APUSH 2024 Exam Study Guide

Pre-Columbian Era

The period before Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World

Maize

An important crop cultivation leading to transition from hunting to farming cultures among Natives

Columbian Exchange

Era marked by the exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and ideas between Europe and the New World

Encomienda System

Labor system in American colonies where Spanish encomendero had native laborers paying tributes

Spanish Racial Caste System

Hierarchy in Spanish colonies with Europeans at the top, followed by Mestizos, Zambos, and Africans

Smallpox Epidemic

Disease brought by Europeans devastating Native American population

Virginia Company

English trading company chartered to colonize the eastern coast of America

Jamestown

Settlement of the Virginia Company where many settlers died due to lack of farming

House of Burgesses

Law allowing property-holding white males to vote in Virginia

Pilgrims

Separatist Puritans who settled in Plymouth seeking religious freedom

Mayflower Compact

Legal system asserting government power from consent of the governed

Roger Williams

Banished minister who advocated for separation of church and state

Proprietorship

Colony owned by a single person

Powhatan Wars

Conflicts between English settlers and Powhatan Confederacy over territorial disputes

Middle Passage

Shipping route bringing enslaved Africans to the Americas in the triangular trade

Salutary Neglect

British policy of minimal interference in colonial affairs before the French and Indian War

Mercantilism

Belief in economic power through a favorable balance of trade

Navigation Acts

Tariff act requiring colonists to trade only with England and use English ports for imports

Governor

Man appointed by the king to rule a colony with powers similar to the king's

Bicameral Legislature

Two-house legislature in colonies modeled after British Parliament

Nathaniel Bacon

Wealthy immigrant who led a rebellion against Native tribes in Virginia in 1679, seeking to drive them out of the region.

William Berkeley

Virginia's governor who refused to grant Bacon authority to raise a militia and attack nearby tribes during the rebellion.

Stono Uprising

A successful slave rebellion in South Carolina in 1739, where slaves stole guns, killed planters, and attempted to flee to Florida.

Salem Witch Trials

Events in 1692 in New England where over 130 individuals were jailed or executed on charges of witchcraft.

Dominion of New England

English government's attempt to control illegal trade in the colonies.

First Great Awakening

Religious revival in the 1730s and 1740s in the colonies and Europe.

Halfway Covenant

A Puritan compromise allowing baptism for those who had not experienced God's grace, but restricting their voting rights.

George Whitfield

Methodist preacher known for preaching Christianity based on emotionalism and spirituality.

Albany Plan of Union

Proposed in 1754, aimed to create an intercolonial government and a system for collecting taxes for defense.

Seven Year’s War/French and Indian War

Lasted from 1754 to 1763, a result of colonial expansion and inter-European power struggles.

Declaration of Independence

Document signed on July 4, 1776, listing grievances against the British crown and emphasizing individual liberty and natural rights.

Battle of Saratoga

American victory in 1777 that ended British dominance in New York, leading to French support for the American cause.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Treaty granting the United States independence and territorial rights, ending the Revolutionary War.

Annapolis Convention

Meeting called by Alexander Hamilton in Maryland to discuss governmental funding, attended by only five delegates.

Constitutional Convention (1787)

Meeting of delegates from most states to draft the U.S. Constitution, lasting four months and resulting in a three-tiered federal government.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement counting each slave as three-fifths of a person for representation purposes.

Federalist Papers

Series of essays by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay advocating for the Federalist position.

Whiskey Rebellion (1791)

Uprising against an excise tax on whiskey in Western Pennsylvania, marking the beginning of the two-party system.

XYZ Affair

French bribe scandal leading to anti-French sentiment in the U.S. during John Adams' presidency.

Era of Good Feelings

Term describing the period of James Monroe's presidency marked by political harmony and economic growth.

Era of Good Feelings

A period of unity in the United States marked by the fall of the Federalist Party and unity in only one political party, despite growing tension from economic development and increased sectionalism.

McCulloch v

A trial establishing the precedence of national law over state law by ruling that states could not tax the National Bank, reaffirming the supremacy clause.

Panic of 1819

A financial crisis that threw the American economy into turmoil.

John Quincy Adams

Secretary of State under Monroe, negotiated treaties fixing U.S. borders and wrote the Monroe Doctrine.

The Adams-Onis Treaty

An agreement where the U.S. acquired Florida in exchange for not taking actions to gain Spanish-held Mexico.

The Monroe Doctrine

Policy of mutual noninterference, asserting America's right to intervene in its hemisphere and warning European nations against future colonization.

The Missouri Compromise

Legislation admitting Missouri as a slave state, creating Maine as a free state, and establishing a line across the Louisiana territory for slavery.

Election of 1824

A turning point in presidential elections where most states allowed voters to choose electors directly.

Jacksonian Democracy

Era ushered in by Jackson's presidency, replacing Jeffersonian Republicanism and advocating for universal white manhood suffrage.

