U.S. History Survey – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms and concepts from Colonial America through the post-9/11 era.

Mercantilism

Economic system in which colonies exist to generate wealth for the mother country through controlled trade.

Indentured Servant

Person who worked for a set number of years to pay off the cost of passage to America.

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire; noted for religion-based settlement, rocky soil, fishing and shipbuilding.

Middle Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware; known for grain farming, diverse population, and early industry.

Southern Colonies

Virginia, Maryland, North & South Carolina, Georgia; plantation economies growing cash crops with enslaved labor.

Cash Crop

Agricultural product grown primarily for sale rather than subsistence, e.g., tobacco, rice, cotton.

French and Indian War

North American theater of the Seven Years’ War (1754–1763) between Britain and France; left Britain in debt.

Stamp Act (1765)

British law taxing printed materials in the colonies, sparking widespread protest.

Boston Tea Party

1773 colonial protest in which patriots dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to oppose taxation.

Intolerable Acts

Punitive British laws (1774) closing Boston Harbor and restricting colonial self-rule after the Tea Party.

Continental Congress

Assembly of colonial representatives that coordinated resistance and later governed during the Revolution.

Common Sense

1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine urging American independence from Britain.

Declaration of Independence

Document adopted July 4, 1776 declaring the colonies free and listing grievances against King George III.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Agreement ending the Revolutionary War and recognizing U.S. independence.

U.S. Constitution

1787 frame of government establishing federal structure, ratified 1788.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments (1791) guaranteeing individual liberties and limiting government power.

First Amendment

Protects freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Second Amendment

Guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.

Fourth Amendment

Guards against unreasonable searches and seizures; requires warrants on probable cause.

Fifth Amendment

Provides due process, bans double jeopardy and self-incrimination, ensures just compensation for takings.

Manifest Destiny

19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent.

Louisiana Purchase

1803 U.S. acquisition from France doubling national territory.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

1803-1806 journey mapping the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific, guided by Sacagawea.

Oregon Trail

2,000-mile wagon route used by settlers traveling from Missouri to Oregon in the 1840s-60s.

California Gold Rush

Mass migration (1848-1855) of prospectors seeking gold, boosting western settlement.

Transcontinental Railroad

Rail line completed 1869 connecting eastern U.S. rail with the Pacific coast.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe exposing slavery’s cruelty.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes (1854-1861) over slavery status in Kansas Territory.

Dred Scott Decision

1857 Supreme Court ruling denying citizenship to African Americans and voiding the Missouri Compromise.

Secession

Formal withdrawal of Southern states from the Union beginning 1860.

Emancipation Proclamation

1863 Lincoln order freeing slaves in Confederate territories.

Reconstruction

Period (1865-1877) of rebuilding the South and integrating freed slaves into society.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Federal agency aiding freed slaves with food, education, and legal help after the Civil War.

Black Codes

Southern laws restricting African Americans’ rights during early Reconstruction.

Sharecropping

Agricultural system where farmers rent land for a share of the crop, common among freedmen.

13th Amendment

1865 amendment abolishing slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

1868 amendment granting citizenship and equal protection under the law.

15th Amendment

1870 amendment protecting voting rights regardless of race or former servitude.

Progressive Era

1890s-1920s reform movement aiming to curb corruption and improve social conditions.

Muckraker

Investigative journalist exposing societal problems during the Progressive Era.

Hull House

Settlement house founded by Jane Addams to aid urban poor in Chicago.

Sherman Antitrust Act

1890 law outlawing monopolies and promoting competition.

Temperance Movement

Campaign to limit or ban alcohol, leading to Prohibition.

19th Amendment

1920 amendment granting women the right to vote.

World War I

Global conflict 1914-1918 involving Allied and Central Powers; U.S. joined 1917.

Militarism

Policy of aggressive military buildup, one cause of WWI.

Zimmermann Telegram

1917 German proposal urging Mexico to join war against U.S., helping prompt U.S. entry into WWI.

Great Depression

Severe global economic downturn 1929-1939 marked by unemployment and bank failures.

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929 stock-market crash signaling the start of the Great Depression.

Dust Bowl

1930s drought and dust storms devastating Midwest farms.

New Deal

FDR’s series of programs (1933-38) to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

New Deal agency employing millions on public-works projects.

Social Security Act

1935 law creating pensions and unemployment insurance.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

New Deal agency insuring bank deposits to restore confidence.

World War II

Global war 1939-1945 between Axis and Allied powers; U.S. entered after Pearl Harbor.

Axis Powers

Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII.

Allied Powers

Main WWII alliance of Britain, Soviet Union, United States, and others against the Axis.

Blitzkrieg

German “lightning war” tactic of rapid, coordinated attacks.

Holocaust

Systematic genocide of six million Jews and other groups by Nazi Germany.

Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on U.S. naval base in Hawaii prompting U.S. entry into WWII.

D-Day

June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, France, turning point in Europe.

Marshall Plan

U.S. program providing economic aid to rebuild post-WWII Europe.

United Nations

International organization founded 1945 to promote peace and cooperation.

GI Bill

1944 law offering education and housing benefits to WWII veterans.

Cold War

1947-1991 ideological conflict between U.S.-led democracies and Soviet-led communism.

Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill’s term for the division between Western Europe and Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe.

Containment

U.S. policy of preventing the spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

1947 pledge of U.S. support to nations resisting communism.

NATO

1949 military alliance of Western nations for collective defense.

Arms Race

Cold War competition to build superior nuclear weapons.

Space Race

Cold War competition for achievements in space exploration.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 standoff over Soviet missiles in Cuba, bringing U.S. and USSR close to nuclear war.

McCarthyism

Early-1950s campaign accusing Americans of communist ties, leading to blacklists and fear.

Berlin Wall

Barrier (1961-1989) separating communist East Berlin from capitalist West Berlin.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local statutes enforcing racial segregation in the South.

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 Supreme Court case declaring segregated schools unconstitutional.

Civil Disobedience

Non-violent refusal to obey unjust laws to prompt change.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

1955-1956 protest sparked by Rosa Parks that ended bus segregation.

Freedom Rides

1961 integrated bus trips challenging segregation in interstate travel.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Law banning segregation and employment discrimination based on race, sex, or religion.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Law outlawing barriers like literacy tests, protecting minority voting rights.

Vietcong

South Vietnamese communist guerrilla fighters during the Vietnam War.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Network of supply routes from North to South Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia.

Tet Offensive

1968 widespread Vietcong attacks undermining U.S. claims of imminent victory.

Vietnamization

Nixon’s strategy of transferring combat roles to South Vietnamese forces while withdrawing U.S. troops.

War Powers Act

1973 law requiring congressional approval for long-term troop deployment.

Globalization

Process of increasing global economic, cultural, and political interconnection.

NAFTA

1992 free-trade agreement among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

International body regulating global trade rules.

Information Age

Era characterized by rapid information transfer through computers and the Internet.

Al Qaeda

Radical Islamist terrorist network responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

Taliban

Militant Islamist group that harbored al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)

Nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons capable of large-scale destruction.

Patriot Act

2001 U.S. law expanding surveillance powers to combat terrorism.