American History Final Exam Study Guide

Flashcards for vocabulary review

Benjamin Franklin

American inventor and statesman

Stamp Act

Acts that imposed taxes on the colonies, leading to protests.

Boston Massacre

British soldiers killed several colonists, increasing tensions.

Boston Tea Party

Colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act.

Lexington and Concord

Sites where the first battles of the American Revolutionary War were fought.

Declaration of Independence

Document declaring the independence of the colonies from Great Britain.

Battle of Saratoga

Battle that was a turning point in the American Revolutionary War, convincing France to support the Americans.

Battle of Yorktown

Final major battle of the American Revolutionary War, leading to British surrender.

Republican Motherhood

Belief that women should raise virtuous sons for the republic after the war.

Shay’s Rebellion

Uprising that highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)

Compromise that created a bicameral legislature with representation based on population in the House and equal representation in the Senate.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the Constitution, protecting individual rights.

Federalist Papers

Essays advocating for the ratification of the Constitution.

Whiskey Rebellion

Rebellion over a tax on whiskey, suppressed by President Washington.

Alexander Hamilton

Secretary of Treasury under Washington, advocated for a national bank.

XYZ Affair

Diplomatic incident that nearly led to war with France during Adam's presidency.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Acts restricting immigration and limiting speech critical of the government during Adam's presidency.

Louisiana Purchase

Purchase that doubled the size of the United States during Jefferson's presidency.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Exploration of the Louisiana Territory.

John Marshall

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who greatly expanded the power of the court.

Monroe Doctrine

U.S. foreign policy declaration that opposed European interference in the Americas.

Missouri Compromise

Agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance of power in Congress.

Eli Whitney

Inventor of the cotton gin, which increased cotton production and the demand for slave labor.

Corrupt Bargain

A political scandal that occurred during the presidential election of 1824 when Henry Clay allegedly supported John Quincy Adams in exchange for being appointed Secretary of State.

Andrew Jackson

Seventh president of the United States.

Horace Mann

Advocate for public education reform.

Dorothea Dix

Reformer who advocated for improved treatment of the mentally ill.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival movement that led to social reforms.

Seneca Falls Convention

Early women's rights convention.

William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman

Abolitionist writers and activists.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the United States was destined to expand westward across the North American continent

54 40 or fight

Slogan expressing the desire to gain territory in the Pacific Northwest.

Mexican War

War between the United States and Mexico, resulting in the U.S. acquisition of vast territories.

Compromise of 1850

Political agreement aimed to resolve disputes over slavery in new territories

Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854

Act that allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska, leading to violence.

Scott v. Sanford

Supreme Court case that ruled slaves were not citizens and had no right to sue.

John Brown

Abolitionist who attempted to lead a slave revolt.

Secession

The withdrawal of southern states from the United States

Emancipation Proclamation

Proclamation issued by Lincoln that freed slaves in Confederate territories.

Appomattox Courthouse

Site of Confederate surrender, ending the Civil War.

Gettysburg Address

Brief speech given by President Lincoln at the dedication of a national cemetery during the Civil War.

Reconstruction

Period of post-Civil War rebuilding and reintegrating of the South.

Election of 1876 and Compromise of 1877

A process that ended Reconstruction Era in the United States

Transcontinental Railroad

Construction of a railroad that transformed the American economy and facilitated westward expansion.

Robber Baron

A term to describe powerful industrialists of the Gilded Age.

Jane Addams

Social worker who founded Hull House, a settlement house for the urban poor.

William “Boss” Tweed and Tammany Hall

A political machine led by Boss Tweed that controlled New York City politics through corruption and patronage.

Cross of Gold Speech

A speech delivered by William Jennings Bryan in support of bimetallism.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the principle of 'separate but equal'.

Booker T. Washington and WEB Du Bois

Advocates for racial equality with differing philosophies.

Muckraker

A type of journalism that exposed social ills and corruption.

Susan B. Anthony

A women's rights advocate and a leader in the women's suffrage movement.

Upton Sinclair

Muckraker who wrote 'The Jungle', exposing the unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Theodore Roosevelt

President known for trust-busting, conservation, and progressive reforms.

Gave women the right to vote

Nineteenth Amendment

Roosevelt Corollary

Expanded the Monroe Doctrine by asserting the U.S. right to intervene in Latin American affairs.

Zimmermann Telegram

An intercepted message from Germany to Mexico, proposing an alliance against the United States.

Committee on Public Information (CPI)

A government agency created during WWI to promote support for the war effort.

Fourteen Points

President Wilson's plan for peace after WWI, including the League of Nations.

Flapper

An iconic symbol of the Roaring Twenties, representing the changing role of women in society.

John T. Scopes

Trial over the teaching of evolution in schools.

Great Migration

The movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North.

New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's program to combat the Great Depression.

Rosie the Riveter

Symbol representing the millions of women who worked in factories during World War II.

D-Day

The allied invasion of Normandy, marking the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.

United Nations

International organization founded after WWII to promote peace and cooperation.

Cold War

The ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Containment

US policy to prevent the spread of communism.

Marshal Plan

U.S. program to provide economic aid to Western Europe after World War II.

Berlin Airlift

An allied effort to airlift supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded the city.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

A military alliance of North American and European countries.

Korean War

A conflict between North Korea and South Korea.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

American citizens who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.

Joseph McCarthy

American politician of Wisconsin, who was a U.S. Senator, contributed to the Red Scare in the 1950s.

U-2 incident

Incident when an American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union.

Sputnik

The launch of the first artificial satellite into space by the Soviet Union.

Levittown

Suburban housing developments of mass-produced homes.

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

landmark Supreme Court case that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

An failed invasion of Cuba by a U.S.-trained force of Cuban exiles.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Lyndon Johnson and his Great Society programs

President Johnson's program to combat poverty and racial injustice.

Jackie Robinson

First African American Major League Baseball player.

Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957

The desegregation of Central High School

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A leader of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Rosa Parks

Civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her seat on a bus sparked the Montgomery bus boycott.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Federal legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Gave President Johnson broad authority to escalate the Vietnam War.

Tet Offensive

Series of surprise attacks by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War.

Title IX

Federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities.

Feminism

A movement for women's rights and equality.

Detente

A policy of reducing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins

First men to walk on the Moon.

Watergate

A political scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation.

Three Mile Island

Nuclear accident that occurred at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

Iran Hostage Crisis

Diplomatic crisis in which Iranian students held American diplomats hostage.

Conservative

Political philosophy of Ronald Reagan

September 11th, 2001

The events of September 11th, 2001

2008 United States presidential election

The election of the first African American president of the United States.

Donald Trump

President of the United States from 2017-2021