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| An influential essay written by Henry David Thoreau which supported passive resistance as a form of protest. Later, social movement leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would find inspiration in this essay. |
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| The name for the adventurous group of young men who moved west after the discovery of gold in 1848. |
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| Laws which increased the residency requirement for citizenship from 5 to 14 years, and granted the president the power to detain or deport enemy aliens in times of war. |
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| American Antislavery Society |
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| An organization which was founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1833, and which attempted to combat the proslavery supporters. In claiming that the Constitution was a proslavery document, Garrison alienated many moderates. This led to the movement splitting into the Liberty Party,, which included women members, and the Foreign Antislavery Society, which prohibited women participation. |
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| A political group which was an extreme wing of the nativist movement. The group opposed immigration and the election of Roman Catholics to political office. The members met in secret and when asked what they stood for, they said "I know nothing". Because of this, they were also known as the Know-Nothing Party. |
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| American Temperance Society |
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| An organization which was established by revival preachers in the mid-1820s, who tried to persuade drinkers to limit their alcohol consumption and eventually take a vow to abstinence. |
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| In 1861, Union General Winfield Scott devised a four-part plan to defeat the Confederacy. With the Anaconda Plan, the first part, the Union Navy would block all Southern ports of entry, cutting the Confederates off from both supplies and trade. |
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| A general who led the Southern troops against the British in 1814, cutting through the British from Alabama to New Orleans and preventing the English attempt to control the Mississippi River at the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson was regarded an American war hero. |
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| The name given to those who opposed the Constitution and favored strong states' rights. Anti-Federalists usually came from small southern farms or western homesteads. |
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| A political party which arose in 1832 to oppose the old two-party system. |
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| The battle of Antietam was the most brutal day of the Civil War, in which more than 22,000 men were killed or wounded. In the battle, in September 1862, General McClellan cut Confederate General Lee off, keeping the Confederates from acquiring desperately-needed assistance from Britain and France. Following this victory, President Lincoln was finally able to issue his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 23, 1862. |
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| A group of people led by George Fitzhugh and who spoke of Southern slaves as happy, clothed, fed, and housed by kind slave owners. |
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| The location at which the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia officially surrendered on April 9, 1865. |
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| Bank of the United States |
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| An institution where the national treasury kept its deposits. The funds would be kept safe and available as loanable funds. The institution was supported by Alexander Hamilton, and strongly opposed by Thomas Jefferson. |
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| A battle (in Civil War) led by General Andrew Jackson which impeded the English attempt to control the Mississippi River. The battle turned out to be unnecessary, as it was fought two weeks after the peace treaty that ended the war had been signed. |
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| A battle which took place before the War of 1812 in present-day Indiana, and which led many Congressmen in the frontier to feel justified in their call of war. Seeking to dissolve a large native confederacy led by Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and the Prophet, General William Henry Harrison and his troops fought back a surprise attack and burned the tribal settlement at this location. |
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| The name that California gave to itself after it was declared independent near the end of the Mexican War in September 1847. The leader was John C. Fremont. |
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| A decree by Napoleon in 1806 which aimed to cut Britain off from the rest of the world and trap American ships traveling to Britain in the Napoleonic War. |
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| A document which was designed to protect individual freedoms and state sovereignty, and which was added to the Constitution to pacify Anti-Federalist states that were in opposition to the Constitution, favoring strong states' rights. |
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| The name used for the area where fighting broke out among the pro- and antislavery contingents at the border of Kansas. (prior to Civil War) |
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| The group of proslavery farmers from Missouri who settled in small areas along the border, so that they could vote in the election that would decide the slavery issue for Kansas. Northern abolitionists who heard of the border ruffians fought back by paying for antislavery settlers to move and set up homes in Kansas. One of these abolitionists was Henry Ward Beecher. |
