HIST 1301: American History to 1876 Exam 3

Wilmot Proviso

- 1846 proposal that outlawed slavery in any territory gained from the War with Mexico - The conflict over the proviso was one of the major events leading to the American Civil War. Democrat Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania first introduced the proviso in the US House of Representatives on August 8, 1846, as a rider on a $2,000,000 appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican-American War (this was only three months into the two-year war)

XYZ Affair

- A political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798, during the John Adams administration, involving a confrontation between the US and the French Revolutionary government that led to an undeclared war called the Quasi-War. - The name derives from the substitution of the letters X, Y and Z for the names of French diplomats Hottinguer (X), Bellamy (Y), and Hauteval (Z) in documents released by the Adams administration

Impressment

- AKA "press gang", refers to the act of taking men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice - this was used until the 19th century due to there being no concept of naval careerism - Most commonly associated with Britain, and was used for the Royal Navy during wartime at the beginning in 1664 - People liable to impressment were "eligible men of seafaring habits between ages 18 to 55 years". - Conflict arose when the jay treaty left many issues unresolved after the American revolution.

54° 40' or Fight

- AKA the Oregon Question, was a controversy over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations over the region - Expansionist competition into the region began in the 18th century, with participants including the Russia, Great Britain, Spain and the US. By the 1820s, both the Russians and the Spanish, by the Adams Onis Treaty of 1819, formally withdrew their territorial claims in the region - The remaining portion of the North American Pacific coast contested by Britan and the US was defined as the following: west of the Continental Divide of the Americas, north of Alta California at 42nd parallel north, and south of Russian America at parallel 54°40′ north; typically, this region was referred to by the British as the Columbia District and the Oregon Country by the Americans - Tensions grew as American expansionists in Congress urged Polk to annex the entire Pacific Northwest to the 54°40′ parallel north, just as the Democrats had called for in the election. The turmoil gave rise to slogans such as "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" As relations with Mexico were rapidly deteriorating following the annexation of Texas, the expansionist agenda of Polk and the Democratic Party created the possibility of two different, simultaneous wars for the US

Adam-Onis Treaty

- AKA transcontinental Treaty, the Florida Purchase Treaty, or the Treaty of 1819 - was a treaty between the US and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the US and defined the boundary between the US and Spanish Mexico - Florida had become a burden to Spain, which could not afford to send settlers or garrisons. Madrid decided to cede the territory to the US through the Adams-Onís Treaty in exchange for settling the boundary dispute along the Sabine River in Spanish Texas - established the boundary of US territory and claims through the Rocky Mountains and west to the Pacific Ocean, in exchange for the US paying residents' claims against the Spanish government up to a total of $5,000,000 and relinquishing the US claims on parts of Spanish Texas west of the Sabine River and other Spanish areas, under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase

Leopard & Chesapeake Incident

- After the signing of the Jay Treaty and throughout the early Napoleonic Wars, scores of American ships were condemned in admiralty courts and American seamen were impressed with increasing frequency until, in the early summer of 1807, when three deserters from the British frigate HMS Melampus lying in the Chesapeake Bay enlisted on the American frigate USS Chesapeake - After searching the Chesapeake, the deserters, David Martin, John Strachan, and William Ware, were found to be native-born Americans who had been wrongly impressed. The search also established that another crew member listed as Jenkin Ratford was actually a British deserter. However, Ratford could not be found - The four crew members were removed from the American vessel and were tried for desertion, and Ratford, the British deserter was subsequently hanged from the yardarm of the Leopard

Alien Enemy Act of 1798

- Allowed the President to imprison and deport immigrants who were from a hostile nation

Alien Friends Act of 1798

- Allowed the President to imprison and deport non-citizens who were deemed dangerous

Sedition Act of 1798

- Criminalized making false statements that were critical of the federal government

Citizen Genet Affair (1763-1834)

