Buzz words

Contact Period

Contact Period

Time which Europe sustained contact with the "New World" (Americas)

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods and ideas between Native Americans and Europeans (Corn, disease, christianity)

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain (spanish conquerors)

Encomiendas

The right to demand labor or tribute from Native Americans in a particular area

The Starving Time

Winter of 1609-1610, period of famine and hunger

Mayflower Compact

The first governing document of Plymouth Colony

House of Burgesses

Elected assembly in colonial Virginia, created in 1618. (shows gov't is forming in the Americas)

Headright System

Employed in the tobacco colonies to encourage the importation of indentured servants.

Predestination

Calvinist belief that God long ago determined who would gain salvation

Halfway Covenant

In the 1660s, people could now take part in church services and activities without making a formal commitment to Christ.

Inner Light

A divine presence believed by Quakers to enlighten and guide the soul

Maryland Toleration Act

Passed in 1649. It granted religious freedom to Christians living in Maryland.

Great Awakening

A religious movement that swept through the colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. (revival of Christianity)

Indentured Servitude

A worker bound by an agreement to work for set years in return for free passage to an overseas destination. (Before 1800 most were Europeans; after 1800 most indentured laborers were Asians.)

Mercantilism

An economic system (Europe in 18th C) to increase a nation's wealth by setting up smaller colonies across the globe.

Salutary Neglect

An English policy of not strictly enforcing laws in its colonies

Navigation Acts

Laws passed by the British to control colonial trade

Intolerable Acts

A series of laws set up by Parliament to punish Massachusetts for its protests against the British

Stamp Act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc. (Made colonists angry)

Stamp Act Congress

Held in New York, agreed to not import British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed. (first form of legitimate rebellion of the British)

Sons of Liberty

A group of colonists who formed a secret society to oppose British policies at the time of the American Revolution (Samuel Adams and John Hancock)

Albany Plan of Union

Ben Franklin's plan to unite the colonies under one government to defeat France.

Proclamation of 1763

Law forbidding English colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains (British Resistance to war)

Shay's Rebellion

A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings.

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade) (Used during Rev)

Alien Act

This law gave the president the power to imprison or send aliens out of the country. (Federalist Ideas)

Sedition Act

made it a crime to write, print, utter, or publish criticism of the president of government

Great Compromise

Agreement providing a dual system of congressional representation (house of representatives and senate)

Nullifcation

An action by a state that cancels a federal law to which the state objects

Strict Interperation

Holds that the Constitution means exactly what it says, and thus, is not open to interpretation or inference. (Dem-Rep)

Loose Interpretation

Belief that the Constitution is flexible. (Federalists)

Whiskey Rebellion

1794 protested against the government's tax on whiskey by backcountry farmers. (During G.W. presidency)

Jay's Treaty

Treaty signed in 1794 between the U.S. And Britain in which Britain sought to improve trade relations and agreed to withdraw from forts in the northwest territory

Washignton's Farewell Address

Warned about political parties, debt, and neutrality

Monroe Doctrine

an American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers

Republican Motherhood

The idea that American women had a special responsibility to cultivate "civic virtue" in their children (teach children religion)

Hartford Convention

Federalists agreed to oppose the war and send delegates to meet with Congress

American System

Policies devised by Henry Clay to stimulate the growth of industry

Era of Good Feelings

Time during Monroe's presidency when the country entered a period of national unity. (American Nationalism really began this time)

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

written by Jefferson and Madison; developed the idea of nullification. (alien and sedition=bye)

Adam-Onis Treaty

Agreement in which Spain gave up all of Florida to the USA.

Second Great Awakening

A revival of religious feeling and belief from the 1800s to the 1840s.

Impressment

British practice of taking American sailors and forcing them into military service

Embargo Act

An 1807 law that imposed a total ban on foreign trade

"Corrupt Bargain"

Refers to the presidential election of 1824 in which Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, convinced the House of Representatives to elect Adams rather than Jackson.

Spoils System

A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends. (rotation in office) (Jackson)

Universal White Male Suffrage

No religious or property owning restrictions on voting. All white males could vote.