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| The Mormon leader who took over after Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob in Illinois. He and his followers moved further west into Deseret - present-day Utah. Ostracized for their beliefs and practices (which included polygamy), the Mormons remained outsiders. When the church eventually agreed to prohibit the practice of polygamy, Utah was able to become an official state. |
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| A battle (part of Civil War) which took place in July 1861, in which Confederate troops lead by General "Stonewall" Jackson sent Union troops retreating back to Washington, DC. |
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| A secession plot which arose in 1806, with the hopes of taking Mexico from the Spaniards and joining it with the Louisiana Territory, thereby creating a new country to the west. When President Jefferson heard of this plot, he called for the instigator's immediate arrest and trial for treason. Chief Justice John Marshall was on the bench of the jury trial, and the plotter was eventually acquitted and freed because the prosecution had no credible witnesses. |
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| The government whose power exceeds that of the states; the idea of a central government was supported by James Madison. |
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| A Presbyterian minister who appealed to his audience's emotions rather than reason. He gave sermons regarding "fire and brimstone", which impressed on his listeners a fear of Satan and an eternity in Hell. Because Finney preached of the risk of eternal damnation to this region of New York, it became known as the "burned-over district". |
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| Cherokee Nation v. Georgia |
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| A court case which was the result of the approximately 100,000 native Indians being forced out of their homelands. This group of Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians took their case against the state of Georgia to the Supreme Court. The ruling, in 1831, was that the tribe was not a sovereign foreign nation and so had no right to sue for jurisdiction over its homelands. |
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| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints |
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| Also known as the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith founded this group in 1830. |
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| A belief based on the concept that the federal government was established because of a compact between states. |
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| Confederate States of America |
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| In 1860, after Abraham Lincoln was announced the winner of the election, South Carolina voted to break with the Union. Within six weeks six more Southern states followed, including Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. These states held a meeting in February 1861, which resulted in the Confederate States of America, which elected Jefferson Davis as its president. |
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| A name for the Northern and Western Democrats in Congress who hoped for an end to what they perceived as an "unjust war." The name was due to the harsh words they used, which was compared to the venom spat out by a snake. They proposed an immediate end to the Civil War, and disproved of President Lincoln's wide use of executive power. |
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| A term used to describe an event in which, during the election of 1824, four candidates from the Republican Party ran for presidency: John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William Crawford, and Andrew Jackson. Jackson eventually won the popular vote, but no candidate had a majority of electoral votes. The House of Representatives had to choose the president, and Clay used his influence to push Adams to the front. In return, President Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. |
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| A belief which was based on the fact that for many American women, it was no longer necessary to work both the fields and the home. With the Cult of Domesticity, women's roles were clearly identified as homemakers and mothers. |
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| Declaration of Sentiments |
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| A document which was written by feminist leaders who met in Seneca Falls, New York, to focus on the hardships of women in the United States. The declaration closely mirrored the Declaration of Independence in declaring that "all men and women are created equal", expressing that this was clearly not the case and demanding true universal equality to include females as well as males. |
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| The new name for Anti-Federalists, like Thomas Jefferson. They sought to limit the powers of the central government, supporting greater states' rights, while the Federalists favored a strong national government whose powers were supreme over the states. |
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| A women who campaigned for the improvement of American mental institutions. She fought tirelessly to remove patients from prisons and other terrible conditions, and to ensure that they were given proper treatment. |
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| An 1857 case in which the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Taney ruled that the 36'' 30' Missouri Compromise provision was unconstitutional and that all African Americans were not citizens and therefore not allowed to sue in federal court. The ruling also emphasized that an individual's property could not be denied him under the U.S. Constitution. Based on this, the court claimed that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional because it denied slave owners their rightful property once they moved northward. |
