REVIEW FOR 4TH 6 WEEKS COMPREHENSIVE EXAM
1. What were the main foreign policy issues faced by Washington (include an evaluation of his
farewell address)? Keeping the USA neutral during the war between Britain and France, dealing
with the British who were stirring up trouble with the Indians and white settlers, Spain was
threatening to close the port of New Orleans to USA shipping. In his farewell address
Washington encouraged the nation to stay out of foreign affairs and watch out for political
parties.
2. What was the Alien and Sedition Act and why did it cost Adam’s his presidency? This act made
it more difficult for Aliens to get citizenship and made it easy for the president to arrest people
who opposed him verbally or in print, limiting peoples freedom of speech and expression.
3. Discuss causes and effects of the War of 1812. Causes of the war: British impressment of USA
sailors, interference in USA shipping, and inciting Native Americans against settlers. Effects of
the war: increased American patriotism, weakened Native American resistance, USA
manufacturing grew.
4. Why did slave labor grow and expand in the south? When Whitney invented the cotton gin it
made it much easier and faster to process cotton (increased economic productivity), this led to
increased profits for the plantation owners, which led to an expansion of the plantation system,
which resulted in a deeper dependence on inexpensive slave labor.
5. What was slavery like in the 1840’s in the USA? Only about 1/3 of the families in the south
owned slaves, about ½ of the slaves worked on plantations, about 8% of blacks in the South
were free (yet they still faced the hardships of not being able to vote, get good jobs, receive
education and the constant fear of being secretly captured and sold to another state).
6. Details on key events from the presidency of Andrew Jackson in chronological order.
a. The Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abomination) was hated by the Southerners because if
forced them to pay higher prices for goods they bought.
b. He implemented the spoils system when he was elected by replacing current
government employees with his own people.
c. Indian Removal Act of 1830
d. The Nullification Crisis was averted because Jackson was re-elected as president and
South Carolina was forced to give up on their nullification plans.
e. Jackson hated the national bank because he felt the bank favored the wealthy, he
thought the bank had too much power, and the bank made loans to Congressman to
influence their votes.
7. Discuss key causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution (and factors that determined the
location of a factory).
Effects of the Industrial Revolution – manual labor and hand tools were replaced with machines,
factories brought workers together under one roof, large numbers of people moved to areas
where factories and textile mills were located.
Most factories had to be located near a plentiful workforce, fast flowing streams and rivers
(because they used hydraulic power), and a location that has easy access to shipping.
8. Key Dates:
a. Louisiana Purchase - 1803
b. List the first 6 presidents and the years they served: George Washington, 1789-1797;
John Adams, 1797-1801; Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809; James Madison, 1809-1817;
James Monroe, 1817-1825; John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829; Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
c. Telegraph - 1837
d. Steel Plow - 1836
e. Cotton Gin - 1793
f.
Mechanical Reaper - 1834
g. Steamboat - 1807
9. Define or discuss:
a. Lewis and Clark – Jefferson sent these two to make an accurate description of plants
and animals in the West, find an all water route to the Pacific Ocean, and establish
friendly relations with the Native American tribes.
b. Marbury V Madison – a landmark case the established judicial review. It was initiated
because Madison refused to give Marbury his commission (Marbury was one of the
“midnight judges” appointed by Adams).
c. Embargo Act of 1807 – Jefferson’s attempt to respond to the impressment of USA
citizens on ships going to Europe. It was a horrible failure since it hurt American
businesses more than the Europeans.
d. Oliver Perry – Admiral during the War of 1812 who fought on the Great Lakes. He
famously said, “Don’t give up the ship!”
e. William Henry Harrison - Hero of the War of 1812 who was elected President. He died
shortly after taking office of an illness and Tyler became President.
f. Andrew Jackson – 7th President of the United States, Old Hickory, very authoritarian, the
“common man”, he hated the national banking system
g. The Star Spangled Banner – written by Francis Scott Keys during the battle of Fort
McHenry in the War of 1812.
h. The Battle of New Orleans – Battle of the War of 1812 that happened after the treaty
that ended the war was already signed. It made Andrew Jackson a national hero
because he involved all kinds of people in the battle (including pirates). After the war
National Pride was high.
i. Subsistence farming – farming in which you raise barely enough for your own family
j. Industrialization – the process where a country or region moves from an agricultural
based society to a manufacturing/factory based society. These factors contribute to
industrialization: machine production, large facilities, effective management and hiring
many workers. Most factories during this time were located in the Northeast.
k. Eli Whitney – invented the cotton gin and interchangeable parts
l. Robert Fulton – invented the steamboat (which increased economic productivity in the
USA)
m. John Deere – invented the steel plow
n. Samuel Morse – invented the telegraph
o. Cyrus McCormack – invented the mechanical reaper
p. Interchangeable parts – parts that are exactly alike that are easily replaced in
machinery. These made the manufacture of finished goods faster and cheaper.
q. Spirituals – religious folk songs that slaves sang. They often contained coded messages
about planned escape or an owner’s unexpected return. These later influenced blues,
jazz, and other forms of American music.
r.