Indian Removal Act

Law passed in 1830 that forced many Native American nations to move west of the Mississippi River

Tariff of Abominations

1828 law that significantly raised tariffs on raw materials and manufactured goods (benefitted North)

Missouri Compromise

"Compromise of 1820" over the issue of slavery in Missouri. It was decided Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine entered as a free state and all states North of the 36th parallel were free states and all South were slave states.

Abolition

Movement to end slavery

Trancendentalists

People who stressed the relationship between humans and natures as well as the importance of the individual conscience. (enlightenment lowkey)

State's Rights

The rights and powers held by individual US states rather than by the federal government.. (often debated on the amount of power)

Temperance

abstinence from alcoholic drink (gained popularity because abusive men)

Manifest Destiny

1800s belief that Americans had the right to spread across the continent.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites (in south, legalize it)

Grandfather Clause

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867. (stops blacks from voting)

"54-40 or Fight"

Slogan of those wanting to take all of Oregon; numbers (54 40') was line of latitude where people wanted Oregon border; did not want compromise of 49th parallel, as was done by President Polk.

Mexican Cession

Lands sold by Mexico to the US following the Mexican War. (Big chunk of South West)

Popular Sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

Compromise of 1850

Agreement designed to ease tensions caused by the expansion of slavery into western territories

Personal Liberty Laws

Laws passed by Northern states forbidding the imprisonment of escaped slaves

Kansas-Nebraska Act

A law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow slavery

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Republican policy through reconstruction

Black Codes

Southern laws designed to restrict the rights of the newly freed black slaves

Redeemers

White Democrats who used their political power to oppress the Black community

Election of 1860

The democratic party split, Lincoln was elected president

Emancipation Proclamation

Proclamation issued by Lincoln, freeing all slaves in areas still at war with the Union.

Compromise of 1877

A to end Reconstruction. Republicans promise

1. Remove military from South

2. Appoint Democrat to cabinet (David Key postmaster general),

3. Federal money for railroad construction and levees on Mississippi river

Radical Republicans

Political party that favored harsh punishment of Southern states after civil war

Radical Reconstruction Plan

Reconstruction strategy that was based on severely punishing South for causing war

Freedmen's Bureau

Government agency founded during Reconstruction to help former slaves

Carpetbaggers

Northern whites who moved to the south and served as republican leaders during reconstruction

Horizontal Integration

Owning all like businesses buying out competition

Free Silver

Political issue involving the unlimited coinage of silver, supported by farmers and William Jennings Bryan

Vertical Integration

Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution

Homestead Act

1862 law that gave 160 acres of land to citizens willing to live on and cultivate it for five years

Monopoly

A market in which there are many buyers but only one seller.

Pools

Agreements between companies to maintain prices at a certain level

Trusts

Firms or corporations combine for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices. (outlawed)

Social Darwinism

survival of the fittest in business

Hull House

Dedicated to helping the urban poor (Jane Addams)

Knights of Labor

Labor union that sought to organize all workers and focused on broad social reforms

American Federation of Labor

The first federation of labor unions in the United States. Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886 (too broad goals)

Haymarket Riot

1886 labor-related protest in Chicago which ended in deadly violence

The Grange

farmers' organization formed after the Civil War

Pendleton Act

Law requiring people to take a civil service exam for certain government jobs

Cross of Gold Speech

An impassioned address by William Jennings Bryan (silver mofo) at the 1896 Democratic Convention, in which he attacked the "gold bugs" who insisted that U.S. currency be backed only with gold.

Dawes Act

1887 law that distributed reservation land to individual Native American owners

Interstate Commerce Commission

An agency that sets the laws for all the companies that do business across state lines

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

An 1890 law that banned the formation of trusts and monopolies in the United States

Laiessez-faire

A policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering.

Open Door Policy

A policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China.

Boxer Rebellion

A 1900 Uprising in China aimed at ending foreign influence in the country.

Square Deal

Economic policy by Roosevelt that favored fair relationships between companies and workers

Platt Amendment

Specified when the US can intervene in Cuban affairs

Spanish-American War

In 1898, a conflict between the United States and Spain, in which the U.S. supported the Cubans' fight for independence

Roosevelt Corollary

Addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting America's right to intervene in Latin American affairs

Panama Canal

The ship canal cut across the isthmus of Panama by the United States, it opened in 1915. (opened easy access to trade with the west)

Good Neighbor Policy

President Franklin Roosevelt's policy intended to strengthen friendly relations with Latin America