American History: Indigenous Peoples, Slavery, and Reconstruction

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering early Native American life, European colonization, chattel slavery, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction era.

Nomadic Tribes

Indigenous groups, such as the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Apache, who did not establish permanent settlements and hunted across large territories.

Permanent Settlement

A fixed living community established by indigenous tribes, including those in the Southwest who farmed the land.

Indigenous People

The original inhabitants who lived across the Western hemisphere for millennia in hundreds of tribes, each with distinct cultures, customs, and a spiritual connection to the land.

Epidemic

Widespread outbreaks of European diseases, such as smallpox, measles, and plague, that decimated indigenous populations who lacked immunity.

Charter

A formal document granting rights and authority, such as the one granted to the Virginia Company to establish a commercial settlement.

Commercial Settlement

A settlement founded primarily for trade and economic opportunities, such as the colony established by the Virginia Company.

Pilgrim Fathers

Settlers predominantly from Britain who sailed to the northeast coast motivated by the desire for religious freedom.

Religious Persecution

Oppression and mistreatment based on religious beliefs, which drove colonists from Britain and the Netherlands to settle in America.

Plantation

A large agricultural estate where enslaved people were forced to perform skilled and unskilled labor, cultivating cash crops such as tobacco.

Auction

A public sale where captured Black people were sold as property, frequently separating married couples, children, and siblings.

Bondage

The state of being enslaved, held captive, and denied legal protection or freedom.

Abolitionist Movement

A growing movement based in the North aimed at passing laws to abolish slavery and halt human trafficking.

Underground Railroad

A clandestine network formed in the 19th century to help enslaved people flee bondage to the North by providing shelter and transportation.

Harriet Tubman

An escaped enslaved woman and prominent conductor on the Underground Railroad who repeatedly risked her life returning to the South to help others escape.

Freedom Seeker

An enslaved individual attempting to escape bondage and reach safety in the North.

Confederacy

The confederation formed by Southern states that seceded from the Union, which was ultimately defeated in 1865.

Civil War (1861–1865)

The armed conflict triggered when Southern states seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy, ending with the defeat of Confederate forces in 1865.

Reconstruction (1865–1877)

A period of major social and political transformation in the United States following the Civil War and the constitutional ban on slavery.

1860 Census

A national census recording $4.4\text{ million}$ African Americans, of whom almost four million were held as slaves, representing approximately $18\%$ of the US population.

Ku Klux Klan

A group that utilized terror tactics and mass lynchings between 1865 and 1876 to maintain white supremacy and deny Black Americans their legal rights.

15th Amendment

A constitutional amendment guaranteeing that a citizen cannot be denied the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Poll Tax

A fee required for voting, enacted by Southern states to disenfranchise Black citizens.

Literacy Test

A reading and writing exam enacted by Southern states designed to be impossible to pass in order to prevent Black Americans from voting.

Racial Segregation

Mandatory separation of racial groups in public facilities, including public transport, restrooms, restaurants, and educational institutions.

Plessy v. Ferguson Decision

A Supreme Court ruling that upheld racial segregation under the principle that separate facilities were constitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education

A landmark Supreme Court ruling that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Disenfranchisement

The revocation or denial of a citizen's right to vote.