Term
"Midnight Appointments"
1800 |
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Definition
| John Adams, after Thomas Jefferson was elected, was so upset by the election that he quickly appointed as many Federalists to key positions the night before he left office in order to prevent the Democratic-Republicans from taking full control of the government. Jefferson refused to recognize those appointments, and just as quickly replaced them. |
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Term
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Definition
| Prevents a vice-presidency being held by someone of the opposite party and allowed voters to vote for a party ticket. |
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Term
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Definition
| Ran for presidency in 1800, lost to Jefferson; later attempted to carry out conspiracy to create new nation in southwestern US. Also later killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. |
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Term
| Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 |
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Definition
| US acquires Florida from Spain. |
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Term
Age of Salutary Neglect
1650 - 1750 |
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Definition
| This period describes the British treatment of the Colonies preceding the French and Indian War (Seven Year’ War, part of a broader war in Europe). Salutary neglect basically means that the colonists were largely left to their own devices, although England controlled trade and collected some taxes. England also turned a blind eye to many trade violations openly practiced in the colonies. The colonies, therefore, gained a large degree of autonomy. |
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Term
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Definition
| An early attempt to develop a central colonial government. Developed by Benjamin Franklin and considered in 1754, it was promptly rejected by all colonial legislatures because none wished to relinquish their ability to tax themselves. This led directly to one of Franklin’s more memorable cartoons- the one with the broken snake and under it the words “Join or Die”. The meaning is explicit. |
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Term
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Definition
| US Politician best known for advocating the Constitution. He feared that the US could not survive under the Articles of Confederation because of the lack of an uniform commercial policy. He was responsible for convening the Annapolic Convention in 1787, and was one of the chief architects of the Constitution at the 1787 Phildelphia Convention. Was also an anymous writer of the Federalist Papers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Considered the low point of the Adams administration. Allowed the government to forcibly expel foriegners and jail newspaper editors for anti-government writings. The acts were purely political, and aimed at destroying the Democratic-Republicans. However, Vice President Thomas Jefferson then led the opposition to the acts, creating the principle of Nullification. |
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Term
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Definition
| A series of programs passed by James Madison after the War of 1812 to promote national growth. The programs included protective tariffs on imports, improvements to interstate roads, and the rechartering of the National Bank. Note: Henry Clay was an aggresive supporter of these policies. |
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Term
Annapolis Convention
1787 |
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Definition
| Called for by Alexander Hamilton, it convened to "revisit the Articles of Confederation". Only 5 delegates from all the states showed up, and consequently, a meeting was placed for May in Phildelphia to address the same issue. |
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Term
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Definition
| Anne Hutchinson was a proponent of the belief that God’s grace and faith were enough to earn Heaven; in short, she failed to understand the relationship between justice and mercy, but you don’t have to know that. She challenged many puritanical customs because of her teachings, but also since she was an educated and powerful woman, many turned against her. She was banished, and fled to Rhode Island. |
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Term
Anti-Federalist Papers
1787 |
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Definition
| Written by Anti-Federalists, who were largely coutnry famers distrustful of centralized government. Appalled by the abscene of a Bill of Rights for the Constitution. |
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Term
Articles of Confederation
Overview |
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Definition
| The earliest written papers authorizing the central government. In 1777, the Continental Congress sent the Articles of Confederation to the colonies for ratification. The Articles intentionally had authorized little to no central government, since they did not want to build a government as repressive as the British had been after the war was over. Two of the main limitations were the prohibition of taxes set by the national government and the regulation of trade. Furthermore, any amendment to the Articles of confederation required the unanimous approval of all the states, something nearly impossible to achieve. With the end of the war and British rule, the Americans had to deal with some new issues as well. A new era of relations with the Indians, a new sense of freedom among second-class citizens (women and minorities), and problems caused by the Articles of Confederation. |
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Term
Articles of Confederation
Problems |
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Definition
| As mentioned above, the AOC failed to empower the national government to tax, regulate trade, or to attempt any amendment of itself. Problems caused by these three issues, and others, became apparent early on. The wartime administration, burdened by the heavy cost of war, attempted to solve the shortage of cash by printing large amounts of money. This only led, however, to rampant inflation. After the war, the British began a semi-hidden trade campaign to destroy the economy of the US by saturating the nation with British goods, thereby destroying domestic manufacturing and effectively enforcing American subservience to British will. Unable to impose tariffs, the government was helpless. Another problem, again arising from the British, was their refusal to abandon military forts on the continent. Again, the government was powerless to evict them, even if the US military had been strong enough to do so. Shay’s Rebellion was perhaps the most extreme example of the failures of the AOC. In 1787, about 1500 farmers from western MA marched on towns to protest a number of unfair policies. This rebellion revealed lingering resent towards the coastal elite on the part of the backcountry farmers - the subject of a 2007 FRQ, so remember it. |
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Term
Articles of Confederation
Successes |
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Definition
| The AOC had their share of success, however. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 stands among the AOC’s greater achievements, and contained a bill of rights giving trial by jury, freedom of religion, and freedom from excessive punishments. It abolished slavery in the Northwest territories, and also set specific regulations concerning the introduction of territories into states. However, it virtually claimed all the lands of Indians without their consent. The Indians resisted; by 1795, the US had gained a military advantage over the Miami Confederacy, the chief Indian alliance in the continental North America. |
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Term
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Definition
| Bacon’s Rebellions took place on Virginia’s western frontier during the 1670s. Sir William Berkeley, the governor, ignited this because his rule invited opposition. The western colonists became convinced that he was using them as a human shield against the Indians. Nathaniel Bacon rallied these and attacked two Indian tribes, then turning on the colonial governor. They burned Jamestown to the ground, but then Bacon died of dysentery, and the rebellion dissolved. Many rebellious formerly indentured servants sided with free disenfranchised blacks. This alliance frightened many southerners and led to the development of black codes. |
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Term
| Battles of Lexington and Concord |
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Definition
| The British fundamentally underestimated that the strength of the growing pro-revolutionary movement. Therefore, the English dispatched troops to raid suspected weapons cache in Concord MA in April 1775. First, however, they had to pass through Lexington, where a small force of colonial “minutemen” attacked them, but retreated, having suffered 8 dead and 10 wounded. At Concord, however, a much larger force of minutemen attacked the British and drove them back. The colonists were now committed to independence, and the two nations dug in around Boston. |
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Term
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Definition
| The colonial who came most to typify the Enlightenment in America was Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was an influential printer and intellectual, a pioneer in the area of electricity. He agreed with Enlightenment ideals about education, government, and religion, and was (next to Washington) the favorite son of the Colonies. Near the end of his life, he organized a treaty with France crucial to giving America the opportunity to end the Revolution. |
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Term
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Definition
| Protected the key rights of the people, added to the Constitution in 1791. |
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Term
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Definition
| As part of the Acts, 4000 troops were stationed in Boston (a city of 16,000). On March 5, 1770, the most serious in a long line of confrontations occurred in what became known as the Boston Massacre, in which harassed British troops fired on a crowd of civilians, killing 8. Needless to say, the whole event was widely used as anti-British propaganda. Note: future US President John Adams defended the soldiers in court, thereby establishing a tradition of granting to all fair trials. |
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Term
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Definition
| Parliament allowed the East India Tea Company a monopoly on tea, and taxed the aforementioned tea. The colonists, even though this resulted in cheaper tea, only saw the new taxes imposed on them by the British. On December 16, 1773, some sons of liberty (disguised as Indians) destroyed around 10,000 pounds worth of tea on Boston. The English responded with the Coercive or Intolerable Acts. |
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Term
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Definition
| A explorer and sailor from Genoa (an island off the coast of Italy) who, financed by Spain, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492. He landed on islands in the Bahamas, and named the indigenous people “Indians” because he thought he had reached the east coast of India, which he was originally attempting to get to. Columbus would sail back several times, hoping to find the eastern Indian coast. |
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Term
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Definition
| A french citizen who came to the US to promote the ideals of the French Revolution (1790's). His arrival was greatly supported by Jefferson; Hamilton, on the other hand, disliked him. |
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Term
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Definition
| The resultant clash between European and North and South American civilizations brought about by the European colonization and invasion of both continents. This clash manifested itself in many ways, often through violence. At the time of Columbus’ arrival, around an estimated 25 million lived in the Americas, most of them in South America. The culture of Native Americas flourished with regard to the geographical fertility of their land- if they had fertile fields, they had great culture, and vice versa. Understand the “clash of cultures” because a significant number of questions about it have been added to the AP. |
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Term
| Committees of Correspondence |
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Definition
| From 1770 to 1772, pretty much nothing happened. In 1772, however, the British decided colonial administrators should be paid from customs revenues; the colonists responded by establishing groups called Committees of Correspondence throughout the colonies to trade ideas and inform one another of the political mood. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Committees of Observance, throughout the winter of 1774 and spring of 1775, expanded their authority and began to usurp the English-appointed administrators, as well as stockpile weaponry and begin to stir the colonists to revolution. |
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Term
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Definition
| A propaganda pamphlet published in Jan. 1776 by Thomas Paine. He argued not only for independence, but also for republicanism over mob democracy. In a nation of only 2 million, it sold 100,000 copies in 3 weeks (5% of a mostly illiterate nation). |
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Term
| Comparison of Chesapeke and New England |
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Definition
Entire families tended to emigrate to New England, while only single males immigrated to the Chesapeake region. New England had larger towns due to a stronger sense of community and the absence of tobacco (which required large open fields) as a cash crop. New Englanders were also more religious, although those in the Chesapeake were also fairly devout.
