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Revolution of 1800
Electoral victory of Democratic-Republicans over the Federalists, who lost their Congressional majority and the presidency. The peaceful transfer of power between rival parties solidified faith in America's political system.
Patronage
A system, prevalent during the Gilded age, in which political parties granted jobs and favors to party regulars who delivered votes on election day. Patronage as both an essential well-spring of support for both parties and a source of conflict within the Republican party.
Judiciary Act of 1801
Passed by the departing Federalist Congress, it created sixteen new federal judgeships ensuring a Federalist hold on the judiciary.
Midnight Judges
Federal justices appointed by John Adams during the lasts days of his presidency. Their positions were revoked when the newly elected Republican Congress repealed the Judiciary Act.
Marbury v. Madison
Supreme Court case that established the principle of "judicial review"- the idea that the Supreme Court had the final authority to determine constitutionality.
Tripolitan War
Four-year conflict between the American Navy and the North-African nation of Tripoli over piracy in the Mediterranean. Jefferson, a staunch noninterventionist, reluctantly deployed American forces, eventually securing a peace treaty with Tripoli.
Louisiana Purchase
Acquisition of Louisiana territory from France. The purchase more than doubled the territory of the United States, opening vast tracts for settlement.
Corps of Discovery
Team of adventurers, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, sent by Thomas Jefferson to explore Louisiana Territory and find a water route to the Pacific. Louis and Clark brought back detailed accounts of the West's flora, fauna, and native populations, and their voyage demonstrated the viability of overland travel to the west.
Orders in Council
Edicts issued by the British Crown closing French-owned European ports to foreign shipping. The French responded by ordering the seizure of all vessels entering British ports, thereby cutting off American merchants from trade with both parties.
Impressment
Act of forcibly drafting an individual into military service, employed by the British navy against American seamen in times of war against France, 1793-1815. Impressment was a continual source of conflict between Britain and the United States in the early national period.
Chesapeake Affair
Conflict between Britain and the United States that precipitated the 1807 embargo. The conflict developed when a British ship, in search of deserters, fired on the American Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia.
Embargo Act
Enacted in response to British and French mistreatment of American merchants, the Act banned the export of all goods from the United States to any foreign port. The embargo placed great strains on the American economy while only marginally affecting is European targets, and was therefore repealed in 1809.
Non-Intercourse Act
Passed alongside the repeal of the Embargo Act, it reopened trade with all but the two belligerent nations, Britain and France. The Act continued Jefferson's policy of economic coercion, still with little effect.
Macon's Bill No. 2
Aimed at resuming peaceful trade with Britain and France, the act stipulated that if either Britain or France repealed its trade restrictions, the United States would reinstate the embargo against the nonrepealing nation. When Napoleon offered to lift his restrictions on British ports, the United States was forced to declare an embargo on Britain, thereby pushing the two nations closer toward war.
War Hawks
Democratic-Republican Congressmen who pressed James Madison to declare was on Britain. Largely drawn from the South and West, the war hawks resented British constraints on American trade and accused the British of supporting Indian attacks against American settlements on the frontier.
Battle of Tippecanoe
Resulted in the defeat of Shawnee chief Tenskwatawa, "the Prophet" at the hands William Henry Harrison in the Indiana wilderness. After the battle, the Prophet's brother, Tecumseh, forged an alliance with the British against the United States.
War of 1812
Fought between Britain and the United States largely over the issues of trade and impressment. Though the war ended in a relative draw, it demonstrated America's willingness to defend its interests militarily, earning the young nation newfound respect from European powers.
Battle of New Orleans
Resounding victory of American forces against the British, restoring American confidence and fueling an outpouring of nationalism. Final battle of the War of 1812.
Congress of Vienna
Convention of major European powers to redraw the boundaries of continental Europe after the defeat of Napoleonic France.
Treaty of Ghent
Ended the War of 1812 in a virtual draw, restoring prewar borders but failing to address any of the grievances that first brought America into the war.
Hartford Convention
Convention of Federalists from five New England states who opposed the War of 1812 and resented the strength of Southern and Western interests in Congress and in the White House.
Rush-Bagot Agreement
Signed by Britain and the United States, it established strict limits on naval armaments in the Great Lakes, a first stop in the full demilitalization of the U.S.-Canadian border, completed in the 1870's
Tariff of 1816
First protective tariff in American history, created primarily to shield New England manufacturers from the inflow of British goods after the War of 1812.
