APUSH: CH 9 – Flashcards

Dorr's Rebellion was a result of efforts to try and reform the existing legislature in Rhode Island. The original Rode Island constitution prevented more than half of white males from voting, and conservatives took every attempt at stopping any reform that would change voting requirements. In 1840, the lawyer Thomas L. Dorr an a group of his followers formed a 'people's party' and held a convention in which they drafted a new constitution and submitted it to a popular vote, receiving and overwhelming amount of approvals. The existing legislature refused to accept it, and instead submitted a different reform themselves, which was defeated. The "Dorrites' then began to set up a new govt under the constitution they had created and placed Dorr as governor. The old state govt proclaimed that Dorr and his followers were rebels and begun to imprison them. In 1842, to govts were claiming their legitimacy. Dorrites attempted to capture the state arsenal but soon failed, and the Dorr Rebellion as it became known, failed and Dorr himself surrendered and was briefly imprisoned. The pressure from the people however, caused the govt to change their rules and expand suffrage.

The Spoils System refers to a system placed in government and strongly expressed by Jackson during is presidency, as well as Jefferson. The philosophy held that elected officials had the right to appoint their own followers to office to public office. This encouraged Jackson to remove officials from govt positions, as well as his belief that offices belonged to the people, not those who held them. Jackson and his supporter also transformed they way presidential candidates won their party's nominations. While the spoils system, along with a convention held by Jackson to renominate him for presidency, would remove some of the exclusivity in attaining office it did not transfer power to the people, as Jackson intended it to.

The South Carolina Exposition refers to South Carolina's and John c calhoun's views on the tariff of abominations. south carolina believed that the tariff of abominations had caused the economy to stagnate in their state, even though the stagnation had been caused by land exhaustion because of constant cultivation. some carolinians had even begun to consider secession. calhoun had developed a theory that stated that he believed offered an alternative to secession, which was his theory of nullification. using the ideas of the tenth amendment and those of madison and jefferson and their state resolutions, calhoun stated that since the federal govt was a creation of the states, and not the courts or congress, the states became the final arbiters of the constitutionality of laws. if a state declared a law unconstitutional, then they could hold a special convention and declare the federal law null and void within the state. the nullification doctrine and the idea of using it to nullify the 1828 tariff attracted support within the state of north carolina.

The Kitchen Cabinet refers to the president's unofficial circle of political allies. This group of supporters could include newspaper editors. This group of political allies allowed for many to influence the president or his actions, such as Martin Van Buren, who was able to gain much influence and power by being member of both the Kitchen Cabinet and the official cabinet.

The Peggy Eaton Incident is responsible for ending Calhouns likelihood at becoming president. Peggy Eaton (Peggy O'Neale) had been the daughter of a Washington tavern keeper, where both Andrew Jackson and John H. Eaton had stayed while serving as senators from Tennessee. Peggy had been married, but rumor had begun to circulate around Washington that she and Senator Eaton had been having an affair. She and Eaton married soon after her husbands death. Eaton was named secretary of war several weeks later, which made peggy a cabinet wife. the rest of the administration wives had refused to socialize with her and receive her, and Jackson, remembering the mean comments that had been directed towards his wife, had become angered and demanded that the members of the cabinet accept her into their social circle. calhoun, under pressure from his wife, had refused to accept her as well. van buren, however, befriended them and became more involved with jackson.

the debates occurred in 1830, after a connecticut senator had suggested that all land sales and surveys be temporarily discontinued. robert hayne, a senator from south carolina, responded that this suggestion was a way to slow down the growth of the west in order for the east to retain its political and economic power. hayne hoped that his response would attract support from the west in order to advance south carolinas efforts to eliminate the tariff. his response also created hints that the south and west might join together to fight against the supposed tyranny being forced pon them by the northeast. daniel webster, a whig nationalist senator from massachusetts, attacked hayne, and declare that what he and calhoun has said were a challenge to the integrity of the union. he then challenged hayne to a debate over the power of the states and the national govt. haynes defended the theory of nullification, and webster replied with a 'second response' speech that northerners would defend and use in the following years. websters conclusion had been a declaring of union and liberty for all. both sides waited for jacksons thoughts on the arguments, and at a banquet in honor of jefferson, jackson had taken webter's side.