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Term
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Definition
| forbade the colonists to issue paper money. |
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Term
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Definition
| George III also replaced the hated George Grenville with Lord Rockingham, who passed the Declaratory Act, asserting the British government’s right to tax and legislate all cases anywhere in the colonies, be it India or Maryland. |
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Term
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Definition
| One of the first political parties led by Thomas Jefferson, and supported a weaker government. It envisoned an economy based on agriculture, stronger state governments, was supported by farmers and Southerners, and was largely strictly constructionist. Was more sympathetic to France during the French Revolution. |
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Term
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Definition
| Jefferson wins in a landslide victory. Aaron Burr campaigns for the governor of New York, but loses to Alexander Hamilton, who had taken it upon himself to ensure Burr never had a chance at the presidency. Burr subsequently challenged Hamilton to a duel and killed him. After, he fled to the southwest and was tried for treason because he attempted to build his own nation. |
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Term
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Definition
| In an effort to prevent impressionment of American sailors, Jefferson decided to end American travel on the Atlantic, shutting down America's imports and exports. This had disatrous results for the economy. |
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Term
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Definition
| In 1588, the English Navy managed to defeat and destroy a large portion of the Spanish Armada, therefore establishing naval dominance and allowing English colonization of the Americas to begin. Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1587, attempted to set up a colony at Roanoke Island. However, the Lost Colony disappeared by 1590. |
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Term
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Definition
| A time in the political history of the US where only one political party existed, the Democratic-Republicans, since the Federalists had dissolved following the Hartford Convention. Nearly came to an end in 1819 due to an economic panic, but continues for much later until the Democratic / Republican split. |
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Term
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Definition
| Established by Washington in 1797 over Congress' request to view all documents of the Treaty of San Lorenzo; the right of the president to withold information from the public when doing so protects the national secrets. |
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Term
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Definition
| Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, and argued persuaviely for a stronger and more centralized government; crucial to swaying New York to ratification of the Constitution. |
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Term
| Federalists (Political Party) |
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Definition
| The first political party favoring strong government and was led by Alexander Hamilton. Also included Washington, Adams, Jay, and Marshall and envisoned an economy based on commerce, a strong federal government, was supported mainly by the wealthy northeast, believed a national bank was necessary, and was more sympathetic to Great Britain during the French Revolution. |
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Term
| First Continental Congress |
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Definition
| There, they enumerated their grievances and develop an appropriate response to those grievances. They issued a boycott of all British goods, and set up Committees of Observance to enforce the boycott. Perhaps most importantly, it issued a set of parameters within which it felt British interference in colonial affairs to be justified. |
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Term
First Great Awakening
George Whitefield
Jonathan Edwards |
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Definition
| Generally, the generations following the original Puritan settlers were less devout than their ancestors. Between the 1730s and 1740s, a great revival of religious fervor swept across the colonies, known as the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield were both preachers who came to exemplify the period. Edwards preached a harsh, predeterministic, Calvinist faith and became known for his vivid descriptions of Hell, culminating in his famous speech, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Whitefield preached a combination of emotionalism and spirituality, evident today in the Southern Evangelical movement. This first Great Awakening is often described as a response to the Enlightenment, which elevated pure reason over religion. |
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Term
| French Colonization of North America |
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Definition
| The French colonized Quebec in 1607. The French, however, had much less of an impact on the indigenous tribes than did the English and Spanish. A fewer number of settlers came to the area, and most of these lived nomadic lives. Although the French played a key role in the Seven Year’s War from 1754 - 1763 in North America, the Edict of Nantes in 1598 drastically reduced the number of religious persecutions in France, and so limited the number of settlers to the New World. (The Edict granted religious toleration to French Protestants). |
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Term
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Definition
| The French and Indian War refers to the colonial theater of operations; the Seven Year’s War was a broader war between the French and English as a result of colonial expansion. The French were attempting to protect their valuable North American fur trade. A colonial militia commanded by George Washington attacked a French outpost and subsequently failed horrendously. This, however, made Washington into a hero. In 1756, England officially declared war on France and the Indians quickly allied themselves with the French. Basically, the war dragged on for a few years (the AP does not test military history), and the British won and became the undisputed power on the continent. Many Americans came, for the first time, into direct contact with British soldiers, and they had some conflicts. This sowed the seeds of anti-British sentiments in the colonies. After the war, the English became more aggressive in their treatment of the Indians, raising prices on commodities and ceasing rent on their western forts; the latter led directly to Pontiac’s Rebellion. |
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Term
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Definition
| Opposed to the war and unaware of the successful negiogation of the Treaty of Ghent, the Federalists met at Hartford Connecticut to discuss possible succession from, in thier eyes, the defeated American nation. Since, however, the war was concluded favorably to the US, the Federalists were widely considered traitors and the party quickly dissolved. |
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Term
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Definition
| Introduced in 1618 by the Virginia Company in order to entice new settlers to the region. A “headright” was a tract of land, usually about 50 acres, granted to colonists. This became the basis for an expanding aristocracy of planters in Virginia, and therefore hindered the development of democracy in the region. |
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Term
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Definition
| The House of Burgesses was a political entity in which the basic requirements were ownership of property and race (meaning white). Established in 1619 in Virginia. 1619 also marked the start of slavery in the English Colonies. |
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Term
| Important Facts of The Revolutionary War |
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Definition
| Written by Thomas Jefferson in June 1776, and was a statement of the ideals of the Revolution. It was signed on July 4, 1776. |
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Term
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Definition
| Practiced by the British navy in 1805, they forced American sailors to join the British Navy and accused them of being deserters. This exacerbated English-American tensions, and Jefferson responded with a boycott. |
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Term
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Definition
| In return for free passage, indentured servant typically promised around 7-10 years of unpaid work. Many in Europe took advantage of this. Throughout most of the 1600’s, indentured servants also received land with their freedom, therefore allowing them to survive independently and also vote. However, the period of indenture was extremely difficult and over half did not survive. More than 75% of the 130,000 Englishmen traveling to America during the 1600’s and early 1700’s were indentured servants. |
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Term
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Definition
| Oliver Cromwell took over England in 1649 after the English Civil Wars, and he himself was a puritan. The puritans now had little incentive to flee to the New World, because they had what they wanted in England. The period was called the Interregnum (“between kings”) since Cromwell died in 1660 and the Stuart Dynasty was restored to the throne. The puritans promptly continued to emigrate to the New World, bringing with them some republican ideals. |
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Term