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| A clause in the Constitution which gave Congress "implied powers" to pass "necessary and proper" laws which would assist in running the country effectively. In his argument supporting the creation of the Bank of the United States, Alexander Hamilton referred to this clause. |
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| The representative body which elects the president, rather than direct popular vote. |
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| The inventor of the cotton gin in 1793. His invention improved the process of removing the seed from raw cotton, which made cotton the number one cash crop of the South. |
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| Emancipation Proclamation |
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| A proclamation issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, which declared all slaves in Confederate states free. Unfortunately, slavery in the Border States was still legal. While the proclamation was able to boost the morale of Union troops and supporters at home, many criticized Lincoln for going too far. Still, the proclamation was a great step toward freeing slaves. |
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| The act passed in 1807 which prohibited U.S. merchant vessels from anchoring at any foreign port. While Jefferson hoped this loss of U.S. trade would cripple Britain and France's economies, the damage to the U.S. economy was disastrous (New England merchants and Southern farmers suffered most). This resulted in the establishment of a vast network of black market goods along the Canadian border, leading to harsher enforcement laws. |
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| A time period which was named by a U.S. newspaper, and was accredited to James Monroe's presidency. The period was known for its renewed sense of independence and national pride, but it was not always as amicable as the name suggested. During this period, there was much tension regarding slavery, tariffs, and political power within the National Republican. |
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| A waterway which was completed in 1825 with funds supplied by the state of New York. It linked the Great Lakes with the Hudson River, resulting in a sudden dramatic drop in the cost of shipping and the growth of port cities along the length of the canal and its terminal ports. |
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| A small group of radical Federalists who were plotting for a New England state separation from the Union. |
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| A term used to describe political parties. Some leaders, such as George Washington, feared that these parties would prevent a powerful, unified government. |
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| A speech given by George Washington in 1797 upon leaving the office of the president. He asked the nation to remain neutral in regards to European affairs, to avoid entangling alliances, and to prevent the formation of "factions," or political parties. |
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| A name given to those in favor of the Constitution and a strong central government. Federalists were usually northern merchants with close ties with British trade networks. |
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| Andrew Jackson persuaded Congress to pass this bill which gave the president the power to use military force to collect tariffs when necessary. |
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| A man who published an antislavery journal called the North Star, which exposed the violence and hatred of slavery. The journal argued that the Constitution could be a weapon against slavery. |
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| A political party which consisted of antislavery advocates from all political parties, and which campaigned with the slogan "Free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men." This party shared some of the beliefs of the old Whigs, but were against the expansion of slavery. They nominated Martin Van Buren as their candidate to campaign against the Whig Zachary Taylor and Democrat Lewis Cass. Crucial northern Democratic votes of New York were given to Taylor's political party, and so he defeated Cass. |
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| A name used for former slaves who escaped to the North, where many fought for the Union Army. |
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| A document written by Stephen A. Douglas which proposed that in order for the institution of slavery to exist, communities would have to pass and enforce laws to protect it. His document increased the divide within the Democratic Party, for Southerners felt Douglas had not sufficiently supported the Dred Scott decision. Although his popular sovereignty stance secured him the senatorial seat, his chances of winning the presidential election of 1860 had been injured. |
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| A law passed to reenslave those slaves who had gained freedom. The law also withheld legal rights from captured blacks and charged whites who harbored fugitives with fines or imprisonment. |
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| A transfer of property which took place in 1853. The purchase agreement was signed by President Franklin Pierce, and the terms were that the Mesilla Valley in the southernmost desert region of New Mexico and Arizona be transferred from Mexico to the United States. (initial purpose= for transcontinental railroad) |
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| From July 1 to 3, 1863, Union and Confederate armies fought in this small town in southern Pennsylvania. This battle was the deadliest and most significant battle of the Civil War, with 53,000 men killed or wounded. Unable to recover from his losses, General Lee once again retreated back to Virginia. After this battle, the Confederates would have no more victories in the war. |
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| A court case of 1824 which ruled that the state of New York could not issue a monopoly to a steamboat company as it would conflict with the commerce clause of the Constitution, which affords the federal government control of interstate commerce. Before the ruling, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall repeatedly overturned laws and provisions which states enacted to challenge the authority of the federal government. |