- French ambassador to the US during the French Revolution - Over time he grew to despise the ancien regime and all other monarchical systems - In 1792, the Girondists (slightly more moderate wing of the revolutionary movement) rose to power in France and appointed __________ to the post of minister to the US - goals in South Carolina were to recruit and arm American privateers who would join French expeditions against the British - protested and continued to defy the wishes of the US government, capturing British ships and rearming them as privateers

Bank of the US

- Hamilton argued, rightly, that the federal government needed a repository for the millions in taxes and income it acquired. A central bank was necessary for the purpose, but also as an institution which could regulate and print money, and also control interest rates and loan mechanisms - Hamilton countered Madison and stated that the bank was a reasonable means of carrying out powers related to taxation and the borrowing of funds, claiming the clause applied to activities reasonably related to constitutional powers, not just those that were absolutely necessary to carry out said powers

Non-Intercourse Act

- In the last sixteen days of Jefferson's presidency, Congress replaced the Embargo of 1807 with the almost unenforceable _______________________ of 1809 - lifted the embargo on all outbound American shipping except for those bound for British or French ports, specifically - Its intent was to damage only the economies of the United Kingdom and France - was mostly ineffective, and once again, it seriously damaged the economy of the US and contributed to the coming of the War of 1812

Naturalization Act

- Made it harder for an immigrant to become a citizen

General Santa Anna (1794-1876)

- Mexican politician and general of criollo descent - He dominated Mexican politics, government, and history in the first half of the nineteenth century to such an extent that historians often refer to it as the "Age of Santa Anna".

Tallmadge Amendment

- On February 1819, James Tallmadge, Jr., a Democratic-Republican from New York and opponent of slavery, proposed two amendments to Missouri's request for statehood - The first proposed to federally prohibit further slave migration into Missouri; the second would require all slave offspring, born after statehood, to be freed at 25 years of age

Reign of Terror

- Period of extreme violence during the French Revolution - Historians agree the ending date was July 1794. From 1793-1794 there were a total of 16,594 death sentences - Guillotine is considered the "National Razor" - Since the "Republic of Virtue" had run out of enemies to throw under the blade, the terror would finally come to an end at the end of July 1794, when Robespierre himself was guillotined. - Turning point of the revolution was known as the Thermidorian Reaction (The Hot Month).

Strict vs. Loose Construction

- Strict constructionism involves judges interpreting the text only as it was written; once a clear meaning has been established, there is no need for further analysis, based on this way, which advocates that judges should avoid drawing inferences from previous statutes or the constitution and instead focus on exactly what was written. - Loose constructionism is the claim that the Constitution has a dynamic meaning or that it has the properties of an animate being in the sense that it changes. The idea is associated with views that contemporaneous society should be taken into account when interpreting key constitutional phrases - There are two viewpoints: First, the pragmatist view contends that interpreting the Constitution in accordance with its original meaning or intent is sometimes unacceptable as a policy matter, and thus that an evolving interpretation is necessary. The second, relating to intent, contends that the constitutional framers specifically wrote the Constitution in broad and flexible terms to create such a dynamic, "living" document

Louis XVI (175-1793)

- The last King of France before the French Revolution of 1789 (Took place during his reign) - Was a weak king because he was indecisive and had ineffective leadership skills - first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform France in accordance with Enlightenment ideas. These included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the tax on the peasantry, and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics - actively supported the American Revolution from 1777 onward until the Second Peace of Paris in 1783

Lewis & Clark Expedition

- Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to explore and to map the newly acquired Louisiana territory, to find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and to establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it - secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local Native American tribes - took place from May 1804 to September 1806, was comprised of a selected group of US Army volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether _____ and his close friend, Second Lieutenant William _____ - the first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the US. It began near St. Louis, made its way westward, and passed through the continental divide to reach the Pacific coast.

