| Habeas Corpus | Constitutional guarantee of a day in court for arrested persons. Lincoln suspended it during the Civil War in areas where Southern sympathizers were disrupting the Northern war effort. |
| Nathan Hale | American
patriot who was hanged for treason by the British on
September 22, 1776. He had served in the militia in the
early days of the war and volunteered for surveillance
activity. Undercover as a Dutch schoolmaster, he got
information on British troop movements and was headed to the
American side of the line when he was captured. When asked
by the executioner if he had any last words, Hale had this
to say: "I only regret I have but one life to lose for my
country." |
| Henry Halleck | Mexican-American War veteran and Union general ("Old Brains") who commanded first the Western department and then all the Union armies. In 1864, he was named chief of staff, a secretarial office. Like General George McClellan, he was known for deliberate action and fighting by the book. |
| Alexander Hamilton | First
Secretary of Treasury, under George Washington. His ideas
about government were at the heart of the republican form of
government we now have, and his economic theories form the
basis of our economy still. Along with James Madison and
John Jay, he wrote The Federalist Papersem>, letters to New
York newspapers designed to convince the people in that
state to ratify the Constitution. He was a leader of the new
Federalist Party, along with John Adams. His politics
brought him into conflict with Thomas Jefferson, who was a
leader of the new Democratic-Republican Party. Hamilton was
killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. |
| Hannibal Hamlin | Former governor of and Representative and Senator from Maine and Lincoln's first vice-president. A strong opponent of slavery, he left the Democratic Party in 1856 and helped form the Republican Party. He was not considered for re-election because Lincoln wanted a Democrat on the ticket. |
| Hampton Roads | Site of many important Civil War events, including the battle of the ironclads, the Monitor and Merrimack; the land-based beginning of McClellan's Peninsular Campaign; and a diplomatic conference aimed at ending the war (attended by Lincoln and War Secretary Edwin Stanton for the Union and Vice-President Alexander Stephens, President Pro Tem of the Senate R.M.T. Hunter of Virginia, and Judge John A. Campbell of Alabama for the Confederacy). |
| John Hancock | Signer of the
Declaration of Independence who was also a wealthy
Massachusetts merchant who liked to defy the British
authorities. He was also president of the Continental
Congress and governor of Massachusetts. His main
contribution, however, to the American Revolution was using
his fortune to help finance the struggle. |
| Harpers Ferry | Federal arsenal seized by John Brown in 1859 with the intent of arming slaves and Stonewall Jackson in 1862 just before the Battle of Antietam. |
| William Henry Harrison | Ninth
president of the United States. Early in his career, he
became famous for his military successes, including fighting
with General "Mad" Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen
Timbers and defeating the Shawnee at the Battle of
Tippecanoe (while territorial governor of Indiana). He also
fought in the War of 1812, taking part in the American
victory at the Battle of the Thames River. He served in the
Ohio Senate and the U.S. Senate, then joined the new Whig
Party and got elected president in 1840. On the day he was
inaugurated, Harrison gave one of the longest inaugural
addresses in history. He did this in the rain, got
pneumonia, and died a month later. His term as president: 30
days. His vice-president, John Tyler, succeeded him. |
| Patrick Henry | Fiery orator
and tireless champion of American independence who is best
known for his speech ending with, "Give me liberty, or give
me death!" He was an outspoken critic of the Stamp Act and
introduced seven resolutions against it to the Virginia
House of Burgesses. He was the first governor of Virginia
and led the fight for the adoption of the Bill of
Rights. |
| Hessians | German
soldiers loyal to King George III who fought for Britain in
the Revolutionary War. King George was from Hanover, an area
in Germany, and called in a favor to his homeland, asking
for soldiers willing to fight in the New World. The Hessians
numbered almost 30,000, and they fought mostly in the
Northern Campaign. They are most famous, however, for being
surprised and defeated at Trenton by American forces under
General George Washington, whose army had just crossed the
Delaware River in the dead of night on Dec. 25, 1776. |
| Homestead Act | Passed by Congress in May, 1862. The act gave anyone over 21, head of a family and a U.S. citizen the right to claim 160 acres of public land provided he live on and improve the land or pay $1.25 per acre. The territory available was in western states recently admitted to the Union. This act set off a large movement westward. |
| John B. Hood | Confederate general who fought as a brigade and division commander with General Robert E. Lee at Bull Run, Antietam and Gettysburg and with General Braxton Bragg at Chickamauga. He fought Union General William T. Sherman at Atlanta but was forced to withdraw. |
| Joseph Hooker | Mexican War veteran and Union general who led the Army of the Potomac to the disastrous defeat at Chancellorsville. He had previously fought at Seven Days, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. After the disgrace at Chancellorsville, he finished out his career in the Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns. |
| Horseshoe Bend | Battle that
took place on March 27, 1814, near Daviston, Alabama.
American troops under General Andrew Jackson defeated a
smaller force of Upper Creek or Red Stick Native American
warriors. This was the final battle of the Creek War, which
is considered part of the War of 1812. |
| House of Burgesses | First
representative government group in the American colonies.
Famous delegates include Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson,
and George Washington. The House of Burgesses met for the first time at Jamestown. It was July 30, 1619. |
| Sam Houston | First
president of the Republic of Texas. He had gained fame as a
soldier in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (during the War of
1812). He served in Congress and as governor of Tennessee.
