History Review Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for History review.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Encomienda

A Spanish labor system that rewarded conquerors with the labor of particular groups of subject people.

Navigation Acts

A series of laws that restricted the use of foreign ships for trade between England and its colonies.

Great Awakening

An evangelical and revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, especially the American colonies, in the 1730s and 1740s.

Colonial Slavery

A system of forced labor practiced in the American colonies, primarily involving enslaved Africans.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing specific rights and freedoms.

Great Compromise

An agreement during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that defined the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the United States Constitution.

3/5 Compromise

A compromise reached among state delegates during the 1787 Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the enumerated population of slaves would be counted for representation purposes.

Hamilton's Economic Plans

A set of policies proposed by Alexander Hamilton to strengthen the national economy, including the assumption of state debts, the creation of a national bank, and the promotion of domestic manufacturing.

Elastic Clause

A statement in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.

BUS

The First Bank of the United States, chartered in 1791 to serve as a central financial institution for the new nation.

French & Indian War

A conflict in North America (1754-1763) that was part of a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France.

Proclamation 1763

A British declaration that forbade colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Shay's Rebellion 1786

An armed uprising in Massachusetts (1786-1787) led by Daniel Shays, protesting economic hardships and foreclosures.

Constitutional Convention

A gathering in Philadelphia in 1787 where the United States Constitution was drafted.

Article of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States (1781-1789), establishing a weak central government and strong state powers.

Federalist v anti-Federalist

The federalists wanted a stronger national government and the anti-federalists wanted a weaker national government.

Chief Justice John Marshall

The fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1801-1835), whose decisions significantly shaped American constitutional law and federal power.

"Midnight Judges"

Judges appointed by President John Adams in the final hours of his administration in 1801, in an effort to preserve Federalist influence in the judiciary.

Marbury v. Madison 1803

A landmark Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review, allowing the Court to declare laws unconstitutional.

Louisiana Purchase/Territory

The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, doubling the size of the United States.

Missouri Compromise 1820

A federal law in the United States that attempted to regulate slavery in the country's western territories by prohibiting slavery in the former Louisiana Purchase area north of the parallel 36°30′ north, except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri.

36*30

The parallel designated as the boundary between free and slave territories under the Missouri Compromise.

Sectional Balance

The political equilibrium between free and slave states in the United States, often maintained through compromises and agreements.

Monroe Doctrine

A U.S. foreign policy established in 1823 that opposed European colonialism in the Americas.

Civil War

A war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South), primarily over the issue of slavery.

Slavery

A system of forced labor in which people are owned as property and compelled to work without wages.

States Rights

The political idea that individual states have the authority to govern themselves and resist federal intervention.

Tariffs

Taxes imposed on imported goods, often used to protect domestic industries or raise revenue.

Compromise 1850

A package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848).

Fugitive Slave Act

A law passed as part of the Compromise of 1850 that required the return of escaped slaves to their owners, even from free states, and imposed penalties on those who aided them.

California

The entry of California into the Union as a free state was a component fo the Compromise of 1850.

Slave Markets in D.C.

Slave markets in the District of Columbia were banned as part of the Compromise of 1850.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War (1865-1877) during which the United States attempted to rebuild and reintegrate the Southern states.

Radical Reconstruction

A phase of Reconstruction led by Republicans in Congress who sought to protect black rights and punish the former Confederacy.

Compromise 1877

An informal agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election and effectively ended Reconstruction in the South.

Black Codes

Restrictive laws passed in Southern states after the Civil War to limit the freedom and rights of African Americans.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.

13th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

14th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves.

15th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896

A Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the doctrine of "separate but equal."

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Mexican-American War

An armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, resulting in the U.S. acquisition of vast territories.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The peace treaty signed in 1848 that ended the Mexican-American War, with Mexico ceding territory to the United States.

Mexican Cession

The region ceded to the U.S. in 1848 per the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago.

Gadsden Purchase

A purchase of land from Mexico in 1854 that completed the territorial expansion of the contiguous United States.

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854

Repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty.

Gilded Age

The period of rapid economic growth in the United States during the late 19th century, characterized by industrial expansion, wealth accumulation, and political corruption.

Political Machines

Organizations that controlled local politics in many American cities during the Gilded Age, often through patronage and corruption.

"Boss" Tweed

William M. Tweed, the leader of Tammany Hall, the most infamous political machine in New York City, known for corruption and graft.

Tammany Hall

The Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th-century New York City and State.

Andrew Carnegie

A Scottish-American industrialist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century.

Industrialization, steel

The period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one, led by advancements in steel production.

Gospel of Wealth

An article written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

A landmark federal law that prohibits anti-competitive agreements and attempts to monopolize industries.

Intent

The express purpose of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was to promote competition and prevent monopolies.

Actual usage

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was used against unions because they were considered a restraint on trade.

Populist/Peoples Party

A political party that advocated for agrarian reforms, such as government regulation of railroads and increased currency supply.

Great Depression

A severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States.

Hundred Days Congress

The special session of Congress called by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to address the Great Depression, during which numerous New Deal programs were enacted.

Bank failures

A major issue during the Great Depression, resulting from widespread economic instability and loss of confidence in financial institutions.

Overproduction

A condition in which the supply of goods exceeds the demand, contributing to economic downturns like the Great Depression.

WWII

A global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, involving the vast majority of the world's countries, forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.

Internment of Japanese-Americans

The forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II.

Rosie the Riveter

A cultural icon of World War II, representing the women who worked in factories and shipyards during the war, replacing male laborers who had joined the military.

Manhattan Project

A research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons.

Why?

The US feared Germany was developing atomic weapons and the project was undertaken to develop atomic weapons first.

Where?

The project was conducted in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

When?

The project began in 1942 and was completed in 1946.

Great Migration

The movement of 6 million African Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West between 1916 and 1970.

Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means.

Spanish-American War 1898-1899

A conflict between Spain and the United States, resulting in U.S. acquisition of territories such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.