Baker APUSH Need to Know List

The APUSH Need to Know List

(1-9) Denotes the number of presidents that you need to know 

(*)Denotes Mr. Baker’s Most Important Terms to Know

Context for Period 1:

• Western Europe was composed of kingdoms, duchies, and republics that fought one another for power. Populations were dependent on agriculture and were constantly vulnerable to a famine. 

  • The Black Death, a disease from Asia, killed 1/3 of Europe’s population. Many people were regularly affected by other diseases, poverty, and had little hope for the future.

• Kings and princes owned the majority of the land, conscripted men for their armies, and exploited their peasants. In addition, nobles also lived on large estates and had authority over all their peasants.

  • Nobles would challenge the kings with their military power and legislative organizations. 

• Patriarchies – men were the head of the family. Property and social identity came through the man, supported by the Christian Church. These women were subjected to submissiveness and were left powerless. Children usually worked for their fathers and sons were given the land and daughters had dowries to pay the family she married into. The younger sons who did not inherit the land went into lowly professions as well as poverty. 

• Nobles, churches, and villages constituted the hierarchy and provided people with a reliable system. 

• Peasants: farmworkers in small villages or manorial lands where they were granted farming rights by becoming a serf. After they were freed, these farmers grew lots of products and fostered local market economies. Systematic way of life with difficult conditions as well as carnivals, drinking, and dancing during celebrations.

  • They were constantly working and often extremely poor. Few peasant children survived due to a lack of food and diseases. Many were also religious!!

  • Came to America because their lives were awful in Europe.

Period 1: 1491-1607

• Maize: corn that is grown by Native Americans. The growth of corn in the Americas helped shape the shift of people from nomadic hunting bands to settled agricultural villagers (irrigation systems and nutritious foods).

• Great Basin: the vast expanse of land between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas. The home to many Native people. Resources were dispersed, travelled a lot to find them, some were able to adopt horses and become successful in comparison to their impoverished neighbors. 

• Great Plains: Native Americans relied on buffalos in the Great Plains. Known for supporting cattle ranching and dry farming → farmed, hunt and gathering, very sedentary, nomadic communities. Dominated by hunter-gatherers, rode on horseback and controlled lots of territory.

• Mississippi River Valley: The Iroquois attained guns from settlers such as the French and Dutch and strategically located themselves in New York while attacking other tribes and natives. The warriors travelled across land as well as the rivers and lakes as they took advantage of the rich fur lands in the upper Mississippi River Valley (prosperous Native societies). Mississippi culture: satellite communities, smaller populations, mounds for various purposes, strong rulers, lots of war and shifts in the environment.

• The Colombian Exchange*: the global trade network that shared diseases, animals, plants, and people (slaves)  between the New World (Americas) and the Old World (Europe/Asia/Africa) following Columbus’ expeditions.

  • Greatly benefited Europe and Asia while bringing catastrophe to American Indian populations and cultures

  • CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

• Encomienda System: a grant of forced Native American labor given by the Spanish King to a Spanish colonist in the Americas who receives the profits from their work in exchange of protection and religious guidance.

  • In practice, it was a form of slavery.

• Slavery: Porteguese traders used forced labor through slavery, serfdom, or indentured servitude. Some Africans were held as security for debs and others were sold by their people for food, and many others were war captives. 

  • Disrupted African culture and societal structure 

  • Because of the successful Brazilian plantations (that used slaves) that provided a lot of profit, many other countries saw this is a perfect way to gain wealth 

• Caste System: The Spanish Caste System was a social hierarchy that was determined by wealth, education, and physical appearance → led to the development of the racial caste system in which those with "pure" blood were at the top followed by the mixed ancestries and races.

  • Mulatto, Mestizo, Coyote. 

• Plantation System: the production of crops for overseas markets performed by cheap or free labor (slaves/servants) with horrendous conditions. Sugar plantations became prominent in the Americas after colonization followed by tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton plantations.

• Smallpox: an acute, highly contagious, disease with high fevers, caused by the variola virus, and characterized by a red, bumpy eruption that often leaves permanent scars. Decimated the Native population, making it much easier to conquer them.

• Jesuits: a member of a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Spanish priest and theologian Ignatius of Loyola in 1534.

• Acculturation:the process of assimilating the cultural characteristics of another group, nation, country.

• Missionary: a person who is sent to a foreign country to spread Christianity.

• Religious Conversion: the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others.

• Colonization: the action of settling among the native inhabitants of a certain land or regain and inserting control over them.

• Conquistador: Spanish soldier during the exploration of the Americas who exploited Native Americans and took advantage of their resources.

• Fur trade: exchange of goods between colonists and Native Americans. Europeas, mainly the French, would barter manufactured goods and weapons with the natives in order to acquire animal furs that they had already hunted.

• Mercantilism: an economic theory which a country practices in order to attain wealth through trade with other countries, or colonies, by exporting more than what is imported, also referred to as government regulation.

• Triangular Trade: merchant ships followed trade routes that involved exporting goods from Europe to West Africa in exchange for slaves that were shipped to the New World which were exchanged for sugar and other resources that were transported to Europe.

• Indigeneous To-Know Tribes:

  • Sioux (last tribe that is able to withstand the American government and stay off reservations: good warriors) – traditional enemy are the Pawnee

    • Key crops: maize (corn), squash, potatoes, beans

    • City-like and state-like structures develop with leaders where people grew crops with irrigation and nutritious foods

  • Incas and Aztecs: Early civilizations, large populations, agriculture, and bureaucratic leadership with a capital city – controlled other lands and created trading routes while exchanging various goods in markets that were organized and regulated. 

  • Iroquois develop a confederacy while they defeat other tribes and force them to join them

    • Great Lakes develop trade with the French: beaver fur

  • Pueblos people – Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona: dry, hot, desert climate – agriculture with irrigation – cave cities → Pueblo revolt.

  • Cherokee – Trail of Tears 

Period 2: 1607-1754

• Intermarriage: marriage between people of different races, castes, or religions.

  • Many French married Native Americans to create good relations → only lasted for a short period of time.

• Chesapeake: In the Chesapeake colonies, African American communities were strongest because they were able to create strong nuclear families and extended relationships. The Chesapeake names, traditions, and knowledge were passed down to future generations, thus creating a distinct culture.

  • Maryland and Virginia, primarily tobacco driven economy; overproduction in the 1660s led to falling prices; labor shortages due to high death rate and Native attacks led to various methods to promote migration

• North Carolina: They refused a manorial society, and they raised corn, hogs, and tobacco on small family farms. They rebelled against taxes on tobacco and against taxes to support the Anglican Church.

• South Carolina: The white settlers were migrants from Barbados and they desired to re-create the island’s hierarchical slave society. They raised cattle and food crops to export to the West Indies. Trade with Indians was popular. Slaves were a large part of their economic wealth. 

  • Slavery in South Carolina was more oppressive. There were dirty working conditions, lots of mosquitos, and diseases.

• Tobacco: John Rolfe brought tobacco to VA, became the colony's first profitable export, led to the use of slaves and expansion with a need for more farmland. cash crop, formed the basis of the economy

• Indentured Servant: young people from England agreeing to work in the colonies for a specified period under contract with a master or landowner that pays for their passage

  • Popular in the Middle Colonies 

• New England: farming was limited. Most work was done by family members and an occasional hired laborer. The most profitable industries included logging, shipbuilding, fishing, trading, and rum-distilling. 

  • Slavery wasn’t as prevalent as the Southern Colonies. NE was more industrial and manufactured.

  • Colonists in New England established towns and villages around an open space. The dominant form of local government was the town meeting.

• Town Meetings: Informal public meeting, function, or event derived from the traditional town meeting of new england

  • Most adult men could vote in town meetings, which was the main institution of the government. It was a society of independent housing and self-governing communities. And even, farmers had more power than most other people. The farmers were able to select the town’s representative to the General Court. Colonial America is somewhat establishing a government that would soon look like modern democracies.

• Puritans: Protestants who did not separate from the Church of England and fled to the Americas to escape religious persecution as they wanted to reduce ceremonial rituals and the hierarchy present in the Church - not to be confused with the Pilgrims!

• Middle Colonies: an abundance of wheat and corn. Farming was very profitable. Indentured servants and hired laborers were popular. Small manufacturing efforts developed (iron-making). 

• Cereal Crops: corn, rice, wheat, and barley. Influenced the colonies and their economies.

• Metacom’s War (King Phillip):  A series of battles in New Hampshire between the colonists and the Wampanoags, led by Metacom, a chief also known as King Philip. The war was started when the Massachusetts government tried to assert court jurisdiction over the local Indians. The colonists won with the help of the Mohawks, and this victory opened up additional Indian lands for expansion.