| Intolerable / Coercive Acts |
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Definition
| This closed Boston Harbor, tightened English control of the colonies, and required colonists to house British soldiers. At the same time, Parliament passed the Quebec Acts, which gave greater freedom to Catholics, and extended the western boundaries of the Quebec territory. In response, every state but Georgia sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in 1774 |
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Term
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Definition
| Architect of the Virgina Plan, anymously authored the Federalist Papers in support of his plan, and remains among the more genius politicians in American history. |
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Term
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Definition
| James Otis published a pamphlet, called The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted, in which he coined the phrase, “no taxation without representation”. The British jeered at the notion, claiming the theory of virtual representation, which stated that the members of Parliament represented all citizens regardless of whether they elected them or not. |
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Term
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Definition
| Settled in 1607. Jamestown was funded by what is called a Joint-Stock Company, in which a lot of people pay a little bit rather than a few people paying all of it. The Virginia Company named the area around it’s colony Virginia. Captain John Smith managed to save the floundering colony by improving relations with the natives (starving time, 1609-1610), but was later removed. The tribes that helped the colonists were part of the Powhatan Confederacy. The Confederacy had hoped an alliance with the Europeans would provide them with advanced weapons and allow them to control North America, but misjudged the expansionist tendencies of the English, and were subsequently destroyed by 1644. Planter John Rolfe introduced the cash crop tobacco, which was a huge success in England. The introduction of tobacco led directly to the institution of slavery in the Chesapeake Bay region. |
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Term
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Definition
| John Jay was sent to England during Washington's second term to address the former's violations of the Treaty of Paris and violations of free trade. Although it avoided war with England, it made a number of concessions to them. It is considered the low point of the Washington administration. |
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Term
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Definition
| The second president and a federalist; uneventful compared to Washington's two terms. He was mostly a hands-off president, often resulting in his political rival Alexander Hamilton taking command over key issues. His greatest achievement wass avoiding war with France. |
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Term
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Definition
| a US politician, organized Jay's Treaty, and authored the Federalist Papers in 1787. |
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Term
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Definition
| Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during Marbury vs. Madison and other landmark legal cases, and was a Federalist. |
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Term
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Definition
| An important legal principle by which the Supreme Court can review the constitutionality of a law and pronounce on it. However, it can not enforce that self-same law since it is the judicial branch of the federal government, not the executive branch. |
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Term
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Definition
| King Philip’s War was a conflict that began when an Indian called Metacomet (known as King Philip to the English) united the Pokanokets to attack encroaching English settlers. They burned a few towns, but then Metacomet died, the alliance fell apart and the English wiped them out. |
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Term
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Definition
| Explorers sent out by Jefferson to invesitigate and report on the western territories, especially the boundaries of the Louisiana Territory. |
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Term
| Life in the Early Colonies |
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Definition
| From 1700 to 1750, the rate of population increase was phenomenal; while in 1700, only about 250,000 lived in the colonies, by 1750, over 1,250,000 lived in America. The colonies is these years had begun to develop substantial non-English populations within itself, mostly concentrated in the cities. The vast majority, over 90%, of colonists lived, however, in rural areas. Society was rigidly organized along patriarchal lines. Blacks, most of whom were slaves, lived primarily in the South or in the Northern countryside. Conditions of life varied from region to region. Conditions in cities were much worse than in the countryside. Poverty was widespread, sanitation primitive, and epidemics common. Citizens with higher level education were restricted to only the wealthiest of society and nearly all colleges were primarily to train preachers. New England society centered around trade. The middle colonies had more fertile land and so focused primarily on farming. The lower South concentrated on cash crops like tobacco and rice. Maryland and Virginia formed a kind of “melting pot” region, combining the features of both the South and the Middle Colonies. |
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Term
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Definition
| The viewpoint, led by Alexander Hamilton, that the Congress could enact legislature that fell under implied powers; basically, if it was not explicitly prohibited, then Congress could do it. Therefore, in the National Bank controversy of the Washington administration, Hamilton and other loose constructionists argued for the creation of the National Bank, since it fell under the power of the government to regulate trade. |
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Term
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Definition
| The major accomplishment of Jefferson's first term; Napoleon, then Emperor of the French, is in need of quick cash to help finance his European wars, and sold the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million. The treaty was also negiogated by James Monroe, who would later issue the Monroe Doctrine. |
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Term
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Definition
| The groups remaining loyal to the crown were mostly government officials, devout Anglicans, wealthy merchants, and religious and ethnic minorities. Many slaves also believed their chances of freedom to be better with the English, strengthened by the royal governor of Virginia offered to free slaves who escaped their colonial masters and join the British army. Therefore, the immediate pre-Revolutionary War era saw an increase in the numbers of slaves. The Patriots were mostly white Protestant property owners and colonial aristocrats, and anyone who turned a profit by supporting the rebels. Everyone else was wary of both the revolutionists and the English. |
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Term
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Definition
| Passed in 1808 by Congress and reopened trade with England and France. However, it promised that if either nation renounced attacks on American trade, he would cut off trade with the other. Napoleon did so, and the British subsequently increased attacks on the American ships. |
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Term
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Definition
| A legal case reaching the Supreme Court. Will Marbury, a midnight appointee, sued James Madison (Secretary of State) for refusing to recognize his appointment. This court, through a complex legal manuever, established the principle of judicial review but also said that the Supreme Court could not enforce Marbury's appointment, since that would be unconstitutional, thus expanding the role of the court while at the same time handing Jefferson the political victory he desired. |
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Term
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Definition
| A larger and more powerful colony established in 1629 by Congregationalists (who wanted to reform Anglicanism). This began the “Great Puritan Migrations”, lasting from 1629 to 1642, and was led by John Winthrop. Winthrop was the guy who coined the term “A city on a hill” to describe the moral gravity of the city. These protestants were strict Calvinists, and therefore, had a great work ethic. This may have led, according to many, to the formation of commerce in New England. Note: both Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay were religiously intolerant. |
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Term
| Massachusetts Circular Letter |
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Definition
| The MA Assembly sent out a letter (Massachusetts Circular Letter) to ask all other assemblies to protest in unison. Numerous protests and boycotts followed, their effectiveness buoyed by the large numbers of “common folk” who joined. After two years, in 1770, Parliament repealed the taxes imposed by the Townshend Acts, though everything else remained. |
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Term
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Definition
A group of puritans called the Separatists (who urged separation from the Anglicans) set sail for Virginia in 1620. They went aboard a single ship, called the Mayflower, and landed in modern Massachusetts. The settlement where they landed was called Plymouth. They had reached an agreement, called the Mayflower Compact, which did the following:
- created a legal authority and assembly.
