US History Test

Hinterland/back country

Remote/sparsely populated region away from major urban areas. Areas populated by Native Americans, later became home to European settlers, drawn by cheap land and opportunity. Site of conflict and tension between settlers and Native Americans and between different groups of European settlers.

Pennsylvania Dutch

German-speaking immigrants (Deutsch) who settled in Pennsylvania from the late 17th to early 19th centuries, seeking religious freedom.

Salutary/benign neglect

Britain's unofficial policy of not strictly enforcing its laws and regulations in the American colonies from the late 17th to the mid-18th century. Allowed the colonies to develop self-governance/sense of autonomy (colonies governed themselves) Fostered economic and political independence and led to increased colonial identity. Contributed to tensions that led to the American Revolution

The public sphere

Spaces where citizens discuss and debate public affairs, forming public opinion and influencing government and culture. Historically, this included early forums like coffee houses and taverns.

Newspapers

Powerful tools for shaping public opinion, national identity, driving political discourse, documenting societal change. Pivotal role to fueling the American Revolution.

The Great Awakening

Series of local events united by commitment to 'religion of the heart'. More emotional and personal Christianity than offered by churches. Transatlantic movement. 'new birth' - acknowledging one's sins and pleading for divine grace would save a man from eternal damnation. Person who sparked the awakening the most was George Whitefield: Said people could save themselves by repenting their sins, inpired emergence of numerous dissenting churches

Historiography

The study of how historians have interpreted and written about the past, focusing on how these interpretations have changed over time due to new evidence, perspectives, and social contexts.

Historical materialism

Helps analyze U.S. history by arguing that economic and material conditions drive social and political change, not abstract ideas.

Historical idealism

Belief that America's destiny is to embody and spread universal moral principles (like liberty, democracy, equality) and create a perfect society.

Seven Years' War

Caused by Ohio Company's demand for French recognition of its land. First of century's imperial wars in the colonies, first decisive victory. Gave Americans fighting experience. allowed Britain to see how important empire was, new regulations needed to guarantee continued strength/prosperity

Intellectual history/idealism

Intellectual history studies the ideas shaping the nation (politics, religion, culture), while idealism within it refers to a philosophical focus where universal truths and rational thought are key to understanding reality.

Natural rights

Idea of inherent, God-given rights (like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) that people possess simply by being human. Heavily influenced by enlightenment thinkers like John Locke

Proclamation line

British decree after the French and Indian War, establishing a boundary along the Appalachian Mountains, forbidding American colonists from settling west of it to prevent conflicts with Native Americans and manage new territories. angered colonists eager for land and contributed to resentment of British rule (limited expansion)

Pan-indianism

Concept in U.S. history where various Indigenous American tribes unite under a shared identity to promote solidarity and collective action against assimilation and oppression.

Land speculators

Individuals or groups who bought large tracts of cheap land, often from the government, anticipating future price increases for profit, fueling westward expansion but displacing Native Americans. bought raw land, prepared it,, then sold smaller plots to settlers creating towns and cities

Liberalism

Stressed individual liberty and the idea of a social contract where the government's main role is to protect individual rights from interference. Ideas from enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, emphasizing rights such as property, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the rule of law. Foundational to US gov established by the Founding Fathers, dominant throughout the 19th century, led to policies that ended slavery and promoted free markets

Liberalism vs. republicanism

Liberty was central to two sets of political ideals: Republicanism & Liberalism. Republicanism was government without king, active participation in public life, Economically independent citizens. Liberalism was, Private and individual, Leading philosopher was John Locke, Natural rights, Familiar in Europe and America. Both overlapped, could inspire commitment to constitutional gov, and security of property as foundation of freedom

Absolutist v. constitutional monarchy

An absolute monarchy grants a king or queen total, unrestricted power, often by divine right, while a constitutional monarchy limits the monarch's authority through a constitution, with real power resting in elected bodies like Parliament, making the monarch a symbolic head of state. The key difference is where sovereignty lies: with the absolute ruler or with the people's elected representatives under law

Mercantilism

belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism. a country focused on making itself as rich and powerful as possible by selling more goods to other countries than it bought. Idea that gov should regulate economic activity to produce national power. Should encourage manufacturing and commerce. Special bounties, monopolies, etc. By mercantilism, role of colonies was to serve interests of home country

Virtual representation

British theory that members of Parliament represented the interests of all British subjects, including the American colonists, even though the colonists did not directly elect them.

Sugar act

1764, reduced tax on molasses, also established new machinery to end widespread smuggling by colonial merchants. Colonists saw this as attempt to make them pay for something they wouldn't have otherwise. Effort to strengthen Navigation Acts

Stamp act

1765, required that all printed material produced in the colonies carry a stamp purchased from authorities. Purpose was to help finance operations of empire without revenue from colonial assemblies. Managed to offend virtually every colonist, especially those who read/wrote/published. Opposition to stamp act was first great drama of revolutionary era, first major split between colonists and GB. "No taxation without representation" was rallying cry of opponents of stamp act.

