APUSH All Key Terms!

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Civil rights law passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public

Bill Clinton

President of the United States, 1993-2001. Member of the Democratic Party whose leadership represented a more centrist approach to government which included policies passed with a Republican-controlled Congress. His major achievements included the North American Free Trade Agreement, welfare reform, and a balanced budget. He became only the 2nd president in American history to have been impeached by Congress

Camp David Accords (1979)

Agreement reached between the leaders of Israel and Egypt after protracted negotiations brokered by President Carter; Israel surrendered land seized in earlier wars and Egypt recognized Israel as a nation. Despite high hopes, it did not lead to a permanent peace in the region, however

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Proposed by John Kennedy and signed by Lyndon Johnson; it desegregated public accommodations, libraries, parks, and amusements and broadened the powers of federal government to protect individual rights and prevent job discrimination

Crisis of Confidence (Malaise) Speech

Televised national address by President Carter in which he complained that a weak national spirit struck “at the very heart and soul of our national will”. Carter’s address made many Americans feel that their president had given up.

Deregulation

The cutting back of federal regulation of industry. In the 1980s, Reagan removed price controls on oil, eliminated federal health and safety inspections for nursing homes, reduced rules governing the airline industry and the savings and loan industry

Earl Warren

Controversial Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953-1969); he led the court in far-reaching racial, social, and political rulings; including school desegregation and protecting rights of persons accused of crimes

George H.W. Bush

President of the United States, 1989-1993. He ran his 1988 campaign building on President Reagan’s legacy with the promise, “Read my lips: no new taxes”. Despite a swift and successful military campaign against Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf War, the 1990s economic recession and his ultimate reversal of that promise cost him his bid for re-election in 1992

George W. Bush

President of the United States, 2001-2009. Member of the Republican Party who espoused a more “compassionate conservatism” whose policies included tax cuts and education reform. His presidency was largely define by a “War on Terror” following the September 11 terrorist attacks, which included the Patriot Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, War in Afghanistan, and the controversial War in Iraq

Gerald Ford

President, 1974-1977, who served without being elected either president or vice president; appointed vice president under the terms of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment when Spiro Agnew resigned, he assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned

Geraldine Ferraro

House Representative from New York chosen by Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Walter Mondale to be his Vice-Presidential running mate in 1984. She became the first woman on a major political party’s presidential ticket

Great Society

President Lyndon Johnson’s social and economic program that helped the poor, the aged, and the young. The program of civil rights and a “war on poverty” included the passage of Medicare, Medicaid, Immigration Act of 1965, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Henry Kissinger

Advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford; he was architect of the Vietnam settlement, the diplomatic opening to China, and detente with the Soviet Union

Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965

A law that opened the door for many non-European immigrants to settle in the United States by ending quotas based on nationality

Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981)

Incident in which Iranian radicals, with government support, seized 52 Americans from the U.S. embassy and held them for 444 days; ostensibly demanding the return of the deposed Shah to stand trial, the fundamentalist clerics behind the seizure also hoped to punish the United States for other perceived past wrongs

Iran-Contra Affair (1986-1987)

Scandal that erupted after the Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran in hopes of freeing American hostages in Lebanon; money from the arms sales was used to aid the Contras (anti-Communist insurgents) in Nicaragua, even though Congress had prohibited this assistance. Talk of Reagan’s impeachment ended when presidential aides took the blame for the illegal activity

Jimmy Carter

President, 1977-1981; he aimed for a foreign policy “as good and great as the American people”. His highlight was the Camp David Accords; his low point, the Iran Hostage Crisis. Defeated for reelection after one term, he became very successful as an ex-president

Lyndon Johnson

President, 1963-1969; his escalation of the Vietnam War cost him political support and destroyed his presidency. He increased the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam from 16,000 in 1963 to 540,000 in 1968. After the Tet Offensive, he decided to not seek reelection

New Left

Label for the political radicals of the 1960s; supported civil rights and opposed American foreign policy, especially in Vietnam

No Child Left Behind

Education reform plan that called for more accountability by states for students’ success, mandatory achievement testing, and more school options available for parents

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

Building off the momentum generated by the American Indian (AIM) Movement, the law was passed in 1990, and later modified in 2024. The law has provided for the protection and return of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. By enacting this act, Congress recognized that human remains of any ancestry “must at all times be treated with dignity and respect”

