Term
#307) Who was the 7th US President?
-- When did he serve?
-- What did he accomplish? |
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Definition
| Andrew Jackson (1829 - 1837)was a hero in the War of 1812, defeating the British in New Orleans. He was the first man elected to the House of Representatives from Tennessee. He recommended eliminating the electoral college and worked to help the common man. His political party was the Democratic-Republicans. He went up against John C. Calhoun, who was urgins South Carolinians to refuse to pay a federal tarriff (nullification). Jackson won the battle. He greatly strengthened the office of the President. |
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Term
| #308) What were some of the qualities of the Democratic-Republicans that nominated Andrew Jackson? |
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Definition
| Jackson's supporters included: the lower classes, farmers, the middle classes, people who favored westward expansion, southern planters who favored slavery and lower government tariffs, and Northern farmers and artisans who hoped he would somehow restrain the industrialists. |
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Term
#309) What is the "spoils system"?
-- Which president enhanced this practice? |
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Definition
| The "spoils system" is based on the idea, "To the victor go the spoils." Jackson used the power of his office to get rid of government officials from previous administrations and gave positions of power to his close friends and advisors. |
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Term
#310) Why did Andrew Jackson attack the second National Bank?
-- How did his decision to go against the bank affect the election of 1832? |
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Definition
| President Andrew Jackson (1829 - 1837) opposed the second National Bank because he felt it gave too much advantage to the Northern wealthy classes. His decision to veto a bill requesting to extend the bank's charter was very popular and helped Jackson win re-election in 1832. |
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Term
| #311) What scandal about the second National Bank greatly affected Andrew Jackson's second term (1833 - 1837)? Why? |
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Definition
| Jackson was censured by Congress (officially reprimanded) in 1833 because he withdrew all federal funds from the 2nd National Bank, which violated the government's charter with the bank. Two Secretaries of the Treasury resigned rather than go along with Jackson. He appointed a close friend, Roger Taney, to do it. Later, he appointed Taney to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. |
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Term
#312) Who was Roger Taney?
-- What did he do?
-- When did he do it? |
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Definition
| He was appointed Secretary of the US Treasury in 1833 by President Andrew Jackson (1829 - 1837), in order to help Jackson shut down the second National Bank. As a reward, he was later appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1836), after John Marshall died. |
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Term
| #313) Describe Andrew Jackson's conflict with the government of South Carolina. |
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Definition
| John C. Calhoun was Jackson's Vice President. He was from South Carolina. He urged the government of South Carolina to pass the first "nullification" bill to refuse to allow federal tariff laws, saying states shouldn't have to follow federal orders if they don't agree with them. |
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Term
| #314) How did President Jackson deal with South Carolina's "nullification" decision? |
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Definition
| President Jackson said, "Disunion by armed force is treason," thus setting the stage, 30 years later, for the Civil War. He sent federal troops to strengthen federal forts in South Carolina and stationed a group of Navy vessels in the Charleston harbor. After a compromise drafted by Henry Clay, the state of South Carolina repealed the "nullification" bill. |
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Term
#315) Who was Henry Clay?
-- What did he do?
-- When did he do it? |
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Definition
| Henry Clay was born in Hanover, VA on April 12, 1777 and died in 1852. He became a lawyer and moved to Kentucky. At age 29, he was appointed to the US Senate. At 34, he was elected to the US House of Representatives. He was opposed to the "spoils" system. He was very devoted to maintaining the Union. He was known as "The Great Pacificator," because he devised compromises to keep states from seceding from the Union("The Missouri Compromise" and the "Compromise of 1850"). He ran for President several times, but was never elected. |
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Term
#316) Who was "The Great Pacificator"?
-- What did he do?
-- When did he do it? |
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Definition
| Henry Clay was "The Great Pacificator." (1777 - 1852). He was born in VA. He was a Senator and member of the US House of Representatives from age 29 until his death. He ran for President (unsuccessfully) several times. He created the "Missouri Compromise" and the "Compromise of 1850," in order to keep the Union together. |
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Term
| #317) What was Andrew Jackson's American Indian policy? |
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Definition
| President Andrew Jackson had begun his career as a military man in wars against Indians. He strongly supported the removal of all Indians over the Mississippi River and into the Great Plains. |
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Term
#318) What was "The Black Hawk War"?