- asserted government’s power comes from the consent of the governed. This meant the colonies would not fall under the trap of Absolutism, or the belief that the government’s power comes directly from God Himself. |
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Term
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Definition
| An important legal case in which John Marshall ruled that states could not tax the National Bank, thus establishing the precedence of national law over state law. |
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Term
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Definition
Brokered by Henry Clay, it did the following:
1. admitted Missouri as a slave state
2. created Maine as a free state
3. prohibited slavery above the 36'30' parellel
4. established the southern border of Missouri as the northenmost border of the extension. |
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Term
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Definition
| James Monroe issues this, saying basically to the Europeans to stay out of the western hemisphere, and the US would stay out of European affairs. He also asserted America's right to interfere anywhere in the western hemisphere if doing so would protect America's interests. |
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Term
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Definition
| The government borrows money in order to spend it now and pay it back later; during Hamilton's tenure at the first National Bank, he successfully lowered the national debt. |
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Term
Navigation Acts
Boards of Trade
Mercantilism |
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Definition
| During this period, most Europeans subscribed to a economic theory called mercantilism. This centered basically around the idea of controlling a certain expandable amount of limited global resources (imagine a pie, with 6 sides, with England controlling 3, France 2, and Spain 1; the only way England could expand would be by taking another’s slice). Colonies, under this theory, were most important for economic reasons. This led many British to value the American colonies less than their Indian colonies; India was for more profitable. England passed a number of tariffs (taxes on imports) from 1651 to 1673, like the Navigation Acts. The Navigation Acts required colonists to buy goods only from England, to sell certain products only to England, and to import any non-English goods via English ports, and pay taxes on those. These acts were only somewhat successful, as it was relatively easy for colonists to smuggle goods in and out of the colonies. During the 1690’s, the British moved to more toughly enforce these acts, setting up Vice-admiralty courts in which defendants were not entitled to a jury and violations of the Navigation Acts were punished. Secondly the British set up Boards of Trade to establish a more centralized regulation of colonial commerce. At the time, these acts were not widely protested since they depended completely on England for trade and protection. |
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Term
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Definition
| Issued by Washington after Citizen Genet's visit to the US, it declared the intent of the US to remain impartial and neutral towards France during the French Revolution. |
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Term
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Definition
| Despite the above trade regulations, the colonies enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. The power of the governors required the cooperation of his colonists, and most ruled accordingly. All of the colonies except for Pennsylvania had a bicameral (two-house) legislature, modeled after the British Parliament. The colonist did, however, make some attempts at more centralized government. The most prominent of these was the New England Confederation; but it had no real power. |
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Term
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Definition
| 1787, called for extensive modifications to the earlier Articles of Confederation, and called for a unicameral legislature in which representation was equal, regardless of the size of the state. Many supporters of this were Anti-Federalists. |
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Term
| Non-intercourse Act of 1809 |
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Definition
| Reopens trade with other nations but still boycotts France and England to avoid war with either. |
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Term
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Definition
| John Dickinson’s attempt in 1775 to avoid armed conflict, and still address the grievances of the colonies. King George III, however, wanted to prove a point by crushing the rebels. |
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Term
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Definition
| Nearly ends the Era of Good Feelings, and included numerous business failures and foreclosures. |
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Term
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Definition
Many colonies formed as proprietorships, that is, they were owned by one person who usually had received the land as a gift from the king. The following colonies were such:
COLONY IMPORTANT FACTS
Maryland Lord Baltimore; catholic haven
Connecticut 1635; Fundamental orders (1st const.
New York Prince James
New Jersey Large number of Quakers
Pennsylvania -----
North Carolina -----
South Carolina Economy quickly depended on slaves |
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Term
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Definition
| The Pequots were inhabitants of the Connecticut Valley, a fertile region. They violently resisted the English incursions, and killed nine colonists. The English responded heavy-handily by burning the main Pequot city, killing over 400. The tribe was broken over the following years and scattered across North America. |
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Term
Phildelphia / Constitutional Convention
1787 |
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Definition
| Convened by Alexander Hamilton after the failed Annapolic Convention (1787), wrote the Constitution and was authored by delegates from every state except Rhode Island. 55 Delegates; all of them white, many of whom owned slaves, all wealthy. There were two plans for the Constitution: the New Jersey Plan (Modifications), and the Virginia Plan (Entirely new government). It lasted for over four months, and hammered a series of compromises collectively known as the Great Comprise, which blended the Virginia and New Jersey Plans to have a bicameral legislature. The Convention also set up the method by which slaves were to be counted in a state's population: called the 3/5 Compromise, each slave counted as 3/5 a white person for the purposes of voting and population. Finally, the Convention established a series of checks and balances with three branches of government. Opposition and support was widespread, and ratification barely acheived in 1789. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Ottawa war chief Pontiac rallied for a group of tribes in the Ohio River Valley and burned colonial outposts. The British responded in kind. As a response to the initial attacks, the British passed the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting the settlement of land west of the Appalachians. However, all this did was piss off the colonists. 1763 is often viewed as the end of the Age of Salutary Neglect and the start of Colonial-British Tensions. |
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Term
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Definition
| The era before Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic (so, before 1492). Before 1492, North America was populated by indigenous peoples now called Native Americans, or Indians. The Aztecs and Incans ruled most of hospitable South America (much of the continent was covered by thick jungle). Most historical evidence points to the idea of a crossing across the frozen Bering Strait in between Russia and Alaska over 20,000 to 40,000 years ago as the origins of these peoples, who subsequently spread throughout the continents. |
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Term
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Definition
A religious movement in the Anglican Church led by English Calvinists of the 16th century (1500’s). It sought to purge the Anglican Church of all traces of Roman Catholic teachings (Hence, Puritans, as in purity). The Puritans moved, however, against the established Anglican hierarchy and were often persecuted. They therefore formed a major group of settlers coming to the New World.
