AP US History Vocabulary

Embargo Act

The Embargo Act of 1807 was a law passed by Congress forbidding all exportation of goods from the United States. Britain and France had been continuously harassing the U.S. and seizing U.S. ship’s and men. The U.S. was not prepared to fight in a war, so Pres. Jefferson hoped to weaken Britain and France by stopping trade. The Embargo Act ended up hurting our economy more than theirs. It was repealed in 1809. The Embargo Act helped to revive the Federalists. It caused New England’s industry to grow. It eventually led to the War of 1812.

Louisiana Purchase Treaty

In 1803 Thomas Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles of land for 15 million dollars from Napoleon the leader of France. The land mass stretched from the Gulf of Mexico all the to Rocky Mountains and Canada. The purchase of this land sprouted national pride and ensured expansion.; In 1800, Napoleon secretly induced the king of Spain to cede the Louisiana territory to France. Then, in 1802, the Spaniards at New Orleans withdrew the right of deposit guaranteed by the Pinckney Treaty of 1795. Such deposit privileges were vital to the frontier farmers who floated their goods down the Mississippi River to its mouth to await oceangoing vessels. These farmers talked of marching to New Orleans to violently get back what they deserved, an action that would have plunged the U.S. into war with Spain and France. In 1803, Jefferson sent James Monroe to join regular minister Robert R. Livingston to buy New Orleans and as much land to the east ofthe river for a total of $10 million, tops. Instead, Napoleon offered to sell New Orleans and the land west of it, Louisiana, for a bargain of $15 million, thereby abandoning his dream of a French North American empire. This abandonment was due to the rebellion in Haiti, led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, which had been unsuccessful, but had killed many French troops due to yellow fever. The decision to sell Louisiana was also because Napoleon needed cash to renew his war with Britain. The Louisiana Purchase was finalized on April 30, 1803. Jefferson had a dilemma, since the Constitution said nothing about purchasing foreign land, but on the other hand, this deal was simply too good to pass up! After considering an amendment, Jefferson finally decided to go through with the deal anyway, even though nothing in the Constitution talked about land purchases. Jefferson had been a strict interpreter of the Constitution, but he was now using a loose interpretation. Federalists, normally loose interpreters, took a strict interpretation and opposed the purchase. Federalist didn’t want the new lands because they correctly foresaw new lands meant new settlers and new states, which meant more farmers and more Republicans. Thus, both parties made a full 180° turnaround from their previous philosophical beliefs about the Constitution simply because of the practical matters at hand. The Senate quickly approved the purchase with Jefferson’s urging, and the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States. This was the biggest bargain in history averaging 3 cents per acre.; Louisiana in the Long View, The purchase created a precedent of acquisition of foreign territory through purchase. In the spring of 1804, Jefferson sent William Clark and Meriwether Lewis to explore this new territory.

Non-Intercourse Act

was a watered down version of Jefferson’s embargo aimed solely at Britain and France was due to expire in 1810; later replaced by the Macon’s Bill No. 2.

Chesapeake Incident

An incident that happened on June 22, 1807. Britain’s determination was highlighted in 1807; a royal frigate overhauled a US frigate, the Chesapeake about 10 miles off the coast of Virginia; the British captain demanded the surrender of four alleged deserters ; london had never claimed the right to seize sailors from a foreign warship, and the American commander, though totally unprepared to fight, refused the request; the british warship thereupon fired 3 devastating broadsides at close range killing 3 americans and wounding 18; 4 deserters were dragged away and the bloody hulk called the Chesapeak limped back to port

Marbury v. Madison

Sec. of State James Madison held up one of John Adams’ "Midnight Judges" appointments. The appointment was for a Justice of the Peace position for William Marbury. Marbury sued. Fellow Hamiltonian and Chief Justice John Marshall dismissed Marbury’s suit, avoiding a political showdown and magnifying the power of the Court. This case cleared up controversy over who had final say in interpreting the Constitution: the states did not, the Supreme Court did. This is judicial review.; William Marbury one of the midnight judges of 1801 presented John Marshall w/ an opportunity; Adams had named Marbury justice of the peace for the District of Columbia; when Marbury learned that his commission was being put aside by the secretary of state James Madison he sued for its delivery; Marshall knew that his Jeffersonian rivals all in the executive branch, would hardly take any action to deliver the commission to his fellow federalist Marbury; he then dismissed Marbury’s suing to avoid a political disaster; but marshall still got a victory over the judicial defeat; Marshall said that the part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 on which Marbury tried to base his appeal was unconstitutional; the act had attempted to assign to the Supreme Court powers that the Constitution had not unforeseen

