seneca falls convention 1848

• largest feminist activist gathering up to that point that called for equal rights for all women and was the starting point for the suffragist movement. 

Nat turner 

• leader of the Nat Turner rebellion (1831) which was a slave revolt. It made southerners live in fear of potential future rebellions and developed the culture of southern society in future years. 

Emancipation proc

• declaration by Lincoln that all slaves in the Confederate states were free (not border states b/c Lincoln didn’t want to anger them). Encouraged thousands of slaves to escape and cross over into Union lines. 

harpers ferry

• Raid on harpers ferry by John Brown in the hopes of inciting a slave rebellion. Even though Brown was captured and executed, southerners were now convinced that all northerners were as extremist as Brown to destroy southern society 

manifest dest

• supremacist belief in American citizens that they were destined by God to spread its ideals of liberty, freedom, and democracy across the North American continent. Used to justify expansion of territory during the mid 1800s. 

marbury v madison

• Supreme court case that established the Supreme Court’s power of “judicial review”. Judicial review is what gives the Supreme Court the final authority in interpreting the constitution to check the other branches of power. 

columbian exchange

• Transfer and exchange of crops, animals, diseases, humans, culture, ideas, etc. between the old world and new world

bacon’s rebellion 

• Uprising by poorer farmers and indentured servants in Virginia after the governor refused to protect them from American Indian attacks. Uprising was one of the reasons that plantation owners decided to switch to African slaves as labor sources

navigation acts (1651)

• Laws passed by British parliament to regulate trade and shipping with their colonies. Declared that colonies could trade only with Britain, and could not engage in any other outside trade. However, colonists largely ignored this law through smuggling during the period of salutary neglect when these laws were rarely enforced

seven years war (1756-1763)

• AKA French and Indian War in North America. Asserted British supremacy in North America over the French. One of the main political causes for the American Revolution. 

revolutionary war 

• American War of Independence. Victory by the colonists in the war gave them the recognition of sovereignty and independence from Britain, and ended British influence in North America (except in Canada). 

revolution of 1800

• Not a literal revolution - reference to the election of Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson over Federalist John Adams. But there was a peaceful transfer of power between the two parties, proving how the new American political system could work

henry clay's american system

• Economic system by Henry Clay that had 3 parts: strong banking, protective tariffs, and new networks of roads and canals. This was all aimed to unite the American economy together and grow stronger together

indian removal act 1830

• The forcible removal of all American Indian tribes living East of the Mississippi to the new Indian Territories in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Ordered under President Andrew Jackson.

bleeding kansas - (1856-1861)

• Period of violent civil war in the Kansas Territory between pro and anti-slavery groups. Often seen as a prelude to the actual Civil War when the debate on slavery would really be put on the line. 

election 1860

• Election of Abraham Lincoln and the anti-slavery platform of the Republican party. Slave states were vehemently opposed to this, and South Carolina became the first state to secede as a result of Lincoln gaining the presidency. 

secession of deep south

• 11 states that seceded from the Union and created the Confederate States of America. Marked the beginnings of the Civil War after decades of dispute and tension between over the issue of slavery. 

civil war (1861-1865)

• War between the Union and Confederate States of America over the issue of secession and slavery. Ultimately ended in the dissolution of the CSA and the abolishment of slavery in the US. It also preserved and reinstated the Union under a single flag and provided the continued survival of the United States. 

election 1896

• Victory of incumbent Republican President William McKinley over Democrat William Jennings Bryant. It brought the end of the third party system, and began the fourth party system - a period where Republicans dominated national issues like industrial regulation and labor concerns 

turning point in us british relations, AKA venezuela boundary dispute

• AKA Great Rapprochement, it was a point of reconciliation between Britain and the US towards the end of the 19th century. These ties would be further strengthened during WWI, and a strong alliance between the two countries became welded together. 

progressive era (1896-1916)

• An era of widespread social activism and political reform. Reforms began to see the complex inequalities affecting all Americans as a consequence of corruption and neglect during the Gilded Age. And so reformers came to expose and criticize the social injustices and inequalities they saw. 

great migration

• A huge demographic migration of African Americans from their historical roots in the rural south to urban cities in the North and West in an effort to escape the racial violence and find better economic opportunity. 

Ww1 (1914 - 1918)

• A mainly European conflict that gradually spread to the rest of the world, The late American entrance into the war on the side of the Allies helped them defeat the Axis Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. It also established the United States into a position of world leadership.  

19th amendment

• Landmark victory in women’s suffrage, it granted all women the right to vote in the United States nearly 70 years after the Seneca Falls Convention

great depression (1929-1933)

• The worst economic depression in the history of the world, it started after the stock market crashed in October of 1929. Thousands of banks across the nations collapsed, millions of people lost their jobs, and Americans fell into a period of poverty. 

new deal

• Economic and political policies by President Franklin Roosevelt that sought to fix the effects of the Great Depression. Included were providing relief for the unemployed by creating programs that would both stimulate the economy andcreate jobs, and introducing Progressive-era styled welfare programs like social security. 

• Ww2

  • The second global war of the century, America joined the side of the Allies in an effort to combat and stop fascist Germany and Italy from world domination. Firmly established the United States place as a world superpower after its rapid military conversion, and the introduction of nuclear weapons. A direct cause of the Cold War. 

• pearl harbor

  • Surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan was the immediate cause that brought America into the war