AP U.S. History Review Flashcards

A collection of flashcards designed for AP U.S. History exam preparation, covering topics from colonial expansion to the late twentieth century.

What was a primary driver for the establishment of sugar plantations in the Spanish Caribbean during the sixteenth century?

The search for and cultivation of new sources of wealth.

How did the revenues from Caribbean sugar production influence Spanish activities in the Western Hemisphere?

They funded explorations and the establishment of new settlements, expanding Spanish influence.

What historical development most directly led to the passage of the Navigation Act of 1660?

The emergence of an Atlantic economy based on trans-Atlantic trade.

What was the primary mercantilist goal behind the English Parliament’s Navigation Acts?

To ensure a network of trade that guaranteed raw materials for England and markets for its manufactured goods.

According to the 1777 petition to the Massachusetts legislature, what right do all people share?

A natural and inalienable right to freedom bestowed upon all mankind.

What argument did African American petitioners make regarding the American Revolution in 1777?

That the ideals of the revolution and the fight against Great Britain were contrary to the institution of slavery.

What factor most directly contributed to the transformation of the United States population and settlemt trends between 1821 and 1880?

The shift of the United States into an industrial society.

In what regions did the majority of immigrants settle between 1821 and 1880?

The Midwest and the Northeast.

According to historians Bruce Levine and A. J. Langguth, how were African Americans denied their rights after Reconstruction?

Through local political tactics, intimidation, and campaigns of terror by those restoring White supremacy.

What do historians Levine and Langguth agree on regarding the end of Reconstruction?

That the retreat of Northern Republicans and the decline of their political influence led to the dismantling of Reconstruction gains.

Which development in the 1870s continued the trend of significantly reduced transcontinental travel times?

The completion of transcontinental railroads.

What was a social and economic effect of railroad development in the late nineteenth-century West?

The emergence of new commercial centers and communities along the rail lines.

Why did Justice John Marshall Harlan argue the Fourteenth Amendment was necessary?

To protect the civil rights and personal liberty of African Americans.

What intellectual development in the late nineteenth century was used to justify racial segregation?

The emergence of new scientific theories of race and racial hierarchies.

What is the central duty of a man of wealth according to the Gospel of Wealth?

To administer surplus revenues as trust funds for the benefit of the community.

The Pierce-Arrow advertisements of the 1920s reflect which economic focus?

An economy centered on the production of consumer goods.

What concept did Theodore Roosevelt use in 1901 to justify the annexation of the Philippines?

The idea of predestined national expansion, similar to Manifest Destiny.

How did some Americans justify imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century?

By advocating for the economic and industrial development of overseas territories.

What was the primary purpose of the Liberty Loan Campaign during the First World War?

To finance the involvement of the United States in the conflict.

Which group was most likely to support patriotic wartime production posters in 1917?

Managers and owners of business enterprises.

What were 'Hoovervilles' during the Great Depression?

Shantytowns where unemployed and homeless people lived.

What was responsible for the major shift in U.S. employment and production between 1938 and 1942?

Industrial mobilization necessitated by the Second World War.

What international outcome was promoted by the ideas in Churchill’s 1946 'Iron Curtain' speech?

Participation in international collective security systems like the United Nations and NATO.

How did the United States respond to the threat of communist influence in Western Europe after WWII?

By providing financial support through the Marshall Plan to restore market economies.

What factor contributed significantly to the postwar economic growth described by James T. Patterson?

A surge in the national birthrate.

What was a political and economic result of the postwar economic boom in the United States?

The rise of the Sun Belt as a major force.

Resistance to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling was historically similar to resistance in what earlier period?

The Reconstruction era efforts to guarantee rights for formerly enslaved people.

Why were school desegregation patterns inconsistent in the South after the Brown ruling?

Because many states and counties actively resisted and slowed implementation.

Which theory challenged critiques of Reagan-era deregulation in 1988?

The theory that tax cuts and a reduced government role would benefit the public through supply-side economics.

What was a primary criticism of President Reagan's deregulation policies?

That reducing oversight of business and industry led to environmental damage and consumer exploitation.

What is a major difference between historians Matthew Josephson and H. W. Brands regarding Gilded Age leaders?

Josephson viewed them as immoral robber barons, while Brands saw them as creative captains of industry whose self-interest benefited society.

How did internal migration patterns change between 1910-1940 and the post-1945 period?

Migration moved from a rural-to-Northern city focus (Great Migration) to a focus on the Sun Belt and suburbanization.

What was a shared motivation for U.S. involvement in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War?

The policy of containment to prevent the spread of communism.

Which of these did NOT contribute to the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment?

The high death toll from alcohol-related automobile accidents.

Labor unions in the late nineteenth century were often a response to what conditions?

Low wages and dangerous work environments in industrial factories.

What most significantly aided the American victory in the Revolutionary War?

Financial and military assistance from France.

According to Andrew Carnegie, what is the duty of wealthy individuals?

To return their fortunes to society for the greater good.

What was the legal basis for the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education?

That separate educational facilities based on race are inherently unequal.

What was the primary motivation for early British settlers in the Virginia colony?

To obtain economic profit.

Which institution supported Cherokee efforts to keep their lands in the early nineteenth century?

The United States Supreme Court.

What characterized the Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s?

A growing split between advocates of nonviolence and those favoring more aggressive tactics.

Which of the following was NOT a recognized cause of the Civil War?

The growing political power of poor Southern Whites seeking to abolish slavery.

What economic trend characterized the period from the Civil War to the First World War?

Periodic cycles of economic panic and depression.

What was the main goal of Henry Clay’s American System?

To develop a national economy by improving transportation infrastructure.

What was the function of the Committee on Public Information?

To mobilize domestic support for the U.S. war effort during WWI.

What event resulted from Virginia farmers' frustration with the governor's handling of Indian raids?

Bacon’s Rebellion.

Why did the 1787 Northwest Ordinance contribute to the sectional crisis?

It established the federal right to restrict slavery in territories, creating regional tension.

What was the primary goal of The Federalist papers?

To persuade voters to support the ratification of the Constitution.

Which of the following was NOT an increase on the WWI home front?

Supreme Court support for individual liberties.

What was the focus of Jacob Riis’s 'How the Other Half Lives'?

Urban poverty and the living conditions of immigrants in the 1890s.

What legislative action led to increased U.S. military involvement in Vietnam?

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Why did Andrew Jackson resist admitting Texas to the Union in 1836?

He feared it would ignite a national controversy regarding slavery.

What was a major reason for Thomas Jefferson's interest in the Louisiana Purchase?

To preserve an agricultural society by providing land for future generations.

What was the specific goal of the Marshall Plan?

To finance the economic reconstruction of Western Europe after WWII.

What was the social status of the majority of early English migrants to Chesapeake Bay?

Indentured servants.

Why was the Missouri Compromise considered a victory for antislavery advocates?

It closed the majority of the Louisiana Purchase territory to slavery.

What is NOT true about late nineteenth-century railroad expansion?

It was built entirely by private corporations without government assistance.

How did James Madison and Alexander Hamilton promote the Constitution during ratification?

By anonymously publishing essays on the benefits of a strong federal government.

Which New Deal program sought to address the Great Depression by reducing agricultural production?

The Agricultural Adjustment Act.

How did the United States government respond to the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957?

By expanding federal aid and investment in education.

What major political change for women occurred in the 1920s?

They began voting in national elections following the Nineteenth Amendment.