| camp meeting | A staple of the Second Great Awakening, camp meetings were fervent revivals lasting several days and characterized by great outpourings of religious emotion.
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| deism | Religious philosophy rooted in the Enlightenment. Deists accepted the existence of God, but they considered Him a remote building who, after having created the universe, had withdrawn from direct involvement with the human race and its sins.
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| embargo | An act that prohibits ships from entering or leaving a nation's ports.
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| impeachment | The bringing of charges against a governmental official by the House of Representatives. Removal from office cannot come from impeachment alone. A trial must be held in the Senate, and on conviction there, the offender may be removed from his or her post.
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| Jeffersonian democracy | Not actually a democrat, in the classic sense of the word, Jefferson believed that the masses were capable of selecting their own representatives and, if properly educated and informed, would select the best and the wisest to govern. Once these were chosen, however, this "natural aristocracy" should be allowed to govern without interference from those who selected them. Only when they stood again for election would these representatives be called on to explain their actions.
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| judicial review | The power of a court to review a law, compare it with the Constitution, and rule on whether it does or does not conform to the principles of the Constitution--whether it is constitutional or unconstitutional. Judicial review began in the United States after Justice Marshall’s decision in Marbury v. Madison.
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| patronage | The control of political appointments assumed by the victors in an election--the "spoils" of victory, which the victors hand out as rewards to their followers; hence the practice became known as the "spoils system."
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