Unit 5

"New Democracy"

Jacksonian Democracy - based on universal white manhood suffrage rather than old property qualifications.

2nd Party System

Jacksonian Democrats vs. Whigs

Alexis de Tocqueville

Liberal French politician who observed the evolution of American political thought, customs and social interaction in the 1830's. His book Democracy in America is still considered one the most accurate primary sources on American culture.

American (Know-Nothing) Party

Nativist political party that opposed to all immigration and were fiercely anti-Catholic.

American Temperance Society

Protestant ministers and others concerned with the high rate of alcohol consumption (and the effects of excessive drinking) founded this society and encouraged people to completely abstain.

Andrew Jackson

President from 1829-1837. Known for: Indian removal act, nullification crisis, "Old Hickory," first southern/ western president, "President for the common man," pet banks, spoils system, specie circular, trail of tears, etc.

Anti-Masonic Party

Anti-Jackson party that was against secret societies (Free Masons) and were extremely religious.

Asylums

Places reserved to exclusively treat people with mental disorders. Usually separated from the general population.

Black Hawk War

A group of Sauk and Faux braves resisted the forced eviction of their lands under the Indian Removal Act. They were crushed in 1832 by regular troops aided by volunteers.

Book of Mormon

Joseph Smith's prophetic translation of an abridged ancient record of the Americas. It tells the sacred story of pre-Christian migrations of biblical peoples from the old worls to the Americas and, most important, Jesus Christ's establishment of his church in the Americas.

Brigham Young

A Mormon leader that led his oppressed followers to Utah in 1846. Under Young's management, his Mormon community became a prosperous frontier theocracy and a cooperative commonwealth. He became the territorial governor in 1850.

Brook Farm

Utopian society established by transcendentalist George Ripley near Boston in 1841. Members shared equally in farm work and leisure discussions of literature and art.

Burned-Over-District

area of New York State along the Erie Canal that was constantly aflame with revivalism and reform. As wave after wave to fervor broke over the region, groups such as the Mormons, Shakers, and Millerites found support among the residents.

Camp revivals

Religious conversion gatherings. Camped for several days to attend emotional meetings.

Charles Grandison Finney

American clergyman and educator, he became influential in the Second Great Awakening after a dramatic religious experience and conversion. He led long revivals that annoyed conventional ministers.

Cherokees

The Native American nation that was forced to move (on the Trail of Tears) from Georgia as a result of Jackson's policies (Indian Removal Act).

city culture

Exclusive private associations provided space and occasions for leisure apart from crowds and rowdiness. While old stock middle and upper-class Americans were isolating themselves, members of various ethnic, racial, and religious groups formed their own associations.

Common Man

The "average" American citizen, whose concerns are represented in government.

Corrupt Bargain

Refers to the presidential election of 1824 in which Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, convinced the House of Representatives to elect Adams rather than Jackson in exchange for his post as Secretary of State.

Cotton Gin

Machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers. Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793.

Cult of Domesticity

The ideology that women were home-makers and were entrusted with the power of protecting American morals and educating the next generation (Republican motherhood).

Cyrus McCormick

American inventor of the mechanical reaper.

Democratic Party

A political party formed by supporters of Andrew Jackson after the presidential election of 1824.

Dewitt Clinton

Governor of New York who began the Erie Canal project.

Divorce Bill / Independent Treasury

A bill passed by Van Buren in 1837, that divorced the government from banking altogether and established an independent treasury, so the government could lock its money in vaults in several of the larger cities.

Dorthea Dix

Dedicated her life to improving conditions for the mentally ill. Led asylum and penal reform movements.

Edgar Allan Poe

American writer known especially for his poems and short stories.

Election of 1832

Andrew Jackson (Democrat) ran for re-election with V.P. Martin Van Buren. The main platform was his veto of the recharter of the U.S. Bank, which he viewed as a monopoly.

Eli Whitney

Inventor of the cotton gin and interchangeable parts.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A pioneer in the women's suffrage movement, she helped organize the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. She later helped edit the militant feminist magazine Revolution.

Erie Canal

"Clinton's Big Ditch" that transformed transportation and economic life across the Great Lakes region from Buffalo to Chicago.

Factory System

Intensification / combination of all the processes of production at a single site during the Industrial Revolution; involved greater organization of labor and increased discipline.

Five Civilized Tribes

Collective name for the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, Chickasaws and Seminoles.

Force Bill

The Force Bill of 1833 authorized President Jackson to use the army and navy to collect duties on the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832. South Carolina's ordinance of nullification had declared these tariffs null and void, and South Carolina would not collect duties on them. The Force Act was never invoked because it was passed by Congress the same day as the Compromise Tariff of 1833, so it became unnecessary. South Carolina also nullified the Force Act.