Alien & Sedition Acts

- Were four bills passed by the Federalists and signed into law by President John Adams in 1798 - Naturalization Act - Alien Friends Act of 1798 - Alien Enemy Act of 1798 - Sedition Act of 1798

Missouri Compromise

- When Congress reassembled in Dec. 1819, Speaker of the House of Representatives Henry Clay of Kentucky, in a desperate bid to break the deadlock, organized his pro-compromise allies to push for a compromise revolving around the pivotal issue of Maine's petition to enter the union. - Clay seized the opportunity to suggest that Maine be admitted as a 'free' state, while Missouri could be admitted as a 'slave' state, thus preserving the numerical parity of slave to free states in the union (and in the Senate, where it counted the most as far as Southerners were concerned). But also, as part of the compromise, no other slave states would be permitted north of 36°30

The Alamo

- _____________ (February 23 - March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution - Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the ______ Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas, United States), killing all of the Texian defenders. - Santa Anna's cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians—both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States—to join the Texian Army. Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the revolution. - About 100 Texians were garrisoned at the _____. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas. For the next 10 days, the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties - Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies, but the Texians were reinforced by fewer than 100 men. In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack

Embargo of 1807

- a general embargo enacted by the US Congress against Great Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars. The embargo was imposed in response to violations of the US neutrality, in which American merchantmen and their cargo were seized as contraband of war by the belligerent European navies - Americans saw the Leopard & Chesapeake Incident as a particularly egregious example of a British violation of American neutrality - Jefferson recommended that Congress respond with commercial warfare, rather than with military mobilization - the embargo had a disastrous effect--on US trade! The embargo failed miserably. It had little effect on European views of American shippers, and it was too short-lived to have any bearing on European supplies. Americans took to calling it the "Dambargo" since it dropped American commerce back down to 1792 levels

Trail of Tears

- a series of forced removals of Native American nations from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to an area west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Native Territory - The forced relocations were carried out by various government authorities following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The relocated people suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route, and more than four thousand died before reaching their various destinations - included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, who were known as the "Five Civilized Tribes." - The Cherokee removal in 1838 (the last forced removal east of the Mississippi) was brought on by the discovery of gold in Georgia in 1828, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush - The Many Christian missionaries, most notably missionary organizer Jeremiah Evarts, protested against passage of the Act. In Congress, New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen and Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett spoke out against the legislation. The Removal Act passed only after bitter debate in Congress

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

- an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh President of the US from 1829 to 1837 and was the founder of the Democratic Party - served in Congress and gained fame as a general in the United States Army. As president, _______ sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against what he saw as a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union - believed strongly in "majority rule" by the "common man." - became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal - His presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the "spoils system" in American politics

James Madison (1751-1836)

- an American statesman and Founding Father who served as the fourth President of the US from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights - His collaboration with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay produced The Federalist Papers, among the most important treatises in support of the Constitution - political views changed throughout his life. During deliberations on the Constitution, he favored a strong national government, but later preferred stronger state governments, before settling between the two extremes later in his life

Treaty of 1818

- an international treaty signed in 1818 between the US and Britain during the great era of amity and cooperation following the War of 1812 - resolved standing boundary issues between the two nations, which agreed to a straight-line boundary line along the 49th parallel, from the western edge of Lake Superior all the way to the Rocky Mountains, It was agreed that a straight-line boundary would be easier to survey than the pre-existing boundaries based on watersheds - marked both the United Kingdom's last permanent major loss of territory in what is now the Continental US and the US' only permanent significant cession of North American territory to a foreign power - treaty allowed for joint occupation and settlement of the Oregon Country.

