Term | Definition |
artisans | skilled workers that produce goods by hand |
putting-out system | when a merchant would hire different families to do certain tasks in a production process for a set wage |
Lowell system | a labor and production model in New England that used young women, also known as mill girls, to work and live in the city |
deskilling | the process of breaking down skilled work into basic, repetitive steps |
labor theory of value | profits from the sale of the goods produced by workers should be equally distributed to the workers |
Working Men's Party | a political group that radically opposed what they saw as the exploitation of workers |
land offices | places where prospecive landowners could buy public land from the government |
Cumberland Road | a national highway that provided thousands with a route from Maryland to Illinois |
Erie Canal | a canal that linked the Hudson River to Lake Erie and markets in the West |
Mohawk and Hudson Railroad | the first steam-powered locomotive in the U.S. that led to the construction of many railroads across the country |
code of deference | the practice of showing respect for individuals who had distinguished themselves through accomplishments or birth |
corrupt bargain | the appointment of Henry Clay as secretary of state afterJohn Quincy Adams was elected in the House |
Tariff of Abominations | placed a high duty on imported goods in order to help American manufacturers, and southerners thought it was unfair |
rotation in office | the system of having term limits on political appointments, but in the Jackson era, it meant the replacement of officials with party loyalists |
nullification | the voiding of unwelcome federal laws |
Whig party | emerged in the early 1830s to oppose what members saw as President Jackson's abuses of power |
Trail of Tears | the route of the forced removal of the Cherokee and other tribes from the southeastern U.S. to the Oklahoma territory |
tyranny of the majority | Alexis de Tocqueville's phrase warning of the dangers of American democracy |
monster bank | the term Democratic opponents used to denounce the Second Bank as an emblem of special privilege and big government |
log cabin campaign | the 1840 election in which the Whigs painted William Henry Harrison as a man of the people |