Final Study Guide Terms

Question 1

2nd Bank of the United States

Answer 1

The Second Bank of the United States was chartered for many of the same reasons as its predecessor Hamilton had founded in 1791. The War of 1812 had left a formidable debt. Inflation surged due to the increasing amount of notes issued by private banks. President Madison signed a bill authorizing the 2nd Bank in 1816 with a charter lasting 20 years. The BUS was a private concern, but acted to control the currency of the United States. This function brought it into frequent conflict with state and local banks. Democrats claimed the Bank was a threat to the republic due to its economic power. During the election of 1832, pro-bank National Republicans led by Henry Clay clashed with the “hard-money” Andrew Jackson administration in the Bank War. Ultimately Jackson triumphed when he vetoed Congress’s 1832 recharter. The bank ceased to function in 1836.

Question 2

3/5 Compromise

Answer 2

Element of the Connecticut Compromise. Counted three-fifths of the slave population in determining the population for a state’s representation in the House of Representatives.

Question 3

1824 Presidential Election

Answer 3

Monroe did not name a successor. Republican presidential candidates ran for election: Andrew Jackson (99), John Quincy Adams (84), William Crawford (41), and Henry Clay (37). No one had majority. House of Representatives decided winner from top three candidates. Clay and Adams quid pro quo deal – Adams elected to president and Clay appointed to secretary of state. Jacksonians called it a “corrupt bargain”

Question 4

1860 Presidential Election

Answer 4

In 1860, the disputes over slavery broke the Democratic Party into Northern and Southern factions, and a new Constitutional Union Party appeared. In the face of a divided opposition, the Republican Party, dominant in the North, secured a majority of the electoral votes (180), putting Abraham Lincoln in the White House with almost no support from the South. Before Lincoln’s inauguration, seven Southern states declared their secession and formed the Confederacy.

Question 5

American Colonization Society

Answer 5

Established in 1816 by groups of abolitionists and Quakers and supported by slaveholders who felt that free blacks would be unable to assimilate into the white society of America and that they provoked enslaved blacks and threatened the slave community. The society supported the emigration of free African Americans to Africa. It founded colonies in Liberia and Sierra Leone on the coast of West Africa as a place for freeborn American blacks.

Question 6

American System (economic plan)

Answer 6

Henry Clay’s “American System,” devised in the burst of nationalism that followed the War of 1812, consisted of three mutually reinforcing parts: a tariff to protect and promote American industry; a national bank to foster commerce; and federal subsidies for roads, canals, and other “internal improvements” to develop profitable markets for agriculture. Many of these proposals were passed by law.

Question 7

Articles of Confederation

Answer 7

First written constitution. Document sought to specify a national government of the confederation of states recovering from the revolutionary war. However, states retained their independence and although legislature could enact laws, it had no authority to enforce them. Lacked power to tax and required unanimous approval by states. Government doomed to fail; needed a federal system.

Question 8

Alexander Hamilton’s federalist economic system

Answer 8

One of the first American political parties, The Federalist Party originated in the 1790s during President George Washington’s first administration. The Federalists called for a strong national government that promoted economic growth. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, took the led in the funding of the states’ debts by the Federal government, the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. Hamilton led the Federalist Party, created largely in support of his views; he was opposed by the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He contributed to The Federalist Papers, which explained the meaning and virtues of the Constitution. Despite its dissolution in 1816, the party made a lasting impact by laying the foundations of a national economy, creating a national judicial system, and formulating principles of foreign policy.

Question 9

Bacon’s Rebellion

Answer 9

Changed the administration and ideology of the American colonies. Virginia’s government lead by William Berkeley favored the rich and neglected the poor (disenfranchised). In 1676 Nathaniel Bacon, a rich farmer, staged a revolt against the state. He and his followers supplanted Berkeley and dispelled the Indians. Outcome lowered freemen’s taxes, opened claims to western lands, heightened defensive Indian policy, and increased dependence on slaves.

Question 10

Boston Tea Party

Answer 10

The Tea Act of 1773 placed a tax on tea in America and created a British monopoly. Incited a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773. The demonstrators, some disguised as Native Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea. The British government responded harshly with the Coercive Acts and the episode escalated into the American Revolution.

Question 11

Columbian exchange

Answer 11

In the 1600 and 1700s, Europeans sailed to the New World, initiating a global diffusion of crops, animals, peoples, and diseases. Negative and positive changes to America: (–) foreign diseases (smallpox) devastated the Native American population; and Europeans suffered from sicknesses like malaria; (+) European settlement brought a significant increase in food supply and diversity, and population grew; and the arrival of livestock and horses altered the lifestyle practices of harvesting, traveling, hunting, and raging war.

