AP US History Comprehensive Review: Periods 1-9

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards derived from the lecture notes, covering United States History periods 1 through 9, including major laws, social movements, and economic shifts in political and foreign policy.

Matrilineal

A social system in which power and inheritance are passed down via women, common in many Native American societies before European contact.

Three Sister Farming

An efficient agricultural system used by tribes like the Cherokee, involving the combined growing of corn, beans, and squash to keep the soil fresh.

Mestizo

A term in the Spanish colonial class hierarchy referring to a person of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.

St. Augustine (1565)

The first permanent European colony in the United States, established by Spain in Florida to protect treasure fleets.

Middle Passage

the brutal slave ship trip across the Atlantic where ships were tightly packed and approximately $20\%$ of enslaved people committed suicide.

House of Burgesses (1619)

The first representative government established in the 13 English colonies, located in Virginia.

Puritan Work Ethic

The religious belief common in New England that it was a Christian responsibility to work constantly and avoid idleness.

Great Awakening

A religious revival led by figures like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield that challenged existing minister practices and encouraged individualized worship.

Battle of Saratoga

The Continental Army’s first major victory over the British, which convinced France to provide life-saving aid to the Americans.

Articles of Confederation

The first U.S. government which emphasized states' rights, featured a one-house Congress, and lacked the power to tax or regulate commerce.

Great Compromise

An agreement during the Constitutional Convention that created a two-house Congress (House and Senate) by combining the New Jersey and Virginia plans.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Laws passed under President Adams giving the president power to deport immigrants and arrest those who spoke out against the government.

Louisiana Purchase

A purchase by Thomas Jefferson that doubled the size of the U.S., though it contradicted his strict interpretation of the Constitution.

Impressment

The British practice of taking soldiers off U.S. ships, which served as the number one issue leading to the War of 1812.

Spoils System

The practice of rewarding loyal political supporters with government appointments, heavily utilized by Andrew Jackson.

Trail of Tears

The inhumane forced removal of Native Americans from their lands to territories further west during the Jacksonian era.

Whig Party

A political party formed in the 1830s that favored a strong national government, the Bank of the U.S., and internal improvements while opposing 'King Jackson.'

Manifest Destiny

The mid-19th-century belief that it was America’s God-given right and destiny to expand west to the Pacific Ocean.

14th Amendment

A Reconstruction-era amendment declaring that all people born in the U.S. are citizens with rights to due process and equal protection.

Black Codes

Laws passed in the South to oppress freedmen, forcing them to work on plantations and making it illegal for them to testify in court or own guns.

Political Machine

An unofficial group, such as Tammany Hall, that controlled a city's ruling political party and used graft and patronage for personal gain.

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy used by John D. Rockefeller to own over $90\%$ of the oil industry via trusts to eliminate competition.

Social Darwinism

The belief that the wealthy deserve their wealth because they are the 'fittest,' often used to justify the growing gap between rich and poor.

The Grange

A group formed by farmers to assist each other economically, which later shifted into a political movement for railroad regulation.

Dawes Act (1877)

A law that forced Native Americans to abandon traditional lifestyles and divided reservations into private 160-acre family plots.

Roosevelt Corollary

An addition to the Monroe Doctrine stating that the U.S. would use military force to ensure stability in the Americas.

19th Amendment

A constitutional amendment ratified in 1920 that granted women the right to vote.

Harlem Renaissance

A prosperous 1920s literary and artistic movement in New York City centered on African American culture.

New Deal

FDR's program to fix the Great Depression through the '3 Rs': Relief (immediate aid), Recovery (jobs), and Reform (economic regulation).

Containment

The primary U.S. Cold War strategy intended to prevent the spread of communism beyond its existing borders.

McCarthyism

The practice of accusing people of being communists without evidence, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Red Scare.

Great Society

President Lyndon B. Johnson's legislative program aimed at reducing poverty and racial injustice, which included Medicare and Medicaid.

Stagflation

An economic phenomenon in the 1970s characterized by the combination of high inflation and high unemployment.

Reaganomics

Supply-side economic policies featuring tax cuts, reduced federal spending on welfare, and deregulation of the private sector.

Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

A health care reform aiming to increase coverage by requiring private insurers to cover pre-existing conditions and requiring all individuals to have insurance.