AP U.S. History Cram Guide: Key Terms and Definitions

Describe Native Americans in the Southwest

farmers (predominately maize)

had advanced irrigation systems; small urban centers made of hardened clay bricks.

ex. Pueblo or Anasazi

Describe Native Americans in the Great Basin/Plains

nomadic hunter/gatherers (buffalo)

ex. Ute

Describe Native Americans on the Pacific Coast

Permanent villages of nearly 1000 people, abundance of fish, small game, and plant life, with coastal trade.

ex. Chumash in California,

Chinook in Pacific NW

Describe Native Americans in the Northeast

Farmers, had villages with longhouses.

Abundant in timber, furs, and fish.

ex. Iroquois

Describe Native Americans in Mississippi River valley

farmers due to rich soil, trade along the Mississippi river.

10-30K people, strong centralized gov.

ex. Cahokia

First colony in the new world

St. Augustine, Spain

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

Encomienda System

system in Spanish America that gave settlers the right to tax local Indians or to demand their labor in exchange for protecting them and teaching them skills.

Casta system

A system in colonial Spain of determining a person's social importance according to different racial categories.

Peninsulares, Criollos, Mestizos, Indios, Mulattoes, Negroes etc.

Sepulveda

argued that Biblical text stated that natives were inferior and destined to slavery

Las Casas

A priest who spoke out against the mistreatment of native peoples under the care of the church.

He persuaded Spain to pass laws in 1542 saying that native peoples must be paid for their work.

How did African slavery arise in the new world?

Native labor was rapidly depleted by European diseases, expansion of cash-crop economies in the new world required lots of manual labor.

Spanish Goals in the New World

Goals:

Extract Wealth, Conquest and Spread Christianity.

Sugar, Tobacco, Coffee, Gold and Silver

French Goals in the New World

Goals:

Extract Wealth, Trade, Spread Christianity

Fur, Fish

Dutch goals in the New World

Goals:

Trade

Shipping, fur, finance/banking

English goals in the New World

Goals:

Extract Wealth, Expand Territory, Religious Freedom and better conditions.

Joint Stock funded colonies; tobacco, timber, furs

Spanish relations with Native Americans

encomienda and casta systems, negative relationship

French Relations with Native Americans

Dependent on friendly relations, intermarriage promoted to secure trade relationships

Dutch relations with native Americans

minimal interaction

English relations with native Americans

friendly/reliant at first; tension over land → wars

Chesapeake Economy

Major crop is tobacco.

Chesapeake System of Government

Royal charter: House of Burgesses

Chesapeake Religious and Social Makeup

Wealthy planters, indentured servants, enslaved Africans, Anglican, Catholic

New England Economic Activities

Subsistence farming, fishing, timber/shipbuilding, whaling

New England System of Government

Mayflower Compact, self- governance, town hall meetings

New England Religious and Social Makeup

Puritan/ Congregationalist, family-oriented

Caribbean/Carolinas Economic activities

Tobacco, sugarcane, rice, indigo

Caribbean/Carolinas System of government

Proprietary charters

Caribbean/Carolinas Religious and Social Makeup

Anglican, landed gentry, enslaved Africans

Middle Colonies economic activities

wheat, barley, corn

Middle Colonies system of government

Proprietary charters

Middle Colonies religious and social makeup

Pennsylvania founded by Quakers but religiously tolerant, diverse society, enslaved Africans

mercantilism

belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism.

ex. Navigation Acts

1st Great Awakening

(1730s-1740s) a series of religious revivals among Protestants in the American colonies, in response to secularism in the Enlightenment.

Led to the division of old congregations and the forming of new ones.

Leaders included Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.

New vs. Old Lights

Old lights rejected the great Awakening while New Lights accepted it-and sometimes were persecuted for their enthusiasm. Many colleges were founded because of the New light ministries.

Navigation Acts

Laws that governed trade between England and its colonies. Colonists were required to ship certain products exclusively to England. These acts made colonists very angry because they were forbidden from trading with other countries.

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 - Nathaniel Bacon and other western Virginia settlers were angry at Virginia Governor Berkley for trying to appease the Doeg Indians after the Doegs attacked the western settlements.

The frontiersmen formed an army, with Bacon as its leader, which defeated the Indians and then marched on Jamestown and burned the city. The rebellion ended suddenly when Bacon died of an illness.

Represented class struggle and tension in the colonies.

Albany Plan of Union

Proposal by Benjamin Franklin that called for an intercolonial government to more effectively recruit troops and raise taxes.

