Unit 4 Key Terms

Lousiana Purchase

U.S. gov’s 1803 purchase from France of the vast territory stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from New Orleans to present-day Montana, doubling the size of the nation

Judiciary Act of 1801

Act passed by Federalist-controlled Congress to expand the federal court system by creating 16 circuit (regional) courts, with new judges appointed for each, just before the DRs took control of the presidency and Congress

Marbury vs. Madison

1803 Supreme Court decision that established the authority of the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of federal laws

McCulloch vs. Maryland

1819 Supreme Court decision that reinforced the federal government’s ability to employ an expansive understanding of the implied powers clause of the Constitution

Judicial review

The Supreme Court ‘s ability to declare laws unconstitutional after review

Embargo Act

1807 act that prohibited American ships from leaving their home ports until Britain and France repealed restrictions on U.S. trade. The act had a devastating effect on U.S. commerce

National Road

Road constructed using federal funds that ran from western Maryland through southwest Pennsylvania to Wheeling, West Virginia; Completed in 1818, it was part of a larger push to improve the nation’s infrastructurepart of a

Cotton gin

Machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 to deseed short-staple cotton. The cotton gin dramatically reduced the time and labor involved in deseeding, facilitating the expansion of cotton expansion in the South and West

Non-Intercourse Act

Act passed by Congress in 1809 allowing Americans to trade with every nation except Great Britain and France. The act failed to stop seizure of American ships or improve the economy

War of 1812

1812-1815 conflict between U.S. and Britain. The war was 1 consequence of ongoing conflict between Great Britain and France, as each nation sought to forcibly restrict the U.S’s trade with the other

Hartford Convention

1814 convention of Federalists opposed to the War of 1812. Delegates there considered a number of constitutional amendments, as well as the possibility of secession.

Treaty of Ghent

Accord signed in December 1814 that ended War of 1812 and returned to the U.S. and Britain their controlled lands they had before the war

Tariff of 1816

Protective tariff designed to increase the cost of imported manufactured goods in order to improve domestic sales

American System

An economic plan proposed by Henry Clay in the 19th century that aimed to strengthen and unify the nation through three main components: a protective tariff to promote American industry, a national bank to foster commerce, and federal money assistance for internal improvements like roads and canals to connect markets

Erie Canal

Canal built in the early 1800s that made water transport from the Great Lakes to NYC  possible. Its success inspired many similar projects and ensured NYC’s place as the international port in the U.S., fueling industrial development in the northeast 

Adams-Onis Treaty

Treaty negotiated by JQA and signed in 1819 by which Spain ceded all of its land east of the Miss. River to the U.S.

Monroe Doctrine

Assertion by Prez Monroe in 1823 that the Western Hemisphere was part of the U.S’s sphere of influence. Although the U.S. lacked the power to back this claim, it signaled an intention to challenge Europeans for the Americas’ authority

Panic of 1819

The nation’s 1st severe recession. It lasted 4 years and resulted from irresponsible bank practices and declining demand abroad for U.S. goods, especially cotton

2nd Bank of the United States

Bank established in 1816 that distributed national currency and regulated state banks after the 1st Bank of the U.S.’s charter expired. It ceased operation in 1836

Missouri Compromise

1820 act that allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state and established the southern border of Missouri as the boundary between slave and free states throughout the Louisiana Territory

Market revolution

Innovations in agriculture, industry, communication, and transportation in the early 1800s that fueled increased efficiency and productivity and linked northern industry with western farms and southern plantations

Mutual aid societies

Voluntary associations that provide a variety of economic and social benefits to their members

Temperance

social movement that advocated for moderation or total abstinence from alcohol consumption

Cult of domesticity

New ideals of womanhood that emerged alongside the middle class in the 1830s and 40s that called for women to be confined to the domestic sphere and devote themselves to the care of children, the home, and their hobbies

Separate spheres

19th century social ideology that divided society into a male-dominated public sphere of work and politics and a female-dominated private sphere of home and family

Unions

An organized association of workers formed to protect their rights and interests, particularly regarding wages, working conditions, and benefits

Panic of 1837

Severe economic recession that began shortly Martin Van Buren’s inauguration. The Panic started in the South and was rooted in thee changing fortunes of the U.S. cotton in Great Britain

Democrats

One of the Parties that resulted from DR split. The leader was Andrew Jackson

National Republicans

One of the parties that resulted from the DR split. The leaders were Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams

“Corrupt bargain”

Agreement between Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams in the 1824 election that Clay would withdraw from the race in exchange for becoming the Secretary of state

