Chapter 10: Vocab and Reading Questions Flashcards
Franchise
The right to vote. Between 1820 and 1860, most states revised their constitutions to extend the vote to all adult white males. Black adult men gained the right to vote with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868). The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) granted adult women the right to vote.
Notables
Northern landlords, slave-owning planter, and seaport merchants who dominated the political system of the early nineteenth century.
Political Machines
A highly organized group of insiders that directs a political party. As the power of notables waned in the 1820s, disciplined political parties usually run by professional politicians appeared in a number of states.
Spoils System
The widespread award of public jobs to political supporters after an electoral victory. In 1829, Andrew Jackson instituted the system on the national level, arguing that the rotation of officeholders was preferable to a permanent group of bureaucrats.
American System
The mercantilist system of national economic development advocated by Henry Clay and adopted by John Quincy Adams, with a national bank to manage the nation’s financial system; protective tariffs to provide revenue and encourage industry; and a nationally funded network of roads, canals, and railroads.
Corrupt Bargain
A term used by Andrew Jackson’s supporters for the appointment by President John Quincy Adams of Henry Clay as his secretary of state, the traditional stepping-stone to the presidency. Clay had used his influence as Speaker of the House to elect Adams rather than Jackson in the election in 1824.
Tariff of Abominations
A tariff enacted in 1828 that raised duties significantly on raw materials, textiles, and iron goods. New York senator Van Buren hoped to win the support of farmers in New York, Ohio, and Kentucky with the tariff, but it enraged the South, which had no industries that needed tariff protection and resented the higher cost of imported dutied goods.
Nullifications
The constitutional argument advanced by John C. Calhoun, that a state legislature or convention could void a law passed by Congress.
States’ Rights
An interpretation of the Constitution that exalts the sovereignty of the states and circumscribes the authority of the national government.
Second Bank of the United States
National bank with multiple branches chartered in 1816 for twenty years. Intended to help regulate the economy, the bank became a major issue in Andrew Jackson’s reelection campaign in 1832.
Indian Removal Act of 1830
Act that directed the mandatory relocation of eastern tribes to territory west of the Mississippi. Jackson insisted that his goal was to save the Indians and their culture. Indians resisted the controversial act, but in the end most were forced to comply.
Trail of Tears
Forced westward journey of Cherokees from their lands in Georgia to present-day Oklahoma in 1838. Nearly a quarter of the Cherokees died en route.
Classical Liberalism/Laissez-Faire
The principle that the less government does, the better, particularly in reference to the economy.
Whigs
The second national party, the Whig Party arose in 1834 when a group of congressmen contested Andrew Jackson’s policies and conduct. The party identified itself with the pre-Revolutionary American and British parties- also called Whigs- that opped to the arbitrary actions of British monarchs.
Panic of 1837
Second major economic crisis of the United States, which led to hard times from 1837 to 1843.