Stamp Act Congress

Oct 1765, Began by affirming allegiance of colonists to Crown of GB and due subordination to parliament. Said right to consent to taxation was essential to freedom of people. Merchants through colonies agreed to boycott British goods until parliament repealed stamp act. By seeking to impose uniformity on colonies, GB unwillingly had them band together in revolution. 26 british colonies of W hemisphere, nearly all protested tax but only 9 sent delegates to Stamp Act Congress. At this point, many colonists believed their liberties/material interests were safer inside the empire than outside

Smuggling

The illegal transport of goods or people to bypass taxes, laws, or monopolies, acting as both a tool for colonial resistance against Britain (molasses, tea), shaping American identity, economy, and state-building by testing government authority and fulfilling consumer demand for foreign luxuries

Necessary and Sufficient Causes

A necessary cause is a condition that must be present for an event to occur; without it, the event cannot happen. A sufficient cause is a condition or a combination of conditions that, when present, guarantees the event will occur

Currency Act

British law that banned American colonies from issuing their own paper money, aiming to stabilize colonial currency and protect British creditors from depreciating colonial notes after the French and Indian War, but it severely restricted colonial finances, causing significant economic hardship and resentment, and became a key grievance leading to the American Revolution.

Navigation Acts

English acts that allowed the English to control colonial trade. Based on mercantilist principles. restricted trade to British ships with English crews and mandated that certain colonial products could only be shipped to England or other English colonies. Aimed to take control of world trade away from Dutch (rival nations). Merchants profited from free trade with all parts of the world and all existing empires

Committees of Correspondence

In Boston, communicated with other colonies to encourage opposition to Sugar and Currency Acts. Such committees sprang up in other colonies as well. Exchanged ideas about resistance. Movement against stamp act quickly drew in broad range of Americans. Led by colonial elites. John Adams wrote that it inspired everyone to become attentive to their liberties

Sons of Liberty

organized violent movements against Stamp Act. Broad following among craftsmen, laborers, sailors. Used tactics such as intimidation, riots, tarring and feathering, and property destruction. British gov retreated due to stunned by ferocity of American resistance. 1766 parliament repealed stamp act. Accompanied by Declaratory Act, rejected Americans' claims that only their elected representatives could levy taxes. Said parliament possessed power to pass laws for colonies and people of America in all cases. Act promised further conflict

Daughters of Liberty

formed by women in which they signed agreements not to buy British products or shop at stores that sold them. Public spinning and weaving bees instead of purchasing British cloth. Idea of using homemade goods rather than imported appealed to Chesapeake planters

The Somerset Case

James Somerset escaped slavery but then was recaptured. British court case that ruled it was illegal to forcibly transport an enslaved person out of England.Widely interpreted as victory for abolitionist cause, turning point in the movement to end slavery throughout British Empire

The Townshend Acts

British laws taxing American imports like tea, glass, paint, paper, to raise revenue for colonial administration, sparking outrage over "taxation without representation" and leading to boycotts

The Tea Act

Britain's attempt to bail out the struggling East India Company by giving it a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies, making taxed British tea cheaper than smuggled tea, but colonists saw it as an attack on their rights, leading to the Boston Tea Party

The Homespun Movement

American effort to protest British taxation by boycotting imported textiles and producing cloth domestically.

The Intolerable Acts

a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, closing Boston Harbor, curtailing self-government, allowing British officials to be tried in Britain, and forcing colonists to house troops, uniting the colonies in resistance and leading to the First Continental Congress

The Quebec Act

British law granting French-speaking, Catholic inhabitants of Quebec religious freedom and reinstating French civil law and expanding its territory into the Ohio Valley

The Boston Tea Party

protest on December 16, 1773, where American colonists disguised as Native Americans dumped 342 chests of tea from three British ships into Boston Harbor. It was a protest against the Tea Act. The event escalated tensions with Britain, leading to the punitive Intolerable Acts and pushing the colonies closer to the American Revolution

The Declaratory Act

declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. It stated that the British Parliament's taxing authority was the same in America as in Great Britain. Parliament had directly taxed the colonies for revenue in the Sugar Act (1764) and the Stamp Act (1765)

The Continental Congress

governing body of the 13 American colonies that met during and after the Revolutionary War. Its two main assemblies, the First and Second Continental Congresses, managed colonial resistance to British rule, organized the war effort, and issued the Declaration of Independence.

Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

Nov 7, 1775. offered freedom to enslaved people and indentured servants who joined the British cause to fight against American revolutionaries. Outrages southern states

The Declaration of Independence

Jefferson's writings drew on argument of John Locke.Jefferson's writings drew on argument of John Locke. For over two centuries the declaration of independence has remained inspiration to both generations of Americans and colonial people around the world seeking independence. Since then many anticolonial movements have modeled their own declarations off of America. This document listed grievances against the imperial power and affirmed the natural rights (life liberty and the pursuit of happiness)

Slavery Clause of the Declaration

Declaration's original drafts (by Thomas Jefferson) included a slavery clause but due to objections by the Southern states it was removed and there was no slavery clause in the final draft of the declaration

Continental Association

unified colonial agreement, created by the First Continental Congress in 1774, that organized a comprehensive economic boycott of British goods (nonimportation, nonconsumption, nonexportation) to protest the Intolerable Acts and pressure Parliament into addressing American grievances

Committees of Safety

Local revolutionary groups formed in the Thirteen Colonies starting in 1774 to act as an executive authority and enforce boycotts against Great Britain. They took on duties such as organizing the militia, punishing loyalists, regulating prices, and managing local government functions in place of the Crown's officials

Paxton Gang

vigilante group of Scotch-Irish frontiersmen from colonial Pennsylvania who, in 1763, brutally murdered 20 peaceful, unarmed Susquehannock Indians in Lancaster County. It exposed deep frontier tensions, revealed colonial prejudice, sparked intense political debate over Native rights vs. settler security, highlighted the weaknesses of colonial government, and foreshadowed individualism that would fuel future American conflicts

Vice-Admiralty Courts

courts with jurisdiction over maritime law, created by the British Crown in its colonies, including the American colonies, to enforce trade and navigation laws. These courts operated without juries, with a judge hearing all evidence and making a ruling, which was different from the common law courts. Initially focused on commercial disputes, their powers were expanded to include trials for smuggling, which contributed to the colonists' grievances against British rule.

Saratoga

forced British commander Howe to surrender. Victory provided significant boost to American morale. Major turning point in war, led France to enter war as US ally

Yorktown

was decisive victory for Americans. Oct 19, 1871, Cornwallis surrendered his army of 8,000 men. When this news reached London support of war evaporated. Peace negotiations began

Continental Army

united fighting force of 13 colonies. Second continental congress offered raising of it, printed money to pay for it, and appointed George Washington as its commander (John Adams appointed him, Realized appointing a southerner would unite the colonies)

Treaty of Paris

negotiated in September 1783. Won recognition of American independence. Persuaded British to cede region between Canada and Florida east of Mississippi River, Gave Americans right to fish in Atlantic waters, Matter of considerable importance to New Englanders, Americans agreed colonists that supported England would not be persecuted, Loyalists' property would be restored. US became W Hemisphere's first independent nation

Loyalists

those who retained their allegiance to the crown. Many leading loyalists supported American resistance in the 60s but drew back at the prospect of independence and war. 20-25% of Americans (fluctuating number based on battles)

Patriots

Colonists who sought liberty from England and viewed it as oppressive. loyal to americans

Lexington and Concord

different skirmishes between the Americans and British (first major conflicts of American Revolution)

Southern Theater

the crucial military campaigns in the American Revolutionary War where the British shifted focus to subjugate the Southern colonies (VA, NC, SC, GA) after Northern failures, leading to brutal fighting, civil war-style conflict between Patriots and Loyalists

Freedom Petitions

arguments for liberty presented to New England's courts/legislatures beginning in early 1700s by enslaved African Americans

John Locke

English Enlightenment philosopher, intellectual father of American liberalism, provided foundational ideas for natural rights (life, liberty, property) and government by consent, directly shaping the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and justifying the right to revolution against tyranny, making his concepts the bedrock of American democracy.

Thomas Hobbes

a 17th-century English philosopher whose social contract theory profoundly influenced US history by providing foundational ideas for the Founding Fathers, even though he argued for absolute monarchy; his concepts of government deriving power from the people's consent and the need for order over liberty shaped discussions about rights, authority, and the purpose of the state that ultimately underpinned American democratic though

Benjamin Franklin

Founding Father, diplomat, inventor, writer, and civic leader who profoundly shaped U.S. history by helping draft the Declaration of Independence, securing crucial French aid during the Revolution, negotiating the peace treaty ending the war, and contributing to the Constitution.

Pontiac

Ottawa war chief who led a major pan-tribal uprising, known as Pontiac's Rebellion (or Resistance), from 1763-1766 against British rule in the Great Lakes region after the French and Indian War, challenging colonial expansion and preserving Native American lands, a pivotal moment highlighting Indigenous agency against empire

Neolin

significant spiritual leader and prophet of the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) tribe in the 1760s, known for his nativist message urging Native Americans to reject European influence and return to traditional ways of life. His teachings were a major inspiration for the pan-Indian resistance movement known as Pontiac's Rebellion.

Thomas Jefferson

Primary author of the Declaration of Independence and advocate for democracy and limited government.

George Washington

wealthy Virginia planter, surveyor, and military officer who gained early experience in the French and Indian War, became a key figure in colonial resistance to British policies like the Stamp and Townshend Acts, and ultimately led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, transitioning from a loyal British subject to the commander of the revolution, securing American independence

General Cornwallis

prominent British commander during the American Revolutionary War, known as George Washington's main adversary, famous for initial successes in New York and the South, but infamous for his decisive surrender at Yorktown in 1781, effectively ending the war