APUSH Vocabulary 1825-1865

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

1842 between the US and the Brits, settled boundry disputes in the North West, fixed most borders between US and Canada, talked about slavery and excredition

Gag Rule

1835 law passed by Southern congress which made it illegal to talk of abolition or anti-slavery arguments in Congress

Commonwealth v. Hunt

1842 - Case heard by the Massachusetts supreme court. The case was the first judgement in the U.S. that recognized that the conspiracy law is inapplicable to unions and that strikes for a closed shop are legal. Also decided that unions are not responsible for the illegal acts of their members.

Mexican American War

1846 - 1848 - President Polk declared war on Mexico over the dispute of land in Texas. At the end, American ended up with 55% of Mexico's land.

Sumner-Brooks Affair

1856 - Charles Sumner gave a two day speech on the Senate floor. He denounced the South for crimes against Kansas and singled out Senator Andrew Brooks of South Carolina for extra abuse. Brooks beat Sumner over the head with his cane, severely crippling him.

Lincoln Douglas Debates

1858 Senate Debate, Lincoln forced Douglas to debate issue of slavery, Douglas supported pop-sovereignty, Lincoln asserted that slavery should not spread to territories, Lincoln emerged as strong Republican candidate

Lucretia Mott

A Quaker who attended an anti-slavery convention in 1840 and her party of women was not recognized. She and Stanton called the first women's right convention in New York in 1848

John Slidell

A diplomat sent by Polk to buy California, New Mexico, and Texas from the Mexicans. Mexico rejected his offer and Polk sent Taylor's army into Mexico

Transcendentalism

A philosophy pioneered by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1830's and 1840's, in which each person has direct communication with God and Nature, and there is no need for organized churches. It incorporated the ideas that mind goes beyond matter, intuition is valuable, that each soul is part of the Great Spirit, and each person is part of a reality where only the invisible is truly real. Promoted individualism, self-reliance, and freedom from social constraints, and emphasized emotions.

Dorothea Dix

A reformer and pioneer in the movement to treat the insane as mentally ill, beginning in the 1820's, she was responsible for improving conditions in jails, poorhouses and insane asylums throughout the U.S. and Canada. She succeeded in persuading many states to assume responsibility for the care of the mentally ill. She served as the Superintendant of Nurses for the Union Army during the Civil War.

Bleeding Kansas

A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.

Second Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals starting in 1801, based on Methodism and Baptism. Stressed a religious philosophy of salvation through good deeds and tolerance for all Protestant sects. The revivals attracted women, Blacks, and Native Americans.

William Garrison / The Liberator

An abolitionist who became editor of the Boston publication the Liberator in 1831. Under his leadership the Liberator gained great fame. He attacked everything from slave holding, to moderate abolitionists. He supported northern secession

John Deere

American blacksmith that was responsible for inventing the steel plow. This new plow was much stronger than the old iron version; therefore, it made plowing farmland in the west easier, making expansion faster.

Perpetual Union

Andrew Jackson responds forcefully: the Union was perpetual and that no state had the right of secession. He signs this as he signs the Force Bill reasserting his claim to the use of the military.

Apologists view of slavery

Believed it was right according to the bible

Battle of Antietam

Civil War battle in which the North suceedeed in halting Lee's Confederate forces in Maryland. Was the bloodiest battle of the war resulting in 25,000 casualties

Wilmot Proviso

Dispute over whether any Mexican territory that America won during the Mexican War should be free or a slave territory. A representative named David Wilmot introduced an amendment stating that any territory acquired from Mexico would be free. This amendment passed the House twice, but failed to ever pass in Senate. The "Wilmot Proviso", as it became known as, became a symbol of how intense dispute over slavery was in the U.S.

Freeport Doctrine

Doctrine developed by Stephen Douglas that said the exclusion of slavery in a territory could be determined by the refusal of the voters to enact any laws that would protect slave property. It was unpopular with Southerners, and thus cost him the election.

Perfectionism

Due to the new liberal movements and religious fervor, many Americans believed that perfection was attainable. Therefore, a series of movements took place to perfect society, such as prison reform, temperance, etc.

Fugitive Slave Law

Enacted by Congress in 1793 and 1850, these laws provided for the return of escaped slaves to their owners. The North was lax about enforcing the 1793 law, with irritated the South no end. The 1850 law was tougher and was aimed at eliminating the underground railroad.

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

February 2 1848. The agreement between President Polk and the new Mexican government for Mexico to cede California and New Mexico to the US and acknowledge the Rio Grand as the boundary of Texas. In return, the US promised to assume any financial claims its new citizens had against Mexico and to pay the Mexicans $15 million.

Irish immigration

Fleeing unemployment and destitute poverty in overpopulated Ireland; potato famine; Few had enough to even buy cheap land out west, so they stayed in the east working as unskilled laborers, on the waterfronts, on construction (canals); Women worked as domestic servants, seamstress; Not payed a lot; Catholic, outcasts, leaned toward Jacksonian democracy

John C. Calhoun

Formerly Jackson's vice-president, later a South Carolina senator. He said the North should grant the South's demands and keep quiet about slavery to keep the peace. He was a spokesman for the South and states' rights.

