Terms Quiz 3/30
Terms
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- John Jay
- Jay was Chief Justice, a coauthor of the Federalist Papers, and negotiated the controversial Jay Treaty with England.
- checks and balances
- The Constitution contains ingenious devices of countervailing power. These checks on centralized power balance the authority of government between the co-equal branches of the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court. This is sometimes called the separation of powers.
- Bill of Rights
- The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution (adopted in 1791) that protect individual liberties and states' rights against the power of the national government; more generally, a bill of rights is a written summary of inalienable rights and liberties.
- Federalists
- Federalists advocated ratification of the Constitution; they were centralizing nationalists. Antifederalists opposed ratification of the Constitution; they were states' rightists and were concerned that the Constitution contained no Bill of Rights.
- Alexander Hamilton
- Hamilton was the first Secretary of Treasury. He was the leading spokesman for strong national government, and organized the Federalist party.
- Whiskey rebellion
- Western Pennsylvania farmers violently resisted paying the whiskey tax imposed by Hamilton's financial program. In 1794 they threatened to destroy Pittsburgh. Washington and Hamilton marshalled the full force of the army to suppress the rebellion, but the rebels had dispersed by the time the army arrived.
- shays rebellion
- Daniel Shays, a veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill, led an armed rebellion of western Massachusetts farmers to prevent state courts from foreclosing on debtors unable to pay their taxes. The rebellion convinced nationalists that to suppress or inhibit such rebellions, the nation needed a stronger national government.
- Marbury v. Madison
- In 1803 the Supreme Court ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional. The "Marbury v. Madison" case established the precedent for judicial review of federal laws.
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- In "McCulloch v. Maryland" (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that the second Bank of the United States was constitutional, thus affirming the doctrine of implied powers. The case also determined that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy," thus state governments could not tax a federal agency like the Bank.
- Dartmouth College v. Woodward
- In the Dartmouth College case (1819), the Supreme Court prohibited states from interfering with the privileges granted to a private corporation. In its ruling, the Supreme Court mandated that a charter granted by a state was a contract and could not be canceled or altered without the consent of both parties. The ruling caused states to spell out the limitations of corporate charters in greater detail.
- Gibbons v. Ogden
- In "Gibbons v. Ogden" (1824), the Supreme Court ruled that states can regulate commerce that begins and ends in its own territory (intrastate trade), but when the transaction involves crossing a state line (interstate commerce), Congress's constitutional authority to regulate interstate trade takes precedence.
- Louisiana Purchase
- In 1803 the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleonic France for $15 million. The purchase secured U.S. control of the Mississippi River and nearly doubled the size of the nation.
- Lewis and Clark Expedition
- President Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore the Louisiana Territory and beyond to the Pacific Coast. Their expedition (1803-1806) brought back a wealth of data about the country and its resources.
- Erie Canal
- The construction of the 363-mile long Erie Canal began the canal boom of the 1820s and 1830s. It was financed by the state of New York with public funds. Begun in 1817, it was completed in 1825 and was an immediate financial success.
- nationalism
- Colonists developed a sense of national unity because unity offered the only hope of winning the Revolutionary War. Unlike most modern revolutions, for Americans the desire for independence antedated any intense national feeling.
- sectionalism
- The War of 1812, Panic of 1819, and Missouri Crisis agitated political relations among the North, South, and West after 1820. The three sections divided over such issues as tariff policy, slavery, land policy, banking, and internal improvements.
- Dix, Dorothea
- In the early nineteenth century, Dix devoted herself to a campaign to improve the care of the insane. She traveled extensively inspecting asylums and poorhouses, but in the long run, her hopes for reform were not realized.
- War of 1812
- The United States and Britain fought this war from June 1812 to January 1815 largely over British restrictions on American shipping.
- Hartford Convention
- In December 1814, a group of Federalists met in Hartford, Connecticut, to protest the War of 1812 and propose several constitutional amendments, including changes to protect the commercial interests of New England. These antiwar Federalists were discredited when the United States achieved an honorable peace in the Treaty of Ghent that same month.