APUSH Vocab Terms

Declaration of Independence

Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state.

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. created in 1781 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

Constitution Ratified

the First Congress proposing the Bill of Rights and the establishment of the federal judiciary through the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the court system and defined its jurisdiction

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire

Middle Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware

Southern Colonies

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

Chesapeake Colonies

Virginia and Maryland

Cash Crops

crops, such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton, raised in large quantities in order to be sold for profit

Cereal Crops

rice, wheat, corn, oats, sorghum, rye and millet (cash crops)

Plantation Agriculture

Production system based on a large estate owned by an individual, family, or corporation and organized to produce a cash crop. Almost all plantations were established within the tropics; in recent decades, many have been divided into smaller holdings or reorganized as cooperatives

Indentured Servitude

A worker bound by a voluntary agreement to work for a specified period of years often in return for free passage to an overseas destination. Before 1800 most were Europeans; after 1800 most indentured laborers were Asians.

Puritanism

The religion of a group of religious dissidents who came to the New World so they would have a location to establish a "purer" church than the one that existed in England

French and Indian War

(1754-1763) War fought in the colonies between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio Valley area. The English won.

Navigation Acts

Laws that governed trade between England and its colonies. Colonists were required to ship certain products exclusively to England. These acts made colonists very angry because they were forbidden from trading with other countries.

Salutary Neglect

An English policy of not strictly enforcing laws in its colonies

Proclamation of 1763

A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalacian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.

Sugar Act of 1764

An act that raised tax revenue in the colonies for the crown. It also increased the duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies.

Quartering Act of 1765

Act forcing colonists to house and supply British forces in the colonies; created more resentment; seen as assault on liberties.

Stamp Act of 1765

This act required colonists to pay for an official stamp, or seal, when they bought paper items.

Tea Act of 1773

Law passed by parliament allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies - undermining colonial tea merchants; led to the Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party (1773)

American colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Native Americans, boarded three British ships and dumped British tea into the Boston harbor.

First Continental Congress (1774)

Met to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts; adopted the Declaration and Resolves in which they: Declared the Intolerable Acts null and void. Recommended that colonists arm themselves and that militias be formed. Recommended a boycott of British imports.

Basically met to organize resistance against Britain

Second Continental Congress (1775)

Managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence - finally adopting the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Common Sense (1776)

Thomas Paine's pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution.

Thomas Jefferson

Wrote the Declaration of Independence

Enlightenment

A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions.

Natural Rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property

Social Contract

A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.

3 branches of government

Legislative, Executive, Judicial

Gradual Emancipation

a method of abolishing slavery slowly so that the transition from a slave to a wage labor system is less disruptive.

Abolition

Movement to end slavery

Shay's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting against increased taxes and losing their land. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Critical Period (1781-1787)

Period after the Revolutionary War. Colonies are now independent and are being led by themselves.

-Have no set unified government

-Used different types of currency

--Many other issues caused the colonies to start having feuds between one another

Constitutional Convention (1787)

A meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution

Great Compromise (Connecticut Plan)

Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house

Electoral College

A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

3/5ths Compromise

agreement providing that enslaved persons would count as three-fifths of other persons in determining representation in Congress

Slave Trade Clause

An act of Congress passed in 1800 made it illegal for Americans to engage in the slave trade between nations, and gave U.S. authorities the right to seize slave ships which were caught transporting slaves and confiscate their cargo. Then the "Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves" took effect in 1808.

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

Separation of Powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law

Tyranny of the Majority

The potential of a majority to monopolize power for its own gain to the detriment of minority rights and interests.

Tyranny of the Minority

when a small number of citizens tramples on the rights of the larger population

Republicanism

A philosophy of limited government with elected representatives serving at the will of the people. The government is based on consent of the governed.

Bicameral

A legislature consisting of two parts, or houses

James Madison

"Father of the Constitution," Federalist leader, and fourth President of the United States.

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution

enumerated powers

Powers specifically given to Congress in the Constitution; including the power to collect taxes, coin money, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, and declare war.

reserved powers

10th Amendment; powers reserved for the people/states, not the government

Federalists

A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the American Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption.

Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)

A clause in Article I, section 8, of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to make laws that are necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated powers and other constitutional duties

Washington's Farewell Address(1796)

A letter published in 1796 warning against the 3 main dangers against the American republic: sectionalism, political parties, and getting affiliated with foreign nations with their problems

First peaceful transition of power (Revolution of 1800)

Democratic-Republican Party candidate Thomas Jefferson beat Federalist Party candidate and former president John Adams

War of 1812 (Second War of Independence)

A war (1812-1814) between the United States and England which was trying to interfere with American trade with France.

Election of Andrew Jackson

Introduced greater equality for the common man [suffrage] and the Age of Jacksonian Democracy

Andrew Jackson nullification crisis; kills national bank

Nullification was a fight over states' rights vs. federal power

Jackson fought against the idea of a national bank because he believed that it helped only the rich

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Created Nebraska and Kansas as states & gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be either a free or slave state through popular sovereignty.; repealed Missouri Compromise; destroyed Whig party & led to emergence of Republican party

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Freed enslaved people only in Confederate states, making the war about slavery as well as unity

Gettysburg Address (1863)

Lincoln's short speech after the Battle of Gettysburg, redefining the war as a fight for equality, democracy, and a "new birth of freedom."

First Party System

Began in 1792. The federalist party and its opposing republican party competed for control of the presidency. Republican party was made because people saw the federalists as gaining too much power.