Question 12

Compromise of 1850

Answer 12

A package of five separate bills passed by the Congress, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War. The compromise, drafted by Henry Clay, reduced sectional conflict. Resolutions included the settlement of the boundary of Texas and assumption of the state’s debt; admission of California as a state without reference to slavery; establishment of territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah based on popular sovereignty; ban of slave trade (but not slavery altogether) in the District of Columbia; passage of the Fugitive Slave Law; and the denial of congressional authority to interfere in the interstate slave trade.

Question 13

Dred Scott decision (1857)

Answer 13

Dred Scott, an enslaved African American man who had been taken by his owners to free states and territories, attempted to sue for his freedom. The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in its territories. Scott remained a slave.

Question 14

Electoral college

Answer 14

The institution that elects the President and Vice President of the United States every four years. Approved during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 as part of the Connecticut Compromise. Citizens of the United States do not directly elect the president or the vice president; instead, they vote for presidential electors, known collectively as the electoral college. These electors, chosen by the people, elect the chief executive. The Constitution assigns each state a number of electors equal to the combined total of the state’s Senate and House of Representatives delegations.

Question 15

Erie Canal (1825)

Answer 15

New York. Connected Hudson River (and Atlantic) with Lake Erie (Great Lakes). Stimulated growth of many cities and made New York City the leading commercial center in the U.S.

Question 16

Fugitive Slave Act

Answer 16

Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850. It required that all escaped slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in this law.

Question 17

Stamp Act (1765)

Answer 17

A tax imposed on all American colonists that required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Colonies united in opposition and wrote the “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” that accused the British Parliament of taxation without representation. Also resorted to violence.

Question 18

Shay’s Rebellion

Answer 18

Armed uprising in Massachusetts during 1786 and 1787. War veteran Daniel Shays led thousands of rebels in rising up against perceived economic injustices and suspension of civil rights by Massachusetts and attempted to capture federal arsenal. Prompted a reconsideration of the national government.

Question 19

Hartford Convention

Answer 19

Delegates of the Federalist Party met to demand constitutional changes in federal government. They protested against the government’s continued involvement in the War of 1812 and called for peace with Great Britain. Rumors of New England secession and disloyalty damaged the party’s reputation and ultimately brought about its disappearance.

Question 20

Immigration (first half of 19th century) flows and impacts

Answer 20

America experienced a significant increase in immigration during the years leading up to the Civil War, bringing cultural, political, and technological changes. Many Irish people fled the potato famine for America and settled in the cities, creating ghettos and taking up work as cheap laborers, which made the north rich and promoted westward migration and social divisions. Immigrants quickly gained political influence and leadership. Refugees fleeing Germany settled the countryside as farmers, bringing intellect and skills in craftsmanship. Coalmines and steam power transformed the nation.

Question 21

Internal improvements (1790s – 1830s)

Answer 21

Congress passed many acts to create internal improvements, federally funded public works and transportation infrastructure including roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors, and navigation improvements. Such improvements were an important point of a political movement that called for the exercise of public spirit as well as the search for immediate economic gain. Efficient government and economic prosperity relied on adequate transportation networks to exchange information and transport goods.

Question 22

Indian Removal Act

Answer 22

In 1830, Andrew Jackson signed a law authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. During the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as the “Trail of Tears.”

Question 23

Jacksonian democracy

Answer 23

The Jacksonian Presidency, 1829-37, marked the beginning of a new democratic party, which believed in the people as the government and equal political policy. Jackson: expanded voting rights to all white men; reformed the policy of appointment to office (“spoils system”) through patronage, rotation, and decentralization to create a disciplined political party; strengthened the presidency; killed (vetoed) the American System and BUS (bank war); believed in Manifest Destiny (westward expansion); removed Indians from the Southeast (Indian Removal Act); and responded to the Nullification Crisis over tariffs.

Question 24

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Answer 24

Political statements written in 1798 by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Condemned the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional. (These acts were a series of laws passed by the Federalist Congress and President Adams in 1798 that included new powers to deport foreigners and make it harder for new immigrants to vote.) The resolutions passed by Kentucky and Virginia legislatures argued that the states had the right and the duty to declare unconstitutional acts of Congress that were not authorized by the Constitution.

Question 25

Louisiana Purchase

Answer 25

With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States purchased approximately 828,000,000 square miles of territory from France for 15 million dollars, which aided Napoleon’s war against Britain. What was known as Louisiana Territory doubled the size of the young nation and stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north. Part or all of 15 states were eventually created from the land deal. The Louisiana Purchase is considered one of the most important achievements of President Thomas Jefferson and demonstrates his ability to make pragmatic political decisions. Although contrary to some of his central principles, guaranteeing western expansion was so important to Jefferson's overall vision that he took bold action.