Judiciary Act of 1801

The Judiciary Act of 1801 was passed by the Federalist congress where the old capital was located. It was one of the last laws passed by the federalist congress. This law allowed the president, then President Adams, would stay up until midnight signing in new federal judges across the nation. It allowed the Federalists to still maintain power in the nation after they were a minority party in congress. This act brought bitterness between the two parties. These judges that were passed during the last day of President Adams were called "midnight Judges".; it created 16 new federal judgeships and other judicial offices; jeffersonians condemned the last minute appointees in violent language, denouncing the trickery of the Federalists as open defiance of the people’s will; the newly elected Republican congress bestirred itself to repeal the Judiciary Act in the yr after its passage, jeffersonians thus swept 16 benches from under the recently seated "midnight judges"

Judicial Review

Until 1803, the case of Marbury vs. Madison took place this year, there was controversy over who had the final say in determining the meaning of the Constitution, whether loose or strict interpretation should be used and who would decide. Jefferson tried to give the rights to the states in the Kentucky resolutions, but his cousin, John Marshall of the Supreme Court, proposed "judicial review," which gave the Supreme Court the power to decide if a law is or is not constitutional. "Judicial review" was accepted as a result of the famous case of Marbury vs.

John Marshall

Appointed by John Adams (1801) as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court- was a Virginia Federalist who was disliked by the state’s rights Jeffersonians.The Federalists died out but Marshall continued to hand down Federalist decisions.was cousin of Jefferson; he had served at valley forge during the revolution, while suffering from the cold there he had been painfully impressed w/ the drawbacks of feeble central authority so this made him a lifelong federalist; in the Marbury V. Madison case he dismissed Marbury’s suit avoiding a political showdown; he explained that the part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 on which Marbury tried to base his appeal was unconstitutional; the act attempted to assign to the Supreme Court powers that the Constitution had not foreseen; he greatly magnified the authority of the court and slapped at the Jeffersonians and thus the jeffersonians sought revenge w/ the case of Samuel Chase in the Supreme Court Justice

Aaron Burr

Burr was a running mate with Thomas Jefferson. They tied for the presidency. Jefferson won the run off. Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel. He was tried and acquitted for treason involving a plan to separate the US and combine with Spain.

Zebulon Pike

A pioneer who explored the Louisiana territory between 1805 – 1807. He explored Colorado, New Mexico, & Mississippi. He was a leader of the new land. He has set up the portal to allow people to migrate toward west. (A paragon – First example to move into the Louisiana territory); Zebulon M. Pike trekked to the headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1805-1806, the next yr Pike ventured into the southern portion of the Louisiana Territory, where he sighted the Colorado peak that bears his name

James Monroe

James Monroe was sent to Paris in 1803 to buy New Orleans and as much land as possible to the east for a maximum of ten million dollars.If these proposals were to fail and the situation became critical negotiations were to be opened w/ Britain for alliance; Monroe and Robert Livingston arranged the of all of Louisiana for fifteen million dollars. Monroe later became James Madison’s Secretary of State.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a Republican who believed that the future of the U.S. would lie in the hands of farmers. "Long Tom" Jefferson was inaugurated to the presidency in the swampy village of Washington on March 4, 1801. While Jefferson was president, the Louisiana Purchase was made, Lewis and Clark were sent to explore the newly acquired land, the Barbary Pirate threat was silenced, and the Embargo Act was passed. While all of Jefferson’s presidential acts were not always successful, he always put the country ahead of himself. His patriotism and loyalty to the U.S.; On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated president in the new capital of Washington D.C; In his address, he declared that all Americans were Federalists, all were Republicans, implying that Americans were a mixture. He also pledged "honest friendship with all nations, entangling allianceswith none." Jefferson was simple and frugal, and did not seat in regard to rank during his dinners He also was unconventional, wearing sloppy attire, and he started the precedent of sending messages to Congress to be read by a clerk.; There were two Thomas Jeffersons: the scholarly private citizen who philosophized in his study, and the harassed public official who discovered that bookish theories worked out differently in practical politics. Jefferson also dismissed few Federalist officials and those who wanted the seats complained. Jefferson had to rely on his casual charm because his party was so disunited still

