Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Vocabulary Part 2

A continuation of my vocab list:

Election of 1836- Jacksonian Democrats face the opposition of the Whigs party (those who support the national bank, nullies, Anti-Masonians, large industrialists)
Van Buren takes victory as Jackson’s successor, even though he was soon seen as a disappointment by his own party

Divorce Bill- Van Buren establishes an independent treasury and locks all surplus federal money in big city banks
Upsets the Democrats who favored pet banks and the Whigs who favored the national bank

Election of 1840- ‘hoopla’ campaign between Van Buren and Harrison (no platforms, just sabotage)
Harrison's victory 

Nativism- the prejudice of Americans towards immigrants (particularly the Germans and the Irish); caused by the fear or being outvoted and wage depression

48ers- German refugees from the Revolutions of 1848; seeking religious freedom and democracy

Cotton gin- invented by Eli Whitney; machine to separate the seed from the cotton fiber, increasing efficiency and profit
Revived slavery in the South

Commonwealth v. Hunt- allows labor unions that have peaceful intentions

McCormick- invents the mechanical mower-reaper, increasing the efficiency of granaries in the West
Allows for the transition from subsistence farming to the production of grain for the market

Lancaster Turnpike- highway that stimulated Western development

Steamboats- invented by Fulton; doubled the capacity of rivers, allowed for inexpensive shipping of manufactured goods

Erie Canal- connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River of New York
Cut the time and price of shipping, created an industry boom along the route

Continental Economy- a term used to describe the division of labor within the U.S.
Southern states provide cotton, West provides grain and livestock, East provides machines and textiles
Shipping allowed by new modes of transportation

Deism- originated in the Age of Reason; believed in Unitarianism and the free will of man 

Second Great Awakening- a renewal of spiritual fervor in which many converted, new Protestant sects were developed, and the call for humanitarian reforms was heightened

Brigham Young- head of Mormon theocratic commonwealth in Utah

American Temperance Society 1826- led in the cause against the American drinking problem (which lessened the efficiency of labor and ruined the sanctity of homes)
Sought to stiffen the will of the individual to resist alcohol

Women’s Rights Convention 1848- feminists issue the Declaration of Sentiments which demands women's suffrage

Oneida Community- utopian experiment that forbade private property and encouraged complex marriage
Able to make its living through its production of steel animal tracks

Transcendentalism- truth ‘transcends’ and cannot be found through observation alone
Encouraged individualism in social and religious matters; supported humanitarian reforms

I hope this helps!


5 comments:

  1. Thanks Annie, this is super useful! I'd like to just elaborate on your statement that Van Buren was seen as a disappointment by his own party. Part of this feeling of disappointment was inevitable from the start, for Van Buren inherited some of the failures of Jackson. Jackson's removal of federal money from the National Bank and issuing of the Species Circular, which required payment for government land to be in gold or silver, led to the Panic of 1837. By this time, Van Buren was president, and ended up having to take the fall for Jackson's actions. Although Van Buren may have made some poor choices during his presidency, it's important to remember that one of the initial causes of the feeling of disappointment toward him was something he had already been condemned to inherit.

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  2. You mentioned the German people that came to America (48ers) and while not exactly a vocab concept, I thought it was very interesting that their effects on American society deeply contrasted with that of the Irish who came because of the potato famine. I would not have immediately thought realized it, but in the textbook it mentioned that the Germans coming over were the ones who had been disappointed by the failed democracy, and thus were the kinds of people who had private property and money, the kind of people who would want a democracy. It is just an interesting thing to ponder.

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  3. Building more on what Rebecca said, I think it's interesting to note how the Irish suffered discrimination when they arrived in the United States. This was because the Irish depressed wages on low-class jobs in urban areas (obviously, this still does not make the discrimination okay). It took a generation for the Irish to make their way into middle class society and politics The Germans, on the other hand, came in a much better state, as they were not escaping famine, but rather looking for democracy. The Germans did not seem to suffer from as much discrimination, and it seems as if they entered a "higher" level of society at first, unlike the Irish.

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  4. These are really good it helped me realize a few things that I did not understand. My biggest question would be is the Erie canal an economic thing or was it also used for travel???

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  5. @Annie Gaffney
    Thanks for this post Annie, it really sums up the unit and I will definitely print these out and use them to study for the final and AP exam. I also think it would be good to make a timeline of events as well as a vocab list, although I'm sure you have put the items in chronological order.

    @Sam Sauerhaft
    I actually do not think that the German's were discriminated against any less and in the textbook it refers to the Irish and the Germans as unit implying that they were treated similarly. However, I also believe that the Americans respected the Germans more because we have a lot in common with their language and philosophy. Transcendentalism is an evolved form of German Romanticism and during the immigration of Germans transcendentalism began to emerge. Perhaps growing liberties in literature and religion influenced citizens to accept the Germans.

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