• Epidemic Disease: some of the greatest epidemics occurred within the native american populations, where epidemics of smallpox, the measles, the bubonic plague, and many other diseases rampaged, coming from the europeans.

  • Epidemic diseases caused great demographic shifts within American Indian communities. Continuous trade with Europeans was the cause of these epidemic diseases.

• Pueblo Revolt: the revolt of 46 Native American pueblos against their oppressive Spanish rulers who were driven out of New Mexico. Once they regained power, the Spanish tried to ease tensions with the Compromise of 1696 claiming that the amount of forced labor was to be decreased, but the natives had to speak Spanish, accept a patriarchal society, and protect the Spanish against the attacking nomadic tribes. 

• First Great Awakening*: The Great Awakening (strongest during the 1730s & 1740s) was a movement of religious fervor among American people (very prevalent in New England). Preachers spread messages of personal repentance and emphasized faith as a way to avoid hell; suggested an equality between God and the Bible; the Awakening created conflict among those who argued about religion, its ideas helped build connections between the colonies; more denominations of Christianity were formed; a number of colleges were founded by those who accepted the GW. Democratizing effect on the colonies because it shaped the way people viewed authority. Once people realized they could make decisions about their religion without the power of a minister, why couldn’t they make their own political decisions without the authority of landowners and merchants: this would later challenge the royal rule of the king and his governors. It was the first unifying experience in the colonies

  • George Whitefield: influenced the GA in New England. He taught that people who expressed penitence could be saved by God’s grace

  • Jonathan Edwards: influenced the GA in the colonies. He also believed that ordinary people with a strong faith and genuinity could understand the gospels without depending on ministers. 

  • The Zenger case concerned the freedom of the press: Zenger was put on trial as he criticized the royal governor of New York and technically any newspaper printer was at a risk of being sent to jail if any article was offensive to a political authority. 

• Enlightenment: Ideas moved from Europe to become the New World’s seed of culture, intellectualism, and society. A  European movement around literature and philosophy that focused on human reason. John Locke, an English philosopher and political theorist argued that although the government is supreme, each individual is entitled to natural rights because they are human and that the power of the government resides within the people. He also argued in his Two Treatises of government that the people have the responsibility to overthrow an oppressive government, heavily influencing American politics. It connects to the idea of Deism, in which the universe was created by God and then abandoned; no supernatural controls would be exerted and all things were explainable by reason. 

  • White colonists exercised their right of free speech and a free press, tolerated a variety of religions and voted for representatives. 

  • Benjamin Franklin was a part of the American Enlightenment. He popularized the rational thinking of the Enlightenment in America. The European Enlightenment added a more secular approach to colonial life. 

• Anglicization: the act of making something or someone English in either character or form. Many English colonists adopted English customs, resulting in British-style houses and etiquette, etc.

• Atlantic Slave Trade*: The South Atlantic system produced sugar, tobacco, rice, and other tropical products. It centered in Brazil and the West Indies and SUGAR was its primary product. The Atlantic slave trade made the plantations grow in wealth. Because of the South Atlantic system, Barbados and other islands were transformed into slave-based plantation colonies. It generated a lot of wealth for Great Britain. Britain was in charge of sugar trading. Trade stimulated the British economy. The foundations for the Royal Navy were laid. 

  • The other industries that grew were the construction of port facilities ships, the refinement of sugar and tobacco, distilling rum from molasses, and manufacturing textiles and iron products. 

• Chattel Slavery: A system of bondage in which a slave has the legal status of property ⇒ can be bought and sold like property. 

• Established Churches: Established churches are religious institutions funded by the government. The Church of England resided in Virginia and the Congregational Church in Massachusetts Bay. These two were the churches to garner their power from taxes due to the favor of the crown in Britain who encouraged the money to go towards financing churches that support his nation and beliefs. 

Period 3: 1754-1800 (failures of articles of confederation → constitution) 

• Seven Years’ War/French and Indian War: Rivalry between France, Britain, and various Native American tribes over land in the Ohio region. The main causes of the conflict with Native American tribes were basically over land and territory. British settlers occupied much of the land, and to preserve their own land, the Native Americans pushed them against one another. Britain heavily relied on the Iroquois Confederacy to maintain an alliance and when the British angered them, the French joined the side of the Indians. George Washington fired on a French detachment, an Iroquis killed a French officer which created war because the British were forced to support the Iroquis. 

  • Ends with the Treaty of Paris in 1763: France gave Louisiana to Spain, Spain gave Florida to Britain, West indies colonies were returned to original colonizers

  • Britain won, with help from their Royal Navy → Britain gained sovereignty over half of North America and French Canada. 

  • Natives preferred the French because there were fewer of them and more respectful trading fur.

  • Proclamation Line of 1763 → restricted western settlement

• Consent: The idea that governments draw their power from the consent of the governed.

• Self-Rule: colony that exercises political authority over itself. Britain allowed the colonies to exercise self-rule until the Treaty of Paris after the Seven Years’ War which  would be a cause of the American Revolution.

• Benjamin Franklin: Benjamin Franklin was a part of the American Enlightenment. He questioned the morality of slavery (racially). He popularized the rational thinking of the Enlightenment in America. He founded the American Philosophical Society to promote useful knowledge. He invented bifocals, the stove, and the lightning rod.

• George Washington (1): John Adams employed the Congress to create a continental army to protect American liberty with George Washington as its leader. George Washington, as he was the unanimous choice for president, was the leader of the executive branch, Congress made decisions in the legislative branch, and the Supreme Court was the highest court in the country while dominating the judicial branch. Using permission from the Constitution, Washington nominated chiefs of departments that were approved by the Senate.

  • The Jay Treaty of 1794 – Britain evacuated its posts on the western frontier of the US, but they did not refrain from seizing American ships: this was a very unpopular treaty that angered the American supporters of the French Revolution.

  • The Pinckney Treaty 1795 – Spain opened the lower Mississippi River and New Orleans to American trade and they later accepted America’s claim to Florida’s northern border.

  • Whiskey Rebellion: Excessive taxes were passed on sales of items, especially whiskey, as Congress did not impose as high of tariffs that Hamilton proposed. A group of farmers in Pennsylvania refused to pay the federal excise tax which challenged the viability of the government. The farmers refused to pay the tax on whiskey that they distilled from surplus corn; therefore, they would attack revenue collectors. Washington federalized 15,000 state militia under Alexander Hamilton – the Whiskey Rebellion collapsed with little bloodshed

• Natural Rights*: Resistance was influenced by the English common law, natural rights, and the republican/Whig parties present in America. Americans utilized English law by appealing to the Magna Carta while certain restrictions violated privileges and liberties promised in colonial charters and England’s ancient constitution. Rationalism from the Enlightenment, such as John Locke’s natural rights of life, liberty, and property and the role of the government in addition to Montesquieu’s separation of powers among government departments to prevent totalitarianism, provided an intellectual basis for the revolution. 

• Thomas Paine-Common Sense: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense called for American independence and a republican government in the colonies. He critiqued the traditional monarchical order in an intellectual manner and personally attacked King George III. He used insults and biblical references to strengthen his argument and that the British government may have worked in the past, but it was now a type of tyranny led by the king and the aristocracy. Thousands of people read this pamphlet and garnered a lot of support regarding independence from the colonists and a republican government that represented the people. Patriots urged to separate from Britain, and finally the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Congress. 

• Causes of the American Revolution: 

  • At first, in 1763, colonists were not seeking independence from Britain, they just wanted “ taxation without representation,” treated with respect and having self-government and inalienable rights; however, over time, their ideas changed greatly as they then wanted independence from Britain and to create a nation with their desires independent from GB

    • Americans are beginning to wonder if the form of government that they are living under fits with enlightenment ideals of consent of the governed, or social compact

    • With help of enlightenment ideals

  • Colonists believed in enlightenment rationalism: limited government, individual liberties and protection of rights by the rule of law

  • The effects of the french and indian war → which led to the causes of the AR: 

    • Proclamation line of 1763: prohibited settlement beyond the Applachians; colonists largely ignored it 

    • Large military presence in America → considered to be a threat to liberty from the colonists 

    • Costliness of the french and indian war to reconsider the policy of salutary neglect 

    • Colonies gain a sense of unity 

    • Removal of the French “threat” gave colonists the chance to pursue more independent policies

      • France waited for a change to avenge their defeat → joined the american revolution on the side of the colonists 

  • Economic Causes: 

    • Sugar Act 1764: increased jurisdiction of admiralty courts, more search warrants, customs officials were given greater authority

    • Stamp Act 1765: french and indian war was expensive → british government needs money → tax on documents, stamps, etc → “no taxation without representation”

      • It was less of the monetary aspect and more about their liberties being stripped away from them

      • boycotts are the most efficient way to protest

    • Quartering Act 1765: colonists were expected to house and supply british troops → lack of privacy → colonists questioned the purpose and the British intention  

    • Townshend duties: taxes on lead, paper, tea, etc → new round of protests 

    • Boston Massacre: british soldiers have killed americans 

    • Coercive Acts/Intolerable Acts: believed they were threats to their liberty

  • T. Paine’s Common Sense: the emotional language encouraged Americans to accept independence as their goal

    • CAPP: the purpose is to convince Americans and unite them in the belief that they have to declare independence; the audience is for colonial citizens 

  • After the revolution, Americans sought to separate themselves from England and create their own style: literature, architecture, songs, etc. 

