APUSH Key Terms Chapter 10

Vocabulary study set containing key historical terms, economic policies, political controversies, and Supreme Court rulings from AP U.S. History Chapter 10.

Tariff of 1816

The first explicitly protective tariff in U.S. history, passed by Congress to shield young American manufacturing industries from cheap British imports following the War of 1812. It marked a transition toward protective tariffs and served as a cornerstone of Henry Clay's "American System."

Panic of 1819

The nation's first major peacetime financial crisis and economic depression, triggered by rampant Western land speculation, collapsing European agricultural demand, and credit contraction by the Second Bank of the United States demanding specie (gold and silver).

"Era of Good Feelings"

A period of relative national political unity and economic expansion following the War of 1812 during James Monroe's presidency, characterized by the collapse of the Federalist Party and single-party dominance by the Democratic-Republicans, which masked underlying sectional divisions.

Missouri Compromise

A landmark 1820 legislative agreement engineered by Henry Clay admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the Senate balance (12 free and 12 slave states) and establishing the 36°30' parallel as the boundary for slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase.

Monroe Doctrine

An 1823 diplomatic declaration delivered by President James Monroe (largely authored by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams) closing the American continents to future European colonization and declaring any European intervention in the Western Hemisphere a hostile act against the U.S.

"Corrupt bargain" of 1824

A political scandal following the presidential election of 1824 in which Speaker of the House Henry Clay threw his support behind John Quincy Adams in a contingent House vote to defeat Andrew Jackson; Adams subsequently appointed Clay as Secretary of State.

Andrew Jackson

A military hero of the War of 1812 (Battle of New Orleans) and seventh U.S. President (1829–1837) who championed populist politics for the "common man," expanded white male suffrage, utilized executive vetoes, established the spoils system, signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and destroyed the Second Bank of the United States.

Spoils system

The political practice popularized by Andrew Jackson of rewarding loyal party supporters, campaign workers, and friends with federal appointments and civil service jobs after winning an election.

Whig Party

A major political party formed in the 1830s in opposition to Andrew Jackson's expanded executive power (dubbed "King Andrew I"), led by Henry Clay; it advocated for strong central government, federal funding for internal improvements, a national bank, and protective tariffs.

Tariff of 1828 / "Tariff of Abominations"

A record-high protective tariff passed by Congress raising duties on imported manufactured goods and raw materials to protect Northern industry, which drew bitter condemnation from Southern agricultural states and sparked the Nullification Crisis.

South Carolina Exposition and Protest

An essay written anonymously by Vice President John C. Calhoun asserting that sovereign states formed the federal compact and maintained the constitutional authority to nullify unconstitutional federal laws within their borders.

Nullification Crisis

A sectional crisis (1832–1833) triggered when South Carolina adopted an Ordinance of Nullification declaring the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 void within its borders and threatening secession, prompting Andrew Jackson to obtain the Force Bill before Henry Clay negotiated a compromise tariff.

Indian Removal Act

An 1830 federal law signed by President Andrew Jackson authorizing the negotiation of treaties to forcibly relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to federal territories to the west, opening millions of southern acres to white settlement and cotton production.

Worchester vs. Georgia

A landmark Supreme Court case where Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a distinct, sovereign political community in which Georgia state laws had no legal force, placing Indigenous relations solely under federal authority—a ruling openly defied by Andrew Jackson.

Trail of Tears

The forced westward march of roughly 60,000 Native Americans (primarily Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole) to designated Indian Territory (Oklahoma), during which an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Cherokee died from starvation, disease, and exposure along the 1,200-mile military escort.

Nicholas Biddle

An aristocratic Philadelphia financier and the third and final president of the Second Bank of the United States (BUS) from 1823 to 1836, who opposed Andrew Jackson during the Bank War by pushing for an early recharter in 1832 and contracting national credit.

Panic of 1837

A major five-year economic depression triggered by speculative land purchases, the collapse of state "pet banks" after the demise of the Second Bank of the United States, Jackson's Specie Circular, and restrictive British credit policies.

Election of 1840

The 14th U.S. presidential election where Whig candidate William Henry Harrison ("Tippecanoe") defeated incumbent Democrat Martin Van Buren using mass mobilization, populist slogans, and rallies, achieving over 78% voter turnout and cementing the Second Party System.