APUSH Learning Objectives

Native American Cultures pre-Columbus

Before European contact, Native Americans had diverse cultures based on their geographical locations and lifestyles.

Aztec, Maya, Inca

Advanced civilizations in Central and South America with unique characteristics like capital cities, complex irrigation, and cultivation practices.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of food, animals, people, and diseases between Europe, the Americas, and Africa after Columbus's voyage in 1492.

Encomienda System

A Spanish colonial system where Native Americans were forced to either convert to Christianity or do forced labor

European colonists v Native American Perspectives (period 1&2)

Europeans viewed natives as barbaric and aimed to convert or subjugate them, while natives resisted colonization and fought back or attempted to assimilate

Changing colonial attitudes towards government

Inspired by Enlightenment ideas and leading to the Declaration of Independence.

French and Indian War

A conflict over territorial disputes in the Ohio River Valley, leading to colonial unification efforts and British control over North America.

Articles of Confederation

The first weak governing document of the United States, highlighting the need for a stronger central government and leading to the Constitutional Convention.

Federalists vs Antifederalis

Two opposing groups with differing views on the ratification of the Constitution, leading to the addition of the Bill of Rights.

Washington's Cabinet and Conflicts

Washington's establishment of a cabinet, Hamilton's financial plans, and conflicts like the Whiskey Rebellion and foreign policy challenges.

Poor Richard’s Almanac–Ben Franklin

A very popular publication that shaped the American identity as hardworking.

Separation between church and state

A principle that shaped the American identity.

Migration and immigration to North America

Led to competition and conflict over time between native born and immigrants, also the rise of nativism

Continuities and changes in regional attitudes about slavery (1754-1800)

Democratic Republicans were pro-slavery, Federalists were anti-slavery, Northwest Ordinance banned slavery in the northwest territories.

American independence movement global impacts (1754-1800)

Influenced French and Haitian revolutions

Policy debates in the early republic

Federalists, Democratic Republicans, Revolution of 1800, Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark expedition.

Regional interests and the role of the federal government

War of 1812, Henry Clay’s American system, Missouri Compromise.

American foreign policy development in early 19th century

Treaties, Monroe Doctrine, increased trade with South America.

Innovations in technology, agriculture, and commerce

Market Revolution, Transportation Revolution

Effects of Market Revolution American society

Migration, development of the middle class, Lowell factory system.

Causes of expansion of participatory democracy (1800-1848)

Democratic Republicans split, Panic of 1819, Election of 1824.

Continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government

Democrats vs. Whigs, Tariffs, Nullification Crisis.

Development of a new national culture (1800-1848)

Transcendentalism, Romanticism, Utopian Communities.

Causes of the Second Great Awakening

Universal white male suffrage, Camp meetings, Influence of Romanticism.

Reform movements (1800-1848)

Women’s suffrage, Temperance, Abolitionism, Religious reform.

Examples of black people resisting slavery (1800-1840)

Nat Turner’s Rebellion, Amistad case.

Geographic and environmental factors in the South

Plantation system, White supremacy, Peculiar institution.

Promotion of American Identity (1800-1848)

Politics, economics, foreign policy influenced the development of American identity.

Westward expansion causes (1844-1877)

Slavery, Manifest Destiny, California Gold Rush.

Oregon Fever

Competition between British and Americans over Oregon territory, with James K. Polk promising to annex Texas, California, and Oregon.

Texas Independence

Texans ignored Mexican laws on Catholicism and slavery, leading to a rebellion led by Sam Houston and Texas claiming independence not recognized by Mexico.

Mexican-American War

Conflict arising from the annexation of Texas by the U.S., disagreement over the border, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo leading to Mexican Cession.

Wilmot Proviso

Proposal to abolish slavery in Mexican Cession territories, reflecting tensions over slavery in westward expansion.

Compromise of 1850

Measures including California as a free state, popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, and a stronger Fugitive Slave Law, affecting the balance between slave and free states.

Free Soil Movement

Advocates for free labor in new territories, distinct from abolitionists who viewed slavery as morally wrong.

Dred Scott v Stanford

Supreme Court ruling that slaves were property, intensifying tensions between North and South over slavery.

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln's order freeing enslaved people in rebelling states, shifting the war's focus to abolition and giving the North a moral cause.

Reconstruction

Post-Civil War policies like the 10% Plan, Black Codes, and the 14th Amendment, aiming to rebuild the South and protect freedmen's rights.

