AP US History Test 2024-2025

maize

Influential crop in Native agriculture, fed large populations, and accounted for the size and sophistication of Indian civilizations in Mexico and South America; also known as corn

Cahokia

Located near present-day St. Louis, it was the most sophisticated Native American civilization in what is now the United States; it expanded over 2000 acres and featured mounds built for protection

three-sister farming

Native American agricultural method that included growing beans, maize, and squash together which was more effective that planting them separately

Portuguese exploration

Because of navigation technology and the development of the caravel, they were the first Europeans to travel down the coast and round the Cape of Good Hope in finding a water route to Asia; ex. Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama

Ferdinand and Isabella

Spanish monarchs at the height of their power after defeating the Moors; wanted to compete economically with other European powers; sent Columbus and other conquistadors to the new world for land claims and gold

Christopher Columbus

Received financial support from Isabella and Ferdinand to search for a western route to Asia; landed in the Bahamas believing he was in the East Indies so he erroneously called the natives "indians"; historians have debated whether he was a hero or a self-promoter that just exploited an opportunity

Treaty of Tordesillas

Moved line of demarcation established by the Pope a little to the west; split the New World to prevent conflict and established Portugal's claim to Brazil

Columbian Exchange

the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, disease, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World; initiated by the Columbus expeditions to the New World; this transfer of goods arguably changed the world more than any other

triangle trade

Trade route between Europe, Africa and the Americas that resulted in the exchange of slaves, sugar, tobacco, textiles, and rum

conquistadors

Spanish explorers & conquerors with a reputation of hostility towards the native Americans (examples: Columbus, Cortes, Pizarro, Coronado, de Soto)

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador that conquered Aztecs in Mexico

Montezuma

Powerful emperor of the Aztecs; helped establish an impressive empire in Tenochtitlan

encomienda system

The Spanish government gave land grants and natives to individual Spaniards; the natives worked in a system of labor for the Spanish in exchange for protection and converting to Christianity

Pueblo Revolt

A violent attack against the Spanish in the North American southwest led by Native American leader Pope'; in response to the encomienda system; was considered to be successful in that it resulted in less harsh treatment

caste system

A racial status system that was put in place by the Spanish to claim superiority by placing those with the most Spanish blood at the top

Salem Witch Trials

1629 outbreak of accusations in a Puritan village marked by an atmosphere of fear, hysteria, and unfounded accusations in courts with Puritan ministers who served as judges; 19 women were executed

Roger Williams

A dissenter who clashed with the Massachusetts Puritans over separation of church and state and was banished in 1636, after which he founded the colony of Rhode Island to the south

Jonathan Edwards

A leading minister during the Great Awakening, he delivered the famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" promising that evildoers would pay a price on judgment day

Half-Way Covenant

Allowed partial membership rights to persons not yet converted into the Puritan church; it lessened the difference between the "elect" members of the church from the regular members

Enlightenment

Also known as the Age of Reason; an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith; led to political ideas in liberty, equality, and justice

Quakers

Also known as the Religious Society of Friends; a religious group who believed people have an "inner light"; because of the persecution against them, Pennsylvania was created as a refuge

Bacon's Rebellion

A militia of disgruntled former indentured servants raided Jamestown, burned buildings, and forced the governor to flee; rebelled because Governor Berkeley refused to send in the military to help with the violence in the Virginia backcountry between the colonists and the Native Americans

Separatists

A religious group who wanted to leave the Church of England; came to America for religious freedom

John Smith

At the age of 27, he took control in Jamestown; he organized the colony; coined the phrase "he who shall not work, shall not eat"; he also initiated attacks on Natives which eventually led to his kidnapping

Plymouth

English colony founded by Puritans (Pilgrims) who traveled on the Mayflower; established the colony mainly for religious reasons; led by William Bradford

House of Burgesses

Established in 1619 in Virginia, it was the first representative assembly in the English colonies; it was short-lived however and dissolved when the king made Virginia a royal colony

George Whitefield

Great Awakening evangelical preacher with a booming voice to traveled through the colonies teaching "old light" ideals; he preached in barns, fields, and camp meetings converting hundreds of people

John Calvin

He elaborated on Martin Luther's ideas about the Catholic Church; preached predestination, the idea that God has actually chosen those for salvation

William Penn

He founded a colony as a refuge for Quakers; he inherited the land as a debt payment to his family, he established and advertised the colony to attract more colonists; his "holy experiment" resulted in a tolerant colony who allowed free men to vote

