APUSH Vocab 4

Embargo

Legal or official ban on trade, other commercial activities, w/ a particular country

Gerrymandering

Dividing of a state, country, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts, while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition party into as few districts as possible

“War Hawks”

Young Jeffersonians (DR) elected to the US Congress in 1810 who were eager for war w/ Britain to end impressments and to average other foreign policy insults [Henry Clay (the great compromiser) & John C. Calhoun]

Sectionalism

Excessive regard for regional or local interests, extreme regional or local pride/prejudice; the growing division between North and South in the years leading up to the US Civil War

Armistice

Ceasefire; truce; agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting

“Era of Good Feelings”

Nationalistic era of one-party rule (DR) immediately following the War of 1812 and the demise of the Federalist Party in 1816, corresponding w/ the presidency of James Monroe

Infrastructure

System of public works (such as roads, canals, bridges, etc.) in any given state, county, or region (American System)

Canal

Artificial waterway constructed to allow the passage of boats or ships in land, or to carry water for irrigation

Speculation

The forming of a theory, conjecture, or educated guess, but w/out firm evidence; investment in stocks, property, or other ventures in the hope of financial gain but w/ the risk of loss

Censure

To express severe disapproval of someone or something, typically in a formal statement of rebuke

Specie

Coined or metallic money; gold or silver coin or currency

Subsistence Agriculture

Growing crops to feed and satisfy the needs of the farmer and his immediate family

Commercial Agriculutre

Growing crops for sale on the market; farming as a business

Mudslinging

The use of insults and accusations, esp. unjust or exaggerated ones, with the aim of damaging the reputation of a political opponent, negative political campaigning

Abomination

Anything greatly disliked, hated, or abhorred

Mandate

Command or authorization, given by the voters to an elected representative, to act in a particular way on a public issue; the authority to carry out a policy or course of action, regarded as given by the electorate (i.e. the voters) to a candidate or party that is victorious in a recent election

“New Democracy”

Mass politics in the Jacksonian period (i.e. the era of the "common man") caused by the introduction of universal white manhood suffrage; new styles of campaigning emerged, political parties became more organized, and elections became more ravenous

“Spoils System”

Arrangement in which party leaders reward party loyalists w/ govt. jobs, regardless of their qualifications or lack thereof; slang term for patronage

Patronage

The power to control political appointments to office or the right to privileges

Proviso

Clause in a contract, statute, or similar document making a qualification, condition, or restriction

Plutocracy

Govt. or state in which only the wealthy class rules

Pauperism

The state or condition of utter poverty

Capital

Wealth, whether in money or property or employed in business by an individual, firm, or corporation; wealth that can be invested to make money and/or produce goods and services

Lassiez Faire

Economic doctrine based on the theory that govts. should not interfere in business or the economy, or should only interfere as little as possible

Patent

Grant made by the govt. that gives the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell the invention, usually for a set or limited period of time

Textile

Any cloth or fabric, esp. these produced by weaving or knitting

Antebellum

Before or existing “before the war” [from Latin], esp. the American Civil War; the decades of the 19th century immediately preceding the US Civil War

Suffrage

The right to vote in poltical elections

“Potato Famine”

Period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Irish history between 1845-1849; about 1 million died, +1 million fled the country, and the population of Ireland dropped by roughly 20%-25%

Nativism

Anti-foreign sentiment/fear; policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants; prejudice towards newcomers that focus a drive

Transient

Existing for a short period of time, esp. as a temporary guest, boarder, or laborer; any person or thing that is transient or temporary

Lynch

To put to death, esp. by hanging or beating, through mob action and w/out legal authority

Temperance

Moderation, self-restraint, or abstinence from alcoholic drinks; the movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages

Utopian

Founded upon or involving a state of idealized perfection

Evangelical

Pertaining to certain movements w/in the protestant churches of the late 18th/early 19th centuries that stressed emotional engagement, personal conversion, salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus, the authority of scripture (esp. the Gospels), and the importance of preaching as contrasted w/ ritual; adhering to or marked by Christian religious fundamentalism

Deviance

Act of departing (or deviating) from the norm, or from the accepted standards of society

Itinerant

Traveling from place to place, esp. on a circuit, as might a minister, judge, or sales representative

Polygamy

The practice or condition of having more than one spouse, esp. wives, at a time