• Declaration of Independence: Thomas Jefferson made George III the villain while justifying independence and republicanism. Inspired by the Enlightenment, Jefferson listed self-evident truths such as equality, unalienable rights (John Locke) of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the government receives its power from the people (John Locke) and it can be overthrown by the people if it becomes abusive of its authority which can be considered popular sovereignty. The Declaration received support from France and Germany and there was intense celebration among the colonies  4th of July 1776.

• Republican Motherhood: the idea that women placed an emphasis on the welfare of the family and they would instruct their children about the principles of liberty and the government: this granted women power over the future as they were the ones teaching their children and they decided to seek out public roles for women.

• Haitian Revolution: The French Revolution inspired the Haitian Revolution: a French plantation in Saint-Domingue in the West Indies was divided between elite planters, free white people, and half a million slaves. Free men of color were excluded from fully participating in society. The French Revolution inspired a massive slave uprising that attempted to abolish slavery: led by a former slave-owning planter, Toussaint L’Ouverture, many black Haitians controlled the country and created the first black republic in the Atlantic world. Many planters, slaves, and other people on the island fled to America and their newspapers dispersed horrible insight on the war. Many American slaveholders feared that their own slaves would be inspired to revolt against them after the success in Haiti. Washington initially wanted to help the white people in Haiti, Adams (anti-slavery) aided the rebels and strengthened commercial ties, Jefferson was a southern slaveholder and advocate for France; therefore, Jefferson cut off aid to the rebels, created a trade embargo, and refused to recognize Haiti. 

• French Revolution: Many Americans initially supported the ideological reasoning behind the French Revolution as their goal was to abolish feudalism and create a constitutional monarchy; therefore, the radical Jacobins and the end of the monarchy garnered support from Americans. Jacobins now referred to one another as citizens, rather than subjects. However, unlike the American Revolution, the French Revolution led to the closing of Christian churches and advocating for a religion based on morality. Many religious Americans disapproved of this course of action; furthermore, wealthy Americans did not support their radical leader, Robespierre, and his followers who executed Louis XVI and other aristocrats out of fear of a social revolution in their newly established country.

• Articles of Confederation*: Main advantages: Congress attained the power to start war, propose treaties, send delegates to deal with diplomatic business, and borrow money. The US government did defeat the British and negotiated peace terms, in addition to allied help. Congress created a policy which allowed the government to survey and sell western land and set aside areas for public education – Land Ordinance of 1785. Congress also passed laws that set rules for establishing new states while limiting self-government and prohibiting slavery under the Northwest Ordinance 1787. Main disadvantages: The central government also lacked the power to impose tariffs on foreign imports or regulate interstate commerce. Congress did not attain the power to regulate business and trade or collect taxes. The states were negligent and so the national government was underfunded. It had to rely on the states’ tax laws voted on by those citizens in order to finance the government. It did not possessive enough executive power to enforce laws. The central government was weak financially: many debts were incurred from the war, useless paper money was issued, no taxation power, only could receive money donations from states for national problems. 

Furthermore, the Articles of Confederation didn’t have the ability to form a militia. Foreign problems arose as many important European powers disregarded America as a respectable country especially due to the fact that they were not paying off their debts or remaining united when dealing with a crisis. Britain and Spain planned to take advantage of the US by expanding their western territory. → it was an attempt at the right thing, but the execution was weak and the government faltered

• Shays’s Rebellion, led by Daniel Shay – a captain, Revolutionary War veteran, and farmer from Massachusetts, were farmers uprising against the state taxes, imprisonment for debt, and the lack of paper money available. 

  • Proved to be the wake up call and showed the need for a new constitution because there was a lack of centralized military power. 

• Whiskey’s Rebellion could be a synthesis point to shay’s rebellion because washington sent a militia and the rebellion was suppressed → shows the successfulness of the constitution

• The U.S.’ government’s inability to impose taxes, regulate commerce, or raise an army hindered its ability to defend the nation or pay its debts

• Constitutional Convention: The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The point of the event was to decide how America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, many delegates had much bigger plans.

  • Philadelphia Convention- The goal was to elect a presiding officer and whether or not the public should be heavily involved. The delegates planned to keep the meetings private and then discuss with the public once they arrived at a conclusion. Alter the articles of the Constitution. 

  • White males with a collegiate education came from all 13 states (besides Rhode Island) to revise the Articles of Confederation. These were relatively young and wealthy Americans who were familiar with the law and politics. 

  • Virginia Plan- drafted by James Madison, favored the larger states by having representatives from each state be based upon the population numbers. Larger states = more representatives in the government. Also called for the creation of three distinct branches in America’s government.

  • New Jersey Plan- favored the smaller states as it recommended each state to maintain one vote in Congress rather than being based off of the population proposed by William Paterson as it prevented larger states from monopolizing the government.

  • The Great Compromise- Roger Sherman from Connecticut proposed the Great Compromise which called for a two-house Congress. In the House of Representatives, representatives from each state would be based off of its population, whereas the Senate has equal representation.

  • Debate over Slavery- People debated over whether or not slaves should be taken into consideration for the state populations. This led to the 3/5 compromise, so each slave was counted as 3/5 of a person to determine a state’s taxation and representation. 

• International slave trade - 1808: The delegates agreed to allow the importation of slaves until 1808 and then Congress could vote to abolish slavery. Ending the importation of African Americans.

• Federalists: The Federalist party was led by Hamilton and these individuals supported his economic plan. Federalists grew popular and advocated for a strong central government. In the southern states and the western frontier, the Democratic-Republicans advocated for states’ rights. Federalists interpreted the Constitution loosely, they were pro-British, they wanted to develop a strong army/navy, support businesses, create a national bank, high tariffs, and garner support from Northern business owners and large landowners.

  • The Federalist Papers - Persuasive essays written by Federalist intellectuals such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay that supported the Constitution and a strong government. 85 essays which gave reasons to believe in the practicality of the provisions of the Constitution.

• Anti-Federalists: During the colonial times, factions would arise and vote for or against a specific policy. Once the issue was resolved, the factions would dissolve which resembled the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Anti-federalists were the opposite of Federalists who were typically small farmers and settlers in the west – obviously want the people to have the power. Anti-Federalists believed the Constitution granted too much power to the federal courts, at the expense of the state and local courts. They argued that the federal courts would be too far away to provide justice to the average citizen.

  • Thomas Jefferson was an anti-federalist.

• James Madison(5): wrote for the Federalist Papers. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison encouraged the others to hold another convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to revise the Articles of Confederation. He also created the basic framework for the U.S. Constitution and helped write the Bill of Rights. He is therefore known as the Father of the Constitution. He served as the fourth U.S. president, and he signed a declaration of war against Great Britain, starting the War of 1812. , Madison’s Nonintercourse Act of 1809 allowed the US to trade with foreign nations besides Britain and France. Macon’s Bill No. 2 allowed the US to trade with Britain and France, as long as they respected their neutrality. He brought the U.S. out of neutrality for the war.

• War of 1812: Causes: Europe continuously violated the U.S.’s neutral policy at sea and troubles with the British on the American western frontier, American belief that the British were arming/inciting Indians, American territorial ambitions for Florida and Canada. American resentment of the British from the Revolutionary war. Although both France and Britain seized American ships and threatened their free flow of shipping across the Atlantic, the British were worse as they impressed US soldiers. Americans on the frontier wanted to expand their territory into British Canada and Spanish Florida, but the British and their Spanish and Native allies created a problem. Results: U.S. gains more clout and respect from other nations from surviving two wars with Britain, Canada was a part of the British empire, Federalist party declined after its idea to secede, Nullification and succession would later be utilized by the South, Native Americans had to suffer from encroachment, American industry grew and became more self-sufficient after naval blockade, New political leaders such as Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison, Nationalism grew stronger and that there was a future for the US in western expansion.