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Legislation championed by President Clinton based on the idea that flourishing trade was essential to U.S. prosperity and world economic and political stability. The treaty was signed by Mexico, the United States, and Canada and was ratified by the U.S. Senate

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Cartel of oil-exporting nations, which used oil as a weapon to alter America’s Middle East policy; it organized a series of oil boycotts that roiled the United States economy throughout the 1970s

Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)

successful military campaign supported by a robust international coalition to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi control. The United States and its allies staged a massive air assault and subsequently launched a successful ground offensive from Saudi Arabia

Richard Nixon

President, 1969-1974; he extracted the United States from Vietnam slowly, recognized Communist China, and improved relations with the Soviet Union. His foreign policy achievements were overshadowed by the Watergate scandal

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Landmark Supreme Court ruling that first-trimester abortions were protected by a woman’s right to privacy

Ronald Reagan

President, 1981-1989, who led a conservative movement against detente with the Soviet Union and the growth of the federal government; some people credit him with America’s victory in the Cold War while others fault his insensitive social agenda and irresponsible fiscal policies

Sandra Day O’Connor

Appointed by President Reagan, she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court

September 11, 2001

In a coordinated effort by members of the terrorist group al Qaeda, two hijacked commercial jets struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one crashing minutes after the other. About an hour later, a third plane tore into the Pentagon building, the U.S. military headquarters outside Washington. A fourth hijacked plane crashed near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Silent Majority

Label Nixon gave to middle-class Americans who supported him, obeyed the laws and wanted “peace with honor” in Vietnam; he contrasted this group with students and civil rights activists who disrupted the country with protests in the late 1960s and early 1970s

Stagflation

Name given to the economic condition throughout most of the 1970s in which prices rose rapidly but without economic growth. Unemployment rose along with inflation. In large part, these conditions were the economic consequences of rising oil prices

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

A proposed defense system popularly known as “Star Wars”, intended to protect the United States against missile attacks

Sunbelt

Term used to describe the South and Southwest because of their warm climate. This region has experienced a significant population boom since the late 1970s

Supply-side economics (Reaganomics)

The economic policies of President Ronald Reagan, which were focused on budget cuts and the granting of large tax cuts in order to increase private investment, savings, and jobs and ultimately increase government revenue

Thurgood Marshall

Leading attorney for NAACP in 1940s and 1950s, who headed the team in Brown vs. the Board of Education case; later, Lyndon Johnson appointed him the first black justice on the United States Supreme Court

Voting Rights Act of 1965

It expanded the federal government’s protection of voters and voter registration; it also increased federal authority to investigate voter irregularities and outlawed literacy tests

War on Terror

Label for the antiterrorism efforts begun after the September 11 attacks, which included government detention of foreigners suspected of terrorism, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, increased aviation security, and a military campaign in Afghanistan to break up Al Qaeda

Warren Burger

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 1969-1986; although considered more conservative in leadership than Earl Warren, his court upheld school busing, a women’s right to an abortion and order Nixon to surrender the Watergate tapes

Watergate scandal

Name applied to a series of events that began when the Nixon White House tried to place illegal phone taps on Democrats in June 1972; the burglars were caught, and rather than accept the legal and political fallout, Nixon and his aides obstructed the investigation, which cost him his office and sent several of his top aides to prison

Bartolomé de las Casas

Dominican priest who in the early 1500s criticized the cruelty of Spanish policy toward Indians; denounced Spanish actions for their brutality and insensitivity. His criticism helped end the encomienda system.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer, beginning with Columbus’ first voyage, of plants, animals, and diseases between the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere. This included squash, potatoes, and corn (maize) from the New World and cattle, horse, and smallpox from Europe.

Encomienda system

Early Spanish colonial system where officials provided protection to Indian populations in return for their labor and production; really a form of slavery that lasted until the mid 1500s; stopped because of exploitation and inefficiency

Hernándo Cortés

Conquered Aztecs in Mexico. He captured the capital of Tenochtitlán, with its leader Montezuma in 1521; pillaged and destroyed the Aztec civilization

Northwest Passage

Mythical water route to Asia. The search for the western path to India and China propelled the encounters and exploration of the Western Hemisphere in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

Pueblo Revolt

Indian uprising in New Mexico in 1680 against Spain and the Catholic Church. Rebels killed 400 colonists, destroyed mission around Santa Fe; held off the Spanish for 14 years

Richard Hakluyt

British writer who, in the 1580s, encouraged England to explore and settle in North America. His writings prompted England to embark on its North American empire.

