AP U.S. History Key Concepts and Events Review

The doctrine of predestination

The belief that God has divinely ordained certain events to occur, or that certain events must occur by some divine providence.

The Virginia Company

A royally chartered joint stock company sent to the new world to set up a gold-harvesting operation (Jamestown).

Jamestown

The settlement established by the Virginia company on their voyage to the new world in 1607.

House of Burgesses

The first elected legislative assembly in British America.

The doctrine of the covenant

The Puritan belief in binding, contractual relationships which shaped early colonial governance.

Communal land-grant system of Massachusetts

Involved initial shared ownership/labor but quickly shifted to private family plots for farming by 1623.

Mercantilism

The economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances.

The Navigation Acts

British laws designed to enforce mercantilist policies by controlling colonial trade.

Two Treatises of Government

Legitimate political power comes from the people, not divine right.

Treaty of Paris of 1763

Ended the Seven Years' War, establishing Britain as the dominant power in North America.

The Proclamation of 1763

Line at the Appalachian mountains that prohibited the colonists from settling further west.

Individual representation

The act of arguing, defending, or advocating on behalf of an individual in a legal case.

Virtual representation

The idea that Parliament was representing the colonies through the idea of passing laws.

The Sugar Act

A British law taxing sugar, molasses, wine, and other goods imported into American colonies.

The Currency Act

Banned colonial paper money.

The Stamp Act

A British law imposing a direct tax on American colonists for various printed materials.

The Virginia Stamp Act Resolves

A series of declarations by the Virginia House of Burgesses asserting that only colonial assemblies had the right to tax the colonies.

The Sons of Liberty

A secret political organization of American patriots in the Thirteen Colonies.

The Declaratory Act

A pivotal British law asserting Parliament's absolute authority to legislate for the American colonies.

The Boston Massacre

A deadly confrontation on March 5, 1770, where British soldiers fired into a hostile crowd of Boston colonists.

The Boston Tea Party

A political protest on December 16, 1773, where American colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

Punitive laws passed by the British Parliament to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.

The Quebec Act

A British law that governed the Province of Quebec, expanding its territory and guaranteeing religious freedom for Catholics.

The First and Second Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress met to address grievances against British rule, while the Second managed the war effort.

Common Sense

Thomas Paine's pamphlet advocating for American independence from Britain.

The Declaration of Independence

The formal document adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing independence from Great Britain.

The Treaty of Paris

Refers to several significant peace agreements, most famously the 1783 treaty ending the American Revolutionary War.

The Articles of Confederation

The U.S.'s first federal government which failed because it was too weak to enforce laws.

The Annapolis Convention

The 1786 convention attended by only five states that failed to create uniform trade rules.

Shays's Rebellion

An armed uprising of indebted farmers in western Massachusetts protesting high taxes and debt collection.

The Constitutional Convention

A formal assembly of representatives convened to draft, revise, or amend a constitution.

The principle of checks and balances

For every power one U.S. branch has, another has a limit on that power.

The Virginia Plan

A blueprint for a strong national government with three branches, creating a bicameral legislature.

The New Jersey Plan

A proposal to keep equal state representation in a unicameral Congress.

The three-fifths compromise

Stated that for both representation and taxes, slave states used ⅗ of their slave population.

Report on Public Credit

Alexander Hamilton's report proposing funding the national debt at face value and establishing a central bank.

Assumption of state debts

The federal government assumed all state debts to promote national financial unity.

The Bank of the United States

Chartered by Congress as national banks, with the First Bank proposed by Alexander Hamilton.

Strict constructionist vs. broad constructionist

Strict construction states that anything not in the constitution cannot be deemed constitutional.

The Whiskey Rebellion

The 1794 uprising by western Pennsylvania farmers protesting a federal excise tax on whiskey.

The Jay Treaty

A pivotal U.S.-British agreement to resolve post-Revolutionary War issues, preventing war by securing British withdrawal from U.S. forts, settling border disputes, and establishing trade rules.

The Pinckney Treaty

An important diplomatic success for the United States that resolved territorial disputes and granted American ships the right to free navigation of the Mississippi River.

The XYZ Affair

A diplomatic scandal where French agents demanded bribes and a large loan from American diplomats to negotiate an end to French attacks on U.S. ships.

The Alien and Sedition Acts

Four controversial laws passed by the Federalist-controlled U.S. Congress in 1798 to suppress dissent and target immigrants, significantly limiting free speech and press.

Virginia and Kentucky resolutions

Protests against the Alien and Sedition Acts, asserting states' rights against perceived federal overreach and introducing theories like nullification.

Marbury v. Madison

A Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review, allowing courts to declare a law unconstitutional.

The Louisiana Purchase

The purchase of imperial rights to the western half of the Mississippi River basin from France by the United States in 1803.

Compromise of 1820

Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance of power in Congress and banning slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 36°30′ latitude line.

The impressment of American sailors

The British Royal Navy's practice of forcibly taking sailors from American ships to serve in the British fleet.

The Non-Importation Act

An economic protest involving agreements to boycott British goods to pressure Parliament through economic disruption.

The Chesapeake affair

A significant naval confrontation that occurred on June 22, 1807, between the United States and Great Britain.

The Embargo Act

Banned American ships from trading with foreign ports to pressure Britain and France to respect U.S. neutrality.

The Non-Intercourse Act of 1809

A U.S. law that lifted the general trade ban but prohibited commerce with Great Britain and France to protect U.S. interests.

Macon's Bill Number 2

A U.S. law that reopened trade with Britain and France but threatened to reimpose the Non-Intercourse Act on whichever nation didn't stop interfering with American shipping.

The Treaty of Ghent

Officially ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain.

