AP US History Ultimate Study Guide (copy)

Christopher Columbus

Arrived in the New World in 1492, marking the beginning of the Contact Period.

Bering Land Bridge

The land connection between Siberia and Alaska that allowed the first people to inhabit the Americas.

Contact Period

The time from Columbus's arrival in 1492 until the first English settlement in 1607, characterized by sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.

Pre-Columbian Era

The period in North America before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, when it was inhabited by Native American societies.

Culture Clash

Conflicts arising from the interaction between European settlers' cultures and the complex societies of Native Americans.

Encomienda System

A Spanish labor system that rewarded conquests by granting land and control over local indigenous people, requiring their labor.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, foods, diseases, and cultures between the Americas and Europe following Columbus's voyages.

Mercantilism

An economic theory practice during the colonial period that encouraged states to regulate their economies for augmenting state power.

Navigation Acts

A series of laws that required colonists to trade certain goods exclusively with England.

Indentured Servitude

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

Bacon's Rebellion

A 1676 uprising in Virginia by backcountry farmers against the colonial government indicating class tensions.

The Middle Passage

The sea journey undertaken by slave ships from West Africa to the West Indies and the Americas.

The Great Puritan Migration

The migration of Puritans from England to the New World during the 1630s, seeking religious freedom.

Compromise of 1850

A series of laws passed to ease tensions between slave and free states, including the admission of California as a free state.

The New Deal

A series of domestic programs enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

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

The Domino Theory

The idea that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would also fall, used as a rationale for U.S. intervention.

Roe v. Wade

The landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.

The Harlem Renaissance

A cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s.

McCarthyism

The practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper evidence, associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Americanization

The process of assimilating immigrants into American culture.

The Watergate Scandal

A political scandal involving the Nixon administration that led to President Nixon's resignation.

American Civil War

Fought from 1861 to 1865 between the Union and the Confederacy over slavery and states' rights.

Korean War

A war fought from 1950 to 1953, where the United Nations forces supported South Korea and the Chinese communists supported North Korea.

Vietnam War

A conflict fought from 1955 to 1975, involving North Vietnam and South Vietnam, with the US supporting South Vietnam and the Soviet Union supporting North Vietnam.

World War I

A global conflict from 1914 to 1918, primarily in Europe, involving the Central Powers versus the Allied Powers.

World War II

A global conflict from 1939 to 1945, involving the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers, marked by significant events like the Holocaust.