John Rolfe

He introduced tobacco to Jamestown, creating a cash crop that financially saved the colony and benefitted Virginia Company investors

John Winthrop

He served as the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony; in his sermon "A Model of Christian Charity," he declared it would serve as "a city upon a hill" for other Puritans to replicate

Protestant Reformation

Initiated by Martin Luther; a religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches

Headright System

Planters could receive 50 acres of land for paying the passage for an indentured servant from England

Great Awakening

Religious movement characterized by emotional preaching; it established American religious precedents such as camp meetings, revivals, and a "born again" philosophy; many credit it as one of the causes of the American Revolution

Navigation Acts

Restricted trade between England and its colonies to English ships, required certain colonial goods to pass through England before export, and banned colonial competition in large-scale manufacturing

Anne Hutchinson

She was banished from Puritan Massachusetts because she held bible studies at her house and believed in a personal relationship with God; she spent time in Rhode Island before moving to New Hampshire where she died along with her children from an Indian attack

Mayflower Compact

Signed in 1620 by 41 men on the journey from Europe to the colonies; the first agreement for self-government in America; established a government for the Plymouth colony

joint-stock company

Similar to a modern day corporation, these companies allowed investors to spread the wealth and the risk in establishing new colonies; ex. Virginia Company and Massachusetts Bay Company

Dominion of New England

The British government combined the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut into a single province headed by a royal governor (Edmund Andros); it ended after a colonist revolt due to the Glorious Revolution

Roanoke

The first major attempt at English colonization by Sir Walter Raleigh; known as the "Lost Colony" because when leader John White returned with supplies from England, the colonists had disappeared

Jamestown

The first permanent English colony in the New World; established in 1607 in Virginia, named after Queen Elizabeth; few colonists survived the "Starving Time" but managed to maintain the colony

Barbados Slave Codes

These originated in the Caribbean and followed the slaves who were imported into the colonies; they outlined the rules for acceptable behavior, limited the rights of slaves, and granted a considerable amount of power to slave owners

Dust Bowl

Region of the Great Plains that experienced a drought and wind storms in 1930 lasting for a decade, leaving many farmers without work or substantial wages.

Okies

Displaced farm families from the Oklahoma dust bowl who migrated to California during the 1930s in search of jobs.

Hoovervilles

Depression shantytowns, named after the president whom many blamed for their financial distress

Herbert Hoover

Republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929 promising the American people prosperity and attempted to first deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

A high tariff enacted in 1930 during the Great Depression. By taxing imported goods, Congress hoped to stimulate American manufacturing, but the tariff triggered retaliatory tariffs in other countries, which further hindered global trade and led to greater economic contraction.

Bonus Army

Group of WWI vets. that marched to D.C. in 1932 to demand the immediate payment of their goverment war bonuses in cash but with no success

Franklin D. Roosevelt

32nd US President - He began New Deal programs to help the nation out of the Great Depression, and he was the nation's leader during most of WWII

Brain Trust

Group of expert policy advisers who worked with FDR in the 1930s to help with the Great Depression

New Deal

A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression; known as alphabet soup programs

20th Amendment

moved the presidential inauguration from March to January to limit the "lame duck" period

21st Amendment

Amendment which ended the Prohibition of alcohol in the US, repealing the 18th amendment

Fireside Chats

informal talks given by FDR over the radio; gained the confidence of the people

AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act)

asked farmers to reduce production and destroy surpluses to impact prices; declared unconstitutional

NRA (National Recovery Administration)

New Deal agency that promoted economic recovery by regulating production, prices, and wages

PWA (Public Works Administration)

Put people to work building or improving public buildings like schools, post offices,etc.

TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

New Deal program which gave electricity and jobs to rural Appalachia seven state region; declared unconstitutional because it restricted local utility companies

FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

an agency developed by the federal government to regulate banking and and investment activivties; insures personal bank deposits if a bank fails

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

Makes and enforces rules for the stock market; insures truthful stock information for publicly traded companies

CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)

hired unemployed young single men to work preserving the nation's natural resources, forestry, and irrigation jobs

Social Security Act

created a tax on workers and employers; that money provided monthly pensions for retired people.

WPA (Works Progress Administration)

key New Deal agency that provided work relief through various projects for artists, writers, and actors; promoted the arts

Court Packing Plan

President FDR's failed 1937 attempt to increase the number of US Supreme Court Justices from 9 to 15 in order to save his 2nd New Deal programs from constitutional challenges

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy.

