Ch. 10 – Democracy in America – Flashcards

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question
Describe Jackson's inauguration in 1829. Why does this event mark a change in American politics?
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A large, rowdy event which created much disagreement between parties; it showed the importance of political elections
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How would you describe Andrew Jackson?
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A self-made man and hard worker
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In the political cartoon, why was Andrew Jackson called King Andrew I?
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Because Whigs wanted to portray Jackson as a tyrant and monarch, along with being against the laws of the Constitution
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Describe what is happening to property qualifications for voting in the early nineteenth century.
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They were eliminated in all states except one in 1860
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What states retained property qualifications for voting? What happened in Virginia?
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North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Virginia; Virginia's large slave owners resisted demands for changing voting qualifications
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What was the Dorr War?
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pitted proponents of expanding voting rights for whites against the status quo in Rhode Island, where Rhode Island residents were going to elect their own president and establish their own new constitution
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What was de Tocqueville's key insight to American Democracy?
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That democracy meant more than just the right to vote or a set of political institutions, but an important cultural shift
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By 1840, what percentage of adult white men were eligible to vote?
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90%
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By the 18030's the term "citizen" became synonymous with the right to what?
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Vote
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What elements seemed to define the "people" of the US? What do scholars call this phenomenon?
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Participation in elections and skin color; "colorism"
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The growth of reading was especially beneficial to whom? What were some of their names?
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Women writers; Maria Child, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Catharine Breecher
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Why were women and blacks largely excluded from the expansion of democracy?
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They were "naturally incapable" of being intelligent enough to vote
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Where could free black men vote on the same basis as whites in 1860?
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Five New England states
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In the early 1800's, what was replacing class as the boundary of those who enjoyed political freedom?
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Race
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Why were voting rights considered so important?
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Voting became central to the meaning of freedom
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What is the "American System"?
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A plan to establish a new national bank, a tariff on imported goods to protect American industry, an the federal financing of improved railroads canals
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What role did young republicans like Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun play in creating the American System?
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They insisted that agriculture must be complemented by a manufacturing sector if the country were to become economically independent from Britain
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In the response to the demand for "international improvements" what did James Madison want and why?
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A constitutional amendment that would be necessary before the government could build roads and canals
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When was the Second Bank of America chartered? Who chartered it?
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1816; by Congress
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What was paper money good for in the early 1800's?
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A specified amount of gold or silver
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What happened in the Panic of 1819?
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The demand for land plummeted, speculators lost millions as the price of western land fell, loans tended to be of short duration, which helped debtors and hurt creditors
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In its decision in McCulloch v Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled what?
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The Second Bank of America was constitutional
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The Era of Good Feelings refers to a period in American history when?
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Monroe's two terms in office were years of a one-party government.
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What was the Missouri Controversy?
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When Missouri asked to form a new constitution for admission to the Union as a state
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How was the Missouri Controversy resolved?
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By the Missouri Compromise, which allowed Missouri to draft a constitution as a slave state, in addition to the addition of Maine as a slave free state
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What is "comity"?
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The clause in the constitution that requires each state to recognize the rights of citizens in other states
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What was the second Missouri Compromise?
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Made it so that Missouri could not deprive the citizens of other states of their rights
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What did Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams suggest that the Missouri Compromise revealed about the nation, and were they correct?
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Jefferson suggested that the controversy was meant to divide up the Republican party, while Adams suggested that the South was trying to take over the capital and out-vote the North; yes, they were both right
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How did the independence movements in Latin America parallel the US independence movement?
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Both crisis of empires were precedented by programs launched by the imperial country aimed in large measure at making the colonies contribute more to its finances
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The Monroe Doctrine declared what?
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1) That the US would oppose any further efforts at colonization by European powers in America 2) that the US would restrain from involvement in the wars of Europe 3) that European powers would not interfere with the newly independent states of Latin America
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Why does Monroe think that the "systems" of Europe and the Western Hemisphere are fundamentally different?
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Because the US follows the ideas that liberty and freedom while the European system wants the US to claim land for them
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Which Americans would be most likely to object to Calhoun's political system?
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The Southern planters, because Calhoun's idea was that the majority would make the final decisions, which was not in slavery's favor
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How do the two documents differ in their conception of how powerful the national government should be?
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The Monroe Doctrine wanted to cut off contact with Europe, which would end the importation of slaves, which is what Calhoun argued against
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Describe the election of 1824.
