8th grade history fast

Vikings

The first Europeans to discover America, led by Leif Erikson, around 1000 CE.

Jamestown colony

The first permanent English settlement in America, founded in 1607.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement signed by the Pilgrims in 1620 establishing self-government in their new colony, Plymouth.

Southern Colonies economy

An agricultural economy based on cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo.

Mercantilism

An economic theory where colonies existed to benefit the mother country by providing raw materials and markets for manufactured goods.

Causes of the American Revolution

Taxation without representation, Intolerable Acts, and growing resentment over British control.

Declaration of Independence

A document written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 declaring the American colonies’ independence from Britain.

Leader of the Continental Army

George Washington.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States, which created a weak central government and was replaced by the U.S. Constitution.

Federalism

A system of government where power is divided between a central government and individual states.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, protecting individual freedoms such as speech, religion, and the right to bear arms.

Checks and balances

A system in the U.S. government where each branch (Executive, Legislative, Judicial) has powers to limit the actions of the others to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

Main cause of the Civil War

The conflict over slavery, states’ rights, and sectionalism between the North and South.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that declared all slaves in Confederate states to be free.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

Reconstruction

The period following the Civil War when the South was rebuilt, and laws were passed to protect the rights of African Americans, including the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Main industries of American industrialization

Steel, railroads, oil, and electricity.

Nativism in the late 1800s

A policy or belief favoring the interests of native-born people over immigrants, often leading to discrimination against immigrants.

Theodore Roosevelt

Fought for reforms like trust-busting, conservation, and regulatory policies.

16th Amendment

It gave Congress the power to levy an income tax.

MAIN

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism, the main causes of World War I.

U.S. entry into World War I

The U.S. entered after the Zimmerman Telegram and the sinking of Lusitania by German U-boats.

Prohibition

A nationwide ban on alcohol from 1920 to 1933, mandated by the 18th Amendment.

Langston Hughes

A key figure in African American cultural and artistic expression during the 1920s.

Great Depression

Caused by the Stock Market Crash of 1929, followed by bank failures, unemployment, and widespread poverty.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal

A series of programs and policies to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression, including Social Security, and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

U.S. entry into World War II

The attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941.

Major turning points in World War II

D-Day (Normandy Invasion, 1944), the Battle of Stalingrad, and the Battle of Midway.

Cold War

A period of tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union (1947-1991) characterized by ideological conflict, nuclear arms race, and proxy wars, without direct military confrontation.

Berlin Blockade

The Soviet Union blocked access to West Berlin in 1948, and the U.S. responded by airlifting supplies to the city for almost a year.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13-day confrontation in 1962 when the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, leading to a standoff with the U.S. that almost escalated into nuclear war.

Vietnam War

A Cold War conflict where the U.S. fought to prevent the spread of communism in Vietnam, which ended with the fall of Saigon and the reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, formed in 1949 as a military alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western European nations to counter Soviet aggression.

Detente during the Cold War

A period of eased tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union during the 1970s, marked by arms control agreements like the SALT treaties.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law

15th Amendment

Gave African American men the right to vote

Freedmen’s Bureau

Helped formerly enslaved people with education, jobs, and housing

Jim Crow Laws

Enforced racial segregation in the South

Black Codes

Restricted the rights of African Americans

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction, removed federal troops from the South

Monopolies & Trusts

Rockefeller (Oil), Carnegie (Steel), Vanderbilt (Railroads)

Laissez-Faire Economics

Government had little regulation of businesses

Urbanization

Growth of cities due to industrial jobs

Immigration

Ellis Island (Europeans) & Angel Island (Asians)

Labor Unions

Fought for better wages and working conditions (AFL, Knights of Labor)

Political Corruption

Boss Tweed & Tammany Hall

Spanish-American War (1898)

U.S. gained Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines

Theodore Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy

U.S. intervened in Latin America

Panama Canal

Connected Atlantic & Pacific Oceans

Muckrakers

Exposed corruption (Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle)

16th Amendment

Federal income tax

17th Amendment

Direct election of Senators

19th Amendment

Women’s suffrage (1920)

Causes of World War I

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism (M.A.I.N)

U.S. Entry (1917)

Due to unrestricted submarine warfare (Lusitania) & Zimmerman Telegram

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

Plan for peace, League of Nations (U.S. didn’t join)

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Blamed Germany, led to WWII

Harlem Renaissance

African American cultural movement (Langston Hughes, jazz music)

Prohibition (18th Amendment)

Banned alcohol, led to organized crime

The Great Migration

African Americans moved to northern cities for jobs

Red Scare

Fear of communism (Palmer Raids)

Stock Market Boom & Consumerism

Credit and installment buying

Stock Market Crash (1929)

Led to the Great Depression

Dust Bowl

Drought affected farmers in the Midwest

New Deal (FDR’s Plan)

Relief, Recovery, Reform

Social Security Act

Provided financial aid to elderly and unemployed

FDIC

Protected bank deposits

CCC, WPA

Created jobs

Causes of World War II

Rise of dictators (Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo), Treaty of Versailles, expansionism

Pearl Harbor Attack (1941)

Led to U.S. entering WWII

Home Front

Rationing, war bonds, women working (Rosie the Riveter)

Japanese Internment Camps

Executive Order 9066

D-Day (1944)

Allied invasion of Normandy

Atomic Bombs (Hiroshima & Nagasaki, 1945)

Led to Japanese surrender

Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan

Containment of communism

Korean War (1950-1953)

U.S. fought to stop communism in Korea

McCarthyism

Fear of communists in the U.S.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

Nuclear standoff with the Soviet Union

Vietnam War (1955-1975)

U.S. fought to stop communism; led to protests

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Ended segregation in schools

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil disobedience, “I Have a Dream” speech

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Ended segregation

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Banned literacy tests

Watergate Scandal (1970s)

Led to Nixon’s resignation

Reaganomics (1980s)

Tax cuts, trickle-down economics

9/11 Attacks (2001)

Led to War on Terror

First African American President (2008)

Barack Obama