the force bill was imposed by jackson after south carolina and its leaders hyane and calhoun refused to end efforts of nullificationl, jackson had denounced this as an act of treason and imposed the force bill which authorized the president to use the military to see that act of congress were obeyed. this made violence a likely result of the conflict.

the tariff of 1833 refers to a compromise made between jackson an the state of south carolina. calhoun had realized that they would not win against the federal govt, so henry clay proposed a plan that would gradually lower the tariff until it was at the same level to that of 1816, by 1842. this resulted in the reformation of the SC convention and the repeal of the nullification of the tariffs. however, SC did not allow congress to have the final say, as they nullified the force act because they had gotten rid of the nullification demands that the force act had been created for.

the black hawk war occurred between the united states and woodland indians who were known as the sauk and fox indians under the leadership of black hawk. a previous treaty had ceded tribal lands in illinois the the US, but black hawk and his followers refused the acknowledge the legality of the agreement, since a rival tribal faction had signed it. they had reoccupied the lands in illinois and and white settlers feared it would become an invasion. white settlers formed a state militia and vowed to exterminate the bandit collection of indians and even attacked the when black hawk attempted to surrender. the sauks and foxes were defeated and retreated across the mississippi river into iowa. white troops still pursued and slaughtered them. US troops captured black hawk himself and sent him on a tour of the east, where many such as andrew jackson had arranged to meet him.

the trail of tears is the name given to the forced removal of the cherokees from their land after jackson had ordered 7000 soldiers force them to leave at gunpoint. some had refused to leave their lands even after a treaty had been signed, although it had been signed by cherokees that had been chosen as representatives. 1000 cherokees fled across the north carolina border where the federal got eventually provided a small reservation in the smoky mtns. the rest made the long journey to the designated indian territory which would later become oklahoma. even those of age had to carry things, and walked along barefoot in the harsh weather. many died along the way, and more died upon arrival. the cherokees had not been the only ones affected however, all five of the civilized tribes had been removed with force from the south into indian territory.

biddle had served as president of the BUS, and had wokred hard to create a stable foundation for the bank. jackson, however was against the bank and was determined to destroy it. biddle had been a piladelphia aristocrat who had not been very involved in politics. In efforts to save the bank, he began to grant financial favors to influential men who he thought might help him preserve the bank. He also turned to Daniel Webster and befriended him. He named Webster the banks legal counsel and directors of its Boston branch. Webster, being in debt, helped attract support of others such as Henry Clay. These advisers then convinced Biddle to apply to Congress for a bill to renew the Bank's charter. Even though four years early, they thought forcing it now would make the issue a national matter because of elections. Though Jackson vetoed the bill for a recharger, they did succeed in bringing the issue to a national level. Even after Jackson after hiring Taney began efforts to destroy the national bank, biddle did not give up. Once govt deposits were taken out of the national bank, biddle began raising interest rates and calling in loans, explaining that the bank had no resource without the govt deposits. A recession he thought would lead Congress to recharger the bank. After the economy worsened however and Jackson refused to appease the affected, biddle was forced to provide credit for business and merchant Men. Biddle was unable to get a recharter for the bank because of his actions.

Roger B. Taney had ben an Attorney General hired by Jackson as Secretary of Treasury, after firing two how had hesitated to follow his orders to remove govt deposits from the bank. Taney had been a close friend and ally of Jackson, which would make it easier to get him to adhere to his plans. Taney began placing the govt deposits in different state banks. The battle then no longer was about politicos only, instead it became a personal battle between Jackson and Biddle. After Biddles actions in retaliation towards Jacksons, bank supporters blamed Jackson for the worsening economy, and began petitioning Washington to recharter the bank. Jackson Ian's blamed the recession on biddle. After marshalls death, Taney was made Chief Justice by Jackson on the Supreme Court. Taney then helped modify the strict nationalism established by Marshall.

