U.S. History: Federalists, Anti-Federalists, and Early Political Debates

Federalists

Supporters of the Constitution who wanted a stronger national government.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the Constitution who feared a powerful central government and wanted stronger protections for individual liberties.

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

Major debate over strong federal power versus protection of state power and individual liberties.

Patrick Henry

Important Anti-Federalist who warned that the Constitution gave the national government too much power.

George Mason

Anti-Federalist who pushed for protections of individual rights and influenced the demand for a Bill of Rights.

Federalist Papers

85 essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay defending the Constitution; published under the name Publius.

Brutus

Anti-Federalist pen name used in essays arguing that a large republic and strong federal judiciary could threaten states and citizens.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, protecting individual liberties such as speech, religion, and press.

George Washington

First U.S. president who established important precedents, including creating a cabinet and voluntarily leaving office after two terms.

Cabinet

Group of presidential advisers, including Hamilton, Jefferson, Knox, and Randolph, assembled by Washington.

Judiciary Act of 1789

Law that created the early federal court system beneath the Supreme Court.

Alexander Hamilton

Federalist leader who supported strong national government, a national bank, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson

Democratic-Republican leader who favored limited federal government, an agrarian society, and strict construction of the Constitution.

Loose construction

Broad interpretation of the Constitution that allows implied powers of the federal government.

Strict construction

Narrow interpretation of the Constitution that limits federal power to powers specifically given or clearly authorized.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Constitutional clause Hamilton used to argue that Congress had implied power to create a national bank.

Bank of the United States

National bank supported by Hamilton and Washington; chartered in 1791 for 20 years.

Compromise of 1790

Agreement in which Hamilton gained support for federal assumption of state Revolutionary War debts while agreeing to place the permanent capital on the Potomac.

Citizen Genet

French diplomat who tried to involve Americans in France's war, increasing political tensions over U.S. neutrality.

Pinckney's Treaty

1795 treaty with Spain that secured U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River, access to New Orleans, and a southern boundary at the 31st parallel.

Election of 1800

Election in which Jefferson became president, representing a peaceful transfer of power between political parties.

Louisiana Purchase

1803 purchase from France that greatly expanded U.S. territory and encouraged western exploration and settlement.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

1804-1806 expedition that explored the Louisiana Purchase and reached the Pacific.

Sacagawea

Shoshone woman who provided guidance and translation assistance to the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Virginia Resolution

1798 resolution by Madison arguing that states could interpose between their citizens and unconstitutional federal actions.

Kentucky Resolution

1798 resolution secretly written by Jefferson that used the idea of nullification against unconstitutional federal laws.

Nullification

Theory that a state could reject a federal law it considered unconstitutional.

War Hawks

Young nationalist congressmen who pushed for war with Britain; included Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.

Impressment

British practice of forcibly taking American sailors and forcing them into British naval service.

War of 1812

War between the United States and Britain caused by issues including impressment, interference with shipping, and British support for Native resistance.

Oliver Hazard Perry

American naval commander who won the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.

Tecumseh

Shawnee leader who resisted U.S. expansion; his death at the Battle of the Thames weakened Native resistance in the Old Northwest.

Battle of New Orleans

1815 American victory led by Andrew Jackson that occurred after the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed.

Treaty of Ghent

1814 treaty that ended the War of 1812 and restored prewar boundaries.

Hartford Convention

1814-1815 meeting of New England Federalists who criticized the War of 1812 and proposed constitutional changes.

Market Revolution

Economic transformation driven by improved transportation, manufacturing, and commerce that connected regional economies into a national market.

Steamboat

Transportation technology that improved river travel and commerce; Robert Fulton's Clermont demonstrated reliable steamboat travel in 1807.

National Road

Federally funded road begun in 1811 that connected Maryland toward the Ohio Valley and encouraged migration and commerce.

Erie Canal

1825 canal connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, lowering shipping costs and helping make New York City a major commercial port.

Lowell Mills

Textile factories in Massachusetts that employed many young unmarried women and represented the growth of factory production.

Panic of 1819

Major financial crisis that revealed risks created by the increasingly interconnected national economy.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival movement that emphasized emotional conversion, individual responsibility, and the possibility of moral improvement.

Charles Grandison Finney

Revival preacher who emphasized free will and personal choice in salvation and led major revivals in western New York.

Burned-over District

Western New York region known for intense religious revivalism during the Second Great Awakening.

Temperance Movement

Reform movement that sought to reduce alcohol consumption because reformers believed sobriety improved individuals and society.

American Temperance Society

Organization founded in 1826 that campaigned against alcohol consumption.

Horace Mann

Education reformer who promoted free, universal common schools and served as secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education.

Utopian Communities

Communities such as Oneida and the Shakers that attempted to create new social and economic systems based on religious or idealistic principles.

William Lloyd Garrison

Abolitionist who began publishing The Liberator in 1831 and helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833.

The Liberator

Abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831 that demanded immediate abolition.

American Anti-Slavery Society

Organization founded in 1833 that demanded the immediate end of slavery.

