Unit 1-9 Major Test APUSH
Unit 1-
Encomienda System- A legal system enforced by the Spanish crown that regulated Native Americans during the Spanish Colonization of the Americas.
Hernan Cortes- A Spanish conquistador who went to the West Indies, established Veracruz (the first Spanish colony in Mexico), and conquered the Aztec empire.
Treaty of Tordesillas- Portugal and Spain agreed in the Treaty of Tordesillas to relocate the Line of Demarcation, which had been drawn up a year earlier, a thousand miles to the west of where it was now.
Vasco da Gama- A Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail from Europe to India and led four ships that sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, opening a trade route that is still used today.
Columbian Exchange- Brought new crops to Europe from the Americas, stimulating European population growth and new sources of mineral wealth, which facilitated the European shift from feudalism to capitalism
Transatlantic Slave Trade- Start of a twenty-year process in which African slaves were transferred from Europe (and later Africa) to the Americas.
Unit 2-
Mayflower Compact- Signed and made by Pilgrim leaders aboard their trip as they sought religious freedom; first steps in the colonies for self-government to be formulated and enforced on the Colonies as male settlers assembled in town meetings.
Bacon’s Rebellion- Armed Rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley. This was the turning point from indentured servants to slaves as indentured servants were no longer utilized to cultivate crops but African slave labor was widely needed.
Salem Witch Trials- This series of trials, prosecutions, and executions of innocent people accused of practicing witchcraft took place in Colonial Massachusetts; a defining example of intolerance and injustice in American history.
Virginia Slave Code- This established the agreement in Virginia that slaves were real estate property therefore if a slave were to run away they should be returned to their rightful owner.
The Great Awakening- First mass social movement in American History as a large mass of individuals converted and became more active in religion again; first time the colonies had differentiated themselves from the British.
Protestant Revolt- Protestants led by a Catholic proprietor sparked civil war and Catholics lost the right to vote.
Jamestown- The first permanent English settlement in the New World, founded in 1607 for economic purposes by the Virginia Company and prospered from tobacco farming.
Middle Passage- The route of sea-going journeys of Africans taken from their Native land, to the shores of the Caribbean and America, where they were invariably destined to an existence of institutional slavery.
Mercantilism- A form of economic nationalism that sought to increase the prosperity and power of a nation through restrictive trade practices. Its goal was to increase the supply of a state's gold and silver with exports rather than to deplete it through imports.
Triangular Trade- A trading route that supported the transport of imports and exports between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
Salutary Neglect- The unofficial British policy where parliamentary rules and laws were loosely or not enforced on the American colonies and trade.
Articles of Confederation- A weak constitution drafted in 1781, where states were almost individual entities with little to no central authority.
Unit 3-
Pontiac’s Rebellion- A war between a large alliance of Native American nations and the British colonial army in the Ohio Country and around the Great Lakes.
Boston Massacre- Marked the moment when political tensions between British soldiers and American colonists turned deadly. Patriots argued the event was the massacre of civilians perpetrated by the British Army, while loyalists argued that it was an unfortunate accident, the result of self-defense of the British soldiers from a threatening and dangerous mob.
Boston Tea Party- An act of protest against the British for the Tea Act, one of several new attempts to tax colonists. The Americans were frustrated that they were being taxed by the government but had no part in how the government was run.
American Revolutionary War- The insurrection fought between 1775 and 1783 through which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America.
Declaration of Independence- The founding document of the US where the main points are that people have guaranteed rights: rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This was the last of a series of steps that led the colonies to final separation from Great Britain.
Washington’s Farewell Address- In this letter to “Friends and Citizens,” Washington warned that the forces of geographical sectionalism, political factionalism, and interference by foreign powers in the nation's domestic affairs threatened the stability of the republic.
Seven Years’ War- The first global war, fought in Europe, India, America, and at sea. In North America, imperial rivals Britain and France struggled for supremacy. In the United States, the conflict is known as the French and Indian War. The colonists helped win this war and the war created debt for Great Britain which led to taxation without representation
Albany Plan of Union- A plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. It did not succeed due to colonists being concerned about preserving its taxation powers but it laid the groundwork for further conventions and congresses in the colonies.
