AP US History Unit 4: Rise of American Democracy Key Terms

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, court cases, treaties, people, and political developments of the Democratic-Republican Era, the Age of Jackson, and the Antebellum Age of Reform from AP US History Unit 4.

Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

Also known as the Florida Purchase Treaty and the Transcontinental Treaty; an agreement under which the United States paid Spain $5\text{ million}$ dollars for Florida, Spain recognized America’s claims to the Oregon Country, and the United States surrendered its claim to northern Mexico (Texas).

American System

A set of proposals by Henry Clay that called for a national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements, with the ultimate goal of achieving American economic self-sufficiency.

Andrew Jackson

U.S. general who defeated Native Americans at Horseshoe Bend and commanded the victory over the British at New Orleans; he became a national hero from his War of 1812 record and rode that fame to the presidency.

Battle of New Orleans

A major battle of the War of 1812 that took place after the war had ended, in which American forces decisively defeated the British, protected the city, and propelled Andrew Jackson to national prominence.

Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

An 1807 incident in which the British warship Leopard attacked the American warship Chesapeake after its commander refused to allow a search for British deserters; 20 American sailors were killed or wounded, four alleged deserters were impressed, and outraged Americans called for war.

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

Supreme Court case that prevented New Hampshire from altering Dartmouth's charter to make it a public institution; the Court ruled that the Constitution's contract clause extended to charters and that state law could not invalidate contracts, thereby limiting state power and protecting business interests.

Embargo Act (1807)

A law passed by Congress halting all U.S. exports until Britain and France ceased interfering with American merchant ships; it produced widespread domestic economic hardship with little foreign effect and was repealed in 1809.

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

Supreme Court case that established the judiciary's authority to invalidate state laws contrary to the Constitution by forbidding Georgia from rescinding a land grant, even though the grant had been made fraudulently.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Landmark Supreme Court decision invalidating a New York state law that granted a steamboat monopoly between New York and New Jersey, thereby broadening federal congressional authority to regulate interstate commerce.

Henry Clay

Prominent American statesman from 1810 to 1852 who served as Speaker of the House, senator, and secretary of state; known as the 'Great Compromiser' for crafting the compromises of 1820, 1833, and 1850.

Impressment

The practice of forcibly drafting American sailors into the British Royal Navy; over 10,000 Americans were seized under claims of desertion between 1790 and 1812, serving as the primary cause of the War of 1812.

John Marshall

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835 who embedded Hamiltonian Federalist principles into constitutional interpretation and established judicial review, establishing the Court as equal to the other branches.

Louisiana Purchase

An $828{,}000\text{ square mile}$ territory acquired from France in 1803 for $15\text{ million}$ dollars; it doubled the size of the United States, secured control of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, and relied on Jefferson's use of implied powers.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Supreme Court ruling establishing the doctrine of judicial review to evaluate the constitutionality of federal legislation, striking down a provision of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that exceeded constitutional bounds.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Supreme Court case affirming federal supremacy over state laws by prohibiting Maryland from taxing the Baltimore branch of the Second National Bank, thereby restricting states' rights in favor of commercial interests.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

An agreement authored by Henry Clay that admitted Missouri as the twelfth slave state, Maine as the twelfth free state, and prohibited slavery in the Louisiana territory north of latitude $36^\circ 30'$.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Foreign policy statement declaring that the Western Hemisphere was closed to future European colonization, existing colonies would be respected, and the U.S. would refrain from participating in European affairs.

Non-Intercourse Act (1809)

Trade measure that replaced the Embargo Act by reopening commerce with all nations except Great Britain and France; it failed to stop trade interference and was repealed in 1810.

Panic of 1819

A severe economic depression following the War of 1812 boom; triggered when the Second National Bank restricted credit, recalled loans, and heightened interest rates to curb land speculation and inflation, creating sectional tension.

Second Bank of the United States

Federal bank chartered in 1816 to manage tax receipts and regulate currency circulation; it earned substantial hostility among western farmers and land speculators, particularly following the Panic of 1819.