Mechanization of Agriculture

Introduction of machinery like the McCormick Reaper leading to increased crop yield, impacting small farmers negatively.

Granger Movement

Movement of mostly western farmers that advocated for "Granger laws" to regulate railroad rates and combat corporate abuse during the late 1800s

Interstate Commerce Act (1886)

Mandated reasonable railroad rates and established a federal agency for enforcement. Only somewhat effective in helping farmers.

Pacific Railroad Act

Provided large land grants to railroad companies for construction.

Homestead Act (1862)

Offered 160 acres of free land in the West to families willing to develop it.

Transcontinental railroads

Facilitated Westward migration and made transportation easier.

Sharecropping

System where farmers worked land in exchange for a share of the crops. Kept freedmen in debt preventing them from economic mobility, ultimately resembling the system of slavery itself

Gold and silver discoveries in the West

Led to the rise of boomtowns like Denver and Boulder.

Henry Grady

Envisioned a diversified economic future for the South based on industrial growth and laissez-faire capitalism.

Social Darwinism

Survival of the fittest as applied to society— justified monopolies and American imperialism

Gospel of Wealth

Idea that the wealthy have a duty to engage in philanthropy.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

German strategy of sinking all ships in the war zone

Zimmerman Telegram

German proposal to Mexico to join the war against the U.S in exchange for territories. Launched the U.S into WWI

Treaty of Versailles

Imposed disarmament and reparations on Germany, established League of Nations

Total war

Mobilization of a country's resources for war

War Industries Board

Coordinated industries for wartime productivity

Espionage & Sedition Acts

Made opposing the war or draft illegal in WWI

Great Migration

Movement of Southern black population to Northern cities

Harlem Renaissance

Renewal of arts and culture in urban black communities

Stock Market Crash

Black Tuesday 10/29/1929 initiated the Great Depression

New Deal

FDR's program for relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression

Court Packing Plan

FDR's proposal to appoint new SC justices— rejected because it was seen as an abuse of executive power and a step toward dictatorship

Isolationism

U.S policy of avoiding involvement in foreign conflicts

Lend-Lease Act

Allowed U.S to provide arms to Britain on credit during WWII

Double V Campaign

Encouraged black Americans to fight for democracy at home and abroad

Japanese Relocation

Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII

Great Society

An extension of the New Deal aiming to eradicate poverty through welfare policies under President LBJ's administration.

Medicare

A program providing health insurance for elderly individuals in the United States.

Medicaid

A program offering health coverage to low-income individuals, including the poor and disabled.

Warren Court

The Supreme Court during the 1960s known for expanding liberalism through landmark decisions.

Gideon v Wainwright

Supreme Court ruling that mandates providing a court-appointed attorney for impoverished individuals who cannot afford one.

Griswold v Connecticut

Supreme Court decision deeming laws prohibiting the use of birth control as unconstitutional.

Engel v Vitale

Supreme Court ruling declaring school prayer unconstitutional due to violating the First Amendment's separation of church and state.

Baker v Carr

Supreme Court decision requiring states to redraw legislative districts to ensure fair representation and protect voting rights.

Causes of the Vietnam War

Factors that led to the conflict, such as the desire for independence, Cold War tensions, and the domino theory.

Effects of the Vietnam War

Led to credibility gap

Military Responses

Actions taken by a country's armed forces to address international developments.

Diplomatic Responses

Strategies and negotiations used by countries to deal with international events.

International Developments

Events or changes that occur on a global scale affecting multiple countries.

Mass Culture

The set of ideas, values, and cultural activities that are widely shared among the population.

Maintenance of Mass Culture

The ways in which mass culture is preserved and upheld over time.

Poets and writers that challenged mass culture during the 1960s

Beat Generation; Jack Kerouac— On the Road; JD Salinger— Catcher in the Rye

Contributors to the Red Scare

Fear of communism spreading in the United States after World War II; the rise of the Soviet Union as a superpower and Cold War with the United States; Soviets creating an atomic bomb; McCarthyism

Effects of the Red Scare

The Red Scare led to widespread paranoia, the rise of McCarthyism, the blacklisting of suspected communists, and a climate of fear and suspicion in American society.

Continuities in Cold War policies

Containment Doctrine, financial aid to countries fighting communism

Changes in Cold War policies

Shift from strictly financial aid to military aid in Korean War and Vietnam. Development of Domino Theory in Vietnam. Nixon Vietnamization during early 70s