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States' rights doctrine
A doctrine and strategy in which the rights of the individual states are protected by the U.S. Constitution from interference by the federal government. -
Oregon Trail
A 2,200-mile historic east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. -
Nationalism
The strong belief that the interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance. People of the same language, history, and culture should constitute an independent nation, free of foreign domination. -
Era of Good Feelings
1815 to 1825 was an era of peace for the US. -
Adams-Onis Treaty
The US and Spain signed this in 1819. It settled all border problems with the US and Spain. Spain gave East Florida to the US. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
A landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States -
MIssouri Compromise
United States federal statute devised by Henry Clay, regularing slavery in western territories by prohibiting practice in former louisiana territory. -
Sectionalism
Loyalty to the interests of ones own region or section of country, rather than the country as a whole -
Santa Fe Trail
A 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Independence, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. -
Monroe Doctrine
An exclusive statement of American policy warning European powers. Issued by the president on December 2, 1823. -
Bureau of Indian Affairs
An agency of the federal government of the United States within the U.S. Department of the Interior. -
Jacksonian Democracy
The political movement toward greater democracy for the common man typified by American politician Andrew Jackson and his supporters. Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy which dominated the previous political era. -
Tariff of Abominations
A protective tariff passed by the Congress of the United States on May 19, 1828, designed to protect industry in the northern United States. -
Indian Removal Act
Passed during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Indian tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral homelands. -
Nullification crisis
A sectional crisis in 1832–33, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, which involved a confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government. -
Whig Party
A political party active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States. Three Presidents were current members of the Party. Along with the rival Democratic Party, it was central to the Second Party System from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s. -
Alamo
A pivotal event in the Texas Revolution -
Trail of Tears
In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. -
Manifest Destiny
A term for the attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States. This attitude helped fuel western settlement, Native American removal and war with Mexico. -
Donner Party
A group of American pioneers led by George Donner and James F. Reed who set out for California in a wagon -
California Gold Rush
When gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought—mostly by sailing ships and covered wagons -
Forty-Niners
The first miners in the California Gold Rush -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Brought an official end to the Mexican-American war. -
Gadsen Purchase
A 29,640-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty -
Indian Territory
In time, the Indian Territory was reduced to what is now Oklahoma. The Organic Act of 1890 reduced Indian Territory to the lands occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes and the Tribes of the Quapaw Indian Agency (at the borders of Kansas and Missouri). -
Spoils System
A practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends, and relatives as a reward for working toward victory.