Colonel Stephen Kearny

- career military officer in the US Army, Kearny was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican- American War, especially the conquest of California. - In 1833, he was appointed second in command of the newly organized 1st Dragoon Regiment. The US Cavalry eventually grew out of this regiment, which was re-designated the 1st United States Cavalry in 1861, earning Kearny his nickname as the "father of the United States Cavalry" - Kearny established a joint civil and military government, appointing Charles Bent, a prominent Santa Fe Trail trader living in Taos, New Mexico as acting civil governor. Kearny set out for California on September 25, 1846 with a force of 300 men

War of 1812

- fought between the US and Great Britain from June 1812 to February 1815, and involved British Canada and its Native American allies - Historians in the US and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. But, by all accounts, however, the __________ stands out as one of the strangest, needless, and useless wars ever fought. - The US declared war for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France, the impressment of as many as 10,000 American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support for Native American tribes fighting European American settlers on the frontier, outrage over insults to national honor during the Leopard & Chesapeake Affair, and interest in the US for expanding its borders west - The war was fought in three theatres. First, at sea, warships and privateers of each side attacked the other's merchant ships, while the British blockaded the Atlantic coast of the US and mounted large raids in the later stages of the war. Second, land and naval battles were fought on the US-Canadian frontier. Third, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern US and Gulf Coast

Oregon Trail

- is a 2,170-mile historic east-west, large-wheeled wagon route and settler trail that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon - The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of the future state of Kansas, and nearly all of what are now the states of Nebraska and Wyoming. The western half of the trail spanned most of the future states of Idaho and Oregon - was laid by fur traders and traders from about 1811 to 1840, and was only passable on foot or by horseback. By 1836, when the first wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri, a wagon trail had been cleared to Fort Hall, Idaho

Gadsen Purchase

- is a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the US purchased via a treaty signed on December 30, 1853, by ___________, US ambassador to Mexico at that time. - The purchase was the last substantial territorial acquisition in the contiguous US - The Senate voted in favor of ratifying it with amendments on April 25, 1854 - The purchase also aimed to reconcile outstanding border issues between the US and Mexico

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

- is the peace treaty signed on February 2, 1848, in the Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo (now a neighborhood of Mexico City) between the US and Mexico that ended the Mexican-American War (1846-48) - In March 1845, President John Tyler had signed legislation to authorize the US to annex the Republic of Texas, effective on 29 December 1845. The Mexican government, which had never recognized the Republic of Texas as an independent country, had warned that annexation would be viewed as an act of war - Great Britain and France, both of which recognized the Republic of Texas, repeatedly tried to dissuade Mexico from declaring war against its northern neighbor. Before the outbreak of hostilities, President James K. Polk sent his envoy, John Slidell, on 10 November 1845 to Mexico with instructions to offer Mexico around $5 million for the territory of Nuevo México and up to $40 million for Alta California (comprised of New Mexico, most of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado, those territories which, after the war, would be known as the Mexican Cession) - The treaty called for the US to pay $15 million to Mexico and to pay off the claims of American citizens against Mexico up to $3.25 million. It gave the US the Rio Grande as a boundary for Texas, and gave the US ownership of the Mexican Cession territories. Mexican citizens in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to within Mexico's new boundaries or receiving American citizenship with full civil rights. Over 90% chose to become US citizens.

Era ofGood Feeling (1820-24)

- named due to the collapse of the Federalist Party at the beginning of the 19th century, during which time the Democratic-Republican Party was the only one left standing - The Democratic-Republicans attempted to 'bury the hatchet' with the leftover Federalists and put an end to the bitter partisan disputes between the two parties during the First Party System. - The period is so closely associated with Monroe's presidency (1817-1825) and his administrative goals that his name and the era are virtually synonymous - The phrase Era of Good Feelings was coined by Benjamin Russell, in the Boston Federalist newspaper, Columbian Centinel, on July 12, 1817, following Monroe's visit to Boston, Massachusetts, as part of his good-will tour of America.

1849 Gold Rush

- on January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American River. Marshall brought what he found to John Sutter, and the two privately tested the metal. After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay: he wanted to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were a mass search for gold - However, rumors soon started to spread and were confirmed in March 1848 by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan. The most famous quote of the California Gold Rush was by Brannan; after he had hurriedly set up a store to sell gold prospecting supplies, Brannan strode through the streets of San Francisco, holding aloft a vial of gold, shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" - On December 5, 1848, President James Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in an address to Congress. Soon, waves of immigrants from around the world, later called the "forty-niners," invaded the Gold Country of California or "Mother Lode" - The population of San Francisco exploded from perhaps about 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850. Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships. In what has been referred to as the "first world-class gold rush," there was no easy way to get to California; forty-niners faced hardship and often death on the way.

