US History Final Exam Review Vocabulary

Flashcards for US History Final Exam Review.

Atlantic Trading System

Economic system where colonies provide raw materials to the mother country and serve as markets for finished goods.

Cash Crops

Crops grown for profit, such as tobacco, indigo, and rice in the Southern Colonies.

Indentured Servitude

A labor system where individuals work for a set period in exchange for passage to America.

Stamp Act, Tea Act, Intolerable Acts

Series of laws passed by the British Parliament that were opposed by colonists

Colonial Assemblies

Meeting of colonial delegates to address grievances with British policies.

Declaration of Independence

Document declaring the colonies' independence from Britain.

Articles of Confederation

First governing document of the United States, which created a weak central government.

Shays' Rebellion

Uprising of farmers in Massachusetts protesting debt and economic hardship.

Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise)

Agreement during the Constitutional Convention that created a bicameral legislature.

3/5ths Compromise

Compromise during the Constitutional Convention that counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation.

Federalists and Republicans

The first two political parties in the United States.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the Constitution, protecting individual rights.

National Bank Debate

Hamilton's plan that sparked controversy over the scope of federal power.

Enumerated Powers

Powers specifically listed in the Constitution.

Implied Powers

Powers not explicitly listed but necessary for the government to fulfill its duties.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Also known as the Elastic Clause, it grants Congress the power to pass laws 'necessary and proper' for carrying out its enumerated powers.

Washington’s Farewell Address

Washington's warning against foreign entanglements and the establishment of political parties.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Controversial laws restricting immigration and limiting freedom of speech and the press.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Resolutions asserting states' rights to nullify federal laws.

Marbury vs. Madison

Established the principle of judicial review, giving the Supreme Court the power to declare laws unconstitutional.

Rise of Partisanship

The rise of political parties and strong differences between them.

Second Two Party System

Political system during Jackson's presidency.

Missouri Compromise

Agreement regulating slavery in western territories, dividing the country into slave and free states.

Spoils System

System of rewarding political supporters with government jobs.

Tariffs

Taxes on imported goods that led to conflict between the North and South.

Sectionalism

Belief in the unique character of a region or section of a nation

Indian Removal/Trail of Tears

Forced removal of Native Americans from their lands in the southeastern United States.

Cotton Gin

Invented by Eli Whitney, it increased cotton production and the demand for slave labor.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent.

Mexican American War

War between the United States and Mexico resulting in significant territorial gains for the U.S.

Compromise of 1850

Series of measures meant to resolve the dispute over the spread of slavery in territories acquired from Mexico.

Popular Sovereignty

Principle that residents of a territory should decide whether to allow slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Law that allowed residents of Kansas and Nebraska to decide on slavery, leading to violence.

Dred Scott v. Sanford (Dred Scott Case)

Supreme Court decision that denied citizenship to slaves and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry

Attack led by John Brown aimed at starting a slave rebellion; deepened the divide between North and South.

Fort Sumter

Event that triggered the start of the Civil War.

Border States

States that allowed slavery but remained in the Union during the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation

President Lincoln's declaration freeing slaves in Confederate territories.

13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments

Constitutional amendments that abolished slavery, guaranteed equal protection under the law, and granted voting rights to African American men.

Black Codes

Laws enacted in the South to restrict the rights of African Americans after the Civil War.

Sharecropping

Agricultural system that trapped many African Americans in poverty after the Civil War.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist terrorist group that used violence to intimidate African Americans.

Compromise of 1877

Agreement that ended Reconstruction in exchange for Rutherford B. Hayes becoming president.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court decision that upheld segregation under the doctrine of 'separate but equal.'

Jim Crow Laws

Segregation laws enacted in the South after Reconstruction.

Dawes Act

Policy aimed at assimilating Native Americans by dividing tribal lands into individual allotments.

Vertical Integration

Business strategy of controlling all stages of production.

Horizontal Integration

Business strategy of acquiring competing companies in the same industry.

Trusts

Powerful business entities that control entire industries.

Political Machine

Corrupt political organizations that controlled city governments.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized and exaggerated journalism.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed corruption and social problems.

Initiative, Referendum, Recall

Progressive reforms that gave citizens more direct control over government.

Women's Suffrage

Organizations devoted to securing voting rights for women.

16th Amendment

Amendment that established a federal income tax.

17th Amendment

Amendment that provided for the direct election of U.S. Senators by the people.

18th Amendment

Amendment banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol.

19th Amendment

Amendment granting women the right to vote.

Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. DuBois

African American leaders who advocated for different strategies to achieve racial equality.

Monroe Doctrine

U.S. foreign policy that warned European powers not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere.

Spanish American War

War between the United States and Spain, resulting in U.S. acquisition of territories such as Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

Roosevelt Corollary

Assertion that the U.S. had the right to intervene in the domestic affairs of Latin American nations.

Open Door Policy

U.S. policy advocating free trade in China.

Allied Powers

Alliance of nations including Great Britain, France, and the United States during World War I.

Central Powers

Alliance of nations including Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Submarine Warfare

Alliance of nations including Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Zimmerman Telegram

Secret telegram from Germany to Mexico, proposing an alliance against the United States.

14 Points/ Wilsonianism

Wilson's plan for peace after World War I, calling for self-determination and the League of Nations.

Great Migration

Movement of African Americans from the South to the North during and after World War I.

Committee of Public Information

Government agency that promoted support for the war effort during World War I.

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Laws that restricted freedom of speech and made it illegal to criticize the government during World War I.

Palmer Raids

Raids conducted by the U.S. government to arrest and deport suspected radicals and communists.

Versailles Treaty

Treaty that ended World War I; the U.S. Senate refused to ratify it.

League of Nations

International organization formed after World War I to promote peace and cooperation.

Harlem Renaissance

Flowering of African American culture and intellectual life during the 1920s.

Great Depression

Severe economic downturn that lasted from 1929 to the late 1930s.

New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's programs to combat the Great Depression.

Three “Rs” of the New Deal (Relief, Recovery, and Reform)

Goals of the New Deal: Relief for the needy, economic recovery, and financial reform.

America First Committee

Committee that advocated for American neutrality and non-involvement in foreign wars.

Lend-Lease Act

Act that allowed the U.S. to provide military aid to Allied nations during World War II.

Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack by the Japanese on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, leading to the U.S. entry into World War II.

War Production Board

Government body that coordinated industrial production during World War II.

Manhattan Project

Secret project to develop the atomic bomb during World War II.

Executive Order 8802, FEPC, Double V Campaign

Executive order banning discriminatory employment practices by federal agencies and contractors.

Internment of Japanese Americans

Forced relocation and imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

United Nations

International Organization Created after World War II, meant to promote international cooperation.

NATO

Military alliance formed to counter Soviet expansion in Europe.

Containment

U.S. policy of preventing the spread of communism.

Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, declaring state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott

Civil rights protest in which African Americans refused to ride buses in Montgomery, Alabama.

Non-Violent protest

Civil rights strategy involving nonviolent resistance to unjust laws.

Sit-Ins

Civil rights protests in which activists sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until served.

Freedom Rides

Civil rights protests in which activists rode buses into segregated areas to challenge discrimination.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark legislation outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation outlawing discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests.

24th Amendment

Abolished poll taxes, which had been used to disenfranchise African American voters.

De Jure Discrimination

Discrimination by law

De Facto Discrimination

Discrimination in practice