AP US History Review

AP US History Flashcards

Great Depression

A severe economic downturn that greatly affected the United States.

Progressive reformers

Individuals who sought to address social problems through reform.

welfare state

A system in which the government plays a key role in protecting and promoting the economic and social well-being of its citizens.

FDR

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President during the Great Depression and WWII.

New Deal

FDR's program to combat the Great Depression.

Democratic Party

One of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States.

Fundamentalist Christianity

A movement emphasizing the literal interpretation of the Bible.

Scientific modernism

The belief that science can explain all phenomena.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural and artistic movement of African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s.

World War I

A global conflict fought from 1914 to 1918.

First Red Scare

Fear of the spread of communism in the U.S. after WWI.

Great Migration

The movement of African Americans from the South to the North.

World War II

A global conflict fought from 1939 to 1945.

Spanish-American War

A conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898.

Philippines

Island nation acquired by the U.S. after the Spanish-American War.

Woodrow Wilson

President of the United States during World War I.

Neutrality

The state of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict.

American Expeditionary Force

The U.S. Army sent to Europe during WWI.

Treaty of Versailles

The treaty that ended World War I.

League of Nations

An international organization formed after WWI to promote peace.

Isolationism

A policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of foreign countries.

Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack by the Japanese on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii.

Japanese American internment

The forced relocation and imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Atomic bomb

A devastating weapon used by the United States against Japan during WWII.

Economic globalization

The increasing interconnectedness of economies around the world.

Ronald Reagan

U.S. President who implemented conservative policies in the 1980s.

Conservatism

A political philosophy emphasizing individual liberty and limited government.

9/11

Terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Last leader of the Soviet Union.

Afghanistan/Iraq

Countries where the U.S. has been involved in military conflicts.

War on terrorism

A global effort to combat terrorism.

containment

A policy to prevent the spread of communism.

decolonization

The process by which colonies gained independence from imperial powers.

Korea and Vietnam

Wars fought during the Cold War era.

Cold War

A period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.

communism

A political and economic system in which the government owns and controls the means of production.

military-industrial complex

The alliance between a nation's military, economy and the political establishment.

Brown v. Board of Education

Supreme Court case that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional.

Civil Rights Act 1964

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

LBJ's Great Society

LBJ's domestic program to reduce poverty and racial injustice.

liberalism

A political philosophy emphasizing individual rights and social justice.

Sun Belt

A region in the southern United States that has seen population and economic growth.

1965 immigrations laws

Legislation that changed immigration quotas.

encomienda system

A labor system used by the Spanish in the Americas.

Columbian exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the New World.

feudalism

A social system in which landowners grant land to tenants in exchange for labor

capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and free markets.

Seven Years War

A conflict between Great Britain and France for control of North America.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason and individualism.

French Revolution

A revolution in France inspired by Enlightenment ideals.

George Washington Farewell Address

President Washington's advice to the nation to avoid foreign entanglements.

Paine's Common Sense

Pamphlet advocating for American independence.

Declaration of Independence

Document declaring American independence from Great Britain.

Articles of Confederation

The first government of the United States.

Constitution

The current government of the United States.

federalism/separation of powers

The division of power between the federal and state governments; the separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing individual rights.

American Revolution

The war for American independence from Great Britain.

French/Dutch/English colonization

The establishment of colonies by France, the Netherlands, and England in North America.

Atlantic slave trade

The forced transportation of Africans to the Americas to work as slaves.

Puritans

A religious group that sought to purify the Church of England.

Chesapeake colonies

Colonies in the Chesapeake region that were characterized by tobacco cultivation.

tobacco

A cash crop grown in the Chesapeake colonies.

White indentured servants

Individuals who agreed to work for a certain number of years in exchange for passage to the Americas.

African chattel

African slaves who were considered property.

Pueblo Revolt

A revolt by Pueblo Indians against Spanish colonizers in 1680.

"Atlantic World"

A network of trade and cultural exchange between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Anglicanization

The process by which colonists became more English in their customs and beliefs.

European Enlightenment

An intellectual movement that emphasized reason and individualism.

Federalists v. Democratic Republicans

Early American political factions.

Democrats v. Whigs

Political parties of the mid-19th century.

Supreme Court

The highest court in the United States.

Second Great Awakening

A religious revival movement in the early 19th century.

Innovations: textile machinery, steam engines, interchangeable parts, canals, railroads, telegraph

Developments that transformed the American economy.

The American System

A program to promote economic growth in the United States.

Louisiana Purchase

The purchase of land from France that doubled the size of the United States.

Missouri Compromise

An agreement that temporarily resolved the issue of slavery in the United States.

Northwest Ordinance

A law that established a system for governing the Northwest Territory.

republican motherhood

The idea that women played an important role in educating their children and instilling them with republican values.

Manifest Destiny

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

Mexican War

A war between the United States and Mexico that resulted in the U.S. gaining a large amount of territory.

Civil War

A conflict between the Union and the Confederacy.

abolitionists

Individuals who opposed slavery.

states' rights/nullification

The belief that states have the right to nullify federal laws.

Compromise of 1850

An agreement that attempted to resolve the issue of slavery in the United States.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

A law that allowed slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

Dred Scott Case

A Supreme Court case that ruled that slaves were not citizens and had no right to sue in federal court.

Republican party

A political party formed in 1854 that opposed the expansion of slavery.

Abraham Lincoln

President of the United States during the Civil War.

Election of 1860

The election that led to the secession of Southern states.

Emancipation Proclamation

A presidential proclamation that declared slaves in Confederate-held territory free.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War when the United States attempted to rebuild the South.

13th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that abolished slavery.

sharecropper system

A system of agriculture in which farmers work land owned by someone else in return for a share of the crops.

Radical Republicans

Republicans who wanted to punish the South for the Civil War.

14th and 15th Amendments

Guaranteed rights of citizenship and suffrage.

Gilded Age

A period of rapid economic growth and social inequality in the United States.

monopolies

Large corporations that controlled entire industries.

Social Darwinism

The belief that the fittest individuals and companies will thrive.

child labor

The employment of children in factories and other industries.