APUSH key concepts

Treaty of Tordesillas

The pope divided the territories of the new world. Spain received the land west of the line and Portugal got the land to the east.

Mercantilism

Economic policy that maximizes a country's export and tries to minimize its import. It promotes imperialism and colonialism

Act of toleration

Passed in Maryland by Lord Baltimore, it guaranteed toleration to all Christians, especially Catholics, but decreed the death penalty for those who denied Jesus Christ

Roger Williams/Anne Hutchinson

Heretics who spoke out against the practice of the Puritan church, and challenged the authority of the clergy. Williams established religious tolerance in Rhode Island.

Jamestown

1607. First English settlement in North America. Was almost a failure. Under military style rule of John Smith.

Separatists

a group within the Puritans who advocated total withdrawal from the church of England and wanted the freedom to worship independently from English authority

John Winthrop

Puritan governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. He envisioned the colony as a "city upon a hill"

Mayflower Compact

Signed by the pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in 1620. They pledged their allegiance to King James, and established a government with the authority to enact their own laws

Bacon's Rebellion

Led by Nathaniel Bacon. Uprising of Virginians against Governor Berkley. Farmers burned down Jamestown because of Berkleys lack of action against Indian attacks

Joint-stock company

stock was sold to high net-worth investors who provided CAPITAL and had limited RISK

Headright System

50 acres of land called the "headrights" were offered to settlers who would come and work the land. Most popular in the southern colonies

virtual representation

stated that the colonists did not need to elect their own representatives to parliament, because parliament already represented everyone in the british empire

Republicanism

the head of the state is elected by the people and will serve the will of the people

separation of powers

separated the powers of government into three separate branches to limit the power of each branch. Led to system of checks and balances

antifederalist

opposed a strong central government, wanted stronger states rights, insisted on Bill of Rights, usually smaller farmers; included Jefferson and Monroe

federalists

supported a strong central government, advocated for the ratification of the new constitution, usually wealthy; included Hamilton

Samuel Adams/ Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Radical organization, led by Sam Adams. Wanted colonial independence, and incited riots against British Policies. Formed after the passing of the stamp act.

Intolerable Acts (AKA coercive acts)

Britain passed these to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party, Britain closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the tea that they destroyed.

Proclamation line of 1763

To avoid conflict with French/Natives, after French and Indian War, Britain told the colonists they could not go beyond the appalachian mountains. The colonists saw this as another way of controlling them.

The federalist papers

collection of essays by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, explained the importance of a strong central government. It was published to convince New York to ratify the constitution.

Washington's Farewell Address

1796- strongly advised against permanent alliances, warned against political parties and promoted neutrality.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Passed by Adams. Increased the waiting period to become a citizen from 5 to 14 years, gave the president power to arrest/deport dangerous aliens, and made it illegal to publish defamatory statements about the federal gov

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Kentucky and Virginia stated the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. Resolutions said the states had the right to declare unconstitutional any acts of Congress that were not authorized by the constitution

New Jersey Plan

A one-house legislature in which all states had equal representation

Virginia Plan

A legislature of two houses; the lower house would be represented by population, and the upper house had equal representation. This idea favored larger states

Connecticut plan/great compromise

called for a two house legislature; the lower house representatives would be based on population and the upper house states would be represented equally

Whiskey Rebellion #whiskeystrong

uprising of western pennsylvania farmers in response to Hamiltons excise tax on whiskey

Marbury vs. Madison (Judicial Review)

established judicial review. Supreme court has the power to determine constituionality of laws; strengthened the judiciary branch

The American System

Henry clay proposed a tariff to protect american industry, as well as establish internal improvements in public schools, moral reforms, abolition of slavery, prison reforms, better roads/canals

Jacksonian Democracy

led by president andrew jackson, championed greater rights for the common man

Nativism

ideology that favors native-born or long-term resident individuals in the US at the expense of immigrants

Cult of Domesticity

Belief that women were to provide religious and moral instruction in the homes and avoid the rough world of politics and business. women should be submissive to their husbands

Transcendentalism

Philosophy by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Each person has direct communication with God and nature, and there is no need for organized churches. Promoted individualism, self-reliance, and emphasized emotions.