Act Concerning Religion (Maryland Toleration Act)

An act passed in Maryland in 1649 that granted freedom of worship to all Christians; although it was enacted to protect the Catholic minority in Maryland, it was a benchmark of religious freedom in all the colonies. It did not extend to non-Christians, however.

Anne Hutchinson

Charismatic colonist in Massachusetts Bay who questioned whether one could achieve salvation solely by good works; she led the Antinomian controversy by challenging the clergy and the laws of the colony. She was banished from Massachusetts in 1638 and was killed by Indians in 1643.

Anglican Church

Church of England started by King Henry VIII in 1533; the monarch was head of the church, which was strongest in North America in the Southern Colonies. By 1776, it was the second-largest church in America behind the Congregationalists.

Bacon’s Rebellion

Attacks by frontiersmen against the Native Americans in the Virginia backcountry; when the governor opposed these actions, the people attacked Jamestown, burned it, and briefly deposed the governor before the rebellion fizzled. The revolt is often viewed as the first strike against insensitive British policy, as a clash between East and West, and as evidence of the dangers of the indenture-servant system.

Congregationalist (Puritans)

Believed the Anglican Church retained too many Catholic ideas and sought to purify the Church of England; they believed in predestination (man saved or damned at birth) and also held that God was watchful and granted salvation only to those who adhered to His goodness as interpreted by the church. They were strong in New England and very intolerant of other religious groups.

First Great Awakening

Religious revival in the colonies in 1730s and 1740s; George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards preached a message of atonement for sins by admitting them to God. The movement attempted to combat the growing secularism and rationalism of mid-eighteenth century America

Halfway Covenant

Puritan response to the dilemma of what to do with the children born to nonchurch members as fewer and fewer Puritans sought full membership (visible sainthood) in the church; leaders allowed such children to be baptized, but they could not take communion, nor could nonchurch males vote in government/church affairs

Headright system

Means of attracting settlers to colonial America; the system gave land to a family head and to anyone he sponsored coming to the colony, including indentured servants. The amount of land varied from fifty to two-hundred acres per person.

House of Burgesses

First popularly-elected legislative assembly in America; it met in Jamestown in 1619.

Indentured servants

Mainstay of the labor needs in many colonies, especially in the Chesapeake regions in the seventeenth century; These people were “rented slaves” who served four to seven years and then were freed to make their way in the world. Most of the servants were from the ranks of the poor, political dissenters, and criminals in England.

Jonathan Edwards

Congregational minister of the 1740s who was a leading voice of the Great Awakening; his Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God attacked ideas of easy salvation and reminded the colonists of the absolute sovereignty of God.

John Smith

Saved Jamestown through firm leadership in 1607 and 1608; he imposed work and order in the settlement and later published several books promoting colonization of North America

John Winthrop

Leader of the Puritans who settled in Massachusetts Bay in the 1630s; he called for Puritans to create “a city upon a hill” and guided the colony through many crises, including the banishments of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.

Mayflower Compact

Written agreement in 1620 to create a body politic among the male settlers in Plymouth; it was the forerunner to charters and constitutions that were eventually adopted in all the colonies

Mercantilism

Economic doctrine that called for the mother country to dominate and regulate its colonies, the system fixed trade patterns, maintained high tariffs, and discouraged manufacturing in the colonies

Navigation Acts (started 1650s)

Series of English laws to enforce the mercantile system, the laws established control over colonial trade, excluded all but British ships in commerce, and enumerated goods that had to be shipped to England or to other English colonies. The acts also restricted colonial manufacturing.

Roger Williams

Puritan who challenged the church to separate itself from the government and to give greater recognition of the rights of Native Americans; he was banished in 1635 and founded Rhode Island. (Critics called it Rogue Island).