Indian Removal Act

Passed in 1830, leading to the forced removal of Native American tribes like the Cherokees.

Nullification

The action of a state attempting to prevent the enforcement of a U.S. law within its territory.

Second Bank of the United States (BUS)

A national bank vetoed by Jackson, leading to economic consequences.

Specie Circular

Jackson's policy requiring payment for government land in hard currency, contributing to the Panic of 1837.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

A slave rebellion led by Turner in 1831, resulting in harsher slave codes in the South.

Whigs

An opposition party to the Democrats, supporting government activism and social issues.

Market Economy

A system where people trade labor or goods for cash, leading to boom-and-bust cycles.

Cotton Gin

Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, revolutionizing cotton production but increasing the demand for enslaved labor.

Lowell System

A worker program guaranteeing housing, wages, and social events in New England textile mills.

Erie Canal

Completed in 1825, linking the Great Lakes to New York and European shipping routes.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that Americans had a divine right to expand westward, leading to territorial acquisitions like Texas and Oregon.

Second Great Awakening

A period of religious revival among Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, leading to increased church membership and the formation of new religions like Mormons and Shakers.

Temperance Societies

Reform groups advocating abstinence from alcohol and sometimes pushing for prohibition.

Nativist Movement/Know-Nothing Party

Groups combating vices like gambling and promoting anti-immigrant sentiments.

The Shakers

Utopian group splintered from Quakers, believed in celibacy and the imminent end of the world.

Transcendentalists

Nonconformist Unitarian writers inspired by European romanticism, e.g., Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Hudson River School

The first distinct American art school.

National Woman Suffrage Association

Founded in 1869 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to advocate for women's voting rights.

Abolitionist Movements

Efforts to end slavery, with moderates seeking gradual emancipation and immediatists advocating for immediate freedom.

Gag Rule

Congressional rule suppressing discussions on slavery and preventing new legislation on the issue.

Dred Scott v

Legal case where Scott, a former slave, lost his appeal at the Supreme Court level, reinforcing that black people were not citizens.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln's 1863 proclamation to liberate all slaves in rebellion, excluding border states and southern counties under Union control.

Thirteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery.

Hampton Roads Conference

1865 peace conference between the US and Confederate representatives, negotiating terms on the new amendment.

Freedmen's Bureau

Government-established group aiding newly liberated Black people with survival needs postwar.

Sherman’s March

Union army's destructive march from Atlanta to the sea in 1864 depleting the South's resources.

Reconstruction

Period between 1865-1877 addressing readmission of southern states, Black people's status, and treatment of rebels.

Wade Davis Bill

Harsher 1864 Republican plan compared to Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan for Reconstruction.

Fourteenth Amendment

1868 amendment granting citizenship, due process, equal protection, voting rights, and barring Confederates from office.

Military Reconstruction Act of 1867

Imposed martial law in the South and called for new state constitutional conventions.

Fifteenth Amendment

1869 amendment requiring states to enfranchise black men.

Sharecropping

System where Black people worked on others' land for a share of the crop.

Freedmen's Bureau

Organization aiding freedmen with jobs, money, food, and education post-Civil War.

Gospel of Wealth

Carnegie's belief that great wealth brought great social responsibility.

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

Law prohibiting combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade.

Knights of Labor

National labor union founded in 1869, declining after unsuccessful strikes.

Haymarket Square Riot

1886 labor demonstration in Chicago resulting in a bomb explosion and police casualties.

American Federation of Labor

Led by Samuel Gompers, focused on higher wages and shorter workdays.

Settlement Houses

Community centers in poor neighborhoods offering various services and activities.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized news style by Pulitzer and Hearst with scandalous headlines.

Jim Crow Laws

Racial segregation laws in the South post-Reconstruction.

Discriminatory Laws in the South

Laws passed in the South that discriminated against Black people, even supported by the Supreme Court claiming the Fourteenth Amendment did not protect from such practices.

Plessy v Ferguson

A 1896 court case that established the "separate but equal" doctrine, denying federal government's role in maintaining social equality.

Booker T

Former slave who advocated for economic independence as a means for Black people's progress, founded Tuskegee Institute, criticized for being an accommodationist.

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad spanning the U.S. built from 1863 to 1869, connecting the East and West coasts.

Homestead Act

1862 law offering 160 acres of land to settlers who would cultivate it and live there for 5 years.

Dawes Severalty Act

Legislation breaking up Native American reservations, granting land to families and aiming to assimilate Native Americans.

Progressive Era

A period in the early 20th century marked by political and social reform efforts, including direct election of senators and opposition to monopolies.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed corporate greed and misconduct, like Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair.

Nineteenth Amendment

Passed in 1920, granting women the right to vote.

Federal Reserve System

Established to give the government greater control over the nation's finances, a key development in the Progressive Era.