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| A proposal made by Roger Sherman which stated: "The proportion of suffrage in first branch should be according to the respective numbers of free inhabitants and that in the second branch or Senate, each State should have one vote and no more." This meant that large states were satisfied by the House of Representatives, made up of members that reflected the population of the individual states. Small states were appeased by the Senate, made up of membership that was equal regardless of state population. |
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| The term for the currency which was used in place of gold during wartime. |
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| The location of an attack that took place at a federal arsenal in Virginia, in which Abolitionist John Brown and his followers staged a raid. Brown, who claimed he had been given orders from the Lord, sought to arm slaves in nearby plantations to overpower the whites and create a free black state. Brown and his group seized the arsenal in October 1859 and held off the Virginia militia for two days. When they were finally captured, they were charged with treason and hanged. |
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| The author of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Her novel quickly became popular in the North, and was shunned by the South. With her book, she convinced more Northerners that slavery was wrong, while Southerners became more convinced that they had to protect it. |
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| A woman who helped slaves escape from slave states or the United States using an intricate network known as the Underground Railroad. She did this with the help of Sojourner Truth. |
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| A transcendentalist writer who delivered speeches across the country, expressing his disappointment in the state of man. He shunned materialism and emphasized the importance of self-reliance. His most famous book, Walden, spoke of his personal experiment in which he removed himself from society and lived in isolation in the woods for two years. He also wrote the influential essay "On Civil Disobedience", supporting passive resistance as a form of protest. |
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| The leader of the movement to improve the public school system in the United States. Compulsory school attendance was not common before the 1840s. He was instrumental in changing this and in spreading state-funded free public education for children across the united States. |
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| A branch of government comprised of members that represent the population of individual states. |
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| An act which was passed in 1830, and which provided the immediate resettlement of Native Americans in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and present-day Illinois. Because they had written alphabets, practiced democracy , and converted to Christianity, the tribes were considered "civilized". By 11835 about 100,000 Cheerokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians had been forced out of their homelands. |
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| The terms used to describe the naval ships first launched in 1862, such as the CSS Merrimac and the USS Monitor. Before these ships, the navy was fleeted with wooden ships. |
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| A delegate from Virginia, Madison had extensively studied federalism, republicanism, and Lockean theory. He became the leading voice of the Constitutional Convention, establishing the cornerstones for the development of the Constitution. He first expressed the need for a powerful central government, and then his belief in separation of powers (the executive, legislative, and judicial branches all were independent but held accountable by each). He also outlined the dangers of "factions" and the strength a powerful national government would have to handle these views. |
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| A treaty which followed the Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 and which called for the removal of British forts in the West. It did not settle the issue of British seizure or impressment of American sailors; instead it further angered Democratic-Republicans and the French, who in turn increased their harassment of American ships. Spain started to become concerned with the apparently improving relationship between Britain and the United States and sought to clarify any uncertainty regarding the boundary between Spanish Florida and the new nation. |
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| The first vice president who would later be defeated by Thomas Jefferson in the presidential election of 1800. |
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| A man from South Carolina who secretly wrote "The Southern Carolina Exposition", expressing the anger of the South in regards to the "Tariff of Abominations" (Tariff of 1828). In this work he expressed the Southern argument that the tariff was unconstitutional, stating that it severely affected trade with Europe that Southern farmers had come to depend on. |
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| He was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Thomas Jefferson's cousin, and a resolute Federalist. He established the precedence of judicial review by ruling a law passed by Congress to be unconstitutional. With this and other decisions made by his court, the Supreme Court became more powerful, checking the authority of the legislative and executive branches. |
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| Founded Mormon tradition and claimed that the angel Moroni visited him in his bedroom in western New York in 1823. According to him, the angel spoke of a sacred text which had been buried by the "Lost Tribe of Israel" nearby, telling him of its exact location. He translated the text by 1830 and established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. His followers were shunned by their community, and they left New York to move West. |