Hudson River School

Founded by Thomas Cole, first native school of landscape painting in the U.S.; attracted artists rebelling against the neoclassical tradition, painted many scenes of New York's Hudson River

American Anti-Slavery Society

Founded in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison and other abolitionists. Garrison burned the Constitution as a proslavery document. Argued for "no Union with slaveholders" until they repented for their sins by freeing their slaves.

Hinton Helper/ Impending Crisis

Hinton Helper hated both slavery and blacks and used his book, "The Impending Crisis" to try and prove that non-aristocratic whites were the ones who suffered the most from slavery. Helper's influence was negligible among the poorer whites, but he found success in the North. The South was infuriated that the North was reading these lies, and made the south increasingly unwilling to sleep under the same federal roof with the North.

Trent Affair

In 1861 the Confederacy sent emissaries James Mason to Britain and John Slidell to France to lobby for recognition. A Union ship captured both men and took them to Boston as prisonners. The British were angry and Lincoln ordered their release

Compromise of 1850

Includes California admitted as a free state, the Fugitive Slave Act, Made popular sovereignty in most other states from Mexican- American War

Cyrus McCormick

Irish-American inventor that developed the mechanical reaper. The reaper replaced scythes as the preferred method of cutting crops for harvest, and it was much more efficient and much quicker. The invention helped the agricultural growth of America.

Bank War

Jackson believed the Bank of US had too much power and was too rich. Vetoed the 2nd Bank charter and withdrew gov't money from the US Banks and put it into "pet banks"

Force Act

Jackson's response to South Carolina's nullification of the Tariff of 1832; enabled him to make South Carolina comply through force; Henry Clay reworked the tariff so that South Carolina would accept it, but after accepting it, South Carolina also nullified the Force Act

Independent treasury

Martin Van Buren passed the "Divorce Bill" in 1840 which created this that took the government's funds out of the pet banks that Jackson created and put them in vaults in several of the largest cities. This way the funds would be safe from inflation.

Republican Party

Political party that believed in the non-expansion of slavery and comprised of Whigs, Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers, in defiance to the Slave Powers

Oregon Territory

territory of Oregon, Washington, and portions of what became British Columbia, Canada; land claimed by both U.S. and Britain and held jointly under the Convention of 1818

Know Nothings / American Party

Nativist American political movement of the 1840s and 1850s; empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants.

William Seward

Secretary of State who was responsible for purchasing Alaskan Territory from Russia. By purchasing Alaska, he expanded the territory of the country at a reasonable price.

Horace Mann

Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, he was a prominent proponent of public school reform, and set the standard for public schools throughout the nation.

Stephen Douglas

Senator from Illinois, author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Freeport Doctrine, argues in favor of popular sovereignty

Maine Laws

Passed in 1851; 1st big step in the Temperance Movement - outlawed sale & manufacturing of alcohol except for medical purposes

Homestead Act

Passed in 1862, it gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years.

Neal Dow

Supported and sponsored the legal banning of alcohol in the Maine Law of 1851; other states adopted this law.

Worcester V. Georgia

Supreme Court Decision - Cherokee Indians were entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments which would infringe on the tribe's sovereignty - Jackson ignored it

Prigg V. Pennsylvania

Supreme Court case in which Edward Prigg appealed to the US Supreme Court on the grounds that the Pennsylvania law arrogated the State powers over and above those allowed by the US Constitution The court held that Federal law is superior to State law, and overturned the conviction of Prigg as a result.

Dred Scott V. Sanford

Supreme Court case that decided US Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories and slaves, as private property, could not be taken away without due process - basically slaves would remain slaves in non-slave states and slaves could not sue because they were not citizens

Charles River Bridge Case

Supreme court decision that struck down the antiquated concept of state charters being allowed to est. monopolies in the building of a country's infrastructure

James K. Polk

The 11th U.S. President, Polk was a slave owning southerner dedicated to Democratic party. In 1844, he was a "dark horse" candidate for president, and he won the election. Polk favored American expansion, especially advocating the annexation of Texas, California, and Oregon. He was a friend and follower of Andrew Jackson. He opposed Clay's American System, instead advocating lower tariff, separation the treasury and the federal government from the banking system. He was a nationalist who believed in Manifest Destiny.

Trail of Tears

The Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their lands. They traveled from North Carolina and Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas-more than 800 miles (1,287 km)-to the Indian Territory. More than 4, 00 Cherokees died of cold, disease, and lack of food during the 116-day journey.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

This Act set up Kansas and Nebraska as states. Each state would use popular sovereignty to decide what to do about slavery. People who were proslavery and antislavery moved to Kansas, but some antislavery settlers were against the Act. This began guerrilla warfare.

