US History S1 Final

Bering Land Bridge

land bridge between America and Asia

The Columbian Exchange

the global exchange of goods and ideas between Europe, Africa, and the Americas after Columbus made his first transatlantic voyage in 1492.  

Native Americans

the first people to live in North America

The Mayflower

the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from England to Massachusetts in 1620

Pilgrims

came from the UK seeking religious freedom

13 Colonies/Americans

British colonies located along the Atlantic Ocean in North America

The French and Indian War / 7 Years War

*(1754-1763)* A conflict between the British and the French for the control of the North American continent. 

Washington, Adams, and Jefferson

3 of the Founding Fathers

Washington

1st US President

Adams

2nd US President

Jefferson

3rd US President

“Taxation without Representation”

the idea that it is unfair to tax someone without giving them a voice in government

Lexington and Concord

the battle that started the American Revolution

Declaration of Independence – 1776

Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state.

Battle of Yorktown

the last battle of the revolution – victory; Treaty of Paris, 1783

John Locke/Natural Rights

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.

Articles of Confederation

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

Shays’ Rebellion

Massachusetts Farmers attack government properties

The Constitutional Convention

 held in May of 1787, a special convention or meeting was held in Philadelphia in order to draft a new constitution.

The Constitution

A document which spells out the principles by which a government runs and the fundamental laws that govern a society

Federalists

supporters of the Constitution (Alexander Hamilton, John Adams)

Anti-Federalists

opposed the Constitution (Patrick Henry)  

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution

Popular Sovereignty

the idea that the people are the main source of the government’s authority

Limited Government

The government has only the powers that the Constitution gives it.

Federalism

political system in which power is shared between the national government and state governments. 

Separation of Powers

the principle that divides power among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government.

Checks and Balances

the system in which each branch of the government has the power to monitor and limit the actions of the other two. 

Representative Government

Citizens elect representatives to government to make laws.

Individual Rights

The Constitution protects citizens’ individual rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion. 

Louisiana Purchase

In 1803 Jefferson purchased from France the territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.  **The Corps of Discovery – Lewis and Clark**

The War of 1812

Caused by impressment of US sailors into the British navy and a failed embargo, the United States felt that there was no alternative but to go to war aging with the British. 

Monroe Doctrine     

a foreign policy doctrine set forth in 1823 that discouraged European intervention in the Western Hemisphere.      

Andrew Jackson

military hero from the War of 1812; became president; Trail of Indians

Jacksonian Democracy

Andrew Jackson and his followers’ political philosophy concerned with the interests of the common people and limiting the role of the federal government.

Spoil System

a practice of the political party in power giving jobs and appointments to its supporters, rather than to people based on their qualifications

Indian Removal Act of 1830

an act passed by Congress that allowed the Federal Government to negotiate land traded with the Indians in the Southeast.  **Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles; Oklahoma Territory**   

Trail of Tears

it was a forced march of 1,000 miles of the Cherokee Indians to move west of the Mississippi.  Approximately 15,000 were compelled by federal troops to make the trip.  At least 4,000 died of disease and starvation along the trail form Georgia to reserved lands

Slavery

a system of enforced servitude in which some people are owned by others

Abolitionists

were against slavery

The Underground Railroad

a system that helped enslaved African Americans follow a network of escape routes out of the South to freedom in the North

Harriet Tubman

helped thousands of slaves cross the Underground Railroad

Manifest Destiny

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

The Compromise of 1850

political agreement that allowed California to be admitted to the Union as a free state by allowing popular sovereignty in the territories and enacting a stricter fugitive slave law

Dredd Scott Case

*(Dred Scott vs. Sandford)* was a Supreme Court ruling stating that slaves were not citizens.  Also, Congress had no jurisdiction over slavery in new territories

Kansas-Nebraska Act

An 1854 law that divided the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska giving each territory the right to decide whether or not to allow slavery.  Both proslavery and antislavery settlers flocked to Kansas – Bleeding Kansas

Robert E. Lee

General of the Confederacy

Ulysses S. Grant

General of the Union

Habeas Corpus

a constitutional guarantee that no one person can be held in prison without charges being filed

Civil War

war between Northern and Southern states over slavery (1861-1865)

