APUSH Unit 4
The Virginia Dynasty
APUSH 3.1 – APUSH 4.1
VUS.5e – VUS.6c
George Washington Administration
George Washington, a Virginian, established precedents for future leaders by ensuring
governmental stability, addressing the burden of Revolutionary War debt, encouraging the
westward migration of American settlers, and proclaiming neutrality in foreign relations.
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The continued presence of European powers in North America challenged the United States to find ways to
safeguard its borders, maintain neutral trading rights, and promote its economic interests.
As western settlers sought free navigation of the Mississippi River, the United States forged diplomatic
initiatives to manage the conflict with Spain and to deal with the continued British presence on the American
continent.
Conflicts between American settlers and Indian nations in the Southeast and the old Northwest resulted in the
relocation of many Indians to reservations.
Hamilton’s economic plan created political tensions that led to the formation of the first political parties.
The American Revolution and the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence had reverberations in
France, Haiti, and Latin America, inspiring future rebellions.
Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality sought to keep the U.S. free from entanglement in European
conflicts, particularly the wars between Britain and France.
Cabinet
Thomas Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton
Henry Knox
Edmund Randolph
Bill of Rights
Judiciary Act of 1789
Loose interpretation (broad
construction)
Elastic (necessary & proper)
clause
Strict interpretation (strict
construction)
Hamilton’s economic plan
Funding at par
Bank of the United States
Assumption of state debts
Tariff of 1789
Bonds
Whisky excise tax
Whisky Rebellion
Washington, DC
French Revolution
Reign of Terror
Proclamation of Neutrality
“Citizen” Edmund Genet
British forts
Impressment
Jay’s Treaty
Mississippi River
Pinckney’s Treaty
Indian Intercourse Act
Northwest Indian War
“Mad” Anthony Wayne
Battle of Fallen Timbers
Treaty of Greenville
Tecumseh & Tenskwatawa
Washington’s Farewell Address
Democratic-Republican Party
(Jeffersonian Republicans)
Federalist Party (Hamiltonians)
Chisholm v. Georgia, 1793
11th Amendment
John Adams Administration
John Adams of Massachusetts, the only Federalist president, faced external threats from France
as well as domestic criticism from his Democratic-Republican rivals.
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As national political institutions developed in the new United States, varying regionally based positions on
economic, political, social, and foreign policy issues promoted the development of political parties.
As various constituencies and interest groups coalesced and defined their agendas, various political parties,
most significantly the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans in the 1790s, were created or transformed to
reflect and promote those agendas.
Although George Washington’s Farewell Address warned about the dangers of divisive political parties and
permanent foreign alliances, European conflict and tensions with Britain and France fueled increasingly bitter
partisan debates throughout the 1790s.
The French Revolution’s spread throughout Europe and beyond helped fuel Americans’ debate not only
about the nature of the United States’ domestic order, but also about its proper role in the world.
Civil liberties and civil rights often come under threat during wartime.
Federal government attempts to assert authority over the states brought resistance from state governments in
the North and the South at different times.
Federalist Party
Loose interpretation
Abigail Adams
French Revolution
Reign of Terror
XYZ Affair
“Quasi War”
Alien & Sedition Acts
Vice President Thomas Jefferson
Nullification
States’ rights
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions
Convention of 1800
John Marshall
Lame duck period
Judiciary Act of 1801
Midnight judges
Thomas Jefferson Administration
Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian, supported a strict interpretation of the constitution but his actions as
president often resembled Federalist policies.
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The nation’s transformation to a more participatory democracy was accompanied by continued debates
over federal power, the relationship between the federal government and the states, the authority of
different branches of the federal government, and the rights and responsibilities of individual citizens.
The policies of the United States that encouraged western migration and the orderly incorporation of new
territories into the nation both extended republican institutions and intensified conflicts among American
Indians and Europeans in the trans-Appalachian West.
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Although George Washington’s Farewell Address warned about the dangers of divisive political parties and
permanent foreign alliances, European conflict and tensions with Britain and France fueled increasingly bitter
partisan debates throughout the 1790s.
Growing disagreements with Britain during the Jefferson administration carried over into the Madison
administration, culminating in the War of 1812.
Democratic-Republican Party
(Jeffersonian Republicans)
Strict interpretation
“Peculiar institution” &
“necessary evil”
Deism
Separation of church & state
Election (“Revolution”) of 1800
Mudslinging
Sally Hemings
Jefferson’s First Inaugural
Address
Burr-Hamilton Duel & Burr
Conspiracy
12th Amendment
Albert Gallatin
Repeal of whisky excise tax
Marbury v. Madison
Judicial review
Impeachment of Samuel Chase
Napoleon
New Orleans
Toussaint L’Overture
Louisiana Purchase
“Empire of Liberty”
Lewis & Clark Expedition
Sacajawea
Piracy & “tribute”
Tripolitan (Barbary) War
Mosquito fleet & “Jeffs”
Impressment
Orders in Council
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
Embargo Act of 1807
End of Atlantic slave trade
Non-Intercourse Act of 1809
Macon’s Bill No. 2 of 1810
James Madison Administration
James Madison, a Virginian, struggled but ultimately succeeded in leading a divided nation
through the War of 1812 against Britain and its Native American allies.
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Migrants from within North America and around the world continued to launch new settlements in the West,
creating new distinctive backcountry cultures and fueling social and ethnic tensions.
The policies of the United States that encouraged western migration and the orderly incorporation of new
territories into the nation both extended republican institutions and intensified conflicts among American
Indians and Europeans in the trans-Appalachian West.
