Battle of New Orleans
A battle during the War of 1812 where the British army attempted to take New Orleans. Due to the foolish frontal attack, Jackson defeated them, which gave him an enormous popularity boost.
Battle of the Alamo
Battle between Texas and Mexico in 1836. Crushing defeat for the Texans, made them more determined to win independence.
Compromise of 1850
(1) California admitted as free state, (2) territorial status and popular sovereignty of Utah and New Mexico, (3) resolution of Texas-New Mexico boundaries, (4) federal assumption of Texas debt, (5) slave trade abolished in DC, and (6) new fugitive slave law; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas
Corrupt bargain
Refers to the presidential election of 1824 in which Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, convinced the House of Representatives to elect Adams rather than Jackson.
Louisiana Territory
Land from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains purchased from France for 15 million dollars. It doubled the size of the US at the time, getting more land than the US wanted.
Manifest destiny
A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.
Marbury v. Madison
This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review
McCulloch v. Maryland
Maryland was trying to tax the national bank and Supreme Court ruled that federal law was stronger than the state law
Missouri Compromise
an agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories
Monroe Doctrine
an American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers
Nativism
A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones
Nullification
A state's refusal to recognize an act of Congress that it considers unconstitutional
Pet banks
State banks where Andrew Jackson placed deposits removed from the federal National Bank.
Protective tariff
A tax on imported goods that raises the price of imports so people will buy domestic goods
Sectionalism
Loyalty to one's own region of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole
Spoils system
A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.
Telegraph
A device for rapid, long-distance transmission of information over an electric wire. It was introduced in England and North America in the 1830s and 1840s.
Treaty of Ghent
December 24, 1814 - Ended the War of 1812 and restored the status quo. For the most part, territory captured in the war was returned to the original owner. It also set up a commission to determine the disputed Canada/U.S. border.
Turnpike
road on which tolls are collected
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies, particularly a dispute over the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border. Also banned the slave trade (on the ocean)