-- Who was involved?
-- When was it?
-- What was accomplished? |
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Definition
| Chief Black Hawk and his 1,000 warriors were pushed out of their home in western Illinois to the Wisconsin Territory, where Chief Black Hawk and 850 warriors were massacred despite repeated attempts to surrender. This occurred in the summer and fall of 1832. It cleared the way for more westward expansion into Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory. |
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Term
#319) What was the Supreme Court case, "Worcester v. Georgia" (1832)?
-- How did Andrew Jackson handle this decision? |
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Definition
| In Georgia, there was a large population of Cherokee Indians who had been established there for centuries and who were practicing farmers. The state of Georgia wanted their land. Andrew Jackson withdrew federal troops who had been protecting the Indians from the encroachment of the settlers. The Cherokees took the state of Georgia all the way to the Supreme Court to fight for their land. The Cherokee Nation won the case, but Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the decision and to protect Indian rights. |
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Term
#320) What was the "Indian Removal Act of 1830"?
-- Was it "successful"? |
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Definition
| President Jackson convinced Congress to pass the "Indian Removal Act" of 1830 that gave them land west of the Mississippi in exchange for their own lands in the southeastern parts of the US. Many Indians, realizing they had no choice, accepted the offer and agreed to move. They were afraid the government would send in troops to kill them or to force them to leave anyway. |
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Term
#321) What was the "Trail of Tears"?
-- What General was in charge?
-- When did it happen?
-- What President ordered it? |
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Definition
| In 1838, when the Indians in North Carolina and Georgia refused to give up their lands, President Martin Van Buren sent 7,000 federal troops to force 15,000 Cherokee Indians to march 1200 miles to Oklahoma Territory. Over 4,000 of the Indians died from the hardships of this journey, known as the "Trail of Tears." |
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Term
#322) When did American settlers begin to move into the Texas Territory?
-- Whose territory was it? |
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Definition
| In the 1820s and 1830s, American settlers began pouring into the Texas Territory, which ws controlled by Mexico (Mexico had just won its independence from Spain in 1821). Because they felt they couldn't stop the settlers, they welcomed them to become Mexican citizens. By 1830, there were two times as many Texans in the Texas Territory as Mexicans. |
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Term
| #323) Why did the American settlers begin to discuss rebellion against Mexico? |
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Definition
| The American settlers began to seriously discuss a rebellion against Mexico when the Mexicans banned the importation of slaves. |
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Term
| #324) When did the "Texas Revolution" break out? |
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Definition
| In 1836 the American settlers in the Texas Territory declared Texas to be an independent entity and went to war with Mexico to gain their independence. |
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Term
| #325) Why were both President Jackson and President Van Buren against offering statehood to Texas? |
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Definition
| One reason was their determination to keep a balance of "free" and "slave" states and Texas wanted to join as a "slave" state. Also, both presidents wanted to keep a good relationship with Mexico, which did not recognize Texan independence. |
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Term
#326) Who was Stephen F. Austin?
-- What did he do?
-- When did he do it? |
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Definition
| Born in 1793, he was known as the "Father of Texas." He established the first American settlement (1822) in the northern province of Mexico and helped it grow to independence. Austin acted as an intermediary between his colony and the Mexican government. Austin took the Texas constitution to Mexican president Lopéz de Santa Anna, who imprisoned him for over a year. He served as Secretary of State for the nation of Texas until his death in 1836. |
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Term
#327) What was "The Alamo"?
-- Where was it?
-- When was it?
-- Who was involved?