Henry Clay (1777-1852)

- one of the leading 'War Hawks' of 1812 - After serving two brief stints in the Senate, _____ won election to the House of Representatives in 1810 and was elected Speaker of the House in 1811 - created the "American System", which called for an increase in tariffs to foster industry in the US, the use of federal funding to build and maintain infrastructure, and a strong national bank - Known as "The Great Compromiser", Clay brokered important agreements during the Nullification Crisis and on the slavery issue. As part of the "Great Triumvirate" or "Immortal Trio," along with his colleagues Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun, he was instrumental in formulating the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise Tariff of 1833, and the Compromise of 1850 to ease sectional tensions - He was viewed as the primary representative of Western interests in this group.

Macon's Bill #2

- passed in 1810, would be the final attempt at using economic weaponry to accomplish US diplomatic policy prior to the War of 1812. The bill was intended to motivate Great Britain and France to stop seizing American vessels during the Napoleonic Wars - was a revision of the original bill by Representative Nathaniel Macon, known as Macon's Bill Number 1. The law lifted all embargoes with Britain and France (for three months). It stated that if either one of the two countries ceased attacks upon American shipping, the United States would end trade with the other, unless that other country agreed to recognize the rights of the neutral American ships as well

Spoils System

- patronage system is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government civil service jobs to its supporters, friends, and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—as opposed to a merit system, where offices are awarded on the basis of some measure of merit, independent of political activity - the ________________ was largely replaced by nonpartisan merit at the federal level of the United States. The term was derived from the phrase "to the victor belongs the spoils" by New York Senator William L. Marcy, referring to the victory of Andrew Jackson in the election of 1828, with the term spoils meaning goods or benefits taken from the loser in a competition, election or military victory

Pet Banks

- pejorative term for state banks selected by the US Department of Treasury to receive surplus government funds in 1833 - They were chosen among the big U.S. bank when President Andrew Jackson vetoed the recharter for the Second Bank of the US, proposed by Henry Clay four years before the recharter was due - The term gained currency because most of the banks were chosen not because of monetary fitness but on the basis of the spoils system, which rewarded political allies of Andrew Jackson

VA & KY Resolutions

- political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional - argued that the states had the right and the duty to declare unconstitutional acts of Congress that were not authorized by the Constitution. In doing so, they argued for states' rights and strict constructionism of the Constitution - written secretly by Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

Pinckney Treaty

- signed in 1795 between the US and Spain, the treaty defined the northern border between Spanish Florida and the State of Georgia, and allowed the American settlers in the Ohio valley to navigate the Mississippi River to the port of New Orleans without paying an import duty - was essential for Americans who, as long as they were simply transshipping goods through New Orleans, they would not be subjected to additional taxes

War Hawks

- the term was coined by the prominent Virginia Congressman John Randolph of Roanoke, a staunch opponent of entry into the War of 1812 - The leader of this group was Speaker of the House Henry Clay of Kentucky. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was another notable War Hawk. Both of these men became major players in American politics for decades - Never an official roster; most historians describe about a dozen members of the Twelfth Congress - The term was applied to those in Congress who were itching for a fight with Britain, and pressed for it almost relentlessly

Jay Treaty

- was a 1795 treaty between the US and Britain that is credited with averting war, resolving issues remaining since the Second Peace of Paris of 1783 (which ended the American Revolution), and facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the US and Britain in the midst of the French Revolution - The terms of the treaty were designed primarily by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and strongly supported by chief negotiator John Jay

