Glossary

Anti-Masonic party

The first political movement to win a widespread popular following by attacking a privileged group or institution that had used political influence to attain power or profit.

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

Together with Worcester v. Georgia, this Supreme Court decision asserted that states could not pass laws conflicting with federal Indian treaties and that the federal government had an obligation to exclude white intruders from Indian lands.

corrupt bargain

This term refers to the charge made by the Philadelphia Observer that John Quincy Adams had made a secret deal with Henry Clay to win the presidential election of 1824.

nullification doctrine

In response to the Tariff of Abominations, John C. Calhoun anonymously published an essay expressing the principle that a single state could overrule or "nullify" a federal law within its own territory, until three-quarters of the states had upheld t he law constitutional.

quitrent

A share of the proceeds from the sale of any farm paid by tenant farmers to landlords and land companies under the old system of land tenure in New York.

Specie Circular

As part of his crusade to replace all bank notes with hard money, Andrew Jackson in 1836 issued the Specie Circular, which prohibited payment for public lands in anything but gold or silver.

spoils system

This term refers to Andrew Jackson's theory that public offices should be rotated among party supporters in order to help the nation achieve its republican ideals.

Tariff of Abominations

A tariff bill framed by Andrew Jackson's supporters in Congress who hoped to embarrass President John Quincy Adams and help Jackson win the election of 1828.

Trail of Tears

Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy was known to many Native Americans as the Trail of Tears because thousands of those who set out on the trek to the West died of malnutrition, exposure, and disease.

Virginia dynasty

The term referring to the chain of presidencies that had begun with George Washington and included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, all from Virginia. It came to an end in 1824.

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