encouraged by Andrew Jackson's policies toward natives and his disregard for Supreme Court rulings which declared Natives could not be removed by force.

Whig Party

An American political party formed in the 1830s to oppose President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats. The party was led by Henry Clay and supported a strong central government, the American System economic program, and had its supporters mostly in the North.

Democratic Party

A political party formed in the 1820s. The party was led by Andrew Jackson and supported democracy, agrarianism, and had its supporters mostly in the South and West.

Panic of 1837

Economic depression exacerbated by Andrew Jackson's economic policies, especially his killing of the Second Bank of the U.S. and refusal to accept payment for public lands with paper money.

Specie Circular (1836)

Issued by Andrew Jackson, this was meant to stop land speculation with paper money. It required public lands to be bought with hard currency (gold/silver) and ultimately led to the Panic of 1837.

Martin Van Buren

The 8th President whose one term was mired by economic depression following the Panic of 1837.

Age of Reform

From about the 1820s-1850s, an era in which the Market Revolution and Second Great Awakening led to a series of reform movements based on religion and morality (temperance, asylums, education, women's rights, abolitionism, etc.).

Second Great Awakening

A second series of religious revivals from about the 1790s-1840s. Many preachers used canals, and later railroads, to spread religious messages. It also had an effect on reform/moral movements such as prison reform, the temperance movement, and abolitionism.

Temperance Movement

An organized reform movement to ban alcohol; the largest organization of the Age of Reform was the American Temperance Society. Arguments to ban alcohol: immoral, husbands beat their wives, led to economic ruin in families.

Dorothea Dix

A reformer and pioneer in the movement to treat the insane as mentally ill, beginning in the 1820's, she was responsible for improving conditions in jails, poorhouses and insane asylums. She succeeded in persuading many states to assume responsibility for the care of the mentally ill.

Grimke Sisters

Nineteenth-century reformers Angelina and Sarah Grimke wrote and lectured vigorously on reform causes such as prison reform, the temperance movement, and especially the abolitionist movement.

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

Site of the first modern women's rights convention, and the start of the organized fight for women's rights in US history. At the gathering, Elizabeth Cady Stanton read a Declaration of Sentiments modeled on the Declaration of Independence listing the many injustices against women, and adopted eleven resolutions, one of which called for women's suffrage.

William Lloyd Garrison

A prominent white American abolitionist, journalist and social reformer. Editor of radical abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator."

Horace Mann

Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, he was a prominent proponent of public school reform, and set the standard for public schools throughout the nation.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A prominent advocate of women's rights, Stanton organized the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention with Lucretia Mott

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

(1831) The Cherokees argued that they were a seperate nation and therefore not under Georgia's jurisdiction. Marshall said they were not, but rather had "special status"

Charles C. Finney

A leading evangelist of the Second Great Awakening, he preached that each person had capacity for spiritual rebirth and salvation and that through individual effort could be saved. His concept of "utility of benevolence" proposed the reformation of society as well as of individuals.