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Term
| Results of the Warof 1812 |
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Definition
| The Federalist party is dissolved after the Hartford Convention, American domestic manufacturing was spurred, and America gained international prestige in the eyes of the world far standing up to the most powerful nation in the world (England) and surviving. |
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Term
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Definition
| Roger Williams was a minister in the Salem Bay colony who taught a number of controversial principles, like separation of church and state, and was banished. He moved to modern Rhode Island. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692. During the summer of 1692, more than 130 witches were executed or jailed in Salem. This was caused by a number of factors: the weakening of Puritan control of the region, the King William’s war soon after, and the undermine of religion through the increasing corruption of the cities all required an output. The Halfway Covenant was another example of growing religious tension among New England Puritans. It meant that all were baptized, even those who did not truly believe, but only those who did in fact truly worship were allowed to vote. The witch trials ended when accusations were made against too powerful people. |
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Term
| Second Continental Congress |
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Definition
| Convened just weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, and prepared for war through the creation of the Continental Army, printing and issuing money, and creating government offices. George Washington was chosen to lead the army since he was popular and from the south, where support for the Patriots was weaker. |
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Term
| Slavery in Early Colonies |
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Definition
| The widespread use of slaves began in America when the Carolinas were settled. The manpower required for the profitable harvesting of cotton far outstripped the number of indentured servants available to Southern planters. However, enslaving Indians was difficult: they knew the land better, were more rebellious, and had been decimated by European diseases. The colonists also found it easier to identify slaves by their black skin and used this to help rationalize slavery. Over 500,000 slaves were brought to the English colonies before the revolution. The Triangular Trade Route describes the trade theater of the time. Finished goods flowed to the Americas from Europe, raw goods from the Americas flowed to Europe, and slaves from Africa flowed to the Americas to provide cheap labor. The Middle Passage was the leg of the route that slaves took. Conditions aboard slave ships were often brutally inhumane; it was not unusual for over 20% of the slaves to die on the way. Slavery never caught in the North. In the South, many slave masters were cruel, even sadistic, towards their slaves. The vast majority of whites, however, never owned slaves and lived at a subsistence level. Only the very wealthy owned slaves. |
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Term
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Definition
| Opposition to the Stamp Act was unified and spread throughout the colonies. The Sons of Liberty were an influential protest group formed in direct opposition to the Stamp Act. The force of the opposition was so vitriolic that Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, just a single year later. |
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Term
| Spanish Colonization 1492 - 1588 |
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Definition
| Due to political problems tested on the AP European History test, Spain was the only powerful nation able at the time to colonize the Americas. This situation continued for almost a hundred years (other nations were wracked by war and religious turmoil). Columbus’ arrival marked the start of the Contact Period, during which America and Europe had sustained contact and an exchange of natural life occurred. Spain establish colonies - a territory settled and controlled by a foreign power - all over South America, destroying the Aztec and Incan Empires in the process. Since the AP conveniently ignores the mass human sacrifices practiced by both, especially the Aztecs, you have to also. The Conquistadors treated the Aztecs and Incans “ruthlessly” and forced conversion to Catholisicism. They also built a plantation system called encomiendas, where the natives provided slave labor. The strength of the Spanish Armada, until 1588, prevented other European powers from colonizing the region. The native populations were decimated by a European disease, however, called smallpox. As a direct result, the Europeans turned to imported Africans to be used as slaves, and thus the American slave trade was born. |
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Term
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Definition
| The following year, 1765, Parliament passed the ill-fated Stamp Act, which had three main inflammatory reasons. First, the Stamp Act differed from other previous acts in that it was specifically designed to raise revenue - and the colonists knew this. Second, it affected all aspects of society, especially two groups with the legal ability, persuasiveness, and resources to mobilize an effective resistance: writers and lawyers. Third, it was explicitly a tax on goods produced in the colonies themselves. Reactions built upon earlier grievances, and so was far more forceful than ever before. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Stono Uprising of 1739 marked the first black civil insurrection. About a 100 slaves from South Carolina escaped and armed themselves, then fled to Spanish Florida to win their freedom. The colonial militia hunted them down and killed or captured them all. Sometimes called the Cato Rebellion; increases fears of widespread organized slave rebellion. |
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Term
| Strict Constitutionalists |
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Definition
| Led by Jefferson and James Madison, and argues that the Constitution only allowed Congress those powers which were specifically proper or necessary in the excecution of it's enumerated powers. Thus, in the National Bank controversy, while it may not neccessarily be wrong, it is also itself unneccesary and therefore outside of Congress' authority. |
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Term
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Definition
| This establish a number of new taxes and attempted to combat molasses smuggling. In actuality, the taxes put in place by this law were not high - but what angered the colonists was that the taxes and anti-smuggling operations were actually to be enforced. Before this, many regulations were only nominal, meaning the British did not enforce them. In addition, the courts for violators were one-sided and had no jury. |
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Term
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Definition
| The first change of power from the Federalists to the Democratic-Republicans. Occured peacefully and without bloodshed, an important test for the growing nation. |
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Term
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Definition
| William Pitt replaced Lord Rockingham in 1768. Pitt, however, was rather weak and ill, and Charles Townshend came to dominate colonial affairs. Townshend, as his name may suggest, passed the antagonistic Townshend Acts in 1768. First, they taxed goods imported directly from England. Second, some of the taxes was set aside to pay tax collectors. Third, even more unfair courts were created and several new government offices designed solely to enforce these new laws. Fourth, the New York legislature was suspended since it had refused to comply with a law requiring the colonists to supply British troops. Finally, these acts required licenses called writs of assistance, which gave the British the power to search any place suspected of holding smuggled good. Resistance was the strongest yet. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Treaty of San Lorenzo / Pinckney's Treaty |
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Definition
| In his second term, Washington sent Thomas Pinckney to Spain to negiogate use of the Missippi river, tax-free access to world markets, and the removal of all Spanish forts from American soil. Pinckney got the Spanish to promise to prevent Indian attacks on US lands. Ratified by the US Senate in 1796, and is considered the high point of the Washington administration. The next year, Congress demanded to see all documents concerning the treaty for consideration, a request which Washington promptly denied, establishing the principle of executive privelege. |
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Term
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Definition
| Jame Madison's plan to establish an entirely new government in 1787 based upon a system of checks and balances. It also provided for an unicameral legislature in which representation was based on population; the government outlined in the Virginia Plan was far more centralized and stonger than in the earlier Articles of Confederation. |
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Term
| Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions |
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Definition
| Written by Jefferson and Madison, in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, and argued that states had the right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws and then nullify them as need be. This established the principle of Nullification. Despite the name, Virginia and Kentucky never nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts. |
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Term
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Definition
| Politicians who were ardent supporters of war with England in 1812, and were led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. |
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Term
War of 1812
Important Points |
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Definition
| Inflamed by War Hawks and British belligerence, the populace was greatly pro-war and Madison felt forced to declare war. Again, the Indians, under Tecumseh and Prophet, unified and joined with the British against the US. American forces were largely defeated by the British, and Washington DC itself was captured and the White House burned in 1814. When Napoleon was finally defeated, most of the reasons for the fighting dissolved, and the war soon ended. General Andrew Jackson, however, fought and won the Battle of New Orleans after the treaty was signed, unaware, the only clear-cut victory of the Americans during the war. |
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Term
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Definition
| Named in honor of the first president, Washington DC was designed from the first to be a capital city, and reflected this. In order for Alexander Hamilton to pass most of his programs during his time at the National Bank, he made a concession to the Southern states- the capital was moved to in between MD and VA, well in the South during that time. |
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Term
| Washington's Farewell Address |
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Definition
| Partly composed by Alexander Hamilton, was a call to neutrality in foriegn affairs and would come to define US foriegn policy for the next century. |
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Term
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Definition
| A direct result of Alexander Hamilton's economics policies, and was made up of western PA farmers resisting a tax on whiskey. Washington, to make an example of them, dispatched the militia to disperse the rebels. It is significant because it demonstrated the strength and fiarness of the new government. |
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Term
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Definition
| A polticial incident between France and the US and radically altered the public's view of France (they rabidly wanted blood). US diplomats arrived in France to discuss French raids on American trade, but the French demanded a huge bribe. The diplomats returned home, and Adams replaced thier names with the letters X, Y, and Z. |
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Term
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Definition
