Unit 5 Key Terms

Andrew Jackson

His presidency involved the Nullification Crisis, Bank War, and Indian Removal Act.

Spoils System

Practice of giving government jobs in exchange for political support.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Wrote "Democracy in America," commenting on the equality he saw between different classes in America.

Nullification Crisis

Event in which South Carolina refused to recognize the federal governments "Tariff of Abominations".

Secession

The act of a state withdrawing from the United States.

Webster-Hayne Debates

Event of two Senators arguing over whether or not states could nullify federal laws.

Force Bill

Act of Congress that authorized the president to use the military to enforce acts of Congress.

Indian Removal Act

Law that authorized the relocation of Native Americans to the Great Plains and led to the Trail of Tears.

Worchester v. Georgia

Ruled in favor of the Cherokee but was ignored by Andrew Jackson.

The "Bank War"

Event where Andrew Jackson "killed" the Bank of the United States.

Nativism

Feeling of hostility toward immigrants, especially Irish and Germans during the Antebellum period.

Know-Nothing party

Secretive political party that formed to oppose immigrants, especially the Catholic Irish.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival that sparked many reform movements during the Antebellum Period.

Joseph Smith

Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are commonly known as Mormons.

Brigham Young

Led Mormons west to modern-day Utah to escape religious persecution.

Transcendentalism

Philosophy that stressed the relationship between humans and nature, following one's intuition, and spiritual matters over material things.

Civil Disobedience

Essay written by Henry David Thoreau that emphasized the use of non-violent protest to create changes in society.

Utopian communities

Societies created reformers based their ideals for a perfect society.

Dorothea Dix

Reformer who exposed inhumane treatment of the mentally ill.

Horace Mann

Reformer who pushed for public, tax-supported schools with required attendance.

Temperance

Popular idea with reformers that pushed for moderation of alcohol use.

Separate Spheres

The idea that men and women had specific, different roles in society.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Reformer who pushed for women's right, especially suffrage.

Seneca Falls Convention

Event which started the organized women's rights movement in the United States in 1848 and included the "Declaration of Rights and Sentiments".

Abolitionism

Reform movement that called for an immediate end of slavery.

William Lloyd Garrison

White abolitionist who published the newspaper, The Liberator.

Frederick Douglass

Former slave who wrote an autobiography recounting life as a slave, became a leading abolitionist.

Underground Railroad

Secret, informal organization that helped slave escape from the South.

Harriet Tubman

Most famous "conductor" of the Underground Railroad.

Nat Turner

Slave minister who organized one of the largest and most violent slave revolts in history of the United States.

Battle of the Alamo

Battle during the Texas War of Independence that was a victory for Mexico but gave Texas time to organize its army for later victories.

Battle of San Jacinto

Battle during the Texas War of Independence that forced Mexico to give Texas independence.