Francis Cabot Lowell/Lowell Mills

Introduced the factory system in 1814 /

1st factory town and one of the first to hire primarily women challenging the Cult of Domesticity.

Free Incorporation Laws

First passed in NY in 1848 and enabled businessmen to create corporations without applying for individual charters from the legislature.

Henry David Thoreau

American transcendentalist who was against a government that supported slavery.

Herman Melville

American writer whose experiences at sea provided the factual basis of Moby-Dick (1851), which is considered to be among the greatest American novels.

Horace Mann

United States educator who introduced reforms that significantly altered the system of public education.

Household economy

Production of food and necessary items by a family for use in the household.

Hudson River School

A group of American painters of the mid 1800s whose works are characterized by a highly romantic treatment of landscape.

Indian Removal Act

Signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830, the law permitted the negotiation of treaties to obtain Indian lands in exchange for their relocation to what would become Oklahoma.

Indian Territory

An area to which Native Americans were moved covering what is now Oklahoma and parts of Kansas and Nebraska.

Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid growth in the use of machines in manufacturing and production that began in the mid-1700s.

Interchangeable Parts

Identical components that can be used in place of one another in manufacturing.

Isaac Singer

American inventor and manufacturer, who improved on the sewing machine. His machine fueled the ready-made clothing industry in New England.

Jackson's Mandate

His personal vendetta to end the Bank.

John C. Calhoun

South Carolina Senator - advocate for state's rights, limited government, and nullification. Aggressive anti-black spokesman.

John Deere

American blacksmith who invented the steel plow, enabling farmers to replace their oxen with horses.

John Quincy Adams

Secretary of State and, later, served as sixth president after Monroe. Author of both the Adams-Onis treaty and the Monroe Doctrine. Architect of the Corrupt Bargain.

Joseph Smith

Founded Mormonism in New York in 1830 with the guidance of an angel. 1843, Smith's announcement that God sanctioned polygamy split the Mormons and let to an uprising against Mormons in 1844; translated the Book of Mormon and died a martyr.

King Cotton

Expression used by Southerners before the Civil War to indicate economic dominance of the Southern cotton industry, and the North's need for Southern cotton.

Lancaster Turnpike

Pennsylvania turnpike, built in the 1790s, which connected Philadelphia with the rich farmlands around Lancaster. Its success stimulated the construction of other privately built and relatively short toll roads that, by the mid-1820s, connected most of the country's major cities. Prime example of an "internal improvement."

Limited Liability

A form of business ownership in which the owners are liable only up to the amount of their individual investments.

Lucretia Mott

Quaker activist in both the abolitionist and women's movements. With Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she was a principal organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.

Lyceum

A literary institution, lecture hall, or teaching place.

Maine Law of 1851

Prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. A dozen other states followed Maine's lead, though most statutes proved ineffective and were repealed within a decade.

Margaret Fuller

Social reformer, leader in women's movement and a transcendentalist. Edited "The Dial" which was the publication of the transcendentalists. It appealed to people who wanted "perfect freedom" "progress in philosophy and theology and hope that the future will not always be as the past".

Market economy

An economy in which decisions about production and consumption are made by individual producers and consumers.

Market Revolution

The combination of the transportation and industrial revolutions created a shift from a home-based, mostly agrarian economy to one based on the production, buying, and selling of goods. Created the Middle Class.

Marshall cases

A series of court cases that expanded the power of judiciary branch and established judicial review. Some of the cases are Marbury v. Madison, Gibbons v. Ogden, Dartmouth v. Woodworth, and McCullah v. Maryland.

Martin Van Buren

President from 1837-1841. Advocated lower tariffs and free trade, and by doing so maintained support of the south for the Democratic party. He succeeded in setting up a system of bonds for the national debt.

Mary Lyon

Founded the first college for women, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary

Maysville Road

A veto by Jackson that prevented the Maysville road from being funded by federal money since it only benefited Kentucky. This was a blow to Clay's American System, and it irritated the West.

moral free agent

An individual's ability to make moral judgments based on some commonly held notion of right and wrong and to be held accountable for these actions.

Moral Suasion

The effort to move others to a particular course of action through appeals to moral values and beliefs, without the use of enticements or force.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

American transcendentalist (and later Romantic) author.

national culture

The set of values that a society considers important and the norms of behavior that are approved or sanctioned in that society.