  • Hartford Convention: Federalists opposed the War of 1812 → the Federalists died out as a result of this meeting 

• Post War of 1812 (Era of Good Feelings): Cultural nationalism increased in the west. Economic nationalism increased (Clay’s American System = ex)

  • Politically: Federalist party disappeared, Democratic Republicans had maintained and expanded through Federalist programs, John Marshall continued to assert federal authority 

• Alexander Hamilton*: He was the Secretary of Treasury. He proposed the Financial Plan (similar to Henry Clay’s American system). He advocated for the establishment of the national bank, assumption of state debts by the federal government, and a tariff system to pay off national debt (Financial Plan). He created the first national bank with George Washington’s support as it was a privately owned entity. He was a leader of the Federalist Party. His opponents included Jefferon who believed that Hamilton’s programs were only aiding a small elite group of people at the expense of the common man. He died from a pistol duel with Aaron Burr.

  • Election of 1800: In the election of 1800, the majority of individuals electing the president voting for Democratic-Republicans: Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The House of Representatives had to resolve the tie. Federalists still controlled the house, and Hamilton urged his supporters to vote for Jefferson because he posed less of a threat to their party than Aaron Burr and was of higher character despite Hamilton’s conflict with Jefferson; therefore, Jefferson won the election and the Democratic-Republicans took control of the House and Senate. The power passing from one party to another was typically violent; however, the Federalists accepted their defeat and relinquished their control of the federal government – Revolution of 1800.

• Bill of Rights: Federalists convinced individuals to vote to ratify the Constitution in their state elections; furthermore, they dealt with the backlash from Anti-federalists by adding the Bill of Rights where they addressed their concerns. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. James Madison wrote the amendments, which list specific prohibitions on governmental power, in response to calls from several states for greater constitutional protection for individual liberties.

• John Adams(2): He was a leader in the Continental Congress and an important diplomatic figure, before becoming America's first vice president. President John Adams resisted the popular movement for war with France as he recognized the weaknesses present in the U.S. Army and Navy and that they were not capable of handling a major power. He avoided the war and sent more ministers to negotiate in Paris. The Alien Act allowed the president to deport immigrants that were considered a dangerous threat to America and could detain enemy immigrants during war. The Sedition Act made it illegal for paper editors to criticize the Congress or the President and for those who violated this law, a fine or imprisonment was brought upon the violator.

• Democratic-Republicans: The Democratic-Republican Party, led by Jefferson, focused on electing candidates who opposed Hamilton’s viewpoints and absorbed the Anti-Federalists. Democratic-Republicans strictly interpret the Constitution, a weak central government, states rights, pro-French, develop small army and navy, favored agriculture, oppose a national bank, oppose tariffs, and garnered support from skilled workers, small farmers, plantation owners. They also supported the French Revolution’s ideals, but were against the Revolution’s bloody radicalism. 

• Thomas Jefferson*(3): He was the author of the Declaration of Independence. Before his presidency, he served as the first Secretary of State. When he took office, it was called the “Revolution of 1800” as it was the first time America has changed presidential political leadership (Federalist to Jeffersonian Republican) ⇒ this indicated that the U.S. Constitutional system would endure the very struggles that could come. His politics were characterized by support of states’ rights and power to the common people. He was a leader of the Democratic-Republican Party. His embodiment of the Jeffersonian Republican Party helped increase its strength, while weak leadership in the Federalist Party was a reason for its demise. He presided over the Louisiana Purchase. He did not approve of the Financial Plan because he thought it was only benefiting the rich and harming the farmers by putting them in debt. 

  • Louisiana Purchase/Lewis and Clark Expedition: after the Louisiana purchase, Jefferson convinced Congress to fund a scientific expedition, Capitan Lewis and Lieutenant Clark, that studied the trans-Mississippi West. They provided Jefferson with maps that included great details about wilderness, natural resources, and inhabitants.

  • Aaron Burr: dueled with Hamilton and tried to gain power.

  • Embargo Act (1807): this act prohibited American merchant ships from sailing to any foreign port. Jefferson hoped that the British would stop violating the rights of neutral nations rather than lose trade with the U.S. This did not happen ⇒ brought greater economic hardships to the U.S. ⇒ because it failed, Jefferson called for the repealment. 

  • Challenges to U.S. neutrality: France and Britain attempted to block enemy ports. British practice of capturing U.S. sailors who claimed were British citizens and impressing (forcing) them to serve in the British navy. 

  • Chesapeake-Leopard Affair: the British warship fired on the U.S. warship in the Chesapeake. 

  • Changes in Neutrality: upset by impressment as U.S. soldiers were taken by the British, but remained neutral.

• Northwest Ordinance: Congress also passed laws that set rules for establishing new states while limiting self-government and prohibiting slavery under the Northwest Ordinance 1787. It outlawed slavery above the Ohio River – dividing the country.

• California Missions: The California missions began in the late 18th century as an effort to convert Native Americans to Catholicism and expand European territory. Spain was responsible for the missions, which scholars believe were attempts to colonize the Pacific coast of North America. There were 21 missions in all, lasting from 1769 until about 1833. The mission system brought many new cultural and religious ideas to California, though critics charge the systematic oppression of Native Americans amounted to slavery. The main goal of the California missions was to convert Native Americans into devoted Christians and Spanish citizens. Spain used mission work to influence the natives with cultural and religious instruction. Another motivation for the missions was to ensure that rival countries, such as Russia and Great Britain, didn’t try to occupy the California region first.

• Mississippi River: Spain opened the lower Mississippi River and New Orleans to American trade and they later accepted America’s claim to Florida’s northern border under the Pinckney Treaty of 1795.

• George Washington’s Farewell Address*: Washington retired to a private life at the end of his second term. He wrote a farewell address to the public in the newspapers in 1796. He warned Americans to refrain from becoming involved in European affairs – neutrality, do not make permanent alliances in foreign affairs, refrain from forming political parties in American politics, and refuse to fall into sectionalism. Failure!

• American Revolution Causes:

  • Royal Proclamation of 1763: ends salutary neglect as they tell the colonists where they can and cannot move → colonists ignore it – British hoping to appease the Natives because they don’t want to deal with their revolts or wars

  • Currency Act of 1764: this banned the colonies in America from using paper money to make legal transactions. 

  • Sugar Act 1764: tax on sugar  actually lowered the tax overall, but the colonists weren’t paying the tax to begin with as they were smuggling molasses anyways – first direct tax to raise money for the British crown

  • The Stamp Act of 1765 ignited the first notable imperial crises and Grenville hoped this act would collect 60,000 euros per year. All printed items were to possess a stamp tax including diplomas, court documents, newspapers, contracts, play cards, and more. 

  • The Townshend Act of 1767 placed duties on colonial imports like paper, glass, paint, and tea hoping to raise about 40,000 euros annually. Some of these profits were to pay for American military expenses, while the majority was used to pay the salaries of imperial officials such as royal governors and judges.

  • colonial courts were composed of peers that would just free the accused merchants – in order to punish the people who violated these acts: vice-admiralty courts – use the law and those who broke it were usually guilty 

  • Leads to the Quartering Act → don’t want to build costly barracks, but there was an influx of British soldiers, called British regulars

  • Boston – rebellious → many troops enter Boston = Boston Tea Party (dump tea into the harbor as a reaction to the Tea Act), Boston Massacre (soldiers fire on unruly citizens), Paul Revere etc.

    • Standing army = big fear of Americans - create tensions

  • King George III issued the Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition. American merchants continued the financial war that began at the First Continental Congress by cutting off exports to Britain and its sugar islands; therefore, Parliament passed the Prohibitory Act which made trade with the colonies illegal. 

Period 4: 1800-1848 (foreign policy from 1800-1824) (impressment, embargo act of 1807, tension between the british that led to the war of 1812) (era of good feelings + good relations with GB)

• Tariffs: Tariffs were a divisive issue because John Q. Adams placed protective tariffs in order to simulate manufacturing in the United States, but the South opposed the rise in price of manufactures and smaller planters were afraid that a strong national bank would force them into bankruptcy. Anyone who was aligned with Jefferson’s hope that the country would be an agricultural society spearheaded by yeoman farmers would be upset by these tariffs. They did not support the farming economy and agriculture: it supported industrialization and manufacturers. Protective tariffs combatted Britain imports as Adams wanted the American market and industrialization to flourish. Jackson supporters in the north endorsed tariffs on raw materials, iron goods, and textiles. Tariff of Abominations: southerners had to pay so much more because the American goods had protective tariffs and so did British imports, placing the blame on Adams. 