American System
Henry Clay's three-pronged system to promote American industry. Clay advocated a strong banking system, a protective tariff, and a federally funded transportation network.
Era of Good Feelings
Popular name for the period of one-party, Republican, rule during James Monroe's presidency. The term obscures bitter conflicts over internal improvements, slavery, and the national bank.
Panic of 1819
Severe financial crisis brought on primarily by the effort of the Bank of the United States to curb over-speculation on western lands. It disproportionately affected the poorer classes, especially in the West, sowing the seeds of Jacksonian Democracy.
Land Act of 1820
Fueled the settlement of the Northwest and Missouri territories by lowering the price of public land. Also prohibited the purchase of federal acreage on credit, thereby eliminating one of the causes of the Panic of 1819.
Tallmadge Amendment
Failed proposal to prohibit the importation of slaves into Missouri territory and pave he way for gradual emancipation. Southerners vehemently opposed the amendment, which they perceived as a threat to the sectional balance between North and South.
Peculiar Institution
Widely used term for the institution of American slavery in the South. Its use in the first half of the 19th century reflected a growing division between the North, where slavery was gradually abolished, and the South, where slavery became increasingly entrenched.
Missouri Compromise
Allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state but preserved the balance between North and South by carving free-soil Maine out of Massachusets and prohibiting slavery from territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, north of the line of 36 degrees, 30'.
McCulloch v. Maryland
Supreme Court case that strengthened federal authority and upheld the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States by establishing that the State of Maryland did not have power to tax the bank
Loose construction
Legal doctrine which holds that the federal government can use powers not specifically granted or prohibited in the Constitution to carry out its constitutionally mandated responsibilities.
Cohens v. Virginia
Case that reinforced federal supremacy by establishing the right of the Supreme Court to review decisions of state supreme courts in questions of involving the powers of the federal government.
Gibbons v. Ogden
Suit over whether New York State could grant a monopoly to a ferry operating on interstate waters. The ruling reasserted that Congress had the cole power to regulate interstate commerce.
Fletcher v. Peck
Established firmer protection for private property and asserted the right of the Supreme Court to invalidate state laws in conflict with the federal Constitution.
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Supreme Court case that sustained Dartmouth University's original charter against changes proposed by the New Hampshire state legislature, thereby protecting corporations from domination by state governments.
Anglo-American Convention
Signed by Britain and the United States, the pact allowed New England fishermen access Newfoundland fisheries, established the northern border of the Louisiana territory and provided for the joint occupation of the Oregon Country for ten years.
Florida Purchase Treaty (Adams-Onís Treaty)
Under the agreement, Spain ceded Florida to the United States, which, in exchange, abandoned its claims to Texas.
Monroe Doctrine
Statement delivered by President James Monroe, warning European powers to refrain from seeking any new territories in the Americas. The United States largely lacked the power to back up the pronouncement, which was actually enforced by the British, who sought unfettered access to Latin American markets.
Russo-American Treaty
Fixed the line of 54 degrees, 40' as the southernmost boundary of Russia holdings in North America.
Corrupt Bargain
Alleged deal between presidential candidates John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to throw the election, to be decided by the House of Representatives, in Adams' favor. Though never proven, the accusation became the rallying cry for supporters of Andrew Jackson, who had actually garnered a plurality of the popular vote in 1824.
Spoils System
Policy of rewarding political supporters with public office, first widely employed at the federal level by Andrew Jackson. The practice was widely abused by unscrupulous office seekers, but it also helped cement party loyalty in the emerging two-party system.
Tariff of Abominations
Noteworthy for its unprecedentedly high duties on imports. Southerners vehemently opposed the Tariff, arguing that it hurt Southern farmers, who did not enjoy the protection of tariffs, but were forced to pay higher prices for manufactures.
Nullification Crisis
Showdown between President Andrew Jackson and the South Carolina legislature, which declared the 1832 tariff null and void in the state and threatened secession if the federal government tried to collect duties. It was resolved by a compromise negotiated by Henry Clay in 1833.
Compromise Tariff of 1833
Passed as a measure to resolve the nullification crisis, it provided that tariffs be lowered gradually, over a period of ten years, to 1816 levels.
Force Bill
Passed by Congress alongside the Compromise Tariff, it authorized the president to use the military to collect federal tariff duties.
