APUSH Ch13

Self Reliance

A widely read 1841 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that celebrated individualism and urged Americans to trust their own intuition rather than conforming to social expectations.

Ecological Imperialism

A term used by historians to describe the aggressive, often destructive exploitation of the Western frontier's natural resources, such as the near-extinction of beaver and buffalo populations.

Tammany Hall

A powerful New York City political machine, primarily associated with the Democratic Party, that gained massive influence by helping immigrants (especially the Irish) in exchange for their votes.

Know-Nothing Party

A prominent nativist political party of the 1850s that opposed immigration and the growing influence of Catholics in America.

Industrial Revolution

A massive global shift starting in the late 18th century where hand manufacturing was replaced by machine power, factories, and mass production.

Patent Office

A federal government bureau that reviews and grants legal protection to inventors, ensuring they hold exclusive rights to their designs for a set period.

Limited Liability

A legal principle stating that business investors cannot lose more money than they originally invested, which greatly encouraged people to fund new corporations.

Commonwealth vs Hunt

A landmark 1842 Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that declared labor unions legal, provided their methods and goals were peaceful and lawful.

Factory Girls

Young, single New England women who moved from rural farms to work in textile mills (like those in Lowell, Massachusetts), living in highly supervised company boarding houses.

Cult of Domesticity

A 19th-century cultural belief that idealized women’s roles as homemakers, treating the private home as a moral, nurturing sanctuary separate from the harsh public workplace.

McCormick Reaper

A mechanical horse-drawn tool that rapidly cut and harvested grain, transforming midwestern agriculture into a commercial, large-scale industry.

Turnpike

A privately funded, toll-based highway (such as the Lancaster Turnpike) designed to improve overland transportation and commerce.

Erie Canal

A massive, state-funded artificial waterway completed in 1825 that connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, slashing shipping costs and boosting New York's economy.

Clipper Ships

Long, narrow, and fast American sailing vessels of the mid-19th century that sacrificed cargo space for speed, dominating ocean trade routes.

Pony Express

A short-lived, rapid mail delivery service established in 1860 where horseback riders carried letters across the Western frontier from Missouri to California.

Transportation Revolution

A period of rapid development in the early-to-mid 19th century characterized by the creation of turnpikes, canals, steamboats, and railroads, binding the national economy together.

Market Revolution

The broader economic transformation where subsistence farming gave way to a national commercial economy, driven by regional specialization, factories, and better transportation.

Samuel Slater

Known as the "Father of the American Factory System," he memorized British textile machinery designs and reproduced them in Rhode Island to launch America's first spinning mills.

Eli Whitney

An American inventor best known for creating the cotton gin and pioneering the use of interchangeable parts in manufacturing.

Elias Howe

The inventor who designed and patented the first practical sewing machine in 1846, revolutionizing the clothing industry.

Isaac Singer

An entrepreneur who improved Elias Howe's sewing machine design by adding a foot treadle, successfully mass-marketing it worldwide.

Samuel F.B. Morse

The inventor of the single-wire telegraph system and co-creator of Morse code, which revolutionized long-distance communication.

John Deere

A blacksmith who invented the steel plow in 1837, allowing midwestern farmers to easily cut through thick prairie soil without mud sticking to the blade.

Cyrus McCormick

The industrialist who invented and mass-produced the mechanical reaper, driving agricultural expansion in the West.

Robert Fulton

An engineer who developed the first commercially successful steamboat, the Clermont, making two-way river travel fast and profitable.

DeWitt Clinton

The Governor of New York who fiercely championed the construction of the Erie Canal, which critics initially mocked as "Clinton's Ditch."

Rendezvous

The dominant system of the fur trade in the Rocky Mountains, where trappers, Native Americans, and Eastern traders met each summer to exchange pelts for manufactured goods.

Cotton Gin

A machine invented in 1793 that quickly separated seeds from short-staple cotton fiber, making cotton production highly profitable and vastly expanding slavery in the American South.