Paul Revere- Silversmith and patriot who alerted the colonists that the British were coming before the Battles of Lexington and Concord, by taking a midnight horse ride to spread the word and prepare the colonists.
Thomas Paine- Published the pamphlet "Common Sense" which stated that the Americans had to rise in opposition to the British government based on Enlightenment ideals.
Loyalists- The group of American colonists that remained loyal to the king during and after the American Revolution.
Saratoga- turning point of the American Revolution. It was very important because it convinced showed the French that the Americans could defeat their enemy, Great Britain.
Unit 4-
Cotton gin- A machine invented by Eli Whitney that separated the seeds from the cotton; and allowed more slaves to work in the cotton fields
Transcendentalism- An intellectual movement led by Emerson that stressed individualism and connecting with God
Monroe Doctrine- Created by JQ Adams and James Monroe, the Monroe Doctrine warned Europe to stop colonizing America and in return, America would not interfere in European affairs
Henry Clay- The strongest proponent of the American System and was anti-Jackson. He also was involved in the corrupt bargain with JQ Adams in the election of 1824
Missouri Compromise- A compromise that allowed Maine to join as a free state and Missouri to join as a slave state to keep an equal ratio of slave to free state and also drew a line at Missouri's southern border and declared that all states above that line were to be free states
2nd Great Awakening- A protestant revival movement that was spread by evangelical denominations. It stimulated reform movements and led to an increase in the Baptist and Methodist Churches
Robert Fulton- He invented the steamboat, which dramatically increased trade and travel and cut down transportation time dramatically
Andrew Jackson- AKA Old Hickory, Jackson advocated for universal suffrage for white males, Indian Removal, and the spoils system and opposed national banks and nullification.
Spoils System- The system of rewarding your supporters after an election. Jackson gave out thousands of jobs to ordinary Americans as part of the spoils system
Trail of Tears- This was part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy where the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma
Abolitionism- A reform movement directed against slavery; people such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas as well as many others led this movement.
Seneca Falls Convention- The first women's rights convention, Elizabeth Stanton worked with Quakers to organize this convention and drew up the Declaration of Sentiments
Unit 5-
Manifest Destiny- Popular belief that the United States had the divine mission to extend its power and civilization across North America (Sea to Shining Sea)
Free Soil Movement- The position of many northerners to prohibit all slavery in newly acquired lands because they wanted new land to be land for white opportunity without competing with slave labor
Anaconda Plan- Military strategy proposed by Union General Winfield Scott early in the American Civil War which included a naval blockade of the Confederacy, and the capture of the Confederate capital, Richmond.
Mexican-American War- War between the United States and Mexico stemming from the United States' annexation of Texas and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim).
Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850- A stricter fugitive slave law that states Utah and New Mexico territories would practice popular sovereignty, California would be a free state, and slave trade was banned in Washington DC.
Election of 1860- Abraham Lincoln was elected to be president of the United States just before and during the American Civil War. This election shaped the future of the United States by heralding the end of slavery and marked a time of unprecedented violence in the nation.
Civil War- A four-year war between the United States and 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.
Emancipation Proclamation- President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared that enslaved Black Americans were free in Confederate-controlled states.
Freedmen’s Bureau- The goal of the Freedmen's Bureau was to provide food, clothing, healthcare, and education for both black and white refugees in the South.
Black Codes- Laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866, after the Civil War that had the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans' freedom, and of compelling them to work in a labor economy based on low wages or debt.
Wilmot Proviso- Prelude to the Civil War; a bill proposed that forbid slavery in the new areas. The Proviso passed the House and was defeated in the Senate due to sectionalist majorities
Compromise of 1877- An informal, unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election. It resulted in the United States federal government pulling the last troops out of the South, and formally ended the Reconstruction Era.
