Political Language

1. Second Great Awakening-Series of religious revivals in the first of the 19th century characterized by great emotionalism in large public meetings.

2. Spoils system-The awarding of government jobs to party loyalists.

3. Specie circular-Proclamation issued by President Andrew Jackson in 1836 stipulating that only gold or silver could be used as a payment for public land.

4. Trail of Tears-The forced march in 1838 of the Cherokee Indians form their homeland in Georgia to the Indian Territory in the West: thousands of Cherokees dies along the way

5. Slave codes-A series of laws passed mainly in the southern colonies in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to defend the status of slaves and codify the denial of basic civil rights to them.

6. Black codes-Laws passed by states and municipalities denying many rights of citizenship to free black people before the Civil War.

7. Gibbons v. Ogden-Supreme Court decision 1824 involving coastal commerce that overturned a steamboat monopoly granted by the state of New York on the grounds that only Congress had the authority to regulate interstate commerce.

8. Temperance-Reform movement originating in the 1820's that sought to eliminate the consumption of alcohol.

9. Nativists-favoring the interests and culture of native-born inhabitants over those of immigrants.

10. American Colonization Society-Organization, founded in 1817 by antislavery reformers, that called for gradual emancipation and the removal of freed blacks to Africa.

11. Seneca Falls Convention-the first convention for women's equality in legal rights, held in upstate New York in 1848.

12. Oregon Trail-Overland trails of more than 2000 miles that carried American settlers from the Midwest to New Settlement in Oregon, California, and Utah.

13. Tejanos-a person of Spanish or Mexican descent born in Texas.

14. Mexican Cession of 1848-The addition of half a million square miles to the U.S. as a result of victory in the 1846 War between the U.S. and Mexico.

15. Manifest Destiny-Doctrine first expressed in 1845, that the expansion of white Americans across the continent was inevitable and ordained by God

Essay (6 points each)

For this portion of the test, you will need to write an essay that answers the question as it is posed to you. You will be expected to not only provide answers to the questions, but also explain the significance of the events or people in question. Use complete paragraphs and proper sentence structure to complete your work.

1. What was the philosophy of those who supported nullification and the gag rule?

The philosophy of the supporters of the nullification and gag rule was defined by nullification crisis was a sectional crisis in the early 1830's in which a state's right party in South Carolina attempted to nullify federal law. The gag rule was a procedural device whereby antislavery petitions were automatically tabled in Congress with no discussion.

Jackson considered nullification as dangerous and nonsensical perversions of the Constitution. Jackson vowed to crush any attempt to block the enforcement of federal laws. In 1833, The Force Bill gave Jackson full authorization to put down nullification by military force. A shock wave set off by the nullification crisis, a new anti-Jackson Coalition began to form in the South.

Beginning in 1836 and continuing through Van Buren's Presidency, antislavery petitions were signed. Thousands of signatures flooded into Congress. Most called for the abolition of slavery. Southern Congressmen responded by demanding the free speech be repressed in the name of Southern white security. Repression took form of the gag rule.

2. Describe three political controversies of the 1830s or 40s that reveal key divisions among Americans regarding the future of the nation.

Three political controversies were women's Equality,