Nullification Crisis

- was a US sectional political crisis from 1832-1837, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, which involved a confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government over the controversial and highly protective Tariff of 1828 (known to its detractors as the "Tariff of Abominations") which had been enacted into law during the presidency of Jackson's predecessor, John Quincy Adams (1824-1828). - As a result of the Tariff of 1828, the US economy suffered a deep recession, and South Carolina was particularly affected - The tariff's opponents expected that the election of Jackson would result in the tariff being significantly reduced, but when the Jackson administration failed to take any actions to address their concerns, the most radical faction in the state began to advocate that the state itself declare the tariff null and void within South Carolina. - On March 1, 1833, Congress passed both the Force Bill—authorizing the President to use military forces against South Carolina—and a new negotiated tariff, the Compromise Tariff of 1833, which was satisfactory to South Carolina. The South Carolina convention reconvened and repealed its Nullification Ordinance on March 15, 1833

Specie Circular

- was a presidential executive order issued by President Andrew Jackson in 1836 pursuant to the Coinage Act and carried out by his successor, President Martin Van Buren - The Act was a reaction to the growing concerns about excessive speculations of land after the Indian removal, which was mostly done with paper money that was neither to backed by gold or silver, nor were they convertible to gold or silver specie. - Because the order was one of Jackson's last acts in office, most of its consequences occurred during and were attributed to the Presidency of Martin van Buren. - Many at the time blamed the Specie Circular for the rise in prices and the following Panic of 1837. Cries of "rescind the circular!" went up and former President Jackson sent word to Van Buren asking him not to rescind the order

Monroe Doctrine

- was a statement of US policy made by James Monroe during a State of the Union address in 1823 which announced US opposition to any future European colonial intervention in the Americas - stated that further efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States - at same time, the doctrine noted that the US would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries.

Santa Fe Trail

- was a transportation route opened by the Spaniards at the end of the 18th century and used afterwards by the Americans in the 19th century, crossing the southwest of North America connecting Independence, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico - The French explorer Pedro Vial pioneered the route in 1792 and the ___________ was established in 1821 to take advantage of new trade opportunities with Mexico which had just won independence from Spain in the Mexican War of Independence. - The trail was used to haul manufactured goods from the state of Missouri in the United States to Santa Fe, which was in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Mexico - In the 1820s-30s, it was also sporadically important in the reverse trade, carrying foods and supplies to the fur trappers and mountain men opening the remote Northwest, esp. in the Interior Northwest: Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana— connecting via mule trail (trapper's trails) to points north to supply the lucrative overland fur trade - . The Trail was used as the 1846 U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican-American War - the trail helped open the region to US economic development and settlement, playing a vital role in the expansion of the US into the lands it had acquired

Rush-Bagot Agreement

- was a treaty negotiated by Acting US Secretary of State Richard Rush and the British Minister to Washington Sir Charles Bagot, and passed in 1818 which demilitarized the Great Lakes - was part of a general normative trend of cooperation, alliance and friendship between the US and Britain following the War of 1812, which continues to this day - The treaty came about because the Great Lakes had been the setting for an American attempt to invade and conquer Canada, which would have thrown Britain out of continental North America entirely.

Manifest Destiny

- was a widely held belief in the United States that its settlers were destined to expand across North America. Newspaper editor John O'Sullivan is generally credited with coining the term manifest destiny in 1845 to describe the essence of this mindset, which was a rhetorical tone - Three basic themes to manifest destiny: The special virtues of the American people and their institutions, the mission of the US to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America, and an irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty. - Historian Frederick Merk says this concept was born out of "a sense of mission to redeem the Old World by high example ... generated by the potentialities of a new earth for building a new heaven". Historians have emphasized that "manifest destiny" was a contested concept—pre-civil war Democrats endorsed the idea but many prominent Americans (such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and most Whigs) rejected it

Sam Houston (1793-1863)

- was an American politician and soldier, best known for his role in bringing Texas into the United States as a constituent state. His victory at the Battle of San Jacinto secured the independence of Texas from Mexico in one of the shortest decisive battles in modern history - The only American to be elected governor of two states (as opposed to territories or indirect selection), Houston was also the only governor within a future Confederate state to oppose secession (which led to the outbreak of the American Civil War) and to refuse an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, a decision that led to his removal from office by the Texas secession convention - To avoid bloodshed, he refused an offer of a Union army to put down the Confederate rebellion. Instead, he retired to Huntsville, Texas, where he died before the end of the war.

