APUSH SEM 1 KEY TERMS

Abigail Adams

Supporter of expanding women's rights and protections in the new United States; wife of John Adams.

American Patriots

Term for supporters of American independence during the Revolutionary War.

Articles of Confederation

The first adopted plan for union by the states that established a federal Congress; each state had one vote, and Congress could coin money, but it had no power to tax.

Battle of Fallen Timbers

The 1794 defeat of Indian group the Miami in the Ohio Valley, which forced the defeated Miami to agree to a treaty that ceded Indian lands to the United States.

Benedict Arnold

Military hero early in the Revolution; he lost hope as the war progressed and ultimately conspired with the British.

Common Sense

Thomas Paine's popular pamphlet that encouraged independence from England by arguing that colonists could never be truly free under the English constitution.

Declaration of Independence

A founding document of the United States, the declaration explained why the colonies were breaking away from England. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson who borrowed concepts from other works and edited by the Second Continental Congress, the declaration also appealed to foreign countries and spurred colonies to reform themselves as states.

George Washington

Military leader and one of the founders of the United States; served as first president.

Hessians

German mercenaries hired by England during the American Revolutionary War.

John Burgoyne

General for British northern forces, defeated at Saratoga.

Joseph and Mary Brant

Mohawk brother and sister who allied with the British, thus harming the unity of the Iroquois Confederacy's neutrality during the Revolutionary War.

Lord Cornwallis

British officer with early successes as leader of the Southern British forces but who was forced to surrender at Yorktown in 1781.

Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

British promise of 1775 to grant freedom to people enslaved by Patriots in exchange for joining their military forces against the rebelling colonists.

Loyalists (Tories)

Supporters of England and the king, they may have represented a third of the white colonial population; many left America after the Revolution.

Northwest Ordinance

A 1787 decree that created a single political territory out of the land north of the Ohio River.

republicanism

A system of governance in which power derives from the people, rather than from a ruling family, aristocratic class, or some other supreme authority.

Saratoga

Site in New York where, with the help of Benedict Arnold, General Horatio Gates surrounded British General John Burgoyne and forced his surrender.

Second Continental Congress

Body of colonial representatives formed after the battles of Lexington and Concord to help resolve the conflict with Great Britain.

Shays's Rebellion

A 1786 uprising of poor Massachusetts farmers demanding relief from their debts.

Thomas Jefferson

One of the founders of the United States, he wrote most of the Declaration of Independence and served in all levels of government, both locally and nationally, in his long career.

William Howe

British commander who led troops in capturing New York in 1776 and Philadelphia in 1777, but who was largely seen as ineffective until replaced in 1778.

yeoman farmer

Small farmer who worked his own soil and possessed no slave labor.

Yorktown

Virginia site of the last major battle of the American Revolution, where Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington and French forces in 1781.

Alexander Hamilton

One of the country's founders, Hamilton championed a strong central government as a Federalist and was influential in Washington's cabinet.

Alien and Sedition Acts

A group of laws passed under President John Adams that limited new immigrants' access to citizenship and gave the federal government broad powers to limit criticism of the government.

Antifederalists

Term used by Federalists to describe those who were against ratification of the Constitution.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution; limited the new government's ability to infringe upon certain fundamental rights.

checks and balances

A system that grants the various branches of government the power to oversee or constrain other branches, so that no part grows too powerful.

citizenship

The legal recognition of a person's inclusion in a body politic by the extension of various rights and privileges and the expectation of various duties and obligations.

Constitution

The legal framework of the United States created to resolve limitations of the Articles of Confederation.

federalism

A political system dividing powers between state and federal governments that together constitute a federation.

Federalists

Term for supporters of the Constitution and later a political party that favored a strong central government.

James Madison

Fourth president of the United States; instrumental in the creation of the U.S. Constitution.

Jay's Treaty

Crafted in response to continued British seizure of American ships in 1794 by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay; resolved the dispute by acknowledging American supremacy over the Northwest territory and producing a commercial relationship with Britain.

John Adams

One of the country's founders; first vice president of the United States and the second president of the United States.

New Jersey Plan

Plan presented by William Paterson of New Jersey during the Constitutional Convention to have a single legislative body with equal representation for all states regardless of population.

Pinckney's Treaty

Agreement between the United States and Spain that guaranteed access to the Mississippi River for American trade and protection from Native Americans in Spain's territories.

quasi war

The name given to the undeclared war between the United States and France of 1798-1799.

Republicans

Name for those who wished to limit the new government's power, in opposition to the Federalists.

Revolution of 1800

Thomas Jefferson's term for his election in 1800 which saw the peaceful transfer of power between ideologically opposed parties.

separation of powers

The partitioning of authority to distinct branches of a government.

The Federalist Papers

A collection of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay that supported ratification of the Constitution.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Written by Jefferson and Madison, respectively, in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, the resolutions argued that states had the right to nullify federal laws.

Virginia Plan

James Madison's proposal during the Constitutional Convention for a two-house legislature where states would be represented in both bodies in proportion to their population.

Whiskey Rebellion

A 1794 uprising of western Pennsylvania farmers opposed to a new federal whiskey tax; put down by troops led by President Washington.

XYZ Affair

Name given to an international incident between U.S. and French diplomats that sparked the quasi war between France and the United States.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Union of skilled workers, formed in 1881 and led by Samuel Gompers, that used strikes to gain concessions from management.

American Socialist Party

Political party for economic reform created in 1901 that was closely aligned with organized labor.