Frederick Douglass

Formerly enslaved abolitionist who became a major antislavery speaker and supported women's rights.

Seneca Falls Convention

1848 women's rights convention organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott that demanded expanded rights, including voting rights.

Declaration of Sentiments

Document from Seneca Falls modeled on the Declaration of Independence and calling for greater rights for women.

Jacksonian Democracy

Period associated with Andrew Jackson and expanded political participation for white men, along with the spoils system.

Election of 1824

Election in which Jackson had the most popular and electoral votes but lacked a majority, so the House chose John Quincy Adams.

Corrupt Bargain

Name Jackson supporters gave to the 1824 outcome after Henry Clay supported Adams and was then appointed secretary of state.

Election of 1828

Election in which Andrew Jackson won after campaigning against the alleged corrupt bargain and benefiting from expanded voting rights for white men.

Spoils System

Practice of rewarding political supporters with government jobs.

Indian Removal Act

1830 law authorizing the federal government to relocate Native peoples from the southeastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi River.

Worcester v. Georgia

1832 Supreme Court case that affirmed Cherokee sovereignty and ruled that Georgia could not control Cherokee territory.

Trail of Tears

Forced removal of the Cherokee in 1838 during which thousands died from disease, exposure, and starvation.

Second Seminole War

1835-1842 conflict in Florida in which the Seminole resisted forced removal.

Tariff of Abominations

1828 protective tariff strongly opposed by South Carolina and connected to the Nullification Crisis.

John C. Calhoun

Political leader who supported nullification and later strongly defended slavery.

Nullification Crisis

1832-1833 conflict in which South Carolina claimed it could nullify federal tariffs and Jackson threatened federal force.

Force Bill

1833 law authorizing Jackson to use federal power to enforce federal law against South Carolina.

Compromise Tariff of 1833

Henry Clay's tariff compromise that lowered rates and helped end the Nullification Crisis.

Bank War

Jackson's conflict with the Second Bank of the United States; he vetoed its recharter and moved federal deposits to state banks.

Panic of 1837

Major economic crisis that followed years of speculation and financial instability and occurred soon after Jackson left office.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the United States was destined to expand across North America.

John O'Sullivan

Journalist who coined the phrase Manifest Destiny in 1845 while arguing for Texas annexation.

Oregon Treaty

1846 agreement with Britain that divided the Oregon Country at the 49th parallel.

Fifty-Four Forty or Fight

Expansionist slogan demanding the entire Oregon Country up to the border with Russian Alaska.

Texas Annexation

U.S. annexation of Texas in 1845, which increased tensions with Mexico.

Mexican-American War

1846-1848 war between the United States and Mexico connected to Texas, the disputed border, and U.S. expansion.

James K. Polk

President who pursued territorial expansion and led the United States during the Mexican-American War.

Abraham Lincoln and Mexican-American War

As a young congressman, Lincoln criticized the war and questioned Polk's justification for it.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico; it failed but increased sectional conflict.

Free Soil Party

Political party formed in 1848 that opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 treaty ending the Mexican-American War; Mexico ceded a large amount of territory to the United States for $15 million.

California Gold Rush

Migration to California after gold was discovered in 1848; roughly 300,000 fortune seekers arrived and western settlement accelerated.

Forty-niners

People who migrated to California seeking gold after the 1848 discovery.

Antebellum South

Southern society before the Civil War, heavily shaped by cotton production, slavery, and a plantation economy.

Cotton Economy

Economic system in which cotton production and enslaved labor became central to the southern economy.

Domestic Slave Trade

Forced movement and sale of enslaved people within the United States, especially from the older South to the expanding Deep South.

International Slave Trade Ban

Congress banned the international slave trade beginning in 1808, but slavery itself continued and the domestic trade expanded.

Denmark Vesey

Free Black carpenter accused of organizing a planned slave uprising in Charleston in 1822; he and many alleged conspirators were executed.

Nat Turner's Rebellion

1831 Virginia slave rebellion that killed roughly 60 white residents and led southern states to tighten slave codes.

Underground Railroad

Informal and increasingly organized network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom.

Harriet Tubman

Formerly enslaved woman who escaped slavery and later returned repeatedly to help others escape through the Underground Railroad.

Slave Codes

Laws restricting enslaved people's freedom and rights; they became stricter after slave resistance such as Nat Turner's Rebellion.

Positive Good

Argument used by John C. Calhoun and other southern defenders who claimed slavery was beneficial rather than merely a necessary evil.

Sectionalism

Growing political and economic division between different regions, especially North and South, often over slavery and federal power.

States' Rights

Belief that states had important powers and could challenge federal authority; became especially important in debates over nullification and slavery.

Federal Power vs. States' Rights

Major recurring APUSH conflict seen in the Constitution debate, Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, Nullification Crisis, and later sectional conflict.

Expansion and Slavery

Westward expansion repeatedly raised the question of whether slavery would be allowed in new territories, increasing sectional tension.

Second Great Awakening and Reform

Religious revivalism encouraged the belief that individuals and society could improve, helping inspire temperance, education, abolition, and women's rights.