• Democrats: Catholic immigrants and traditional protestants, poorer whites who were typically members of the agricultural community in the South, denounced American system and a consolidated government – limit the power, defended individual rights and encouraged state’s rights, condemned the moral ideas supported by the Whigs like abolishing slavery etc., laissez-faire approach – commoners could prosper, state’s rights, oppose federal support for internal improvements, support from Immigrants, hands-off approach to the economy, discussed the widening gap between rich and poor.

• Andrew Jackson*(4): The symbol of democracy in the first page of chapter 10 of Newman is the common American man under Andrew Jackson’s presidency. The maps reveal the expansion in voting rights for white men: farmers have more say, democracy, politics could appeal to more people, more divisions, electing less refined individuals, appealing to the common man. Jackson increased the power of the president, encouraged limited government, destroyed the American System, and focused on removing Native Americans. Jackson enforced officeholder rotation once a new administration came to power as he wanted to reward his allies and receive support for his policies. He was considered a self-made man and many Americans related to his background. Jackson’s politics were self-serving and show more of the corrupt nature of politics. Jackson worked towards limited government, but he expanded the powers of the executive branch. He threatened to utilize the national military force during the nullification crisis which set a precedent for Lincoln’s protection of the Union. He was a Jeffersonian: he interpreted the Constitution to a stricter extent, he destroyed the American System which encompassed internal improvements, a national bank to support economic growth, and reduced the protective tariffs. The government became more “limited” and frugal with its abilities. 

  • Nullification Crisis: 

• Whigs: Whigs initially formed in order to combat the monarchist ways of Jackson’s presidency and his policies. They essentially represented everything Jackson was against: a strong central government, emphasis on industrial workers and entrepreneurs, no permanent distinctions in the class system, reinstitution of internal improvements like the American System, and equal opportunity. Evangelical Protestants, pre-revolutionary Americans and the British party that opposed the corruption exercised by the monarchy, focused on the entrepreneur and creative enterprises championed by individuals, self-made individual – less rigid social order or restrictions, supported the American System and northern workers: protective tariffs, Calhoun: Southern Whigs still want slaves and do not support industrial capitalism, equal opportunity, less concerned about widening gap between rich and poor, no liberal capitalism, favor tariffs and banks, oppose Indian Removal, protestants feared immigrants.

• Henry Clay*: Henry Clay was appointed Secretary of State by President John Quincy Adams on March 7, 1825. Clay entered his duties on the same day and served until March 3, 1829. Famous as the “Great Pacificator” for his contributions to domestic policy, he emphasized economic development in his diplomacy. He proposed the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.

  • American System: a plan for economic self sufficiency ⇒ protective tariffs, national bank, federally funded internal improvements

• National Bank: A national bank was to be created where the government could deposit its funds and print banknotes that would promote a secure US currency. Northern merchants were the main supporters of this proposition as they would profit from the high tariffs and a stable currency. Washington supported Hamilton and the bank was voted into law, but it was privately owned. Now, the government could print paper money and utilize federal deposits to stimulate business. Henry Clay supported this proposition until Andrew Jackson believed the bank was a monopoly for the rich people and that it should not exist because it is not written anywhere in the Constitution – loose v. strict interpretation:  Necessary and Proper Clause (Congress’ implied powers) He vetoes an extension of the bank, and then transferred gold and silver to the state banks. Taney took the money out of the national bank: clear abuse of power. The bank expires and it goes bankrupt.

• Internal Improvements: internal improvements are included in Henry Clay’s financial plan. Providing internal improvements was an extremely important aspect to economic and cultural nationalism. They would help the East, and help promote growth in the west and the south. Both Madison and Monroe rejected that the Constitution did not clearly provide for the spending of federal money on roads and canals. Because Monroe vetoed Congress desire to provide funds for road building or canal building, the individual states were left to make internal improvements of their own. 

• Market Revolution*: Historians labeled this economic boom that resulted from the banking and transportation systems the Market Revolution. The Market Revolution was the increase in the exchange of goods and services in market transactions. The MR represented the increased output of farms and factories, the business activities of traders and merchants, and the creation of transportation systems, such as roads, canals, and railroads. Americans had better access to capital, more financial freedom, and more opportunities to buy and sell products over long distances. Cotton needed to be sold and transportation was important because it was so popular and it created a huge profit for cotton farmers and the American industry because other countries did not have the cotton gin. 

  • The shift away from moral economy → people began to grow crops and produce goods for MARKETS → that money (that is received from other people buying one’s goods) went to purchase goods by other markets → encouraged specialization

  • It was the beginning of the labor movement 

  • Eli Whitney and his interchangeable parts + cotton gin 

• Second Great Awakening*: The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival in the 1800s that excited numerous Americans across the country and inspired various reform movements. Revivalism was a reaction to rationalism, emphasizing  strong nationalism and the improvement of society through social reform. Created diversity in American religious sects and some anti-Catholic sentiment. Many recognized their sins and asked God for forgiveness: typically, emotional revivals that were outdoors alongside many other individuals. There was an emphasis on the individual which led to the idea of transcendentalism. The Evangelical Methodist and Baptist churches grew in membership which advocated for spiritual equality and promoted egalitarian communities with communal singing and passionate sermons. Evangelism began in large crowds that encouraged religious revival, such as frontier camp meetings, and garnered support from Enlightenment ideals and religious dissent. The individual has the power to change the world/society through their connection with God. Slaves also become very religious – believe that they will spend eternity in heaven, so they convert to Baptist and Methodist churches.

  • Charles Grandison Finney was a prominent leader of the Second Great Awakening. He was a Presbyterian minister who came from an impoverished farming family based in Connecticut. He worked in towns that were located adjacent to the Erie canal where he led revival meetings and encouraged people to exercise their ability to work towards salvation, also known as free will. 

  • The Benevolent Empire was a group of organizations who focused on saving the world from “corrupt” practices such as alcohol and other vices that led to an increase in poverty → abolition of slavery, education reform, prison reform, women's rights, and temperance. Rather than church sermons, reformers created organizations that appealed to the law with volunteers, a newspaper, and experienced staff members. They encouraged discipline and respect for all people.

    • Dorothea Dix: prison and asylum reform

    • Women drive the Temperance movement.

• Utopian: Mormons attempted to create a utopia, a perfect community that included all members, and others followed their attempt. They wanted to improve life in the face of increasing industrialism. Mormons place an emphasis on the family dynamic and its role in society and religion. Joseph Smith, the champion of this religion, worked towards a society driven by the Church and attempted to achieve moral perfection. It was similar to Protestantism because it encouraged individual success that came about from engaging in the capitalist market and working in factories. The Shakers kept property in common and ensured strict separation of the sexes to promote sexual abstinence and refraining from marriage. The Amana Colonies also encourage simple lifestyles and communal cooperation, but still exist due to their understanding of marriage. Oneida Community believed that everything should be shared including property and marriage partners, and they thrived off of creating and marketing excellent silverware. 

• Romanticism: It was a reaction against the excesses of the Enlightenment which led to a growing push for social reform. Transcendentalists were intellectuals who believed one could discover their inner self and find God in nature by utilizing mystical/intuitive practices of thinking. They believed that expressing one’s emotion through art was much more effective than pursuing wealth in a materialistic society. They did not show intense support for organized institutions and placed emphasis on the individual. Romanticism is a branch of transcendentalism because it focuses on artistic expression through literature and writing that encompasses emotion and nature: Ralph Waldo Emerson.

• Voluntary Organizations: the Second Great Awakening, Romantic beliefs, and liberal/social ideas fostered the rise of voluntary organizations to promote religion and secular reforms, including abolitionism and women’s rights. 

• Abolitionists*: The Abolitionist movement utilized steam-powered presses that had the ability to print a million pamphlets in order to overwhelm the country, especially the South, with anti-slavery texts. Former plantation owners championed the abolitionist cause and revealed the brutality slaves were forced to endure and the inherent violence that encompasses the system with evidence from southern newspapers and testimonies: Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Grimké sisters accounts.

  • William Lloyd Garrison was an abolitionist who argued that planters were facing eternal damnation as they prohibited African Americans to exercise free will given to them by God → He also started the American Anti-Slavery Society that was financially supported by merchants and editors alongside other organizations, and denounced racial bondage.

