Key Concepts from American History

Louisiana Purchase

  • Overview: The acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from France in 1803.
  • Significance: Doubled the size of the United States and provided access to significant resources and land.

Marshall Court and Important Cases

  • Chief Justice John Marshall: Played a crucial role in establishing the Supreme Court's power.
    • Marbury v. Madison (1803): Established the principle of judicial review.
    • McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Confirmed the supremacy of federal laws over state laws.
    • Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): Affirmed federal control over interstate commerce.

Market Revolution

  • Definition: A period of rapid economic growth and transformation in the United States during the early 19th century.
  • Factors Influencing the Market Revolution:
    • Transportation improvements (canals, railroads).
    • Advances in communication (telegraph).
    • Growth of factories and mechanized production.

Monroe Doctrine

  • Definition: A U.S. policy established in 1823 aimed at curbing European colonialism in the Americas.
  • Key Points:
    • Declared that the Western Hemisphere was closed to new European colonization.
    • Warned European powers against interfering with existing independent nations in the Americas.

Democrats vs. Whigs

  • Political Rivalry:
    • Democrats: Advocated for agrarian interests, states' rights, and expansion.
    • Whigs: Favored a strong federal government, industrial growth, and modernization.

Henry Clay's American System

  • Components:
    • A national bank.
    • Protective tariffs to support American industry.
    • Internal improvements (infrastructure development).
  • Goal: To promote economic growth and national unity.

Universal White Male Suffrage

  • Definition: The extension of voting rights to all white males, regardless of property ownership.
  • Impact: Increased political participation and changed the landscape of American politics.

Nullification Crisis

  • Definition: A confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government over the state's attempt to nullify federal tariffs.
  • Key Figures: John C. Calhoun advocated for states' rights;
  • Outcome: The crisis highlighted the tensions between state and federal authority.

Indian Removal

  • Overview: The policy of relocating Native American tribes to territories west of the Mississippi River.
  • Key Event: The Trail of Tears, the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation.

Bank War

  • Definition: A political struggle between President Andrew Jackson and supporters of the Second Bank of the United States.
  • Outcome: Led to the eventual dismantling of the Bank.

Second Great Awakening

  • Overview: A Protestant religious revival in the early 19th century that led to increased church membership and social reform movements.
  • Notable Figures: Charles Grandison Finney, who emphasized personal conversion and social justice.

Abolitionist Movement

  • Key Figures:
    • William Lloyd Garrison: Editor of "The Liberator" and staunch advocate for immediate emancipation of enslaved people.
    • Frederick Douglass: Former enslaved person and prominent abolitionist speaker and writer.
  • Impact: The movement increased awareness and activism against slavery, leading to eventual political changes.

Declaration of Sentiments

  • Context: A document produced at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.
  • Content: Outlined grievances and demands for women's rights, modeled after the Declaration of Independence.

Nativism/American Know-Nothing Party

  • Definition: A political movement that arose in response to waves of immigrants, focusing on the interests of native-born Americans.
  • Key Features: Anti-immigrant sentiment and the desire for restrictions on immigration.

Period 6: The West

Missouri Compromise

  • Overview: An agreement in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain the balance.
  • Significance: Established a line for future states to determine their status as free or slave.

Manifest Destiny

  • Definition: The 19th-century doctrine that it was the God-given right of the U.S. to expand its territory across North America.

Annexation of Texas

  • Overview: The incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States in 1845.
  • Controversy: Led to tensions with Mexico and contributed to the Mexican-American War.

Mexican-American War & Mexican Cession

  • Mexican-American War (1846-1848): Conflict between the U.S. and Mexico following the U.S.'s annexation of Texas.
  • Mexican Cession: The 1848 treaty that resulted in the U.S. gaining territories in present-day California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

  • Overview: An 1854 act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, allowing settlers to decide on the issue of slavery via popular sovereignty.
  • Impact: Led to violence known as "Bleeding Kansas" as pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions clashed.

Republican Party

  • Formation: Established in the 1850s as an anti-slavery party, bringing together former Whigs and Free Soilers.

Defense of Slavery Argument

  • Key Points: Defenders of slavery argued it was a positive good, emphasizing economic benefits and social order.

Dred Scott Case

  • Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): Supreme Court decision that ruled African Americans were not citizens and had no standing to sue in federal court.
  • Implications: Increased tensions over slavery and contributed to the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation

  • Issued by President Abraham Lincoln: Declared the freedom of all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory.
  • Significance: Shifted the focus of the Civil War from preserving the Union to addressing slavery.

Gettysburg Address

  • Key Themes: Emphasized national unity, the principles of human equality, and the sacrifices made during the Civil War.

Freedmen's Bureau

  • Established in 1865: A federal agency designed to aid freed slaves with food, housing, education, and employment.

Presidential Reconstruction vs. Congressional Reconstruction

  • Presidential Reconstruction: Initiated by President Andrew Johnson, focused on rapid reintegration of Southern states with leniency.
  • Congressional Reconstruction: Led by Radical Republicans, aimed at securing rights for freedmen and enforcing stricter policies on the South.

Reconstruction Amendments

  • 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery.
  • 14th Amendment: Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and provided equal protection under the law.
  • 15th Amendment: Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race.

Sharecropping and Black Codes

  • Sharecropping: System of agriculture that emerged after the Civil War, where farmers (mostly African Americans) would work land owned by others in return for a share of the crops.
  • Black Codes: Laws passed in the South aimed at restricting the rights of freedmen and maintaining white supremacy.

Compromise of 1877

  • Overview: An informal agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election.
  • Terms: Led to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction.

Homestead Act

  • Passed in 1862: Provided 160 acres of public land to settlers for a small fee, promoting westward expansion.

Pacific Railway Act

  • Signed into law in 1862: Provided federal funding and support for the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Morrill Land Grant Act

  • Enacted in 1862: Provided land to states to finance the establishment of colleges focused on agriculture and the mechanic arts.

Chinese Exclusion Act

  • Passed in 1882: Prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S., reflecting growing anti-Asian sentiment.

Assimilation

  • Indian Boarding Schools: Institutions aimed at assimilating Native American children into Euro-American culture.
  • Dawes Act: Law passed in 1887 that aimed to assimilate Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land and promoting farming.

Ghost Dance Movement

  • Overview: A religious movement among Native Americans in the late 19th century that aimed to restore the Native American way of life and promote resistance to U.S. policies.

Helen Hunt Jackson

  • Notable Author: Advocated for Native American rights and criticized U.S. government policies regarding Native Americans through her writings, such as "A Century of Dishonor."