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| An act which created 16 new judgeships, and which was passed before the Congress was set to be turned over to the majority Republicans. |
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| A term used for Andrew Jackson's unofficial administration, which included a number of his friends. Jackson's critics created this term, and they deplored the fact that the group of advisors did not have to answer to Congress since they were not "official cabinet officers". |
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| A group from New York, which included Washington Irving, and which initiated the trend of "American" fiction. The writers used domestic settings and character types in their fiction, borrowing stories and adding an American twist (examples include "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"). |
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| A document which was drafted by a group of people from Missouri who moved to Kansas and organized a proslavery government with hopes of creating a new state. The document would only allow people to vote for the document with or without slavery; if they voted for no slavery, the rights of slaveholders in the territory were already protected. President Buchanan was in favor of the document, while Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas and others in the Senate clearly opposed. The constitution was sent back to Kansas for a revote. |
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| Explorers who were appointed by President Jefferson to explore the new United States territory. Beginning in 1804, the group started their trip on a trail in St. Louis, Missouri, which took them to the Pacific Ocean on the coast of Oregon. In 1806 they returned to St. Louis. The explorers passed on knowledge of the new territory by keeping detailed notes and drawings of the flora and fauna, and detailed accounts of their encounters with the native people. Their account also warned of the hardships of moving west. |
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| An organization which was formed when a group of people broke away from the American Antislavery Society, believing it to be too radical. It accepted female members, while the Foreign Antislavery Society did not. |
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| A bill passed in 1810 which aimed to lift trade restrictions against Britain or France, provided that those nations agreed to honor U.S. neutrality. Hoping to increase tensions between the United States and Britain, Napoleon quickly repealed his Berlin and Milan Decrees. Madison delivered Britain an ultimatum to remove the Orders in Council within three months, or the U.S. trade restrictions would persist. Napoleon had fooled Madison, however, for he never intended on acting on his promise to remove restriction on shipping and trade. |
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| A law which was instigated by Neal S. Dow, and which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in Maine. Following this, 12 other states passed similar laws which either significantly limited the sale of alcohol or prohibited it completely. |
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| A term which refers to the men who President John Adams worked through the nights of his final days in office to designate. The men would serve on the bench throughout Jefferson's administration. |
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| A decree by Napoleon in 1807 which authorized his navy to confiscate any foreign ship traveling to Europe that had first stopped in Britain. |
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| A war which involved the British and French punishing each other by ordering decrees which would restrict trade into one another's ports. |
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| An uprising which was led by a Virginia slave in 1831, resulting in the deaths of over 50 white men, women, and children. This incident led to the killings of hundreds of slaves. |
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| An American author who wrote The Scarlet Letter, a book which focused on questions regarding religion and society. |
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| A group that was part of a movement against the rush of Irish and German immigrants. They believed that they were the only true "Americans," and protested against the rights of any who had foreign blood. |
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| Neutrality Proclamation of 1793 |
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Definition
| A proclamation which resulted because of Alexander Hamilton's desire to continue trade relationships with the British. While Thomas Jefferson wanted to maintain the provisions of the Franco-American Alliance, President George Washington made this proclamation, thus the previous alliance was abrogated. Following this, the French and British began to seize American ships crossing the Atlantic, stealing cargo and impressing them into military service. The seizures were in violation of the proclamation, and as a result Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay in 1794 to negotiate. |
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| A plan which called for equal representation regardless of the population of a state, to a unicameral legislative body. |
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| Uprisings which were due indirectly to the Union's first federal enrollment law to draft young men to military service in 1863. The draft and the Emancipation Proclamation, which made drafted soldiers feel tricked into fighting a war for emancipation instead of just for the preservation of the Union, provoked a violent reaction from angry Irish-Americans. The riots caused the deaths of about 500 people, and entire city blocks were ruined. |
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| Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 |
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Definition