Nat Turner – led a slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831. He and his followers were all killed.
This rebellion made things worse for slaves.
s. The American System – Established a protective tariff, established a national bank, and
focused on improving the country’s transportation systems. The system also involved
the sale of public lands for income to the government.
t.
Monroe Doctrine – the policy of the USA that placed the western hemisphere “off
limits” to European colonizing countries (stay out of this area or else).
u. Missouri Compromise – Henry Clay (the great compromiser) came up with this plan that
allowed Missouri to come in to the Union as a slave state, Maine to be created out of
Massachusetts and the rest of the Louisiana Purchase territory (unorganized territory)
was reserved as non-slave territory (no slave states could be formed there). It
maintained the balance of power between free and slave states.
v. Panic of 1837 – Jackson broke up the national bank and this panic was caused as people
began to borrow large sums of money from banks to speculate. This panic turned into a
depression which was blamed on Van Buren and cost him a second term.
w. Sequoya – Cherokee leader who created the Cherokee alphabet
x. Indian Removal Act – Congress passed this act with Jackson’s strong endorsement
which gave permission for states and the federal government to remove Indians from
the Southeastern part of the USA. In Worcester V Georgia the Supreme Court ruled this
unconstitutional and Jackson basically said, “they Supreme Court has made a ruling,
now let’s see them try and enforce it!”
y. Trail of Tears (1838) – Cherokee were forced to move west even though they had
accepted white customs and ways. The Supreme Court had ruled that the government
could not do this yet Jackson did it anyway. Many Cherokee died on the trail to the west
and some considered this to be government sanctioned murder. The Cherokee were
paid $5,000,000 in compensation.
z. Gibbons V Ogden supreme court decision – gave the federal government the power to
regulate commerce. Federal laws are superior to state laws when it comes to interstate
commerce.
aa. Tariff of Abominations – the Protective Tariff of 1828 that was passed to protect the
nation’s new industries from foreign competition. Money from the tariff was used for
transportation improvements mostly in the North. The tariff hurt Southerners worse
than Northerners.
bb. Nullification – the ability of a state to cancel (or overlook or override or not enforce) a
law passed by the federal (or central) government. It was based in the Kentucky
Resolution developed by Jefferson.
cc. John C. Calhoun – Vice President and South Carolina political leader. He proposed the
Doctrine of Nullification.
dd. Henry Clay – the great Compromiser, statesman, presidential candidate
ee. Whig Party – Formed by Clay, Webster, and other Jackson opponents who were against
Martin Van Buren serving a second term.
ff. William Henry Harrison – Hero of the War of 1812 who was elected President. He died
shortly after taking office of an illness and Tyler became President. First Whig party
candidate.
gg. Shay’s Rebellion – an uprising of over taxed and debt ridden Massachusetts farmers in
1787.
hh. Whiskey Rebellion – Rebellion during Washington’s presidency where farmers in
Pennsylvania rebelled because of taxes on whiskey.
ii. Democratic Republicans – the political party that wanted to insure that the national
government did not have too much power. They took a strict view of the constitution.
Founded by Jefferson and Madison.
jj. Judicial Review – the right of the Supreme Court to review every piece of legislature by
the USA and any state to make sure it abides by the constitution. If not, then they can
declare it “unconstitutional” which nullifies the law.
kk. States’ Rights – A key issue in the USA because federalism and the constitution give
power to the states as well as the federal government.
ll. Sectionalism – When you have a higher opinion and commitment to your state or
section of the country rather than the USA.
mm.
Federalism – the view that power should be broken up into a central (federal)
government and state (or local) governments.
nn. Jacksonian Democracy – the idea of spreading political power to all the people and
ensuring majority rule
oo. Nullification Crisis – Because of the Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abomination), South
Carolina threatened to nullify the law and not enforce it (to assert the right they felt
states had to overrule federal laws they did not agree with). South Carolina threatened
to secede and the crisis was avoided through a compromise tariff proposed by Henry
Clay in 1833.
pp. Tariff of 1828 – passed in the last months of John Quincy Adam’s presidency.
Significantly raised the tariffs on raw materials and manufactured goods. This benefited
the northern manufactures and hurt the southern cotton growing economy.
qq. Martin Van Buren – Vice President for Jackson in his second term and then became
President
rr. Robert Hayne – Senator from South Carolina who debated Daniel Webster and
defended nullification.
ss. McCulloch V Maryland – The Supreme Court upheld federal authority by ruling that a
state could not tax a national bank.