U.S. History I Final Exam Review

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering major topics from early American colonization through the Civil War and Reconstruction era.

Mercantilism

An economic system where colonies provide resources and wealth to the mother country.

Middle Passage

The voyage that carried enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Triangular Slave Trade

A trade route where Europe sent goods to Africa, Africa sent enslaved people to the Americas, and the Americas sent cash crops and raw materials to Europe.

Declaration of Independence

A document written on July 4, 1776, containing a Preamble, Natural Rights, Grievances against King George III, and a declaration of freedom from Britain.

Patriots

Individuals who supported independence during the American Revolution.

Loyalists

Individuals who stayed loyal to Britain during the American Revolution.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The agreement that established the boundaries of the U.S. after the War for Independence.

Articles of Confederation

The first U.S. government, characterized by a weak national government.

Federalist Papers 51

An essay that explained the concept of checks and balances.

Federalists

People who supported a strong national government.

Anti-Federalists

People who wanted stronger state governments and a Bill of Rights.

Alexander Hamilton

The first Secretary of the Treasury who supported a strong federal government and a financial plan involving national debt payment and a national bank.

Shays’s Rebellion

An event where farmers protested taxes and debt.

Great Compromise

A plan establishing a two-house Congress with equal representation in the Senate and population-based representation in the House.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal for equal representation for each state.

Virginia Plan

A proposal for representation based on population.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement where enslaved people counted as $\frac{3}{5}$ of a person for representation purposes.

Federalism

A system where power is shared between national and state governments.

Checks and Balances

A system where each branch of government can limit the others to prevent one branch from becoming too powerful.

Electoral College

The system used to elect the President of the United States.

First Amendment

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

Fourth Amendment

Provides protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Fifth Amendment

Provides due process and protection against self-incrimination.

Sixth Amendment

The right to a speedy and public trial.

Twelfth Amendment

Establishes separate voting for President and Vice President.

Thirteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment that ended slavery.

Fourteenth Amendment

Provides citizenship and equal protection under the law.

Fifteenth Amendment

Provides voting rights for Black men.

Nineteenth Amendment

Established women's suffrage (the right to vote).

Twenty-Fourth Amendment

The constitutional amendment that ended poll taxes.

Judicial Review

The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional.

Legislative Branch

The branch of government responsible for making laws.

Executive Branch

The branch of government responsible for enforcing laws.

Judicial Branch

The branch of government responsible for interpreting laws.

Louisiana Purchase

Land bought from France in for $15 million$.

Trail of Tears

The forced relocation of Cherokee and other Native American tribes from the Southeastern U.S. to Oklahoma in the $1830s$.

Abolition Movement

A movement with the goal to end slavery.

Horace Mann

Known as the "Father of American Education" for his work in education reform.

Seneca Falls Convention

A meeting held to advocate for equal rights for women, including voting rights.

Adams-Onis Treaty

An agreement where Spain gave Florida to the U.S.

Annexation of Texas

The process by which Texas became part of the U.S. in $1845$.

Mexican Cession

Land gained by the U.S. after the Mexican-American War.

Gadsden Purchase

Land bought from Mexico specifically for a railroad route.

Oregon Trail

The route settlers used to move west.

California Gold Rush

A massive migration to California after gold was discovered in $1848$.

Cotton Gin

An invention used for separating cotton fibers from seeds that increased cotton production and slavery.

Dred Scott Decision

A Supreme Court ruling that enslaved people were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law that required escaped enslaved people to be returned and increased opposition to slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

A system where citizens vote to decide if slavery is allowed in a territory.

Gettysburg Address

A speech by Abraham Lincoln intended to honor soldiers, support democracy, and preserve the Union.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order with the purpose of freeing enslaved people in Confederate states.

Reconstruction Amendments

The term used for the $13th$, $14th$, and $15th$ Amendments collectively.

Black Codes

Laws that restricted the rights of freed African Americans.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that ended Reconstruction and removed federal troops from the South.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation.

KKK

A white supremacist group that used violence and intimidation against African Americans.