click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Siegel1
1aaaa
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Missouri Compromise of 1820 | Allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state |
Mexican American War | Manifest Destiny in action.Texas annexaton by US outraged Mexico.US sent troups to areas in dispute. At end US gained Texas |
Mexican Cession | land won in Mexican American War. Texas |
Annexation of Texas | Texas seceded from Mexico and declared independence in response to Mexican abolition of slavery. US adopts/annexes Texas because Southern states support Texas slavery. The North fearded expansion of slavery and war with Mexico (see Mexican American War) |
California Gold Rush | Migration of thousands of people to California (in 1849) after gold was discovered there. |
Compromise of 1850 | California was admitted as a free state |
Fugitive Slave Act | Law that provided for harsh treatment for escaped slaves and for those who helped them |
Abolitionist | a person who wanted to end slavery |
states' rights | Idea that states have the right to limit the power of the federal government |
sectionalism | loyalty to a state or section rather than to the whole country |
underground railroad | a system of secret routes used by escaping slaves to reach freedom in the North or in Canada |
Bleeding Kansas | Conflict over the expansion of slavery into the Kansas Territory during its transition to statehood. Free-Staters battled slavery supporters with violence. |
popular sovereignty | The concept that a state's citizens should vote whether to be a slave state or free |
Harriet Beecher Stowe | Author of the antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin |
John Brown | Abolitionist who was hanged after leading an unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry |
Dred Scott v Sanford | 1857 Supreme Court decision that stated slaves were not citizens: slaves were property no matter where they were living and the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional |
Cotton gin | allowed for faster processing of American grown cotton |
free soilers | people dedicated to preventing the expansion of slavery into the western territories |
Neutrality | refusing to take sides in disagreements and wars between countries |
Isolationism | not creating or joining alliances - American foreign policy |
Whiskey Rebellion | 1794 protest over tax on whiskey. Tested strength of new gov't under Washington's leadership |
Tariff | a tax on imports |
Alexander Hamilton | Secretary of Treasury under George Washington. Helped to create financial plan for the United States. Leader of the Federalists. |
Hamilton's Financial Plan | Plan to make US financially healthy. US governments took over state government debts |
Bank of the United States | Proposed by Alexander Hamilton as the basis of his economic plan. Jefferson opposed the bank; he thought it was un-constitutional. nevertheless |
Supremacy Clause | the Constitution is the supreme (highest) law of the land |
Louisiana Purchase | the purchase in 1803 of French lands in North America that doubled the size of the United States - benefitted farmers in Ohio River Valley. Jefferson needed to loosely interpret Constitution to justify purchase |
strict interpretation | A way of INTERPRETING the Constitution that allows the Federal Gov't to ONLY do those things SPECIFICALLY mentioned in the Constitution |
loose construction | belief that the government can do anything that the constitution does not prohibit |
McCulloch v. Maryland | Congress had the power to charter the bank because federal laws have supremecy over state laws - Necessary and Proper |
Monroe Doctrine | President James Monroe's statement forbidding further colonization in the Americas and declaring that any attempt by a foreign country to colonize would be considered an act of hostility |
Andrew Jackson | As president he opposed the Bank of US, used spoils system, ignored Supreme Court rulings, regularly vetoes laws, responsible for Trail of Tears |
spoils system | practice of rewarding supporters with government jobs |
Indian Removal Act | law passed in 1830 that forced many Native American nations to move west of the Mississippi River |
Trail of Tears | The tragic journey of the Cherokee people from their home land to indian territory between 1838 and 1839 |
Manifest Destiny | the belief that the United States was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean |
Federalism | the balance of power between the national and state governments |
checks and balances | the ability of each branch of government to exercise control over the other branches |
separation of powers | the division of basic government roles into branches in order to limit the power of the federal government |
Constitution | Document which outlines a framework for our government based upon popular sovereignty and representative democracy |
Ratify | to give something official approval |
Republic | a government in which people elect representatives to govern them |
legislative branch | the law-making body of the government |
executive branch | the law-enforcing body of the government |
judical branch | the law-interpreting body of the government |
judical review | a process the supreme court uses to review the laws and acts of other branches and the states to determine their constitutionality Marbury v. Madison |
impeach | the process of accusing a public offical of wrong-doing |
delegated | powers reserved only for the national government. includes the powers to coin money |
concurrent powers | powers that are allowed both states and the federal government. includes the powers to enforce laws |
