APUSH Exam Terms (Units 1-5)

Some terms that I often forget/ need to brush up on!

Natural Rights

Fundamental rights that every individual is entitled to, typically including life, liberty, and property. These rights are often associated with Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Laws passed in 1798 that restricted speech criticizing the government and targeted immigrants.

Salutary Neglect

A British policy that allowed the American colonies considerable freedom to govern themselves, leading to a sense of independence.

Elastic Clause

A provision in the US Constitution that allows Congress to make laws necessary and proper for executing its powers.

Coercive Acts

Also known as the Intolerable Acts, these were laws passed in 1774 by the British Parliament to punish the American colonies for the Boston Tea Party, imposing strict measures like the closure of Boston Harbor.

Northwest Ordinance

A law passed in 1787 that created a framework for governing the Northwest Territory, establishing procedures for admitting new states and ensuring rights for settlers.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Political statements in 1798 and 1799, asserting that states had the right to nullify federal laws they deemed unconstitutional, in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Virginia Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that called for representation based on state population.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that called for equal representation for each state regardless of population.

Great Compromise

Also known as the Connecticut Compromise, it was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention that established a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate.

Shay’s Rebellion

An armed uprising in 1786-1787 led by farmers in Boston protesting economic injustices and lack of government response.

Battle of Saratoga

A turning point in the Revolutionary War in 1777, where American forces defeated the British, leading to French support for the American cause.

3/5 Compromise

An agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention that determined how slaves would be counted for representation and taxation, stating that each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person.

Corp. of Discovery

A group led by Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.

Marbury v. Madison

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1803 that established the principle of judicial review, allowing the Court to determine the constitutionality of laws.

Judicial Review

The power of courts to review and invalidate legislation or executive actions that are deemed unconstitutional.

Henry Clay’s American System

An economic plan proposed by Henry Clay in the early 19th century that promoted internal improvements, a national bank, and protective tariffs to foster national growth.

Talmadge Amendment

A proposed amendment in 1819 aimed at prohibiting slavery in Missouri's territory, which sparked a heated debate over the expansion of slavery in the United States.

Missouri Compromise

A legislative agreement passed in 1820 that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while prohibiting slavery north of the 36°30′ latitude line.

Monroe Doctrine

A U.S. foreign policy statement made in 1823 that warned European nations against colonization or intervention in the Americas, asserting that any such actions would be viewed as acts of aggression.

Adams-Onis Treaty

An 1819 agreement between the U.S. and Spain that ceded Florida to the United States and defined the boundary between the two countries.

Market Revolution

A period of rapid economic transformation in the early 19th century in the United States, characterized by the expansion of markets, the growth of manufacturing, and increased transportation infrastructure.

Tenements

A type of apartment building that housed many working-class families, often in poor living conditions during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Cult of Domesticity

A cultural ideology that emerged in the early 19th century, emphasizing women's roles as homemakers and moral guides within the family.

Panic of 1819

The first major financial crisis in the United States, resulting in widespread economic hardship and bank failures.

Election of 1824

The contentious presidential election where John Quincy Adams was elected by the House of Representatives despite losing the popular vote and Electoral College to Andrew Jackson.

Tariff of Abominations

A controversial tariff enacted in 1828 that raised duties on imported goods, leading to significant opposition from the South.

Force Bill

Legislation that allowed the federal government to use military force to

Transcendentalism

A philosophical movement that emphasized individual intuition and spirituality, inspiring a greater appreciation for nature and self-reliance.

Hudson River School

A mid-19th century American art movement that focused on romantic landscapes, emphasizing the natural beauty of the Hudson River Valley.

Temperance Movement

A social movement aimed at reducing or prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages, emphasizing the moral and social benefits of sobriety.

Nat Turners Rebellion

A violent enslaved revolt led by Nat Turner in 1831 in Virginia, aimed at overthrowing the institution of slavery.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first women's rights convention held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, which launched the women's suffrage movement and produced the Declaration of Sentiments.

Declaration of Sentiments

The Declaration of Sentiments is a foundational document in the history of women's rights in the United States. It's a powerful and historically significant statement that articulated the grievances and demands of women during the early women's rights movement, including aspects of the Declaration of Independence.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a peace treaty signed on February 2, 1848, in Guadalupe Hidalgo (now a neighborhood of Mexico City) that officially ended the Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Wilmot Proviso

The proviso sought to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War.

Popular Sovereignty

Referred to the idea that the people living in a newly organized territory should decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders.

13th Amendment

Abolition of slavery and servitude

14th Amendment

Addressed citizenship rights and equal protection under the law. It was a response to issues concerning formerly enslaved people following the Civil War.

15th Amendment

Gave African Americans the right to vote

Compromise of 1850

A series of five laws passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that aimed to resolve the intense debate over slavery and territorial expansion following the Mexican-American War. Devised primarily by Senator Henry Clay and Senator Stephen A. Douglas, it sought to maintain the balance between free and slave states in the Union.

Free Soilers

The Free Soilers were members of a political movement that wanted to prevent the expansion of slavery into the western territories acquired after the Mexican-American War.

Nativists

Nativists are people who advocate for the interests of native-born or long-established inhabitants of a country over those of immigrants. Nativism is the political policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants, often including the support of immigration-restriction measures.

Know-Nothing Party

A prominent United States political party that had strong nativist sentiment, particularly anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic feelings.

Abolitionists

Individuals or groups who advocated for the complete and immediate end of slavery

Underground Railroad

It was used by enslaved African Americans to escape to freedom

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

An anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe

10th Amendment

It clarifies that any powers that are not specifically given to the federal government by the Constitution are given to the states

Kansas-Nebraska Act

It allowed for popular sovereignty in the newly organized territories of Kansas and Nebraska, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which had prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel

Bleeding Kansas

This period was marked by a series of armed confrontations between pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates over whether the new territory would enter the Union as a free state or a slave state.

Dred Scott v Sandford

The Court ruled that people of African descent, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens of the United States and therefore could not sue in federal court

John Brown’s Raid

Brown led a small group of his followers to raid the federal armory in Virginia, trying to initiate a major slave revolt

Emancipation Proclamation

The proclamation declared that all enslaved people in the Confederate states that were still in rebellion against the Union would be freed.

Gettysburg Address

It was given at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the site of the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg, which occurred four and a half months earlier.

Shermans March to the Sea

The primary goal of the march was to cripple the Confederacy's ability to wage war by destroying its infrastructure, industries, and resources in Georgia.

Plessy v Ferguson

Requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal.

Black Codes

These codes were designed to control the newly freed African Americans and limit their rights and opportunities, essentially maintaining a social and economic system similar to slavery.