APUSH constitution up to 1860s

Electoral College

Electoral College

rather than having voters elect a president directly, the delegates decided to assign to each state a number of electors equal to the total of the states representatives and senators

Federalists

• founded by Alexander Hamilton

• interpret the constitution loosely and create a strong central government

• pro-british

Democratic Republicans

• founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

• believed in states rights and a weak central government

• interpret the constitution strictly

• pro-french

National Bank

• Hamilton's financial program

• for federal funds and financial aid so that we wouldn't be in debt

Washington's farewell address 1796

gives a warning against the bipartisan (two-party) system

Quasi War with France

undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic

Alien and Sedition Acts

federalists enacted laws to restrict their political opponents

• Naturalization Act: changed the naturalization requirement from 5 to 14 years

• Alien Act: ability to deport "aliens" or people considered dangerous to the nation

• Sedition Act: made it illegal to criticize the president or the party

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison come together to create the resolutions as an answer to the Alien and Sedition Acts

• James Madison writes one of the resolutions

• Thomas Jefferson writes the other

War of 1812/Battle of New Orleans

caused by British trade restrictions and America's desire to expand its territory

Andrew Jackson

• (1829-1837)

  • this time period is known as the Age of the Common Man/ Era of the Jacksonian Democracy

• grew from rags to riches, empathizes with the common man

• founder of the democratic party

• 7th president

First Protective Tariff/Tariff of 1816

wanted to protect US manufacturers from competition instead of raising revenue

Nationalism

fervent belief and loyalty given to the political unit of the nation state

Sectionalism

excessive devotion to the local interests and customs of the nation

Panic of 1819

-first widespread and durable financial crisis in the US that slowed westward expansion in the Cotton Belt

• selling of land, investors were buying so much, and selling for high prices with people buying since the cotton industry was booming

• major drop in cotton prices as supply increased (the value of cotton was significantly less, 19 cents a pound)

Missouri Compromise

• very important in this time period as it maintained a balance between free states and slave states

• when this territory applied for statehood, many people wanted it to be a slave state but some people also wanted to stop the expansion of slavery

• their compromise was this: this state would be a slave state, and Maine would be a free state

• this compromise also banned any slave states north of the 36 30 parallel

Election of 1824

• there was no second political party this year

• four candidates from one party, Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William Crawford

• Jackson won the popular votes and the original electoral college votes, but due to Henry Clay's connections in the House, the electoral votes became different and John Quincy Adams became president

• this election is the only election to have the House decide before the 12th amendment

Tariff of 1828 (abominations)

• tariff used to support the purchase of domestic goods by raising the cost of imported goods

  • protected mid-Atlantic and western states (bread basket states) but not the southern states

John C. Calhoun

• former vice president during Jackson's term

• big on states rights

• argued that slavery was a symbol of the Old South

Nullification Crisis

• southern states found the tariff of 1828 an abomination

• state of SC nullifies this tariff

Whig Party

• led by henry clay

• supported a national bank, supported protective tariffs, federal spending for internal improvements concerned about crimes associated with immigrants the "rich guy" party

Henry Clay

• leads the Whig party

• known as "the Great Compromiser"

• supported the gradual emancipation of slaves-

• vice president during John Quincy Adams' term

• encouraged economic development in his time

William Lloyd Garrison

• established the first abolitionist newspaper

• believed in an immediate emancipation of slaves in a peaceful manner

• met frederck douglass, encouraged him to find his voice

The Liberator

• the first abolitionist newspaper created by Garrison in Boston, MA

• ran up to 1866

• Garrison was openly able to express his opinions, but that came at a price of death threats

Nat Turner's rebellion

• Nat Turner led a rebellion of enslaved people against harsh slave owners

• around 55-65 people were killed, 51 of them being white

• told the public that slaves were not happy with the way they were being treated

• this also made the treatment of slaves a lot worse

Alamo/Texas Independence

• Santa Anna leads the soldiers to fight a 13 day battle for independence

• the "father of this state", Sam Houston, leads his people to fight this battle

• Santa Anna is captured and about to be killed when he strikes a deal that he will make this state independent if he can leave with his life

• state of the lone star

James Polk

• 11th president of the US

• oversaw the largest territorial expansion in American history

  • expansion from Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean

"54 50 or fight"

