APUSH Cumulative Vocab Review

Asked AI to create a list of vocabulary words pertaining to Periods 1-7, then made it into flashcards! Will be updated continuously.

Mississippian Culture

A Native American civilization known for large settlements, agriculture, and mound-building, including Cahokia.

Cahokia

A major pre-Columbian city near present-day St. Louis, known for its large population and earthen mounds.

Ancestral Puebloans

Indigenous people of the Southwest known for farming, irrigation, and cliff dwellings.

Iroquois Confederacy

An alliance of Native American nations in the Northeast that cooperated politically and militarily.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas between the Americas, Europe, and Africa after 1492.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system that gave colonists control over Indigenous labor in exchange for supposed protection and Christian instruction.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spanish priest who criticized the mistreatment of Indigenous people and argued for their protection.

Mercantilism

An economic system in which colonies supplied raw materials and wealth to benefit the mother country.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in Virginia in 1607.

Headright System

A system that gave land to people who paid for their own or another person's passage to the colonies.

House of Burgesses

Virginia's elected representative assembly, established in 1619.

Mayflower Compact

1620 agreement in which Plymouth settlers created a government based on consent and majority rule.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader who helped establish Massachusetts Bay Colony and described it as a "city upon a hill."

Indentured Servants

People who agreed to work for a set number of years in exchange for passage to the colonies.

Chattel Slavery

A system in which enslaved people were treated as property for life, and their status was generally inherited by their children.

Middle Passage

The forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

Uprising of Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against the colonial government, partly driven by frontier conflict and economic grievances.

Significance of Bacon's Rebellion

It exposed class tensions and encouraged wealthy planters to rely more heavily on enslaved African labor.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Indigenous uprising in present-day New Mexico that temporarily drove Spanish colonists out of the region.

Salutary Neglect

Britain's loose enforcement of colonial trade laws, allowing the colonies greater freedom before the 1760s.

Navigation Acts

British laws that regulated colonial trade to benefit England and its economy.

First Great Awakening

Religious revival movement of the 1730s and 1740s that emphasized personal faith and emotional religious experiences.

French and Indian War (1754–1763)

Conflict between Britain and France, with Native American allies on both sides, over control of North American territory.

Proclamation of 1763

British order forbidding colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce conflict with Native Americans.

Stamp Act (1765)

British tax requiring stamps on many printed materials, leading to colonial protests.

"No Taxation Without Representation"

Colonial argument that Parliament had no right to tax colonists who had no elected representatives there.

Sons of Liberty

Colonial protest group that organized resistance to British taxes, including the Stamp Act.

Declaratory Act (1766)

British law stating Parliament had the authority to make laws for the colonies in all cases.

Boston Massacre (1770)

Event in which British soldiers killed five colonists during a confrontation in Boston.

Committees of Correspondence

Colonial groups that shared information and coordinated resistance to British policies.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

Protest in which colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to oppose the Tea Act.

Intolerable Acts (1774)

Punitive British laws passed in response to the Boston Tea Party that restricted Massachusetts' self-government.

Common Sense (1776)

Pamphlet by Thomas Paine that persuaded many colonists to support independence.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Document announcing the colonies' separation from Britain and explaining that governments must protect natural rights.

Social Contract

Idea that people agree to form governments in exchange for protection of their rights.

Battle of Saratoga (1777)

Major American victory that convinced France to formally support the United States.

Articles of Confederation

The first U.S. government, which created a weak national government and gave most power to the states.

Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787)

Uprising of Massachusetts farmers protesting debt and taxes; it exposed weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation.

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Law establishing a process for territories to become states and prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory.

Great Compromise (1787)

Agreement creating a bicameral Congress with representation based on population in the House and equal state representation in the Senate.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement counting three-fifths of the enslaved population for representation and direct taxation.

Federalist Papers

Essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay supporting ratification of the Constitution.

Bill of Rights (1791)

First ten amendments to the Constitution, protecting individual freedoms and limiting government power.

Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

Speech warning against political parties and permanent foreign alliances.

First Party System

Political division between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans in the 1790s and early 1800s.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

Protest by western farmers against a federal whiskey tax; Washington's response demonstrated federal authority.

Loose Construction

Broad interpretation of the Constitution that allows the federal government implied powers.

Strict Construction

Narrow interpretation of the Constitution that limits the federal government to powers explicitly stated.

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Laws that increased restrictions on immigrants and punished certain criticism of the federal government.

