Period 4 Terms Flashcards
Aaron Burr
Third Vice President (1801–1805). Served during Thomas Jefferson’s first term. Famously killed Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel. Tried but acquitted on charges of treason in 1807 over allegations he conspired with foreign agents to overthrow Spanish rule in what became the American Southwest, in order to establish a new nation with himself as ruler.
Louisiana Territory
In 1803, Jefferson offered France $10 million for New Orleans and a strip of land that extended to Florida. However, Napoleon had abandoned his dream of an American empire because of his failure to stop a slave uprising in Haiti; he instead prioritized raising revenue to fund his conquest of Europe. He offered the entire Louisiana Territory, which stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Hudson Bay, and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, for the bargain price of $15 million. Jefferson, while torn over the fact that the Constitution did not specifically provide for the president to negotiate for and purchase land from a foreign power, reluctantly accepted the proposal in order to safeguard national security.
Pinckney’s Treaty
The United States had enjoyed the right of deposit at the Port of New Orleans under this 1795 treaty with Spain, but in 1798 the Spanish revoked the treaty.
James Monroe
Fifth President. Served 1817–1825. A Virginian and Democratic-Republican, he helped secure the Louisiana Purchase. During the War of 1812, he served as both Secretary of State (1811–1817) and Secretary of War (1814–1815). The Era of Good Feelings largely overlaps with his presidency. He dealt with the Panic of 1819 and well as the Missouri Compromise. In 1823, he issued the Monroe Doctrine, a long-lasting foreign policy of the United States.
Impeachment
The process of a legislative body removing a government official from their appointed office. Impeachment is often mistaken for being successfully removed. In fact, it is merely the name for the overall process. Both Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached but neither man was convicted of the charges laid against them.
Quids
More formally known as the tertium quids (Latin for “a third something”). They were a conservative wing of the Democratic-Republican party that wished to restrict the role of the federal government. The Quids were founded in 1805 by John Randolph.
Napoleonic Wars
The umbrella term for seven major European conflicts between 1803 and 1815, which spun out of the French Revolution and its various wars. The French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte fought varying alliances of European powers that aimed to roll back the nationalism and liberalism unleashed by the French Revolution. The War of 1812 was a secondary theater in North America to these wars. In the end, following a failed invasion of Russia, Napoleon was defeated. The resulting Congress of Vienna redrew Europe’s borders, established a conservative anti-nationalistic, pro-monarchy consensus for several decades, and established the supremacy of the British Empire and the Pax Britannica until World War I.
USS Chesapeake
In 1807, the British ship Leopard fired upon the USS Chesapeake, right off the coast of Virginia. The attack killed three Americans, and the British then impressed four sailors from Chesapeake. Despite the war fever taking hold in America, President Jefferson sought a diplomatic resolution via economic sanctions. This led to the Embargo Act of 1807.
Embargo Act of 1807
Passed in response to British and French harassment of American shipping. However, this embargo mainly hurt the U.S. as neither nation was dependent on U.S. trade. Repealed in 1809 and replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809. The Embargo Act led to the Hartford Convention and the weakening of the U.S. ahead of the War of 1812.
Non-Intercourse Act of 1809
Replaced the unpopular Embargo Act of 1807. This law allowed the United States to trade with foreign nations except Britain and France. Like its predecessor, the Embargo Act, it was difficult to enforce and mostly ineffective.
War hawks
‘Hawk’ is nickname for pro-war activists. Pro-peace activist are often termed doves. In the specific context of the early nineteenth century, it refers to politicians like Henry Clay from Kentucky and John C. Calhoun from South Carolina who insisted that the War of 1812 would finally clear Britain’s influence from North America.
Henry Clay
A statesman and orator from Kentucky, Clay was known as “The Great Compromiser” for brokering multiple deals over nullification and slavery. He was also a proponent of infrastructure development that he called the American System. Clay notably ran for president on several occasions but never won.
John C. Calhoun
A South Carolina politician and member of the Great Triumvirate. Calhoun was an ardent supporter of states’ rights, nullification, and slavery. Calhoun, who had served as Andrew Jackson’s vice president, resigned from that office to return to the Senate, where he felt he could better defend the virtues of nullification. From his deathbed, Calhoun wrote fierce attacks upon the proposed Compromise of 1850 and affirmed the right of secession.
Battle of Tippecanoe
A battle that took place in the Indiana Territory on November 7, 1811. American forces under the command of Governor William Henry Harrison battled Tecumseh’s Confederacy, an American Indian force of various tribes led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother “The Prophet.” Harrison’s victory propelled him into the White House (briefly).
William Henry Harrison
Ninth President. Served from March 4 to April 4, 1841, famously dying after 31 days in office. A hero of the War of 1812, specifically the Battle of Tippecanoe, his lively campaign saw the Whigs cart model log cabins to towns and distribute hard cider to boast of Harrison’s “poor” background. His “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too” ticket easily defeated Van Buren in 1840. However, he gave his Inaugural Address on a cold, rainy day and neglected to wear a warm coat. He contracted pneumonia and died.