James Monroe (1758-1831)

- was an American statesman who served from 1817 to 1825 as the fifth President of the US. _______ was the last president among the Founding Fathers of the US as well as the Virginian dynasty; he also represented the end of the Republican Generation in that office - opposed ratification, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. He took an active part in the new government, and in 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first US Congress, where he joined the Democratic-Republicans

Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836)

- was known as the "Father of Texas", and the founder of Texas - During ________ time in Arkansas, his father traveled to Spanish Texas and received an Emprearial grant that would allow him to bring 300 American families to Texas. - Stephen who, at the age of 24, led his party to travel 300 miles in four weeks to San Antonio with the intent of reauthorizing his father's grant, arriving on August 12, 1825. Austin had brought the first 300 families to his settlement known as the Austin Colony; these 300 are now known in Texas history as the Old Three Hundred - While in transit, they learned Mexico had declared its independence from Spain, and Texas had become a Mexican province rather than a Spanish territory. José Antonio Navarro, a San Antonio native with ambitious visions of the future of Texas, befriended ________________, and the two developed a lasting association - ______ had obtained further contracts to settle an additional 900 families between 1825 and 1829. He had effective civil and military authority over the settlers, but he was quick to introduce a semblance of American law - the Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas was agreed on in November 1827

James K. Polk (1795-1849)

- was the 11th President of the US (1845-49) - After building a successful law practice, he was elected to the Tennessee legislature and then to the US House of Representatives in 1825. A leading Democrat and close ally of Andrew Jackson during the Second Party System, ____ served as the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1835 to 1839, making him the only president to have also served as Speaker - often considered the last strong pre-Civil War president, having met during his four years in the office every major domestic and foreign policy goal set during his campaign and the transition to his administration - he won the presidential nomination as a compromise candidate among the various party factions. In the general election, he defeated Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party in large part due to his promise to annex the Republic of Texas - he re-established the Independent Treasury System

Louisiana Purchase

- was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory (828,000 square miles) by the US from France in 1803. The US paid a total of $15,000,000 (or around a quarter of a billion in 2016 dollars) for the land, which doubled the existing size of the country and extended the US' landmass sovereignty to the Pacific. - included land from fifteen present US states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; a large portion of North Dakota; a large portion of South Dakota; the northeastern section of New Mexico; the northern portion of Texas; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River (plus New Orleans); and small portions of land within the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The "Gag" Rule

- was the third in a group of resolutions drafted by Henry L. Pinckney of S. Carolina and passed by pro-slavery elements in 1836 in response to the increasing number of abolitionist petitions to Congress. - The Gag Rule automatically tabled such petitions; and, generally prevented any discussions, motions or actions in Congress, during the course of which, the subject of slavery could come up. - John Quincy Adams was a central figure in the opposition to it. He argued that they were a direct violation of the First Amendment right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Barbary Pirates

- were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli - Their predation extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa's Atlantic seaboard and even South America, and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland, but they primarily operated in the western Mediterranean - The main purpose of their attacks was to capture Christian slaves for the Ottoman slave trade as well as the general Muslim slavery market in North Africa and the Middle East - threat led directly to the founding the US Navy in March 1794

The method Monroe employed to deflate the Federalist Party was through neglect __________

They were simply denied all political patronage, administrative appointments and federal support of any kind.

__________________considered agriculture and farming to be the most spiritually and philosophically fitting, incorruptible, and 'pure' occupation for a fledgling nation. And because of his distaste for what he considered degrading money-grubbing, he was willing to use the nation's trade as a blunt instrument of foreign policy without regard for its real consequences.

Thomas Jefferson