Period 4 Terms (1–35)
1. Participatory democracy
Definition: The expansion of political participation to the common man, moving away from rule by the elite.
Examples: Universal white male suffrage (removal of property requirements for voting); high voter turnout in the 1828 election.
2. Henry Clay
Definition: A leading Whig politician and the "Great Compromiser" who advocated for economic nationalism.
Examples: The American System; The Missouri Compromise; The Compromise of 1850.
3. Second Great Awakening
Definition: A Protestant religious revival in the early 19th century that emphasized individual salvation and sparked social reforms.
Examples: Charles Grandison Finney; "Burnt-over District" in NY; rise of Baptists and Methodists.
4. Utopian movements
Definition: Communities formed to create a perfect, idealistic society based on cooperation and shared values.
Examples: Brook Farm (Transcendentalist); The Oneida Community; The Shakers.
5. Steam engines
Definition: An invention that allowed for power generation independent of water sources, revolutionizing transportation and manufacturing.
Examples: Robert Fulton’s Clermont (steamboat); powering textile mills.
6. Railroads
Definition: A faster, year-round mode of transportation that connected the Northeast to the West, facilitating trade.
Examples: Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad; opened up western markets for eastern goods.
7. Telegraph
Definition: Communication device invented by Samuel Morse that used electrical signals to send messages instantly over long distances.
Examples: Morse Code; linked Washington D.C. to Baltimore (first line); aided business coordination.
8. The American System
Definition: Henry Clay’s economic plan to unify the U.S. economy through a strong federal role.
Examples: 1. Protective Tariffs, 2. A National Bank, 3. Federal funding for Internal Improvements.
9. Tariffs
Definition: Taxes on imported goods designed to protect domestic (mostly Northern) industries from foreign competition.
Examples: Tariff of 1816 (first protective tariff); Tariff of Abominations (1828).
10. Antislavery Movements
Definition: A broad spectrum of efforts to limit or end slavery, ranging from gradual emancipation to colonization.
Examples: The American Colonization Society (sending freed people to Africa); The Tallmadge Amendment.
11. Abolitionist
Definition: Reformers who advocated for the immediate and uncompensated end to slavery.
Examples: William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator); Frederick Douglass; The American Anti-Slavery Society.
12. Northern Manufacturing
Definition: The shift in the North from home-based production to the factory system, driven by water power and interchangeable parts.
Examples: The Lowell System (textile mills); production of shoes, clocks, and tools.
13. Supreme Court Decisions
Definition: Rulings by the Marshall Court that established the supremacy of federal law over state law and protected contracts.
Examples: Marbury v. Madison (Judicial Review); McCulloch v. Maryland (Constitutionality of the Bank).
14. Democrats
Definition: Political party led by Andrew Jackson that championed the "common man," states' rights, and opposed the National Bank.
Examples: Opposition to the "corrupt bargain"; support for Indian Removal.
15. Human Perfectibility
Definition: The belief stemming from the Second Great Awakening that humans could improve themselves and society, leading to reform eras.
Examples: Dorothea Dix (asylum reform); Horace Mann (education reform).
16. Free African Americans
Definition: Black populations in the North and South who were not enslaved but faced severe legal and social discrimination.
Examples: Richard Allen (AME Church); restrictions on voting and owning firearms.
17. Interchangeable Parts
Definition: A manufacturing system using identical components that can be substituted for one another, allowing for mass production.
Examples: Eli Whitney’s musket production; vital for the industrial revolution.
18. Agricultural inventions
Definition: Technological advancements that increased farming efficiency and crop yields, particularly in the West and South.
Examples: John Deere’s Steel Plow; Cyrus McCormick’s Mechanical Reaper.
19. Semi-subsistence agriculture
Definition: Farming primarily to feed one's family with a small surplus for trade, which declined as the Market Revolution grew.
Examples: Backcountry farmers; bartering goods rather than using cash.
20. Market Revolution
Definition: The dramatic transformation of the U.S. economy from a subsistence economy to a national commercial and industrial network.
Examples: Shift to wage labor; separation of home and workplace; growth of a middle class.
21. Internal improvements
Definition: Infrastructure projects (roads, canals, bridges) intended to facilitate trade and transportation.
Examples: The National (Cumberland) Road; The Erie Canal.
22. Louisiana Purchase
Definition: The 1803 acquisition of French territory that doubled the size of the U.S. and secured control of the Mississippi River.
Examples: Thomas Jefferson’s purchase (using loose construction); Lewis and Clark Expedition.
23. Southern cotton
Definition: The dominant cash crop of the South ("King Cotton") that fueled the textile industry and entrenched the institution of slavery.
Examples: The Cotton Gin (Eli Whitney); expansion into the "Black Belt" (Deep South).
24. Monroe Doctrine
Definition: A 1823 foreign policy statement warning European nations against further colonization or intervention in the Western Hemisphere.
Examples: Response to Latin American independence movements; U.S. asserting dominance in the Americas.
25. Andrew Jackson
Definition: The 7th President, a symbol of the "common man," known for expanding executive power and the spoils system.
Examples: The Bank War; The Nullification Crisis; Indian Removal Act.
26. Whigs
Definition: Political party formed in opposition to Andrew Jackson (viewing him as "King Andrew"), favoring a strong central government and the American System.
Examples: Henry Clay; Daniel Webster; Campaign of 1840 ("Tippecanoe and Tyler Too").
27. New National Culture
Definition: The emergence of a distinct American identity in art, literature, and language following the War of 1812.
Examples: The Hudson River School (landscape painting); Noah Webster’s dictionary; Washington Irving.
28. Xenophobia
Definition: Intense dislike or fear of people from other countries, particularly directed at Irish and German immigrants in this era.
Examples: Nativism; The Know-Nothing Party; "No Irish Need Apply" signs.
29. Canals
Definition: Man-made waterways that drastically reduced the cost of shipping goods and connected the East Coast to the Midwest.
Examples: The Erie Canal (connected Hudson River to Great Lakes); sparked a canal-building boom.
30. Textile machinery
Definition: Machines adapted from British designs that spun thread and wove cloth, launching the U.S. industrial revolution.
Examples: Samuel Slater ("Father of the Factory System"); The Spinning Jenny; Power Looms.
31. Transportation networks
Definition: The interconnected system of roads, canals, and railroads that bound the different regions of the U.S. together economically.
Examples: Connection between Northeast manufacturing and Western agriculture; The Turnpike Era.
32. National Bank
Definition: A federally chartered bank that regulated currency and credit, a major point of contention between Whigs and Democrats.
Examples: The Second Bank of the United States (BUS); Nicholas Biddle; Jackson’s Bank Veto.
33. Seneca Falls Convention
Definition: The first women's rights convention in the U.S. (1848), launching the suffrage movement.
Examples: The Declaration of Sentiments; Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Lucretia Mott.
34. Missouri Compromise
Definition: A 1820 agreement to keep the balance of free/slave states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
Examples: The 36°30' parallel (slavery banned north of this line).
35. Temperance
Definition: A reform movement aimed at reducing or eliminating the consumption of alcohol.
Examples: The American Temperance Society; the "Cold Water Army"; Maine Law of 1851.