The 'corrupt bargain'

Refers to the controversial 1824 U.S. Presidential Election where Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but John Quincy Adams became president.

The presidential election of 1824 and 1828

The 1824 election ended in a 'Corrupt Bargain,' leading to the bitter 1828 rematch where Jackson decisively won.

The doctrine of nullification

A constitutional theory that states have the right to invalidate federal laws they deem unconstitutional.

The Nullification crisis

A result of southern states' resistance to imposed protective tariffs on foreign goods.

The Second Bank of the United States

A central bank chartered to manage U.S. finances, which became the focus of conflict known as the 'Bank War.'

The veto of the Second Bank rechartering bill

President Andrew Jackson's veto of the Second Bank's recharter in 1832, viewing it as an unconstitutional, elitist monopoly.

The 'gag rule'

A series of resolutions passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that automatically tabled all petitions related to slavery.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century belief that the U.S. was destined to expand its dominion across North America.

The Texas annexation issue

A major political debate in the 1840s centered on whether to absorb the independent Republic of Texas.

The Mexican-American War

A conflict between the U.S. and Mexico, sparked by the U.S. annexation of Texas and a border dispute.

The Wilmot Provision

A proposed amendment to ban slavery in any territory gained from Mexico after the Mexican-American War.

The Compromise of 1850

A package of five U.S. laws that temporarily settled disputes over slavery in newly acquired territories.

The Dred Scott case

Denied citizenship to all Black people and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

The presidential election of 1860

The national outcome of the 1860 election gave Lincoln a victory in both the popular vote and the electoral vote, with just under 40 percent of the popular vote, which totaled 1,866,452, and 180 electoral votes.

Lincoln's plan for gradual emancipation

Involved offering federal funds to border states to compensate slave owners for freeing enslaved people.

The Confiscation Acts

Stated that any person that supported rebellion would have all their 'property' confiscated.

The Emancipation Proclamation

A pivotal wartime executive order that declared enslaved people in rebellious Confederate states 'thenceforward, and forever free.'

The Thirteenth Amendment

The amendment that officially freed slaves in all U.S. states.

Impact of environment, tobacco, headright system, and indentured servitude on the Chesapeake

The hot, unhealthy environment and labor-intensive tobacco economy created scattered plantations and high mortality.

Puritan Congregationalist beliefs and their impact on New England

Puritans believed in covenant theology, predestination, moral discipline, and congregational church rule.

Differences/similarities in lifestyles of New England colonists, Chesapeake colonists, and New England Indians

New England colonists lived in stable, family-centered towns; Chesapeake colonists lived in dispersed plantations with fragile families.

Causes and consequences of the Seven Years' War

The war was caused by British-French rivalry and conflict over the Ohio Valley.

Britain's approach to the crisis, 1763-1774

Parliament tried to raise revenue and tighten imperial control through acts like the Sugar, Stamp, Townshend, and Coercive Acts.

Colonial reaction to Parliament, 1763-1774

Colonists protested taxation without representation, organized boycotts, formed groups like the Sons of Liberty.

Strengths/weaknesses of the Revolutionary War sides and why America won

Britain had a strong army/navy but long supply lines and weak support at home.

Problems faced by the Confederation Congress

Congress lacked taxing power, had no executive or judiciary, and couldn't regulate trade.

Forces leading to the Constitutional Convention

Economic instability, interstate conflicts, inability to raise revenue, and fears of government collapse after Shays' Rebellion pushed leaders to revise the Articles.

Characteristics of the delegates and James Madison's role

Delegates were wealthy, educated men experienced in politics.

Major disagreements in drafting the Constitution and their resolutions

Big vs. small states (Great Compromise), slave vs. free states (3/5 Compromise).

Basic provisions and principles of the Constitution

The Constitution established a stronger federal government with separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and popular sovereignty.

Hamilton's economic program and reactions

Hamilton proposed funding national debt, assuming state debts, creating a national bank, and promoting manufacturing.

Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans and their views on key issues

Federalists favored strong federal power, commerce, and loose interpretation; Republicans favored states' rights, agriculture, and strict interpretation.

Foreign policy debate (1789-1801) and domestic impact

Federalists favored Britain; Republicans favored France.

U.S. trade-protection policies, 1801-1812

Jefferson and Madison used embargoes and trade restrictions (Embargo Act, Non-Intercourse Act) to pressure Britain and France.

Causes, course, and consequences of the War of 1812

Caused by British impressment, trade interference, and frontier conflicts.

Emergence of postwar nationalism and its impact

After 1812, nationalism encouraged the American System, protective tariffs, internal improvements, a stronger national bank.

Issues and result of the 1828 election

The election centered on tariffs, elitism, and popular democracy.

Second party system: Democrats vs. Whigs

Democrats favored states' rights, limited government, and expansion; Whigs favored federal support for the economy.

Jacksonian ideology in policy and its impact

Jackson and Van Buren promoted limited government, Indian removal, opposition to the Bank, and laissez-faire economics.

Effects of the Mexican War

The war reopened the slavery expansion debate, increased sectional tension, and brought vast new lands.

Sectional disputes leading to the Compromise of 1850 and its terms

Disputes concerned slavery in Mexican Cession lands, the status of California, and fugitive slaves.

Kansas-Nebraska Act: debate, provisions, consequences

The act used popular sovereignty to decide slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, repealing the Missouri Compromise.

Republican Party philosophy, appeal, and rise by 1860

Republicans opposed slavery's expansion, promoted free labor and northern industry.

Dred Scott decision and its impact

The Court ruled Blacks were not citizens, Congress couldn't ban slavery in territories.

Issues, personalities, and outcome of the 1860 election

Four candidates split along sectional lines; Lincoln won with a Free Soil platform.