Treaty of Ghent (1815)

Treaty that formally concluded the War of 1812 by restoring prewar territorial borders while omitting the original causes of the war and deferring disputes over the Great Lakes to subsequent talks.

War Hawks

A faction of young southern and western congressmen in the 12th Congress, led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, who agitated for war with Great Britain to conquer Canada, defend maritime rights, and halt Trans-Appalachian Indian resistance.

Corrupt Bargain

Controversial deal during the disputed 1824 presidential election in which Henry Clay directed his House supporters toward John Quincy Adams, securing Adams the presidency and Clay the post of secretary of state.

Daniel Webster

Distinguished lawyer, orator, senator, and secretary of state who served as a primary champion of northern nationalism, federal authority, and the preservation of the Union during the 1830s through the 1850s.

Democratic Party

Modern political party tracing roots to the Democratic-Republicans, formed by Andrew Jackson's supporters following the controversial election of 1824 to rally backing for his successful 1828 presidential campaign.

Exposition and Protest

An anonymous tract authored by Vice President John C. Calhoun invoking the compact theory of the Union to argue that the Tariff of 1828 was unconstitutional and could be lawfully nullified by South Carolina.

“His Accidency”

Derisive label applied to John Tyler in 1841 after succeeding William Henry Harrison as the first vice president to assume the presidency, given by Whig opponents whom he broke with over banking, tariffs, and internal improvements.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Federal legislation authorizing the president to negotiate treaties exchanging southeastern Native American ancestral lands for western territory, providing federal funds for land acquisition and forced relocation.

John C. Calhoun

South Carolina statesman who served as vice president under Adams and Jackson, authored Exposition and Protest, steered the 1832–1833 nullification battle, and led southern states' rights advocacy until 1850.

John Quincy Adams

Son of John Adams, secretary of state, and 6th U.S. president who helped obtain Florida and frame the Monroe Doctrine; favored activist government and economic nationalism, and served in Congress after losing reelection in 1828.

Market Revolution

The nineteenth-century economic shift from local artisanal and subsistence production to commercial manufacturing and farming geared toward distant cash markets, leading to the rise of a permanent wage-earning working class.

Martin Van Buren

Eighth U.S. president, vice president, and senator whose single term was hobbled by the Panic of 1837, causing his defeat in 1840; he subsequently joined and ran on the Free Soil Party ticket.

Nullification

Constitutional theory claiming that states, as sovereign partners in the federal compact, hold ultimate authority to declare unconstitutional federal acts void and unenforceable within their boundaries.

Panic of 1837

A severe economic depression lasting until 1844, provoked by crop failures, European financial crises, and Andrew Jackson's destabilizing monetary actions following the destruction of the Second Bank of the United States.

Pet banks

State-chartered financial institutions aligned with Andrew Jackson's administration selected to receive transferred federal deposits after Jackson vetoed the Second Bank of the United States recharter in 1832.

Spoils system

The political convention of distributing public offices and patronage appointments to party loyalists; Jackson defended the practice, though he replaced only about $20\%$ of federal officeholders during his presidency.

Tariff of Abominations

The high protective Tariff of 1828 that elevated import duties to record levels, causing profound economic resentment across the South and sparking the Nullification Crisis in South Carolina.

Trail of Tears (1838)

The forced overland eviction of approximately $18{,}000$ Cherokee people from southeastern lands to Oklahoma, resulting in the deaths of nearly $25\%$ of their population from illness, exposure, and exhaustion.

Whigs

Political party established in 1832 to resist Andrew Jackson's executive overreach; spearheaded by Henry Clay, it championed the national bank, high tariffs, and internal improvements before disintegrating over slavery.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Legal dispute where the Cherokee argued the Indian Removal Act breached existing treaties; though the Court affirmed tribal sovereignty, Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the ruling and carried out removal with military force.

American Anti-Slavery Society

Abolitionist society created in 1833 by reformers favoring moral persuasion, demanding immediate emancipation without compensation, endorsing wide social reform, and permitting women full participatory rights.

