U.S. History: Essential Recent Vocabulary

A comprehensive vocabulary review of key terms, laws, and events spanning U.S. history from the colonial period through the modern era, derived directly from lecture materials.

Triangular Trade

Exchange of goods and slaves between Africa, Europe, West Indies, and the colonies.

House of Burgesses

First example of a representative form of government in colonial Virginia.

Mayflower Compact

Agreement signed by Pilgrims before landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts in which colonists consented to be governed by a government they created (self-government).

Stamp Act

($1765$) law of British Parliament that taxed newspapers, legal documents, and other printed materials; led to the phrase "no taxation without representation".

Declaration of Independence

The $1776$ document stating that the colonies wanted to be free and independent from British rule and provided justification for breaking with parent country (Great Britain).

Proclamation of 1763

British law that prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains; purpose was to prevent conflict between Native Americans and colonists following the French and Indian War.

Common Sense

Famous pamphlet written by Thomas Paine; persuaded colonists to seek independence and end their relationship with Great Britain.

Articles of Confederation

The first American constitution that created a weak central (federal) government and gave more power to states.

Federalist Papers

Series of essays written by the founding fathers that urged ratification (approval) of the new Constitution.

U.S. Constitution

Supreme law of the land that outlines the functions of the three branches of government.

Checks and Balances

Each branch of federal government has power to limit the actions of other branches.

Federalism

Power and authority is divided between the national and state governments.

Limited Government

Government is not all powerful; it may only do things people give it the power to do.

Popular Sovereignty

Principle of constitution that people are only source of any and all government power.

Amendments

Modifications or changes to the Constitution (there are $27$ amendments in all).

Bill of Rights

First $10$ amendments to the U.S. Constitution that describe the basic rights of all citizens.

Executive Branch

Part of government that carries out the laws (the president).

Electoral College

An assembly elected by voters that meets every $4$ years to formally elect the President.

Legislative Branch

Part of the government that makes laws for the nation (Congress).

Judicial Branch

Part of the government that decides if laws are being carried out fairly (the Supreme Court).

Unwritten Constitution

Customs and precedents accepted as a needed part of government although not actually listed in the Constitution.

Marbury v. Madison

($1803$) decision of the Marshall Court (Supreme Court) that established the principle of judicial review (the power to declare laws unconstitutional).

Louisiana Purchase

($1803$) land deal with the French that nearly doubled the size of the U.S. and gave it full control of the Mississippi River.

Monroe Doctrine

($1823$) presidential declaration warning the nations of Western Europe not to interfere with newly independent nations in the Western Hemisphere (Latin America).

Trail of Tears

The forced removal of Cherokee Indians in $1838$-$1839$ to lands west of the Mississippi River (followed the Indian Removal Act).

Seneca Falls Convention

($1848$) women's rights convention where Declaration of Sentiments was issued.

Abolitionism

Movement to end slavery in the U.S.; led to the establishment of the Underground Railroad.

Manifest Destiny

Belief the United States had the right and duty to expand its borders across North America.

Homestead Act

($1862$) law that offered $160$ acres of western land to help settle the western frontier.

Reservations

Areas of land set aside by the federal government for Native Americans.

Missouri Compromise

($1820$) agreement to keep an equal balance of free and slaves states; outlawed slavery in new states and territories north of $36^\circ 30'$ north latitude (one cause of the Civil War).

Civil War

Conflict between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South) from $1861$ to $1865$.

Emancipation Proclamation

Presidential decree effective Jan. $1$, $1863$ that freed slaves in Confederate (southern) territory; considered a turning point of the Civil War.

Reconstruction

Period lasting from $1865$ to $1877$; an effort to rebuild the southern states and bring southern states to the Union after the Civil War.

Freedman's Bureau

Created during Reconstruction to aid former slaves and help them adjust to freedom by providing an education and other basic necessities.

Ku Klux Klan

Group of white southerners against Radical Reconstruction who challenged attempts at racial equality by intimidating African Americans and promoting white supremacy.

13th Amendment

($1865$) abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

($1868$) granted U.S. citizenship to African Americans.

15th Amendment

($1870$) gave African American men the right to vote.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case that legalized segregation as long as African Americans had access to "separate but equal" facilities.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws in the southern U.S. that segregated public facilities by race after the Civil War.

Compromise of 1877

Settled the disputed election of $1876$ and ended Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the southern states.

Social Darwinism

Belief the evolutionary idea of "survival of the fittest" applied to society and business.

Monopoly

Type of business that has complete control over a product or service by controlling prices and the amount of competition.

Laissez-Faire

Government policy of not interfering in private business and minimizing regulation (hands-off).

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

($1890$) prohibited monopolies by declaring illegal any business combination or trust "in restraint of trade or commerce".

Jacob Riis

Author and photographer who wrote How the Other Half Lives about the harsh living conditions in New York City tenements.

Ellis Island

Place in New York Harbor requiring immigrants to undergo physical examination before entering the United States.

Chinese Exclusion Act

($1882$) law that sharply limited number of Chinese immigrants and barred many Chinese from owning property or working certain jobs.

