US History Q&A

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.