Main Themes

• America’s economy expands westward

  • Due to transportation improvements

    • Ex: canals, steam engine, railroads

• Regional economies & sectionalism

  • Sectionalism intensifies over tariffs

    • Tended to support the North

• Presidential Powers

  • Increase under Jefferson

    • Ex: Louisiana Purchase, Barbary Wars

  • Jackson

    • Challenged by the new Whig Party

• Westward movement

  • Trail of Tears

  • Religious groups create western settlements

    • Ex: Mormons

• Second Great Awakening

  • Demand for rights and reform

    • Ex: Women’s suffrage, abolition, labor, education, prison, temperance

Key Vocabulary

People

• Andrew Jackson:

  • Seventh US President

  • Served two terms

  • Increased suffrage

  • Indian Removal Act

• Charles Finney: Preacher who led the Second Great Awakening

• Mormons: Utopian religious group that moved westward to create a settlement

• Democratic-Republicans: Political party led by Thomas Jefferson that wanted a weak national government and strong individual rights

• Federalists: Political party that wanted a strong national government and a national bank.

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott: Leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, organized the Seneca Falls Convention

• Horace Mann: Massachusetts educator influential in improving teaching standards and elevating the process of education to be more practical.

• William Lloyd Garrison: Editor of The Liberator newspaper supporting the abolition of slavery.

• Frederick Douglass: Ex-enslaved person, editor of The North Star advocating for abolition.

• Nat Turner: Slave who led a violent rebellion in Virginia

• Cherokee: Group of people forced to move out of their homeland via the Trail of Tears, Constitutional rights violated

• Whig Party: Political party led by Henry Clay in opposition of Andrew Jackson, wanted a national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements

• Henry Clay: Leader of the Whig Party, created the American System and Missouri Compromise, known as the Great Compromiser

• Chief Justice John Marshall: Powerful supreme court chief justice who for three decades expanded the power of the judicial branch.

• Thomas Jefferson: Anti-federalist and Democratic-Republican president supporting loose construction of the constitution, strong state governments, support for the French Revolution, and an agrarian nation.

• James Madison: Democratic-Republican U.S. president during the War of 1812.

Events

• Louisiana Purchase (1803): Historic purchase of land by Jefferson from France which most importantly gave the U.S. the port of New Orleans.

• Mexican Cession (1848): Mexico gave up upper California and New Mexico to the United States via the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.

• Second Great Awakening (1800s - 1830s): Religious movement led by Charles Finney designed to reinforce Christian principles and will lead to multiple reform movements.

• Market Revolution (1820s - 1830s): expansion of American economy, transition to a more industrial economy, and crops grown for sale rather than sustenance

• Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848): Treaty ending the Mexican-American War and proving the Mexican Cession to the U.S.

• Missouri Compromise (1820): Agreement created by Henry Clay allowing for slavery to exist below the 36’30” line of the Louisiana Purchase.

• War of 1812 (1812 - 1815): War between the U.S. and Britain over impressment, trading issues, and violations in which the U.S. defeated England and signed the Treaty of Ghent.

• Seneca Falls Convention (1848): Monumental women’s rights conference challenging current laws and ultimately launching the women’s suffrage movement.

• Labor Movement (1866 onwards): Challenged the power of factory owners, fought for better wages and working conditions for employees

• Turner’s Rebellion (1831): Slave rebellion in Virginia led by Nat Turner, very violent

• Indian Removal Act (1830): Law supported by Andrew Jackson displacing multiple Native groups from the Southeast.  Ultimately led to the horrific and inhumane Trail of Tears.

• Force Act (1833): Supported by Jackson, authorized the use of military force against any state that resisted the tariff acts

• Nullification Crisis (1832 - 1833): Result of a conflict between the Jackson Administration and the state of South Carolina over the question of federal tariffs when South Carolina refused to enforce the federal tariff of 1832. Resolved by Henry Clay’s Compromise Tariff of 1833 that lessened the tariffs.

• Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848): Conflict between the US and Mexico over who owned Texas. Ended with the US keeping Texas and gaining California and New Mexico.

• Marbury vs. Madison (1803): Landmark case in 1803 establishing the principle of judicial review.

• McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819): Supreme Court decisions that reinforces the idea of implied powers of the constitution in supporting the creation of a national bank

• Tariff of Abominations (1828): Tariff passed during Jackson’s presidency that creates tension between the agricultural south and industrial north.

• Era of Good Feelings (1815 - 1825): A period of single part rule following the collapse of the Federalist part, defined by nationalism and unity

• Panic of 1819: First major economic crisis in the US, mainly caused by the War of 1812 and irresponsible banking policies

• Corrupt Bargain (1824): A political scandal in which Henry Clay backed out of the presidential election to back John Quincy Adams, leading to his victory against Andrew Jackson

• Trail of Tears (1831 - 1850): Allowed by the Indian Removal Act, the Cherokees were forced off their land and onto reservations

• Texas Annexation (1845): Texas seceded from Mexico because of its abolition of slavery and joined the US as a slave state.

Key Terms

• sectionalism: The rising of tension between the North and the South based on economic, religious, and cultural differences which will ultimately lead to the Civil War.

• Manifest Destiny: Coined by John O’Sullivan, supporting the expansion of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

• Jacksonian Democracy: Period in which Andrew Jackson was president, defined by increased participation in the economy, politics, religion, and society by everyday citizens & the Indian Removal Act

• Henry Clay’s American System: Plan by Henry Clay including the creation of a national bank, implementation of tariffs, and creating of infrastructure in order to stabilize the American economy.

• Infrastructure developments: New transportation technologies like railroads, canals, and the steam engine. Better roads.

• Tariffs: Taxes on imports, tended to support the growth of textile mills and other industries in the North

• National bank: supported by the Federalists and later the Whigs, would create uniform currency and support the national government

• Universal male suffrage: When all white men can vote, regardless of the property they may or may not own

• Burned Over District: Refers to the region surrounding the Erie Canal in which the Second Great Awakening had suffocating influence

• Temperance Movement: Motivated by the Second Great Awakening, crusade against alcohol

• The Positive Good Theory: John C. Calhoun’s idea that slavery is a positive good as slavery provided food, shelter, clothing, and stability for the elderly compared to the harsh conditions of the factory system in the North

• Judicial Review: Principle that the Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional

• Impressment: Practice of forcing American sailors to serve in the British navy. One of the major causes of the War of 1812.

• Monroe Doctrine: Statement by President James Monroe advocating for American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

• Abolitionism: The desire to end the institution of slavery.

Practice Questions

Fiveable (15 MCQs)

Highschool Test Prep (21 MCQs)

Khan Academy (27 MCQs):

• Quiz 1 (5 MCQs)

• Quiz 2 (5 MCQs)

• Quiz 3 (5 MCQs)

• Test (12 MCQs)