reserved powers | powers held only by state governments includes powers to conduct elections |
enumerated powers | powers listed in the Constitution given to the national government |
Bill of Rights | the first ten ammendments to the US constitution |
Articles of Confederation | first government of the United States. Failed primarily because the federal government lacked the power to enforce laws |
habeas corpus | a legal order prohibiting people from being held in prison or jail without formal charges of a crime. |
Veto | latin- " I forbid" |
pocket veto | when a bill fails to become law because the president did not sign it within ten days before Congress adjourned |
Northwest Ordinance | Enacted in 1787 |
Shay's Rebellion | a violent uprising of about 1500 debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers - governments inability to control rebellion highlighted problems with Articles of Confederation |
constitutional convention | a meeting held in 1787 to consider changes to the Articles of Confederation |
amendment | a formal change to the Constitution which allows the document to adjust over time to changes in society |
due process of law | principle in the 5th Amendment stating that the government must follow proper constitutional procedures in trials and in other actions against individuals |
Federalist | a supporter of the constitution |
Anti-Federalist | a person apposed to the ratification of the US constitution |
the three-fifths compromise | the constitutional convention's agreement to count the three fifth's of a state's slave population for purposes of representation in the census |
the Great compromise | Compromise in which the larger states were provided representation by population in the House of Representatives |
the "elastic clause" | Congress can make "all laws necessary and proper" to carry out their constitutional powers. |
George Washington | first President, warned against foreign entanglements (alliances) and political parties |
Alexander Hamilton | wrote some of the Federalist Papers, Secretary of the Treasury under Washington, responsible for plan to restore financial health of US. (National Bank, tariffs, assumption of debt) |
necessary and proper clause | Part of the Elastic Clause/Implied Powers. Used to increase national government powers. |
the electoral college | the method we use to elect the president of the US |
Supreme Court | the highest federal court in the United States |
Marbury v. Madison | established concept of judicial review |
habeas corpus | latin: you have the body. protects against meaningless imprisonment of people |
the cabinet | Advisors to the president. the original: secretary of state |
president's responsibilities commander in chief | chief diplomat |
exclusive senate powers | they have the sole power to try all impeachments |
powers of congress | collect taxes, declare war, maintain army/navy, post office, coin money make "all laws necessary and proper" |
principles of the constitution | popular sovereignty |
John Marshall | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - appointed in 1801 |
Farewell Address | The speech was Washington's farewell letter warned against permanent alliances and political parties. |
Precedent | an example that may serve as a basis for imitation or later action |
Thomas Jefferson | Author of Declaration of Independence, Secretary of State under Washington, 3rd president, responsible for Louisiana Purchase, strict constructionist and anti-Federalist |
political party | a group of individuals with common concerns who organize to nominate candidates for office |
representation | having someone in government speak for you |
Bacon's Rebellion | a rebellion against the governor of Jamestown when he would not approve a war with the Native Americans to gain more land for settlers |
Jamestown | the 1st permanent English colony in the New World |
1607 | The year was Jamestown established |
Mayflower Compact | first written form of self-government in English coloies |
Virginia House of Burgesses | the form of self-government in English colonies |
indentured servant | A person that sold his or her labor in exchange for passage to America |
Mayflower | The name of the ship that cared the Pilgrims to America |
Rice, tobacco, indigo | Cash crops of the Southern colonies |
Appalachian Mountains | The western geographical boundary of the colonies before 1763 |
Mississippi River | The western geographical boundary of the colonies after 1763 |
Southern | The colonial region that had the most slaves - associated with warm climate |
New England | The colonial region whose economy depended on fishing and trade |
Enlightenment | A European intellectual movement that stressed the use of human reason. Stated that people had natural rights and that government should be by consent of the governed |
Pilgrims | English Puritans who founded Plymouth colony in 1620 |
salutary neglect | a hands-off policy of England towards its American colonies during the first half of the 1700s |
Treaty of Paris of 1763 | the 1763 treaty that ended the French and Indian War; Britain gained all of North American east of the Mississippi River |
John Locke | English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life |
Mercantilism | an economic theory that believe the colonies should benefit the mother country. Limits colonial trade and manufacturing |
Declaration of Independence | the document approved by representatives of the American colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence. |
Social Contract Theory | Government by consent of the governed |