Hard money refers to the use of gold and silver as currency throughout the United States. Soft money refers to the use of paper currency. The two caused disagreements between political parties because of their conflicting views on how economy should have been administered.

1837: dispute between two massachusetts companies over the right to build a bridge over the Charles river between Boston and Cambridge. One of the companies had had a long standing charter from the state to operate a toll bridge and claimed that this guaranteed it a monopoly of the bridge traffic. Another company had applied to the legislature for authorization to construct a second , competing bridge that would reduce the value of the first company's charter since it would have been free of charge. First company contended that by granting the second charter the legislature was engaging in a breach of contract and noted that the Marshall court had ruled that state had no right to void contracts. Since taney had then become the Chief Justice, and being a democrat, supported the state of Massachusetts and their right to grant the second charter. Taney explained that the purpose of the govt was to promote general happiness, which was considered above contracts and property. Therefore a state had the right to amend or void a contract if such action was necessary for the well being of the community, which he believed was necessary in this case. He argued that the original bridge company by exercising a monopoly was benefiting from unjustifiable privilege. This promoted economic opportunity instead of leaving the wealth and monopolies in the hands of the few.

The Whig party formed after those who were against Jackson policy and practice joined together. They named themselves this after the party in England that worked to limit the power of the king. When this party emerged, the nation once again had two feuding political parties. The Whig party favored the expanding power of the federal govt and encouraged industrial and commercial development, and wanted to consolidate the US into and economic system. They embraced material progress but were cautious about westward expansion. Like the democrats, they were more interested in attracting supporters in elections than maintaining consistent pure beliefs.

The Great triumvirate refers to the leadership of Henry clay john Calhoun and Daniel Webster in the Whig party. Clay won support because of his plans for internal improvements and economic development, but he was a liability. Daniel Webster won support through speeches in defense of the constitution and union, but flawed as well. Calhoun never considered himself a true Whig and his association in the nullification controversy disqualified him from being able to attain a national leadership position. He gained support from South nonetheless. The three person leadership caused a division, in the party when deciding the presidential candidate. They hoped to at least take the majority vote away from van buren, but failed.

The specia circular was issued by Jackson just before he left office, because E had been opposed to the selling of land and issuing of bank notes. The circular provided that the payment for public lands would only be accepted in gold or silver by the govt, or at least in currency backed by gold or silver. Jackson thought that this would calm the speculative fever, but was wrong. This instead produced a financial panic that continued throughout van buren's presidency. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed and unemployment grew. Construction projects failed and prices dropped. This turned into the worst depression in American history until that point, and lasted for five years, ruining van burens presidency.

The panic of 1837 was an economic depression that lasted throughout Martin van burens presidency after jacksons issuing of the specie circular.during this time, banks and businesses failed, unemployment grew, bread riots broke out, prices fell, construction projects failed. Debt interest owed by state gives was not paid and some temporarily repudiated these debts. Up until that point considered worst depression in American history and became tragedy for van burens and presidency. Both parties however are considered at fault for the depression. The distribution of the treasury surplus by the national government to stage banks weakened the states. Europe was responsible as well for withdrawing funds from America as a result of their own depression. Crop failures also caused recession because of the decreasing of purchase power and having to import goods which only took more money out of the country.

Tension between Canada and Maine because of the treat of 1783. Groups of Americans and Canadian lumberjacks began moving across the aroostook river region which resulted in a violent encounter between the two groups.

Lord ashburton sent to American to negotiate peaceful relations and a treaty over the Maine boundary and other matters. Result of negotiations with Secretary of State Webster and representatives of Maine and Massachusetts was the ashburton treaty of 1842. terms set boundary between the US and Canada along the Maine New Brunswick that remains today. Also granted protection of critical trade routes in between the two regions.