U.S. History 1
Study Guide
Third Test
“Manifest Destiny” – Phrase first used in 1845 to urge annexation of Texas;
used thereafter to encourage American settlement of European colonial and
Indian lands in the Great Plains and the West and, more generally, as a
justification for American empire.
The Cotton Gin – Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, the machine separated
cotton seed from cotton fiber, speeding cotton processing and making
profitable the cultivation of the more hardy, but difficult to clean, short-
staple cotton; led directly to the dramatic 19th century expansion of slavery
in the South.
Ralph Waldo Emerson – One of the most prominent members of a group of
New England intellectuals known as the transcendentalists, who insisted on
the primacy of individual judgment over existing social traditions and
institutions. Wrote, The American Scholar.
The Second Great Awakening – Religious revival movement of the early
decades of the 19th century, in reaction to the growth of secularism and
rationalist religion; began the predominance of the Baptist and Methodist
churches.
Alexis de Tocqueville – French political thinker and historian best known for
his Democracy in American and The Old Regime and the Revolution where
he analyzed the rising living standards and social conditions of indiiduals and
their relationship to the market and state in Western societies.
“slave coffles” – A line of slaves chained together and driven along
The Force Act of 1833 – Act passed by Congress in 1833 authorizing
President Andrew Jackson to use military force to override South Carolina’s
Ordinance of Nullification.
The American System – Blueprint proposed by President James Madison for
the government promoted economic development promoting manufacturing
in addition to agriculture to become fully economically independent of
Britain.
“like a fire bell in the night” – Quote by Thomas Jefferson in reference to the
compromise line regarding slavery that he believed would eventually lead to
the destruction of the Union. “…but this momentous question, like a fire bell
in the night, awakened and filled me with terror.”
