Unit 4 - Part B

Andrew Jackson

7th U.S. president who promoted the common man, expanded presidential power, used the spoils system, and opposed the national bank.

John C. Calhoun

Southern politician who supported states’ rights, the doctrine of nullification, and slavery.

Henry Clay

Senator known as the “Great Compromiser”; supported the American System of tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements.

Martin Van Buren

8th president; created the Democratic Party with Jackson and served during the Panic of 1837.

John Quincy Adams

6th president who supported the American System and internal improvements; his election led to the “Corrupt Bargain” controversy.

Daniel Webster

Massachusetts senator and strong supporter of federal power, the Union, and the national bank.

Nicholas Biddle

President of the Second Bank of the United States who became involved in Jackson’s Bank War.

Stephen Austin

American empresario who led the first major group of settlers into Mexican Texas.

William Henry Harrison

9th president who served only 31 days before dying; his death led to John Tyler becoming president.

Sam Houston

Leader of the Texas Revolution who defeated Santa Anna and later became president of the Republic of Texas.

Santa Anna

Mexican general and dictator who fought against Texas rebels and was defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto.

The Alamo

Mission in San Antonio where Texan defenders were defeated by Santa Anna in 1836; became a symbol of Texas resistance.

Common Man

Jacksonian idea that ordinary white men should have a greater role in government and politics.

Nullification

The theory that a state could reject a federal law it considered unconstitutional.

Spoils System

Practice of giving government jobs to political supporters after winning an election.

Anti-Masonic Party

First major third party in the U.S.; opposed the influence and secrecy of the Freemasons.

Twelfth Amendment

Constitutional amendment requiring electors to vote separately for president and vice president.

“Corrupt Bargain”

Accusation that John Quincy Adams became president after Henry Clay supported him and was then made secretary of state.

Tariff of Abominations

High protective tariff of 1828 that angered Southern states, especially South Carolina.

Tariff of 1832

Tariff that lowered some rates but failed to satisfy South Carolina, leading to the Nullification Crisis.

Specie Circular

Jackson’s 1836 order requiring payment for federal land purchases in gold or silver rather than paper money.

Tariff of 1833

Compromise tariff that gradually lowered rates and helped end the Nullification Crisis.

Seminole Wars

Conflicts between the U.S. government and Seminole Indians in Florida over land and removal.

Worcester v. Georgia

1832 Supreme Court case ruling that Georgia could not control Cherokee territory; strengthened tribal sovereignty.

Indian Removal Act

1830 law allowing the federal government to negotiate removal of Native Americans to lands west of the Mississippi River.

Trail of Tears

Forced removal of the Cherokee and other Native Americans to the West; thousands died during the journey.

Panic of 1837

Major economic depression caused by factors including bank failures, land speculation, and Jackson’s financial policies.

Force Bill

1833 law allowing President Jackson to use military force to enforce federal tariffs in South Carolina.

Bank of the United States (re-chartering of)

Jackson vetoed the attempt to renew the Second Bank’s charter, beginning the Bank War.

Independent Treasury

System created under Van Buren to keep federal money in government

“Kitchen Cabinet”

Jackson’s informal group of trusted advisers who influenced his decisions outside of his official cabinet.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival that encouraged personal salvation and inspired reform movements such as abolition, temperance, and women’s rights.

Burned-Over Districts

Areas of upstate New York heavily affected by religious revivals and reform movements during the Second Great Awakening.

Mormons

Religious group founded by Joseph Smith; faced persecution and eventually migrated west to Utah under Brigham Young.

American Temperance Society

Organization that promoted reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption.

Seneca Falls Convention

1848 women’s rights convention that called for greater equality and women’s suffrage.

Oneida Community

Religious communal group in New York that practiced shared property and unconventional family relationships.

Shakers

Religious communal group known for celibacy, equality between men and women, simple living, and skilled craftsmanship.

Prison reform: Auburn system

Prison system requiring prisoners to work together silently during the day and remain in separate cells at night.

Prison reform: Penitentiary system

Reform idea that prisons should rehabilitate criminals through discipline, isolation, and work.

Hudson River School

Group of American artists who painted detailed landscapes celebrating America’s natural beauty.

Romanticism

Cultural movement emphasizing emotion, imagination, nature, and individual experience.

Transcendentalism

Movement emphasizing individual intuition, self-reliance, nature, and spiritual truth beyond organized religion.

Charles G. Finney

Major revivalist preacher of the Second Great Awakening who emphasized individual conversion and reform.

Joseph Smith

Founder of Mormonism and author of the Book of Mormon.

Brigham Young

Mormon leader who led followers west to Utah and became the first governor of Utah Territory.

Horace Mann

Education reformer who promoted free, public schools and better trained teachers.

Noah Webster

Educator and lexicographer who created an influential American dictionary and promoted American education.

William H. McGuffey

Educator who created the widely used McGuffey Readers to teach reading and moral values.

Horace Greeley

Newspaper editor and publisher of the New-York Tribune who supported reform, abolition, and westward settlement.

Dorothea Dix

Prison and mental-health reformer who pushed for better treatment and institutions for mentally ill people.

Lucretia Mott

Quaker abolitionist and women’s rights activist who helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Women’s rights leader who helped organize Seneca Falls and demanded women’s suffrage and equality.

Susan B. Anthony

Major women’s rights and abolition activist who fought for women’s suffrage.

John J. Audubon

Naturalist and artist famous for detailed paintings of North American birds.

James Fenimore Cooper

American author known for romantic frontier novels such as The Last of the Mohicans.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalist writer who emphasized self-reliance, individualism, and connection with nature.

Henry David Thoreau

Transcendentalist writer who promoted simple living, nature, and resistance to unjust government.

Walt Whitman

American poet whose work celebrated democracy, individualism, and the American experience.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Popular American poet known for works about American history, nature, and patriotism.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

American Romantic writer whose works often explored guilt, sin, morality, and human nature.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

1831 slave rebellion in Virginia led by Nat Turner that killed several dozen people and led to stricter slave laws.

The Amistad

1839 slave revolt aboard a Spanish ship; the Supreme Court ruled that the Africans had been illegally enslaved and should be free.

American Colonization Society

Organization that promoted sending free African Americans to Africa, leading to the establishment of Liberia.

The Liberator

Abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison that demanded immediate emancipation.

American Anti-Slavery Society

Abolitionist organization founded in 1833 that called for the immediate abolition of slavery.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

1845 autobiography describing Douglass’s experiences in slavery and his escape to freedom; became an important abolitionist work.

Mason-Dixon Line

Boundary originally surveyed between Pennsylvania and Maryland; later became associated with the division between free and slave states.

Gag Resolution

Congressional rule that automatically tabled anti-slavery petitions, preventing debate over them.

Nat Turner

Enslaved preacher who led a major slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831.

William Lloyd Garrison

Radical abolitionist who founded The Liberator and demanded immediate emancipation.

David Walker

Free Black abolitionist who wrote An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, calling for resistance to slavery and racism.

Sojourner Truth

Formerly enslaved abolitionist and women’s rights activist who spoke publicly against slavery and inequality.

Frederick Douglass

Escaped slave who became a leading abolitionist, writer, speaker, and advocate for African American rights.

Elijah P. Lovejoy

Abolitionist newspaper editor who was killed by a mob in Illinois while defending his press.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an antislavery novel that helped increase Northern opposition to slavery.