Set a precedent for establishing future colonial congresses.

Pontiac's Rebellion

1763 - An Indian uprising after the French and Indian War, led by an Ottowa chief named Pontiac. They opposed British expansion into the western Ohio Valley and began destroying British forts in the area.

Resulted in the Proclamation of 1763.

Proclamation of 1763

A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalacian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.

Effects of the French and Indian War

Colonies attempted to create a unified force for the first time.

British government got massively in debt, from a war that STARTED in the New World.

Tension between colonists and British after proclamation line.

Sugar Act

law passed by the British Parliament setting taxes on molasses and sugar imported by the colonies

Stamp Act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

Townshend Acts

A tax that the British Parliament passed in 1767 that was placed on leads, glass, paint and tea

Tea Act

Law passed by parliament allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies - undermining colonial tea merchants; led to the Boston Tea Party

Coercive Acts

1. port act closed the port of boston until the tea was paid for.

2. MA Gov't act reduced the power of the MA legislature while increasing the power of the royal governor.

3. Allowed royal officials accused of crimes to be tried in England instead of the colonies.

4. expanded the quartering act to enable british troops to be quartered in private homes--applied to all colonies.

Stamp Act Congress

A meeting of delegations from many of the colonies, the congress was formed to protest the newly passed Stamp Act.

It adopted a declaration of rights as well as sent letters of complaints to the king and parliament, and it showed signs of colonial unity and organized resistance.

Continental Congress

A body of representatives from the British North American colonies who met to respond to England's Intolerable Acts.

They declared independence in July 1776 and later drafted the Articles of Confederation.

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

Which Enlightenment thinkers influenced the American Revolutionary ideals?

Locke: Two Treatises of Government

Rousseau: Social Contract

Montesquieu: tripartite system

Battle of Saratoga

American victory over British troops in 1777 that was a turning point in the American Revolution.

Convinced France and Spain to support the colonies against England

Battle of Yorktown

Last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and his troops were trapped in the Chesapeake Bay by the French fleet. He was sandwiched between the French navy and the American army. He surrendered October 19, 1781.

Articles of Confederation Government

no executive branch

legislature required 9/13 for law to pass, amendments needed to be unanimous

Each state had one vote

States did not pay federal tax.

no central military, and every state had their own militia.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Enacted in 1787, it is considered one of the most significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation.

It established a system for setting up governments in the midwestern territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing with the original 13 states

Land Ordinance of 1785

A major success of the Articles of Confederation.

Provided a system to divide up land in the midwest into townships.

Shay's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Great Compromise

Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house

3/5 Compromise

-each slave would count for 3/5 of a person for taxation and representation purposes

Federalists

advocated for a strong central government and a loose interpretation of the constitution.

Anti-Federalists

wanted a small government limited by a strict interpretation of the Constitution

XYZ Affair

An insult to the American delegation when they were supposed to be meeting French foreign minister, Talleyrand, but instead they were sent 3 French officials Adams called "X,Y, and Z" that demanded $250,000 as a bribe to see Talleyrand.

Quasi War

Undeclared war fought entirely at sea between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800.

The French began to seize American ships trading with their British enemies and refused to receive a new United States minister when he arrived in Paris in December 1796.

Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts

regulated the relationships among settlers and Indians and made provisions for fair dealings between the two groups

Barbary Wars

A series of wars with the Barbary states of North Africa which were precipitated by Barbary demands for tribute payments from the US and other trade vessels.

George Washington and John Adams both agreed to pay the tribute, but Thomas Jefferson refused, as it was a slight to American honor.

Louisiana Purchase Controversy

John Jay agreed to purchase the land without presidential or congressional approval.

Despite being a strict constructionist, Jefferson approved the land purchase, despite there being no provision in the constitution allowing the president to purchase land.

Causes and Effects of the War of 1812

Causes: American suspicion of the British inciting Native American attacks on settlers; British policy of impressment

Effects: Intense nationalism; Federalist opposition to war and calls for secession led to a decline in significance for the party and political dominance for the Democratic-Republicans

American System

Henry Clay's plan for uniting the national economy.

3 parts: protective tariffs, 2nd national bank, and government funded roads, railroads, and canals.

ex. Cumberland Road and Eerie Canal

Missouri Compromise

"Compromise of 1820" over the issue of slavery in Missouri. It was decided Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine entered as a free state and all states North of the 36th parallel were free states and all South were slave states.

