Larry Alexander

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The Spoils System—The spoils system was a system to reward political supporters with an office of the public. Andrew Jackson was the person that nationalized the spoils system in New York and Pennsylvania in 1820. The reason why Jackson did that was to give something back to the people that supported the cause.

Whigs—The Whig party was one of the two dominant political parties in power in the U.S. from the mid-1830s to the mid-1850s. Members of the defunct National Republican Party formed the party about 1834 and others opposed to the policies of President Andrew Jackson. It was composed of many factions, united only in their opposition to the Democratic Party.

Webster-Hayne Debate—The Webster-Hayne Debate was a debate that involved a resolution designed to curb the sale of public lands in 1830. The two main people involved were Robert Y. Hayne and Daniel Webster. All of this occurred between New England and the South. The Webster-Hayne Debate is important because it helped prevent the breakup of the union.

2^nd Bank of the United States—Jackson opposed renewal of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States. Although this was to a large extent a privately owned bank, it had a government charter to regulate the flow of currency, control credit, and perform essential banking services for the Department of the Treasury. Of its 25 directors, only 5 were appointed by the government. Its stock was held by investors in America and abroad and by the U.S. government. The existence of the bank was based on the idea of Alexander Hamilton the nation's first secretary of the treasury, that cooperation between commercial interests and the government would assure a strong national economy.

Pet Banks—

Tariff of Abominations—The Tariff of Abominations was the tariff of 1828. The tariff was designed to push duties as high as about 45% on the value of certain manufactured items. Also, they would impose a heavy tariff on certain raw materials, notably wool. The New Englanders didn’t take to well to the 1828 tariff and participated in many anger demonstrations.

Indian Removal—With the expansion of the white agricultural frontier came the final blows to Native American independence east of the Mississippi. In New York, the once mighty Iroquois were limited to reservations near the new towns of Buffalo and Syracuse; many of the Iroquois moved to Canada. The Shawnee, who had led Native American resistance in the Northwest Territory until 1815, were scattered. Many of the most defiant members moved to Canada. Others relocated to Missouri, then to Mexican territory in east Texas or to eastern Kansas.

Nullification Crisis—The right of nullification was asserted on the basis of a belief that states are the ultimate sources of sovereignty, and that the federal government is simply a league of freely associated states, the authority of which the state is free to recognize or ignore in accordance with its best interests. This belief stemmed from the beginning of the republic, when the states, jealous of their sovereignty and fearful of tyranny, agreed to yield certain of their powers to the United States, as specifically set forth in the U.S. Constitution only after the looser Articles of Confederation had proved ineffective.

JOHNSON

Seneca Falls Statement was derived in 1848 when women like Susan B. Anthony and Eilzabeth Cady Stanton met at Seneca Falls, New York. They issued a document closely modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Their "Declaration of Settlements" declared that "all men and women are created equal" and listed women’s grievances against laws and customs that discriminated against them.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady (1815-1902), was an early leader of the women's rights movement. She and Lucretia Mott, another reformer, organized the first women's rights convention in the United States.

Stanton was born in Johnstown, N.Y., and graduated from the Troy Female Seminary (now the Emma Willard School). During the 1830's, she became interested in women's rights and in abolition. She and Henry B. Stanton, an abolitionist leader, were married in 1840. That same year, they went to London for the World Anti-Slavery Convention. But the delegates voted to exclude women. Elizabeth Stanton discussed the situation with Mott, who also had planned to attend the meeting.

In 1848, Stanton and Mott called the nation's first women's rights convention. It was held in Seneca Falls, N.Y., where the Stantons lived. Stanton wrote a Declaration of Sentiments, using the Declaration of Independence as her model. For example, the Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal." But Stanton wrote that "all men and women are created equal." She also called for woman suffrage.

During the 1850's and the Civil War (1861-1865), Stanton worked for women's rights and for abolition. After slavery was abolished in 1865, she broke with abolitionists who favored voting rights for blacks but not for women. In 1869, Stanton and the women's rights leader Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. Stanton was its president until 1890.

In 1878, Stanton persuaded Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California to sponsor a woman suffrage amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This amendment was reintroduced every year until 1919, when Congress finally approved it. In 1920, it became the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Transendentalism is the philosophy that is based on the belief that knowledge is not limited to and solely derived from experience. In the United States, it became both a philosophy and a literaly, religious, and social movement. It began among Unitarians in New England and reached its peak during the 1840’s. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading American trancendentalist. He taught that the physical world is secondary to the spiritual world. But, said Emerson, the physical world services humanity by providing useful goods and by making human beings aware of beauty. Emerson believed that people should learn as much as possible through observation and science. But he insisted that they should adjust their lives primarily to the truths seen through reason.

