Key Themes in American History and Society

Autonomy

to have self-government, or independence.

Subjugation

to take control of a person or group of people by force.

Maize

corn, grown in present-day Mexico and spread to the Southwest portion of the present-day United States.

Columbian Exchange

Spread of goods, ideas, people, and diseases between Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

Encomienda System

Spanish system of granting land to colonists in the New World.

Characteristics of Spanish colonization

focused on converting Natives and gaining wealth through tight control over colonies.

Characteristics of French and Dutch colonization

fewer inhabitants than other countries; focused on trade (especially fur), alliances, and intermarriage with Native Americans.

Characteristics of English colonization

colonies were based on agriculture; saw a large number of men AND women inhabit the colonies.

Pueblo Revolt

Native American revolt in the late 17th century in present-day New Mexico against the Spanish.

The Enlightenment

Time period that focused on reason and knowledge and promoted new ideas about government.

Mercantilism

Economic policy that focuses on making money for the mother country.

Anglicization

Process of colonies becoming and acting British.

Characteristics of New England colonies

founded by mostly Puritans; tended to be close-knit and had longer life expectancies.

Characteristics of middle colonies

most diverse religiously and saw the most immigrants from Europe.

Characteristics of southern colonies

The Chesapeake relied on indentured servants initially, later replaced by African slaves.

Impact of the 7 Years' War

France was removed from North America; Great Britain was in massive debt.

Common Sense

Written by T-Paine, and Enlightenment thinker.

Common Sense

Urged that it was 'Common Sense' that colonies should break away from Great Britain.

Declaration of Independence

Inspired by Common Sense and Enlightenment ideals; inspired France and countries in Latin America to experience revolutions.

Reasons for Patriot Victory in the Revolutionary War

Colonists' familiarity with the land; political and military leadership (Washington); ideological commitment (Natural Rights); Support from European Allies (France after Saratoga).

Northwest Land Ordinance

Passed under Articles - banned slavery in NW territory (OH, MI, IN, etc.); created a process for admitting new states (60,000 inhabitants).

Articles of Confederation

First governing document of US - created a WEAK central government; issues with trade - different currencies in each state, tariffs on goods traded between states.

Constitution

Replaced the Articles - series of compromises (Great, 3/5, Slave Trade); provided limits on federal power (separation of powers); did not address problems of slavery.

Washington's Farewell Address

Warned of entangling foreign alliances and political parties; helped inspire foreign policy until after WWII.

Republican Motherhood

Expectation that women would instill Republican values in children and be active in families; helped increase education for women.

Bill of Rights

Added AFTER the Constitutional Convention; created to gain support of anti-Federalists; guaranteed rights of individuals.

Impact of the Supreme Court decisions of the early 1800s

The primacy of the judiciary in determining the meaning of the Constitution (think judicial review) and giving federal laws power over state governments (think Gibbons v. Ogden and McCulloch v. Maryland).

Whigs and Democrats Disagreed over

Role and powers of the federal government, National Bank, tariffs, federally funded internal improvements (Think Henry Clay's American System).

Impact of the Second Great Awakening

Moral and social reforms (think abolitionism, women's rights, temperance, etc.).

Seneca Falls Convention

Women's Rights convention that sought greater equality (attended by men too such as Frederick Douglass).

New innovations during the Market Revolution

Textile machinery (spinning jenny), steam engines, interchangeable parts (Eli Whitney), telegraph, and agricultural inventions (cotton gin - Whitney again).

How did the Market Revolution change the production of goods?

Goods were increasingly made outside the home. Women and men began working in factories.

Where did immigrants settle?

Irish settled in northern cities, Germans settled on the frontier - worked as farmers (CINCINNATI!).

American System

Henry Clay's plan to unify the American economy. Focused on a 2nd BUS, Internal Improvements, and Tariffs. The north and midwest benefitted more than the south.

Monroe Doctrine

President Monroe's message to Europe to NOT colonize any new land in Latin America. The US would stay out of European affairs.