Tariff of 1828

Tariff that extended duties to include raw materials such as wool, hemp, and molasses. It was passed despite sharing opposition from southeastern states

Spoils system

Patronage system introduced by Andrew Jackson in which federal officers were awarded on the basis of public loyalty. (When a political party, after winning, gives government jobs to supporters and friends)

Tariff of Abominations

White southerners’ name for the 1828 tariff act that benefited northern manufacturers and merchants at the expense of agriculture, especially southern plantations

Nullification

The right of individual states to declare individual laws void within their borders

Ordinance of Nullification

1832 law passed by South Carolina proclaiming several tariff acts null and void within the state and threatened secession if the federal government attempted to enforce the tariffs

Force Bill

1833 bill passed by Congress in response to SC’s Ordinance of Nullification. It gave the president the authority to use military force to enforce national laws

Gag rule

Rule passed by the HoR in 1836 to postpone action on all antislavery petitions without hearing them read in an attempt to stifle debate over slavery. Was revoked in 1844

Indian Removal Act

1830 act, supported by Prez. Andrew Jackson, by which AI people in the East were forced to exchange their lands for territory west of the Miss. River

Cherokee Nation vs Georgia

1831 Supreme COurt ruling that denied the Cherokee claim to be a separate independent nation, ruling that all AI nations were “domestic dependent nations” rather than fully sovereign governments

Trail of Tears

The forced March of some 15,000 Cherokees from Georgia to areas west of the Miss. River that designated as AI territory, beginning in 1831. Inadequate planning, food, water, sanitation and medicine caused the death of thousands of Cherokees

Whig Party

Political party formed in the 1830s to challenge the power of the Democratic party. The Whigs attempted to forge a diverse coalition from around the country by promoting commercial interests and moral reforms

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

1831 slave rebellion in Virginia led by Nat Turner. It generated panic among white southerners, leading to passing of stricter slave codes in southern states

Abolitionists

Members of the movement seeking to end the system of slavery

Yeoman farmers

Southern independent landowners who were not slaveholders. Although they had connections to the South’s plantation economy, many realized their interests were not always the same as those of the planter elite

White supremacy

Ideology promoted by southern planters and intellectuals that said all white people regardless of class or education, were superior to all black people

Romantic era

Early 19th century artistic and intellectual movement that reflected a belief in human imperfectibility and challenged enlightenment ideals of rationality by insisting on the importance of human passion, nature’s mysteries, and virtues of the common folk

Second Great Awakening

a period of intense religious revival in the United States, roughly from the 1790s to the 1840s, marked by widespread evangelicalism, emotional camp meetings, and a focus on personal salvation and social reform

Transcendentalist

Movement founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1830s that proposed that individuals look inside themselves and to nature for spiritual and moral guidance rather than formal religion. Transcendentalism attracted a number of important American writers and artists to its vision

Hudson River School

A mid 19th century American artistic movement in which artists painted romanticized landscapes, primarily from New York’s Catskill and Adirondack Mountains

Nativists

Anti-immigrant Americans who launched public campaigns against foreigners in the 1840s. Nativisim emerged as a response to increased immigrations to the U.S. in the 1830s and 40s, particularly the large influx of Catholic immigrants

Utopian societies

Communities formed in the first half of the 19th century to embody alternative social and economic visions and to create models for society at large to follow

The Liberator

Radical abolitionist newspaper launched by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831. Through the Liberator, Garrison called for immediate uncompensated emancipation of enslaved people

American Anti-Slavery Society

Abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1833 that became the most important northern abolitionist organization in the period

Underground railroad

A series of routes from southern plantation areas to northern free states and Canada which abolitionist supporters, called conductors, provided hiding places, transportation, and resources to enslaved people seeking freedom

North Star

Abolitionist newspaper started by fugitive from slavery and antislavery activist Frederick Douglass in 1847

“Come outer” movement

Protest movement whose members would frequently abstain from political office, activity, ot voting to protest the government and other organizations compliaty in slavery

Declaration of Sentiments

Call for women’s rights in marriage, family, religion, politics, and law issued at the 1848 Seneca Falls convention. It was signed by 100 of the 300 participants

Liberty Party

Antislavery political party formed in 1840. The Liberty Party, along with the Free Soil Party, helped place slavery at the center of national political debates

Free Soil Party

Party founded by political abolitionists in 1848 to expand the appeal of the Liberty Party by focusing less on the moral wrongs of slavery and more on the benefits of providing economic opportunities for northern white people in western territories.