Unit 4

Thomas Jefferson

Third U.S. President (Democratic-Republican, 1801–1809) who championed an agrarian society, limited central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution, though he expanded federal power with the Louisiana Purchase.

Louisiana Purchase

The 1803 acquisition of vast western territory from France for $15 million, which doubled the size of the U.S., removed a European presence, and forced Jefferson to abandon his strict constructionist views.

Aaron Burr

Jefferson’s first vice president who killed Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel and later engaged in a treasonous conspiracy to separate the Western U.S. states from the Union.

Lewis and Clark

Explorers commissioned by Jefferson in 1804 to map the Louisiana Territory, establish scientific records, and strengthen U.S. claims to the Oregon Territory.

Strict interpretation

The legal philosophy (initially held by Democratic-Republicans) that the federal government can only exercise powers explicitly granted in the Constitution.

John Marshall

Federalist Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1801–1835) whose landmark rulings consistently strengthened the power of the federal government over states and protected property rights.

Judicial review

The doctrine established by the Marshall Court giving the Supreme Court the ultimate power to declare acts of Congress and the President unconstitutional.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Supreme Court case that struck down part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing the principle of judicial review.

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

Court case establishing that states cannot invalidate legal contracts, marking the first time the Supreme Court declared a state law unconstitutional.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Court case confirming that Congress has implied powers to create a National Bank under the "necessary and proper" clause, and that states cannot tax federal institutions ("the power to tax involves the power to destroy").

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

Court case ruling that a private college charter is a protected contract, preventing state governments from arbitrarily altering private contracts.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Court case ruling that only the federal government (Congress) has the authority to regulate interstate commerce, severely limiting state monopoly powers.

Implied powers

Constitutional powers not explicitly stated but reasonably deduced from the "Necessary and Proper" (Elastic) Clause, heavily defended by Federalists/Whigs.

Barbary pirates

North African corsairs who seized American merchant ships; Jefferson refused to pay their increased bribes, leading to the undeclared Tripolitan War (1801–1805).

Neutrality

The foundational U.S. foreign policy goal of remaining uninvolved in European conflicts, which was severely tested by Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars.

Impressing/impressment

The British practice of boarding American merchant ships and forcing American sailors into service in the British Royal Navy, a primary cause of the War of 1812.

Chesapeake-Leopard affair (1807)

A naval incident where the British warship Leopard attacked the American frigate Chesapeake, sparking intense American outrage and calls for war.

Embargo Act (1807)

Jefferson's alternative to war that banned all U.S. exports to foreign ports, which backfired disastrously by devastating the American economy while failing to stop British/French aggression.

James Madison

Fourth U.S. President (Democratic-Republican, 1809–1817) who led the nation through the War of 1812 and moved away from strict agrarianism toward supporting domestic manufacturing.

Nonintercourse Act (1809)

A replacement for the Embargo Act that reopened trade with all nations except Britain and France.

Macon’s Bill No. 2 (1810)

Law that restored trade with Britain and France, promising that if either nation agreed to respect U.S. neutral rights, the U.S. would ban trade with the other nation.

War hawks

A group of young Western and Southern Democratic-Republicans in Congress (led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun) who aggressively pushed for war against Britain to defend U.S. honor and expand territory.

Quids

A faction of old-school Democratic-Republicans who criticized Madison for violating traditional party principles of state sovereignty and strict construction.

Tecumseh/Prophet

Shawnee leaders who attempted to forge a pan-Indian military alliance to resist American westward encroachment.

William Henry Harrison

Governor of the Indiana Territory and military leader who defeated Native forces at Tippecanoe and later became the 9th U.S. President.

Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)

Harrison's victory over Tecumseh's confederacy that drove the Native Americans into a formal alliance with Great Britain.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The French military emperor whose aggressive European wars and Berlin/Milan decrees continuously disrupted U.S. shipping and neutral trade rights.

War of 1812

Fought between the U.S. and Great Britain (1812–1815) over impressment, shipping rights, and frontier conflicts; it ended in a relative draw but generated intense American nationalism.

Old Ironsides

The nickname given to the USS Constitution, a famous American warship that won dramatic naval duels against the British.

Battle of Lake Erie (1813)

A crucial U.S. naval victory led by Oliver Hazard Perry that secured control of the Great Lakes and forced a British retreat from Detroit.

Oliver Hazard Perry

American naval commander who famously declared, "We have met the enemy and they are ours," after winning the Battle of Lake Erie.

Battle of the Thames (1813)

A land battle won by William Henry Harrison in which the Native leader Tecumseh was killed, permanently breaking the Indian confederacy.

Thomas Macdonough

U.S. naval officer who unexpectedly defeated a British fleet at the Battle of Lake Champlain, saving New York from a British invasion.