When Texas declared itself independent from Mexico in 1836,
it named Houston as its president. Houston later became
represented Texas in the Senate and became governor. |
| William Howe | British
general who commanded troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill
and replaced General Thomas Gage as commander of British
troops in America in October 1775, when Gage was called home
to Britain. Howe commanded the British to victory in the
Battles of Brooklyn and Brandywine and managed to escape
with most of his army intact from the trap set for him at
Germantown. His decision to go to Philadelphia, not Albany,
doomed General John Burgoyne's grand plan for the occupation
of New York, leading to the British surrender at Saratoga
(and the entrance of France into the war). In May 1778, Howe
was replaced by General Henry Clinton and returned to
Britain. |
| William Hull | Hull was a
Revolutionary War hero, having fought in battles at Trenton,
Princeton, and Saratoga. He was also governor of Michigan
Territory during the War of 1812. He tried to invade Canada
but failed miserably. The British responded by attacking
Detroit, which Hull had to surrender in August 1812. He
became a symbol of American failure in battle and was
sentenced to death but was pardoned by President James
Madison. |
| Impressment | Forced "recruitment" of sailors into the British Navy. The British Empire was so large by the late 18th Century that the number of sailors needed to staff the ships that sailed around the world was not nearly enough. As a result, the British government decided to "supplement" the Navy with kidnappees. These included Americans, kidnapped from American ships and coastal cities and forced to serve aboard British ships. Nearly 6,000 Americans were impressed in the early 1800s, when Great Britain was at war with Emperor Napoleon of France. Naturally, Americans were outraged about this practice. It finally ended in 1815, with signing of the Treaty of Paris that ended the War of 1812. |
| Industrial Revolution | Period in
American (and world) history in which society moved to a
focus on machines, factories, and industry. Populations in
northern America, especially, built large factories and
large machines to do things people used to do by
hand. |
| Intolerable Acts | Series of
laws sponsored by British Prime Minister Lord North and
enacted in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party. |
| Andrew Jackson | Seventh
president, served two terms. Known as "Old Hickory." Hero of
War of 1812, including the Battle of New Orleans. First
person elected to House of Representatives from new state of
Tennessee. First president elected from new Democratic
Party. Wanted to make government more representative.
Declared war on the Bank of the United States. Upheld power
of federal government during the Nullification Crisis, some
states' attempt to avoid paying a protective tariff. |
| Stonewall Jackson | Mexican War veteran, former Virginia Military Institute professor and Confederate general who earned his nickname at Bull Run and earned his reputation by grabbing success from the jaws of defeat time and again. Confederate commander Robert E. Lee called Jackson his ablest commander. His Shenandoah Valley campaign played a part in ending General George McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. He seized Harpers Ferry and then fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. It was this last battle that cost him life. He was shot by his own troops and died eight days later. |
| Thomas Jefferson | Third
president of the United States, serving two terms. He was
also vice-president under John Adams. He wrote the
Declaration of Independence. He was a minister to France and
later kept his country out of wars with England and France.
Jefferson, along with James Madison, was a leader of the new
Democratic-Republican Party. His politics brought him into
conflict with Adams and Alexander Hamilton, who were the
leaders of the new Federalist Party. Jefferson made the
Louisiana Purchase and sent Meriwether Lewis and James Clark
on their famous visit to the Pacific Ocean. In his personal
life, he was a successful inventor, inventing among other
things a swivel chair and a wheel cipher, which could be
used to send or read coded messages. He also had many
interesting inventions at his home, Monticello. |
| Andrew Johnson | Lincoln's second vice-president, president in his own right after Lincoln was killed, and first president ever to be impeached. He began his career in the Tennessee state legislature and moved on to both houses of Congress and also served as governor of Tennessee and, during the Civil War, as military governor. His Reconstruction policies had the Lincoln framework, but Congressional leaders wanted policies that were more militant and unforgiving. Many Reconstruction bills were passed over Johnson's veto, including the Tenure of Office Act, a dispute over which ultimately led to Johnson's impeachment and trial. |
| Jamestown | First English
colony in America to survive and become permanent. It was
settled in 1607 and supported itself through tobacco
farming. It was later the capital of Virginia and the site
of the House of Burgesses. |
| John Jay | President of
the Continental Congress, Minister to Spain, author of the
Treaty of Paris, the first Chief Justice of the U.S., and
governor of New York. He also wrote the New York
constitution and wrote several of The Federalist
Papers. |
| Joseph Johnston | former quartermaster general of the U.S. Army and Confederate general in command of the Virginia army at the First Battle of Bull Run. He later tried to relieve the siege at Vicksburg and forced Union General William T. Sherman to chase him to Atlanta. |
| John Paul Jones | American
naval hero famous for captaining the Bonhomme Richard
and uttering the phrase, "I have not yet begun to fight." He
was born in Scotland and later moved to Virginia. He began
fighting British ships in 1775, winning some flashy
victories. In 1777, he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to
France in order to refit his ship. From there, he sailed
north to Britain and fought several battles there. One of
these battles was against the Serapis and was the
occasion on which Jones said his famous words. In fact,
Jones was fighting against two faster ships at the time (the
other one being the Countess of Scarborough). The
Bonhomme Richard had 42 guns; the two British ships
combined had 72 guns. Yet Jones outwitted the two captains
and claimed victory. In 1781, he was given command of a new
ship, but it never sailed. |
| Judiciary Act | 1789 law that
created the Judicial Branch of the federal government. Among
the things provided for in the Act:
- the
number of members of the Supreme Court (6)
- the
number of lower district courts (13)
- the
idea that the Supreme Court can settle disputes between
states
- the
idea that a decision by the Supreme Court is
final.
|
