CPUSH Unit 2 Summative Simple Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, figures, events, and concepts from the CPUSH Unit 2 study guide.

President George Washington

The first U.S. president (1789–1797), who helped establish how the new government would work.

Cabinet

A group of top advisers who lead major executive departments and help the president make decisions.

Whiskey Rebellion

A 1794 protest by farmers against a federal tax on whiskey; Washington sent troops to enforce the law.

Washington’s Farewell Address

Washington’s final message warning against political parties and permanent foreign alliances, and advising the U.S. to avoid becoming too involved in European conflicts.

Alien and Sedition Acts

1798 laws that made it harder for immigrants to become citizens and punished some criticism of the federal government.

President Thomas Jefferson

The third U.S. president (1801–1809), who favored limited federal government but expanded U.S. territory through the Louisiana Purchase.

Election of 1800

The election in which Jefferson defeated John Adams; the transfer of power between political parties happened peacefully.

Louisiana Purchase

The 1803 purchase of a huge area of land from France that nearly doubled the size of the United States.

War of 1812

A war between the United States and Britain caused by issues including British interference with U.S. shipping and impressment of sailors.

Monroe Doctrine

A 1823 policy warning European countries not to create new colonies or interfere in independent nations in the Americas.

President Andrew Jackson

The seventh U.S. president (1829–1837), who expanded political participation for many white men but supported policies that harmed Native Americans.

Jacksonian Democracy

A political movement that promoted greater political participation for ordinary white men, while excluding women and most people of color.

Nullification Crisis

A conflict in the early 1830s when South Carolina claimed it could reject a federal tariff; Jackson opposed this and defended federal authority.

Indian Removal Act

An 1830 law that enabled the forced relocation of Native American nations from lands east of the Mississippi River to lands farther west.

Abolitionists

People who worked to end slavery.

Impact of the cotton gin

The cotton gin made removing seeds from cotton faster, increasing cotton production and expanding slavery in the South.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

An 1831 uprising led by Nat Turner, an enslaved man in Virginia; afterward, Southern states tightened restrictions on enslaved and free Black people.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law requiring escaped enslaved people to be returned to enslavers, even if they reached free states; the 1850 law strengthened enforcement.

Underground Railroad

A secret network of people, routes, and safe places that helped enslaved people escape to freedom.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

A Supreme Court decision that said Black people could not be U.S. citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in federal territories.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes in Kansas between people for and against slavery after settlers were allowed to vote on whether slavery would be legal.

John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry

An 1859 raid led by abolitionist John Brown to seize weapons and encourage an uprising against slavery; the raid failed.

Sectionalism

Strong loyalty to one region of the country, especially when its interests conflict with those of other regions.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the United States was meant to expand across the continent to the Pacific Ocean.

Missouri Compromise

The 1820 agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and restricted slavery in much of the remaining Louisiana Territory north of a set line.

President James K. Polk

The U.S. president from 1845 to 1849 who supported westward expansion during the Mexican-American War era.

Mexican-American War

The 1846–1848 war between the United States and Mexico that ended with Mexico giving up a large amount of territory to the U.S.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

An 1854 law that let settlers in Kansas and Nebraska vote on slavery, overturning the Missouri Compromise’s restriction in those territories.

Compromise of 1850

A group of laws that admitted California as a free state, organized other western territories, and strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act.

Second Great Awakening

A religious revival in the early 1800s that encouraged people to improve themselves and society; it helped inspire reform movements.

Declaration of Sentiments

A document from the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention that called for equal rights for women, including the right to vote.

The Civil War

The 1861–1865 war between the Union (North) and Confederacy (seceding Southern states), fought mainly over slavery and the future of the Union.

Lincoln’s Goal

Lincoln’s initial main goal was to preserve the Union; ending slavery became a central war aim as the conflict continued.

General Ulysses S. Grant

A leading Union general who helped win key victories and accepted Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in 1865.

General William Sherman

A Union general known for capturing Atlanta and leading a destructive march through Georgia to weaken the Confederacy.

General Robert E. Lee

The leading general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

Fort Sumter

The South Carolina fort attacked by Confederate forces in April 1861, beginning the Civil War.

Antietam

An 1862 battle in Maryland that stopped Lee’s invasion of the North; it gave Lincoln an opportunity to announce the Emancipation Proclamation.

Vicksburg

A 1863 Union victory that gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two.

Gettysburg

A major 1863 Union victory in Pennsylvania that stopped Lee’s second invasion of the North.

Atlanta

A major Confederate rail and supply center captured by Union forces in 1864, helping Lincoln’s reelection campaign.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War when the U.S. worked to rebuild the South and determine the rights of formerly enslaved people.

Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan

A lenient plan that gave pardons to any Confederate soldiers, allowed Southern states to rejoin the Union once 10% of voters swore loyalty (Lincoln's 10% plan) and the states accepted emancipation.

Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

A lenient plan that let many former Confederates regain power and get pardoned, states must ratify the 13th amendment, and allowed Southern states to enact Black Codes.

Radical Republicans’ Plan

A stricter plan led by congressional Republicans that required stronger protections for Black Americans and greater changes in Southern governments. 50% of voters must pledge loyalty, they must change their constitution for African American rights, must ratify the 14th amendment, and most importantly, divided the south into military districts.

Freedmen’s Bureau

A federal agency that helped formerly enslaved people and other war refugees with education, food, medical care, and employment support.

Radical Republicans

Republicans in Congress who wanted stronger federal protection for formerly enslaved people and tougher terms for the former Confederacy.

Black Codes

Southern laws designed to restrict the freedom of Black people and keep them in a low-status labor system after slavery. Includes poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clause.

Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment

In 1868, the House impeached President Johnson after a political conflict with Congress; the Senate fell one vote short of removing him.

13th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime after conviction.

14th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that established birthright citizenship and equal protection under the law.

15th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that prohibited denying the right to vote because of race, color, or previous enslavement; discriminatory barriers still prevented many from voting.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A white supremacist group that used threats and violence to terrorize Black Americans and their allies and undermine Reconstruction.

Rutherford B. Hayes and the Compromise of 1877

The disputed 1876 election was settled by a political compromise that made Hayes president; federal troops were withdrawn from the South, weakening Reconstruction enforcement.