apush important terms (all periods)

Columbian Exchange

the exchange of plants, animals, and germs between the New World and Europe following the discovery of American in 1492.

The Encomienda System

A license granted by the Spanish crown to royal officials to extract labor and tribute from native peoples in specified areas. Began in the Caribbean and spread to Mexico.

American Exceptionalism

The belief that America has a special mission to be a beacon of democracy and liberty. First expressed by John Winthrops ‘City Upon A Hill’ sermon.

Mercantillism

Economic philosophy guiding much of Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. Intended to enable a nation to achieve a favorable balance of trade by exporting more than it imports.

First Great Awakening

A wave of religious revivals that began in New England in the mid-1730s and then spread across the colonies during the 1740s.

Enlightenment

An 18th century philosophy stressing that reason could be used to improve the human condition by eradicating superstition, bigotry, and intolerance. Inspired by John Locke, thinkers stressed the idea of natural rights. Ideas inspired the Declaration of Independence.

Virtual Representation

British belief that each member of Parliament represented the interests of all Englishmen, including the colonists. Rejected by colonists who argued they couldn’t be taxed without representation.

Republicanism

The belief that government should be based on the consent of the people. Defended by Thomas Paine in ‘Common Sense'.

Separation of Powers

Division of power among government branches- such as the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.

Checks and Balances

System in which each branch of government can check the power of the other branches.

Republican Motherhood

belief that the new American republic offered women the important role of raising their children to be virtuous and responsible citizens.

Antifederalists

Opponents of the Constitution when its adoption was being debated, argued for the Bill of Rights.

Hamilton’s Financial Program

Hamilton sought to create a sound financial foundation for the new republic by funding the federal debt, assuming state debts, creating a national bank, and imposing tariffs to protect home industries.

States’ Rights

Doctrine asserting that the Constitution arose as a compact among sovereign states, thus, the states retained the power to challenge and nullify federal laws.

Judicial Review

The power of the Supreme Court to strike down an act of Congress by declaring it unconstitutional. This principle was established by the Marshall Court in the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison

American System

A set of proposals by Henry Clay to unify the nation and strengthen the economy by means of protective tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements

Jacksonian Democracy

A set of political beliefs associated with Andrew Jackson. Included respect for the common man, expansion of white male suffrage, appointment of political supporters to government positions, and opposition to privileged Eastern elites

Nullification

A legal theory that a state has the right to nullify any federal law that the state deems unconstitutional. John C. Calhoun was a proponent of this doctrine, as seen by the South Carolina Nullification Crisis.

Market Revolution

the dramatic increase between 1820 and 1850 in the exchange of goods among regional and national markets. Reflected the increased output of farms and factories, the entrepreneurial activities of traders and merchants, the creation of transportation networks.

Nativism

Anti-foreign sentiment favoring the interests of native born people over immigrants.

the Second Great Awakening

a wave of religious enthusiasm that spread across America between 1800 and 1830. Middle-class women played an important role by gaining awareness for moral issues like slavery and other reform causes.

Perfectionism

belief that humans can use conscious acts of will to create communities based upon cooperation and mutual respect. Reflected by the blossoming of Utopian communities.

Cult of Domesticity

Idealized women in their roles as wives and mothers.

Transcendentalism

An antebellum philosophical and literary movement that emphasized living a simple life and celebrating the truth found in nature and in personal emotion and imagination. Embodied by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller

Manifest Destiny

19th century belief that the US was destined to spread democracy around the country and world. Justified expansion both in North America and globally.

Wilmot Proviso

the 1846 proposal by David Wilmot to ban slavery in territory acquired from the Mexican War. Triggered a dispute between the North and South. Passed in the House but was defeated in the Senate.

Slave Power

antebellum term referring to the disproportionate power that Northerners thought slaveowners had over political decisions

Popular Sovereignty

principle that the settlers of a given territory have the right to decide whether slavery will be permitted there. Led to increased debate over slavery in Western territories, tested by Bleeding Kansas, which followed the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Black Codes

laws passed by southern states after the civil war denying ex-slaves the civil rights enjoyed by whites

sharecropping

a labor system in the south after the civil war. Tenants worked the land in return for a share of the crops produced instead of paying cash rent. The system seemingly perpetuated a cycle of debt and poverty.

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

Carpetbagger was the name given by ex-Confederates to Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction.

Scalawag was the name given to southern whites who supported Republican Reconstruction

Redeemers

white southern political leaders to claimed to ‘redeem’ the south from Republican domination. Supported economic growth and white supremacy.

Jim Crow

a system of racial segregation in the south lasting from the end of Reconstruction to the 1960s

Frontier Thesis

argument by historian Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make America more democratic.

Vertical and horizontal integration

Vertical integration- a business model where a corp. controls all aspects of production (ex. Carnegie with the steel industry)

Horizontal integration- a business model where a corp. gains control over other companies that produce the same product (ex. Rockefeller with the oil industry)

Social Darwinism

the belief that there is a natural evolutionary process by which the fittest will survive and prosper.

Gospel of Wealth

View advanced by Carnegie that the wealthy were the guardians of society

Social Gospel

late 19th century reform movement based on the belief that Christians have a responsibility to actively confront social issues like poverty

New Immigrants

refers to the massive wave of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe who came to the US between 1890 and 1924

Realism

a late 19th early 20th century movement that called artists and writers to portray daily life as precisely and truly as possible

Populism

the mainly agrarian movement developed in the 1890s that supported the unlimited coinage of silver, gov. regulation of railroads, and other policies favoring farmers and the working class

Progressivism

sought to use government help to create a more just society. Fought against impure food, child labor, corruption, and trusts.

Muckrakers

early 20th century journalists who exposed illegal business practices, social injustices, and corrupt urban political bosses

Red Scare

term used for anticommunist hysteria that swept the US after WW1, led to a series of government raids on alleged subversives and a suppression of civil liberties

Great Migration

movement of Blacks leaving the south for cities in the North

Harlem Resaissance

a flowering of Black artists, writers, and intellectuals during the 1920s. Used the term ‘New Negro’ as a proud assertion of Black culture

Isolationism

a US foreign policy calling for the US to avoid entangling political alliances following WW1.

Containment

advocated by George Kennan and adopted as the Truman Doctrine, containment was the name given to America’s Cold War policy of blocking the expansion of Soviet influence

McCarthyism

associated with senator Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist crusade in the early 1950s. Unsubstantiated accusations that communists had infiltrated the US. Helped create a climate of fear and paranoia often called the Second Red Scare

Beats

small but influential group of literary figures based in NYC and San Francisco in the 1950s. Rejected mainstream America’s carefree consumption and conformity

Domino Theory

theory that if one country falls to communism, its neighbors will follow

The Feminine Mystique

influential book written by Betty Friedan in 1963 critiquing the prevailing cult of domesticity. Helped spark a wave of feminism.

Black Power

movement that advocated that African Americans establish control of their political and economic lives

Counterculture

cultural movement during the late 1960s associated with hippies who advocated an alternate lifestyle based upon peace, love, and ‘doing your own thing’

Silent Majority

term used by Nixon to describe those who supported his foreign and domestic policies but did not participate in public protests

Detente

a policy advocated by Nixon to relax tensions between the US and the USSR.

Stagflation

economic term used to describe the unusual combination of high unemployment and inflation in the 1970s

Reaganomics

term to describe Reagan’s supply-side economics that attempted to promote growth and investment by deregulating businesses, reducing corporate tax rates, and lowering taxes

Sun Belt

states in the Southwest and South that experienced a rapid growth in population and political power in the later 20th century

Multiculturalism

Promotion of diversity in gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual preference.