Question 26

Mexican Cession

Answer 26

After Texas joined the United States in 1846, a boundary dispute broke out between the United States and Mexico, the country from which Texas had won its independence a decade earlier. Three weeks later, Congress declared war on Mexico. The Mexican-American War ended in 1848, when the two countries signed the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The treaty recognized Texas as a U.S. state, and ceded a large chunk of land to the United States for the cost of $15 million. The Mexican Cession included land that would later become California, Nevada, and Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Question 27

Missouri Compromise

Answer 27

The statehood of Missouri spiked a heated debate between the north and the south as to whether it should support slavery. A compromise was reached — Missouri entered the union as a slave state and Maine separated from MA as an independent state in order to maintain the numerical balance between free and slave states. The Missouri Compromise also prohibited the extension of slavery north of the 36 30 line of latitude, with the exception of Missouri.

Question 28

Monroe Doctrine

Answer 28

In the early 1820s, President Monroe turned to address foreign affairs. He granted many Latin American nations independence and reached international settlements. This “Monroe Doctrine” also forbid European countries from further intervention or colonization in the Americas and promised the U.S. would stay out of European wars.

Question 29

Navigation Acts

Answer 29

The policy of mercantilism sought to keep all the benefits of trade inside the Empire. Through a series of Navigation and Trade Acts in the 1600 and 1700s, Parliament acted to monopolize the trade of its colonies and exclude foreign nations from that trade.

Question 30

Nullification (South Carolina) crisis

Answer 30

A crisis ensued after South Carolina declared that the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign boundaries of the state. In response, Jackson vowed to send troops to South Carolina to enforce the laws. He denied the right of secession and appealed to SC to reassert its allegiance to the Union. Congress passed the Force Bill and Compromise Tariff of 1833, which ended the crisis.

Question 31

Popular sovereignty

Answer 31

Principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives (Rule by the People). Popular sovereignty was applied to Kansas, which allowed local, not national, government to decide whether or not to allow slavery within its borders. Led to “Bleeding Kansas” war.

Question 32

Proclamation of 1763

Answer 32

To deal with Natives’ discontent, British Government prohibited colonial expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains. Infuriated colonists.

Question 33

Salutary neglect

Answer 33

British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary laws meant to keep American colonies obedient to England. American colonists were responsible for regulating and responding to their own concerns and affairs. Later, Parliament’s change in policy and imposition of taxes to gain revenue created uproar in the colonies. The roots of revolution were born.

Question 34

Slave triangle

Answer 34

The Atlantic Circuit was a network of sea routes and trade. Leaving Europe, ships bearing manufactured goods traveled to Africa to acquire gold and slaves. They then continued across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas, where tobacco and sugar grew. The production of these commodities required high maintenance and labor, so the African-American slave was born. For the last leg of the triangular circuit, the ships sailed back to Europe with the colonial products. The cycle continued.

Question 35

South Carolina Exposition and Protest

Answer 35

A document written by Vice President John C. Calhoun that protested against the Tariff of 1828, also known as the Tariff of Abominations. The document stated that if the tariff was not repealed, South Carolina would secede. It stated also Calhoun's Doctrine of nullification — the idea that a state has the right to reject federal law, first introduced by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in their Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.

Question 36

Wilmot Proviso

Answer 36

Designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War (1846-48). Proposed any new territory entering the Union would be slave-free. Outraged southerners.

Question 37

Webster’s Senate reply to Hayne (1830)

Answer 37

The Webster–Hayne debate was a famous debate between Senator Daniel Webster (a national Whig) of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina that took place in January 1830 on the topic of protectionist tariffs. Their heated speeches stemmed from debate over a resolution to temporarily suspend land surveying and sales and grew to encompass the issue of states’ rights versus national power. Webster's “Second Reply to Hayne” argued that the Constitution created a solid union of states from which any given state could not secede. It is regarded as “the most eloquent speech ever delivered in Congress”, and it marked the beginning of a new era of nationalism.

Question 38

Whiskey Rebellion

Answer 38

A protest against the first Federal government issued tax – on distilled liquor – that sought to generate revenue to reduce the national debt. Western farmers who distilled whiskey refused to pay and resorted to violence. In 1794, President Washington sent 13,000 militiamen to crush uprising. The Whiskey Rebellion proved that the new government had the will and power to enforce its laws.