APUSH unit 4 terms b

John C. Calhoun

Southern politician and vice president who supported states’ rights, nullification, and slavery, arguing it was a “positive good”; a leading voice for the South before the Civil War.

Henry Clay

Kentucky senator and statesman known as the “Great Compromiser” for helping craft the Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850; promoted the American System to strengthen the U.S. economy.

Nullification Crisis

A conflict in the early 1830s between South Carolina and the federal government over tariffs, where South Carolina claimed states could nullify federal laws; tested the balance between states’ rights and federal authority.

Martin Van Buren

Eighth President of the United States and a key organizer of the Democratic Party; his presidency was weakened by the Panic of 1837, a major economic depression.

Commonwealth vs. Hunt (1842)

Massachusetts Supreme Court case that ruled labor unions were legal and that workers could strike and organize to improve conditions, helping legitimize the labor movement.

Cult of Domesticity 

19th-century belief that women’s proper role was in the home, focusing on piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity; reinforced traditional gender roles during the market revolution.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

A slave uprising in Virginia led by Nat Turner, resulting in the deaths of about 60 whites; it led to harsher slave lawsand increased Southern fear of slave revolts.

Transcendentalism

A philosophical and literary movement of the 1830s–1840s that emphasized individual intuition, self-reliance, and the spiritual connection between humans and nature; associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Free Soil Party

Political party formed in 1848 that opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories, arguing that free men on free soil created a morally and economically superior system to slavery.

Second Great Awakening

A religious revival movement in the early 19th century that emphasized individual salvation, emotional preaching, and moral reform; it inspired movements like abolitionism, temperance, and women’s rights.

Tariff of Abomination

A high protective tariff that favored Northern industries but angered the South, leading to the Nullification Crisis as Southerners claimed it was unconstitutional and unfair to their economy.

Worcester vs. Georgia (1832)

Supreme Court case that ruled the Cherokee Nation was a distinct political community, meaning Georgia laws had no authority there; President Andrew Jackson ignored the ruling, leading to the Trail of Tears.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Law signed by Andrew Jackson that authorized the forced relocation of Native American tribes east of the Mississippi River to lands in the West, leading to the Trail of Tears.

Black Hawk War

Conflict in which Native Americans led by Chief Black Hawk tried to reclaim lands in Illinois and Wisconsin; ended with a U.S. victory and the forced removal of Native tribes from the region.

Charles Finney

Influential preacher of the Second Great Awakening who emphasized individual salvation, emotional conversion, and social reform, helping spark movements like abolitionism and temperance.

Horace Mann

Education reformer who advocated for public (common) schools, trained teachers, and standardized education, helping to make free public education a key part of American society.

Temperance Crusade

19th-century movement to reduce or ban alcohol consumption, driven by religious and moral reformers who linked drinking to social problems; led to the growth of temperance societies and later Prohibition efforts.

Dorothea Dix

Social reformer who campaigned for better treatment of the mentally ill and helped establish state mental hospitals, becoming a key figure in the prison and asylum reform movement of the 19th century.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first women’s rights convention in the United States, held in Seneca Falls, New York; produced the Declaration of Sentiments, calling for equal rights and suffrage for women.

Trail of Tears

The forced relocation of Native American tribes, especially the Cherokee, from their ancestral lands in the Southeast to Indian Territory (Oklahoma); thousands died from disease, starvation, and exposure.

Whig Party

Political party active in the 1830s–1850s that opposed Andrew Jackson and the Democrats; supported a strong Congress, modernization, economic development, and the American System.

Panic of 1837

A major economic depression triggered by bank failures, speculative lending, and Andrew Jackson’s financial policies; led to widespread unemployment, bankruptcies, and a collapse in the economy during Martin Van Buren’s presidency.

Know-Nothing Party

Nativist political party of the 1850s officially called the American Party; opposed immigration and Catholic influence, promoting native-born Protestant interests.

William Lloyd Garrison

Radical abolitionist and publisher of The Liberator who advocated for the immediate emancipation of all enslaved people and promoted equal rights.

Sojourner Truth

African American abolitionist and women’s rights activist who escaped slavery; famous for her speeches, including “Ain’t I a Woman?”, advocating freedom and equality.

Frederick Douglass

Former enslaved African American who became a leading abolitionist, writer, and speaker; published The North Star and advocated for freedom, equality, and civil rights.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), a novel that exposed the brutality of slavery and fueled abolitionist sentiment in the North.