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Mississippi River
One of the two largest rivers in the US.
Atlantic Ocean
The ocean on the East Coast of the US.
Pacific Ocean
The ocean on the West Coast of the US.
Bering Land Bridge
Believed route of earliest peoples to North America.
Cahokia
Major center for the Mississippian culture, known for its large earthen mounds.
Vikings
Europeans who first explored North America around 1000AD, led by Leif Erikson.
Spain, Portugal, England, France
Countries that led European exploration of the present-day United States in 1400s-1600s.
Amerigo Vespucci
Explorer after whom the New World was named.
Columbian exchange
Exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the New World.
Geography
Influenced housing, food sources, and cultural practices of Native American cultures.
Eastern Woodland tribes
Known for longhouses and agriculture.
Plains tribes
Nomadic tribes that relied on buffalo.
Triangular Trade
Exchange of goods between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
Mercantilism
Economic system aiming to accumulate wealth through trade.
Religious freedom, economic opportunities, escape from persecution
Reasons why early colonists came to America.
Jamestown
First English colony established in America in 1607.
John Rolfe
Introduced tobacco into the American colonies.
Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Two colonies founded in Massachusetts.
New York
New name given to the Dutch city of New Amsterdam by the English.
Pennsylvania
Colony founded by the Quakers.
South: good soil North:hard rock soil
Affected economic development of colonial regions (North vs. South).
Georgia
Colony established as a debtor's colony and a buffer against Spanish Florida.
Quakers
Colonial settlers who practiced pacifism.
House of Burgesses
First elected legislative assembly in the Americas, established in Virginia.
roadIsland
Colony that was the first to allow religious freedom.
Mayflower Compact
Social contract signed by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, establishing a self-governing colony.
Great Awakening
Religious revival that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s.
Mason-Dixon line
Boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Africans
Group of people taken to America and sold as slaves.
Indentured servitude
Contracted work for passage vs. lifelong slavery.
Middle Passage
Transatlantic journey that brought slaves to the Americas.
Slave codes
Laws that controlled the lives of enslaved African Americans and denied them basic rights.
Germantown Petition
Quaker-authored protest against slavery presented to the Continental Congress.
New Hampshire, Virginia, New York
Name of one colony from each of the three colonial regions.
Unity, defense against external threats
Lessons learned from the French and Indian War.
Benjamin Franklin
Famous for invention of the lightning rod, Founding Father, and diplomat.
Stamp Act
Tax imposed on the American colonies by the British government on printed materials.
Independence, unjust taxation without representation
Reasons why the colonists fought the British.
Coercion/Intolerable Acts
Punitive laws passed by the British to punish the colonies for the Boston Tea Party and assert control.
Thomas Paine
Author of Common Sense, advocating for American independence.
Crispus Attucks
African American man killed in the Boston Massacre, considered a casualty of the Revolution.
Loyalists, Patriots
Supporters of British rule vs. supporters of independence during the American Revolution.
Battle of Saratoga
Turning point battle that persuaded the French to support the American cause.
Valley Forge
Site where the Continental Army endured a harsh winter during the Revolutionary War.
Second Continental Congress
De facto government during the Revolutionary War, issued the Declaration of Independence.
Mississippi River to the west, Great Lakes to the north, Spanish Florida to the south
Boundaries of the US after the Revolutionary War.
Thomas Jefferson
Primary author of the Declaration of Independence.
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness
Rights declared in the Declaration of Independence.
July 4, 1776
Date when the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Lexington & Concord
First battles of the Revolutionary War, 'Shot heard 'round the world.'
Trenton
Pivotal American victory during the winter of 1776.
Yorktown
Final major battle that led to the British surrender.
Articles of Confederation, Shay's Rebellion
Shay's Rebellion highlighted weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
1787
Year when the Constitution was written.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
Main writers of the Federalist Papers.
Republic
Form of government where the head of state is an elected or appointed official, not a monarch.
Bicameral
Having two separate chambers or houses, as in a bicameral legislature.
Proportional representation
Representation in a legislative body based on population or number of voters.
Great Compromise
Established a bicameral legislature with one house based on population and the other with equal representation.
Three-Fifths Compromise
Counted three-fifths of the slave population for determining representation and taxation.
Trade/Commerce Compromise
Gave Congress power to regulate commerce but prohibited taxing exports.
Constitution
Supreme law of the land, establishes the structure and powers of the federal government.
Amendment
Formal change or addition to the Constitution.
Bill of Rights
First ten amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing personal freedoms and rights.
Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition
One right or freedom from the First Amendment.
27
Number of amendments the Constitution has.
Rule of law
Principle that everyone, including government officials, is subject to and accountable under the law.
Legislative, Executive, Judicial
Three branches of government and their functions.
Checks and balances
System that prevents one branch of government from becoming too powerful.
The President
In charge of the executive branch.
Senate, House of Representatives
Two parts of the U.S. Congress.
100
Number of U.S. Senators.
6
Number of years for which we elect a U.S. Senator.
435
Number of voting members in the House of Representatives.
2
Number of years for which we elect a U.S. Representative.
Based on population, determined by the decennial census
Reason why some states have more Representatives than others.
4
Number of years for which we elect a President.
November
Month in which we vote for President.
Electoral College
Body that chooses the President according to the Constitution.
The President
Commander in Chief of the military.
The President
Signs bills to become laws.
The President
Vetoes bills.
Supreme Court
Highest court in the United States.
9
Number of justices on the Supreme Court.
Judicial review
Power of the courts to determine the constitutionality of laws or government actions.
Enumerated Powers, Reserved Powers, Concurrent Powers, Implied Powers
Different types of powers divided by the Constitution.
The federal government
Power to declare war.
The states
Power to establish local governments.
The 19th Amendment
Amendment granting women the right to vote.
Right to vote; Jury duty
Right and responsibility for United States citizens.
George Washington
Considered the 'Father of our Country.'
George Washington
First President of the United States.
Nine states
Number of states required to ratify the US Constitution.
1791
Year when the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution.
Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Jay
Main leaders of the Democratic-Republican Party and writers of the Federalist Papers.
Democratic-Republicans
Favored strict interpretation of the Constitution and states' rights.
Federalists
Favored loose interpretation of the Constitution and a strong central government.
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson
Second and third Presidents of the United States.
George Washington
Unanimously elected as the first President of the United States.
Washington, D.C.
Capital of the United States to which the Residence Act of 1790 moved it.
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