APUSH ABC

Gilded Age

The time period after the Civil War that featured industrial titans and bad presidents like Arthur and Hayes characterized by rapid economic growth, massive immigration, and social inequality, often obscured by a superficial glitter of prosperity.

Leader of the American Federation of Labor during the 1930s who worked to achieve the Wagner Act and improved labor rights for workers.

John Jay

Author of a few of the Federalist Papers who also became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.

Yellow Journalism

One of the causes of the Spanish American War that was pushed by men like Hearst and Pulitzer and characterized by sensationalized reporting, aimed at provoking public outrage and influencing American intervention in foreign conflicts.

Tecumseh

Leader is a native rebellion around the time of the War of 1812, which was put down by William Henry Harrison who sought to form a confederation of Native American tribes to resist American expansion into their territories.

Abolitionists

Title attributed to people such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison in the early 1800s.

James K. Polk

President who had issues with Mexico over the expansion to the west and Britain over Oregon in the Northwest and was a proponent of Manifest Destiny, believing it was America's destiny to expand across the continent. He also faced challenges during the Mexican-American War.

Volstead Act

The law the enforced prohibition (18th Amendment) on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States. It was enacted in 1920 and led to significant social and legal changes, including the rise of speakeasies and organized crime.

Eugene V. Debs

Labor leader of the Industrial Workers of the World who spent time in prison, even when running unsuccessfully for the Presidency as a Socialist candidate. He advocated for workers' rights and social justice.

Jacob RIis

Muckraking journalist and photographer who showed “How the Other Half Lives” in NYC in the late -1800s and exposed the living conditions of the urban poor, advocating for social reform and housing improvements.

NATO

Organization devoted to collective security during the Cold War that unified nations against the USSR and was formed in 1949 to provide mutual defense and maintain collective security among member countries against the threat of Soviet expansion during the Cold War.

Annexation

The addition of territory to the country through formal incorporation, often by force or negotiation.

Dust Bowl

The topic of John Steinbeck’s novels during the 1930s, which showed the plight of farmers in the Midwest and the struggles faced during the Great Depression, highlighting themes of poverty, displacement, and resilience.

Robert E. Lee

Leader of the Confederate Army during the Civil War who commanded the Army of Northern Virginia and was known for his military tactics and leadership.

Great Awakening

Time period featuring George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards who were influential preachers advocating for a personal relationship with God and greater emotional engagement in religious practices, leading to a series of religious revivals across the American colonies.

David Wilmot

Congressman who proposed that all land gained from the Mexican War would be free of slavery. The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal in 1846 that aimed to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, igniting fierce debates over the expansion of slavery in the United States.

Berlin

City divided during the cold war, into East and West during the Cold War, symbolizing the broader ideological conflict between communism and democracy, and was a focal point of tensions in Europe until its reunification in 1990.

Great Migration

Movement of African Americans from the south to the north during the early-1900s to escape Jim Crow laws and seek better economic opportunities, significantly impacting urban demographics and culture.

CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)

Program designed to get Americans back to work in nature by serving as park rangers and lifeguards, a New Deal program that provided jobs to young men in natural resource conservation projects during the Great Depression.

Robert La Follette

Wisconsin politician who was the standard-bearer of the Progressive movement of the early-1900s and advocated for reforms such as direct primaries, taxation of corporate profits, and improved conditions for workers.

Federal Reserve

Government agency in charge of the money supply of the country, established in the Woodrow Wilson administration to provide more stability and control over the banking system.

Henry Clay

Kentucky congressman and official who was integral in the Corrupt Bargain of 1824 and the Missouri Compromise and served as Speaker of the House. He was a prominent advocate for the American System, promoting economic nationalism through tariffs, a national bank, and infrastructure improvements.

Great Society

LBJ’s policy program that dealt with reforms for the poor and educational improvements for all Americans in the 1960s designed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice through various social programs.

United Farm Workers (UFW)

Organization led by Cesar Chavez during the 1960s that fought for the rights of many, but mostly for Latin immigrants in the southwest and farmworkers in the United States, advocating for better wages and labor conditions.