| Congress passed this act in the last days of Jefferson's presidency to replace the Embargo Act. The law expired one year from its enactment, and permitted the United States to trade with foreign nations excluding Britain and France. |
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| The British response to Napoleon's Berlin Decree, which responded to France by closing all ports controlled by the French. Any American ships traveling to mainland Europe that did not stop first in Britain would be seized. |
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| A hazardous path which was used by thousands in the mid- 1840s, taking travelers up to six months to reach their destination. |
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| A financial crisis which was caused by the removal of federal funds from the Bank of the United States, which were then deposited in various state banks. This led to a dramatic jump in domestic prices for goods and lands, threatening to destroy the economy. Jackson then issued the Specie Circular, which required that all federal lands be purchased with hard coin, or specie, instead of banknotes. As a result, the value of paper money plummeted, leading to this financial crisis. |
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| A term used to describe slavery. The number of African slaves in the South reached almost four million in about 50 years. |
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| A belief system which supported the belief that humans could lead lives which resembled the life of Jesus. It also promoted the idea that humans could reach this goal through faith, hard work, education and temperance. |
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| A treaty which determined the boundaries and navigation rights along the Mississippi River. The treaty provided for the right of deposit at the Port of New Orleans and essentially dismissed Spain as a threat to expanding American settlement in the West. Congress unanimously approved of this treaty in 1796. |
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Definition
| A concept which implied that the issue of slavery would be determined by the citizens of the territory. |
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Definition
| A transcendentalist writer who supported the forging of a unique American identity, travelling across the united States to deliver lectures. He rejected materialism and encouraged self-reliance, urging Americans to spurn wealth and green and focus instead on the beauty and truth of the natural world. Before him, a distinctive American culture had already begun to emerge with artists, writers, and architects expressing a distinct style which emphasized the growth and pride of the nation. |
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Definition
| A document written in 1790 by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, which aimed to repair the nation's failing financial health. The Report explains how monetary and fiscal policy should favor the rich so that they would spend their money within the economy thereby stimulating domestic growth. |
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| Report on Public Manufactures |
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Definition
| A document written in 1791 by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, which supported the industrialization of the United States and promoted strong protective tariffs to protect infant industry. |
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Definition
| A new political party which included Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, and Know-Nothings, all from the North and West. This party opposed the expansion of slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Though they lost the election of 1856 to Democrat James Buchanan, they put up a good fight with Californian John Fremont, who was able to win 11 of 16 free states in the Electoral College. |
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Definition
| An act which placed 8 percent tariff on imports, a rate much lower than that desired by Alexander Hamilton. |
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Definition
| A general in the Confederate Army who engaged Union troops in the Second Battle of Bull run, proceeding to defeat Burnside at the Battle of Fredericksburg. The year after that, his men fought vigorously in the eastern U.S. In a final attempt to invade the North, gain foreign support, and compel the Union to sue for peace, he invaded Pennsylvania with Union forces closely monitoring the Confederates. The armies fought at Gettysburg, and after being forced to retreat the general eventually surrendered. |
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| A man who led a Texan revolt against Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the military dictator of Mexico who tried to force Mexican laws on the Texans. He declared Texas an independent republic. Santa Anna's forces attacked the Alamo in present-day San Antonio, and this man captured Santa Anna at the San Jacinto River. They then forced Santa Anna to sign a decree granting independence to the Republic of Texas. |
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| Sarah and Angelina Grimke |
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Definition
| Influential abolitionists who expressed their opposition to male dominance, spurring the dialogue about women's roles and the inequalities which women suffered in the United States. |
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Definition
| A policy which was established by union leader William Tecumseh Sherman, and which required troops to burn and destroy fields, homes, and cities as they worked their way through Georgia. Sherman hoped to inflict so much terror on Southerners that they would be forced to surrender. |
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| Second Battle of Bull Run |
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Definition
| A battle (during the Civil War) in which General Lee utilized the change in Union leadership in the east to engage Union troops a second time at Manassas. This time he was successful, sending Union General John Pope back across the Potomac. |
