APUSH Cumulative Flashcards: Colonial America to Early Republic

Iroquois Confederation

An alliance of Native American nations in the Northeast that cooperated for mutual defense and political strength.

Pueblo Revolt

An Indigenous uprising led by Popé in New Mexico that drove the Spanish out of the region temporarily.

Maryland Act of Toleration

A law that protected religious freedom for Trinitarian Christians in Maryland.

House of Burgesses

The first elected representative legislative assembly in the English colonies in North America, established in Virginia.

Bacon's Rebellion

An armed rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia Governor William Berkeley, fueled by political grievances and conflicts over frontier policies toward Native Americans.

John Peter Zenger Trial

A libel trial that helped establish the principle that truthful criticism of government should not be punished as libel, supporting freedom of the press.

First Great Awakening

A religious revival that emphasized emotional faith, personal salvation, and a direct relationship with God.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement made by the Pilgrims to establish self-government and follow laws created for the good of the community.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement that emphasized reason, natural rights, and individual liberty, influencing American political ideas.

Bartolomé de las Casas

A Spanish priest who criticized the cruel treatment of Indigenous peoples by Spanish colonizers and advocated for their protection.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, people, and cultures between the Americas and the Old World after Columbus's voyages.

Encomienda System

A Spanish colonial system that gave colonists the right to demand labor or tribute from Indigenous people, supposedly in exchange for protection and Christianization.

John Winthrop

A Puritan leader of Massachusetts Bay who described the colony as a 'city upon a hill,' meaning it should serve as an example of a Christian community.

Juan de Sepúlveda

A Spanish philosopher who argued that Indigenous peoples were inferior and used this claim to justify Spanish conquest during the Valladolid Debate.

King Philip's War

A war between New England colonists and Indigenous groups led by Metacom, also called King Philip, over land, colonial expansion, and Native autonomy.

John Smith

An English leader at Jamestown who helped the struggling colony survive by enforcing discipline and emphasizing that colonists needed to work.

Roger Williams

A religious dissenter who was banished from Massachusetts Bay and founded Providence, Rhode Island, advocating religious freedom and separation of church and state.

Pueblos

Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest known for adobe communities and maize agriculture who encountered Spanish colonizers.

Chinook

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest known for salmon fishing, plank houses, and potlatch ceremonies.

Stono Rebellion

A major uprising of enslaved Africans in South Carolina that led colonial authorities to impose harsher restrictions on enslaved people.

Constitutional Convention

A meeting in Philadelphia originally intended to revise the Articles of Confederation that resulted in the writing of the U.S. Constitution.

Republican Motherhood

The idea that women should educate their children in civic virtue and republican values so they could become responsible citizens.

Whiskey Rebellion

A protest by farmers against a federal tax on whiskey that President Washington suppressed with a militia, demonstrating the federal government's authority.

Northwest Ordinance

A law that organized the Northwest Territory, established a process for territories to become states, protected certain rights, and prohibited slavery in the territory.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement that counted three-fifths of the enslaved population when calculating representation in Congress and direct taxation.

Shays' Rebellion

An uprising of Massachusetts farmers and debtors protesting high taxes, debt collection, and economic hardship that exposed weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation.

Federalists

Supporters of the Constitution who favored a stronger national government.

The Federalist Papers

A series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to persuade Americans to ratify the Constitution.

Battle of Fallen Timbers

A U.S. victory over a Native American confederacy in the Northwest Territory that strengthened American control of the region.

Jay's Treaty

A treaty between the United States and Britain that resolved some disputes after the Revolution and required British withdrawal from certain frontier forts.

Neutrality Proclamation

President Washington's declaration that the United States would remain neutral in the conflict between Britain and France.

Washington's Farewell Address

Washington's farewell message warning against permanent foreign alliances and divisive political parties.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Laws that increased requirements for naturalization, expanded the government's power over certain noncitizens, and criminalized certain criticism of the federal government.

Battle of Yorktown

A decisive American and French victory in which British General Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending major fighting in the Revolutionary War.

Committees of Correspondence

Networks of colonial leaders who exchanged information about British policies and coordinated resistance among the colonies.

Democratic-Republicans

A political party led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison that favored states' rights, a more agrarian republic, and a more limited interpretation of federal power.

Townshend Acts

British laws that taxed imported goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea, prompting colonial protests.

Proclamation of 1763

A British order that restricted colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains following the French and Indian War.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the Constitution who feared that a strong national government could threaten individual liberties and state power; many demanded a Bill of Rights.