• campaign slogan for Polk

• was a way of telling the British that the US wanted all of the Oregon Country, including as far as north as the border of Alaska

Manifest Destiny

• the idea that it is destined by God for the United States to expand its territory and spread democracy all across the North American continent

• associated with the picture

Mexican American War

• divided Americans on the issue of slavery

  • this is due to the fact that caused conversation whether slavery would spread into that area

• first battle on foreign territory

• Polk wanted to fulfill manifest destiny

• by the end of the war, Mexico loses half of its territory

Wilmot Proviso

very important congressional proposal from the 1840s that prevented the expansion of slavery

popular sovereignty

gives the residents of a territory the right to decide whether where the state they live in is a slave state or a free state

California Statehood

• This state was a part of the Mexican territory

• "Gold Rush" caused many Americans to move here for fame and fortune

• caused a need for an application for statehood

• admitted as a free state on sept 9th, 1850

Fire Eaters

proslavery southern democrats that wanted to secede

Compromise of 1850

• admitted California as a free state

• slave trade was banned in DC

• fugitive slave act was amended

• territorial government created in Utah

Fugitive Slave Act

• this act required slaves to be returned to their owners, regardless if they are in a free state

• this also required federal government to assist with slave owners find and return slaves

Harriet Beecher Stowe - Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

• a book about an enslaved man named Tom and his cruel white "master" Simon Legree

• moved a whole generation of northerners and Europeans which led to more awareness of slavery and its harsh conditions the author: "The little woman that wrote a book that caused this great war."

• northern abolitionist

Republican Party

• federalists die out in the 1800s and become the Whigs

• anti-slavery Whigs became this party in 1854

Stephen Douglas

• senator of Illinois

• designed the Kansas-Nebraska Act

• he won the election for senator of Illinois after the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858

• firm believer in popular sovereignty

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

S. Douglas wanted to build a transcontinental railroad with Chicago being the Main Terminus

• promotes western settlement southerners wanted a more southerly route in order to win the southerner's favor, he proposed to divide the Nebraska territory into Kansas and Nebraska, and offered popular sovereignty (regarding owning slaves)

• gave southerners to expand slavery above the 36 30 line (repealing the Missouri compromise)

Border Ruffians

• proslavery Missourians

• title was given by their enemies

• rushed over the border to create proslavery legislature in Lecompton, Kansas

Bleeding Kansas

• both parties (proslavery and antislavery) were trying to stake their claim on Kansas

• proslavery Missourians V New England Emigrant Aid Company (1855) new england emigrant aid company consisted of northern abolitionists and free soilers

John Brown

• radical abolitionist

• believed that violence and spurring more attention to slavery was the only way to end it

• 1856: he murders 5 proslavery settlers in Kansas during the Bleeding Kansas crisis -1859: raids harper's ferry

Lecompton and Topeka Constitutions

2 constitutions in Kansas, one being proslavery written by proslavery Missourians and the other being an antislavery constitution written by the New England Emigrant Aid Company Kansas was even more divided than before

Charles Sumner

• republican abolitionist from MA

• senator

• was caned by Preston Brooks

Brooks Sumner Affair

• caning of Charles Sumner by proslavery southern Democrat Preston Brooks

Dred Scott Case

• Dred Scott lived in Missouri, then moved to Wisconsin for two years

• he comes back to Missouri saying that he is a free man

• sues for his freedom in 1846

• supreme court decides that

  • Scott has no right to sue in a federal court as the makers of the constitution did not intend for Africans Americans to be citizens

  • Congress has no right to take away property (slaves were considered property)

  • Missouri compromise is unconstitutional as it excluded slavery in Wisconsin and other northern territories

Roger B. Taney

chief justice during the time of the Dred Scott V Sandford case

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

• catapulted Lincoln to national stage

• makes Lincoln a prominent figure but still loses his senate seat

• Lincoln asked the question to Douglas regarding how can he support popular sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision

• Douglas couldn't answer this question directly so he brings up the Freeport doctrine -this literally screws Douglas over

Harpers Ferry raid

• led by John Brown

• 16 people were killed, including 10 of Brown's men

• the raid failed because it wasn't well planned with support or backup -they weren't met with a lot of supporters