U.S. History Review and College Profiles

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering institutional profiles from college search notes alongside key terms, figures, acts, and court cases from colonial America, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction era.

Johnson County Community College

A 2-year public institution located in Overland Park, Kansas, with 10,634 students, an open admissions policy, an annual net cost of $17,056, and a graduation rate of 29.5%.

University of Missouri-Kansas City

A 4-year public institution located in Kansas City, Missouri, with 6,618 students, an annual net cost of $12,837, 64.6% need met, a graduation rate of 55.9%, a reported GPA of 3.48, and middle 50% test scores of 1150-1540 SAT and 21-29 ACT.

Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City

A 2-year public institution located in Kansas City, Missouri, with 10,412 students, an open admissions policy, an annual net cost of $8,165, and a graduation rate of 29.1%.

William Lloyd Garrison

White abolitionist and author of The Liberator, an abolitionist publication, who was influenced by the religious ideals of the Second Great Awakening.

Frederick Douglass

Abolitionist, former slave, and author of a famous autobiography of his life as well as "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Law passed in 1854 calling for people living in new territories and states to vote on whether that territory would be slave or free (popular sovereignty), leading supporters and opponents of slavery to flock to Kansas to sway the vote and resulting in the violence known as "Bleeding Kansas".

Dred Scott v. Sandford

An 1857 Supreme Court decision that overturned the Missouri Compromise, ruled that slavery could be legal in Northern territories, declared that no Black person—enslaved or free—could be a U.S. citizen or hold civil rights, and stated that enslaved persons are property with no right to sue in court.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

An 1852 book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe detailing the horrors of slavery; it shocked many Northerners and sold over 300,000 copies in its first 3 months.

John Brown

Radical abolitionist who fervently believed God wanted him to fight against slavery, leading multiple crusades against enslavers at Osawatomie, Kansas, and Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

Nat Turner's Rebellion

An 1831 revolt led by an enslaved man in Virginia in which approximately 60 people were killed, causing white enslavers to harden their position on slavery and enact increasingly oppressive laws against enslaved people.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th President of the United States; a Republican who opposed slavery and served as president during the Civil War until his assassination at the very end of the war.

Civil War

A war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy) over the issue of slavery, resulting in a Union victory.

Navigation Acts

British laws passed in the 1600s (17th century) regulating trade between Britain and its colonies, imposing restrictions on American colonists' trade to support Britain.

Las castas

The racial hierarchy system used by the Spanish in their colonial empire.

Encomienda system

A system of coerced labor used by the Spanish against Native Americans, forcing them to work and pay tribute to the Spanish in exchange for protection and Christian instruction.

Emancipation Proclamation

An 1863 decree that freed enslaved persons in all rebelling states (i.e., Southern states).

Gettysburg Address

An 1863 address given by President Abraham Lincoln after a major battle in the Civil War, calling for the equality of all Americans and emphasizing the need to preserve the Union.

Reconstruction

The period of U.S. history immediately following the Civil War (from 1865 to 1877), referring to the literal remaking of the South after its defeat.

13th Amendment

A Constitutional amendment passed during Reconstruction that ended slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

A Constitutional amendment passed during Reconstruction guaranteeing citizenship to all persons born in the U.S., equal protection under the law, and due process under the law for all citizens.

15th Amendment

A Constitutional amendment passed during Reconstruction that granted Black men the right to vote.

Freedmen's Bureau

A government organization established in March 1865 to aid displaced Black individuals and other war refugees.

Andrew Johnson

The 17th President of the United States during Reconstruction; a Tennessee Democrat who opposed many Radical Republican efforts to provide freedmen with rights and economic support.

Radical Republicans

A faction of politicians led by Thaddeus Stevens who were firmly opposed to slavery and favored supporting freedmen politically and economically, opposing Democrat Andrew Johnson.

Black Codes

Laws passed in the South during Reconstruction designed to keep freedmen subservient to whites, prohibiting interracial marriage and creating voting barriers such as poll taxes and literacy tests.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist and terrorist group created in 1865 by Nathan Bedford Forrest that sought to instill fear in freedmen through intimidation and violence.

Sharecropping

A labor system in which freedmen agreed to exchange a portion of their harvested crops with landowners in return for the use of land, housing, and tools.

Plessy v. Ferguson

An 1896 Supreme Court ruling that introduced the constitutional doctrine of "separate but equal" in race relations, legally paving the way for racial segregation in the United States.