AHH Midterm Study 1

Stamp Act

1765 law passed by Parliament that required colonists to pay taxes on printed materials

George Washington

Fought in the French and Indian War. In 1758, he was appointed general and put in command of British forces in North America

French and Indian War

war fought from 1754-1763 in which Britain and its colonies defeated France and its American Indian allies, gaining control of eastern North America

Proclamation of 1763

declaration by the British king ordering all colonists to remain east of the Appalachian Mountains.

bicameral

lawmaking body made up of 2 houses.

unicameral

lawmaking body made up of a single house.

checks and balances

system in which each branch of government has the power to monitor and limit the actions of the other two.

separation of powers

principle that divides power among the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.

Bill of Rights

first 10 Amendments to the Constitution

Popular sovereignty

a principle in which the people are the only source of government power.

Virginia Plan

James Madison’s proposal for a bicameral legislature with representation based on population.

NJ Plan

William Paterson’s proposal for a unicameral legislature with each state having one vote.

Administration

staff of the executive branch

Precedents

an act or statement that becomes an example, rule or tradition to be followed.

Cabinet

head of executive departments who meet as a group in order to advise the President.

Tariffs

a tax on imported goods.

loose construction

a belief that the government has any power not forbidden by the constitution

strict construction

a belief that government is limited to powers clearly stated in the Constitution.

Whiskey Rebellion

a 1794 uprising in western Pennsylvania that opposed the federal excise tax on whiskey.

political parties

an organization of people who seek to win elections and hold public office in order to shape government policy.

Democratic Republicans

led by Jefferson and Madison. One of the first political parties in the US. Also known as the Republicans.

Little Turtle

American Indian leader of the Miami people. Resisted America expansion into the NW Territory.

Battle of Fallen Timbers

1794 battle in which federal troops defeated the Miami Confederacy of the American Indians.

French Revolution

uprising against the French monarchy that began in 1789.

John Jay

NY attorney joined the Patriot cause during the American Revolution and served in the Continental Congress.

XYZ Affair

diplomatic controversy in 1798 in which French officials demanded bribes of American negotiators.

Alien and Sedition Acts

1798 laws that allowed the government to imprison or deport non-citizen immigrants known as aliens and to prosecute those who criticized the government.

Virginia and Kentucky resolutions

state resolutions passed in 1798 declaring the Alien and Sedition acts unconstitutional.

Aaron Burr

3rd VP of the US. Angered by comments made by Alexander Hamilton, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel in 1804 in which Hamilton was killed.

Bureaucracy

a group of departments and officials that make up an organization, such as a government.

John Marshall

4th Chief Justice of the US. After serving under Washington in the Revolutionary War, he held various law and political positions. As Chief Justice, he participated in more than 1000 decisions.

judicial review

power of the supreme court to decide whether acts of a president or laws passed by Congress are constitutional.

Marbury v. Madison

1803 Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review

Louisiana Purchase

the 1803 purchase from France by the US of the territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

1804 expedition sent by President Jefferson to explore the newly-acquired Louisiana territory.

Barbary War

war between the barbary states and the US.

Impressment

a policy of seizing people or property for military or public service

Embargo

an official ban or restriction on trade

Tecumseh

Shawnee warrior from the Ohio Valley who spearheaded a spiritual and military resistance movement among American Indians in the early 1800’s.

Battle of Tippecanoe

1811 battle in Indiana territory between American Indians and US troops in which Indians were defeated.

War Hawks

members of Congress who pushed for war against GB in the years leading up to the War of 1812.

War of 1812

a war between the US and Great Britain that lasted from 1812–1815.

Andrew Jackson

American military officer before serving the US House and Senate and finally as 7th President of the US.

Francis Scott Key

American lawyer and poet best known for the Star Spangled Banner that became our national anthem in 1931.

“The Star-Spangled Banner”

poem written by Francis Scott Key.

Battle of New Orleans

War of 1812 battle when the US defeated British in Jan of 1815.

Treaty of Ghent

1814 agreement that ended end of War of 1812

Hartford Convention

1814 meeting of Federalists from New England who opposed the War of 1812 and demanded Constitutional amendments to empower the region.

Turnpikes

Privately built roads that charged tolls; they improved overland travel and trade in the early 1800s.

National Road

The first major federal highway, built to connect the East Coast to western territories and encourage westward expansion.

Erie Canal

A canal connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River; it lowered shipping costs and made New York a major trade center.

Industrial Revolution

A period of major economic change when the U.S. shifted from hand-made goods to machine-made goods in factories.

Samuel Slater

An industrialist who brought British textile machinery designs to the U.S. and helped start the American factory system.

