Important Congressional Acts in US History

Flashcards reviewing key congressional acts in US history, covering their purpose, impact, and historical context.

Navigation Acts (1651)

Designed to make colonial economies subordinate to England, requiring raw materials to be sent there for manufacturing.

Sugar Act (1764)

Imposed higher taxes on sugar and luxuries to raise money for Britain after the French and Indian War, leading to colonial protests.

Stamp Act (1765)

Required stamps on all printed paper products, the first direct tax, which led to colonial protests and boycotts, eventually repealed by Britain.

Coercive Acts (1774)

Punitive measures against the colonies for the Boston Tea Party, including closing Boston's port and reducing self-governance in Massachusetts; also called the Intolerable Acts.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Declared the American colonies independent from Great Britain due to failed reconciliation attempts.

Constitution (1787)

Established a permanent form of government for the United States, dividing power into three branches with checks and balances.

Bill of Rights (1791)

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing citizens' rights that the government cannot take away and preserving state rights.

Embargo Act (1807)

Prohibited American ships from trading in all foreign ports, intending to protect them from impressment but harming port city economies and reminding Americans of the Navigation Acts.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, prohibiting slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36°30´ latitude line (except for Missouri), aiming to preserve the balance of power in Congress.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Warned European nations against further colonization or puppet monarchs in the Western Hemisphere, while pledging U.S. non-intervention in European affairs, establishing a basis for future U.S. expansionism and interventionism.

Tariff of Abominations (1829)

Protected the American economy from cheap English goods, primarily benefiting the North but driving up prices for the agrarian South, leading to discontent.

Compromise of 1850

Admitted California as a free state, enacted a new Fugitive Slave Act, and allowed popular sovereignty to decide the slavery issue in territories gained from Mexico.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Proposed dividing the Nebraska territory into Kansas and Nebraska, with slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty, leading to the formation of the Republican Party and repealing the Missouri Compromise.

Homestead Act (1862)

Provided 160 acres of free land to settlers willing to live on it for 5 years, promoting railroad growth, expansion, and settlement of the West.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Limited Chinese immigration to America, banning it completely for 10 years; the first law restricting immigration based on ethnicity, supported by nativist sentiments.

Dawes Act (1887)

Divided Native American land into individual holdings to assimilate them into American culture, violating their beliefs about land ownership and establishing Indian Boarding Schools.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Outlawed monopolies and unreasonable restraints on competition, but had limited initial impact on large corporations and was primarily used to limit labor unions.

Roosevelt Corollary (1904)

An addendum to the Monroe Doctrine, declaring the U.S. would use military force to prevent European intervention in North or South America, playing a key role in developing aggressive foreign policy.

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, or shipment of impure or falsely labeled food and drugs, prompted by Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'.

Federal Reserve Act (1913)

Created a Federal Reserve board and 12 district banks to make currency and credit more flexible and available.

National Origins Act (1924)

Restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe using discriminatory national-origin quotas.

National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)

Part of FDR’s New Deal, aimed to combat the Great Depression by fostering government-business cooperation, allowing businesses to regulate themselves through codes of conduct, but was not successful.

Neutrality Acts (1930s)

A series of acts meant to express U.S. commitment to isolationism, restricting citizen travel and forbidding the sale of war supplies to belligerent nations.

Social Security Act (1935)

Part of New Deal Reforms, creating a federal pension system funded by taxes on worker’s wages and employer contributions, providing financial security to the elderly, unemployed, and disabled.

Wagner Act (1935)

Gave workers the right to join unions and engage in collective bargaining, creating the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to enforce the laws, leading to a rapid rise in union membership.

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

Provided military supplies to Allied nations like Britain and the Soviet Union against the Nazis, ending the 'Cash and Carry' policy.

Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

Curbed the power of labor unions due to concerns about abuse of power and strikes harming national defense industries; opposed by organized labor.

Federal Highway Act (1956)

Created the Interstate highway system, playing a key role in promoting suburban growth.

United States Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

Abolished the national-origins quota system, repealing the National Origins Act of the 1920s.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in hiring, promoting, and firing.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote; considered one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation.

War Powers Act (1973)

A congressional resolution to limit the U.S. president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad without congressional consent, requiring notification within 48 hours and prohibiting armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days.

Patriot Act (2001)

Designed to deter and punish terrorist acts, enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, strengthen measures to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism, expand surveillance, and increase penalties for terrorism crimes.

Affordable Care Act (2010)

Demanded higher taxes from high-income households and implemented 'payment bundling' in Medicare, aiming to expand healthcare access and address the healthcare crisis in America.