Glossary

Adams-Onis Treaty

The 1819 treaty between the United States and Spain by which Spain ceded Florida and relinquished its claim to Oregon. The United States agreed to honor $5 million in damage claims by Americans against Spain, and it temporarily renounced its claims to Texas.

American System

An economic program advanced by Henry Clay, who as Speaker of the House favored high protective tariffs that would stimulate American manufacturing and finance internal improvements.

Daniel Webster

Webster, along with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, was one of the preeminent leaders of the second generation of American political life - the period extending from the War of 1812 to almost the eve of the Civil War.

Era of Good Feelings

The term used by contemporaries to describe the period of nationalism and economic growth that followed the War of 1812 and lasted until 1825.

Fletcher v. Peck

This Supreme Court decision (1810) strengthened the concept of national supremacy and expanded the power of the Supreme Court by declaring that it had the power to void state laws.

Gibbons v. Ogden

This Supreme Court decision (1824) encouraged economic competition and development and also broadened federal power over interstate commerce by declaring that the Constitution had specifically given Congress the power to regulate commerce.

McCulloch v. Maryland

This Supreme Court decision (1819) established the constitutionality of the second Bank of the United States and denied to states the right to exert independent checks on federal authority.

neo-Hamiltonianism

The program of nationalist economic policies advocated by James Madison at the end of the War of 1812. The program included a national bank, a protective tariff, internal improvements, and a standing army - all of which had been proposed by Alexander Hamilton in the 1790s.

Robert Fulton

Fulton demonstrated the commercial practicality of steam navigation in 1807, when he sailed a side-wheeler, the Clermont, from New York City to Albany in only 32 hours.

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