James Madison

Marbury v. Madison; Madison took the presedential oath on March 4, 1809 as the awesome conflict in Europe was roaring to its climax; the scholarly Madison was small of stature, light of weight, bald of head, and weak of voice; despite a distinguished career as a legislator he was crippled as president by factions within his party and his cabinet; unable to dominate Congress as Jefferson had done Madison often found himself holding the bag for risky foreign policies not of his own making; was there for the Non-Intercourse Act which was like Jefferson’s embargo and was also there for Macon’s Bill No. 2 which reopened trade except w/ Britain and France; he hated the No. 2 because it practically admitted that the US could not survive without one of the belligerents as a commercial ally;

War Hawks

Not all of Madison’s party was reluctant to fight; the complexion of the 12th congress which met late in 1811, differed markedly form that of its predecessor; recent elections had swept away many of the older submission men and replaced them w/ young hot-heads many from the South and West dubbed War-Hawks; their federalist newcomers were indeed on fire for a new war w/ the old enemy; the war hawks were weary of hearing how their fathers had whipped the British single handedly and they detested the manhandling of American sailors and the British Orders in council that damned the flow of American trade especially western farm products headed for Europe; they also yearned to wipe out a renewed Indian threat to the pioneer settlers who were streaming into the trans-Allegheny wilderness; As this white flood washed through the green forests, more and more indians were pushed toward the setting sun

Henry Clay

In 1811, new young politicians swept away the older "submission men," and they appointed Henry Clay ofKentucky, then 34 years old, to Speaker of the House. The western politicians also cried out against the Indian threat on the frontier. These young, aggressive Congressmen were known as "War Hawks

Impressment

Even more galling to American pride than the seizure of wooden ships was the seizure of flesh-and-blood Amercian seamen; Impressment – the forcible enlistment of sailors was a crude form of conscription that the British among others had employed for over four centuries; clubs and stretchers were standard equipment of press gangs from his majesty’s man hungry ships; some 6 thousand bona fide US citizens were impressed by the piratical man stealers of Britain from 1808 to 1811 alone; a number of these luckless souls died or were killed in his majesty’s service leaving their kinfolk and friends;

Lewis and Clark

In the spring of 1804 Jefferson sent his personal secretary Meriwether Lewis and a young army officer named William Clark to explore the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase; Aided by the Shoshoni woman Sacajawea, Lewis and Clark ascended the "Great Muddy" or Missouri River from St. Louis, struggle through the Rockies, and descended the Columbia River to the Pacific Coast; it was a 2 and a half expedition; yielded a rich harvest of scientific observations, maps, knowledge of indians in the region; on the great plains they marveled at the immense herds of buffalo, elk, deer, andantelope; Lewis lucky to come back alive when he and 3 other men left the expedition to explore the Marias River in western Montona a band of teenage Blackfoot indians armed w/ crude muskets by British fur traders operating out of Canada stole their horses; lewis chased them on foot and shot one through the belly but the indian returned fire

Tecumseh

2 remarkable Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa known to non Indians as the Prophet concluded it was time to stem this onrushing tide; they began to weld together a confederacy of all tribes east of the Mississippi inspiring a movement of Indian unity and cultural renewal; gave up textile clothing for traditional bucksking garments; forswore alcohol; Tecumseh urged his supporters never to cede land to whites unless all indians agreed; in the fall of 1811 William Henry Harrison governor of Indiana Territory gathered an army and advanced on Tecumseh’s headquarters at the junction of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers in Indiana; tecumseh absent but recruiting supporters from the south the Prophet attacked Harrison’s army in Tecumseh’s eye w/ a small force of Shawnees; the Shawnees were routed and their settlement burned; this drove them into an alliance w/ Britain; when america’s war came Tecumseh fought for the redcoats until his death in 1813 at the Battle of the Thames; w/ him perished the dream of an Indian confederacy

Patronage

Practice of rewarding political support with special favors, often in the form of public office. Upon assuming office, Thomas Jefferson dismissed few Federalist employees, leaving scant openings to fill with political appointees.; , One of the key inducements used by machines. A patronage job, promotion, or contract is one that is given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.

Macon’s Bill No. 2

To Madison’s dismay Congress dismantled the embargo completely w/ a bargaining measure known as Macon’s Bill No. 2; while reopening American trade w/ all the world Macon’s Bill dangled what Congress hoped was an attractive lure, if either Britain or France repealed its commercial restrictions, America would restore its embargo against the nonrepealing nation; to madison the bill was a shameful thing; it practically admitted that the US could not survive without one of them as a commercial ally but it left determination of who that ally would be to the potentates of London and Paris