Monroe Doctrine

an American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers

Market Revolution

linking of northern industries with western and southern farms which was created by advances in agriculture, industry, communication, and transportation

How did the market revolution affect society and immigration?

Increased wealth inequality.

influx of immigrants (especially in eastern cities)

growing middle class, men and women working (though women were still restricted in the cult of domesticity)

Waltham-Lowell System

A system of labor using young women recruited from farm families to work in factories in Lowell, Chicopee, and other sites in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The women lived in company boardinghouses with strict rules and curfews and were often required to attend church.

Corrupt Bargain

The contentious election of 1824 ended without a clear electoral winner and was decided by the house, of which Henry Clay presided over. Andrew Jackson was snubbed despite being the most popular candidate, Clay was rewarded in the new administration

How did the Election of 1824 rearrange the political parties?

Democratic-Republicans split into Whigs and Democrats.

Led by Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson Respectively

Whig Party

An American political party formed in the 1830s to oppose President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats, stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements

Nullification Crisis

A sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by the Ordinance of Nullification, an attempt by the state of South Carolina to nullify a federal law - the tariff of 1828 - passed by the United States Congress.

Tariff of Abominations

Tariff passed by Congress in 1828 that favored manufacturing in the North and was hated by the South.

South Carolina claimed it was unconstitutional and refused to enforce it, claimed they could nullify the law

Indian Removal Act

(1830) a congressional act that authorized the removal of Native Americans who lived east of the Mississippi River, under the Jackson presidency. Violated past treaties and a Supreme Court ruling.

Worcester v. Georgia

Supreme Court Decision - Cherokee Indians were entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments which would infringe on the tribe's sovereignty - Jackson ignored it

Transcendentalism

philosophical movement that embraced man's relationship with nature and human perfectibility.

ex. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Herny David Thorough

Utopian Communities

New societies founded by religious and/or reform-minded people who were influenced by European intellectuals and ideals of American democracy equality.

ex. Oneida Community, Mormonism

What was the Second Great Awakening?

Democratizing revival of religious enthusiasm affording regional Protestant identities. Emphasized reform movements such as Abolitionism, Temperance, and Women's Rights

American Anti-Slavery Society

Founded in 1833 by William Lloyd Garrison and other abolitionists. Garrison burned the Constitution as a proslavery document. Argued for "no Union with slaveholders" until they repented for their sins by freeing their slaves.

Declaration of Sentiments

document modeled after the Declaration of Independence listed the injustices towards women

Horace Mann

United States educator who introduced reforms that significantly altered the system of public education (1796-1859)

Dorothea Dix

Rights activist on behalf of mentally ill patients - created first wave of US mental asylums

Manifest Destiny

19th Century American ideology advocating for expansion across the North American continent and justified through perceived superiority of American culture, religion, technology, and democracy

Stephen F Austin

known as the Father of Texas, led the second and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States.

Sam Houston

Commander of the Texas army at the battle of San Jacinto; later elected president of the Republic of Texas

Which Territories were added during the Polk presidency?

Texas, Oregon, Mexican Cession (California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming)

What caused the Mexican-American War?

1) Texas wanted the Rio Grande as the border.

2) Manifest Destiny for US (extension of slavery)

3) Mexico would not recognize Texas as annexed to the US.

Spot Resolution

Congressman Abraham Lincoln supported a proposition to find the exact spot where American troops were fired upon, suspecting that they had illegally crossed into Mexican territory.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

After swift American victory, Mexico was forced to sell much of their territory in present-day United States as well as recognize Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas.

What was the Gold Rush?

After the 1848 discovery of gold in California, thousands of Americans, Asians, and Mexicans poured into the region.

Mexican Cession

1848. Awarded as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo after the Mexican American War. U.S. paid $15 million for 525,000 square miles.

California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal that outlawed slavery in any territory gained from the War with Mexico

Three stances on slavery in the west

Pro-slavery: southern position that claimed slavery was a constitutional right

Free-Soil: anti-slavery position that aimed to prevent the spread of slavery into the West

Popular Sovereignty: Leave the decision up to the voters in the territory/state

Compromise of 1850

(1) California admitted as free state, (2) territorial status and popular sovereignty of Utah and New Mexico, (3) resolution of Texas-New Mexico boundaries, (4) federal assumption of Texas debt, (5) slave trade abolished in DC, and (6) new fugitive slave law; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas

Bleeding Kansas

A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 - Created Nebraska and Kansas as states and gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be a free or slave state through popular sovereignty.