Transcendentalism was a philosophy that became influential during the late 1700's and 1800's. It was based on the belief that knowledge is not limited to and solely derived from experience and observation. It thus opposed the philosophy of empiricism--that knowledge comes from experience. Transcendentalism also stated that the solution to human problems lies in the free development of individual emotions.

According to transcendentalism, reality exists only in the world of the spirit. What a person observes in the physical world are only appearances, or impermanent reflections of the world of the spirit. People learn about the physical world through their senses and understanding. But they learn about the world of the spirit through another power, called reason. The transcendentalists defined reason as the personal, independent, and intuitive capacity to know what is absolutely true.

In the United States, transcendentalism became both a philosophy and a literary, religious, and social movement. It began among Unitarians in New England and reached its peak during the 1840's. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading American transcendentalist. He taught that the physical world is secondary to the spiritual world. But, said Emerson, the physical world serves humanity by providing commodity, beauty, language, and discipline. Emerson believed that people should learn as much as possible through observation and science. But he insisted that they should adjust their lives primarily to the truths seen through reason.

Emerson and his followers believed that human beings find truth within themselves, and so they emphasized self-reliance and individuality. They believed that society needs to be reformed. They argued that to learn what is right, a person must resist custom and social codes and rely on reason. The transcendentalists believed that the doctrines and organized churches of orthodox Christianity interfered with the personal relationship between a person and God. The transcendentalists said that individuals should reject the authority of Christianity and gain knowledge of God through reason.

The American transcendentalists never became numerous, but their writings greatly influenced American intellectual history and literature. Besides Emerson, the leading American transcendentalists included Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker, and Henry David Thoreau.

Truth, Sojourner (1797?-1883), was the name used by Isabella Baumfree, one of the best-known American abolitionists of her day. She was the first black woman orator to speak out against slavery. She traveled widely through New England and the Midwest on speaking tours. Her deep voice, quick wit, and inspiring faith helped spread her fame.

Baumfree was born a slave in Ulster County, New York. She became free in 1828 under a New York law that banned slavery. In 1843, she experienced what she regarded as a command from God to preach. She took the name Sojourner Truth and began lecturing in New York. Her early speeches were based on the belief that people best show love for God by love and concern for others. She soon began directing her speeches toward the abolition of slavery.

In 1864, Sojourner Truth visited President Abraham Lincoln in the White House. She stayed in Washington, D.C., and worked to improve living conditions for blacks there. She also helped find jobs and homes for slaves who had escaped from the South to Washington. In the 1870's, she tried to persuade the federal government to set aside undeveloped lands in the West as farms for blacks. But her plan won no government support.

Alamo is a historic structure in the center of San Antonio. A famous battle was fought there from Feb. 23 to March 6, 1836, during the war for Texan independence. No Texans escaped from the Alamo after the night of March 5.

The Alamo was built as a Roman Catholic mission. Padre Antonio Olivares, a Spanish missionary, established it at San Antonio in 1718. The mission consisted of a monastery and church enclosed by high walls. The mission was originally called San Antonio de Valero. It was later called Alamo, the Spanish name for the cottonwood trees surrounding the mission. The Texans occasionally used the mission as a fort.

During the winter of 1835-1836, the people of Texas decided to sever their relations with Mexico because of dissatisfaction with the Mexican government. To prevent the success of this independence movement, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, in command of the Mexican Army, approached San Antonio with his troops. Lieutenant Colonel William Barret Travis and a force of about 150 Texans sought to defend the city. The company included the famous frontiersmen James Bowie and Davy Crockett. The quick arrival of the Mexicans took the Texans by surprise. They retreated to the Alamo to hold off the Mexican force of approximately 4,000 troops. Travis sent out a plea for help, supposedly declaring, "I shall never surrender or retreat." A relief party from Gonzales, Tex., passed through the Mexican lines and entered the Alamo, increasing the Alamo forces to 189 men. Colonel J. W. Fannin left Goliad, Tex., with most of his 400 men to relieve the Alamo, but he had equipment trouble on the way and returned to Goliad.

The siege of the Alamo lasted 13 days. By March 5, the garrison could not return Mexican fire because ammunition was low. This convinced Santa Anna that the fort could be assaulted. Early the next morning, the Mexicans succeeded in scaling the walls. At the end, the Texans fought using their rifles as clubs. Some historians believe that a few defenders, perhaps including Crockett, survived the battle only to be executed at Santa Anna's orders. Other historians accept the more familiar story that all the Texans who fought died in the battle. At 8 a.m., the Mexican general reported his victory to his government. Survivors of the battle included Susanna Dickinson, the wife of an officer; her baby; her Mexican nurse; and Colonel Travis' black slave Joe.