Growing disagreements with Britain during the Jefferson administration carried over into the Madison
administration, culminating in the War of 1812.
Regional self-interests divided the nation during the War of 1812 against the British.
Federal government attempts to assert authority over the states brought resistance from state governments in
the North and the South at different times.
The War of 1812 proved to be a “second war for American independence.”
Old Northwest
Treaty of Greenville & Treaty of
Ft. Wayne
Tecumseh & Tenskwatawa
Impressment
“Great Triumvirate”
John C. Calhoun
Henry Clay
Daniel Webster
War Hawks
War of 1812
Oliver Hazard Perry
William Henry Harrison
Battle of Tippecanoe
Burning of Washington
Battle of Fort McHenry
Francis Scott Key & “The StarSpangled Banner”
Federalist Party
Hartford Convention
Sectionalism
Andrew Jackson
Creek War
Treaty of Ghent
Battle of New Orleans
“Second War for Independence”
Nationalism
Henry Clay’s American System
2nd Bank of the United States
Tariff of 1816
Internal improvements
Land Act of 1820
James Monroe Administration
James Monroe, a Virginian, presided over an era of relatively peaceful foreign relations and
domestic political unity.
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After the American victory in the War of 1812, a wave of nationalism was unleashed and the Federalist
Party faded away.
Monroe scored diplomatic successes in treaties with Britain, Canada and Russia.
The Monroe Doctrine strengthened the force of Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality and served as a
foundation for American foreign policy for well over a century.
The 1820 Missouri Compromise created a truce over the issue of slavery that gradually broke down as
confrontations over slavery became increasingly bitter.
Virginia Dynasty
Era of Good Feeling
Nationalism
“National Republican” Party
John Quincy Adams
Rush-Bagot Treaty
Anglo-American Convention of
1818
Adams-Onis Treaty
Panic of 1819
McCulloch v. Maryland
Cohens v. Virginia
Gibbons v. Ogden
Fletcher v. Peck
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Tallmadge Amendment
Missouri Compromise
Monroe Doctrine
Russo-American Treaty
Henry Clay’s American System
The Marshall Court
Under the leadership of John Marshall, a Virginian, Supreme Court decisions asserted federal
power and the primacy of the judiciary in determining the meaning of the Constitution.
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John Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court by Federalist John Adams and his decisions kept
Federalist principles alive within the judicial branch for decades after the dissolution of the Federalist Party
itself.
The Marshall Court’s decisions strengthened the authority of the judicial branch relative to the other two
branches of government.
The Marshall Court’s decisions reinforced the supremacy of the national government over the states.
Federal government attempts to assert authority over the states brought resistance from state governments in
the North and the South at different times.
The Marshall Court’s decisions set a precedent of judicial support for business and property rights.
The Constitution’s failure to precisely define the relationship between American Indian tribes and the
national government led to problems regarding treaties and Indian legal claims relating to the seizure of
Indian lands.
John Jay
Chisholm v. Georgia, 1793
11th Amendment
John Marshall
Judicial review vs. nullification
by the states
Strict vs. loose interpretation
Federalism
National supremacy
National bank
Sanctity of contracts
Business & property rights
Corporations
Interstate commerce
Legal status of Native Americans
under the Constitution
Marbury v. Madison, 1803
Fletcher v. Peck, 1810
McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
Dartmouth College v. Woodward,
1819
Cohens v. Virginia, 1821
Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia,
1831
Worchester v. Georgia, 1832
Roger B. Taney
Charles River Bridge v. Warren
Bridge, 1837
American Culture
A new national culture emerged, with various Americans creating art, architecture, and literature
that combined European forms with local and regional cultural sensibilities.
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The neoclassical style of federal government architecture reflected a desire to emulate Greek and Roman
political traditions.
American art reflected regional sensibilities with the depiction of natural landscapes and Native American
culture while also reflecting nationalism through portraits of the “founding fathers.”
Literary works in the early United States reflected American ideas about nature, history and civic
participation.
New voices for national identity challenged tendencies to cling to regional identities, contributing to the
emergence of distinctly American cultural expressions.
Hudson River School
George Catlin
Gilbert Stuart
Neoclassical (Greek Revival)
architecture
Minstrel shows
Noah Webster
Washington Irving
Knickerbocker School
“Rip Van Winkle”
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
Romanticism
Edgar Allan Poe
“The Raven”
“The Telltale Heart”
James Fenimore Cooper
Leatherstocking Tales
The Last of the Mohicans
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter
Transcendentalism
“Oversoul”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The American Scholar”
“Self reliance”
Henry David Thoreau
Walden, or Life in the Woods
“On Civil Disobedience”
Alexis de Tocqueville
Democracy in America
Herman Melville
Moby Dick
Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass
Unit Review: Essential Questions
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What precedents did George Washington establish for the new nation?
Why did competing political parties develop during the 1790s?
To what extent did Thomas Jefferson's actions as president reflect his strict interpretation
of the constitution?
What factors influenced American westward movement?
What were the causes, turning points, and effects of the War of 1812?
How did the War of 1812 and the Era of Good Feelings reflect a sense of nationalism?
How did Chief Justice John Marshall, a Virginian, contribute to the growth of the U.S.
Supreme Court’s importance in relation to the other branches of the national government?
How did the Marshall Court's decisions strengthen the power of the federal government
over the states?
What did art, architecture and literature reveal about the American character in the late
1700s and early 1800s?