-- What was the outcome? |
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Definition
| In March of 1836, 190 Texans, led by Col. William B. Travis, were overwhelmed by 4,000+ Mexican troops attempting to take back the settlement of San Antonio. After a two-week siege at an old mission/Spanish fort called "The Alamo," all the defenders were killed and the Mexicans took San Antonio. |
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Term
| #328) Who are two famous Americans who died at the "Alamo"? |
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Definition
| Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie both died at the battle of "The Alamo." |
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Term
#329) Who was Samuel Houston?
-- What did he do?
-- When did he do it? |
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Definition
| A Virginia native son, Sam Houston was the Commander-in-Chief of the Texas army for independence. He won independence from Mexico after the battle of "San Jacinto" in April of 1836. He became president of the Republic of Texas from 1836 - 1838 and 1841 - 1844. He was also governor of the new state of Texas from 1859 - 1861. |
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Term
| #330) Why didn't Texas immediately become a state of the United States, after winning its independence? |
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Definition
| Because it wanted to enter the union as a slave state, both Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren opposed the statehood of Texas. |
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Term
| #331) What were the "Texas Rangers"? |
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Definition
| The "Texas Rangers" are the oldest law enforcement agency continuously in existence in North America. They are part of the history and the mythology of the old west. The first "Corps of Rangers" were paid $1.25 a day to protect the Texas settlements from the Indians. |
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Term
#332) Who were the "Whigs"?
-- What did they believe? |
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Definition
| The "Whig Party" began in 1834,, with its focus being to defeat Andrew Jackson. |
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Term
#333) Who was the 8th President of the US?
-- When did he serve?
-- What did he accomplish? |
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Definition
| The 8th President of the US was Martin Van Buren (1837 - 1841). Of Dutch descent, he ws born in New York. He was the most important northern supporter of President Andrew Jackson. He was Vice President under Jackson. He inherited Jackson's destruction of the second National Bank, which encouraged speculation and resulted in the Depression of 1837, that lasted five years. President Van Buren opposed the annexation of Texas because he became an abolitionist (against slavery). He only served one term, most likely due to the onset of the Depression of 1837. |
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Term
| #333A) What was a big problem of the Van Buren presidency, resulting in his serving only one term? |
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Definition
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Term
| #333B) Why did Van Buren block the admission of Texas to the United States? |
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Definition
| President Van Buren was opposed to slavery, so he blocked the admission of Texas, which wanted to enter the union as a "slave" state. |
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Term
#334) Who was the 9th president of the US?
-- When did he serve?
-- What did he accomplish? |
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Definition
| The 9th President was William Henry Harrison (1841). Harrison had been a famous Indian fighter, defeating Native Americans (Tecumseh) at Tippecanoe. He was a "Whig Party" candidate. During his Inaugural address, he caught a cold that turned into pneumonia and within one month he was dead. |
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Term
| #334A) What did the slogan, "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!" mean? |
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Definition
| "Tippecanoe" was President William Henry Harrison's (1841) nickname because he defeated Tecumseh at Tippecanoe. Tyler was his running mate, so this was their slogan. |
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Term
| #335) Who was the last president to be re-elected for a second term, between 1829 and 1864? |
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Definition
| Andrew Jackson (1829 - 1837) was the last President to be re-elected until President Lincoln's re-election in 1864. |
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Term
#336) Who were the "Transcendentalists"?
-- What did they believe?
-- Why were they important to the development of the US? |
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Definition
| The basic beliefs of the "Transcendentalists" (a group of writers, artists, and philosophers of the mid-1800s), is that Nature is a window to an ideal, pure world that we can imagine or sense. By observing Nature and by using our intuition, it was believed we could "transcend" reality to experience this "true life." The "Transcendentalists" were important because they emphasized the importance of individual liberty and non-conformity to social norms. |
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Term
#337) Who was Ralph Waldo Emerson?
-- What did he accomplish?
-- When did he do it? |
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Definition
| Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leader of the "Transcendentalists." He was a Unitarian minister who resigned his pulpit in 1832 and began to write about Transcendentalism. He believed each American should "establish an original relation with Nature." He became a very popular lecturer and expounded his themes of individual freedom and responsibility. He mentored many other of the greatest writers of his time. |
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