The Age of Jackson and 19th-Century American Transformation

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Age of Jackson, political realignment, religious revivals, antebellum social reforms, westward expansion, and the Market Revolution.

Corrupt Bargain (1824)

The controversial political outcome of the 1824 election in which Henry Clay used his influence as Speaker of the House to secure the presidency for John Quincy Adams, who subsequently appointed Clay as Secretary of State.

Tariff of Abominations (1828)

A high protective tariff passed in 1828 that raised the price of manufactured goods and expanded federal power, sparking severe southern opposition and leading directly to the Nullification Crisis.

Nullification Crisis

A constitutional standoff sparked by southern opposition to federal protective tariffs, during which John C. Calhoun helped South Carolina draft the doctrine asserting that a state could declare a federal law void within its borders.

Spoils System

The political patronage policy expanded by Andrew Jackson in which public government offices were awarded to loyal party supporters rather than based on talent or experience.

Bank War

President Andrew Jackson's campaign to dismantle the Second Bank of the United States by vetoing its recharter as harmful and unconstitutional, and withdrawing federal deposits until its charter expired in 1836.

Panic of 1837

A severe economic depression triggered after state 'pet' banks began issuing paper currency not backed by gold or silver following the Bank War, leading to rampant land speculation.

Anti-Masonic Party

A third political party originating in New York that opposed Andrew Jackson and secret Masonic rituals, appealed to evangelical Protestant moral reformers, and pioneered the national party platform.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Federal legislation championed by Andrew Jackson providing for the forced transplanting of all Native American tribes east of the Mississippi to territory in the West under the broken guarantee of being permanently free from white encroachment.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

A Supreme Court decision in favor of the Cherokee Nation establishing their tribal rights, which President Andrew Jackson famously defied with the remark: 'Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.'

Trail of Tears

The forced westward march of roughly 15,000 Cherokee people by U.S. troops, during which approximately 4,000 died from exposure, disease, and starvation.

Universal White Manhood Suffrage

The core reform of the 'New Democracy' between 1800 and 1830 that eliminated property and taxpaying qualifications, dramatically expanding voting rights for adult white males.

Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign

The Whig electoral strategy in the election of 1840 that used the slogan 'Tippecanoe and Tyler too' to present wealthy candidate William Henry Harrison as a humble, common-man frontiersman.

Whig Party

A political party of the Second Party System, primarily based in the East among wealthier and aristocratic classes, that supported a national bank, protective tariffs, internal improvements, public schools, and moral reforms.

Jacksonian Democrats

The political party centered in the South and West among poorer, humble citizens that championed individual liberty, strict limits on federal power, and states' rights in social and economic affairs.

Second Great Awakening

A widespread Protestant religious revival movement characterized by emotional camp meetings, a populist emphasis on free will and personal salvation, and increased female participation that sparked major reform crusades.

Charles Grandison Finney

The most influential revivalist preacher of the Second Great Awakening, known for dramatic sermons, denouncing alcohol and slavery, and using the 'anxious bench' for repentant sinners.

Horace Mann

An education reformer who led the development of tax-supported public schooling between 1825 and 1850, arguing that educated citizens were essential for sustaining democracy as voting rights expanded.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

A religious denomination founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith in New York's 'Burned-over district' based on the Book of Mormon, whose members later migrated under Brigham Young to establish a theocratic settlement in Utah.

Transcendentalism

A 1830s intellectual and philosophical movement maintaining that truth cannot be discovered purely through empirical observation or the senses alone, stressing self-reliance, self-discipline, and individual conscience.

Brook Farm

A Massachusetts utopian communal experiment founded in 1841 based on Transcendentalist principles, aiming to balance manual labor with intellectual and scientific pursuits.

Oneida Community

A New York utopian community founded in 1848 that condemned traditional marriage as the source of societal problems and instituted communal living, complex marriage, and early eugenic practices.

Cult of Domesticity

The 19th-century cultural belief establishing 'separate spheres' for gender roles, asserting that middle- and upper-class women should remain in the home to care for children, husband, and moral welfare.

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

The first national women's rights convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, which initiated the organized fight for female civil and political rights.

Dorothea Dix

A prominent social reformer who documented the horrific abuse within asylums and prisons nationwide, spurring major legislative reforms for the treatment of the mentally ill.

Denmark Vesey's Conspiracy (1822)

A major planned slave insurrection organized in Charleston by a free Black man aiming to seize weapons and sail to Haiti, which was betrayed before execution and led to his death alongside dozens of followers.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831)

A violent slave revolt in Virginia led by an enslaved preacher that killed around 60 white people, resulting in the execution of over 200 African Americans and the passage of much stricter slave codes across the South.

Market Revolution

The transformation from an agrarian, self-sufficient subsistence economy into a national market-driven network dominated by factories, wage labor, mass manufacturing, and regional trade.

Lone Star Republic

The independent nation formed by Texans between 1836 and 1845 following their victory over Mexican General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto under Sam Houston.

Cumberland Road

The first major national highway funded by the federal government, begun in 1811 and promoted by President Thomas Jefferson to facilitate westward expansion and national connectivity.

Erie Canal

A New York state canal completed in 1825 ('Clinton’s Big Ditch') linking Lake Erie at Buffalo to the Hudson River, connecting rich midwestern agricultural regions with the commercial markets of New York City.

Know-Nothing Party

An anti-immigrant nativist political organization, formally known as the 'Order of the Star Spangled Banner,' formed out of fear regarding the political and religious influence of German and Irish immigrants.

Lowell Factories

Textile manufacturing mills in Massachusetts that relied heavily on young rural women as a labor force, enforcing rigorous factory schedules and strictly regulated boardinghouses.