Presidents
George Washington, No party affiliation (1789-1797)
Foreign relations
A. Created a judicial structure of the Chief Justice with associate justices; set up the tiered federal court
system; allowed state court decisions to be appealed to federal courts when constitutional issues were
raised
Bank of the United
B. Department heads that advise the President
States
Whiskey Rebellion
C. Created by Hamilton to issue paper money, handle tax receipts and other government funds
District of Columbia
D. New home of nation’s capital as part of Bank deal
Judiciary Act of 1789
E. The split in Washington’s cabinet between Hamilton and Jefferson created the first political parties –
Federalists and Democratic-Republicans
Cabinet
F. First test of the Constitution that showed the federal government’s power over the states
Two-party system
G. French Revolution (Washington remained neutral), Pinckney Treaty (with Spain to open Mississippi,
New Orleans), Treaty of Greenville (ended Native American resistance in Ohio), Jay’s Treaty (gave
territories west of Appalachians but Britain still had fur trade)
John Adams, Federalist (1797-1801)
Election of 1796
A.
Virginia and
B.
Kentucky Resolutions
Judiciary Act of 1801
C.
XYZ Affair
Alien and Sedition
Acts
Adams (Federalist) won presidency but runner up was Jefferson (Democratic-Republican)
US delegation sent to France to avert war but Napoleon sent low level French officials and wanted
bribes
Passed by Congress that raised residency requirements for American citizenship and punished those
that spoke against the government
D. Reaction to Sedition Acts by Democratic-Republicans that said states could nullify acts they thought
unconstitutional
E. Increased the number of federal judges
Thomas Jefferson, Democratic-Republican (1801-1809)
Embargo of 1807
A. Jefferson and running mate, Aaron Burr, received the same number of electoral votes; Hamilton
persuaded Congress to elect Jefferson; duel between Hamilton and Burr
Lewis and Clark
B. Suit as a result of the Judiciary Act in which not all of Adams commissions were issued; set judicial
Expedition
review
Election of 1800
C. Treaty with France to purchase the territory west of the Mississippi River
Marbury v. Madison
D. Expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory; Sacajawea
Louisiana Purchase
E. Reaction to British impressment and blockades but hurt American businesses more
James Madison, Democratic-Republican (1809-1817)
War of 1812
War with Britain that ended with an armistice in the Treaty of Ghent; Jackson becomes war hero
The American
Plan to unite the North and South economically – develop transportation systems, protective tariff, resurrect the
System
National Bank
James Monroe, Democratic-Republican (1817-1825)
McCulloch v.
A. Gave Congress the power to regulate trade across state lines
Maryland
Gibbons v. Ogden
B. Strengthened federal power over the Bank; prevented states from taxing the national bank
Foreign relations
C. Statement that European powers should not interfere with affairs in the Western Hemisphere
Santa Fe Trail
D. Agreement set at the 36/30 line where above line was free and below line was slaveholding
Monroe Doctrine
E. Rush-Bagot Treaty (demilitarize Great Lakes), Convention of 1818 (49th parallel border), Adams-Onis Treaty
(gain Florida)
Missouri
F. Trail from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico to establish trade to obtain silver, gold and
Compromise
furs
John Quincy Adams, Republican (1825-1829)
Election of 1824
Jackson won the popular but not electoral vote; Henry Clay made a deal with Adams to be Secretary of State so
convinced Congress to side with Adams
Andrew Jackson, Democrat (1829-1837)
Black Hawk War
A. Practice of placing friends in government positions
Bank of the United
B. Federal government’s ability to negotiate treaties with Native Americans that forced them off their
States/
lands; Cherokee sued and won but Jackson did not enforce the ruling
pet banks
Tariff of
C. Forced South to purchase more expensive goods from the North; VP Calhoun wrote his theory called
Abominations/
the SC Exposition that said states could nullify acts considered unconstitutional
SC Exposition
Indian Removal Act/
D. Vetoed the Bank and moved the money into banks in states that were his supporters
Worcester v. Georgia
Spoils system
E. Native Americans under Black Hawk led a rebellion that would force them to move into areas further
west
Oregon Trail
F. Overland migration from Independence, Missouri to Portland Oregon in search for abundant rainfall
and fertile soil; migrations continued through 1840
Martin Van Buren, Democrat (1837-1841)
Democratic Party
A. Forced removal of the Cherokee and their journey
Trail of Tears
B. Collapse of the credit system by over printing of bank notes by Jackson’s pet banks
Panic of 1837
C. Emerges as the party that favors states’ rights with limited government; divided on slavery but later
become the pro-slavery party of the South
William Henry Harrison, Whig (1841)
Whig/Death
First Whig President but also the first President to die in office
John Tyler, Whig (1841-1845)
Manifest Destiny
Belief that the United States’ destiny was to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean; ordained by God
Annexation of Texas
Empresarios, such as Stephen Austin, encouraged American settlement of Texas and later wanted greater autonomy
which resulted in the Texas Revolution where Sam Houston would help the Americans defeat Santa Anna
James K. Polk, Democrat (1845-1849)
Mexican-American
A.
