Key Concepts from American History

This set of flashcards covers key terms and concepts from American History, focusing on critical events, legal cases, and social movements.

Louisiana Purchase

A land deal between the United States and France in 1803 that doubled the size of the U.S.

Marshall Court

The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall, known for establishing the principle of judicial review.

Market Revolution

A period of major industrialization and economic changes in the early 19th century.

Monroe Doctrine

A U.S. policy that opposed European colonialism in the Americas, announced in 1823.

Democrats vs. Whigs

Two major political parties in the mid-19th century, with differing views on issues like government and economy.

Henry Clay's American System

An economic plan promoting national economic development through a strong banking system, protective tariffs, and internal improvements.

Universal White Male Suffrage

The right to vote granted to all white males, regardless of property ownership.

Nullification Crisis

A 1832 political crisis in which South Carolina attempted to nullify federal tariffs.

Indian Removal

The policy of relocating Native American tribes from their homelands to designated Indian Territory.

Bank War

The political struggle between President Andrew Jackson and supporters of the Second Bank of the United States.

Second Great Awakening

A religious revival movement in the early 19th century that emphasized individual piety and social reform.

Abolitionist Movement

A movement aimed at ending slavery, featuring prominent figures like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass.

Declaration of Sentiments

The document produced at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, outlining the rights of women.

Nativism/American Know Nothing Party

A political movement favoring native-born Americans over immigrants, often associated with anti-immigrant sentiments.

Missouri Compromise

An agreement allowing Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state in 1820.

Manifest Destiny

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

Annexation of Texas

The incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States in 1845.

Mexican American War

A conflict from 1846 to 1848 between the United States and Mexico that resulted in significant territorial gains for the U.S.

Dred Scott

A landmark Supreme Court case ruling that African Americans could not be American citizens and thus had no standing to sue.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that freed slaves in the Confederate states.

Freedmen's Bureau

A U.S. federal agency that aided freed slaves during the Reconstruction era.

Presidential Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson's approach to rebuilding the South after the Civil War, focusing on quick reintegration.

Reconstruction Amendments

The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments aimed at establishing rights for formerly enslaved people.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system in which landowners allow tenants to use the land in exchange for a share of the crops.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election, leading to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.

Homestead Act

A law that granted land to settlers willing to cultivate it for five years.

Pacific Railway Act

Legislation that promoted the construction of a transcontinental railroad in the 1860s.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States.

Assimilation

The process through which Native Americans were encouraged to adopt American culture and abandon their own, often through boarding schools.

Ghost Dance Movement

A religious movement among Native Americans that aimed to restore their lost way of life and resist U.S. expansion.

Helen Hunt Jackson

An author and activist who wrote about the injustices faced by Native Americans in the late 19th century.