Adolf Hitler

Austrian-born founder of the German Nazi Party and chancellor of the Third Reich (1933-1945). His fascist philosophy, embodied in Mein Kampf (1925-1927), attracted widespread support, and after 1934 he ruled as an absolute dictator. His regime was infamous for the extermination of millions of people, especially European Jews.

Cash and Carry

policy adopted by the United States in 1939 to preserve neutrality while aiding the Allies. Britain and France could buy goods from the United States if they paid in full and transported them.

Quarantine Speech

The speech was an act of condemnation of Japan's invasion of China in 1937 and called for Japan to be cut off from trade. FDR backed off the aggressive stance after criticism, but it showed that he was moving the country slowly out of isolationism.

Munich Pact

Signed in 1938 between Great Britain, Gemany, and France that gave part of Czechoslovakia to Germany to stop aggression there

Nonaggression Pact

1939-Secret agreement between German leader Hitler and Soviet Leader Stalin not to attack one another and to divide Poland

Joseph Stalin

Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953. He led the Soviet Union with an iron fist, using Five-Year Plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush opposition

Axis Powers

Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.

Winston Churchill

A noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.

Lend-Lease Act

1941 law that authorized the president to aid any nation whose defense he believed was vital to American security; the U.S. could loan goods and money to warring nations

Pearl Harbor

United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II; attacked on December 7, 1941.

Island Hopping

A military strategy used during World War II in the Pacific that involved selectively attacking specific enemy-held islands and bypassing others

Yalta Conference

FDR, Churchill and Stalin met to discuss postwar plans; Russia agreed to declare war on Japan after the surrender of Germany and in return FDR and Churchill promised the USSR concession in Manchuria and the territories that it had lost in the Russo-Japanese War

Potsdam Conference

The final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held outside Berlin, in July, 1945. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe and the atomic bomb but their failure to reach meaningful agreements soon led to the onset of the Cold War.

Double V Campaign

The World War II-era effort of black Americans to gain "a Victory over racism at home as well as Victory abroad."

Harry Truman

33rd President of the United States. Led the U.S. to victory in WWII making the ultimate decision to use atomic weapons for the first time. Shaped U.S. foreign policy regarding the Soviet Union after the war.

Holocaust

A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

Manhattan Project

code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II

Executive Order 9066

Presidential directive to place 112,000 Japanese-Americans into camps regardless of citizenship status, causing loss of homes and businesses

D-Day

June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

American General who began in North Africa and became the Commander of Allied forces in Europe; served as President from 1953 to 1961

J. Robert Oppenheimer

lead the effort to develop the first nuclear bomb. He was remembered as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb."

Hiroshima

City in Japan, the first to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, on August 6, 1945. The bombing hastened the end of World War II.

Nagasaki

Japanese city in which the second atomic bomb was dropped (August 9, 1945).

Battleship Missouri

The ship where the formal peace treaty was signed between Japan and the Allied forces ending WWII; accepted by General Douglas MacArthur

Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Sanford Dole

The first president of the Republic of Hawaii and first governor of the Territory of Hawaii after it was annexed by the United States in 1898 after the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani

Seward's Folly

Name for the Secretary of State's negotiation of the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. At the time everyone thought this was a mistake to buy Alaska the "ice box" but it turned out to be the biggest bargain since the Louisiana purchase

Yellow Journalism

type of sensational, biased, and often false reporting for the sake of attracting readers

Teddy Roosevelt

26th President, from 1901-1909, passed two acts that purified meat, took over in 1901 when McKinley was shot, Went after trusts, formed the "Bull Moose Party", wanted to build the Panama canal, and make our Navy ( military stronger )

Rough Riders

Volunteer regiment of US Cavalry led by Teddy Roosevelt during the Spanish American War

USS Maine

Ship that explodes off the coast of Cuba in Havana harbor and helps contribute to the start of the Spanish-American War

Treaty of Paris 1898

Concluded the Spanish American War; from the treaty America got Guam, Puerto Rico and they paid 20 million dollars for the Philipines. Cuba was freed from Spain.

Panama Canal

Allowed ships to cut across the isthmus of Panama; built by United States, it opened in 1915.

Square Deal

Economic policy by Teddy Roosevelt that favored fair relationships between companies and workers, consumer protection, conservation policies, and regulation of corporations

Open Door Policy

Statement of U.S. foreign policy toward China. Issued by U.S. secretary of state John Hay (1899), the statement reaffirmed the principle that all countries should have equal access to any Chinese port open to trade.