AP US History Ultimate Study Guide

Contact Period

The time frame from Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492 to the establishment of the first English settlement in 1607, characterized by sustained European contact with the Americas.

Bering Land Bridge

A land connection between Asia and North America that allowed the first people to migrate to the Americas.

Pre-Columbian Era

The period of history in the Americas before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

Culture Clash

The conflicts and misunderstandings between European settlers and Native Americans due to differences in culture, religion, and technology.

Columbian Exchange

The period of rapid exchange of plants, animals, foods, communicable diseases, and ideas between the Old World and New World following Columbus's voyages.

Spanish Colonial Power

The dominance of Spain in the Americas during the 16th and 17th centuries, marked by the establishment of coastal towns and exploitation of resources.

Encomienda System

A labor system instituted by the Spanish Crown, granting colonists authority over certain numbers of natives to protect and convert them in exchange for their labor.

Joint-Stock Companies

Business entities where investors pooled their resources to fund the establishment of colonies and trade.

Atlantic Slave Trade

The transatlantic slave trade involving the transportation of enslaved Africans to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Middle Passage

The brutal sea journey undertaken by slave ships transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century doctrine that the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Wilmot Proviso

A proposed amendment aimed at prohibiting slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War.

Compromise of 1850

A series of legislative measures aimed at resolving tensions between slave and free states following the acquisition of new territory from Mexico.

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A Supreme Court case that ruled enslaved individuals were not citizens and that Congress could not regulate slavery in the territories.

Great Migration

The movement of more than 6 million African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North and West from about 1916 to 1970.

G.I. Bill of Rights

Legislation that provided a range of benefits to returning World War II veterans, including education assistance and home loans.

Watergate Scandal

A political scandal involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent cover-up by the Nixon administration.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A landmark civil rights law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

New Deal

A series of social and economic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1939 in response to the Great Depression.

Cold War

The period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and the United States from 1947 to 1991, marked by ideological conflict and proxy wars.

Vietnamization

The U.S. strategy during the Vietnam War aimed at transferring the responsibility of war efforts to the South Vietnamese forces.

Reaganomics

The economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, centered around supply-side economics, tax cuts, and deregulation.

Lend-Lease Act

A program under which the U.S. provided its allies with significant military and economic aid during World War II.

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Legislation that aimed to deregulate the telecommunications industry in the U.S. and promote competition.

Obamacare

The informal term for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which aimed to expand healthcare coverage and regulate the healthcare industry.

NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement established in 1994 aimed at eliminating trade barriers between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Gulf War

A conflict that began in 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait, leading to a U.S.-led coalition force liberating Kuwait in early 1991.

No Child Left Behind Act

A U.S. law passed in 2001 aimed at improving educational outcomes for students by increasing standards and accountability in schools.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Health care reform legislation enacted in 2010 aimed at reducing the number of uninsured Americans and controlling healthcare costs.