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Definition
| A law which made it illegal to criticize the president or Congress, imposing a serious fine or a threat of imprisonment on violators. |
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| The upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States. Together with the United States House of Representatives, it comprises the United States Congress. Each U.S. state is represented by two senators. It was primarily created as a compromise between those who felt that each state, since it was sovereign, should be equally represented, and those who felt the Legislature must directly represent the People. |
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| A New York location which was the site of a feminist meeting, which included Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony. At this meeting, the Declaration of Sentiments was drafted, which demanded true equality for women as well as men. |
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| The central concept behind the existence of three independent branches of government; the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. While independent, the three branches held each other accountable for their actions. This idea was supported by James Madison. |
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| A woman who worked with Harriet Tubman to help slaves escape from slave states or the United States through an intricate network known as the Underground Railroad. |
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| An issuance made by Andrew Jackson which required that all federal lands be purchased with hard coin, or specie, instead of banknotes. This led to the plummet of the value of paper money and eventually caused the Panic of 1837. |
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| Andrew Jackson supported this system, in which he would select those who supported his campaign for government positions. The popular opinion was that this practice was corrupt. |
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| A term which describes someone who believes in the exacting interpretation of a document. In relation to the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson was a strict constructionist. |
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| An amendment which was added to Missouri's bid for statehood, which would not allow any more slaves to be brought into the state and would provide emancipation of the children of Missouri slaves at the age of 25 years. Furious Southerners crushed the amendment in the Senate, angered by the Northern representative's attempt at abolition. |
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| A tax which was pushed for by New Englanders who hoped to protect themselves from foreign competitors. John C. Calhoun and his supporters referred to the tax as the "Tariff of Abominations". |
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| A tariff which Andrew Jackson sought tot lower from 45 percent duties to 35 percent, in an attempt to appease the South. The Southerners were hardly placated, and South Carolina nullified the tariff and threatened to secede from the Union if Jackson tried to collect the duties by force. While Jackson did prepare his military, he stopped short of sending troops to South Carolina. |
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| Shawnee brothers who organized a large native confederacy to prevent the American progression westward. |
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| A treaty which provided for the United States purchase of Florida from Spain in 1819, and which gained Spain's guarantee that it would relinquish its claims in the Oregon Territory. |
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| A system which was devised by Henry Clay to include the re-charter of the Bank of the United States, tariffs such as the one passed in 1816, and the development of infrastructure such as turnpikes, roads, and canals. While the Second Bank of the United States and the first protective tariff had already been established by Congress, President Moore was concerned about the plan for internal improvements. He believed the Constitution did not allow for the federal government to allocate monies to fund public works projects and so he continuously vetoes bills. |
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| A series of laws drafted by Henry Clay. The laws were made to avert a national crisis due to the conflicting beliefs between radical Southerners and other states. The series of laws proclaimed California a free state, divided the Mexican territory into the New Mexico and Utah Territories using popular sovereignty to determine slave status, banned slave trade in Washington, DC, enforced stricter Fugitive Slave Law, and compensated Texas for their willingness to forgo claims in New Mexico's territory. (all five parts passed but only when separated into 5 bills) |
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| The Constitutional Union Party |
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| A political party made up of Know-Nothings, Whigs, and moderates, and which was worried that the South would secede and cause the end of the Union if Lincoln won the 1860 election. In an attempt to prevent this, the party chose John Bell of Tennessee as their candidate hoping that he would gain enough Republican votes to beat Lincoln, thereby keeping the cotton states of the South from withdrawing. |
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| A meeting which took place between American envoys and French foreign minister Talleyrand and Napoleon. The purpose of the meeting was to negotiate an agreement to prevent full-scale war between the United States and France. The meeting resulted in the termination of the Franco-American Alliance, the agreement that the United States would pay for damages inflicted on French vessels, and the prevention of an all-out war with France. |
