2/14 terms quiz

Great Awakening

A series of 18th-century religious revivals emphasizing personal faith, emotional sermons, and individual salvation.

Mercantilism

An economic policy where colonies existed to benefit the mother country by controlling trade and resources.

Declaration of Independence

The 1776 document declaring American independence from Britain, listing grievances against King George III.

Constitution

The foundational U.S. document, ratified in 1788, establishing government structure, federal powers, and citizens’ rights.

Checks & Balances

A system ensuring no government branch becomes too powerful by distributing authority among the three branches.

Federal Naturalization Law of 1790

The first U.S. law granting naturalization only to free white persons of good character.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing individual freedoms like speech, religion, and due process.

Amendments

Official changes or additions to the U.S. Constitution, used to expand rights, modify government functions, or address new issues.

Judicial Review

The power of courts to declare laws unconstitutional, established by Marbury v. Madison (1803).

Missouri Compromise

The 1820 law admitting Missouri as a slave state, Maine as a free state, and banning slavery north of 36°30′.

Trail of Tears

The forced relocation of Native American tribes in the 1830s, causing thousands of deaths due to harsh conditions.

Abolitionism

The movement to end slavery in the U.S., gaining momentum in the early 19th century.

Fugitive Slave Law

Laws requiring escaped enslaved people to be returned to their owners, even in free states.

Dred Scott Decision

An 1857 Supreme Court ruling stating enslaved people were property, not citizens, and could not sue for freedom.

Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 speech reaffirming democratic ideals and honoring soldiers who died in the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln’s 1863 executive order freeing enslaved people in Confederate states.

Sea Island Experiments

A Reconstruction-era effort to educate and provide land to formerly enslaved people in South Carolina.

Freedman’s Bureau

A federal agency established in 1865 to help formerly enslaved people with education, jobs, and legal rights.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist group formed during Reconstruction to intimidate Black Americans and suppress their rights.

Fourteenth Amendment

The 1868 amendment granting citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born in the U.S.

U.S. v. Reese

An 1876 Supreme Court case that weakened Black voting rights by allowing poll taxes and literacy tests.

Sharecropping

A farming system where formerly enslaved people rented land and paid with a portion of their crops, keeping them in debt.

Compromise of 1877

The agreement ending Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South in exchange for Rutherford B. Hayes becoming president.

Jim Crow

Racial segregation laws enforcing discrimination in the South after Reconstruction.

Birth of a Nation

A 1915 film glorifying the Ku Klux Klan and promoting racist stereotypes.

Atlanta Compromise

A speech by Booker T. Washington promoting Black economic progress while accepting segregation.

N.A.A.C.P.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 to fight for civil rights.

Social Darwinism

The belief that natural selection applies to human societies, justifying economic inequality and racism.

Lewis Hine

A photographer known for exposing child labor abuses in the early 20th century.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A major labor union founded in 1886, focusing on skilled workers and collective bargaining.

Pullman Strike

A nationwide railroad strike in 1894, crushed by federal troops after disrupting transportation.

Exodusters

African Americans who migrated west, particularly to Kansas, to escape racism in the South after Reconstruction.

Reservations

Land designated by the government for Native American tribes, often in poor and isolated conditions.

Dawes Act

An 1887 law breaking up tribal land and forcing Native Americans into individual land ownership, weakening tribal culture.

Massacre at Wounded Knee

The 1890 killing of hundreds of Lakota Sioux by U.S. troops, marking the end of Native American resistance.

Bonanza Farms

Large-scale corporate farms that dominated western agriculture in the late 19th century.

Buffalo Bill

William F. Cody, a showman who romanticized the Wild West through performances and dime novels.

Ethnic Communities

Urban neighborhoods where immigrants settled to preserve their cultural traditions.

Gentlemen’s Agreement

A 1907 deal between the U.S. and Japan limiting Japanese immigration.

Angel Island

The immigration station in San Francisco, where Asian immigrants were detained and inspected.

Settlement House

Community centers helping immigrants and the poor, such as Jane Addams’ Hull House.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized, exaggerated news reporting to attract readers, prominent in the Spanish-American War era.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court case upholding racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Filipino War

A conflict (1899–1902) in which the U.S. suppressed Filipino independence after the Spanish-American War.

Roosevelt Corollary

An addition to the Monroe Doctrine stating the U.S. could intervene in Latin America to maintain stability.

Panama Canal

A waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, built by the U.S. for faster trade and military movement.

Anti-Imperialist League

A group opposing U.S. expansion, particularly the annexation of the Philippines.

Coal Strike of 1902

A major labor strike in the coal industry, resolved when President Theodore Roosevelt intervened.

John Muir

A naturalist who advocated for U.S. conservation and helped establish national parks.

Alice Paul

A suffragist who pushed for the passage of the 19th Amendment, securing women’s voting rights.

Buchanan v. Warley

A 1917 Supreme Court case striking down racial zoning laws.

Committee on Public Information

A government agency promoting pro-war propaganda during World War I.

League of Nations

An international organization formed after World War I to prevent future conflicts, but the U.S. never joined.

Daylight Savings Time

Adjusting clocks to extend daylight hours, first used during World War I for energy conservation.

Palmer Raids

A 1919-1920 crackdown on suspected radicals and immigrants during the Red Scare.

National Origins Act

A 1924 law severely restricting immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

American Civil Liberties Union

An organization defending free speech and civil rights, founded in 1920.

Flapper

A 1920s woman who defied traditional norms with bold fashion and behavior.

Rosewood

A 1923 race massacre in Florida, where a Black town was destroyed by white mobs.

Lost Generation

Writers disillusioned by World War I, including Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

Harlem Renaissance

A 1920s cultural movement celebrating Black literature, music, and art.

Scopes Monkey Trial

A 1925 trial in Tennessee over the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Marcus Garvey

A Black nationalist leader advocating for African pride and a return to Africa.

Buck v. Bell

A 1927 Supreme Court case upholding forced sterilization of people deemed 'unfit.'

Hoovervilles

Shantytowns built by the homeless during the Great Depression, named after President Hoover.

Bonus Army

A 1932 protest by World War I veterans demanding early payment of promised bonuses.

Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady and activist who championed civil rights and social reforms.

Repatriation

The forced deportation of Mexican-Americans during the Great Depression.

Wagner Act

A 1935 law protecting workers’ rights to unionize and bargain collectively.

Southern Tenant Farmers Union

A group advocating for poor Black and white farmers in the 1930s.

WPA (Works Progress Administration)

A New Deal program creating jobs through public works projects.

Demagogue

A political leader who gains support by appealing to emotions and prejudices rather than reason.

Executive Order 8802

A 1941 order banning racial discrimination in the defense industry.

Manhattan Project

The secret U.S. project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.

Rosie the Riveter

A cultural icon representing women working in factories during World War II.