US HISTORY VOCAB


1. Raw Material: Natural resources used to make products, such as timber, minerals, or oil.

2. Manufactured Goods: Products that have been processed and made from raw materials.

3. Mercantilism: An economic theory that promotes government regulation of a nation’s economy to enhance state power at the expense of rival national powers.

4. Navigation Acts: A series of laws passed by Britain to control colonial trade, requiring goods to be shipped on British ships.

5. Taxation without Representation: A political slogan used by American colonists to protest taxes imposed by the British government without their consent.

6. Natural Rights: The rights inherent to all humans, such as life, liberty, and property.

7. Census: An official count or survey of a population, typically used for determining representation and distribution of resources.

8. Federal / Federalism: A system of government where power is divided between a central government and regional governments (like states).

9. Great Compromise: An agreement during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to create a bicameral legislature, balancing representation by population and equal representation for states.

10. 3/5ths Compromise: An agreement that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of taxation and representation in Congress.

11. Branches of Government: The three divisions of government: legislative, executive, and judicial, each with distinct powers.

12. Bicameral Legislature: A legislative body that has two chambers or houses, such as the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

13. Congress & House & Senate: The legislative branch of the U.S. government, made up of the House of Representatives (based on population) and the Senate (with equal representation for each state).

14. Checks and Balances: A system in which each branch of government can limit the powers of the other branches to prevent any one from becoming too powerful.

15. Abolition: The movement to end slavery.

16. American System: An economic plan that advocated for a strong national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements to strengthen the economy.

17. Jacksonian Democracy: A political movement that expanded voting rights to all white men and emphasized the common man’s role in government.

18. Tariff: A tax on imported goods, used to protect domestic industries or generate revenue.

19. Nullification / Nullify: The idea that a state can invalidate any federal law deemed unconstitutional.

20. Manifest Destiny: The belief that it was America’s destiny to expand its territory across the North American continent.

21. Monopoly: A market structure in which one company or entity has exclusive control over an industry or product, limiting competition.

22. Immigrant: A person who moves to a country to live permanently.

23. Nativism: The belief in protecting the interests of native-born citizens over those of immigrants.