US History Lecture Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering major historical figures, events, and concepts from early European settlement through the American Civil War based on lecture notes.

St. Augustine

First European settlement in North America.

Christopher Columbus

Credited with discovering the New World in 1492. Thought he’d found a new route to Asia.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in the New World, 1606.

Puritans

English Calvinists who left England for Massachusetts and set up the first colonial government.

Mayflower Compact

"Civil Body Politic" that served as the first legal authority set up in the colonies.

John Winthrop

First governor of Massachusetts.

Roger Williams

Felt church and state should be separate and that Puritans should not impose their views; banished from Maryland and founded Rhode Island on religious tolerance.

Anne Hutchinson

Held women's religious meetings, stated everyone can interpret God themselves, labeled a heretic by Puritans, banished from Maryland, and killed by Native Americans.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia and Savannah who banned alcohol and restricted weapons, initially antislavery before giving in to labor needs.

Slavery

System that started in Charleston, VA in 1619, made people rich, and eventually led to a 50/50 white-to-black population in SC causing worries of rebellion.

Enlightenment

Era when religious understanding was challenged by science and reasoning.

Salem Witch Trials

Persecutions based upon superstition in a Massachusetts village that resulted in many being put to death.

Harvard University

First college in America, located in Cambridge, MA.

John Locke

British author of “Two Treatises of Civil Government.”

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments added to the Constitution to protect the rights of the minority.

Benjamin Franklin

American philosopher, journalist, inventor, statesman, and founding father.

Seven Years War

Conflict where the French and Indians teamed up against the English and colonists over trade and boundary disputes.

Stamp Act

Tax stamps required by Britain to be placed on certain documents, dice, playing cards, and liquor.

Sons of Liberty

Resistance movement against England with several branches across the colonies.

Boston Massacre

Skirmish between townspeople and British sentries resulting in 4 deaths, creating martyrs for the cause.

Boston Tea Party

1773 act of colonial rebellion against the Townshend Tea Tax where 60 men dressed as Mohawks dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

First Continental Congress

1774 meeting in Philadelphia with 55 delegates that brought forward the Declaration of Rights and Grievances.

Declaration of Rights and Grievances

Radical assertion that Parliament's acts need to be in the best interest of the colonies.

Lexington

Site of the first shots fired in the Revolution where 8 colonists were killed.

Concord

Location where Americans attacked marching British in retaliation, resulting in 272 British casualties and 93 American casualties.

George Washington

US General, Commander in Chief of the Army, founding father, and first president of the US.

Second Continental Congress

Body that organized colonies for war, appointed generals, formed an interim government, and urged colonies to establish their own governments.

"Common Sense"

Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine advocating for independence.

Declaration of Independence

Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted July 4th, 1776, listing the goals and ideals of the declared new nation.

Yorktown

Location in Virginia of General Cornwallis’s defeat and surrender.

Treaty of Paris, 1782

Treaty granting "unconditional independence", transferring land west of the Mississippi and north to Canada to the US, and returning Florida to Spain.

Articles of Confederation

First US governance structure establishing a "firm league of friendship" where states retained sovereignty; took 3 years to ratify.

Constitutional Convention

1787 Philadelphia meeting of delegates from all states except Rhode Island to compromise on the creation of the Constitution.

James Madison

Known as the "Father" of the Constitution; later served as the 4th president of the US.

Separation of Powers

The division of the US government into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

Whisky Rebellion

First challenge to federal authority, sparked by Pennsylvania corn and whiskey farmers refusing to pay tax.

John Adams

Founding father, anti-French elitist, and 2nd president of the US who participated in the first election.

Alexander Hamilton

Federalist and Secretary of the Treasury who supported a strong federal government and national bank.

Thomas Jefferson

Secretary of State who favored stronger state governments and an agrarian republic.

Hamilton's Financial Plan, 1790

Plan where federal government assumed state Revolutionary War debts, created a national bank, and supported tariffs and federal economic power.

XYZ Affair, 1797-1798

Diplomatic dispute with France that increased anti-French sentiment in the U.S.

