APUSH Semester One Terms

Native interactions with early settlers

Trade, cooperation, and conflict; settlers took land, leading to wars and Native displacement.

Mercantilism

Economic system where colonies exist to benefit the mother country through controlled trade.

Navigation Acts

British laws requiring colonial trade to go through England using English ships.

Anne Hutchinson

Religious dissenter who challenged Puritan leaders and was banished from Massachusetts.

English colonies crops

Tobacco, rice, indigo in the South; New England relied on fishing and trade.

King Philip’s War

1675–1676 war between Native Americans and New England settlers over land.

Evolution of America’s political system

Colonial self-rule → Articles of Confederation → Constitution.

The Enlightenment

Emphasized reason, science, and natural rights (Locke, Montesquieu).

Slave culture

Strong family bonds, religion, music, and traditions despite enslavement.

Southern agrarian economy

Plantation farming dependent on enslaved labor.

Colonial exports

Tobacco, rice, indigo, timber, fish.

Seven Years’ War

Global war between Britain and France; called the French and Indian War in America.

Aftermath of the French and Indian War

British debt led to higher taxes and colonial resentment.

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

Punitive laws against Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party.

Philosophies behind the American Revolution

Natural rights, social contract, consent of the governed.

Boston Massacre

1770 killing of five colonists by British soldiers; used as propaganda.

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense, arguing for independence.

Declaration of Independence

1776 document declaring independence and listing grievances against Britain.

Articles of Confederation

Weak national government; successful in war, failed in peace.

Battle of Saratoga

Turning point of the Revolution; led to French support.

Shays’ Rebellion

Farmer uprising showing weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Land Ordinances of 1785 and 1787

Organized western lands and banned slavery north of the Ohio River.

Structure of the Constitution

Three branches, checks and balances, federalism.

Federalists

Supported strong national government and Constitution.

Anti-Federalists

Opposed strong central government; wanted a Bill of Rights.

Great Compromise

Created bicameral legislature with proportional and equal representation.

Jay’s Treaty

Improved relations with Britain but angered many Americans.

Thomas Jefferson

Author of Declaration; 3rd president; Louisiana Purchase.

John Marshall

Chief Justice who strengthened federal power and judicial review.

Cotton gin

Increased cotton production and expanded slavery.

Transportation in early 1800s

Canals, roads, and steamboats improved trade.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival promoting reform movements.

War of 1812

War with Britain over trade, impressment, and expansion.

Adams-Onís Treaty

U.S. gained Florida from Spain.

Missouri Compromise

Maintained balance between slave and free states.

Impact of War of 1812

Increased nationalism and industrial growth.

McCulloch v. Maryland

Established federal supremacy and implied powers.

Andrew Jackson

Populist president; expanded democracy for white men; Indian Removal.

Know-Nothing Party

Nativist party opposed immigrants and Catholics.

Bank of the United States

National bank regulating currency and credit.

Plantations

Large southern farms using enslaved labor.

Bank War

Jackson’s campaign against the national bank.

Lowell System

Factory system employing young women under strict rules.

Immigration to the U.S. (1820–1860)

Irish and German immigrants increased urban populations.

America’s economic revolution (1820–1860)

Industrialization and market economy growth.

Nativists

Opposed immigration and foreign influence.

South vs. North economy

South—agriculture and slavery; North—industry and free labor.

Sectionalism

Regional loyalty over national unity.

Erie Canal

Connected Great Lakes to Atlantic Ocean, boosting trade.

Nat Turner’s rebellion

1831 slave revolt leading to harsher slave laws.

William Lloyd Garrison

Radical abolitionist; published The Liberator.

Frederick Douglass

Former slave and leading abolitionist speaker and writer.

Abolitionism

Movement to end slavery.

Seneca Falls Convention

First women’s rights convention (1848).

Antebellum feminists

Advocated women’s rights before the Civil War.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Anti-slavery novel that intensified sectional tensions.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the U.S. should expand westward.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended Mexican-American War; U.S. gained Southwest.

Territorial gains (19th century)

Louisiana Purchase, Florida, Texas, Southwest, Oregon.

Compromise of 1850

Temporary solution to slavery disputes, included Fugitive Slave Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Allowed popular sovereignty; repealed Missouri Compromise.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes over slavery in Kansas.

John Brown

Radical abolitionist who led Harpers Ferry raid.

Confederacy

Southern states that seceded to protect slavery.

King Cotton

Belief that cotton dominated Southern economy and politics.

Emancipation Proclamation

Freed slaves in Confederate states in 1863.

Causes and effects of the Civil War

Slavery and sectionalism led to war; Union preserved and slavery ended.

Civil War amendments

13th ended slavery; 14th granted citizenship; 15th protected voting rights.

Crop-lien system

Postwar system trapping farmers in debt.

Republican Reconstruction

Congressional plan protecting freedmen’s rights.

Black Codes

Laws restricting African American freedoms after the Civil War.

Anti-Chinese sentiment

Discrimination against Chinese immigrants, leading to exclusion laws.

Sand Creek Massacre

U.S. troops killed Cheyenne and Arapaho civilians.

Gospel of Wealth

Belief wealthy should use riches to benefit society.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Labor union for skilled workers.

Haymarket Square Riot

Violent labor protest that hurt union support.

Yellow journalism

Sensationalized news to attract readers.

Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives

Exposed urban poverty through photography.

Urban life

Crowded cities with factories, immigrants, and poor conditions.

Urban political machines

Organizations that controlled city politics through patronage.