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12 Cards in this Set
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Specie, coin with a fixed value, which could not be cheaply manufactured to flood the market. Its use made money scarce and credit expensive and difficult, and it discouraged speculation. It also kept wages low and reduced commercial activity. Its advocates were known as "sound money" men. |
hard money |
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The idea that a state, having retained its sovereignty in a federal system, can interpose its authority between the central government and an individual, to protect its citizens from illegal or unconstitutional action. |
interposition |
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A term that more accurately describes the spirit of the age than a movement led by Andrew Jackson. During this period (1820-1850), more offices became elective, voter restrictions were reduced or eliminated (for white male adults), and popular participation in politics increased. The Democratic Party, led by Jackson, appealed to this growing body of voters by stressing its belief in rotation in office, economy in government, governmental response to popular demands, and decentralization of power. |
"Jacksonian Democracy" |
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The condition in which many speculators found themselves during the Panic of 1837 (and in 1819, as well). Having bought land on credit, they were unable to pay their debts when the land did not sell. Hence, they had a lot of land, but no money, and the result was bankruptcy. |
land-poor |
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The theory that history has been characterized by a struggle between the working classes and their masters, the middle-class capitalists. The outcome of struggle is to be an uprising of the oppressed and the overthrow of capitalism. In part, this belief was shared by John C. Calhoun, who feared that the growth of industrial capitalism in America would lead to just such a class struggle. |
Marxism |
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Theory advanced by John C. Calhoun which argued that since the federal government was a creation of the states, the states – not the courts or Congress – were the final arbiters of the constitutionality of federal laws. Thus, if a state concluded that Congress had passed an unconstitutional law, then it could hold a special convention and declare the federal law null and void within the state. |
nullification |
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The politician in charge of the machine, usually the ranking elected official in a political unit (state, county, city, and so on); the person responsible for getting out the vote and for dispensing patronage. |
party boss |
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A well-organized local political group that can turn out voters on specific issues. In return for delivering these votes, the machine is allowed to dispense patronage in its particular area. |
political machine |
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Paper money. Easily produced, this currency increased the amount of money in circulation, made credit easier, and made prices higher. Generally favored by speculators, by agricultural interests, and by debtors. |
soft money |
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In the nineteenth century, the victorious political party in national, state, and local elections routinely dismissed most officeholders and replaced them with workers loyal to the incoming party. The "spoils" were the many patronage jobs available in the government. At the national level, this included thousands of post office and customs positions. Political organizations especially adept at manipulating spoils to remain in power were often called machines. Civil-service reformers demanded that non-policymaking jobs be filled on the basis of competitive examinations and that officeholders would continue in office as long as they performed satisfactorily. |
spoils system |
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The belief that the United States was formed as a compact of sovereign states and that the national government was violating that sovereignty. The theory rests on the conviction that the states did not surrender their sovereignty to the central government by adopting the Constitution and that when their rights are violated, they can act in their own defense. |
states' rights |
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A major political party between 1834 and the 1850s. The Whigs were unified by their opposition to Andrew Jackson and their support for federal policies to aid business. The party was strongest among the merchants and manufacturers of the Northeast, the wealthy planters of the South, and the farmers of the West most eager for internal improvements. |
Whigs |
