Jacksonian Era Vocabulary Terms

1. Andrew Jackson 7th president of the U.S. who claimed to be the “champion of the common man”; responsible for the handling of the Nullification Crisis, Trail of Tears, and closing of the National Bank

“Old Hickory” 2. nickname for Andrew Jackson because he was considered to be as tough as a hickory stick

spoils system 3. political term for when a winning candidate gives his supporters jobs in the government

nullification 4. the idea of a state declaring a federal law illegal (nullify = to cancel)

Nullification Crisis 5. time in which South Carolina refused to pay tariffs and threatened to secede; resulted in a standoff with President Jackson, who threatened to send in the military; was resolved by compromise

For a state to break away from the United States (leave the Union) secede 6. For a state to break away from the United States (leave the Union)

states’ rights 7. rights and powers separate from the federal government and reserved for the states by the Constitution; the belief that the rights of the state should be more powerful than federal rights and laws

Worchester v. Georgia 8. Supreme Court decision in which the Cherokee Indians sued and won the right to keep their land in Georgia; ignored by President Jackson

Trail of Tears 9. forced relocation of several Indian tribes, most notably the Cherokee, to lands west of the Mississippi River (now Oklahoma)

when the president refuses to sign a bill so it won’t become a law veto 10. when the president refuses to sign a bill so it won’t become a law

to give up territory or power cede 11. to give up territory or power