• Seneca Falls Convention: The Seneca Falls Convention consisted of 70 women and 30 men in New York which created a manifesto that women should be included in the egalitarian ideals championed by the Declaration of Independence. Women and men were equal, men should not have control over a woman in any way, better educational opportunities, property rights and more professions, divorce, and the termination of the sexual double standards. Women should be able to vote and gender equality in society! The movement grew despite criticism, continued to support abolition, called upon the church to end discussing female inferiority, and they pushed state legislatures to create laws that would allow women to testify in court and file lawsuits. Susan B. Anthony, heavily involved in the abolition and temperance movement, was a talented speaker and organizer and worked with Elizabeth Stanton to draft various manifestos. She encouraged lobbying state legislatures: a law in NY was passed to give women the control over their wages, to own property, and become the only guardians of their children if widowed.  

  • Religious revivals, the expansion of the middle class, the Industrial Revolution, and Second Great Awakening championed an egalitarian society with more opportunities for women: these ideas and sense of independence/leadership caused women to fight for more rights and opportunities. SECOND GREAT AWAKENING AND BENEVOLENT EMPIRE IMPACTS THE MOVEMENT. Very involved with the abolition movement.

• Steam Engines: The steam engine helped to power the Industrial Revolution. Before steam power, most factories and mills were powered by water, wind, horse, or man. ... Steam power allowed for factories to be located anywhere. It also provided reliable power and could be used to power large machines.

  • The steamboat added flexibility to the river transportation systems → these boats reduced the cost by half of upstream river transportation and immensely increased the flow of goods, people, and news. 

• Interchangeable Parts (Machine Tools): Machine tools were machines that made parts for other machines. This had a big impact on the growth of the industry because now humans did not have to make the parts for the machine, but rather a machine can do it better and more efficiently. It made other machines faster. Mass production spread and the American Industrial Revolution thrived.  

• Telegraph: The telegraph further represented a turning point because postal service was not the most efficient way to exchange information for merchants and manufacturers who do business across long distances. Samuel F.B. Morse and Alfred Vail designed a telegraph that sent signals through wire. They also invented a code for transmitting letters and numbers along a single wire by means of a contact key. Telegraph wires connect many states to one another and it created a transcontinental telegraph that connected from CA to NY; therefore, increasing the sharing of information and the facilitation of business. This helped to minimize the vast spatial differences and unified the U.S. A network of information shaped politics and culture on a national scale. 

• Roads, Canals, and railroads: Canals, roads, steamboats, and railroads made migration much more efficient. The transportation revolution cheapened the market for trade and encouraged population movement west of the Appalachian Mountains. Railroads greatly contributed to Westward expansion. Canals helped transport people, crops, and manufactures to and from the Midwest. 

  • connect settlements with one another and to facilitate the transportation of goods and people → National roads connected the Midwest and the east coast.

  • Erie Canal: biggest canal that altered the ecology and the economy of the region and brought prosperity to central and western farmers. 

• Ohio and Mississippi Rivers: Large numbers of international migrants moved to industrializing northern cities, while many Americans moved west of the Appalachians, developing thriving new communities along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

• American System*: Henry Clay was a member of the House of Representatives from Kentucky who created a plan that would support economic growth in America and move the U.S. towards industrialization. They were three crucial components: protective tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements. The tariffs would encourage American manufacturing and increase revenue which would allow the creation of a national transportation system composed of federally constructed roads and canals. The national bank would create a national currency which would allow the system to operate smoothly. Tariffs would benefit the east, internal improvements would benefit the west and south, while the bank would help everyone. Individual states were left to carry out the internal improvements on their own as the government under Madison and Monroe refused to provide money to construct roads and canals.

• Louisiana Purchase*: The Louisiana Purchase dramatically increased American territory: it doubled the size of the U.S.; furthermore, it removed any threatening European power from the borders while the western frontier expanded beyond Mississippi. Jefferson hoped that the country would become an agrarian society based on small farmers rather than an urban and industrial country. It increased Jefferson’s popularity among the people and made the Federalists seem to be a weak and sectionalist party that merely complained about the Democratic-Republican ideas.

• Indian Removal*:It was considered a humane policy to some as they believed moving natives would protect them from alcoholism, cultural decline, and others exploiting them for their money and resources, but many did not want to leave the lands of their ancestors. Jackson had spent his military career fighting Natives and taking their land. He claimed that the states possessed more power within the borders as he removed troops that had protected native enclaves. Many evangelical Protestants and women tried to block legislation. Most Americans viewed Native Americans as inferior If they are not removed, they could become extinct and create more conflict – less bloodshed for the natives, but Jackson did not move them humanely: Trail of Tears. The Indian Removal Act created territory for the natives on the land of the Louisiana Purchase and present-day Kansas and Oklahoma. Any native who gave up their ancestral land east of the Mississippi River was promised money and land here and live freely with their families. However, the Great Plains did not have many resources: poor farming conditions. On review of the case, the Supreme Court in Worcester v. Georgia ruled that because the Cherokee Nation was a separate political entity that could not be regulated by the state, Georgia's license law was unconstitutional and Worcester's conviction should be overturned, but Jackson did not allow this = abuse of power.

• Monroe Doctrine: Monarchies restored in Europe: America and Britain realized that they both needed to protect the Americas from European aggression. John Quincy Adams believed they needed to act separately from each other because then Britain would have to support US policy. And if a European power tried to attack South America, they would have to deal with the powerful British navy which would most likely defeat them. The Monroe Doctrine is the US policy towards the western hemisphere: European nations could no longer colonize in the area and to refrain from meddling in American business, and America would do the same as a free and independent nation.

• Missouri Compromise: The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state and Maine as a free state which preserved the balance in the government between the North and the South. A border was established: all land north of the line, besides Missouri, would be free territory. This physically and psychologically divides the country and sets the path for the Civil War.

• Population change: it was the beginning of urban centers → centers of finance (banking, investors, credit). Migration of Irish and Germans. Internal migration from suburban to urban. Greater wealth disparity between wealth and poor. 

  • Nativism as a result → white protestants = angry → anti-immigration → No-Nothing Party 

Period 5: 1848-1877 

• Manifest Destiny*: desire of expansionists to settle the entire North American continent, with their main focus on the present-day United States territory and the extension to the Pacific Ocean. Settlers also believed in white supremacy and that their race was superior to others; furthermore, they believed God blessed them with the task of educating the “racially inferior” people about republicanism and their government, and Protestantism. 

• Mexican-American War*: Mexican republic would not address grievances of US citizens, who claimed property losses and personal injuries resulting during the MExican Revolution. Territorial conflict between the United States and Mexico, caused by American claims to Mexican land bordering Texas (US said Rio Grande, Mexico insisted on Nueces River). Influenced by Manifest Destiny → increased American interest in Western territory Ended in 1848 through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, through which the defeated side, Mexico, recognized Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas and ceded the territories of California and New Mexico to the United States. This transfer of land is formally known as the Mexican Cession.

  • Mexico was newly independent and naively allowed Americans to buy land → Americans pushed for a revolt

  • Raised questions of slavery in the new territory 

• Civil War: Conflict between the Northern States, known as the Union, and the Southern States, known as the Confederate States of America. The conflict started in 1860, after Lincoln’s election and years of tension over the fate of slavery. It officially began with the Secession of South Carolina and the Battle of Fort Sumter. The Union Army was led by General Ulysses Grant and the Confederate Army was led by General Lee. The North won the War because of its industrial power, railroad system and bigger army.  

• Ireland: Ireland relied on crops such as potatoes and were forced to send all grain crops to England. Once the potatoes blight arrived, Irish people ate seeds to stay alive in order to combat starvation with no assistance from the British government. Millions died from malnutrition and diseases; therefore, many Irish people moved to the U.S. searching for better opportunities, work, and stable food sources. Many Irish families relocated to the U.S. and formed communities/supportive groups.  

• Germany: most immigrants had been able to fit into the White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant category. Many came from England, and then more immigrants came from Germany and Scandinavia. Like many other immigrants, Germans faced worsening opportunities for farm ownership in central Europe, religious persecution, and other economic/political problems. In America, they were promised better economic conditions, the opportunity to own land, and religious freedom → push/pull factors.

• Nativist: Nativists condemned the crowded urban areas that housed numerous immigrants, and the Irish way of drinking in pubs (prohibition), and how immigrants spoke their native language and endorsed businesses, companies, and papers of their culture. Certain nativists focused on denying immigrants the right to vote and the ability to hold office while making it more difficult to become a citizen. Native-born Protestants condemned the influx of Catholic Irish immigrants, making it more difficult to immigrate, and implementing literacy tests. Anti-immigrant, pro-slavery.

• Anti-Catholic: Anti-Catholicism was also a big component of anti-Immigrant sentiment as many nativists were Protestant and they believed the immigrants who did not fit into the WASP category were inferior and stealing American jobs etc.

• Positive Social Good: how the Southern planters referred to the practice of slavery, no longer a necessary evil. After the cotton gin and its immense profits, Southern plantation owners were desperate to maintain control over their slave labor and changed their southern ideology. 