| Marked a major turning point in presidential elections. By 1824, a majority of states allowed voters to directly choose thier electors. As a result, less and less voters supported the nomination of candidates by party leaders. In 1824, the DR caucus chose William Crawford as thier candidate, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson challenged the nomination. This provided the impetus to end the caucus system. |
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Term
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Definition
| Andrew Jackson received the most votes during the 1824 election, the election was thrown the House of Representives. There, House Speaker Henry Clay gave his support to Adams, in return for the position of the secretary of state. |
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Term
The Presidency of John Quincy Adams
1824 - 1828 |
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Definition
| Adams' presidency was obstructed by a contrary Congress, his own annoying personality, and his Federalist ties. Adams' every attempt to expand or reform the central government was met with hostility and suspicion. |
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Term
| Democratic Party (Andrew Jackson) |
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Definition
| Furious at the Corrupt Bargain of 1824, Jackson put together a support network dedicated to attacking Adams and Clay. This support network went on to become the roots of the modern Democratic party. |
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Term
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Definition
| A list that accused Jackson of murdering his enlisted men during the Indian Wars. Authenticity is in question. |
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Term
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Definition
| Andrew Jackson wins the election by a wide margin and thus became the first president not named Adams or from Virginia. He was considered to support the interests of the West, and was seen as the epitome of the American self-made man. |
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Term
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Definition
| The trading of jobs for political favors. Although every previous president had done the same thing, Jackson was the first to be widely critized for it. |
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Term
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Definition
| Had conceived of a nation governored by middle and upper class educated property holders, with a somewhat weaker government, and also envisoned a nation of yeoman farmers. |
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Term
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Definition
| Replaces Jeffersonian Democracy, and envisoned universal white manhood suffrage, or the extension of voting rights to all white males, even those who did not hold property. Jacksonian Democracy is also characterized by a strong government. However, those champions of Jacksonian democracy often failed to be champions of liberty. |
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Term
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Definition
| One of the most controversial actions of Andrew Jackson, the Indian Removal Act represented a natural continuation of policy towards American Indians. It relocated the Cherokee indians to reservations far in the west along the Trail of Tears. |
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Term
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Definition
| A legal principle that became one of the major issues of the Jackson administration. It held that states could disobey federal laws they deemed unconstitutional. |
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Term
| Tariff of 1828 / Tariff of Abominations |
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Definition
| Although passed in 1828 by the Adams administration, the tariff became a major issue of the Jackson administration. Some states began to consider nullifying this tariff in 1830; Jackson opposed this because, although he supported states rights, he though nullification to be dangerous to the union. |
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Term
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Definition
| Nullified by South Carolina in 1832, and nearly prompted Jackson to deploy the army to the state to enforce the tariff. However, he managed to work behind the scenes and reached a agreeable compromise. |
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Term
| Second Bank of the United States |
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Definition
| Vetoed by Andrew Jackson. He destroyed it by withdrawing federal funds and depositing them in favored state banks. He argued that the bank was unconstitutional, and was a monopoly. He was also suspicious of paper currency. |
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Term
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Definition
| Issued by Andrew Jackson, who distrusted paper money, and ended the policy of selling government land on credit. This caused a money shortage, a sharp decrease in the treasury, and helped trigger the Panic of 1837. |
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Term
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Definition
| Caused by the Specie Circular of Andrew Jackson. Congress remedied the situation by repealing the Specie Circular in 1836. |
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Term
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Definition
An opposition party formed in 1836 to combat the Democratic-Republicans. They were a loose coalition that shared an opposition to one or more of the DR's policies. Many Whigs believed in an active government, and were deeply religous and supported the growing Temperance movement.
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Term
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Definition
| Andrew Jackson supported his vice president, Martin Van Buren. He promptly won. |
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Term
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Definition
| Andrew Jackson's second vice president, and who, supported by Jackson, won the election of 1836. He happened to take over the government at a time of economic downturn, and made the downturn worse by continuing Jackson's policy of hard currency. Thedownturn lasted through his term, practically ensuring that he would not be reelected. |
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Term
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Definition
| Since Martin Van Buren had failed to rescue a flagging economy, he lost the 1840 election to another war hero and whig, William Henry Harrison. He died a month later, and John Tyler assumed the presidency in 1941. |
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Term
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Definition
| Won election of 1840 and was the first Whig president; died a month later in 1841 of pneumonia. |
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Term
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Definition
| Harrison's vice president who assumes the presidency in 1841. He began to champion state's rights, and vetoed many Whig bills, eventually eroding his support in his own party. He is thus often referred to as the "president without a party". |
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Term
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Definition
| People trade thier labor for goods or cash, which they then use to buy other's goods or labor. Market economies favor those who specialize. A market economy began to develop in the US during the early 1800's, from the earlier subsistence economies of the Revolutionary and pre-Revolutionary eras. However, market economies are more prone to rapid change. |
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Term
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Definition
| Refers to the rapid growth and degeneration cycles characteristic of market economies. |
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Term
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Definition
| An inventor whose two most important inventions, the cotton gin and interchangeable parts, revolutionized American manufacturing and conseqently hastened the transistion from a subsistence economy to a market economy during the early decades of the 19th century. |
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Term
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Definition
| Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 and revolutionized Southern agriculture by making it much easier to remove seeds form cotton plants. As a result, the demand and production of cotton rose greatly during the late 1700's and early 1800s. This intensified the dependence of the south on slave labor. |
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Term
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Definition
| Invented by Eli Whitney when he was manufacturing rifles for the US army. This considerably hastened the process of manufaction, and gave birth to the machine-tool industry. |
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Term
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Definition
| Born from the idea of interchangeable parts, was an industry that produced specialized machines for labor-intensive industries like textiles and manufacturing. |
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Term
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Definition
| Also rose from Eli Whitney's advances, and was the division of labor along an assembly line that created a product more uniform in quality and took shorter to make. |
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Term
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Definition
| Invented in 1813 and meant that textile manufacturers could produce both thread and finished fabric in one factory, and do so quickly. |
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Term
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Definition
| A famous worker-enticement / benefits program that guranteed housing to employees, cash wages, and organized social and cultural events. The system lasted until the 1840s and 1850s when waves of millions of Irish immigrants came to America and made cheap labor widely available. |
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Term
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Definition
| First formed in the mid 1800s in response to detoriating work conditions due to industrilization and met with violent opposition from industry. |
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Term
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Definition
| Built in 1825 and linked the Great Lakes region to New York. As a result, the Northeast soon became the center of commerce in the US. The Erie Canal spawned thousands of other canals across the nation, but by 1850, the growth of railroads had ended the canal age. |
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Term
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Definition
| Ships powered not by sail but by steam engines, and could move faster and farther. They became important carriers and long range ships. Had technical difficulties. |
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Term
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Definition
| Redefined land travel in the US. First built in the 1830s and proceded slowly due to differneces in rail width. By 1853, New York and Chicago were linked by rail, and a dense network of railroads grew in the North. |
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Term
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Definition
| Allowed immediate long-distance communication. People communicated via morse code, a series of clicks and dashes, and widespread use followed it invention almost immediately. |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that America would come to dominate all of South and North America, and were given the right to do so by God himself. |
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Term
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Definition
| Mexico declares independence in 1821, and tens of thousands of American settlers rush to fill the gap. However, they refused to give up slavery and fought the Mexicans at the Alamo in 1836. Texas became a free nation, called the Republic of Texas, and was admitted to the Union in 1845. |
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Term
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Definition
| Claimed by the US, GB, Russia, and the Indians and eventually declared American under President Polk. |
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Term