Abby Kelley

Abolitionist orator within the American Anti-Slavery Society whose 1840 appointment to an all-male leadership committee precipitated a permanent schism between William Lloyd Garrison and traditional abolitionists.

American Colonization Society

Organization formed in 1817 that promoted the repatriation of emancipated African Americans to West Africa, leading to the creation of the settlement of Liberia in 1827.

American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society

Moderate abolitionist organization established in 1840 by the Tappan brothers in opposition to Garrisonian radicalism and anti-clericalism, endorsing traditional political action through the Liberty Party.

American Society for the Promotion of Temperance

The nation's inaugural temperance body, founded in 1826, which mobilized traveling agents to advocate total abstinence from alcohol, secure signed sobriety pledges, and lobby for state prohibition laws.

Brook Farm

Transcendentalist utopian community founded near Boston in 1841 by George Ripley; based on balanced communal farming and intellectual pursuits, it shuttered in 1847 following a disastrous fire and member disillusionment.

Compensated Emancipation

An abolition strategy offering monetary compensation to slaveowners for freed slaves, meant to diminish resistance to emancipation by mitigating financial losses.

Cult of domesticity

Nineteenth-century gender ideology positing that women belonged in the private sphere to offer moral and spiritual guidance within the household while avoiding the public worlds of commerce and politics.

Declaration of Sentiments

A 1848 manifesto drafted at the Seneca Falls Convention modeled on the Declaration of Independence, outlining grievances against male dominance and asserting women's legal equality, social rights, and suffrage.

Dorothea Dix

Educator and reformer who led a national crusade for the humane care of the mentally ill, lobbying state governments to construct dedicated mental hospitals and remove patients from criminal penal systems.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Leading nineteenth-century feminist who coordinated the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, co-authored the Declaration of Sentiments, and dedicated decades to securing women's suffrage.

Frederick Douglass

Escaped slave who emerged as a preeminent abolitionist orator and writer; he split from William Lloyd Garrison to publish The North Star and stood as the foremost African American spokesman until 1895.

Gradual Emancipation

An approach to ending slavery incrementally over time, often freeing newborn children of enslaved mothers once they reached adulthood, enabling northern states to abolish slavery following the Revolution.

Horace Mann

Massachusetts educational reformer who modernized public schooling by mandating minimum term lengths, institutionalizing formal teacher training programs, and adopting secular curriculum standards.

Liberty Party

An abolitionist third party formed in 1840 that nominated James G. Birney for president in 1840 and 1844, seeking to halt slavery's expansion and eliminate it in federal territories before joining the Free Soil Party in 1848.

Lucretia Mott

Quaker reformer and abolitionist who, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, organized the landmark 1848 Seneca Falls Convention advocating equal rights and suffrage for women.

Maine Law (1851)

The earliest statewide temperance statute in the United States, which banned the production, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages except for recognized medical purposes.

Sarah and Angelina Grimke

South Carolina Quaker sisters who migrated north to lecture and write against slavery and in defense of women's rights, with Angelina marrying fellow abolitionist Theodore Weld.

Second Great Awakening

A widespread wave of Protestant revivals from 1790 to 1840 emphasizing individual moral action and human salvation, creating the ideological impetus for antebellum social reform movements.

Susan B. Anthony

Women’s rights activist who partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1851 to establish the National Woman Suffrage Association; her efforts led the Nineteenth Amendment to be nicknamed after her.

Transcendentalists

Antebellum philosophical and literary thinkers who argued that ultimate truth transcends the physical senses and is realized through intuitive spiritual awareness rather than established institutions.

William Lloyd Garrison

Foremost radical abolitionist editor of The Liberator and co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, known for championing immediate, uncompensated emancipation and racial equality.

Coerce

To persuade or compel an unwilling party to comply by using extreme force or threats.

Judicial review

The constitutional authority of the Supreme Court to evaluate congressional statutes and executive actions to verify their constitutional validity.

Nullify

To make legal enactments void, inoperative, or completely invalid.