Indian Removal Act
Ordered the removal of Indian Tribes still residing east of the Mississippi to newly established Indian Territory west of Arkansas and Missouri. Tribes resisting eviction were forcibly removed by American forces, often after prolonged legal of military battles.
Trail of Tears
Forced marched 15,000 Cherokee Indians from their Georgia and Alabama homes to Indian Territory. Some 4,000 Cherokee died on the arduous journey.
Black Hawk War
Series of clashes in Illinois and Wisconsin between American forces and Indian chief Back Hawk of the Sauk and Fox tribes, who unsuccessfully tried to reclaim territory lost under the 1830 Indian Removal Act.
Bank War
Battle between President Andrew Jackson and Congressional supporters of the Bank of the United States over the bank's renewal in 1832. Jackson vetoed the Bank Bill, arguing that the bank favored moneyed interests at the expense of western farmers.
Anti-Masonic Party
First founded in New York, it gained considerable influence in New England and the mid-Atlantic during the 1832 election, campaigning against the politically influential Masonic order, a secret society. Anti-Masons opposed Andrew Jackson, a Mason, and drew much of their support from evangelical Protestants.
Pet Banks
Popular term for pro-Jackson state banks that received the bulk of federal deposits when Andrew Jackson moved to dismantle the Bank of the United States in 1833.
Specie Circular
U.S. Treasury decree requiring that all public lands be purchased with "hard," or metallic currency. Issued after small state banks flooded the market with unreliable paper currency, fueling land speculation in the West.
Panic of 1837
Economic crisis triggered by bank failures, elevated grain prices, and Andrew Jackson's efforts to curb over-speculation on western lands and transportation improvements. In response, President Martin Van Buren proposed the "Divorce Bill," which pulled treasury funds out of the banking system altogether, contracting the credit supply.
Alamo
Fortress in Texas where four hundred American volunteers were slain by Santa Anna in 1836. "Remember the Alamo" became a battle cry in support of Texan independence.
Goliad
Texas outpost where American volunteers, having laid down their arms and surrendered, were massacred by Mexican forces in 1836. The incident, along with the slaughter at the Alamo, fueled support for Texan independence.
Battle of San Jacinto
Resulted in the capture of Mexican dictator Santa Anna, who was forced to withdraw his troops from Texas and recognize the Rio Grande as Texas's Southwestern border.
"Self-Reliance"
Ralph Waldo Emerson's popular lecture-essay that reflected the spirit of individualism pervasive in American popular culture during the 1830s and 1840s.
Rendezvous
The principal marketplace of Northwest fur trade, which peaked in the 1820s and 1830s. Each summer, traders set up camps in the Rocky Mountains to exchange manufactured goods for beaver pelts.
Ecological Imperialism
Historians' term for the spoliation of Western natural resources through excessive hunting, logging, mining, and grazing.
Ancient Order of Hibernians
Irish semi-secret society that served as a benevolent organization for downtrodden Irish immigrants in the United States.
Molly Maguires
Secret organization of Irish miners that campaigned, at times violently, against poor working conditions in the Pennsylvania mines.
Tammany Hall
Powerful New York political machine that primarily drew support from the city's immigrants, who depended on Tammany Hall patronage, particularly social services.
Know-Nothing Party
Nativist political party, also known as the American party, which emerged in response to an influx of immigrants, particularly Irish Catholics.
Awful Disclosures
Maria Monk's sensational expose of alleged horrors in Catholic convents. Its popularity reflected nativist fears of Catholic influence.
Cotton gin
Eli Whitney's invention that sped up the process of harvesting cotton. The gin made cotton cultivation more profitable, revitalizing the Southern economy and increasing the importance of slavery in the South.
Patent Office
Federal government bureau that reviews patent applications. A patent is a legal recognition of a new invention, granting excluding rights to the inventor for a period of years.
Limited liability
Legal principle that facilitates capital investment by offering protection for individual investors, who, in cases of legal claims or bankruptcy, cannot be help responsible for more than the value of their individual shares.
Commonwealth v. Hunt
Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that strengthened the labor movement by upholding the legality of unions.
Cult of domesticity
Pervasive 19th century cultural creed that venerated the domestic role of women. It gave married women greater authority to shape home life but limited opportunities outside the domestic sphere.
McCormick reaper
Mechanized the harvest of grains, such as wheat, allowing farmers to cultivate larger plots. The introduction of the reaper in the 1830s fueled the establishment of large-scale commercial agriculture in the Midwest.
