Ap Us History: Unit 4: Chapter 11: Key People

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Adams, John Quincy (1767–1848):

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Son of second president John Adams, John Quincy Adams served as secretary of State under James Monroe before becoming the sixth president of the United States. A strong advocate of national finance and improvement, Adams faced opposition from states’ rights advocates in the South and West. His controversial election—the allegedly “corrupt bargain” of 1824—and his lack of political acumen further hampered his presidential agenda.

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Anna, Santa (1794–1876):

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Mexican general, president and dictator, who opposed Texas’ independence and later led the Mexican army in the war against the United States.

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Austin, Stephen (1793–1836):

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Established the first major Anglo settlements in Texas under an agreement with the Mexican government. Though loyal to Mexico, Austin advocated for local Texans’ rights, particularly the right to bring slaves into the region. Briefly imprisoned by Santa Anna for inciting rebellion, Austin returned to Texas in 1836 to serve as secretary of state of the newly-in de pen dent republic until his death later that year.

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Biddle, Nicholas (1786–1844):

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Banker, financier, and President of the Second Bank of the United States from 1822 until the bank’s charter expired in 1836.

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Black Hawk (1767–1838):

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Sauk war chief who led the Sauk and Fox resistance against eviction under the Indian Removal Act in Illinois and Wisconsin. Brutally crushed by American forces, he surrendered in 1832 and lived out his days on a reservation in Iowa.

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Calhoun, John C. (1782–1850):

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Vice president under Andrew Jackson, Calhoun became a U.S. senator from South Carolina after a public break with the administration. A fierce supporter of states’ rights, Calhoun advocated South Carolina’s position during the nullification crisis. In the 1840s and 1850s, he staunchly defended slavery, accusing free-state Northerners of conspiring to free the slaves.

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Clay, Henry (1777–1852):

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Secretary of state and U.S. senator from Kentucky, Clay was known as the “Great Compromiser,” helping to negotiate the Missouri Compromise in 1820, the Compromise Tariff of 1833 and the Compromise of 1850. As a National Republican, later Whig, Clay advocated a strong national agenda of internal improvements and protective tariffs, known as the American System.

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Harrison, William Henry (1773–1841):

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Hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe and ninth president of the United States. Harrison, a Whig, won the 1840 election on a “Log Cabin and Hard Cider” campaign, which played up his credentials as a backwoods westerner and Indian fighter. Harrison died of pneumonia just four weeks after his inauguration.

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Houston, Sam (1793–1863):

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President of the Republic of Texas and U.S. senator, Houston led Texas to independence in 1836 as commander in chief of the Texas army. As President of the Republic, Houston unsuccessfully sought annexation into the United States. Once Texas officially joined the Union in 1845, Houston was elected to the U.S. Senate, later returning to serve as Governor of Texas until 1861, when he was removed from office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.

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Jackson, Andrew (1767–1845):

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War hero, congressman and seventh president of the United States. A Democrat, Jackson ushered in a new era in American politics, advocating white manhood suffrage and cementing party loyalties through the spoils system. As president, he dismantled the Bank of the United States, asserted federal supremacy in the nullification crisis, and oversaw the harsh policy of Indian removal in the South.

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Van Buren, Martin (1782–1862):

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Jacksonian Democrat who became the eighth president of the United States after serving as vice president during Andrew Jackson’s second term. As president, Van Buren presided over the “hard times” wrought by the Panic of 1837, clinging to Jackson’s monetary policies and rejecting federal intervention in the economy.

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Vesey, Denmark (c.1767–1822):

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Free black who orchestrated an aborted slave uprising in Charleston, South Carolina in 1822. Vesey’s plan was uncovered before he could put it in motion, and he and thirty-four accomplices were put to death.

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Webster, Daniel (1782–1852):

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Lawyer, congressman and secretary of state, Webster teamed up with Henry Clay in the Bank War against Andrew Jackson in 1832. Hoping to avoid sectional conflict, Webster opposed the annexation of Texas but later urged the North to support the Compromise of 1850.