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Definition
| Gold Rush encourgaes massive waves of immigrants in 1848, and major cities began to develop along the West Coast. |
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Term
Economy of the North
Pre-Civil War |
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Definition
| Becoming more industrialized. Advances in technology, communications, transportation, industry and banking made it the center of commerce for the nation. As a result, the region became less dependent on slavery and began to view it as a moral and social evil. |
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Term
Economy of the South
Pre-Civil War |
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Definition
| Remained almost entirely agriculturally based. Tobacco and Cotton both required large areas of land and manpower, costing western lands and slaves respectively. |
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Term
Economy of the West
Pre-Civil War |
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Definition
| The West's economy was largely rooted in commercial farming, fur, and real-estate. Westerners regarded the North as full of greedy banks, and the South as land barons in a rigid hierarchy. |
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Term
Social Developments
1800 to 1860 |
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Definition
| The South, prompted by an increase production brought on by technological advances, relied even more heavy and slavery and began to construct elaborate moral defenses of slavery as a social good. The development of industrial commerce led to the subsequent development of a larger middle class, especially in the North. Western states had thier own frontier culture. |
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Term
Northern Cities
1800 - 1860 |
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Definition
| The North, during the first half of the 19th century, became the nation's industrial and commercial center. As a result, it became home to developing industrial cities. Initially, American cities faced numerous problems, caused chiefly by lack of regulations. However, cities were important centers of jobs. Cities also offered more opportunity for social advancement. Finally, cities offered a wide variety of enterntainment, like theater. Northern cities were also marked by a wide dispartity in wealth, much like the South. |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that a woman should raise children and maintain the household while the father worked. This notion was glorified by novels and magazines of the time. |
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Term
Southernn Cities
1800 - 1860 |
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Definition
| There were few major centers in the South. Most people lived instead on rural estates in near isolation. Family, not suprisingly, and religion played important roles in Southern social hierarchy. Southerners also relied mainly on subsistence farming, as opposed to commerce in the North. The wealthy planters, although small, dominated social, political, and religous aspects of society. |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea of many Southerners that slavery benefited all facets of society. Slaves adapted to this way of life, and became generally obedient. |
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Term
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Definition
| Formed a large group of pre-Civil War era farmers in the South and who worked thier fields by themselves, owning little to no slaves. |
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Term
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Definition
| Southerners with no land, and often were tenant farmers or hired workers. Pre-Civil War era. |
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Term
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Definition
| During the decades before the Civil War, the South was home to some 250,000 freed slaves. However, special laws called Black Codes kept them from owning guns, drinking, or assembling in groups greater than three. Most worked as tenant farmers or day laborers. Some "mulattos" lived realtively comfortable and wealthy lives around New Orleans. |
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Term
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Definition
| Special laws designed to keep freed blacks from owning guns, drinking alcohol, or assembling in groups of more than three. After the Emancipation of all the slaves in the Confederacy, these black codes were more strictly enforced. |
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Term
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Definition
| Western settlers who simply took a piece of land and claimed it as thier own. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Midwest regions were soon found to be highly productive for crops, and soon supplied grain to most of the nation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Another common enterprise on the Western frontier; fur traders were often the first pioneers in an area, and lived nomadic lives. |
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Term
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Definition
| Other common occupations on the Western frontier. |
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Term
Second Great Awakening
1790s |
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Definition
| A period of religous revival starting in the 1790s that began in New York (The Burned-Over District) and spread through the South and the West. The most active members of reform groups borne by this movement were often women. |
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Term
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Definition
| Groups formed from the religous revival of the Second Great Awakening that tried to bring about the end of drinking. They remained powerful from the 1790s to 1919, when the 18th Amendment prohibited alcohol. |
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Term
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Definition
| Instrumental in bringing about reforms in public education. |
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Term
National Women Suffrage Association
1869 |
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Definition
| Formed by Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to win women the right to vote. |
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Term
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Definition
| Those whites who advocated immediate emancipation. |
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Term
William Lyold Garrision
The Liberator |
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Definition
| Began in 1831 and was a abolitionist newpaper advocating immediate emancipation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Automatically banned discussion of the slavery issue from congress. |
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Term
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Definition
| An escaped slave who in the 1840s began publishing his influential newpaper the North Star. |
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Term
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Definition
| An escaped slave and assited the escape of more than 300 other slaves via the underground railroad. |
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Term
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Definition
| An escaped slave who became a charismatic advocate of both emacipation and women's rights. |
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Term
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Definition
| The 1844 Democratic Expansionist candidate against whig leader Henry Clay. Had the slogan "54'40' or Fight" and advocated the immediate annexation of texas as well as New Mexico, Arizona, and California. He won. |
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Term
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Definition
| A treaty with England in 1846 that allowed the US to peacefully acquire Oregon, Washington, and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. |
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Term
Mexican-American War
1846 - 1848 |
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Definition
| Polk provoked Mexico into war to gain the Southwestern territory. Some whigs in Congress questioned the moral legitimacy of the act, but it was authorized anyways. The war furthered the idea of a slave power pulling the strings of the nation. The war went well for the US, however, and ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadeloupe-Hidalgo. |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea of a conspiracy of wealthy Southern slave-owners controlling the real power within the US government. Made popular by the defeat of the Wilmot Proviso and the Gag Rule (1836), as well as the aggressive Mexican War (1846). |
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Term
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Definition
| A congressional rule prohibiting talk of slavery in congress; raised suspicions in the north of the slave power conspiracy. |
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Term
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Definition
| A congressional bill that, if passed, would have prohibited the extension of slavery into any territory gained from Mexico. The failure led directly to the formation of the Free-Soil Party. |
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Term
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Definition
| A regional single-issue party dedicated to the goals of the Wilmot Proviso. |
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Term
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
1848 |
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Definition
| Mexico cedes all of modern Southwest to the US; in return, the US pays $15 million. |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that each state should decide, by vote, if slavery should be allowed in thier own borders. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Whig candidate of the 1848 election; a military hero who avoided major controversy. |
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Term
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Definition
| A democratic senator who with Henry Clay hammered out the Compromise of 1850. |
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Term
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Definition
Passed by Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay, it admitted California as a free state but also enacted a far stronger fugitive slave law. Also created the territories of New Mexico and Utah, but allowed them to decide the issue of popular soverignty. |
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Term
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Definition
| Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, it inflamed anti-slavery sentiments in the North. |
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Term
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Definition
| Elected president in 1852 and was seen by both sides as a moderate in terms of slavery. |
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Term
| Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 |
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Definition
| Passed by Stephen Douglas, repealing the Missouri Compromise, that gave Kansas and Nebraska the option of popular soverignty. Led directly to the passage of the personal liberty laws. Also finally sounded the death-knell of the Whig party and led to the formation of the Republican party. |
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Term
Personal Liberty Laws
1854 |
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Definition
| Passed in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 by Northern states to weaken considerably the Fugitive slave law. |
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Term
| Republicans (pre-civil war era) |
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Definition
| Dedicated to keeping slavery out of the territories, championed further development of the national roads, more liberal land distrubution in the west, and increased protective tariffs. |
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Term
| American / Know-Nothing Party |
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Definition
| Formed during the pre-Civil War era and were semi-secretive. Campaigned on a platform based on hatred of foreigners, but imploded over the issue of slavery. |
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Term