Nature of the Union

The South insisted that the federal Union was created by the states and that any state had the right to secede. The North insisted that the Union was created by the people and was indivisible, and that no state had the right to secede. Lincoln proclaimed that the primary object of the war was not to abolish slavery, but to preserve the Union

Whigs

The Whigs were originally colonists supporting independence. In the mid 1830s, the Whig Party opposed Jackson's strong-armed leadership style and policies. The Whigs promoted protective tariffs, federal funding for internal improvements, and other measures that strengthened the central government. Reaching its height of popularity in the 1830s, the Whigs disappeared from the national political scene by the 1850s.

Tariff of Abominations

The bill favored western agricultural interests by raising tariffs or import taxes on imported hemp, wool, fur, flax, and liquor, thus favoring Northern manufacturers. In the South, these tariffs raised the cost of manufactured goods, thus angering them and causing more sectionalist feelings.

Popular sovereignty

The concept that political power rests with the people who can create, alter, and abolish government. People express themselves through voting and free participation in government

Compact Theory

The idea advanced by Rousseau, Locke, and Jefferson, that government is created by voluntary agreement among the people involved and that revolution is justified if government breaks the compact by exceeding its authority.

Brigham Young

The successor to the Mormons after the death of Joseph Smith. He was responsible for the survival of the sect and its establishment in Utah, thereby populating the would-be state.

Manifest Destiny

This expression was popular in the 1840s. Many people believed that the U.S. was destined to secure territory from "sea to sea," from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This rationale drove the acquisition of territory.

Free Soilers

anti-slavery agitators; there was a "Free Soil Party" from 1848 to 1854 (it was absorbed by the Republican Party when that party was formed); "The Free-Soilers' historic slogan calling for 'free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men' attracted small farmers, debtors, village merchants, and household and mill workers, who resented the prospect of black-labour competition-whether slave or free-in the territories

Seneca Falls Convention

Took place in upperstate New York in 1848. Women of all ages and even some men went to discuss the rights and conditions of women. There, they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which among other things, tried to get women the right to vote.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1853 that highly influenced england's view on the American Deep South and slavery. a novel promoting abolition. intensified sectional conflict.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book about a slave who is treated badly, in 1852. The book persuaded more people, particularly Northerners, to become anti-slavery.

DeToqueville/ Democracy in America

a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville; Tocqueville examines the democratic revolution that he believed had been occurring over the past seven-hundred years

Ostend Manifesto

a declaration (1854) issued from Ostend, Belgium, by the U.S. ministers to England, France, and Spain, stating that the U.S. would be justified in seizing Cuba if Spain did not sell it to the U.S.

Underground Railroad

a system of secret routes used by escaping slaves to reach freedom in the North or in Canada

Crittenden Compromise

an unsuccessful proposal introduced by Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden on December 18, 1860. It aimed to resolve the U.S. secession crisis of 1860-1861 by addressing the grievances that led the slave states of the United States to contemplate secession from the United States.

Antebellum

belonging to a period before a war especially the American Civil War

Clayton - Bulwer Treaty

between U.S. and Great Britain agreeing that neither country would try to obtain exclusive rights to canal across Isthmus of Panama; Abrogated by U.S. in 1881

Mormons

church founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah

Mexican Cession

historical name for the region of the present day southwestern United States that was ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War. this massive land grab was significant because the question of extending slavery into newly acquired territories had become the leading national political issue.

Emancipation Proclamation

issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, it declared that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be free

Nashville Convention

meeting of representatives of nine southern states in the summer of 1850 to monitor the negotiations over the Compromise of 1850; it called for extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean and a stronger Fugitive Slave Law. The convention accepted the Compromise but laid the groundwork for a southern confederacy in 1860-1861.

Morrill Land Grant Act

of 1862, in this act, the federal government had donated public land to the states for the establishment of college; as a result 69 land- grant institutions were established.

Frederick Douglass

runaway slave, well-known speaker on the condition of slavery, worked with Garrison and Wendell Phillips, founder of The North Star

LeCompton Constitution

supported the existence of slavery in the proposed state and protected rights of slaveholders. It was rejected by Kansas, making Kansas an eventual free state.

Cult of Domesticity

the ideal woman was seen as a tender, self-sacrificing caregiver who provided a nest for her children and a peaceful refuge for her husband, social customs that restricted women to caring for the house

Abolitionists

the people who worked to end slavery

Gadsden Purchase

the purchasing of land from Mexico that completed the continental United States It provided the land needed to build the transcontinental railroad

Nullification

the states'-rights doctrine that a state can refuse to recognize or to enforce a federal law passed by the United States Congress

Spoils system

the system of employing and promoting civil servants who are friends and supporters of the group in power

Removal of Deposits

to destroy the bank, jackson decided to withdraw all of govt's money from the bank and put it into state banks instead

National Banking Act

was a United States federal law that established a system of national charters for banks. The Act, together with Abraham Lincoln's issuance of "greenbacks," raised money for the federal government in the American Civil War by enticing banks to buy federal bonds and taxed state bonds out of existence.