Salem witchhunt

Period of hysteria in 1692, when group of teenaged girls accused neighbors of bewitching them; in ten months, nineteen people were executed and hundreds imprisoned. The hysteria subsided when the girls accused the more prominent individuals in the colony, including the governor’s wife.

Salutary neglect

Policy that British followed from 1607 to 1763, by which they interfered very little with the colonies; through this lack of control, the colonies thrived and prospered. It was an attempt to end this policy that helped create the friction that led to the American Revolution.

Society of Friends (Quakers)

Church founded by George Fox which believed in “The Inner Light” - a direct, individualistic experience with God; the church was strongly opposed to the Anglican Church in England and the Congregationalist Church in America. In 1681, William Penn established Pennsylvania as a haven for this group, which was persecuted in England and in the colonies.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

Slave rebellion in South Carolina; twenty to eighty slaves burned seven plantations, killed twenty whites, and tried to escape to Florida. The rebellion was crushed. All the slaves were killed and decapitated, and their heads were put on display as a deterrent to future uprisings

New England Colonies

Northernmost British colonies inclusive of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded primarily as a refuge for Pilgrims and Puritans seeking religious freedom for themselves.

Middle Colonies

British colonies between the New England and Chesapeake Colonies inclusive of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. They were primarily characterized by their religious and social diversity.

Chesapeake Colonies

British colonies inclusive of Virginia and Maryland. Further south, these colonies were characterized by an economic dependence on cash crops like tobacco.

Southern Colonies

Inclusive of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. South Carolina in particular became increasingly reliant on slavery because of an economy dependent on labor-intensive crops like rice and indigo.

Metacom’s (King Phillip’s) War (1675-1676)

Conflict between New England colonists and Native American groups. The alliance of Native Americans was organized in resistance to restrictive Puritan laws that deprived them of their land and livelihood.

Chattel Slavery

Characterized by the dehumanizing treatment of people as personal property and commodities to be bought and sold.

Protestant Evangelicalism

Trans-denominational movement within Protestant Christianity that stressed the preaching of the gospel, personal conversion experiences, the Bible as the sole basis for faith, and active spreading of the faith.

Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

Also known as the Florida Purchase Treaty and the Transcontinental Treaty; under its terms, the United States paid Spain $5 million for Florida, Spain recognized America’s claims to the Oregon Country, and the United States surrendered its claim to northern Mexico (Texas)

American System

Set of proposals by Henry Clay that called for a national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements; their goal was American economic self-sufficiency

Andrew Jackson

US general who defeated the Native Americans at Horseshoe Bend and commanded the victory over the British at New Orleans; he became a national hero as a result of his record in the War of 1812 and later rode that fame to the presidency

Battle of New Orleans

A major battle of the War of 1812 that actually took place after the war ended; American forces inflicted a massive defeat on the British, protected the city, and propelled Andrew Jackson to national prominence

Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

Incident in 1807 that brought on a war crisis when a British warship attacked an American warship; the British demanded to board the American ship to search for deserters from the Royal Navy. When the US commander refused, the British attacked, killing or wounding 20 American sailors. Four alleged deserters were then removed from the American ship and impressed. Many angry and humiliated Americans called for war.

Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

Case in which the Supreme Court prevented New Hampshire from changing a school’s charter to make it a public institution; the Court held that the contract clause of the Constitution extended to charters and that contracts could not be invalidated by state law. The case was one of a series of Court decisions that limited states’ power and promoted business interests.

Embargo Act (1807)

Law passed by Congress stopping all US exports until British and French interference with US merchant ships stopped; the policy had little effect except to cause widespread economic hardship in America. It was repealed later on.

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

Supreme Court case that established the Court’s power to invalidate state laws contrary to the Constitution; in this case, the Court prevented Georgia from rescinding a land grant even though it was fraudulently made.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Landmark case in which the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that granted a monopoly to certain Steamboats operating between New York and New Jersey; the ruling expanded the powers the Constitution gave Congress to regulate interstate commerce. It was another of the cases during this period whereby the Supreme Court expanded federal power and limited states’ rights.

Henry Clay

A leading American statesman from 1810-1852; he served as a member of Congress, Speaker of the House, senator, and Secretary of State and made three unsuccessful presidential bids. He was known as the Great Compromiser for his role in the compromises of 1820, 1833, and 1850.