Missouri Compromise (Compromise of 1820)

3 parts: Maine was a free state, Missouri was a slave state, everything above 3630 latitude line would be free, everything below would be slave. This applied to ONLY the Louisiana Purchase. Later overturned by the Kansas-Nebraska Act (possible synthesis point).

Reasons for westward migration (Manifest Destiny)

Access to natural and mineral resources, economic opportunities for settlers, religious refuge (Mormons).

Arguments to annex western lands

Manifest Destiny and American institutions (democracy).

Impact US acquiring the Mexican Cession

Debates over the status of slavery (Wilmot Proviso), Native Americans, and Mexicans in the newly acquired land.

How did the government encourage westward migration?

Passing new legislation (think Homestead Act) encouraging settlers to move west, government gave land and subsidies to RR companies.

Goal of the Nativist Movement

It was especially Anti-Catholic. The nativists hoped to limit the power and cultural influence of the immigrants (Irish and Germans).

What was the free soil movement?

Sought to keep slavery from expanding into newly acquired territories.

Moral arguments

Assisting slaves' escapes (think Underground RR), using violence (think Bleeding-Kansas and Harpers Ferry).

Justification of slavery by the South

They claimed slavery was a positive good (John C. Calhoun).

Compromise of 1850

Dealt with the Mexican Cession - popular sovereignty would be used in the territory, slave trade was banned in Washington D.C., California was added as a free state, a more strict fugitive slave law was created.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Overturned the MO Compromise - introduced popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska. Helped lead to the creation of the Republican Party.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

Slaves were property, not citizens; Congress could NOT legislate slavery in the territories.

Lincoln's campaign in the Election of 1860

A free soil platform - non extension of slavery.

Lincoln's views on the war over time

Lincoln viewed the war initially as preserving the union, but eventually sought to end slavery -> Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address.

Union's victory in the Civil War

Improvements in leadership and strategy (Grant and the 'Anaconda Plan'), Key Victories - Gettysburg and Antietam; Greater resources - more factories and RRs, the South's infrastructure was destroyed.

13 - 15 amendments

13 - abolished slavery; 14 - granted citizenship and equal protection; 15 - universal adult male suffrage.

Split in the women's rights movement due to the 15th amendment

Some women advocated suffrage be extended to women as well as African American males.

End of Reconstruction

Compromise of 1877 withdrew troops from the South; The North's WANING resolve led to many in the North to no longer support Reconstruction.

Sharecropping

Renting of land to former slaves - limited economic opportunities to former slaves and poor whites in the south.

Resistance to the 14th and 15th amendments

Segregation - Jim Crow laws; Violence - KKK and White League; Supreme Court Decisions - Plessy v. Ferguson ('Separate but equal'); Local political tactics - poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses.

Gilded Age

Coined term by Mark Twain; period from 1870s - 1890s, businesses grew at a rapid rate and many problems lied below perceived prosperity.

Social Darwinism

Charles Darwin's ideas applied to humans, 'survival of the fittest.' Used by wealthy to justify their position in life.

Labor Unions

Knights of Labor - skilled and unskilled; AFL - skilled labor only; sought to improve working conditions and increase pay.

New South

Idea that the south should industrialize after the Civil War. Despite calls for industrialization, sharecropping and tenant farming persisted in the South.

Mechanized Agriculture

Using machines in farming to increase farm production; displaced many farmers; farmers created organizations to resist corporate power (Grange).

People's (Populist) Party

Created in response to the growth of corporate power; called for political reform (election of senators, secret ballot) and increased government involvement in economy.

Political Machines

Appealed to immigrants and urban poor; provided services in exchange for support. Think Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall.

Settlement Houses

Helped immigrants adjust to American life. Focused on providing education and other skills for women, immigrants, and children.

Decimation of the buffalo

Buffalo almost became extinct due to westward expansion and over hunting of buffalo (buffalo hide); impacted Native Americans.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Established the doctrine of 'separate but equal.' Upheld Jim Crow laws in the South, led to increased discrimination against African Americans; later overturned by Brown v. Board.

