AP US History Unit 4 Cheatsheet: American Expansion, 1800-1848

Suffrage shift: Property ownership → most adult white men (some states kept taxpaying requirements; RI held out until 1842)

• Expanded participatory democracy early 1800s
• Growth of organized political parties

Party debates centered on:

• Tariff policy
• Federal government power
• Relations with European powers

By 1820s–1830s:

• Democrats (Andrew Jackson): limited federal power
• Whigs (Henry Clay): national bank, tariffs, internal improvements

Judicial primacy: Supreme Court established itself as final arbiter of Constitution; federal law supersedes state law.

Causes of Awakening:

• Democratic and individualistic beliefs
• Response to rationalism
• Market revolution disruptions
• Greater social and geographical mobility

Influence: Inspired moral and social reforms; utopian and religious movements.

Reform organizations: Voluntary associations aimed to change individual behavior and improve society.

Major reform movements:

• Temperance: Reduce alcohol consumption
• Abolition: End slavery (North); limited success in South
• Women's rights: Seneca Falls Convention; sought equality and opportunities

Regional trumps national: Political leaders' positions on slavery and economic policy driven by regional interests, not unified national vision.

American System debate: Henry Clay's plan for national economic unity (tariffs, internal improvements, national bank) generated conflict.

• North favored manufacturing protection
• South opposed tariffs; relied on free trade
• West wanted federal infrastructure investment

Missouri Compromise (1820): Temporary solution—admitted Missouri as a slave state, Maine as a free state; banned slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase territory north of 36°30′ (Missouri itself excepted).

Limitation: Compromises only temporarily stemmed growing slavery tensions; fundamental conflict unresolved.