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Definition
| Proslavery Missourians who rushed into Kansas and voted, resulting in an illegal, proslavery government. |
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Term
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Definition
| Radical abolitionist involved in Bleeding Kansas and John Brown's Raid in MD later on. |
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Term
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| Abolitionist and Proslavery violence in Kansas claims more then 200. |
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| A Southern congressman who nearly killed a Northern pro-abolition senator. The resulting political fallout destroyed President Pierce's political career. |
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| The Democrat candidate in the 1856 election. He won the election riding mainly on the ticket that he had been out of the nation for the previous four disatrous years. As president, he minaly attempted to maintain the status quo. |
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Dred Scott vs. Sanford
1856 |
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| A landmark Supreme Court case in which a former slave, Dred Scott, had escaped from his owner in a free state and declared his freedom, but his master hunted him down. Scott lost the case in the Supreme Court. Justice Roger Taney argued slaves were property and not citizens, and furthermore, no black man could be a citizen of the nation. |
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| An inventor of the Machine Age who invented the light bulb in 1876; pioneered in the development of power plants. His work subsequently led to the extension of the workday, and the wider availability of electricity. |
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Age of Invention
1875 - early 1900s |
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| An age in which numerous technological advances generated greater opportunities for mass production and subsequently generated huge growth in the economy at a tremendous rate. Those who profited from these growths were called "Captains of Industry" to their fans and "Robber Barons" to their adversaries. |
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| A concept of economics that holds that the cost per unit decreased as the number of units produced increases. The lower the costs of manufacturing, the cheaper the price could be set. The cheaper the set price, the more they sold. |
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| A type of production requiring workers to perform a single task over and over, typically for 12 to 14 hours. Dangers involved typically injured seriously over 500,000 workers a year. |
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| Refers to the explosive growth of big business during the Machine Age; the government remained unsure as to how to enforce regulations, and the courts of the era were extremely pro-business, so business does as business will do and grew. |
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| A new form of business organization that owned enough stock in various companies to have a controlling interest in the production of raw material, the means of transport raw material to the factory, the factory itself, and the distribution of the finished product. |
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| A economic term referring to a company gaining complete control over an entire industry. |
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| A common form of business consolidation; creates monopolies within a particular industry. This is done by somewhat ruthlessly forcing several smaller companies within the same industry into one large company. Standard Oil was created this way. Illegal. |
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| A form of commonly practiced business consolidation that remains legal; one company buys out all the factors of production, from raw materials to the finished product. |
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| Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 |
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Definition
| Its creation was pressured by public groups and prohibited "any combination or conspiracy in the restraint of trade". Unforunately, the wording was ambigous enough that the pro-business Supreme Court was able to interpert it to benefit big business, and was often used against big businesses. |
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| The steel king who, based off Darwinism evolution, argues the theory of social darwinism. He advocated the Gospel of Wealth as by building libraries and other beneficial public instituions. |
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| A belief that capitalism concentrated wealth in the hands of only the "fittest". Formulated by Andrew Carnegie. |
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| Carnegie's belief that philanthropy, as by building beneficial institutions, should be practiced among the wealthy of society. |
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| Expansion of railroads, streetcars, and subways during the Machine Age. |
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| Groups of corrupt men who provided services to the poor in exchange for thier votes. Often used illegal means. |
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| Refers to the organizations built by political bosses. Often illegal. |
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| A labor union formed in 1869 by Uriah Stephens that organized skilled and unskilled workers from a variety of crafts into a single union. They held as goals a shorter workday, equal pay and work for the sexes, child labor laws, safety and sanitary codes, federal income tax, and government ownership of rail and telegraph lines. |
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| Leader of the Knights of Labor during the 1880s, and witnessed the decline in popularity of labor unions, which had become increaseingly violent. |
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Haymarket Square Riot
1886 |
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Definition
| A bomb goes off in Haymarket Square in Chicago, killing police; radical unionists are accused. |
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Term
| American Federation of Labor |
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Definition
| Avoided larger political issues and instead focused on "bread and butter" issues such as higher wages and shorter workdays, a strategy proving sucessful. Formed by Samuel Gompers and EXCLUDED UNSKILLED WORKERS. The AFL was also a confederation of trade unions each filled with those of a single industry. |
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| Houses that became community centers, providing schools, childcare, and other cultural activities. In Chicago, Jane Addams founded Hull House to provide such a center, since the government would not do it. |
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| Pioneered by Joeseph Pulitzer and William Randolph and favored more sensationalistic headlines over accuracy; led to a rise in the growth of newspapers and journalism. |
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| The consolidation of smaller farms into larger farms by the wealthy in the South during the post-Civil war era. |
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| The method by which land was rented in the post-Civil War South; designed to keep the poor in constant debt. |
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| Laws designed in the South to keep blacks in virtual enslavement. |
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| A landmark Supreme Court ruling that held seperate and equal facilities. |
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| A Southern black born into slavery, and promoted economic independence by the means by which blacks could improve thier lot. |
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The Progressive historian Jackson Turner argued the importance of the frontier for the following reasons:
A: shaping the american character
B: defining american spirit
C: fostering democracy
D: providing a safety valve for economic distress in urban America |
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Homestead Act
Morill - Land Grant Act
1862 |
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Definition
| To attract settlers to the West, the government offered 160 acres of land to anyone who would "homestead" for five years. |
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Term
| Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 |
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Definition
| Reformed the failing Reservation system used in the West; broke up the reservations and distrubtued land to the heads of each Indian tribe. Required them to dwell on that land for 25 years, and they would gain American citizenship. Reversed in 1934. |
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| Refered to the era between Reconstruction and 1900; politics and economics looked good, but underneath existed vast corruption. |
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| A Supreme court ruling upholding the regulation of railroads and grain elevators. |
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Interstate Commerce Act
1888 |
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Definition
| Set up the ICC to regulate railroads and unfair or unethical practices. |
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| Passed in response to charges of patronage in the awarding of government jobs. Created the CSC to oversee examinations of potential government employees. |
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| Led the fight for women's suffrage, and achieved the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment. |
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| A movement in late 1875 that claimed over a million farmers and ultimately died out due to lack of funds. |
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| Replaced the Grange more successfully, and sinn grew into the political entity called the People's Party, the political arm of the Populist movement. |
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Term
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Definition
Refers to the political arm of the Populist movement and called for the following:
A. generous supply of silver coin
B. government ownership of railroads and telegraphs
C. graduated income tax
D. direct election of US senators
E. shorter workdays. |
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| Leader of the Socialist part of America. Gained support in 1894 due to ecnomic hardships. |
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| Democratic candidate in 1896 election backed by Populists; loses. Best remembered for his "Cross of Gold" speech and later participated in the Scopes Monkey Trial. |
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| Raised the level of taxes on imported goods almost 50%, but placed other goods on taxe free lists. |
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| Secretary of State under Lincoln and Johnson, and who engineered the acqusition of Alaska and invoked the Monroe Doctrine to drive France from Mexico. |
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The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
1890 |
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Definition
| Written by naval captain Alfred T. Mahan, and argued that sucessful foriegn trade relied on access to foriegn ports, which in turn required overseas colonies, and in turn required a strong navy. |
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| An American warship that exploded in Havana Harbor due to "sabotage", providing Mckinely an excuse to declare war on Spain. |
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| US drives Spain from Cuba, and also annexes the Phillipines. Ended by the Treaty of Paris. |
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| Ends the Spanish-American War. |
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| The US" demand for Cuba to include a number of provisions in its new constitution or else. |
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Insular Cases
1901 - 1903 |
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Definition
| A series of Supreme Court rulings that ruled that the constitution did not follow the flag, i.e. citizens of conquered lands did not necessarily gain American citizenship. |
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| US policy towards China during the early 1900s; all western nations trade equally with China. |
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