APUSH Vocab - Period 4

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

This Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review, giving the Court the power to declare laws unconstitutional.

Chief Justice John Marshall

John Marshall served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835 and transformed the Court into a powerful branch of government.

Judicial Review

Judicial review is the Supreme Court's authority to determine whether laws or executive actions violate the Constitution.

Barbary Pirates

The Barbary Pirates operated off the North African coast and demanded tribute from nations trading in the Mediterranean.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, doubling the nation's size.

Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806)

Commissioned by President Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the newly acquired Louisiana Territory to map the land and establish relations with Native tribes.

Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was Thomas Jefferson's vice president and a controversial political figure involved in multiple scandals.

Impressment

Impressment was the British practice of seizing American sailors and forcing them into service in the Royal Navy.

Embargo Act of 1807

Passed under Jefferson, the Embargo Act banned all U.S. trade with foreign nations in response to British and French interference with American shipping.

James Madison

James Madison, the 'Father of the Constitution,' served as the fourth U.S. president from 1809 to 1817.

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was fought between the U.S. and Britain over issues like trade restrictions, impressment, and British support for Native American resistance.

Tecumseh

Tecumseh was a Shawnee leader who sought to unite Native tribes to resist American expansion into the Northwest Territory.

Battle of Tippecanoe

Fought between U.S. forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison and Native warriors of Tecumseh's confederation, the Battle of Tippecanoe took place in Indiana Territory.

War Hawks

The War Hawks were young, nationalist members of Congress, primarily from the South and West, who pushed for war against Britain before 1812.

Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer and poet who witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.

Treaty of Ghent

The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, restoring prewar boundaries.

Hartford Convention

The Hartford Convention was a meeting of New England Federalists who opposed the War of 1812 and discussed constitutional amendments to limit federal power.

Battle of New Orleans

Fought after the Treaty of Ghent was signed but before news reached America, the Battle of New Orleans was a major U.S. victory led by General Andrew Jackson.

Macon's Bill No. 2

Macon's Bill No. 2 reopened American trade with all nations but promised to halt trade with one belligerent if the other ceased its restrictions on U.S. shipping.

Erie Canal

The Erie Canal connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

Samuel F. Morse

Samuel F. Morse invented the telegraph and developed Morse code, revolutionizing long-distance communication.

Eli Whitney

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, which dramatically increased the efficiency of cotton processing.

Cyrus Hall McCormick

Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical reaper in the 1830s, revolutionizing agriculture by making grain harvesting much faster and more efficient.

McCormick's reaper

A symbol of industrial innovation transforming American agriculture.

Lowell System

A factory labor model developed in Massachusetts that employed young, unmarried women in textile mills, living in company-owned boardinghouses with strict moral codes and educational opportunities.

Market Revolution

A period of rapid economic transformation in the early 19th century marked by new transportation, communication, and industrial innovations that linked regional economies and encouraged urban growth.

Industrial Revolution

The transition from handcraft to machine-based manufacturing, beginning in Britain and spreading to the U.S. in the early 1800s, introducing new technologies like the steam engine and textile machinery.

Cult of Domesticity

A 19th-century belief that women's proper role was in the home, centered on piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness, idealizing middle-class women as moral guardians of the family.

Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852)

Caused by a devastating potato blight that led to mass starvation and economic collapse in Ireland, resulting in over a million deaths and another million immigrating to the United States.

Nativism

A political and social movement favoring native-born Americans over immigrants, especially Catholics and the Irish, leading to anti-immigrant laws and the rise of the Know-Nothing Party.

Know-Nothing Party (1850s)

A nativist, anti-Catholic political movement that sought to restrict immigration and naturalization, briefly popular before collapsing as the issue of slavery overtook national politics.

German Immigration

Large numbers of Germans immigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century, many fleeing political unrest and seeking economic opportunity, contributing significantly to American industry and culture.

Irish Immigration

Millions of Irish immigrants arrived in the U.S. during the 1840s and 1850s, primarily fleeing the Potato Famine, settling in urban centers and taking low-wage jobs.

John C. Calhoun

A leading Southern politician and strong advocate of states' rights and slavery, promoting the doctrine of nullification.

Henry Clay

Known as the 'Great Compromiser,' he was a leading Whig politician who brokered major compromises to maintain the Union.

Daniel Webster

A prominent Northern senator and orator who defended the Union and the Constitution, opposing nullification and promoting national unity.

Tariff of 1816

The first protective tariff in U.S. history, designed to shield American industries from British competition after the War of 1812, raising duties on imported goods and encouraging domestic manufacturing.

American System

Proposed by Henry Clay, aimed to promote national economic development through protective tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements, linking the agricultural South and West with the industrial North.

James Monroe

The fifth U.S. president (1817-1825) who presided over the 'Era of Good Feelings,' marked by political unity and national expansion, acquiring Florida and issuing the Monroe Doctrine.

Era of Good Feelings

The period during Monroe's presidency when partisan conflict declined after the Federalist Party's collapse, characterized by economic growth, westward expansion, and national pride.

Oregon Country

A vast region in the Pacific Northwest jointly occupied by the United States and Britain under the Convention of 1818, peacefully divided in 1846 at the 49th parallel.