Battle of Lake Champlain (1814)

A critical defensive victory that forced the British to abandon their northern invasion strategy and pursue peace negotiations.

Andrew Jackson

Military general who became a national hero after victories at Horseshoe Bend and New Orleans, leveraging his fame to transform American democracy as the 7th President.

Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814)

Jackson's victory over the Creek Nation, effectively ending Native resistance in the Old Southwest and opening millions of acres to white settlement.

Creek nation

Native American tribe in the South that split over resisting white expansion and was heavily defeated by Andrew Jackson's forces.

Battle of New Orleans (1815)

The greatest American land victory of the War of 1812, fought two weeks after the peace treaty was signed; it propelled Andrew Jackson into political stardom.

Treaty of Ghent (1814)

Peace treaty ending the War of 1812 that restored the status quo antebellum, resolving none of the original grievances (like impressment) but halting hostilities.

Hartford Convention (1814)

A meeting of New England Federalists to protest the War of 1812 and propose constitutional amendments; their timing made them look unpatriotic and secessionist, effectively killing the Federalist Party.

Era of Good Feelings

The period of one-party rule (Democratic-Republicans) during James Monroe’s presidency, characterized by intense national pride, though masked by underlying sectional debates over slavery and tariffs.

James Monroe

Fifth U.S. President (Democratic-Republican, 1817–1825) whose administration presided over the Era of Good Feelings, economic growth, and bold foreign policy statements.

Cultural nationalism

A post-War of 1812 popular sentiment that celebrated American identity, history, and heroes through art, literature, and schoolbooks.

Economic nationalism

A political movement to support internal growth, secure financial stability, and protect domestic industries from foreign competition through federal policy.

Tariff of 1816

The first protective tariff in U.S. history, designed specifically to shield young American textile industries from cheap British imports.

Protective tariff

A tax on imported goods designed to protect domestic manufacturers rather than simply raise revenue for the government.

Henry Clay

"The Great Compromiser"; a powerful politician who created the American System, brokered major sectional compromises, and led the Whig party.

American System

Henry Clay’s three-part economic plan to unify the nation

Second Bank of the United States

Chartered in 1816 to stabilize currency and manage national credit, it became a central target of Jacksonian Democrats who viewed it as a corrupt monopoly.

Panic of 1819

The first major financial crisis in U.S. history, caused by overspeculation in western lands and conservative contraction by the Second BUS; it created deep distrust of banks among working-class voters.

Sectionalism

Loyalty to local regional interests (North, South, or West) over national interests, primarily driven by economic differences and the expansion of slavery.

Tallmadge Amendment

A failed 1819 bill proposing to ban further slave entry into Missouri and gradually emancipate children born to slaves there; it triggered a massive Southern backlash in Congress.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Sectional agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while banning slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36°30' parallel.

Stephen Decatur

U.S. naval hero who successfully subdued the Barbary pirates in 1815, securing free trade in the Mediterranean.

Rush-Bagot Agreement (1817)

A treaty between the U.S. and Britain that strictly limited naval armaments on the Great Lakes, fostering long-term peaceful border relations with Canada.

Treaty of 1818

A treaty with Britain that established the U.S.–Canada border at the 49th parallel, provided for joint occupation of the Oregon Territory, and shared fishing rights.

Florida Purchase Treaty (1819) / Adams-Onís Treaty

Agreement in which Spain ceded Florida to the United States and gave up claims to the Oregon Territory in exchange for the U.S. dropping claims on Texas.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

A landmark foreign policy statement declaring that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further European colonization, promising that the U.S. would stay out of European affairs in return.

Market revolution

The dramatic shift from agrarian, self-sufficient subsistence farming to a modern commercial economy driven by national and global market systems.

Industrial Revolution

The transformation of manufacturing from hand tools in small shops to large-scale, machine-driven production in factories.

Lancaster Turnpike

A highly successful Pennsylvania toll road built in the 1790s that stimulated western transportation and private road building.

National (Cumberland) Road

The first major highway funded by the federal government, stretching from Maryland to Illinois, acting as a crucial shipping artery to the West.

Robert Fulton; steamboats

Inventor of the Clermont, the first commercially viable steamboat, which revolutionized two-way river travel and drastically lowered shipping costs.

Erie Canal

Completed in 1825, this New York engineering feat connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, triggering an economic boom and lowering shipping costs by over 90%.

Railroads

The rapidly growing transit innovation of the 1830s and 40s that quickly outpaced canals, linking western farms directly with eastern manufacturing centers.

Telegraph

Invented by Samuel Morse, this device revolutionized long-distance communication by allowing businesses and railroads to instantly share market information.

Eli Whitney; interchangeable parts

Industrial innovator whose system of standardized, identical parts revolutionized mass production and factory efficiency.

