Quarter 1 Midterm Study Topics - Ch 2, 3, 4

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Quarter 1 Midterm study topics for Chapters 2, 3, and 4.

“Common Sense”

A pamphlet written to persuade American colonists to support independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution.

Stamp Act

A British law imposing direct taxes on paper goods and legal documents in the American colonies.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and natural rights that influenced the founding of the Early Republic.

Townshend Acts

A series of British measures taxing imported goods such as glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea in the colonies.

Boston Tea Party

A colonial political protest in which tea was dumped into Boston Harbor to protest British taxation.

Boston Massacre

A violent confrontation where British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists, killing several people and fueling revolutionary opposition.

Federalism

A system of government that divides authority between a central national government and state governments.

Declaration of Independence

The formal statement declaring the freedom and independence of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain.

Intolerable Acts

Punitive laws passed by the British Parliament following the Boston Tea Party to suppress resistance in Massachusetts.

John Locke

An Enlightenment philosopher whose writings on natural rights and government by social contract strongly shaped the American Revolution.

1st Great Awakening

A major religious revival movement across the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s that emphasized personal spiritual experience.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments added to the U.S. Constitution to guarantee essential individual liberties and protections.

Federalists vs. Anti- Federalists

The constitutional debate between advocates of a strong national government and defenders of states' rights and individual liberties.

Articles of Confederation

The initial governing framework of the United States, creating a decentralized government with limited federal powers.

Separation of Church and State

The constitutional doctrine establishing that the government must remain distinct and uninvolved in religious establishments.

Establishment Clause

The First Amendment provision prohibiting the federal government from establishing an official state religion.

Free Exercise Clause

The First Amendment provision protecting the right of individuals to freely practice their religion.

Marbury v. Madison

The landmark Supreme Court case that officially established the principle of judicial review in the Early Republic.

Judicial Review

The power of the judiciary to evaluate and nullify legislative or executive acts determined to violate the Constitution.

Monroe Doctrine

A United States policy declaring that European powers must refrain from establishing new colonies or interfering in the Western Hemisphere.

Differences in the economies of the North and South

The sectional contrast between the industrial manufacturing economy of the North and the agricultural plantation economy of the South.

Causes of the Civil War

The interrelated factors leading to the Civil War, including disputes over states' rights, sectional economic divides, and the institution of slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

The political principle that residents of a territory should vote to decide whether to permit slavery.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

The Supreme Court decision ruling that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive proclamation declaring all enslaved people within Confederate-controlled territories to be free.

Gettysburg Address

A speech delivered to dedicate a national cemetery, reaffirming the ideals of human equality and preserving the Union.

Andrew Johnson

The 17th President of the United States who oversaw Presidential Reconstruction and clashed with congressional leaders over policy toward the South.

Frederick Douglass

An abolitionist orator, author, and civil rights leader who actively campaigned against slavery and advocated for equality.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local statutes established across the South that enforced racial segregation and disenfranchisement.

Reconstruction plans (Lincoln, Republicans, Congressional plan)

The differing policy approaches for readmitting Southern states and protecting civil rights after the Civil War.

13th, 14th, 15th Amendments

The Reconstruction Amendments that abolished slavery, granted citizenship with equal protection, and protected voting rights regardless of race.