Unit 6-
National Grange Movement- Pushed for regulations and laws regulating railroad costs and corporate practices
Sodbusters- Early homesteaders that were the first to break through the sod with their plows
Indian Reservation System- Indians were forced to relocate to plots of land with strict boundaries and became wards of the American government; led to the Sioux Wars
Mechanization- Machines used for labor rather than human or animal labor
Henry Grady- Editor of Atlanta Constitution that coined the phrase “New South”
Jim Crow Laws- Set of laws that segregated all parts of society; hate and violence against African Americans
Bessemer Process- Created by Henry Bessemer that was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel
John D Rockefeller- Created a standard oil company and controlled almost 90% of the oil industry; horizontal integration
Andrew Carnegie- Created Carnegie Steel business and dominated the steel industry; vertical integration
Laissez-Faire Capitalism- No government involvement in private businesses; “Let Alone”
Social Darwinism- Strong businesses dominate weak businesses, wealth concentrated into the hands of the fittest
Haymarket Square Riot- Knights of Labor organized a peaceful protest in Chicago but a bomb went off and labor unions were viewed as violent and radical
Unit 7-
De Lome Letter- Leaked letter from a Spanish diplomat speaking ill of President Mckinley
USS Maine- Sinking of a ship that caused the death of over 200 Americans; led to Spanish-American War
Upton Sinclair- Wrote The Jungle which exposed the unsanitary conditions of the meat packing industry
Zimmerman Telegram- German note sent to Mexico to start a war with the US and Germany would help them retain New Mexico and Arizona
Rosie the Riveter- Presented women workers as both strong and necessary for the war effort
Manhattan Project- A secret experiment where the US and its collaborators had already developed and tested nuclear bombs; Boxcar, Enola Gay, Fat Man, Little Boy, Hiroshima, Nagasaki
Imperialism- The expansion of a country’s political, economic, and military influence over another country
Yellow Journalism- Actively promoting war fever in America by way of exaggeration (sensationalism)
Treaty of Paris- Ceded the Philippines to the US for 20 million, US acquired Puerto Rico and Guam, and Cuba was independent
Great Migration- A large southern black population migrated to the urban industrial centers of the North to escape Jim Crow Laws, literacy tests, poll taxes, and to find jobs; part 2 of Exoduster Movement
Henry Ford- Mass producer of automobiles (Model T), made the assembly line, and owned over 80% of all automobiles worldwide
Pearl Harbor- A surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the US against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
Unit 8-
Cold War- Conflict between two countries (US and Soviet Union) in which neither engages in open warfare with the other; battle of ideologies rather than weapons
Truman Doctrine- Created by Harry Truman, this offers support to any country that became threatened by soviet communism (Turkey, Greece)
Marshall Plan- 13 billion dollars of US money for European countries to rebuild; if nations had a strong economy they would choose capitalism over communism
Hollywood Ten- 10 directors singled out as communists and refused to appear before congress which resulted in jail time and blacklisting
Joseph McCarthy- Claimed to have the names of 205 communists that infiltrated the state department and increased feeling during the Red Scare; created McCarthyism
Little Rock Nine- Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect these nine students as they entered a previously all white school (after Brown v Board declared separate was not equal)
Montgomery Bus Boycott- Public transportation was segregated by state law in Alabama; started by Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger
Martin Luther King Jr- He had a powerful voice for a nonviolent movement to cure civil rights; advocated for civil disobedience and sit in movements; gave his famous “I have a dream” speech at the March on Washington
Counterculture- Throw out societal norms with different clothing, free love, and experimental drug use
Affirmative Action- Race would be a factor in the hiring process and college admissions and a certain number of positions and applicants had to be of a certain race
Domino Theory- If South Vietnam fell to communism, other surrounding nations in the area would too, and vice versa
Rosenberg Case- Belief that the Soviet Union could not have developed atomic weapons without stealing plans from the US; Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were indicted for being Soviet spies and both were executed; later proven that was true
Unit 9-
Moral Majority- Political party formed in the 1970s to further a conservative and religious agenda; allowance of prayer in schools and strict abortion laws
Stock Market Crash- Stock markets around the world crashed beginning in Hong Kong then Europe then eventually the US
Reaganomics- Cutting federal income taxes, cutting the US government spending budget, high military spending; associated with President Reagan
NAFTA- Agreement signed between Canada, Mexico, and the US creating a trilateral trade block across North America; criticized by many conservative Americans for stealing job opportunities
START I and II- Bilateral treaties signed between the US and Soviet Union on the reduction of and limitation of strategic offensive arms, not officially entered into force
World Trade Organization- Intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between worldwide countries