Term | Definition |
Impressment | the act of seizing by force |
Embargo Act of 1807 | an act that stated that American ships were no longer allowed to sail to foreign ports, and it also closed American ports to British ships |
Tecumseh | a Shawnee chief, that vowed to stop the loss of Native American land |
War Hawk | a westerner who supported the War of 1812 |
Oliver Hazard Perry | an experience officer, that took charge of the infant fleet |
Battle of the Thames | an American victory over the British in the War of 1812, which ended the British threat to the Northwest Territory |
Francis Scott Key | a Washington lawyer, that watched the all-night battle of the war between the United States and France |
Treaty of Ghent | treaty, signed in 1814, which ended the War of 1812; no territory exchanged hands and trade disputes were not resolved |
radical | a person who takes extreme political positions |
Judiciary Act of 1801 | a law that increased the number of federal judges, allowing President John Adams to fill most of the new spots with Federalists |
John Marshall | federalist who served as Chief Justice for over three decades. Under Marshall, the Supreme Court upheld federal authority and strengthened federal courts. |
unconstitutional | something that contradicts the law of the Constitution |
Marbury vs. Madison | an 1803 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that it had the power to abolish laws by declaring them unconstitutional |
Judicial review | the principle that the Supreme Court has the final say in interpreting the Constitution |
Louisiana Purchase | the 1803 purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France |
Meriwether Lewis | a young officer that was chosen to lead an expedition to the Louisiana territory |
William Clark | oversaw a volunteer force, which they called the Corps of Discovery |
Lewis and Clark Expedition | a group led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark who explored the lands of the Louisiana Purchase beginning in 1803 |
Sacagawea | a Shoshone woman whose language skills and knowledge of geography would be helpful to Lewis and Clark |
Zebulon Pike | a man whose mission was to find the sources of the Arkansas and Red rivers |