Flashcards › History › US History

The Early Republic (1783-1840)

Building a new nation: the Constitution, first presidents, the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812 and the age of Jackson.

76 cardsGrades 6–8, Grades 9–12#early republic#constitution#war of 1812#jackson

0 of 76 known
76 cards
  • Articles of ConfederationTerm or event
    First national plan of government (1781); it gave Congress little power
  • Shays' Rebellion (1786-87)Term or event
    Farmers in Massachusetts protested debts and taxes, showing the need for a stronger government
  • Northwest Ordinance (1787)Term or event
    Law for organizing new states north of the Ohio River and banning slavery there
  • Constitutional Convention (1787)Term or event
    Philadelphia meeting that wrote the US Constitution
  • James MadisonTerm or event
    Called the Father of the Constitution; fourth president
  • Great CompromiseTerm or event
    Deal creating a Senate with equal votes and a House based on population
  • Three-Fifths CompromiseTerm or event
    Counted three-fifths of enslaved people toward a state's population for representation
  • FederalistsTerm or event
    Supporters of the new Constitution and a strong national government
  • Anti-FederalistsTerm or event
    Opponents of the Constitution who feared a too-powerful government
  • Federalist PapersTerm or event
    Essays by Hamilton, Madison and Jay urging states to ratify the Constitution
  • Bill of RightsTerm or event
    First ten amendments, added in 1791
  • RatificationTerm or event
    Formal approval; nine states had to approve the Constitution
  • George WashingtonTerm or event
    First president, serving 1789 to 1797
  • CabinetTerm or event
    Group of top advisers to the president
  • Alexander HamiltonTerm or event
    First Secretary of the Treasury; wanted a national bank and a strong economy
  • Thomas JeffersonTerm or event
    First Secretary of State and third president
  • National bankTerm or event
    Hamilton's plan for a bank to hold government money and print a stable currency
  • Whiskey Rebellion (1794)Term or event
    Western Pennsylvania farmers protested a tax on whiskey; Washington sent troops
  • Washington's Farewell AddressTerm or event
    Warned against political parties and entangling alliances with other nations
  • Judiciary Act of 1789Term or event
    Created the federal court system
  • Political partiesTerm or event
    Federalists (Hamilton) and Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson) formed in the 1790s
  • John AdamsTerm or event
    Second president, 1797 to 1801
  • XYZ Affair (1797)Term or event
    French agents demanded bribes from American diplomats, angering the public
  • Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)Term or event
    Laws that limited immigrants' rights and criticism of the government
  • Election of 1800Term or event
    Jefferson defeated Adams in a vote that moved power peacefully between parties
  • Marbury v. Madison (1803)Term or event
    Supreme Court case that set up judicial review
  • Judicial reviewTerm or event
    The courts' power to decide that a law goes against the Constitution
  • John MarshallTerm or event
    Chief Justice who made the Supreme Court a strong branch
  • Louisiana Purchase (1803)Term or event
    Jefferson bought land from France that doubled the size of the US
  • Lewis and Clark ExpeditionTerm or event
    1804-1806 trip to explore the Louisiana Purchase and reach the Pacific
  • SacagaweaTerm or event
    Shoshone woman who guided and helped the Lewis and Clark expedition
  • Corps of DiscoveryTerm or event
    Name for the Lewis and Clark exploring group
  • Zebulon PikeTerm or event
    Army explorer who led an expedition in the Southwest and Rockies
  • Embargo Act (1807)Term or event
    Jefferson's ban on American trade with other countries
  • ImpressmentTerm or event
    British practice of taking sailors off American ships to serve in its navy
  • War HawksTerm or event
    Young Congress members who pushed for war with Britain in 1812
  • War of 1812Term or event
    War between the US and Britain, 1812 to 1815
  • TecumsehTerm or event
    Shawnee leader who built a Native alliance to resist settlers' expansion
  • Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)Term or event
    William Henry Harrison defeated Tecumseh's followers in Indiana
  • USS ConstitutionTerm or event
    Warship nicknamed Old Ironsides for its strong hull
  • Burning of Washington (1814)Term or event
    British troops set fire to the Capitol and White House
  • Francis Scott KeyTerm or event
    Wrote the words of The Star-Spangled Banner while watching Fort McHenry in 1814
  • Fort McHenryTerm or event
    Baltimore fort that withstood British bombardment in 1814
  • Dolley MadisonTerm or event
    First lady who saved a portrait of Washington when the White House burned
  • Treaty of Ghent (1814)Term or event
    Treaty that ended the War of 1812
  • Battle of New Orleans (1815)Term or event
    Andrew Jackson's victory, fought after the treaty was signed
  • Era of Good FeelingsTerm or event
    Period around 1817-1825 of national pride and one dominant party
  • James MonroeTerm or event
    Fifth president, 1817 to 1825
  • Monroe Doctrine (1823)Term or event
    Warned European powers not to colonize the Americas
  • Missouri Compromise (1820)Term or event
    Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state; set a line for slavery's spread
  • Erie Canal (1825)Term or event
    Canal linking the Hudson River to Lake Erie, speeding trade
  • Eli WhitneyTerm or event
    Invented the cotton gin in 1793
  • Cotton ginTerm or event
    Machine that quickly cleaned cotton seeds, which increased demand for enslaved labor
  • Industrial Revolution beginsTerm or event
    Early American factories, like Slater's mill in 1790, began making cloth
  • Lowell millsTerm or event
    Massachusetts textile factories that employed young women
  • SteamboatTerm or event
    Robert Fulton's Clermont made steam travel practical in 1807
  • Market revolutionTerm or event
    Growth of roads, canals and factories that tied farms to markets
  • Andrew JacksonTerm or event
    Seventh president, 1829 to 1837; champion of the 'common man'
  • Jacksonian democracyTerm or event
    Expansion of voting rights to most white men, regardless of wealth
  • Spoils systemTerm or event
    Giving government jobs to loyal supporters
  • Indian Removal Act (1830)Term or event
    Law that led to forcing Native nations from southeastern lands
  • Trail of TearsTerm or event
    Forced march of the Cherokee and other nations to Indian Territory in the 1830s
  • Worcester v. Georgia (1832)Term or event
    Supreme Court said states could not rule Cherokee land; Jackson did not enforce it
  • Nullification CrisisTerm or event
    South Carolina tried to cancel a federal tariff in 1832
  • John C. CalhounTerm or event
    South Carolinian who defended states' power to nullify federal laws
  • Second Great AwakeningTerm or event
    Religious revival of the early 1800s that inspired reform movements
  • AbolitionistTerm or event
    A person who wanted to end slavery
  • Frederick DouglassTerm or event
    Escaped from slavery and became a famed writer, speaker and abolitionist
  • William Lloyd GarrisonTerm or event
    Boston editor who published The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper
  • Seneca Falls Convention (1848)Term or event
    First women's rights convention, in New York
  • Underground RailroadTerm or event
    Secret network of people helping enslaved people reach freedom
  • Harriet TubmanTerm or event
    Escaped slavery and guided many others to freedom on the Underground Railroad
  • Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)Term or event
    Virginia uprising by enslaved people led by Nat Turner
  • Horace MannTerm or event
    Reformer who promoted free public schools
  • Dorothea DixTerm or event
    Reformer who worked to improve care for people with mental illness
  • SequoyahTerm or event
    Created the Cherokee writing system in the 1820s

Download this deck

Want paper cards? Paste the plain-text download into the flashcard maker.

More US History decks