U.S. History Review: Early Colonization to 19th Century Reform

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Key historical concepts, agreements, laws, and societal movements from early settlement through 19th-century American history.

Iroquois Confederacy

Also known as the Great League of Peace, a prominent alliance formed by tribal bands of Native Americans.

Encomienda

A Spanish forced-labor system that was abandoned following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

Black Legend

Historical perspective describing Spanish colonial cruelty, later used by English colonizers to justify their own territorial expansion.

Conquistadors

Spanish conquerors who took land stretching from modern-day Florida to California and South America, bringing deadly diseases that devastated Indigenous populations.

Joint-Stock Company

A group of private investors who sponsored the colony of Jamestown in hopes of securing raw materials for English markets.

Mayflower Compact

A 1620 agreement drafted by Puritans aboard the Mayflower establishing a plan for self-government at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Indentured Servants

Poor English settlers who agreed to work for 4 or more years in return for passage to America and basic necessities.

Age of Enlightenment

An intellectual movement that stressed the use of reason and logic to understand natural laws in politics and society.

The Great Awakening

A religious revival that emphasized an individual's ability to have a direct relationship with God without relying on a minister.

Intolerable Acts

British laws that closed Boston Harbor, banned town meetings, forced colonists to house British soldiers, and expanded Canadian territory into the Ohio Valley.

Ecclesiastical Tyranny

The power of a church backed by government authority to force individuals to worship in a specific manner.

Great Compromise

A legislative agreement settling representation disputes between large and small states by creating a bicameral legislature with equal state representation in the Senate and population-based representation in the House of Representatives.

Three Fifths Compromise

A constitutional agreement counting every 5 enslaved individuals as 3 free persons for determining state representation and taxation.

Federalism

A governmental framework in which power is divided between the national and state governments.

Separation of Powers

A system dividing government power into three branches: Legislative (makes laws), Executive (implements/enforces laws), and Judicial (interprets federal laws).

Judicial Review

The power granted to courts to strike down laws that violate the U.S. Constitution, established following Marbury v. Madison.

Impressment

The British practice of kidnapping sailors from ships at sea and forcing them into service in the British military.

War Hawks

A political group led by figures such as Henry Clay of Kentucky that actively advocated for war against Great Britain prior to the War of 1812.

Missouri Compromise

An 1820 agreement admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, while banning slavery north of the 36°30' line in the Louisiana Territory.

Monroe Doctrine

A foreign policy declaration expressing U.S. opposition to European interference in the Americas.

Know-Nothing Party

A political group driven by anti-Catholic sentiment that pushed for laws banning immigrants from holding public office.

Cotton Gin

An invention by Eli Whitney that quickly removed seeds from cotton, making cotton the dominant U.S. export by 1860.

Spoils System

The practice of awarding government jobs to individuals based on party loyalty.

Indian Removal Act

1830 legislation passed to force Native American tribes off their fertile homelands in the American Southeast to enable white settlement.

Republican Motherhood

A concept framing women's primary civic responsibility as raising male children to become educated future voters and leaders of the republic.

Cult of Domesticity

A 19th-century ideology holding that a middle-class woman's proper place was within the domestic sphere of the home rather than holding outside employment.

Coverture

A legal principle under which a husband maintained total legal authority over his wife's person, property, and earnings.