United States History McCoy Midterm

Mercantilism

Economic system where colonies exist to benefit the mother country by supplying raw materials and buying finished goods.

Navigation Acts

British laws that restricted colonial trade to British ships and ports, increasing British control over colonial commerce.

staple act

Required certain colonial goods to be shipped only to Britain before being sold elsewhere.

Salutary Neglect

British policy of loosely enforcing trade laws, allowing colonies to develop self-government.

Glorious Revolution

Bloodless overthrow of James II that strengthened Parliament and limited the monarchy.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker who argued people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

Natural Rights

Rights people are born with that governments must protect.

Social Contract

Agreement in which people give up some freedoms for protection by government.

Enlightenment

Movement emphasizing reason, science, and individual rights.

Great Awakening

Religious revival that stressed emotional faith and challenged church authority.

Jonathan Edwards

Preacher who emphasized repentance and fear of God during the Great Awakening.

George Whitefield

Preacher who spread the Great Awakening throughout the colonies.

Frecnh & Indian war

War between Britain and France over North America that left Britain in debt.

Albany Conference

Meeting to improve colonial defense and relations with Native Americans.

Albany Plan of Union

Benjamin Franklin's proposal to unite the colonies under one government.

Proclamation of 1763

British law banning colonial settlement west of the Appalachians.

Sugar Act

Tax on imported sugar meant to raise revenue for Britain.

Stamp Act

First direct tax on printed materials in the colonies.

Declaratory Act

Law stating Parliament had full authority over the colonies.

Townshend Acts

Taxes on imported goods like glass, tea, and paper.

Boston Massacre

Killing of colonists by British soldiers, used as propaganda.

Boston Tea Party

Protest where colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor.

Intolerable Acts

Punitive laws meant to punish Massachusetts after the Tea Party.

Committees of Correspondence

Colonial groups that shared information and coordinated resistance.

First Continental Congress

Colonial meeting to protest British actions.

Second Continental Congress

Organized the Continental Army and moved toward independence.

Continental Army

Colonial army formed to fight Britain.

Minutemen

Colonial militia ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Loyalists

Colonists who supported Britain.

Patriots

Colonists who supported independence.

Battle of Saratoga

Turning point of the Revolution that convinced France to help the colonies.

Battle of Yorktown

Final major battle where Britain surrendered.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Treaty that ended the Revolutionary War.

Articles of Confederation

First U.S. government with a weak central authority.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Created a system for surveying and selling western land.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Set rules for creating new states and banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.

Shays’s Rebellion

Farmers' uprising showing the weakness of the Articles.

Virginia Plan

Proposed representation based on population.

New Jersey Plan

Proposed equal representation for states.

Great Compromise

Combined the Virginia and New Jersey Plans.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation.

Federalists

Supported the Constitution and a strong national government.

Anti-Federalists

Opposed the Constitution and feared strong central power.

Federalist Papers

Essays written to support ratification of the Constitution.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments protecting individual freedoms.

Checks and Balances

System preventing any branch from becoming too powerful.

Separation of Powers

Division of government into three branches.

Judicial Review

Power of courts to declare laws unconstitutional.

Implied Powers

Powers not written but suggested by the Constitution.

Elastic Clause

Allows Congress to pass laws necessary to carry out its powers.

Tariff

tax on imported goods.

Bonds

Certificates representing borrowed money to be repaid with interest.

Bank of the United States

National bank proposed by Hamilton to stabilize the economy.

Thomas Jefferson

Supported states' rights and strict interpretation of the Constitution.

Jay’s Treaty

Improved relations with Britain and avoided war

Pinckney's Treaty

Gave the U.S. access to the Mississippi River.

XYZ Affair

Diplomatic conflict with France that increased tensions.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Laws that limited speech and targeted immigrants.

Interposition

Idea that states could intervene against federal laws.

Nullification

Claim that states can ignore federal laws.

Marbury v. Madison

Supreme Court case that established judicial review.

Louisiana Purchase

U.S. purchase of land from France that doubled its size.

Lewis and Clark

Explored the Louisiana Territory.

Impressment

British practice of forcing Americans into naval service.

Embargo Act

Banned American trade to avoid war but hurt the economy.

Macon’s Bill No. 2

Reopened trade and pressured Britain and France.

War of 1812

War caused by impressment and trade restrictions.

Battle of New Orleans

American victory that boosted nationalism.

Andrew Jackson

War hero from the Battle of New Orleans.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that Americans were destined to expand west.

Texas Revolution

Fight for independence from Mexico.

The Alamo

Texas defeat that became a symbol of sacrifice.

Sam Houston

Led Texas to independence at San Jacinto.

Mexican-American War

War over Texas and western expansion

Zachary Taylor

General in the Mexican-American War.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended the Mexican-American War.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Allowed settlers to vote on slavery.

Bleeding Kansas

Violence over slavery in Kansas

Dred Scott Decision

Ruled enslaved people were not citizens.

John Brown

Abolitionist who attacked Harpers Ferry.

Election of 1860

Lincoln's victory led to secession.

Confederate States of America

Southern states that seceded.

Border States

Slave states that remained in the Union.

Habeas Corpus

Protection against unlawful imprisonment.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade the South.

Battle of Antietam

Bloodiest single day; led to Emancipation Proclamation.

Battle of Gettysburg

Turning point of the Civil War.

Battle of Vicksburg

Gave Union control of the Mississippi River.

Emancipation Proclamation

Freed enslaved people in Confederate states.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general who defeated the Confederacy.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general.

William Tecumseh Sherman

Used total war tactics.

Reconstruction

Period of rebuilding the South.

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection.

15th Amendment

Protected voting rights.

Ku Klux Klan

Terror group opposing Reconstruction.

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction, withdrew federal troops from South.

Election of 1788-1789

First U.S. presidential election; George Washington was unanimously elected, setting precedents for the presidency.

Election of 1796

First contested election; John Adams became president and Thomas Jefferson became vice president, revealing flaws in the electoral system.