• Mexican Cession: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo intensifies the debate over slavery. Extremely massive: Mexico had possessed vast western territories that the U.S. now had access to. The land acquired appears to be approximately a half of the present-day nation. The territory included the states of California, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, as well as part of Colorado and the Oregon territory. Many migrants were able to own their own plots of land and settle farms in these regions. Treaties among settlers and the Native Americans removed many titles from Native American possession. America had a much more apparent grasp on the western lands and would quickly develop/settle it. It dramatically increased the size of the country, just as the Louisiana Purchase had done.

• Compromise of 1850: A series of measures passed proposed by Henry Clay by Congress in 1850 to solve the debates on the expansion of slavery into the new territories. The Compromise included the admission of California as a free state, the right to popular sovereignty in the territories of Utah and New Mexico, the introduction of the Fugitive Slave Act and the prohibition of slave trade in the District of Columbia.  

• Kansas-Nebraska Act: This act furthers the divide between proslavery and antislavery groups through the creation of Kansas and Nebraska territories in which its citizens were allowed to utilize popular sovereignty (vote on whether or not they should allow slavery within their borders) which results in Bleeding Kansas - a violent conflict errupts in these territories as people crossed the border to vote on whether or not slavery should be expanded into these territories in order to gain power for either group.

  • John Brown - argued that slavery and freedom were engaged in a never-ending conflict. He organized a free-state militia during the guerilla warfare in Kansas to combat the pro-slavery groups and his group murdered proslavery settlers. He led a small army of black and white men to raid a federal arsenal in order to access weapons and incite a great rebellion to end slavery in the country. Brown’s rebellion failed and he was captured and executed. However, he was a threat to the South who relied on slavery and was proud of the institution.

• Dred Scott: Dred Scott, a slave, was not considered a free man in free territory. It was the Supreme Court’s effort to clarify Congress’ power over the institution of slavery. African Americans could never become U.S. citizens, they could not appeal to the rights granted in the constitution, Congress could not interfere with property rights (moving slavery into new territories), and that the Missouri Compromise and the Northwest Ordinance were unconstitutional. Fear arises over whether or not American territory is open to slavery.

• Second Party System: Two major parties dominated the political landscape: the Democratic Party, led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, assembled by Henry Clay from the National Republicans and from other opponents of Jackson. Minor parties included the Anti-Masonic Party, an important innovator from 1827 to 1834; the abolitionist Liberty Party in 1840; and the anti-slavery expansion Free Soil Party in 1848 and 1852. The Second Party System reflected and shaped the political, social, economic and cultural currents of the Jacksonian Era. Spurred by the presidential election of 1828, the Second Party System represented a shift toward greater public interest in politics. More people voted on Election Day, political rallies became common, newspapers supported different candidates, and Americans became loyal to any of a growing number of political parties.

• Republican Party: The Whig party dissolves as they could not reconcile their differences over the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Republican Party formed as a result and consisted of ex-Whigs, Free Soilers, Northern Democrats. They elect Lincoln who leads the Union throughout the Civil War and eventually abolishes slavery. Anti-slavery platform, not initially an abolitionist platform until the end of the war.

• Abraham Lincoln(5): The 16th US president, elected in 1860 as a nominee of the Republican Party. Moderate politician - not an extremist for either side. Planned to stop the expansion of slavery to the territories in hopes of gradually abolishing it in the future. Main goal was to preserve the Union. Led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War. Assassinated a month after the Civil War ended. 

• Free-Soil: The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into the western territories of the United States.

• Election of 1860*: Presidential election won by Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln. The South asserted that this election was a direct threat to their lifestyle, worried that Lincoln would abolish slavery. House Divided Speech → Lincoln believes the country has to become all one thing or the other.

• Emancipation Proclamation: Informal declaration that called slaves in rebellious states (essentially abolishing slavery in the South, not the North) to join the Union Army in hopes of weakening the Confederate states. Many African Americans did join the Union army which helped the North win the war. Although it has a symbolic significance, this declaration did not formally abolish slavery across the entire country.

• Gettysburg Address: Speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, paying homage to the soldiers who died in the war and reminding people that losing the war means losing the democratic principles upon which America was founded. 

• 13th Amendment*: abolished slavery in America: you cannot hold someone against their will as a laborer and force them into horrendous conditions → they could now legally marry and possess voting rights.

• 14th Amendment*:  claimed that any person born in the United States was an American citizen and no one could take away their rights and equality before the law. National citizenship triumphs state citizenship. It clearly defined the revolutionary citizenship of African Americans in the country.

• 15th Amendment*: ensured that all male Americans possessed the right to vote no matter their race, color, or past profession (referring to slavery). 

  • disenfranchisement (poll taxes, literacy tests, threats from the KKK) prohibits this amendment from being fully exercised.

• Reconstruction: Period following the Civil War, in which the Republican Party gained governmental power, allowing them to push an agenda of social and political reform. It can be divided into three phases: the presidential phase, the radical phase and the “redemption” phase.  Presidential Phase: Abraham Lincoln/Andrew Johnson. No one was punished for the South seceding; no message was sent through violence. If they would have sent this message, the South would have kept on fighting. But Lincoln’s pragmaticism made him focus on preserving the Union. Lincoln doesn’t want to execute ex-Confederate officers who were white. Forgiveness allows the South to get away with so much racism following the Civil War (too lenient). Johnson readmits the Confederate states, but most of the Southern states failed to fulfill the requirements – granted special pardons. Radical Phase → Best phase of Reconstruction, legislation passed, Freedmen’s Bureau provided help and resources to freed African Americans, displaced individuals, and refugees of the Civil War ( worked towards direct funding and investigating southern abuses), the Civil Rights Act of 1866 said that former slaves were citizens under the law and they were to be given equal rights, protection, and access to courts and Congress overrode Johnson’s vetoes. 

Redemption Phase → most unfortunate phrase of Reconstruction: KKK (white supremacy), Black Codes (precursor to Jim Crowe) Panic of 1873, Republcian Party changes to classical liberalism. In the Supreme Court Cases, the court allowed segregation to continue and grow as they did not uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1875. 

• Radical and Moderate Republicans: Republicans acquired a 3:1 majority in Congress after the 1866 congressional elections, allowing the Radical Republicans to secure influential positions. They fought to transform the backwards ways of the South and ensure African Americans were treated as rightful citizens of the country. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, the leader in the Senate who was the abolitionist who was almost beaten to death but the South Carolina congressman, and Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, fought for political and economic rights for freed African Americans. With their leadership, Congress had the power to override many of Johnson’s vetoes. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 divided the South into 5 military districts under the command of a military general. Southern states had to give the right to vote to freed individuals, not to ex-Confederate leaders, to reenter the Union. Generals were in charge of registering all eligible voters, overseeing constitutional conventions, and that these constitutions granted rights to African Americans. Moderate Republicans, like Lincoln and Johnson, were not worried about punishing the South, and the Radicals were the ones who ensured African Americans would be protected under the law.

• Sharecropping: An agricultural practice where former slaves rented land from white owners, having to pay with a share of their crops or money. This practice made it almost impossible for black farmers to improve their financial situation, as the owners usually took advantage of them. Furthermore, African Americans were often forced to live in the old slave quarters.

• Segregation*: A form of discriminatory systematic separation, either of institutions, facilities or social practices, on account of someone’s race. African Americans were segregated in the South despite Reconstruction measures. African Americans were lynched, threatened, and were forced to use separate facilities under implemented Jim Crowe laws. African Americans do not achieve true equality until the Civil Rights Movement.

• Underground Railroad: This was abolitionists’ attempt to aid runaway slaves by helping them escape the South and then provide them with lodging and job opportunities in free states in the North. Both African American and white people joined together to make this a reality. As more Northerners were made aware of the horrible conditions slaves were forced to face, the abolitionist movement grew and prompted individuals to sneak slaves into free territories. 

Period 6: 1865-1898

• Trusts: A trust is a small group of associates that hold stock from a group of combined firms and manage them as a single entity. Trusts quickly evolved into other centralized businesses forms, but progressive critics continued to refer to giant firms. Reformers began to view trusts as any large corporation that seemed to hold excessive power. America’s largest companies controlled ⅓ of the nation’s productive capacity.

• Laissez-Faire: free market would naturally produce the best and most efficient solutions to economic and social problems (opposed government intervention) (hands-off) → best to allow businesses to do what they wanted: trade freely, set their own prices, and determine workers’ wages and working conditions.

  • APUSH KEY CONCEPT: Some argued that laissez faire policies and competition promoted economic growth in the long run, and they opposed government intervention during economic downturns.

