Articles of Confederation: First national plan of government (1781); it gave Congress little power
Shays' Rebellion (1786-87): Farmers in Massachusetts protested debts and taxes, showing the need for a stronger government
Northwest Ordinance (1787): Law for organizing new states north of the Ohio River and banning slavery there
Constitutional Convention (1787): Philadelphia meeting that wrote the US Constitution
James Madison: Called the Father of the Constitution; fourth president
Great Compromise: Deal creating a Senate with equal votes and a House based on population
Three-Fifths Compromise: Counted three-fifths of enslaved people toward a state's population for representation
Federalists: Supporters of the new Constitution and a strong national government
Anti-Federalists: Opponents of the Constitution who feared a too-powerful government
Federalist Papers: Essays by Hamilton, Madison and Jay urging states to ratify the Constitution
Bill of Rights: First ten amendments, added in 1791
Ratification: Formal approval; nine states had to approve the Constitution
George Washington: First president, serving 1789 to 1797
Cabinet: Group of top advisers to the president
Alexander Hamilton: First Secretary of the Treasury; wanted a national bank and a strong economy
Thomas Jefferson: First Secretary of State and third president
National bank: Hamilton's plan for a bank to hold government money and print a stable currency
Whiskey Rebellion (1794): Western Pennsylvania farmers protested a tax on whiskey; Washington sent troops
Washington's Farewell Address: Warned against political parties and entangling alliances with other nations
Judiciary Act of 1789: Created the federal court system
Political parties: Federalists (Hamilton) and Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson) formed in the 1790s
John Adams: Second president, 1797 to 1801
XYZ Affair (1797): French agents demanded bribes from American diplomats, angering the public
Alien and Sedition Acts (1798): Laws that limited immigrants' rights and criticism of the government
Election of 1800: Jefferson defeated Adams in a vote that moved power peacefully between parties
Marbury v. Madison (1803): Supreme Court case that set up judicial review
Judicial review: The courts' power to decide that a law goes against the Constitution
John Marshall: Chief Justice who made the Supreme Court a strong branch
Louisiana Purchase (1803): Jefferson bought land from France that doubled the size of the US
Lewis and Clark Expedition: 1804-1806 trip to explore the Louisiana Purchase and reach the Pacific
Sacagawea: Shoshone woman who guided and helped the Lewis and Clark expedition
Corps of Discovery: Name for the Lewis and Clark exploring group
Zebulon Pike: Army explorer who led an expedition in the Southwest and Rockies
Embargo Act (1807): Jefferson's ban on American trade with other countries
Impressment: British practice of taking sailors off American ships to serve in its navy
War Hawks: Young Congress members who pushed for war with Britain in 1812
War of 1812: War between the US and Britain, 1812 to 1815
Tecumseh: Shawnee leader who built a Native alliance to resist settlers' expansion
Battle of Tippecanoe (1811): William Henry Harrison defeated Tecumseh's followers in Indiana
USS Constitution: Warship nicknamed Old Ironsides for its strong hull
Burning of Washington (1814): British troops set fire to the Capitol and White House
Francis Scott Key: Wrote the words of The Star-Spangled Banner while watching Fort McHenry in 1814
Fort McHenry: Baltimore fort that withstood British bombardment in 1814
Dolley Madison: First lady who saved a portrait of Washington when the White House burned
Treaty of Ghent (1814): Treaty that ended the War of 1812
Battle of New Orleans (1815): Andrew Jackson's victory, fought after the treaty was signed
Era of Good Feelings: Period around 1817-1825 of national pride and one dominant party
James Monroe: Fifth president, 1817 to 1825
Monroe Doctrine (1823): Warned European powers not to colonize the Americas
Missouri Compromise (1820): Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state; set a line for slavery's spread
Erie Canal (1825): Canal linking the Hudson River to Lake Erie, speeding trade
Eli Whitney: Invented the cotton gin in 1793
Cotton gin: Machine that quickly cleaned cotton seeds, which increased demand for enslaved labor
Industrial Revolution begins: Early American factories, like Slater's mill in 1790, began making cloth
Lowell mills: Massachusetts textile factories that employed young women
Steamboat: Robert Fulton's Clermont made steam travel practical in 1807
Market revolution: Growth of roads, canals and factories that tied farms to markets
Andrew Jackson: Seventh president, 1829 to 1837; champion of the 'common man'
Jacksonian democracy: Expansion of voting rights to most white men, regardless of wealth
Spoils system: Giving government jobs to loyal supporters
Indian Removal Act (1830): Law that led to forcing Native nations from southeastern lands
Trail of Tears: Forced march of the Cherokee and other nations to Indian Territory in the 1830s
Worcester v. Georgia (1832): Supreme Court said states could not rule Cherokee land; Jackson did not enforce it
Nullification Crisis: South Carolina tried to cancel a federal tariff in 1832
John C. Calhoun: South Carolinian who defended states' power to nullify federal laws
Second Great Awakening: Religious revival of the early 1800s that inspired reform movements
Abolitionist: A person who wanted to end slavery
Frederick Douglass: Escaped from slavery and became a famed writer, speaker and abolitionist
William Lloyd Garrison: Boston editor who published The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper
Seneca Falls Convention (1848): First women's rights convention, in New York
Underground Railroad: Secret network of people helping enslaved people reach freedom
Harriet Tubman: Escaped slavery and guided many others to freedom on the Underground Railroad
Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831): Virginia uprising by enslaved people led by Nat Turner
Horace Mann: Reformer who promoted free public schools
Dorothea Dix: Reformer who worked to improve care for people with mental illness
Sequoyah: Created the Cherokee writing system in the 1820s

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