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798–1799)

Arguments that states could challenge federal laws they believed were unconstitutional.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Supreme Court case that established judicial review.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Jefferson's purchase of a huge territory from France that doubled the size of the United States.

Embargo Act (1807)

Jefferson's law banning American exports in an attempt to pressure Britain and France; it hurt the U.S. economy.

Hartford Convention (1814–1815)

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

Era of Good Feelings

Period after the War of 1812 marked by increased nationalism and the decline of the Federalist Party.

American System

Henry Clay's plan for economic growth through a national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Warning that European powers should not establish new colonies or interfere in the Americas.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Agreement admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while banning slavery north of latitude $36^\circ 30'$ in the remaining Louisiana Territory.

Market Revolution

Transformation of the U.S. economy through new technology, transportation, factories, and expanded markets.

Erie Canal (1825)

Waterway connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River that lowered shipping costs and encouraged western trade.

Lowell System

Factory system in which young women worked in textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Second Great Awakening

Religious revival movement in the early 1800s that encouraged individual salvation and inspired social reform.

William Lloyd Garrison

Abolitionist who published The Liberator and demanded immediate emancipation.

Frederick Douglass

Formerly enslaved abolitionist, writer, and speaker who fought against slavery and racial injustice.

Underground Railroad

Network of people, routes, and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape to freedom.

Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)

Uprising of enslaved people in Virginia that led Southern states to impose stricter controls on enslaved and free Black people.

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

Women's rights meeting that produced the Declaration of Sentiments and called for greater equality.

Declaration of Sentiments (1848)

Document modeled on the Declaration of Independence that demanded women's rights.

Cult of Domesticity

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

Transcendentalism

Intellectual movement emphasizing individual conscience, nature, and self-reliance.

Jacksonian Democracy

Political movement that expanded political participation for many white men while excluding women and most people of color.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Law authorizing the federal government to negotiate the removal of Native American nations from their southeastern homelands.

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Supreme Court case ruling that Georgia could not impose its laws on Cherokee territory.

Trail of Tears (1838–1839)

Forced removal of the Cherokee people to Indian Territory, resulting in thousands of deaths.

Nullification Crisis (1832–1833)

Conflict over whether a state could reject federal tariffs; Jackson opposed South Carolina's attempt to nullify federal law.

Bank War

Jackson's political fight against the Second Bank of the United States, which he believed favored wealthy elites.

Whig Party

Political party formed in opposition to Jackson, supporting Congress over the president and often backing economic development.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the United States was destined to expand across North America to the Pacific Ocean.

Oregon Treaty (1846)

Agreement with Britain establishing much of the U.S.-Canada boundary at the 49th parallel.

Mexican-American War (1846–1848)

War between the United States and Mexico that resulted in major U.S. territorial gains.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

Proposed amendment that would have banned slavery in territory gained from Mexico; it passed the House but not the Senate.

Compromise of 1850

Set of laws admitting California as a free state, allowing popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, ending the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Law allowing settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide slavery through popular sovereignty, effectively overturning the Missouri Compromise restriction.

Bleeding Kansas (1854–1859)

Violent conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Supreme Court decision ruling that African Americans were not U.S. citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.

John Brown's Raid (1859)

Failed attempt to start an uprising against slavery by seizing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

Anaconda Plan

Union strategy to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River to weaken the Confederacy.

Antietam (1862)

Battle that stopped Lee's invasion of the North and gave Lincoln an opportunity to announce emancipation.

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Lincoln's order declaring enslaved people in areas still rebelling against the Union to be free; it changed the war's purpose and discouraged foreign support for the Confederacy.

Gettysburg (1863)

Major Union victory that stopped Lee's invasion of the North and became a turning point in the Civil War.

Thirteenth Amendment (1865)

Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery throughout the United States.

Freedmen's Bureau (1865)

Federal agency that provided assistance such as education, food, and legal support to formerly enslaved people and poor Southerners.

Black Codes

Southern laws designed to restrict the freedom and economic opportunities of African Americans after the Civil War.

Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

Constitutional amendment granting citizenship and equal protection under the law to people born or naturalized in the United States.

Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

Constitutional amendment prohibiting the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Sharecropping

Agricultural system in which farmers rented land and paid landowners with part of their crops, often trapping families in debt.

Compromise of 1877

Political agreement that settled the disputed 1876 election and led to the withdrawal of remaining federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation, especially in the South.

Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

Native American victory in which Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho forces defeated Custer's U.S. troops.

Dawes Act (1887)

Law dividing communal Native American lands into individual allotments to encourage assimilation and opening remaining land to white settlement.