Francis Cabot Lowell

A factory owner who created the Lowell System, combining machines, workers, and power in one factory.

“Lowell girls”

Young women who worked in textile factories in Lowell, Massachusetts, earning wages but facing strict rules and long hours.

Interchangeable parts

Identical machine-made parts that could be easily replaced, making production faster and cheaper.

Eli Whitney

An inventor who popularized interchangeable parts and improved mass production methods.

Samuel F. B. Morse

Inventor of the telegraph and Morse code, which greatly improved long-distance communication.

Tariff of 1816

The first protective tariff passed by the U.S. government to protect American manufacturing by taxing imported goods.

Nationalism

loyalty and devotion to one’s nation.

Henry Clay

American politician elected to US House of Representatives and Senate from Kentucky. Leading proponent of economic nationalism.

American System

Henry Clay’s federal program designed to stimulate the economy with internal improvements and to create a self sufficient nation

John Quincy Adams

6th president of the US. Helped negotiate Treaty of Ghent during War of 1812.

Adams-Onís Treaty

1819 treaty in which Spain ceded Florida to the US.

Monroe Doctrine

foreign policy doctrine set forth by president Monroe in 1823 that discouraged European intervention in the Western hemisphere.

Missouri Compromise

1820 agreement calling for the admission of Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Also banned slavery in the Louisiana Purchase north of 36 30’ N latitude.

Capital

Money, machines, or tools needed to produce goods and run businesses.

Labor unions

Organized groups of workers who join together to improve wages, hours, and working conditions.

Nativists

People who opposed immigration and favored native-born Americans over immigrants.

Cotton gin

A machine invented by Eli Whitney that quickly separated cotton fibers from seeds, increasing cotton production

Jacksonian Democracy

Andrew Jackson and his followers’ political philosophy concerned with the interests of the common people and limiting the role of the federal government.

Caucus

a closed meeting of party members for the purpose of choosing a candidate.

Martin Van Buren

8th President of the US, faced national financial panic brought about in the transfer of funds from the Bank of US to states banks.

spoils system

the practice of the political party in power giving jobs and appointments to its supporters rather than to people based upon their qualifications.

Indian Removal Act

an act passed by Congress in 1830 that allowed the federal government to negotiate land exchanges with the American Indians in the SE.

Trail of Tears

a forced march of the Cherokee Indians to move west of the Mississippi in the 1830’s.

Tariff of Abominations

an 1828 protective tariff, so named by its southern opponents.

John C. Calhoun

major American politician who served as US VP, secretary of war, secretary of state and in both houses of Congress.

Nullification

a theory that states could nullify, or void any federal law they deemed unconstitutional.

Whigs

members of the nationalist political party formed in 1832 to oppose the Democrats

Junípero Serra

Spanish Franciscan priest who helped establish 9 missions in present-day California.

Expansionists

person who favors expanding the territory or influence of a country.

Manifest Destiny

19th century doctrine that westward expansion of the US was not only inevitable but a God-given right.

Santa Fe Trail

a trail developed by traders in the mid 1800’s, connecting Independence Missouri to Santa Fe New Mexico.

Oregon Trail

a trail from Independence Missouri to Oregon that was used by pioneers in the mid 1800’s.

Sojourner Truth

born a slave in Maryland. In 1849, she escaped and traveled to Philadelphia and became a conductor on the Underground Railroad, leading hundreds of slaves to freedom in the North.

Lucretia Mott

deeply committed to the idea of reform. Known for her effective speaking she traveled and spoke about abolition.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

lively and often fiery crusader for women’s rights.

`Wilmot Proviso

proposed but rejected 1846 bill that would have banned slavery in the territory won from Mexico in the Mexican War.

popular sovereignty

a principle in which the people are the only source of government power

Underground Railroad

a system that existed before the Civil War in which African American and white abolitionists helped escaped slaves travel to safe areas in the North or in Canada.

John Brown

American abolitionist best known for leading a raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

Dred Scott

African American man born into slavery who sued for freedom on the grounds that he lived for time in a state in which slavery was prohibited.

Roger Taney

served as 5th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Best known for his decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford case in which he wrote that enslaved persons were not entitled to rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Abraham Lincoln

born on a Kentucky farm, self-educated and became an attorney and joined the Whig party.

Stephen Douglas

US Senator ardent supporter of westward expansion and an advocate for popular sovereignty.

Harpers Ferry

town in Virginia where abolitionist John Brown raided a federal arsenal in 1859.

Jefferson Davis

southern planter who became the President of the Confederate States of America.

Fort Sumter

a federal fort located in Charleston SC, where the first shots of the civil war were fired.

Anaconda Plan

a northern civil war strategy to starve the south by blockading seaports and controlling the Mississippi.