Panic of 1819

The first major financial crisis in U.S. history, triggered by the collapse of cotton prices and reckless lending by state banks, causing widespread foreclosures and unemployment.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Proposed by Henry Clay, it admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain Senate balance, prohibiting slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel in the Louisiana Territory.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

A Supreme Court case ruling that only the federal government could regulate interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause, reinforcing federal supremacy and promoting economic growth.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Declared that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further European colonization and warned against interference in the Americas, reflecting U.S. confidence and nationalism.

Andrew Jackson

The seventh U.S. president (1829-1837), a war hero and populist who expanded presidential power, opposed the national bank, and enforced Indian removal policies.

Corrupt Bargain (1824)

Refers to the disputed presidential election of 1824, where the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams as president after Henry Clay's support, denounced by Andrew Jackson's supporters.

John Quincy Adams

The sixth U.S. president (1825-1829) who pursued a strong nationalist agenda emphasizing internal improvements and federal involvement in the economy.

Spoils System

The practice of rewarding political supporters with government jobs after an election victory, popularized under Andrew Jackson.

Nullification Crisis (1832-1833)

A crisis that arose when South Carolina declared federal tariffs null and void, testing federal authority and strengthening Union supremacy over state sovereignty.

Trail of Tears (1838-1839)

The forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from their homeland in Georgia to Indian Territory, resulting in thousands of deaths from starvation, disease, and exposure.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Legislation signed by President Andrew Jackson that authorized the relocation of Native American tribes to lands west of the Mississippi River, leading to widespread suffering.

Martin Van Buren

The eighth U.S. president (1837-1841), whose presidency was dominated by the Panic of 1837, which crippled the economy and damaged his popularity.

Tariff of 1832

A tariff passed to reduce the rates of the Tariff of 1828, which failed to satisfy Southern states and led to the Nullification Crisis.

Anti-Masonic Party

The first third party in U.S. history, formed in the late 1820s in opposition to the perceived secretive influence of the Freemasons.

Specie Circular (1836)

An order issued by President Jackson requiring payment for public lands in gold or silver instead of paper money, contributing to the economic collapse.

Panic of 1837

A severe economic depression triggered by the Specie Circular, the collapse of state banks, and declining cotton prices, leading to widespread bank failures and unemployment.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that depicted the cruelties of slavery and intensified sectional conflict by increasing antislavery sentiment in the North.

Peculiar Institution

A euphemism used by Southerners to describe the system of slavery.

Paternalism

The Southern ideology that slaveholders acted as benevolent guardians for enslaved people, providing care in exchange for labor.

Yeomen Farmers

Independent, small landowners who worked their own farms, primarily in the South and West, typically owning few or no enslaved people.

Mulattoes

People of mixed African and European ancestry, often occupying a unique social position in the antebellum South.

Spirituals

Religious folk songs created by enslaved African Americans that combined Christian themes with messages of hope, resistance, and freedom.

Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)

A violent slave uprising in Virginia led by preacher Nat Turner, resulting in the deaths of about 60 white people.

Transcendentalism

A 19th-century philosophical and literary movement that emphasized individual intuition, nature, and spiritual self-reliance.

Shakers

A religious communal group founded by Ann Lee that practiced celibacy, equality, and communal ownership of property.

Second Great Awakening (early 1800s)

A nationwide Protestant revival movement that emphasized personal salvation, moral reform, and emotional preaching.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)

A religious group founded by Joseph Smith in the 1830s that introduced new scriptures and communal practices.

American Temperance Society (1826)

A reform organization that sought to curb alcohol consumption through moral persuasion and legislation.

Horace Mann

A leading education reformer who promoted free, public education and professionalized teaching.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A philosopher, writer, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement known for essays like 'Self-Reliance' and 'Nature,' which encouraged individualism and faith in human potential.

Henry David Thoreau

A Transcendentalist writer best known for 'Walden' and 'Civil Disobedience,' advocating simple living, self-reliance, and nonviolent resistance to unjust laws.

Emily Dickinson

A reclusive poet whose innovative and introspective verse explored themes of death, nature, and spirituality, becoming central to American literature despite few publications during her lifetime.

Edgar Allan Poe

An American writer known for dark, gothic tales and pioneering work in mystery and horror, influencing generations of writers and shaping American romanticism.

Dorothea Lynde Dix

A reformer who campaigned for humane treatment of the mentally ill, revealing abuse in prisons and asylums, leading to the creation of state mental hospitals.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A leading women's rights activist who co-organized the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and co-authored the Declaration of Sentiments demanding suffrage and equality for women.

Abolition

The movement to end slavery in the United States, gaining momentum in the early 19th century, ultimately achieving success with the Civil War and the 13th Amendment.

William Lloyd Garrison

A radical abolitionist and editor of The Liberator, advocating for immediate emancipation and founding the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Frederick Douglass

A formerly enslaved man who became a leading abolitionist, orator, and writer, whose autobiography exposed the brutality of slavery.

Underground Railroad

A secret network of routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape to free states and Canada, symbolizing resistance to slavery.

Harriet Tubman

An escaped enslaved woman who became the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, leading hundreds to freedom and serving as a Union spy.

Sojourner Truth

An African American abolitionist and women's rights advocate whose 'Ain't I a Woman?' speech challenged racial and gender inequalities.

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

The first women's rights convention in U.S. history, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, marking the formal beginning of the organized women's rights movement.