Metacom

Native leader of a rebellion against the colony of Massachusetts in the 1600s known as King Philip's War, which aimed to protect Native American lands and resources from colonial expansion.

Whiskey Rebellion

Western Pennsylvania farmers rising up against the Washington administration’s taxes in the 1790s. This rebellion highlighted the tensions between federal authority and rural populations, ultimately leading to a show of force by the government to quell the uprising.

Suffrage

The right to vote in political elections, often associated with women's rights movements.

New Deal

FDR’s program of relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression that aimed to provide economic support and job creation, as well as implement financial regulations to prevent future economic crises. Included multiple initiatives such as Social Security and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

John C. Calhoun

South Carolina leader who fought for slavery and was a vocal opponent of Andrew Jackson, even when he was his VP.

Red Scare

The fear of communism during the 1920s that was pushed by people like A Mitchell Palmer and led to widespread paranoia, government crackdowns on suspected radicals, and the violation of civil liberties in the United States.

Virginia Plan

Madison’s vision of what the Federal Government should look like under the new Constitution which proposed a strong national government with three branches and a bicameral legislature based on population.

John Marshall

The fourth Supreme Court Chief Justice who upset both Jefferson and Jackson during his long tenure and helped establish the principle of judicial review through the landmark case Marbury v. Madison.

Ronald Reagan

President during the 1980s who rode to the White House on the backs of the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition and implemented significant economic reforms, including tax cuts and deregulation, while emphasizing a strong anti-communist foreign policy and increasing military spending.

Nullification

Belief, pushed by the likes of Jefferson and Calhoun, that laws could be ignored by states if they felt they were unconstitutional.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Program that helped the people of Appalachia to receive education, clean water, and economic opportunities through electricity generation and flood control. It was established during the New Deal to modernize the region.

Jane Addams

Opened Hull House in order to serve the needs of the poor immigrants of Chicago- won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1931 for her work in social reform and advocating for women's rights.

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson’s peace plan after WWI that aimed to promote lasting peace and prevent future conflicts.

Open Door Policy

The diplomatic plan for China during the age of Imperialism that aimed to ensure equal trading rights for all nations and protect China from colonization, initiated by US Secretary of State John Hay in 1899 and 1900 under President William McKinley.

Puritans

The people of Massachusetts Bay Colony were considered this term to describe their religious beliefs and their desire to purify the Church of England from within. They sought to create a "city upon a hill" as a model of moral society.

Roger B. Taney

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who decided that a slave did not have rights a white man had to honor and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, which was foundational in the Dred Scott decision.

Pontiac

Native leader of a rebellion after the French and Indian War that necessitated the proclamation Line of 1763, leader of a Rebellion, which challenged British rule and highlighted Native American resistance.

The National Organization for Women (NOW)

Feminist organization of the 1960s that has fought for the equal rights of women ever since and advocates for reproductive rights, workplace equality, and an end to gender discrimination.

Harlem

Neighborhood of New York City that fostered black culture during the 1920s that introduced jazz to Americans and celebrated African American literature, art, and social thought, marking the Harlem Renaissance.

Seneca Falls

Location of a women’s rights conference in 1848 that issued the Declaration of Sentiments, advocating for women's suffrage and equality.

Stokely Carmichael

Leader of the Civil Rights movement who coined the term “black power” and was more forceful in his rhetoric. He emphasized self-determination for African Americans and was a key figure in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Joseph McCarthy

Senator of Wisconsin who became a crusader against communists in the US, but in reality ruined the lives of countless government officials in search of power known for his aggressive tactics during the Red Scare, particularly through his tenure as chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where he targeted alleged communists in government, leading to widespread paranoia and the erosion of civil liberties.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Changed the role of first lady of the U.S. by holding press conferences and taking stances on issues such as civil rights and social justice, thereby becoming an active participant in political discourse.

Marshall Plan

US program to give loans to nations in Europe in order to combat the spread of communism and to stabilize the governments friendly to the US.

HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)

Congressional group dedicated to rooting out communists within the government and economy, which also gave rise to Richard Nixon’s career in government.