War
Wilmot Proviso
B.
The Mormon
C.
Migration
Fifty-Four Forty or
D.
Fight
Westward migration along the Oregon Trail by the Mormons to establish their own community away
from previous religious persecution
Campaign slogan used in 1844 over Oregon Territory against the British
Seen as some as the unfair war provoked against Mexico over border issue; Zachary Taylor emerges as
general scorned; Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gives additional land/states to the US
Proposed amendment that would make any lands acquired by the Mexican-American War closed to
slavery; it would not be approved
Zachary Taylor, Whig (1849-1850)
Gold Rush
Overland migration for the forty-niners to California to search for gold
Free-Soil Party
Formed to oppose slavery in territories; concerned about the rights of white workers not the morality of slavery
Millard Fillmore, Whig (1850-1853)
Fugitive Slave Act/
A. Gave Native Americans control of the Central Plains in exchange for trail construction and no attacks
Underground
against settlers
Railroad
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
B. Written by Clay and supported by Webster to keep the union together; Stephen Douglas would get it
adopted in separate bills
Treaty of Fort
C. Act was part of the Compromise of 1850 that angered northerners because of their punishment if
Laramie
helping fugitive slaves; it encourage the development of the Underground Railroad
Compromise of 1850
D. Publication about the morality of slavery that ignited sectional feelings
Franklin Pierce, Democrat (1853-1857)
Kansas-Nebraska Act/
A. Land purchased from Mexico for $10 million to establish a railroad
Bleeding Kansas
Gadsden Purchase
B. Proposed by Stephen Douglas to create the territories of Kansas and Nebraska where popular
sovereignty would decide the issue of slavery; it would result in violent confrontations in Kansas
Dred Scott v. Sanford
C. Political party that formed believing in nativism; anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic
Republican Party
D. Organized in opposition to slavery in the territories and containing it to the South; would later be the
party for abolitionists
Know-Nothing Party
E. Ruled that slaves did not have rights as citizens and the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional
James Buchanan, Democrat (1857-1861)
Freeport
A. Open Senate seat in Illinois where Douglas argued in favor of popular sovereignty and Lincoln
Doctrine/Lincolnquestioned his empty phrase
Douglas debates
Harpers Ferry Raid
B. Led by John Brown, it was an attempt to encourage a slave rebellion by taking a federal arsenal; it
failed
Lecompton
C. Pro-slavery Constitution written by Kansas that was endorsed by Buchanan even though popular
Constitution
sovereignty had ruled it a non-slave state
Abraham Lincoln, Republican (1861-1865)
Freedmen’s Bureau
A. Democratic party nominated three candidates which allowed Republican Lincoln to get elected
Ten-Percent Plan
B. The states that seceded from the Union under the direction of Jefferson Davis
Wade-Davis Bill
C. War between the North and the South where Confederate Lee will surrender to Union Grant
Emancipation
D. Document that would free slaves in states of rebellion
Proclamation
Confederate States of
E. Plan of Reconstruction that gave a Confederate state admission back into the Union once 10% of the
America/
voting 1860 population swore allegiance
Confederacy
Civil War
F. Radical Republicans’ plan for Reconstruction that said a majority of the voting 1860 population must
swear allegiance before readmission
Election of 1860
G. Created to assist former slaves and poor whites in the South by distributing clothing and food
Andrew Johnson, Democrat (1865-1869)
Andrew johnson
A. Passed by Congress, gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing Black Codes
Ku Klux Klan
B. Forbids slavery
Congressional
C. Defined citizenship as anyone born on American soil and gave equal protection to all Americans
Reconstruction
Fourteenth
D. plan of Reconstruction which gave African-American men the right to vote
Amendment
Civil Rights Act
E. First president to be impeached but not found guilty
Thirteenth
F. Secret organization designed to restore white supremacy in the South
Amendment
Ulysses S. Grant, Republican (1869-1877)
Panic of 1873
A. gave suffrage to men
Enforcement Acts
B. Gave the President the power to use force when Southerners prevented African Americans from
exercising their rights
US v. Reese
C. Gave former Confederates the ability to vote
Slaughterhouse cases
D. Part of a series of corruption in the Republican Party that caused disunity
Fifteenth
E. Five year depression caused by bad investments in railroad construction
Amendment
Whiskey Ring
F. Said 14th amendment did not protect civil rights granted by states
US v. Cruikshank
G. The 14th amendment did not give power to the federal government to punish whites that oppressed
blacks
Amnesty Act
H. The 15th amendment did not grant voting rights only restricted voter discrimination
Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican (1877-1881)
Election of 1876
Tilden won the popular vote but not the electoral vote and the Hayes was selected to become President
Compromise of 1877
Deal between Democrats and Republicans that put Hayes in office; it allowed the South to achieve home rule