Neil S. Dow

Nicknamed, the "Napoleon of Temperance" and the "Father of Prohibition," he was mayor of Portland, Maine, as well as a General in the Union Army during the Civil War. He sponsored the "Maine law of 1851."

Nicholas Biddle

President of the Second Bank of the United States; he struggled to keep the bank functioning when President Jackson tried to destroy it.

Noah Webster

American writer who wrote textbooks to help the advancement of education. He also wrote a dictionary which helped standardize the American language.

nullies

Group under Jackson's Presidency that tried to muster the necessary 2/3 vote for nullification of the Tariff of 1828 in South Carolina legislature.

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 tariff of 1828 - passed by the United States Congress.

Oberlin College

First college to teach women and African Americans.

Oneida Community

A group of socio-religious perfectionists who lived in New York. Practiced polygamy, communal property, and communal raising of children.

A more radical experiment, it practiced free love and sharing of everything.

Panic of 1837

When Jackson was president, many state banks received government money that had been withdrawn from the Bank of the U.S. These banks issued paper money and financed wild speculation, especially in federal lands. Jackson issued the Specie Circular to force the payment for federal lands with gold or silver. Many state banks collapsed as a result. A panic ensued (1837). As the Bank of the U.S. failed, cotton prices fell, businesses went bankrupt, and there was widespread unemployment.

parochial schools

Schools associated with a church, usually Roman Catholic. The funding of these schools became a major political issue in the 1850s.

Penitentiaries

New prisons built in Pennsylvania that experimented with the technique of placing prisoners in solitary confinement in an effort to encourage repentance. These experiments were dropped because of the high suicide rate.

perfectionism

Due to the new liberal movements and religious fervor, many Americans believed that perfection was attainable. Therefore, a series of movements took place to perfect society, such as prison reform, temperance, etc.

Pet Banks

A term used by Jackson's opponents to describe the state banks that the federal government used for new revenue deposits in an attempt to destroy the Second Bank of the United States. The practice continued after the charter for the Second Bank expired in 1836. Pet Banks did NOT solve the corruption and issues with abusive power that Jackson detested in the B.O.T.U.S.

postmillenialism

The belief that an actual kingdom of God exists on earth before Christ's second coming.

Potato Famine

Famine in Ireland caused by potato blight. Because most of the population in Ireland relied solely on potatoes as their food source, 1 million people died as a result of this famine and another million emigrated to the United States.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

American transcendentalist who was against slavery and stressed self-reliance, optimism, self-improvement, self-confidence, and freedom.

reform spirit

Indicative of a restless, expansive community of people. Includes the idea that change is always better and was a major influence from the Great Awakening, which promised the possibility of vast improvement.

Revolution of 1828

Jackson's election showed a shift of political power to "the common man" after Quincy Adams (1828).

Robert Fulton

Inventor (perfecter) of the steamboat.

Romantics

Followers of the romantic movement, an artistic and intellectual movement from late eighteenth-century western Europe that stressed human emotion, imagination, and nature.

Samuel F. B. Morse

Invented the telegraph which allowed faster communication over longer distances. Also developed Morse code.

Samuel Slater

Brought the factory system from England. Known as Slater the Traitor in London due to the fact that the schematics for the machines were proprietary.

Sarah and Angelina Grimke

Quaker sisters from South Carolina who came north and became active in the abolitionist and suffrage movements.

SC Exposition and Protest

Was a protest written against the Tariff of 1828, written by John C. Calhoun. The document stated that if the tariff was not repealed, South Carolina would secede. It stated also Calhoun's Doctrine of nullification.

scientific sexism

The ideas that women are physically and intellectually inferior and that women should just channel their energies into reproduction.

Second Great Awakening

A second religious fervor that swept the nation. It converted more than the first but also had an effect on social movements such as prison reform, the temperance movement, and moral reasoning against slavery.

Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments

A declaration written (and modelled after the Declaration of Independence) at the first women's rights convention that stated "all men and women are created equal." It also listed many items that the signers believed were injustices perpetrated by "man" towards women.

separate spheres

Nineteenth-century idea in Western societies that men and women, especially of the middle class, should have different roles in society: women as wives, mothers, and homemakers and men as breadwinners and participants in business and politics.

Shakers

A millennial group who believed in both Jesus and a mystic named Ann Lee. Since they were celibate and could only increase their numbers through recruitment and conversion, they eventually ceased to exist.

Sojourner Truth

United States abolitionist and feminist who was freed from slavery and became a leading advocate of the abolition of slavery and for the rights of women.

Specie Circular

A mandate by Jackson that required all public lands to be purchased with "hard" or metallic money. Contributed to the Panic of 1837.