Turnpike
Privately funded, toll-based public road constructed in the early 19th century to facilitate commerce.
Erie Canal
New York state canal that linked Lake Erie to the Hudson River. It dramatically lowered shipping costs, fueling an economic boom in upstate New York and increasing the profitability of farming in the Old Northwest.
Clipper ships
Small, swift vessels that gave American shippers an advantage in the carrying trade. Clipper ships were made largely obsolete by the advent of sturdier, roomier iron steamers on the eve of the Civil War.
Pony Express
Short-lived, speedy mail service between Missouri and California that relied on lightweight riders galloping between closely placed outposts.
Transportation revolution
Term referring to a series of 19th century transportation innovations- turnpikes, steamboats, canals, and railroads- that linked local and regional markets, creating a national economy.
Market revolution
18th and 19th century transformation from a disaggregated, subsistence economy to a national commercial and industrial network.
The Age of Reason
Thomas Paine's anticlerical treatise that accused churches of seeking to acquire "power and profit" and to "enslave mankind."
Deism
18th century religious doctrine that emphasized reasoned moral behavior and the scientific pursuit of knowledge. Most deists rejected biblical inerrancy and the divinity of Christ, but they did believe that a Supreme Being created the universe.
Unitarians
Believe in a unitary deity, reject the divinity of Christ, and emphasize the inherent goodness of mankind. Unitarianism, inspired in part by Deism, first caught on in New England at the end of the 18th century.
Second Great Awakening
Religious revival characterized by emotional mass "camp meetings" and widespread conversion. Brought about a democratization of religion as a multiplicity of denominations vied for members.
Burned-Over District
Popular name for Western New York, a region particularly swept up in the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening.
Mormons
Religious followers of Joseph Smith, who founded a communal, oligarchic religious order in the 1830s, officially known as the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints. Mormons, facing dee[ hostility from their non-Mormon neighbors, eventually migrated west and established a flourishing settlement in the Utah desert.
Lyceum
Public lecture hall that hosted speakers on topics ranging from science to moral philosophy. Part of a broader flourishing of higher education in the mid-ninteenth century.
American Temperance Society
Founded in Boston in 1826 as part of a growing effort of 19th century reformers to limit alcohol consumption.
Maine Law of 1851
Prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. A dozen other states followed Maine's lead, though most statures proved ineffective and were repealed within a decade.
Woman's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls
Gathering of female activists in Seneca Falls, New York, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton read her "Declaration of Sentiments," stating that "all men and women are created equal."
New Harmony
Communal society of around one thousand members, established in New Harmony, Indiana by Robert Owen. The community attracted a hodgepodge of individuals, from scholars to crooks, and fell apart due to infighting and confusion after just 2 years.
Brook Farm
Transcendentalist commune founded by a group of intellectuals, who emphasized living plainly while pursuing the life of the mind. The community fell into debt and dissolved when their communal home burned to the ground in 1846.
Oneida Community
One of the more radical utopian communities established in the 19th century, it advocated "free love," birth control, and eugenics. Utopian communities reflected the reformist spirit of the age.
Shakers
Called "Shakers" for their lively dance worship, they emphasized simple, communal living and were all expected to practice celibacy. First transplanted to America from England by Mother Ann Lee, the Shakers counted six thousand members by 1840, though by the 1840s the movement had largely died out.
Hudson River School
American artistic movement that produced romantic renditions of local landscapes.
Minstrel shows
Variety shows performed by white actors in black-face. First popularized in the mid-nineteenth century.
Transcendentalism
Literary and intellectual movement that emphasized individualism and self-reliance, predicated upon a belief that each person possessed an "inner light" that can point the way to truth and direct contact with God.
"The American Scholar"
Ralph Waldo Emerson's address at Harvard College, in which he declared an intellectual independence from Europe, urging American scholars to develop their own traditions.
West Africa Squadron
British Royal Navy force formed to enforce the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. It intercepted hundreds of slave ships and freed thousands of Africans.
Breakers
Slave drivers who employed the lash to brutally "break" the souls of strong-willed slaves.
Black belt
Region of the Deep South with the highest concentration of slaves. The "Black belt" emerged in the 19th century as cotton production became more profitable and slavery expanded south and west.
Responsorial
Call and response style of preaching that melded Christian and African traditions. Practiced by African slaves in the South.
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