Tecumseh and the Prophet
A pair of Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and the Prophet, who led a large native confederacy organized in the face of an American advance westward. The Prophet, born Tenskwatawa, was a traditionalist who wished to purge American Indian culture of any European influence. Then-Governor William Henry Harrison and his men successfully repulsed a surprise attack by them and subsequently burned a tribal settlement at Tippecanoe. This military disaster left the brothers with a poor reputation among American Indians.
War of 1812
Often called “The Second War of Independence.” Fought 1812–1815. It is the U.S. term for the North American theater of the Napoleonic Wars. Tensions between the United States and Britain had been high since the attack on the USS Chesapeake. Following unsuccessful economic sanctions under the Jefferson administration, the Monroe administration was pressured into declaring war by Congressional War Hawks. The war went poorly, and nearly led to New England’s secession at the Hartford Convention. British forces burned the White House in August 1814. However, the United States managed not to lose territory before the Treaty of Ghent was signed, and the Battle of New Orleans reinvigorated U.S. morale.
Fort McHenry
A base in Baltimore, Maryland. It was involved in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. U.S. soldiers valiantly held Fort McHenry through a night of bombing by the British Royal Navy in Chesapeake Bay, inspiring Francis Scott Key, who was being held prisoner on a nearby British ship, to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Andrew Jackson
Seventh President. Served 1829–1837. He gained fame for his defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812, a rare outright U.S. victory in that conflict. Jackson advocated for the “common man” against established interests, and supported universal male suffrage for whites, nixing the existing property requirement that barred the poor from participating in democracy. He also pushed for a spoils system to reward supporters, opposed abolitionism, and killed the Second Bank of the United States. He forcefully quashed South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis. Jackson is infamous for creating the Trail of Tears.
Battle of New Orleans
A battle fought between U.S. forces led by Andrew Jackson and British forces. It occurred from January 6–18, 1815. Jackson, desperate to secure the economically vital port of New Orleans, which controlled the flow of traffic along the Mississippi, recruited local free African Americans and even a band of pirates to supplement his militia. The battle was a stunning lopsided American victory. Due to the slow speed at which news traveled during this period, the battle actually occurred after the War of 1812 had officially ended.
Treaty of Ghent
It ended the War of 1812, and was signed by American envoys and British diplomats in Belgium on December 24, 1814. The provisions of the treaty provided for the return of any conquered territories to their rightful owners, and the settlement of a boundary between Canada and the United States. Essentially, the war ended in a draw—neither side gained any major concessions, restitution, or apologies. Most Americans were pleased, however, because they had expected to lose territory.
Hartford Convention
During the winter of 1814–1815, a radical group of New England Federalists met at Hartford, Connecticut to discuss ways to demand that the federal government pay them for the loss of trade due to the Embargo Act and the War of 1812. The group also proposed amending the Constitution to: limit the U.S. President to one term; require a two-thirds vote to enact an embargo, declare war, and admit new states; and repeal the Three-Fifths Compromise. Some even suggested secession. However, news of the war’s end and Jackson’s victory at New Orleans swept the nation, resulting in the Federalists being labeled unpatriotic and leading to their party’s demise.
James Tallmadge
New York senator. He proposed an amendment to Missouri’s bid for statehood. After the admission of Missouri as a state, the Tallmadge Amendment would not have allowed any more slaves to be brought into the state and would have provided for the emancipation of the children of Missouri slaves at the age of 25 years. Southerners were outraged by this abolition attempt and crushed the amendment in the Senate. This led to the Missouri Compromise.
Missouri Compromise
Proposed by Henry Clay of Kentucky, it constituted three bills which collectively allowed for the admission of Missouri as a slave state while also admitting Maine as a free state. This would maintain the balance of power in the Senate. In addition, slavery would not be permitted in states admitted above the latitude 36 ̊30’ (with the exception of Missouri, which lay above the line). Clay’s compromise was accepted by both North and South and lasted for 34 years, earning him the title “the Great Compromiser.” Functionally repealed by Kansas-Nebraska Act, but not officially overturned until the Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling declared it was unconstitutional
Era of Good Feelings
A period of national unity, it began with the close of the War of 1812 and ended in the 1820s. It saw the collapse of the Federalist Party and a decline in partisanship. It was followed by a revival of partisan bickering between the Jacksonian Democrats and the Whigs.
John Quincy Adams
Sixth President. Served from 1825–1829. Son of John Adams. In his lifetime, JQA was a member of basically every major political party at some point. He was elected after striking a deal with Henry Clay in the disputed 1824 election. Following his presidency, JQA was elected to the House in 1830, and served until his death in 1848. He became increasingly opposed to slavery, even arguing before the Supreme Court in 1841 on behalf of African slaves in the Amistad case, winning them their freedom. He criticized the Mexican-American War.