Quasi-War with France (1798–1800)

An undeclared naval conflict between the United States and France.

Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798

Highly controversial acts that increased federal power over immigrants and restricted criticism of the federal government.

Election of 1800

Known as the "Revolution of 1800" where Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams, peacefully transferring power between political parties.

Louisiana Purchase, 1803

1803 purchase from France for around $15 million that doubled the US size and secured control of the Mississippi River and New Orleans.

Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806

Expedition to the Pacific Northwest that explored the Louisiana Purchase and gathered geographic and scientific data.

Embargo Act of 1807

Jefferson's unpopular stoppage of American foreign trade to keep the U.S. out of the Napoleonic Wars, which hurt merchants.

Tecumseh

Shawnee leader who attempted to unite Native American peoples against American expansion.

War of 1812

1812–1815 conflict between the US and Great Britain over maritime rights, trade restrictions, and territorial expansion.

Battle of Fort McHenry

Battle at Baltimore Harbour that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.

Battle of New Orleans

Battle fought 2 weeks after the War of 1812 ended, where Andrew Jackson led Kentucky frontiersmen to bombard British forces on 3 sides.

Treaty of Ghent, 1840

Treaty that ended the War of 1812.

Missouri Compromise, 1820

Compromise admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, prohibiting slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory.

Monroe Doctrine, 1823

Declaration that European powers should not establish new colonies or interfere in independent nations in the Western Hemisphere.

Cotton Gin

1793 invention by Eli Whitney that expanded cotton production, textile manufacturing, and slavery in the South.

Indian Removal Act, 1830

Law under President Jackson authorizing negotiated removal treaties with Southeast Native nations, leading to forced removals like the Trail of Tears.

Abolition

The idea that slavery should be abolished.

William Lloyd Garrison

Publisher of “The Liberator” who called for immediate emancipation.

Frederick Douglass

Former escaped slave who wrote his narrative in 1845.

Harriet Tubman

Former slave and abolitionist who assisted with the Underground Railroad.

Whigs

Political party formed for humanitarian reform that later split over divisions regarding slavery.

Mexican American War

Conflict between Mexico and the US triggered by the US annexation of Texas.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty ending the Mexican American War, setting the Rio Grande border and granting California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah to the US.

Compromise of 1850

Agreement admitting California as a free state, creating NM and UT territories, passing the Fugitive Slave Act, compensating Texas, and banning DC slave trade.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that helped ignite the Civil War.

Republicans

New political party formed by reformers to keep slavery out of the western territories.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Act establishing popular sovereignty to let states or territories vote on slavery, leading to violence in Kansas.

John Brown

Anti-slavery zealot executed after attempting to incite a slave revolt at Harper's Ferry, VA.

"Caning" of Charles Sumner

Senate floor attack where Representative Brooks hit Senator Charles Sumner with a cane over slavery disputes.

Dred Scott Decision

Supreme Court ruling stating that slaves were not citizens after a slave sued for freedom upon relocating to free territory.

Election of 1860

Election won by Republican Abraham Lincoln that prompted the South to prepare for secession.

Civil War, 1861-1865

War marked by advanced weaponry, high casualties, atrocious medical conditions, and widespread infectious disease.

Fort Sumter

Federal fort in Charleston Harbor, SC, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired in a Southern victory.

Robert E. Lee

Lead Confederate General from VA who viewed slavery as a necessary evil and surrendered at Appomattox.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union lead general who won the Civil War, became 18th US President, protected civil rights during Reconstruction, and suppressed the KKK.

Antietam

Single bloodiest day in American history, incurring 23,000 casualties in Maryland.

General Sherman’s March to the Sea

Destructive 285-mile Union campaign from Atlanta to Savannah aimed at crippling Confederate war capacity and morale.

Jefferson Davis

First president of the Confederate States of America, headquartered in Richmond, VA.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln’s demand freeing all slaves in states remaining in rebellion as of January 1st, 1863.

Appomattox Courthouse

Location of General Robert E. Lee's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865.

John Wilkes Booth

Actor and bitter southerner who assassinated President Lincoln at Ford's Theater in 1865.