Andrew Jackson general who defeated the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend in 1814 and the British at New Orleans in 1815; he later became the 7th president of the US

annuity allowance or income paid annually






Battle of Horseshoe Bend 1814 battle in which Tennessee militia massacred Creek Indians in Alabama, ending Red Stick resistance to white westward expansion

Battle of New Orlenas War of 1812 battle in which American troops commanded by Andrew Jackson destroyed the British force attempting to seize New Orleans

Battle of Tippecanoe 1811 battle near Prophetstown; American forces led by William Henry Harrison defeated the followers of the Shawnee Prophet and destroyed the town

Berlin Decree Napoleon’s order declaring the British Isles under blockade and authorizing the confiscation of British goods from any ship found carrying them

broadside the simultaneous discharge of all the guns on one side of a warship






concession something given up during diplomatic negotiations

cotton boll pod of the cotton plant; it contains the plant’s seeds surrounded by the fluffy fiber that is spun into yarn






discretionary powers powers to be used at one’s own judgment; in government, powers given to an administrative official to be used without outside consultation or oversight






Eli Whitney American inventor and manufacturer; his perfecting the cotton gin revolutionized the cotton industry

Embargo of 1808 government-ordered trade ban announced by Jefferson in 1807 in order to pressure Britain and France to accept neutral trading rights; it went into effect in 1808 and closed down all US foreign trade

Embargo of 1813 absolute embargo on all American trade and British troops

Essex Junto group of Federalists in Essex County, Massachusetts, who at first advocated constitutional changes that would favor New England politically and later called for New England and New York to secede from the US






flagship ship that carries the fleet commander and bears the commander’s flag

Francis Scott Key author of “The Star-Spangled Banner” which chronicles the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814; became the national anthem in 1931

frigate very fast warship, rigged with square sails and carrying from 30 to 50 cannon on two gun decks






gubernatorial of or relating to a governor






impressment procedure permitted under British maritime law that authorized commanders of warships to force English civilian sailors into military service






James Monroe Republican politician from Virginia who served in diplomatic posts under Washington, Adams, and Jefferson; he later became the 5th president of the US

Jean Laffite leader of a band of pirates in southeast Louisiana; he offered to fight for the Americans at New Orleans in return for the pardon of his men

John C. Calhoun South Carolina Congressman who was a leader of the War Hawks and the author of the official declaration of war in 1812

John Randolph Virginian republican politician who was a cousin of Thomas Jefferson; he believed in limited government and objected to several of Jefferson’s policies






long-staple cotton variety of cotton with long and loosely packed pods of fiber that is easy to comb out and process






Macon’s Bill No. 2 1810 law that offered exclusive trading rights to France or Britain, whichever recognized American neutral rights first

mechanize to substitute machinery for human labor

merchant marine nation’s commercial ships

Milan Decree Napoleon’s order authorizing the capture of any neutral vessels sailing from British ports or submitting to British searches

mortar portable, muzzle-loading cannon that fires large projectiles at high trajectories over a short range; traditionally used by mobile troops against fixed fortifications






Non-Intercourse Act law passed by Congress in 1809 reopening trade with all nations except France and Britain and authorizing the president to reopen trade with them if they lifted restrictions on American shipping






Old Ironsides nickname of the USS Constitution, the 44-gun American frigate whose victory over the Guerrière bolstered sagging national morale during the War of 1812

Old Northwest area of the US referred to at the time as the Northwest territory, it would eventually be broken into the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin

Oliver Hazard Perry American naval officer who led the fleet that defeated the British in the Battle of Put-in-Bay during the War of 1812






party caucus meeting of members of a political party to decide on questions of policy or leadership or to register preferences for candidates running for office

patent a government grant that gives the creator of an invention the sole right to produce, use, or sell that invention for a set period of time






re-exports products shipped from one nation to another by way of a third; during wartime neutral nations can be used as third parties to carry goods to combatants






secede to withdraw formally for membership in a political union

short-staple cotton variety of cotton with short and tightly packed pods of fiber in which the plant’s seeds are tangled

subpoena writ, or order, requiring an individual to appear in court to give testimony






Tecumseh Shawnee leader and brother of the Prophet; he established an Indian confederacy along the frontier that he hoped would be a barrier to white expansion

Tertium Quid Republican faction formed by John Randolph to protect against Jefferson’s plan for acquiring Florida from Spain

The Prophet Shawnee religious visionary who called for a return to Indian traditions and founded the community of Prophetstown on Tippecanoe Creek in Indiana

Treaty of Ghent 1814 treaty ending the War of 1812; it restored peace but was silent on the issues over which the US and Britain had gone to war






vicissitudes sudden or unexpected changes encountered during the course of life






War Hawks members of Congress elected in 1810 from the West and South who campaigned for war with Britain in the hopes of stimulating the economy and annexing new territory






Yazoo affair corrupt deal in which the Georgia legislature sold a huge tract of public land to speculators for a low price but later overturned the sale; the basis for the Supreme Court case of Fletcher v. Peck, which in 1810 supported Jefferson’s position favoring compensation and helped established the sanctity of civil contracts over state legislation