"Remember the Alamo" became a battle cry. The determined defense of the Alamo gave General Sam Houston time to gather the forces he needed to save the independence movement of Texas. He retreated eastward, pursued by Santa Anna. At San Jacinto, Texas, he turned on the Mexicans, surprised them during an afternoon siesta, and on April 21, in just 18 minutes, captured or killed most of the Mexican army of over 1,200 men. Houston's army captured Santa Anna the following day and forced him to sign a treaty granting Texas its independence.

Austin, Stephen Fuller (1793-1836), was an American colonizer and pioneer. He started the first American colony in Texas, which was then part of Mexico. His father, Moses Austin, had obtained a grant of land on the Brazos River from Spanish authorities in Mexico in 1821. Moses planned to bring 300 families to settle the land. But he died before establishing the colony. Stephen obtained permission to continue the project--first from Spain, and later from Mexico after it won independence from Spain in 1821. The main settlement was named San Felipe de Austin in Stephen's honor. Later, Austin, Tex., was named for him.

Austin managed the affairs of the colony wisely. By 1830, there were more than 20,000 Americans in Texas. That year, the Mexican government prohibited further immigration of Americans to Texas. This action increased the desire of many Texans for a more independent government. In 1833, when Austin asked Mexico for a separate state government for Texas, he was accused of trying to annex Texas to the United States. He was sent to prison, but never received a trial. He returned to Texas in 1835. There he found the people ready to fight for freedom from Mexico. Austin took command of the Texan army, but soon resigned. He went to the United States for money and supplies for the Texans.

Texas became a republic in 1836. Austin was a candidate for President, but Sam Houston was elected. Austin was named secretary of state. He worked secretly for the U.S. annexation of Texas but died before it happened. He was born in Wythe County, Virginia. A statue of Austin is in the U.S. Capitol.

Utopia is the name commonly given to an imaginary land where everything is supposed to be perfect. The name utopia comes from the Greek words meaning no place. The name refers particularly to a society with ideal economic and social conditions. People often apply the word utopian to plans of reform that they consider impractical and visionary.

Buena Vista Near the ranch of Buena Vista, Mexico, General Taylor's force of about 5,000 men defended a narrow mountain pass against Santa Anna's army made up of from 16,000 to 20,000 men. Through this battle, fought on Feb. 22 and 23, 1847, the American forces established their hold on northeastern Mexico.

California Gold Rush: 1848 Californi lured thousands of prospectors and

entrepreneurs from the Atlantic seaboard. These new settlers generated an urgent

demand for goods and the clippers met the need. After the tidal wave of white expansion

flowed all the way to the west.

Lone Star Republic: During 1836 Mexico refused to reconize Texas independence,

regarded the Lone Star Republic as a province in revolt to be reconquered in the future.

By 1845 the Lone Star Republic had become a danger spot inviting foreign intrigue that

menaced the American people.

Manifest Destiny: 1845 an editor gave this name to this bumptous spirit of expansion

.this was a movement of a mass of settlers moving from the east to the west.

Nativism: Nativism was described as people who were aganist foreign immigrants.

In the 1830s nativism was conspicously on the rise. America had always been

a land immigrants but the welcome accorded them had often been less than cordial.

Oregon Treaty: In 1818 the Monroe administration negotiated a treaty.

The treaty further provided for a ten year joint occupation of the untamed Oregon country.

Overland Trail:

James K. Polk: Fiftheenth president elected in 1844, democratic who received less

than 50% of popular votes. He lowered tarriffs from 32% to 25%, restoration of the

independent treasury, and the acquisition fo California and the settlement of the Oregon

dispute

San Jacinto : the last battle of the Texan war of independence from Mexico fought

April 21, 1836 near the site of present-day Houston, Texas. After the massacre of the

garrison of the Alamo by the forces of Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna,

the Texan commander in chief General Sam Houston, with a small force of about 800

men, made a surprise attack on the Mexican army near the mouth of the San Jacinto

River. Shouting "Remember the Alamo!", Houston's outnumbered army defeated the

Mexican force of about 1500 men in less than 20 minutes. Nearly all of Santa Anna's

men were either killed or captured. Santa Anna, who was among those taken prisoner,

signed a treaty that granted Texans their independence and ended the war. Within that

same year, Houston became the first president of the Republic of Texas. .)

