AP US History Ultimate Study Guide (copy)

Bering Land Bridge

The land passage connecting Eurasia and North America, through which the first inhabitants of the Americas are believed to have migrated.

Contact Period

The era beginning with Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492 and ending in 1607, marked by sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.

Columbus's Arrival

Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492, marking the beginning of the Contact Period.

Columbian Exchange

The period of rapid exchange of plants, animals, foods, and diseases between the Old World and the New World following Columbus' voyages.

Forced Relocation and Assimilation

Policies implemented by the US government that aimed to displace Native American populations and integrate them into European-American culture.

Separation of Church and State

The principle that government must maintain an impartial stance on religion and cannot favor one religion over another.

Indentured Servitude

A labor system where individuals worked for a certain number of years in exchange for passage to the New World.

Middle Passage

The shipping route used to transport enslaved Africans to the Americas, characterized by horrific conditions.

Great Migration

The movement of thousands of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North during and after WWI to escape oppression and find jobs.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, declaring the freedom of all enslaved people in Confederate-held territory.

Social Darwinism

The application of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to human societies, legitimizing racial superiority and imperialism.

New Deal

A series of programs and policies enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt aimed at recovering from the Great Depression.

Gilded Age

A term used to describe the late 19th century, referring to the superficial glitter of the era masking serious social problems.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the expansion of the United States across North America was both justified and inevitable.

McCarthyism

A campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions, characterized by heightened paranoia and accusations.

Missouri Compromise

An agreement made in 1820 to maintain the balance of slave and free states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.

Sacco and Vanzetti trial

The trial and execution of two Italian immigrants accused of robbery and murder, widely criticized as a miscarriage of justice influenced by nativism.

SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)

A civil rights organization formed to give younger Black people a larger role in the civil rights movement.

Women’s Suffrage Movement

The campaign for women's right to vote, which culminated in the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

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

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation aimed at overcoming legal barriers at the state and local levels preventing African Americans from exercising their right to vote.