Andrew Carnegie

Scottish immigrant who became a steel magnate and then philanthropist during the Gilded Age.

Edward Bellamy

Author of the utopian novel Looking Backward (1888) in which government monopolies created an equitable society.

Eugene V. Debs

Leader of the American Railway Union in the Pullman strike of 1894; presidential candidate for the Socialist Party.

gospel of wealth

Term popularized by Andrew Carnegie to argue that those with immense wealth carry a greater burden to use that wealth for social progress.

Haymarket bombing

In a clash between striking laborers and police in Chicago on May 1, 1886, an unknown person threw a bomb into a crowd killing seven police and injuring nearly seventy others.

Henry Ford

Early leader of the automobile industry who stressed the standardization of parts and assembly lines..

Henry George

Author of Progress and Poverty (1879), which argued for tax reform on land as a way to break the power of monopolies.

Homestead strike

A strike of the steel mill union in 1892 that led to armed conflict and the involvement of state militia.

Horatio Alger

Author of Gilded Age books whose hardworking heroes go from "rags to riches."

horizontal integration

A corporate combination where a group of businesses that do the same thing are consolidated.

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of Standard Oil, famous for horizontal and vertical integration, and the wealthiest man of the Gilded Age.

J. P. Morgan

Banker and creator of U.S. Steel.

Knights of Labor

Short-lived early national labor union that championed eight-hour workdays and the end of child labor, open to almost all workers.

Louisa May Alcott

Author of the Little Women series about an ambitious girl who fought conventional society to become a writer.

Molly Maguires

A secret society of Irish-born coal miners willing to use violence to deal with management.

monopoly

A business entity that controls an industry or market sector without competition.

Pullman strike

A 1894 railroad strike that escalated to twenty-seven states and territories, ultimately broken by federal troops and resulting in management's victory.

Samuel Gompers

Union organizer under whose leadership the American Federation of Labor (AFL) grew by combining similar skilled unions together.

Social Darwinism

The belief that societies are subject to the laws of natural selection and that some societies or peoples are innately superior to others.

Taylorism

Named for Frederick Winslow Taylor, an attempt to use scientific management to improve factory production.

vertical integration

The arrangement by which a company takes ownership of businesses in various stages of production and distribution within the same industry.

Wilbur and Orville Wright

Builders of the first self-powered airplane, successfully flown in 1903.

Armory Show

An event in New York City that displayed works of the French postimpressionists and of some American modern artists; supported by the Ashcan artists.

Ashcan School

Art movement whose members produced work startling in its naturalism and stark in its portrayal of the social realities of the era.

city beautiful movement

Led by architect Daniel Burnham, the movement sought to impose order and symmetry on the disordered life of American cities.

Coney Island

The famous and popular amusement park located on a Brooklyn beach.

consumerism

An increased focus on purchasing goods for personal use; the protection or promotion of consumer interests.

Darwinism

The argument that the human species had evolved from earlier forms of life through a process of "natural selection."

Jacob Riis

New York newspaper photographer who wrote How the Other Half Lives, which used photos and words to expose the harshness of tenement life.

Kate Chopin

A southern writer who explored the oppressive features of traditional marriage; known for her shocking novel The Awakening.

National Consumers League (NCL)

Formed in the 1890s under the leadership of Florence Kelley; goal was to force retailers and manufacturers to improve wages and working conditions.

Public Health Service

Organization created in 1912; goal was to prevent occupational diseases and create common health standards.

Tammany Hall

Urban machine led by famously corrupt city boss William M. Tweed.

tenements

By the late nineteenth century, this was a descriptor used for slum dwellings.

Theodore Dreiser

Author of Sister Carrie, which focused on the plight of single women.

vaudeville

A form of theater adapted from French models; the most popular urban entertainment into the first decades of the twentieth century.

William James

Harvard psychologist and most prominent publicist of pragmatism.

William M. Tweed

The famously corrupt boss of New York's political machine Tammany Hall.

William Randolph Hearst

The most powerful U.S. newspaper chain owner; by 1914, he controlled nine newspapers and two magazines.

Benjamin Harrison

Republican senator who was elected president in 1888 in one of the most corrupt elections in American history.

Boxer Rebellion

A revolt begun by Chinese nationalists against foreigners in China.

Chester A. Arthur

Became president when Garfield was assassinated.

Coxey's Army

A group of unemployed who marched on Washington, led by an Ohio Populist, to demand relief from the depression.

Farmers' Alliances

Began among southern farmers in 1875 but spread nationwide; formed cooperatives and other marketing mechanisms.

Free silver

Economic philosophy that advocated for the coining of silver; farmers and others believed that expanding the money supply in this way would increase prices for their products and ease their debt payments.

Grangers

Founded in 1867, the first major farm organization in the country to mobilize against railroads and other special interests; predecessor to the farmers' alliances of the late nineteenth century.

Grover Cleveland

Reform governor of New York who was elected president in 1884 and again in 1892.

Half-Breeds

Political group within the Republican Party led by James G. Blaine of Maine, who favored reform.

imperialism

The process whereby an empire or nation pursues military, political, or economic advantage by extending its rule over external territories and peoples.

Interstate Commerce Act

The first effective federal railroad regulation, passed in 1887; administered by a five-person agency.

James A. Garfield

Veteran Republican congressman from Ohio and a Half-Breed; won the presidency in the 1880 election; assassinated in 1881.

jingoes

A term coined in the late nineteenth century to refer to advocates for expanded U.S. economic, political, and military power in the world.