Key Terms

American System

the program of federally sponsored roads and canals, protective tariffs, and a national bank advocated by Henry Clay and enacted by President Adams

code of deference

the practice of showing respect for individuals who had distinguished themselves through accomplishments or birth

corrupt bargain

the term that Andrew Jackson’s supporters applied to John Quincy Adams’s 1824 election, which had occurred through the machinations of Henry Clay in the U.S. House of Representatives

Five Civilized Tribes

the five tribes—Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw—who had most thoroughly adopted Anglo-American culture; they also happened to be the tribes that were believed to stand in the way of western settlement in the South

Kitchen Cabinet

a nickname for Andrew Jackson’s informal group of loyal advisers

log cabin campaign

the 1840 election, in which the Whigs painted William Henry Harrison as a man of the people

monster bank

the term Democratic opponents used to denounce the Second Bank of the United States as an emblem of special privilege and big government

nullification

the theory, advocated in response to the Tariff of 1828, that states could void federal law at their discretion

rotation in office

originally, simply the system of having term limits on political appointments; in the Jackson era, this came to mean the replacement of officials with party loyalists

second party system

the system in which the Democratic and Whig Parties were the two main political parties after the decline of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican Parties

spoils system

the political system of rewarding friends and supporters with political appointments

Tariff of Abominations

a federal tariff introduced in 1828 that placed a high duty on imported goods in order to help American manufacturers, which southerners viewed as unfair and harmful to their region

Trail of Tears

the route of the forced removal of the Cherokee and other tribes from the southeastern United States to the territory that is now Oklahoma

tyranny of the majority

Alexis de Tocqueville’s phrase warning of the dangers of American democracy

universal manhood suffrage

voting rights for all male adults

Whigs

a political party that emerged in the early 1830s to oppose what members saw as President Andrew Jackson’s abuses of power