Pontiac's Rebellion

An Indigenous uprising led by Ottawa leader Pontiac and other Native groups against British forts and expansion after the French and Indian War.

Intolerable Acts

Punitive British laws passed after the Boston Tea Party that closed Boston Harbor and restricted self-government in Massachusetts, among other measures.

Common Sense

A pamphlet by Thomas Paine that argued for American independence from Britain and criticized monarchy.

Battle of Saratoga

A major American victory over British General Burgoyne that helped convince France to openly ally with the Americans.

Stamp Act

A British tax on printed materials, including newspapers and legal documents, that provoked protests over taxation without representation.

Whig Party

Political party formed to oppose Andrew Jackson, believing he abused presidential power and acted like a king.

Erie Canal

Canal completed in 1825 that connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, making trade and transportation easier.

Nullification Crisis

Conflict in which South Carolina claimed it could reject federal tariffs it considered unconstitutional.

Tariff of 1833

Compromise tariff that gradually lowered tariff rates to end the Nullification Crisis.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Law signed by Andrew Jackson that authorized the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands to territories west of the Mississippi River.

Specie Circular

1836 order requiring federal public lands to be purchased with gold or silver rather than paper money.

Second Bank of the United States

National bank that managed federal funds and regulated the nation's money supply; Jackson opposed it and vetoed its recharter.

American Anti-Slavery Society

Organization founded in 1833 that worked to abolish slavery.

David Walker

African American abolitionist who wrote Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, demanding an end to slavery and racial discrimination.

American Temperance Society

Organization founded in 1826 that encouraged people to stop drinking alcohol.

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

Women's rights convention that called for greater equality, including women's right to vote.

Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)

Slave rebellion in Virginia led by Nat Turner that increased Southern fears of slave revolts and led to stricter slave laws.

Dorothea Dix

Reformer who advocated for improved treatment and conditions for people with mental illnesses.

William Lloyd Garrison

Abolitionist who published The Liberator and demanded immediate emancipation.

Order of the Star-Spangled Banner

Secret organization opposing Catholic immigration; later associated with the Know-Nothing Party.

Eli Whitney

Inventor associated with the cotton gin and interchangeable parts, helping transform agriculture and manufacturing.

Samuel Slater

Industrialist known for bringing British textile-mill technology to the United States, helping establish the American factory system.

The Lowell System

Factory system that employed young women in textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, often providing company housing.

Market Revolution

Major economic transformation that expanded trade, transportation, manufacturing, and connections between regional markets.

Tariff of 1816

Protective tariff designed to protect American manufacturers from foreign competition.

American System

Henry Clay's economic plan involving protective tariffs, a national bank, and federally funded internal improvements.

Brook Farm

Transcendentalist-inspired communal experiment in Massachusetts that emphasized cooperation and shared labor.

Antebellum Literature

American literature written before the Civil War, often exploring individualism, nature, morality, and society.

Alexis de Tocqueville

French writer who studied American democracy and published Democracy in America.

Cult of Domesticity

Belief that women should focus on home, family, morality, and raising children.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival movement that encouraged personal salvation and inspired social reform movements.

Hudson River School

Artistic movement that painted American landscapes, emphasizing nature and the country's scenery.

Transcendentalism

Philosophical movement emphasizing individualism, intuition, nature, and self-reliance.

Missouri Compromise

Agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while restricting slavery north of latitude 36°30′ in the remaining Louisiana Purchase territory.

Tallmadge Amendment

Proposal to restrict slavery in Missouri and gradually end it there; it failed but contributed to the debate leading to the Missouri Compromise.

McCulloch v. Maryland

Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the national bank and established that states could not tax federal institutions.

Monroe Doctrine

Foreign policy warning European powers against further colonization or interference in the Americas.

Treaty of Ghent

Treaty that ended the War of 1812 and restored prewar boundaries.

Hartford Convention

Meeting of New England Federalists who opposed the War of 1812 and discussed constitutional changes.

Election of 1800

Election in which Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams, resulting in the first peaceful transfer of power between political parties.

Marbury v. Madison

Supreme Court case that established judicial review, allowing the Court to declare laws unconstitutional.

Embargo Act

Law that stopped American exports to foreign countries in an attempt to avoid conflict with Britain and France; it hurt the American economy.

Louisiana Purchase Treaty

Agreement in which the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the nation's size.