Democratic-Republicans

Led by Thomas Jefferson, believed people should have political power, favored strong STATE governments, emphasized agriculture, strict interpretation of the Constitution, pro-French, opposed National Bank

Hamilton's Financial Plan

Pay off all war debts, raise government revenues, create a national bank

National Bank

Hamilton's big idea; fiercely opposed by Jefferson and Democratic-Rep. The bank would regulate money and draw investors; showed that the constitution could be interpreted in many ways.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

Popular uprising of whiskey distillers in southwestern Pennsylvania in opposition to an excise tax on whiskey. In a show of strength and resolve by the new central government, Washington put down the rebellion with militia drawn from several states.

Tariff

A tax on imported goods

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Authorized gov't to imprison or expel those writing against the gov't. Controversial because it violates Bill of Rights.

Strict Constructionism

The Constitution should be read and followed as stated and should not be open for interpretation

Loose Constructionism

Courts should read the Constitution expansively and should not limit themselves to what is explicitly stated

Judicial Review

review by the US Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Affirmed federal control of interstate commerce under commerce clause of the Constitution.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Maryland tried to tax the Second National Bank but Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of McCulloch and the federal gov't. Argued that Congress had power under the Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)

Implied Powers

Powers not specifically mentioned in the constitution

Mass Democracy

Voting rates drastically increase as candidates use modern campaign tactics

Property Qualifications

Early American state requirement of property ownership in order to vote.

Universal Male Suffrage

extended the vote to all white male citizens regardless of their status

Corrupt Bargain of 1824

Election of 1824: No candidate won a majority of electoral votes, so the House of Representatives had to decide.

Outcome: John Quincy Adams was chosen as president, even though Andrew Jackson had won more popular and electoral votes.

“Corrupt Bargain”: Jackson’s supporters claimed Adams made a deal with Henry Clay (Speaker of the House): Clay backed Adams, and Adams later made Clay his Secretary of State.

Impact: The alleged bargain outraged Jackson’s supporters, fueling his campaign for 1828 and deepening distrust in the political system.

National Republicans to Whigs

supporters of a strong central government who favored road building and supported the Bank of the United States to shape the nation's economy; many were farmers or merchants

Democrats (Jacksonian Democrats)

Democrats championed the common white man, expanded democracy, opposed the Bank, and pushed westward expansion, while also promoting Indian removal.

Second Party System

Democrats and Whigs

Andrew Jackson

The seventh President of the United States (1829-1837), who as a general in the War of 1812 defeated the British at New Orleans (1815). As president he opposed the Bank of America, objected to the right of individual states to nullify disagreeable federal laws, and increased the presidential powers.

Bank War

Jackson believed the Bank of US had too much power and was too rich. Vetoed the 2nd Bank charter and withdrew gov't money from the US Banks and put it into "pet banks"

Spoils System

A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.

American System

Economic program advanced by Henry Clay that included support for a national bank, high tariffs, and internal improvements; emphasized strong role for federal government in the economy.

Louisiana Purchase

1803 purchase of the Louisiana territory from France. Made by Jefferson, this doubled the size of the US.

Missouri Compromise of 1820

Allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state, Maine to enter the union as a free state, prohibited slavery north of latitude 36˚ 30' within the Louisiana Territory (1820)

Mexican Cession

1848. Awarded as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo after the Mexican American War. U.S. paid $15 million for 525,000 square miles.

Compromise of 1850

(1) California admitted as free state,

(2) territorial status and popular sovereignty of Utah and New Mexico,

(3) resolution of Texas-New Mexico boundaries,

(4) federal assumption of Texas debt,

(5) slave trade abolished in DC,

(6) new fugitive slave law; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

allowed government officials to arrest any person accused of being a runaway slave; all that was needed to take away someone's freedoms was word of a white person; northerners required to help capture runaways if requested, suspects had no right to trial

Free Soil Party

Formed in 1847 - 1848, dedicated to opposing slavery in newly acquired territories such as Oregon and ceded Mexican territory.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

Supreme Court case that decided US Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories and slaves, as private property, could not be taken away without due process - basically slaves would remain slaves in non-slave states and slaves could not sue because they were not citizens

Bleeding Kansas (1854-1859)

The conflict over popular sovereignty between the slave owners and anti-slavery citizens of Kansas that turned violent

Popular Sovereignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent.

Republican Party (1854)

organized in 1854 by antislavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers in response to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act; nominated John C. Frémont for president in 1856 and Abraham Lincoln in 1860

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

Background: Born in 1809 in Kentucky, grew up poor, largely self-educated, became a lawyer in Illinois, and entered politics as a Whig before joining the new Republican Party.

Political Rise: Gained national attention in the Lincoln–Douglas debates (1858), where he opposed the expansion of slavery.

Election of 1860: Won the presidency as a Republican without Southern electoral votes → led to Southern secession and the start of the Civil War.

Civil War Leadership: Preserved the Union, expanded presidential powers, and kept border states loyal.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863) → freed enslaved people in Confederate-held areas, making the war about slavery as well as union.

Gettysburg Address (1863) → reframed the war as a fight for equality and democracy.

Pushed the 13th Amendment → permanently abolishing slavery.

Confederate States of America

A republic formed in February of 1861 and composed of the eleven Southern states that seceded from the United States

The Union

The North that opposed the use and expansion of slavery

Border States

States bordering the North: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. They were slave states, but did not secede.

New York Draft Riots (1863)

Uprising, mostly of working-class Irish-American, in protest of the draft. Rioters were particularly incensed by the ability of the rich to hire substitutes or purchase exemptions.