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Jackson received the majority of regular votes but could not win the majority of the popular or electoral votes, in which the House of Representatives nominated John Quincy Adams
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Name at least 4 things that we know about John Quincy Adams.
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1) He was in favor of Jackson's Embargo Act, arguing that his region must rise against self-interest to protect the public good 2) he supported the American System of government-sponsored development 3) he encouraged the distribution of American goods throughout the world 4) he was the only person to oppose reprimanding Jackson for his violent intrusion of Florida
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Name at least 4 things elements for John Quincy Adam's plan for an activist state.
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1) The improvements should be made in the land, in which the federal government should be its patron 2) the addition of a legislature that promoted agriculture, commerce, manufacturing, and the mechanical and elegant arts 3) the establishment of a national university, an astronomical observatory, and naval academy 4) made liberty = power
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Name at least 4 things that we know about Martin Van Buren and his presidency
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1) He was a talented party manager, not a person of great vision or intellect 2) he believed that political parties were a necessary part of political life 3) believed that bringing together political leaders from different regions in support of common candidates and principles would counteract the sectionalism in the US 4) set out to reconstruct the Jeffersonian political alliance between the North and South
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Name at least 4 things that happened during the lection of 1828.
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1) Jackson's supporters accused Adams of having a series of mistresses while he was a diplomat in England 2) Jackson's supporters praised Jackson's manliness and criticized Adam's intellectuality 3) Adam's supporters condemned Jackson as a murderer for having executed army deserters and killing men in duels 4) Jackson ended up winning the election against Adams but over 150,000 votes
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How had politics changed by the time of Jackson's presidency?
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They used to be a series of political contests and was now a giant spectacle - a form of mass entertainment
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What was the practice of giving a political office to someone based on party loyalty?
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Spoils system (principle of rotation)
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What was the profession of many of Jackson's "Kitchen Cabinet"?
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Newspaper editors
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What are at least 4 things about the Whig party?
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1) Were united behind the American System, which believed that a protective tariff, national bank, and international improvements would help advance economic development 2) were popular in the Northeast 3) supported by established businessmen and bankers 4) were supported by industrialists in the North and planters in the South
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What did the democrats accomplish during Jackson's presidency?
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They reduced expenditures, lowered the tariff, killed the national bank, and refused pleas for federal aid to international improvements
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Describe the Nullification Crisis.
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When South Carolina declared the tax on imported goods null and void
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Who wrote Exposition and Protest?
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John C. Calhoun
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How was the Nullification Crisis resolved?
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By Congress enacting the Force Bill, which authorized Jackson to use the army to collect customs duties and a new tariff
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What were some of the effects of the Peggy Eaton affair?
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It started a divide between Jackson and Calhoun, because slander towards Peggy Eaton was led by Calhoun's wife, Floride
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What was the Hayne-Webster debate about?
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The debate over nullification where Webster said the people created the Constitution, making the federal government sovereign; he called nullification illegal, unconstitutional, and treasonous
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What were the principles stated in Marshall's opinions in Cherokee Nation and Worchester v Georgia?
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That Indians were "wards" of the federal government and lacked the standing as citizens that would allow the Supreme Court to enforce their rights, but later claimed that the Indians were a distinct people with the right to maintain a separate political identity
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What was the "Trail of Tears" and who resisted?
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The forced journey of Cherokee people to move west; the Seminoles resisted
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The president of the Second Bank of the US?
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Nicholas Biddle
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Name at least 4 things that Jackson believed about the Second Bank of the US?
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1) That a source of concentrated power and economic privilege that was unaccountable to the people was unacceptable 2) that the rich and powerful tended to bend the rules to fit their selfish needs 3) the Bank's charters were widening the gap between the wealthy and the "humble", which Jackson considered himself 4) claimed that the bank was "evil"
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How did the Bank War demonstrate that Jackson had enhanced the power of his presidency?
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By claiming he was a symbolic representative of all the people with his veto message that appealed directly to the public
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What caused the Panic of 1837?
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Was caused by a decline in British demand for American cotton
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What was Van Buren's new solution to the problem of what to do about the relationship of the federal government to banks?
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To remove federal funds from banks and hold them in the Treasury Department in Washington, under the control of government officials
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Whose 1840 presidential campaign portrayed him as a common man who was born in a log cabin and drank hard cider?
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William Henry Harrison
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Where did Whigs learn their campaign tactics from?
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The Democrats
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What did John Tyler do about the national bank and what was the reaction?
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He vetoed it; which led to the resignation of most of his cabinet, and his party repudiated him
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