Sectionalism

a devotion to the interests of one geographic region over the interests of the country as a whole. Ultimately led to the civil war

American Party/ Know-nothing party

US political group fueled by the fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants. Goal- Block immigration. Had little success

Indian Removal Act (1830)

1830. Authorized Jackson to negotiate land-exchange treaties with tribes living east of the Mississippi. Forced the emigration of thousands of Natives to the West.

Worcester vs. Georgia

Supreme court rules Native nations were distinct, independent, political communities outside the reach of the government. Jackson refused to acknowledge the ruling and forcibly removed Cherokees from their territory.

Workingmen's party

first labor-oriented political organization. Made up of craftsmen. "Workies" wanted universal male suffrage, equal educational opportunities, and shorter working hours.

Spoils system

Elected offical would give government jobs to their supporters/friends/family. Opposite of a merit system. Jackson uses this.

Tariff of 1828

AKA Tariff of Abominations was designed to protect US industry from cheaper British goods. Led to nullification process.

Nullification Crisis

Believed the Tariff of 1828 as damaging to their economy. Calhoun drafted the South Carolina Exposition, that declared the tariffs were unconstitutional.

whigs

political party founded to oppose Jackson and the democrats. stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements

Manifest Destiny

the US was destined by God to spread democratic institutions and liberty from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This justified President Polk's expansionist program.

Wilmont Proviso

Proposal by Representative Wilmont of PA to ban slavery in territory acquired from the Mexican war. Increased sectionalism. Passed in the house, but defeated in the Senate.

Popular Sovereignty

Territories have the right to decide whether slavery will be permitted in their land. Led to a divisive debate over the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Black Codes

Laws passed by southern states denying all black people their civil rights. These were meant to RESTRICT black people.

Carpetbaggers

derisive name given by ex-confederates to northerners who moved to the south during Reconstruction. Moved south for financial and political gains.

Scalawags

derisive name given to southern whites who supported Republican Reconstruction. Viewed as betraying their southern heritage

Redeemers

White southern political leaders who claimed to "redeem" or save the south from republican domination. Supported diversified economic growth and white supremacy.

Jim Crow Laws

system of racial segregation in the south lasting from the end of reconstruction until the 1960s. "Separate but equal" laws. Example- schools, buses, water fountains, etc.

William Lloyd Garrison/ the liberator

Radical abolitionist who favored immediate emancipation of slaves. Published a newspaper (the liberator) for radical abolitionists in the North.

Fredrick Douglas/The North Star

escaped from slavery, leader of abolitionist movement. Newspaper- the North star. His intelligence defied stereotypical assumptions about black people

Grimke Sisters

Quakers, educators and writers, and early advocates of abolitionism and women's rights. Traveled throughout the North, lecturing about their first hand experiences with slavery on their family's plantation

Lucretia Mott/ Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Early woman's movement. Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments, presented in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York.

Seneca Falls Convention 1848

New York. Women and some men went to discuss the rights and conditions of women. There, they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments tried to get women the right to vote.

"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"

In the election of 1844, Polk used this as a campaign slogan, implying that he would declare war if Britain did not give the US all the Oregon territory.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

ended the Mexican-American war and made a clear boundary line between Texas and Mexico. Greatly increased the size of the country.

Gadsden Purchase

Treaty in which the US bought from Mexico parts of what is now southern Arizona and Southern New Mexico. Need this land to build southern transcontinental railroad

Bleeding Kansas

A series of violent events involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery concepts. Started with the killing of five slave supporters by John Brown. Was a "mini-civil war"

Compromise of 1850

North: california admitted as a free state, Texas gave up lands disputed with New Mexico, slave trade in D.C. was banned.

South: popular sovereignty in Mexican Cession lands, a tougher Fugitive Slave Law

South: popular sovereignty in Mexican Cession lands, a tougher Fugitive Slave Law

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Kansas and Nebraska are states. Each would use popular soverignty to decide what to do about slavery.