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

Front 1

Corrupt bargain

Back 1

Alleged deal between presidential candidates John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to throw the election, to be decided by the House of Representatives, in Adams’ favor. Though never proven, the accusation became the rallying cry for supporters of Andrew Jackson, who had actually garnered a plurality of the popular vote in 1824.

Front 2

Nullification Crisis

Back 2

Showdown between President Andrew Jackson and the South Carolina legislature, which declared the 1832 tariff null and void in the state and threatened secession if the federal government tried to collect duties. It was resolved by a compromise negotiated by Henry Clay in 1833.

Front 3

Indian Removal Act

Back 3

Ordered the removal of Indian Tribes still residing east of the Mississippi to newly established Indian Territory west of Arkansas and Missouri. Tribes resisting eviction were forcibly removed by American forces, often after prolonged legal or military battles.

Front 4

Bank War

Back 4

Battle between President Andrew Jackson and Congressional supporters of the Bank of the United States over the bank’s renewal in 1832. Jackson vetoed the Bank Bill, arguing that the bank favored moneyed interests at the expense of western farmers.

Front 5

Specie Circular

Back 5

U.S. Treasury decree requiring that all public lands be purchased with “hard”, or metallic, currency. Issued after small state banks flooded the market with unreliable paper currency, fueling land speculation in the West.

Front 6

Goliad

Back 6

Texas outpost where American volunteers, having laid down their arms and surrendered, were massacred by Mexican forces in 1836. The incident, along with the slaughter at the Alamo, fueled American support for Texan independence.

Front 7

spoils system

Back 7

Policy of rewarding political supporters with public office, first widely employed at the federal level by Andrew Jackson. The practice was widely abused by unscrupulous office seekers, but it also helped cement party loyalty in the emerging two-party system.

Front 8

Compromise Tariff of 1832

Back 8

Passed as a measure to resolve the nullification crisis, it provided that tariffs be lowered gradually, over a period of ten years, to 1816 levels.

Front 9

Trail of Tears

Back 9

Forced march of 15,000 Cherokee Indians from their Georgia and Alabama homes to Indian Territory. Some 4,000 Cherokee died on the arduous journey.

Front 10

Tariff of Abominations

Back 10

Noteworthy for its unprecedentedly high duties on imports. Southerners vehemently opposed the Tariff, arguing that it hurt Southern farmers, who did not enjoy the protection of tariffs, but were forced to pay higher prices for manufactures.

Front 11

Force Bill

Back 11

Passed by Congress alongside the Compromise Tariff, it authorized the president to use the military to collect federal tariff duties.

Front 12

Black Hawk War

Back 12

Series of clashes in Illinois and Wisconsin between American forces and Indian chief Black Hawk of the Sauk and Fox tribes, who unsuccessfully tried to reclaim territory lost under the 1830 Indian Removal Act.

Front 13

pet banks

Back 13

Popular term for pro-Jackson state banks that received the bulk of federal deposits when Andrew Jackson moved to dismantle the Bank of the United States in 1833.

Front 14

Anti-Masonic Party

Back 14

First founded in New York, it gained considerable influence in New England and the mid-Atlantic during the 1832 election, campaigning against the politically influential Masonic order, a secret society. Anti-Masons opposed Andrew Jackson, a Mason, and drew much of their support from evangelical Protestants.

Front 15

Panic of 1837

Back 15

Economic crisis triggered by bank failures, elevated grain prices, and Andrew Jackson’s efforts to curb overspeculation on western lands and transportation improvements. In response, President Martin Van Buren proposed the “Divorce Bill”, which pulled treasury funds out of the banking system altogether, contracting the credit supply. (

Front 16

Battle of San Jacinto

Back 16

Resulted in the capture of Mexican dictator Santa Anna, who was forced to withdraw his troops from Texas and recognize the Rio Grande as Texas’s Southwestern border.

Front 17

Alamo

Back 17

Fortress in Texas where four hundred American volunteers were slain by Santa Anna in 1836. “Remember the Alamo” became a battle cry in support of Texan independence.