Chapter 8

Embargo Act

180 act that prohibited American ships from leaving their home ports until Britain and France repealed restriction on US trade. The act had a devastating impact on American commerce.

Marbury v Madison

1803 supreme court decision that established the authority of the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of federal law

McCulloch v Maryland

1819 federal court decision that reinforced the federal government's ability to employ an expansive understanding of the implied powers clause of the Constitution

Judiciary Act

Act passed in 1801 by the Federalists controlled congress to expand the federal court system by creating sixteen circuit (regional) courts, with new judges appointed for each, just before Democratic-Republicans took control of the presidency and Congress

Corps of Discovery

Expedition organized by the US government to explore the Louisiana territory. Led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the expedition set out in May 1804 and journeyed to the Pacific Coast amd back by 1806 with the aid of interpreters like Sacajawea

Cotton Gin

Machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 to deseed short-stapled cotton. The cotton gin dramatically reduced the time and labor involved in deseeding, facilitating the expansion of cotton production in the South and West

American Colonization Society (ACS)

Organization formed in 1817 to establish colonies of freed slaves and freeborn blacks in Africa. The ACS was led by a group of white elites whose primary goal was to rid the nation of African Americans

American System of Manufacturing

Production system focused on water-powered machinery, division of labor, and the use of interchangeable parts. The introduction of the American System in the Early 19th century greatly increased the productivity of american manufacturing

Haitian Revolution

Revolt against the French rule by free and enslaved blacks in the 1790's on the island of Saint Domingue. The revolution led in 1803 to the establishment of Haiti, the first independent black-led nation in the Americas.

National Road

Road constructed using federal funds that ran from Western Maryland through southwestern Pennsylvania to Wheeling, West Virginia; also called the Cumberland Road. Completed in 1818, the road was part of a larger push to improve the nation's infrastructure

Multiplier Effect

The diverse changes spurred by a single invention, including other inventions it spawns and the broader economic, social and political transformations it fuels

Louisiana Purchase

US governments 1803 purchase from France of the vast territory stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from New Orleans to present day Montana, doubling the size of the nation