Hartford Convention

Meeting of New England state leaders in 1814; among other things, the delegates called for restrictions on embargoes and limits on presidential tenure. The end of the war brought an end to the gathering, but it was later branded as unpatriotic and helped bring on the collapse of the Federalist Party.

Impressment

The forceful drafting of American sailors into the British navy; between 1790 and 1812, over ten thousand Americans were victim to this, the British claiming that they were deserters from the Royal navy. This was the principle cause of the War of 1812.

John Marshall

Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1801-1835; arguably America’s most influential Chief Justice, he authored Court decisions that incorporated Hamilton’s Federalist ideas into the Constitution. He also established the principle of judicial review, which gave the Court equality with the other branches of government.

Louisiana Purchase

An 828,000-square-mile region purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million; the acquisition doubled the size of the United States and gave it control of the Mississippi River and New Orleans. Jefferson uncharacteristically relied on implied powers in the Constitution (loose construction) for the authority to make the purchase.

Macon’s Bill No. 2 (1810)

Modified embargo that replaced the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809; this measure reopened trade with both Britain and France but held that if either agreed to respect America’s neutrality in their conflict, the United States would end trade with the other.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Court case that established the principle of judicial review, which allowed the Supreme Court to determine if federal laws were constitutional. In this case, the Court struck down part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which the justices believed gave the Court power that exceeded the Constitution’s intent.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Supreme Court case in which the Court established the supremacy of federal law over state law; in this case, the Court set aside a Maryland law that attempted to control the actions of the Baltimore branch of the Second National Bank by taxing it. By preventing Maryland from regulating the Bank, the ruling strengthened federal supremacy, weakened states’ rights, and promoted commercial interests.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Settlement of a dispute over the spread of slavery that was authored by Henry Clay; the agreement had three parts: (1) Missouri became the twelfth slave state; (2) to maintain the balance between the free states and slaves states in Congress, Main became the twelfth free state; (3) the Louisiana territory was divided at 36^o 30’, with the northern part closed to slavery and the southern area allowing slavery. This compromise resolved the first real debate over the future of slavery to arise since the Constitution was ratified.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Issued to counter a perceived threat form European powers to the newly-independent nations of Latin America; it proclaimed: (1) no new colonization in the western hemisphere; (2) existing colonies would not be interfered with; and (3) the United States would not interfere in European affairs. It became the cornerstone of US Latin American policy for the next century.

Non-Intercourse Act (1809)

Replaced the embargo policy by allowing American trade with all countries except Britain and France; like the Embargo Act, this attempt to use American trade as an instrument of foreign policy failed. British and French interference with US shipping continued and this act was repealed in 1810.

Panic of 1819

Severe depression that followed the colonic boom of the post-War of 1812 years; the Second National Bank, trying to dampen land speculation and inflation, called loans, raised interest rates, and received the blame for the panic. All this helped divide the commercial interests of the East from the agrarian interest of an expanding West.

Second Bank of the United States

National bank organized in 1816; closely modeled after the first Bank of the United States, it held federal tax receipts and regulated the amount of money circulating in the economy. The Bank proved to be very unpopular among western land speculators and farmer, especially after the Panic of 1819.

Treaty of Ghent (1815)

Agreement that ended the War of 1812 but was silent on the cause of the war; all captured territory was returned and unresolved issues such as ownership of the Great Lakes were left to future negotiation.

Corrupt Bargain (1824)

Agreement between presidential candidates Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams; Clay threw his support to Adams in the House of Representatives, which decided the election, and in return, Adams appointed Clay secretary of state. Andrew Jackson, who had a plurality (but not a majority) of the popular and electoral votes, believed he had been cheated out of the presidency.

Democratic Party

The modern-day, major political party whose antecedents can be traced to the Democratic-Republican Party of the 1790s and early 1800s; it was born after the disputed election of 1824, in which the candidates-all Democratic Republicans-divided on issues and by sections. Supporters of Andrew Jackson, outraged by the election’s outcome, organized around Jackson to prepare for the election of 1828 and changed their name to this.

Exposition and Protest

Document secretly written by Vice President John Calhoun in support of nullification; calling on compact theory, he argued the tariff of 1828 was unconstitutional and that South Carolina could lawfully refuse to collect it.