Advanced U.S. History I Final Review Flashcards

Early Supreme Court rulings and their impact on the nature of the early government

Key cases like Marbury v. Madison (1803) established judicial review, giving the Supreme Court power to declare laws unconstitutional and making the judiciary a co-equal branch of government. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) strengthened federal power by upholding the national bank and establishing that federal law supersedes state law, while Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) expanded federal control over interstate commerce.

Expansion in the early 1800s and its impact

Westward expansion through the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and other acquisitions doubled the nation's size, creating new economic opportunities but intensifying slavery debates. This expansion strengthened American nationalism and economic growth while forcing confrontation over whether new territories would be slave or free, ultimately contributing to sectional tensions.

Criticisms of Clay's American System

Critics argued Clay's plan for federal funding of internal improvements, a national bank, and protective tariffs favored Northern industrial interests at Southern expense. Strict constructionists claimed federal infrastructure spending was unconstitutional, while Southerners opposed high tariffs that raised prices on imported goods they needed while protecting Northern manufacturers.

Missouri Compromise

Henry Clay's 1820 agreement admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain Senate balance, while banning slavery north of the 36°30' line in the Louisiana Territory. This temporarily defused the slavery crisis but established the precedent that Congress could regulate slavery in territories, setting up future conflicts.

Monroe Doctrine

President Monroe's 1823 declaration warned European powers against further colonization or interference in the Western Hemisphere, establishing American dominance in the region. Though initially unenforceable without British naval support, it became a cornerstone of American foreign policy and justified later interventions in Latin America.

Universal White Male Suffrage / what and when

By the 1820s-1830s, most states eliminated property requirements for voting, extending suffrage to all white men regardless of wealth or status. This democratization reflected Jacksonian ideals of equality among white men but still excluded women, Native Americans, and most African Americans from political participation.

Age of Jackson

Jackson's presidency (1829-1837) embodied democratic ideals through his appeal to common people, opposition to elite privilege, and expansion of presidential power. His policies included destroying the national bank, implementing the spoils system, and forcibly relocating Native Americans, while his style emphasized direct democracy and executive authority.

Whig Party (and its formation)

Formed in the 1830s by opponents of Andrew Jackson's policies, the Whigs united National Republicans, Anti-Masons, and disaffected Democrats around support for Clay's American System. They favored federal funding for internal improvements, a national bank, and protective tariffs, representing business interests and those who opposed Jackson's expansion of presidential power.

Seneca Falls

The 1848 women's rights convention in New York, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, marked the beginning of the organized women's suffrage movement. The convention's Declaration of Sentiments demanded equal rights including voting, property ownership, and educational opportunities, launching decades of activism for women's equality.

1st and 2nd Great Awakenings

The First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s) emphasized personal salvation and emotional religious experience, challenging traditional religious authority and promoting individual spiritual choice. The Second Great Awakening (1800s-1840s) renewed evangelical fervor, spawned numerous reform movements including abolition and temperance, and democratized American Christianity through camp meetings and revivalism.

Age of Reform 1830s

A period of intense social activism driven by Second Great Awakening religious fervor and democratic ideals, targeting issues like slavery, women's rights, education, and alcohol abuse. Reformers believed American society could be perfected through moral improvement and institutional change, leading to organized movements that would reshape American culture.

Horace Mann, Dorothea Dix, Henry David Thoreau

Mann championed public education as Massachusetts school superintendent, establishing teacher training and standardized curriculum that became the model for American public schools. Dix crusaded for humane treatment of the mentally ill, leading to the creation of state mental hospitals, while Thoreau promoted transcendentalist philosophy and civil disobedience through works like "Walden" and his protest against slavery.

Temperance

The movement to ban alcohol consumption gained momentum in the 1830s-1840s, led primarily by women who viewed drinking as a threat to family stability and moral order. Organizations like the American Temperance Society used moral persuasion and political action to achieve prohibition in several states, making it one of the era's most successful reform movements.

Abolition

The immediate abolition movement, led by figures like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, demanded the immediate end of slavery rather than gradual emancipation. Through newspapers like "The Liberator," slave narratives, and political action, abolitionists made slavery a moral issue that divided the nation and contributed to sectional tensions leading to Civil War.

Slavery Uprisings in the 1830s

Nat Turner's 1831 rebellion in Virginia killed about 60 whites and terrified the South, leading to harsher slave codes and restrictions on slave education and movement. The uprising, along with other smaller revolts, demonstrated enslaved people's resistance to bondage while prompting increased Southern defensiveness about the "peculiar institution."

Slavocracy

Term describing the political dominance of wealthy slaveholders in the antebellum South, where plantation elites controlled state governments and influenced national politics through the Three-Fifths Compromise. This small class of large slaveholders shaped Southern society, economics, and politics while using their power to protect and expand slavery.

Expansion in the Northwest

Settlement of the Oregon Territory and other northwestern regions was driven by economic opportunity, the promise of fertile farmland, and Manifest Destiny ideology. The Oregon Trail brought thousands of settlers westward in the 1840s, while boundary disputes with Britain over Oregon nearly led to war before the 1846 compromise at the 49th parallel.

Result of the discovery of gold in CA. What was the "rush"?

The 1849 California Gold Rush brought over 300,000 people to California within a few years, rapidly transforming it from Mexican territory to American state. The rush accelerated westward migration, created boomtowns, displaced Native Americans, and intensified the slavery debate since California's admission as a free state upset the sectional balance.

Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay's final compromise admitted California as a free state, organized Utah and New Mexico territories with popular sovereignty on slavery, ended the slave trade in Washington D.C., and strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act. The compromise temporarily preserved the Union but increased sectional tensions, particularly through the harsh Fugitive Slave Act that forced Northerners to participate in slavery.

Dred Scott case and decision

The 1857 Supreme Court ruling declared that African Americans could not be citizens, Congress could not ban slavery from territories, and the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. Chief Justice Taney's decision inflamed sectional tensions by protecting slavery expansion and denying black rights, contributing to Lincoln's election and Southern secession.

Casualties in the war in proportion to those enlisted

The Civil War had unprecedented casualty rates, with approximately 620,000-750,000 deaths out of roughly 3 million total soldiers, representing about 20-25% of those who served. Disease killed more soldiers than combat, while new weapons technology made traditional tactics deadly, resulting in casualty rates that devastated entire communities and families.

Reconstruction

The period from 1865-1877 when the federal government attempted to rebuild the South and integrate freed slaves into American society through constitutional amendments and civil rights legislation. Reconstruction initially promised racial equality but ended with the Compromise of 1877, allowing Southern Democrats to regain control and establish Jim Crow segregation.

Sharecropping

Labor system that replaced slavery where landowners provided land, tools, and supplies to tenants who paid with a share of their crop, often trapping both black and white farmers in cycles of debt. This system maintained white economic control over black labor while providing landowners with workers, but kept most sharecroppers in poverty and dependence.

13th, 14th and 15th Amendments

The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery throughout the United States, the 14th Amendment (1868) granted citizenship and equal protection to all born in the US, and the 15th Amendment (1870) prohibited denying voting rights based on race. These Reconstruction amendments fundamentally transformed American law and society, though their promises weren't fully realized until the Civil Rights Movement