Corporations

Businesses owned by shareholders that raised large amounts of capital with "limited liability," protecting investors from losing more than they invested.

Samuel Slater

"The Father of the American Factory System," who memorized British textile machinery designs and illegally brought them to Rhode Island in 1791.

Factory system

A production model that gathered machinery, raw materials, and large numbers of semi-skilled wage laborers under one roof.

Lowell System; textile mills

A Massachusetts factory model that recruited young New England farm women to live in heavily monitored company boarding houses and work the textile looms.

Unions

Organizations formed by urban wage workers to protect their interests, protest low wages, and fight deteriorating working conditions.

Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)

Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that declared labor unions legal organizations with the right to strike, though its impact remained limited nationwide.

Ten-hour workday

A primary political goal of early labor unions and workingmen's parties during the 1830s and 40s to reduce grueling, unsafe factory hours.

Old Northwest

The region north of the Ohio River (modern Midwest) that grew rapidly through commercial agriculture, close economic ties to the North, and German immigration.

Urban life / New cities

The explosive growth of manufacturing centers (like New York and Boston) and western transit hubs (like Chicago and Cincinnati), leading to crowded slums, sanitation problems, and high immigrant populations.

Common man

The political archetype of the ordinary American citizen (farmers, mechanics, laborers) who became the dominant force in politics during the 1820s and 30s.

Universal White male suffrage

The elimination of property-owning qualifications for voting, allowing almost all white men to participate in elections by 1840.

Party nominating convention

An innovation where party politicians and voters gathered in a large hall to select candidates, replacing closed-door legislative caucuses.

“King Caucus”

The older system where a small, elite group of congressmen chose presidential candidates behind closed doors; it was abandoned during the Jacksonian era as undemocratic.

Popular election of president

The democratic shift where voters, rather than state legislatures, directly chose their state's presidential electors.

Anti-Masonic Party

The first prominent third party in the U.S., which introduced national nominating conventions and party platforms while tapping into popular suspicion of elite secret societies.

Workingmen’s Party

Early, localized political parties formed by urban laborers to protect working-class interests against predatory monopolies and corporate power.

Popular campaigning

The evolution of political campaigns into mass entertainment, featuring parades, rallies, floats, and free food/drinks to appeal to the average voter.

Spoils system

The practice of rewarding loyal political supporters with lucrative government jobs regardless of merit, heavily utilized by Andrew Jackson.

Rotation in office

Jackson's policy of limiting a bureaucrat's time in office to give more "common men" a turn in government and prevent the rise of a corrupt elite class.

John Quincy Adams

6th U.S. President who won the disputed 1824 election; an intellectual nationalist who faced heavy political paralysis due to claims of corruption.

“Corrupt bargain”

The allegation made by Jackson's supporters that Henry Clay swung the deadlocked 1824 House election to John Quincy Adams in exchange for being named Secretary of State.

Tariff of 1828; Tariff of Abominations

A highly protective tariff with exceptionally high rates that infuriated Southern planters, who claimed it unconstitutionally punished Southern trade to help Northern industry.

Revolution of 1828

The bitter, mudslinging election that swept Andrew Jackson into power, marking a definitive shift of political dominance from the traditional East Coast elites to the West and South.

Peggy Eaton affair

A social scandal involving Jackson’s Secretary of War and his wife, who was snubbed by cabinet wives (led by Calhoun's wife); Jackson defended her, leading to a total cabinet reshuffle and a falling out with Calhoun.

States’ rights

The political theory that states retain sovereign power over their internal affairs and can limit federal overreach, a doctrine heavily favored by Southern Democrats.

Nullification crisis

A major constitutional standoff triggered when South Carolina declared the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void within its borders, prompting Jackson to threaten military force via the Force Bill.

Webster-Hayne debate (1830)

Famous Senate debate over Western land sales that escalated into an ideological battle between state sovereignty (Hayne) and the permanent, sacred nature of the Federal Union (Webster).

John C. Calhoun

Jackson's Vice President turned fierce sectionalist defender of the South; he anonymously penned the South Carolina Exposition and Protest advocating for nullification.

Proclamation to the People of South Carolina

Jackson's strongly worded 1832 edict stating that nullification was treason and that the Union was perpetual.

Two-party system

The political landscape that crystallized by the 1830s, featuring Jackson's Democrats fighting Henry Clay's Whigs.

Democrats

The party of Jackson that championed small government, states' rights, the common man, and free trade, while opposing the National Bank and federal spending.

Whigs

The anti-Jackson party led by Henry Clay that advocated for the American System, federal power, moral reforms, and industrial modernization.

“Log cabin and hard cider” campaign (1840)

Whig presidential campaign that used popular, folksy imagery to falsely portray wealthy William Henry Harrison as a humble frontiersman, defeating Martin Van Buren.