Mexican-American War

war between the US and Mexico in which the US acquired on half of the Mexican territory (1846-1848)

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the US; saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves – was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth

assassinated Abraham Lincoln

Emancipation Proclamation

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

Vicksburg

Grant’s best fought campaign, this siege ended in the seizure of the Mississippi River by the Union

Gettysburg

Turning point of the Civil War

Horizontal Integration

a system of consolidating many firms in the same business

Vertical Integration

a system of consolidating firms involved in all steps of a product’s manufacture

13th Amendment

abolished slavery

14th Amendment

declares that all persons born in the US are citizens and guaranteed equal protection of the law

15th Amendments

citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color, or precious condition of servitude   

16th Amendment

allows the federal (United States) government to levy (collect) an income tax from all Americans.

17th Amendment

allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. senators

18th Amendment

banned all liquor

19th Amendment

granted women the right to vote

Jim Crow Laws

limited rights of black Americans – literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and poll taxes limited black voting rights

Plessy v. Ferguson

a 1896 Supreme Court case decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for black and white citizens were equal - - > “separate, but equal”

Steel/Electricity

revolutionized the lives of Americans

Edison

made the light bulb

Monopoly

an exclusive control by one company over an entire industry.  Many corporations tried to create complete control of a product or service to *maximize profits*.

Cartel

an association of producers of a good or service that prices and controls stocks in order to monopolize the market

Trust

a group of separate companies that are placed under the control of a single managing board in order to form a monopoly.

Reconstruction

the period after the Civil War in the US when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union

John D. Rockefeller

established the Standard Oil Company – greatest, wisest, and meanest monopoly known in history  

Haymarket Square

strike in Chicago because workers were striking for an 8 hour workday in 1886

Homestead Strike

1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company – 10 workers were killed in a riot when labor was brought in to force an end to the strike

Pullman Strike

rail car workers struck because of wage cuts in 1893

Industrialization

the development of industries for the machine production of goods

Immigration

European countries started to come here during the Industrial Revolution

Urbanization

an increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements

Tenements

a multistory building divided into apartments to house as many families as possible.  It was not uncommon to have several families living in one apartment or even one room

Social Darwinism

the belief held by some in the late 19th century that certain nations and races were superior to others and therefore destined to rule over them

Sherman Antitrust Act

first federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting; however, it was initially misused against labor unions

Collective bargaining

a process in which employees negotiate with labor unions about *hours, wages*, and other *working conditions*.

Socialism

a system or theory under which the means of production are publicly controlled and regulated rather than owned by individuals

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state

Civil Rights Act of 1875

a law that banned discrimination in public facilities and transportation

Western Expansion

America’s desire of the western territories that were either not claimed or claimed by other countries

Transcontinental Railroad

completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California’s railroad system, revolutionized transportation in the west

Sand Creek Massacre

an 1864 incident in which Colorado militia killed a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians.  Over 100 were murdered of which 2/3rds were women and children

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868

The federal government signed a treaty with the Plains Indians where they agreed not to build a road through Sioux land and abandon three forts – was broken

Little Bighorn

The Sioux routed the US Army killing all men under Custer in his infamous “Last Stand” in 1876.  2000 Indian warriors massacred 250 troops

Wounded Knee

an 1890 confrontation between U.S. cavalry and Sioux that marked the end of Indian resistance.  \*200 killed; Pine Ridge Reservation\* 

Homestead Act

1862 law that gave 160 acres of land to citizens willing to live on and cultivate it for 5 years

Dawes General Allotment

an 1887 law that divided reservation land into private family plots

Progressivism

the movement in the late 1800s to increase democracy in America by curbing the power of the corporation. It fought to end corruption in government and business and worked to bring equal rights of women and other groups that had been left behind during the industrial revolution

Populism

political party that was for “the people” and is often against the elite.

Pure Food and Drug Act

1906 – forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure he safety and efficiency of drugs in order to abolish the “patent” drug trade. Still in exits as the FDA

World War I

a war fought from 1914 to 1918 between the Allies (Britain, France, Russia, US, and Italy in 1915) and the Central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire)

Woodrow Wilson

28th president and served during WWI; proposed the 14 points