Social Gospel

Protestant Church Movement that sought to improve the conditions of cities

Assimilation of Native Americans

Process of making Natives 'American'; Dawes Act - assimilated through cutting hair, changing tribal identities, providing individual land plots

"Closing" of the Frontier

Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis argued the frontier was 'closed.' Led many Americans to call for overseas expansion

Progressive Era

1890 - 1920, Progressives tended to be women, middle class, and live in urban areas. Progressives sought to use government influence to solve societal problems.

Transition from Rural to Urban Society

US society adjusted as more people moved to cities - 1920 census - more people live in cities than rural areas

Harlem Renaissance

Celebration of African American culture through music, poetry, and writing. Key people - Langston Hughes, Claude Monet, Zora Neale Hurston

World War I

US entrance in 1917. US played a relatively minor role in the war, but large role in postwar negotiations.

Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations

Treaty that ended WWI; League led to debates over the role of the US in the world; ultimately, the US did NOT join the League

Great Migration

Mass movement of African Americans from the South to the North during WWI for economic opportunities

Red Scare

Fear of Communism after WWI, caused by: Russian Revolution, labor strikes post WWI, nativism; led to a crackdown on immigrants and radicals (suppression of rights)

Restrictive Immigration Quotas

1921 and 1924 acts that severely limited immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe ('New immigrants')

Great Depression

Worst financial crisis in US history, led to calls for the creation of a stronger financial regulatory system

New Deal

Drew on ideas from the Progressive Era, sought to address causes of the Depression; faced opposition by the left and right; left a legacy of reforms that are still around today

World War II

US remained neutral until Pearl Harbor; US and Allies won due to: political and military cooperation, industrial production, and scientific advancements; US emerged as a world power

Japanese Internment

Japanese and Japanese Americans were placed in camps beginning in 1942; upheld by Korematsu v. US

Decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan

Many reasons - save American lives, end the war quickly, etc.; raised questions about American values

Containment

Coined by George Kennan; urged the US to keep communism from spreading (Contain communism)

Korean War

Example of Containment; US sided with South Korea against communist North Korea; some minor domestic opposition to the war

Military-Industrial Complex

Eisenhower warned of a drastic military buildup in his farewell address

Baby Boom

Post WWII drastic increase in births in the US (1946 - 1964); led to future issues with Social Security

Suburbanization

More and more Americans moved to suburbs after WWII (cars, Interstate Highway System, Levittown)

Civil Rights Activists

Used various techniques (sit-ins, legal challenges, etc.); post-1965, debates emerged over the proper role of activists

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 Supreme Court Case that ruled separate facilities based on race inherently unequal. Reversed Plessy v. Ferguson

Sunbelt

VA to FL, extending to CA; saw a large population increase after WWII and rise of key industries

Great Society

LBJ's platform; increased the size and involvement of the government in society. Extension of New Deal programs and Civil Rights (24th amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964.)

Immigration Laws of 1965

Reversed discriminatory quotas acts from the 1920s; favored immigrants from Latin America and Asia

Vietnam War

US aided the South (non-communist); led to sizeable, passionate, and sometimes violent protests, especially as the war went on

Counterculture

'Hippies' - protested Vietnam War; rejected many ideas of their parents' generation; used marijuana; helped start a sexual revolution

Détente

Easing of Cold War tensions between the US and Soviet Union (Examples include: SALT I and Salt II)

Environmental Problems

Brought to the attention of the public by Rachel Carson and Silent Spring; helped lead to the creation of the EPA and Clean Air Act

Foreign Policy "Failures"

Helped lead to public distrust in government; example is Iran Hostage Crisis

Taxation and deregulation as victories for conservatives

Tax rates decreased under Ronald Reagan and government regulation of businesses decreased as well

Denouncing "Big Government"

Reagan criticized the growth of the federal government over the previous years (Great Society)

Reagan Administration

Elected in 1980, focused on denouncing 'Big Government', decreasing taxes, increased military spending

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader that saw improved relations with Reagan, instituted glasnost and perestroika which helped lead to the downfall of the Soviet Union