constitutional authority in banning slavery from the territories. By
declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, and making
future compromises even more difficult, the decision pushed the
nation closer to civil war.
Electoral College (p. 148) An assembly of delegates represent-
ing each of the states who choose the president of the United
States. This mechanism, established by the U.S. Constitution,
was regarded as less volatile than allowing voters to elect the
president directly.
Emancipation Proclamation (p. 384) A decree by President
Abraham Lincoln that freed all slaves in Confederate states that
remained in active rebellion on January 1, 1863, when the procla-
mation went into effect.
Embargo Act (p. 189) A law passed by Congress in 1807 pro-
hibiting all American exports. President Thomas Jefferson, who
proposed the law, sought to pressure Britain and France—then at
war with each other—into recognizing neutral rights.
encomiendasystem (p. 22) A feudal labor arrangement, imposed
in the Spanish colonies of the Americas, by which Spanish settlers
were granted a certain number of Indian subjects who were
obliged to pay tribute in goods and labor.
Enlightenment (p. 88) An intellectual movement of the eigh-
teenth century that celebrated human reason and scientific advances
and expressed doubts about the truth claims of sacred texts.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (p. 788) A federal
agency created in 1970 to oversee environmental monitoring and
cleanup programs.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) (p. 827) A proposed amend-
ment to the U.S. Constitution to outlaw discrimination on the
basis of sex. Although first proposed in 1923, the amendment was
not passed by Congress until 1972; but the ratification movement
fell short and the ERA was not added to the Constitution.
Era of Good Feelings (p. 209) A period from 1817 to 1823 in
which the disappearance of the Federalistsenabled the Republicans
to govern in a spirit of seemingly nonpartisan harmony.
Espionage Act (p. 623) A law passed in 1917 that made it a
crime to obstruct the nation’s effort to win World War I.
Fair Deal (p. 744) President Harry Truman’s 1949 program for
expanded economic opportunity and civil rights.
Farewell Address (p. 163) President Washington’s influential
1796 speech in which he deplored the rise of political factions and
warned against “permanent alliances” with foreign nations.
Federal Reserve Act (p. 576) A 1913 law establishing a Federal
Reserve Board, which controlled the rediscount rate and thus the
money supply; this helped regularize the national banking system.
Federalist Papers(p. 153) A series of essays, chiefly written by
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, explaining
and defending the national government proposed by the
Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Federalists (p. 149) Advocates of a strong national government;
they supported ratification of the Constitution and subsequently
supported measures to expand federal revenues and functions.
Fifteenth Amendment (p. 414) An amendment (1870), champi-
oned by the Republican party, that sought to guarantee the vote
to blacks in the South following the Civil War.electoral victory; but opposition by President William Clinton, a
Democrat, prevented passage of much of the contract’s legisla-
tive agenda.
Copperheads (p. 378) Term that initially applied to northern
Democrats who resisted Republican war measures and advocated
negotiation with the Confederacy. Later in the Civil War, the term
became tantamount to an accusation of treason against the Union.
Crittenden Compromise (p. 367) Legislation proposed by
Kentucky Senator John Crittenden during the Secession Crisis in
1860–1861. It called for a constitutional amendment recogniz-
ing slavery in all territory south of 36°30' (the “Missouri
Compromise line”) and an ironclad amendment guaranteeing
slavery in slave states. President-elect Lincoln and the
Republicans rejected the proposals.
crop-lien system (p. 420) Asystem of agriculture in which local
landowners and merchants loaned money to farm workers in
return for a portion of the harvest of cash crops. By forcing farmers
to plant cash crops, the system discouraged diversified agriculture
in the South.
Cuban missile crisis (p. 768) The showdown between the
United States and the Soviet Union during October 1962, after
the Soviet Union had sneaked medium-range nuclear missiles into
communist Cuba. After President John F. Kennedy publicly
demanded their removal and ordered the blockade of Cuba, Soviet
leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to do so, averting a nuclear war.
Cult of True Womanhood (p. 271) An ideal of middle-class
womanhood in the early nineteenth century that asserted that
women were naturally pious, pure, and submissive; exemplars of
Christian precepts; and best-suited to supervise the moral develop-
ment of the family.
D-Day (p. 724) June 6, 1944, the day Allied troops crossed the
English Channel, landed on the coast of Normandy, and opened a
second front in Western Europe during World War II. The “D”
stands for “disembarkation”—to leave a ship and go ashore.
Dartmouth College v. Woodward(p. 242) The 1819 Supreme
Court case that held that a state charter—in this case, to
Dartmouth College—was a contract and that contracts could not
be canceled or altered without the consent of both parties, a ruling
that strengthened corporations and encouraged investment.
Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 (p. 441) An 1887 law terminating
tribal ownership of land and allotting some parcels of land to indi-
vidual Indians with the remainder of the land left open for white
settlement. It included provisions for Indian education and even-
tual citizenship. The law led to corruption, exploitation, and the
weakening of Indian tribal culture. It was reversed in 1934.
détente (p. 786) A French term, meaning the relaxation of tensions,
applied to an easing of Cold War antagonisms during the 1970s.
Under President Richard Nixon and foreign affairs adviser Henry
Kissinger, détente was a strategy to allow the United States to
weaken the bonds between the Soviet Union and communist China.
dollar diplomacy (p. 605) A policy of President William Taft to
promote American economic penetration to underdeveloped
nations, especially in Latin America; it sought to strengthen
American influence without requiring the presence of U.S. troops.
Dred Scott decision (p. 358) The 1857 Supreme Court ruling
that held that blacks were not citizens and could not sue in a fed-
eral court, and, most important, that Congress had exceeded its
Glossary G3