Santa Anna: When Stephen Austin went to Mexico City in 1833 to negotioate the

differences with the Mexican government, the dictator Santa Anna clapped him in jail for

8 months. The explosion finally cme in 1835 when Santa Anna wiped out all local rights

and started to raise an army to suppress the upstart Texas.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed here on

February 2, 1848, ending the Mexican War. The city received its present name in 1931.

Population (estimated) 1,182,900.

In 1848, under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico gave all of California and the New Mexico Territory to the United States. With the American army in Mexico City, the Mexican government had to make peace. These lands were called the Mexican Cession. In return, the United States paid Mexico $15 million and agreed to respect the rights of Spanish-speaking people in the Mexican Cession.

An agreement signed by representatives of the United States and Great Britain. It settled a number of annoying disputes between the two countries. The Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, signed it for the United States and Lord Ashburn signed for Great Britain in Washington, D.C. in August 1842. The most important dispute settled was the fixing of the boundary line between Canada and the state of Maine. The U.S. received more than half of the area. The treaty settled other disputes of a minor nature and it also provided the mutual extradition of criminals. This was one of the main treaties that settled U.S. and Great Britain disputes without going to war.

Before the Mexican War was over a young congressman from Pennsylvania, David Wilmot raised slavery questions. Wilmot called on Congress to out law slavery in the territories, but the Senate defeated it. In 1846, the House of Burgesses called this the Wilmot Proviso. As a result, the question of slavery in the territories continued to be debated.

In 1854, Kansas became the testing ground for popular sovereignty. Earlier, Kansas’s settlers had little interest in the question of slavery. Farmers went to Kansas from nearby states looking for cheap land. There were only a few slaves owned. However, after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a new kind of settler began arriving in Kansas.

John Brown

John Brown was a strong abolitionist, who decided to strike back. Brown moved to Kansas to help make it become a free state. He claimed that God had sent him to punish supporters of slavery. After the attack on Lawrence, Brown rode with his four sons and two other men to the town of Pottawatomic Creek. That night, Brown and his followers a ragged five proslavery settlers from their beds and murdered them. By late 1856, over 200 people had been killed. Newspapers called this territory Bleeding Kansas.

In 1850, a compromise was written. This compromise had four main parts. First, California was admitted to the Union as a free state. Second, to the rest of the Mexican Cession was divided into the New Mexico and Utah territories. In each territory, voters would decide the slavery question according to the idea of popular sovereignty. Third, the slave trade was banned from Washington, D.C. and the Congress declared that it had no right to ban the slave trade between slave states. Fourth, a strict fugitive slave law was passed.

In 1857, a Supreme Court decision pushed the North and South further apart. The decision came to the Dred Scott case. Scott was a slave who lived in Missouri. Scott moved with his owner to Illinois and then to Wisconsin, both free states when his owner died, antislavery lawyers helped Scott file a lawsuit. They argue that since Scott had lived in free states, he should be a lawsuit because he was not a citizen. The Court States proved the slaves were property. This meant that slavery was legal except where a state shocked or voted to ban it. Northerners were shocked and angry. The Court’s ruling made slavery legal in all the territories. Even Northerners who were not abolitionists felt that the Dred Scott decision was unjust.

The Democratic Party was divided into two in 1860. Southern Democrats wanted the party to support slavery in the territories. Northern Democrats refused to do so. One exclaimed, "Gentlemen of the South, you mistake us---you mistake us! We will not do it!" Northern Democrats picked Stephen Douglas as their candidate for president. Southern Democrats chose John Breckinridge of Kentucky. The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln. Senator Douglas was sure that Lincoln would win the election. But Douglas believed that Democrats "must try to save the Union." He pleaded with southern voters to stay with the Union, no matter who was elected. Some Democrats saw the split in their party as a danger signal for the country. They formed the Constitutional Union and chose the John Bell Party.

Fort Sumter was important because it guarantee Charleston Harbor, to the Confederacy. The fort could not be left in Union hands. The Confederates asked for it surrender on April 12, 1861. Major Anderson, the union commander, would not given in. Confederate guns then opened fire. Major Anderson ran out of ammunition on April 13, he surrendered and Fort Sumter was nearly destroyed by Confederate cannons. Through all of this no one was injured. People flocked to the harbor to watch. It was like a fireworks display. No one knew that the fireworks marked the four terrible years to come.

This party is a political group organized is Buffalo, N.Y., in 1848. The party opposed the extension of slavery into the territories and the admission of new slave states to the union. Many members of the party had once belonged to the Liberty Party. The Free Soil Party was joined and strengthened by a faction of the Democratic Party in New York known as the, Barnburners.