Gentlemen's Agreement

Informal agreement between the U.S. and Japan that restricted Japanese immigration.

Progressive Era

Reform movement that sought to correct abuses and social conditions in American society between the $1890s$ and $1920s$.

NAACP

Founded in $1910$ by W.E.B. DuBois to advance the cause of African Americans by fighting for equal rights (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).

Muckrakers

Journalists who tried to improve society by exposing corruption, hazards & social problems.

Interstate Commerce Act

($1887$) regulated railroads and other interstate businesses; set up the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

Upton Sinclair

Journalist who wrote The Jungle which detailed the dangerous and unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry; led to passage of Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act.

Pure Food and Drug Act

Outlawed interstate transportation of impure or diluted foods and the deliberate mislabeling of foods and drugs.

Meat Inspection Act

Required federal inspection of meat processing plants to ensure sanitary conditions.

Federal Reserve System

Central banking system of the U.S. created in $1913$ to control interest rates and the money supply.

16th Amendment

($1913$) gave Congress the power to tax income.

17th Amendment

($1913$) allowed for the direct election of U.S. Senators rather than being appointed by state legislatures.

Yellow Journalism

Emphasized sensational stories of crime and scandal; used hyped-up stories to increase newspaper sales and circulation.

USS Maine

Ship sunk by an explosion near Cuba and was the primary cause of the Spanish-American War.

Roosevelt Corollary

($1904$) extension of the Monroe Doctrine claimed the right of the U.S. to intervene in Latin American nations to ensure stability in the Western Hemisphere.

Panama Canal

Connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and allowed for quick movement of navy and merchant ships between them.

Dollar Diplomacy

President Taft's foreign policy of encouraging American investment in Latin America.

Treaty of Versailles

Ended World War I and created the League of Nations; blamed the war on Germany.

League of Nations

International organization formed after World War I that aimed to promote security and peace for all members and prevent foreign conflicts.

Palmer Raids

The rounding up of several hundred suspected communists by the attorney general to ease fears during the "Red Scare" of the $1920s$.

18th Amendment

($1919$) banned the sale, use, and transportation of alcohol; also known as Prohibition and the Temperance Movement.

19th Amendment

($1920$) gave women the right to vote (suffrage).

Flapper

Name for a young woman during the $1920s$ who had a fondness for dancing and brash actions.

Harlem Renaissance

African American cultural movement of the $1920s$ that focused on African American pride through literature, art, music, and dance.

Hoovervilles

Makeshift homeless shelters during the early years of the Great Depression.

Dust Bowl

Name for the Great Plains during the Depression because of large dust storms of dry top soil caused by drought and poor farming methods.

New Deal

Name given to the programs of President Franklin Roosevelt to help people deal with the effects of the Great Depression.

100 Days

Name given to beginning of FDR's presidency when Congress passed many New Deal programs.

FDIC

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; government program that insured bank deposits for up to $100,000 (today, bank deposits are insured up to $250,000).

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

New Deal program that gave the unemployed work in building construction and arts programs.

Lend-Lease Act

($1941$) authorized the president to provide aid to any nation whose defense he believed vital to American security; weapons to Britain.

Atlantic Charter

Agreement made between Winston Churchill and FDR which outlined principles for building peace and establishing free governments.

Yalta Conference

($1945$) meeting between Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt to discuss plans for the post-war world and free elections in Eastern Europe.

Manhattan Project

Name of the secret program during World War II to develop the atomic bomb.

Rosie the Riveter

Symbolized the many women who worked in defense industries during World War II.

Korematsu v. U.S.

Supreme Court decision that justified internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.

United Nations

International organization formed after World War II to promote peace and prevent human rights abuses.

Truman Doctrine

($1947$) declaration stated the U.S. would militarily support nations threatened by communism; initially Greece and Turkey.

Containment

American foreign policy after World War II of resisting further expansion of communism around the world.

Marshall Plan

Provided economic aid to Western European countries to help them rebuild after World War II.

22nd Amendment

($1951$) limited the president to two terms in office.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

Investigated un-American and subversive activities during the Red Scare of the $1950s$.

McCarthyism

The "witch hunt" for suspected communists in the federal government during the $1950s$ named after Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Sputnik

The first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union in $1957$ which started the space race.

Cuban Missile Crisis

($1962$) crisis between the u.s. and Soviet Union over Soviet attempts to deploy nuclear missiles $90$ miles off the coast of Florida.

Peace Corps

Federal program established by President Kennedy to send volunteers to help developing nations around the world.

Brown v. Board of Education

($1954$) Supreme Court decision that reversed Plessy v. Ferguson and outlawed racial segregation in public schools.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to encourage non-violent passive resistance organized by Christian churches.

Martin Luther King Jr

Civil rights leader who advocated using civil disobedience and non-violent demonstrations; "I Have A Dream" speech; assassinated in $1968$.

Malcolm X

Civil rights leader of the black power movement who spoke against integration and promoted black nationalism and racial unity.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Prohibited and outlawed racial discrimination in all public facilities.

24th Amendment

($1964$) eliminated and abolished poll taxes (tax on voting).