Hist Exam 2

1. Voluntary Associations

During his visit in the early 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville noted how in the absence of a powerful national government, Americans’ political and social activities were organized through voluntary associations—churches, fraternal orders, political clubs, and the like. The reform impulse was part of this proliferation of voluntary groups.

2. Battle of New Orleans

Last battle of the War of 1812, fought on January 8, 1815, weeks after the peace treaty was signed but prior to the news reaching America; General Andrew Jackson led the victorious American troops.

3. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Legislation passed in 1798 and 1799 by the Virginia and the Kentucky legislatures; written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, the resolutions advanced the state-compact theory of the Constitution. Virginia’s resolution called on the federal courts to protect free speech. Jefferson’s draft for Kentucky stated that a state could nullify federal law, but this was deleted.

4. Hartford Convention

Meeting of New England Federalists on December 15, 1814, to protest the War of 1812; proposed seven constitutional amendments (limiting embargoes and changing requirements for officeholding, declaration of war, and admission of new states), but the war ended before Congress could respond.

5. Corrupt Bargain

A political deal made during the 1824 presidential election controversy, where John Quincy Adams allegedly promised Henry Clay a position as Secretary of State in exchange for his support, leading to accusations of a fraudulent agreement.

6. Democrats and Whigs

Two major political parties in 19th century America, with Democrats advocating for agrarian interests and states' rights, while Whigs supported a strong federal government, economic modernization, and infrastructure development.

7. Bonus Bill

proposed using the "bonus" (revenue) from the Second Bank of the United States, as well as future dividends, to fund internal improvements like roads and canals. President James Madison vetoed the bill, arguing it was unconstitutional to allocate funds for these projects without a specific authorization in the Constitution. 

8. Alien and Sedition Acts

Four measures passed in 1798 during the undeclared war with France that limited the freedoms of speech and press and restricted the liberty of noncitizens.

9. War Hawks

Members of Congress in the early 19th century who aggressively promoted war, especially in the context of the War of 1812, advocating for military action against Britain, protecting americas honor.

10. Adams-Onís Treaty

Spain, aware that it could not defend the territory, sold it to the United States. A treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the US.

11. Negative Liberty

A political theory emphasizing freedom from interference by others, ensuring individuals have the right to act according to their own will as long as it does not infringe on others' rights.

12. Louisiana Purchase

President Thomas Jefferson’s 1803 purchase from France of the important port of New Orleans and 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. In theory, it more than doubled the territory of the United States at a cost of only $15 million; in reality it was still the land of multiple Native nations.

13. Era of Good Feelings

Contemporary characterization of the administration of popular Republican president James Monroe, 1817–1825.

14. Impressment

The British navy’s practice of using press-gangs to kidnap men in British and colonial ports who were then forced to serve in the British navy.The practice also affected American sailors and was a significant factor leading to the War of 1812.

15. Monroe Doctrine

President James Monroe’s declaration to Congress on December 2, 1823, that the American continents would be thenceforth closed to European colonization, and that the United States would not interfere in European affairs.

16. Spoil’s System

a practice of rewarding political supporters with government jobs, initiated by Andrew Jackson. It led to significant changes in the civil service.

17. Jay Treaty

Treaty with Britain negotiated in 1794 by Chief Justice John Jay; Britain agreed to vacate forts in the Northwest Territories, and festering disagreements (such as the border with Canada, prewar debts, and shipping claims) would be settled by commission.

18. American System of Manufactures

A system of production that relied on the mass production of interchangeable parts that could be rapidly assembled into standardized finished products; first perfected in Connecticut by clockmaker Eli Terry and by small-arms producer Eli Whitney in the 1840s and 1850s.

19. XYZ Affair

Affair in which French foreign minister Talleyrand’s three anonymous agents (designated X, Y, and Z) demanded payments to stop French plundering of American ships in 1797; refusal to pay the bribe was followed by two years of undeclared sea war with France (1798–1800).

20. Gabriel’s Rebellion

An 1800 uprising planned by Virginian slaves to gain their freedom. The plot led by a blacksmith named Gabriel was discovered and quashed.

21. Nativism

Anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic feeling especially prominent from the 1830s through the 1850s; the largest group of its proponents was New York’s Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, which expanded into the American (Know-Nothing) Party in 1854.

22. Federalists and Republicans

The two increasingly coherent political parties that appeared in Congress by the mid-1790s. The Federalists, led by George Washington, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton, favored a strong central government. The Republicans supported a strict interpretation of the Constitution, which they believed would safeguard individual freedoms and states’ rights from the threats posed by a strong central government.

23. Marbury v Madison

First U.S. Supreme Court decision to declare a federal law—the Judiciary Act of 1801–unconstitutional.

24. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Religious sect founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith; it was a product of the intense revivalism of the “burned-over district” of New York. Smith’s successor Brigham Young led 15,000 followers to Utah in 1847 to escape persecution.

25. Manifest Destiny

Phrase first used in 1845 to urge annexation of Texas; used thereafter to encourage U.S. settlement of European colonial and Native lands in the Great Plains and the West and, more generally, as a justification for American empire.

26. Erie Canal

Most important and profitable of the canals of the 1820s and 1830s; stretched from Buffalo to Albany, New York, connecting the Great Lakes to the East Coast and making New York City the nation’s largest port.