American History – First Quarter Exam Review

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Historical Thinking, Founding Documents, Industrialization, Labor Movements, Native American Policies, and Post-Reconstruction Institutional Racism.

Credible Source

A source that is considered trustworthy if the author's evidence is accurate.

Thesis Statement

A statement that presents the main argument or central claim of an essay or research paper, guiding the direction of the entire text.

Cause and Effect

A relationship where an action or event (the cause) directly leads to a result or outcome (the effect).

Declaration of Independence Grievances

A list of specific complaints against King George III meant to prove that the British government had violated the colonists' rights, justifying their decision to declare independence.

Source of Governmental Power (Declaration of Independence)

The consent of the governed (the people).

Government Responsibility (Enlightenment Thinking)

To protect citizens' unalienable natural rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Consent of the Governed

The principle that a government receives its right to rule directly from the permission and agreement of the citizens it governs, usually expressed through voting.

Northwest Ordinance Precedents

Precedents set that were later incorporated into the Constitution: Bill of Rights Precedents, Ban on Slavery, Public Education, and the Statehood Process.

Federalists

A group that supported ratifying the Constitution and favoured a strong central national government to maintain order and economic stability, believing a Bill of Rights was unnecessary because individual liberties were already protected by checks and balances.

Anti-Federalists

A group that opposed the new Constitution, fearing a strong central government would become tyrannical and abuse power like Great Britain; they favoured stronger state governments and demanded the addition of a Bill of Rights to safeguard individual freedoms.

Urbanization (Industrialization)

The concentration of population into cities and urban centers, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest near factories and transport hubs.

Mechanization of Farming

The introduction of new machinery (such as tractors and mechanical reapers) that dramatically increased crop yields and farm productivity while reducing manual labor required to grow food.

Rural-to-Urban Migration

A trend where the number of farmers decreased as many left rural areas and moved to urban cities in search of industrial jobs in factories.

Labor Union Strike Triggers

Issues leading workers to strike: low wages or wage cuts, long working hours and lack of breaks, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions, and lack of benefits or job security.

Labor Unions

Organizations formed to give workers collective bargaining power to demand better pay, safer working environments, and reasonable hours from factory owners and corporations.

Labor Strike Violence

Escalated tension and clashes between workers and armed authorities caused when factory owners used private guards, strikebreakers, or government troops to break strikes.

Immigration Surge (Industrialization)

A massive influx of millions coming to the U.S. seeking jobs created by expanding factories, mines, and infrastructure projects.

Urbanization Living Conditions and Effects

An increase in crime, bad houses, and dirtiness, accompanied by improvements to public transportation.

Westward Expansion Impact on Native Americans

Tribes were systematically forced off their ancestral lands, moved to reservations, and saw treaties routinely broken as the U.S. expanded westward.

Plains Wars Causes

Violent encounters caused by westward expansion of settlers, railroads, and miners encroaching on tribal lands, competition for resources, and government attempts to force tribes onto reservations while violating treaties.

Dawes Act (Goal)

Legislation aimed at assimilating Native Americans into mainstream American society by breaking up tribal reservation land into individual family plots and encouraging farming.

Dawes Act (Effects)

Weakened tribal culture and sovereignty, destroyed communal land ownership, and caused Native Americans to lose millions of acres of surplus reservation land to white settlers.

Homestead Strike (Initial Cause)

A major labor dispute that began over wages.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws that enforced racial segregation, denied voting rights through poll taxes and literacy tests, and restricted economic, educational, and social opportunities for Black Americans.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

An organization that used violence, intimidation, and terror to prevent African Americans from exercising their civil and political rights.

Anti-Miscegenation Laws (Jim Crow)

Provisions under Jim Crow that banned interracial marriage and relationships between Black and white individuals.

End of Reconstruction in the South

The removal of federal troops protecting Black citizens' rights, allowing Southern white Democrats to regain political control and enact Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and segregate Black citizens.

Plessy v. Ferguson Ruling

A landmark Supreme Court ruling that established the 'separate but equal' doctrine, making legal segregation constitutional.

Plessy v. Ferguson Effects

Legitimized racial segregation across public facilities, resulting in inferior public services, schools, and transportation for Black Americans for decades.