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| Documents written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay which were meant to promote ratification of the Constitution in New York. It includes a series of 85 powerful essays which urged ratifying conventions to disregard emotions when considering the Constitution. They also disputed common doubts about the possibilities of having a central government successfully rule such vast territory. |
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| A war which took place between 1789 and 1793 and challenged America's sovereignty, as George Washington had to choose where her loyalties would lie. Although the revolutionaries had assisted the Patriots during the American Revolution, returning this favor would strain an already unsteady relationship with Britain. At first the Americans were happy about the overthrow of the King and Queen of France- it seemed an extension of the ideals of the American Revolution. Unfortunately, it soon became evident that this ruthless war was very different. |
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| A meeting involving a radical group of New England Federalists which met to determine ways to force the federal government to pay them for the loss of trade which was a result of the Embargo Act, Macon's Bill No. 2, and the War of 1812. Other discussed amendments to the Constitution included a one-term limit for the president and an end to the Three-Fifths Compromise. |
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| The Homestead Act of 1862 |
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| An act which provided any family with 160 acres of land, as long as they agreed to farm it for at least five years. |
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| The Judiciary Act of 1789 |
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| An act which established a Supreme Court which consisted of one presiding chief justice and five associate justices, and also provided for 13 district courts and three circuit courts of appeal. |
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| A law brought into focus when Senator Stephen A. Douglas suggested that the Nebraska Territory be divided into two regions. As both regions were above the 36' 30' line of demarcation decided by the Missouri Compromise, this could open these lands to slavery. If this bill was passed, it would mean the revocation of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After pushing his bill through both houses, Douglas managed to get it signed into law by President Pierce in 1854. |
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| Bills which were proposed by Henry Clay of Kentucky in 1820, and which allowed for the admission of Missouri as a slave state and the admittance of Maine as a free state (thereby maintaining the balance in the Senate). Also, slavery would be prohibited in states admitted about the 36'30' line (except for Missouri, which was above the line). This compromise was agreed on by both North and South and existed for 34 years. Clay was known for helping to temporarily resolve the tense sectional issue of slavery. |
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| The name for an address made by James Monroe in 1823, which became the basis of U.S. foreign policy. The doctrine called for "nonintervention" in Latin America and the end of European colonization. It was essentially designed to control the power of Europe in the Western hemisphere and to spread word of the power of the young nation. Throughout the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the United States increasingly enforced the policy. |
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| The Morrill Land Grant of 1862 |
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| An act which provided states with federal lands for the purpose of building schools which would teach agriculture and technical skills. |
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| An antislavery journal published by Frederick Douglass, which exposed the injustice of slavery to readers, and proposed that the Constitution be used to fight against slavery. |
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| A group founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848, which was meant to be an example of equality. The group, however, was surrounded by controversy, as the members of the group shared everything, including spouses, and many outsiders believed this to be immoral. Because of this the group did not last. |
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| The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 |
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| An act which approved the construction of a transcontinental railroad which would completely transform the West by connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific |
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| A crisis which resulted when the Second Bank of the United States (BUS) over speculated on Western land and attempted to curb inflation by reducing credit for state banks. When the BUS was hit hard by the decreased demand for goods abroad and a trade deficit with Britain, it demanded payment in coin from banks. Frontier banks had limited amounts of currency and were not able to pay the BUS. As a result, the currency in circulation became dangerously low and so the BUS demanded that Western banks foreclose on farmers who could not pay debts. This led to a rise of landless. |
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| A treaty signed in 1817 which led to the disarmament of the Great Lakes and frontier borders and created the longest unfortified border in the world between the United States and Canada. |
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| A group of people led by "Mother" Ann Lee, who got their name because they were known for "shaking" as they experienced the spirit of The Lord pulsing through them during church services. |
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| The Southern Carolina Exposition |
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| A document written by John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, which expressed the anger of the South in response to the "Tariff of Abominations". Calhoun expressed in his essay the Southern belief that the tariff was un |
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