• Child Labor: Child labor was most widespread in the ex-Confederacy. A low-wage industrial sector emerged after Reconstruction which led commentators to hail the region as a more economically diversified New South. Many children worked in coal fields where death and injury rates were high. Kids were able to work if they were 12 and older because many families needed the extra money. And some children were even employed illegally.  

• National Labor Unions: There were brutal working conditions with harsh hours and a low pay; labor unions would be upset about the horrible conditions that workers face on a daily basis but also the fact that child labor was enacted and encouraged; African Americans were at the bottom of the pay scale → hey were discriminated against by corporations and industrial manufacturers; some people were too positive and optimistic about industrialization because they believed it was going to bring prosperity

  • Most labor advocates emphasized this strategy: make political alliances with sympathetic rural voters who shared their problems

  • Knights of Labor

    • The Knights of Labor was the most important union that consisted of a secret society of garment workers.

    • Knights believed that ordinary people needed to control over the enterprises in which they worked. They encouraged workers to set up shops owned by employees, transforming American into a cooperative commonwealth (what they called it). 

    • they practiced open membership, irrespective of race, gender, or field of employment.

    • They demanded workplace safety laws, prohibition of child labor, a federal tax on the nation’s highest incomes, public ownership of telegraphs and railroads, and government recognition of workers’ right to organize. 

  • AFL → American Federation of Labor (Samuel Gompers) 

    • After the Haymarket violence, it led many to lead the Kings of Labor coalition and form a separate American Federation of Labor.

    • The AFL made up the skilled and well-paid workers who were less interested in challenging the corporate order.

    • wanted better wages, hours, and working conditions

    • It was less welcoming towards women and blacks and it included mostly skilled craftsmen. The exclusivity would be a problem in the future.

• New South: the New South was a vision of an enriched economy with expanded manufacturing facilities and commerce. The most notable New South initiative was the introduction of the textile mills and the tobacco factories. The benefits of the new south did not apply to African Americans or poor whites. The New South largely failed becasue of the horrible working conditions, child labor, etc. 

• Populists (People’s Party): farmers and industrial workers aligned to join the people’s party. The Kansas Alliance joined with the Knights of Labor to create the People’s Party. They electrified labor and agrarian radicals nationwide. They took up some of the farmers’ demands and those from the industrial side too. They had representatives in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Rep. Their Omaha Platform called for public ownership of railroad and telegraph systems, protection of land from monopoly and foreign ownership, a federal income tax on the rich, and a looser monetary policy to help borrowers. Some even protested and intimidated railroad workers. They represented a grassroots uprising of ordinary farmers. The populists appeal to the blacks because they wanted to help farmers and wage earners (especially those in poverty). Populists also did not believe that race was a problem. Populists threatened the foundations of southern politics. Democrats then called themselves the “white man’s party” and denounced Populists. The White Democrats destroyed the Populists in the south with fraud and violence. They stuffed ballot boxes and killed others.

• Americanization: Goal to assimilate immigrants into the American society.Built schools to teach immigrants the language and other skills needed for citizenship. Many resisted the movement because they want to rely on ethnic communities for social support.

  • Ex: building boarding schools for Native American children where they learn “American” skills

• Consumer Culture: Markets brought an array of goods to consumers who could afford them. Railroads facilitated the transport of fresh produce to grocery stores. Soon, there would be chains of stores that would stretch nationwide. The department store was created. department stores developed economies of scale that enabled them to decrease prices. The consumer culture began to develop. Consumer demand vastly increased. 

  • Everything was dominated by the consumption of commercial products

• Political Machines: A political machine was a highly organized group of insiders that directed a political party ⇒ they commanded enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a certain area. They consisted of lawyers and political functionaries. They gave jobs and patronage, arranged for urban services, and were determined to stay in office year after year. Immigrants would vote for them because they provided jobs and arranged housing for families. Immigrants believed that very few middle-class Americans cared about the plight of immigrants or poor people, but they could rely on political machines because they provided what they needed without moral judgment. They believed that all prejudices were set aside. Machine-style governments achieved success. They arranged for companies to better the urban cities (sanitize, cleaner water, etc).

  • Political machines changed the life of an average American 

  • Massive public projects such as parks and sanitation improved the cities and these political machines spearheaded them because cities did not have access to legitimate cash from the government. 

  • Newly elected politicians worked to curb the power of machines and implement new reforms. 

  • Most notorious political machine: Tammany Hall. They were corrupt if they took bribes or the money ended up in the politician’s pockets, instead of helping them. After this, machine corruption became more secretive, but it was still relevant

• Transcontinental Railroad*: The first transcontinental railroad brought jobs and money. There was a right to business. There was a tremendous amount of trading and tourism. The railroad would populate the vast territory and make America “the highway of nations.” It also stood as a political achievement and triumph. They believed that the railroad would preserve the Union. It helped bring America to become an industrial power but it also increased their rivalry with European rivalries and there were new patterns and forms of exploitation. There were bountiful natural resources to be found out west and land that was available for commerce. TRANSFORMED AMERICAN CAPITALISM 

  • Railroads offered the promise of year-round, all-weather services. Trains could run in the dark and they never needed to rest, except for coal and water. Steam engines could cross mountains and rocky gorges where animals and canals could never reach. Railroads opened vast regions for farming, trade, and tourism. 

  • The U.S. decided to take the private approach in regard to railroads and transportation. The federal government provided loans, subsidies, and grants of public land. States and localities lured railroads with offers of financial aid. Without aid, railroad networks would not have grown as fast as they did and they probably would have been concentrated in urban regions only. 

  • The U.S. brought in Chinese immigrants to work on the railroads because they have had successful construction projects in the past (great wall)

    • Miners were mostly immigrants or displaced people who lost their land from the railroads

  • The west was a land of opportunity because the soil was deep and fertile → good for farming. Immigrants brought new crops that were tolerant of dry and hot conditions. The motivation for most settlers, either for Americans or immigrants was to better themselves economically.

• American Bison: Indians there had become heavily dependent on the plains bison for food, shelter, clothing, trade, and much more. American settlers found that bison hides could be processed into commercial leather, and white hide-hunters immediately set out to meet that demand. Once the herds were gone, plains Indians (depended on the buffalos and worshipped them) had no true option but to turn to reservations and dependence on federal support. 

  • the slaughter would have been unlikely, probably impossible, had railroads not provided the means to ship the hides and bones off to eastern factories

  • it was what kept them alive

• Assimilation*: reformers wanted new policies that would destroy Native people and their traditions and assimilate them into the American culture. Reformers focused on educating the next generation → therefore, they created boarding schools for the Native American children to assimilate to white culture. Native families were exhorted, bullied, and bribed into sending their kids to the boarding schools where the boys would learn farming skills and the girls would practice housekeeping. They had to speak English and if they didn’t, they would be punished. Most Indians had been pushed off of traditional lands and were assigned to barren ground where they could grow nothing. These boarding schools sought to strip away tribal culture from the children so they would be “civilized.” White men believed that Indians were savages and uncivilized. They were forced into assimilating to white culture. 

• Gilded Age: a phrase coined by Mark Twain to describe the new industrial era → a massive growth of industry and technology in the United States that followed the Civil War and lasted until the beginning of the 20^th century. America emerged as the world’s leading industrial and agricultural producer. 

  • profits became increasingly centralized in the hands of fewer people. 

• Social Darwinism: This idea that success was “naturally selected” bolstered the pride and self-justification of industrial wealthy white men who agreed with Spencer’s findings and beliefs. This relates to industrialization because as a result of Social Darwinism, wealthy white business owners believed that massive growth of large businesses was just like survival of the fittest.

  • It could be used as a justification of the excesses of those on top because wealthy business owners believed that it wasn’t evil but rather that God chose them to be wealthy and successful. It was an excuse for the worst excesses of industrialization. 

• Gospel of Wealth: This was a book written by Andrew Carnegie, steel titan, that described the responsibility of the rich to be philanthropists. This softened the harshness of Social Darwinism as well as promoted the idea of philanthropy.

• Agrarians: because of industrialization, the cities now were different than before because the majority of people now lived in cities where the best jobs were located →  and the economy was transitioning from an agrarian society to urbanization. 

• Utopians: Utopianism was an attempt by cooperative communities to improve life in the face of increasing industrialism. Groups practiced social experiments that generally saw little success due to their radicalism. Utopianism included attempts at sexual equality, racial equality, and socialism. 

• Socialists: Political belief in promoting social and economic equality through the ownership and control of the major means of production by the whole community rather than by individuals or corporations. Linked to communism.

• Social Gospel*: Social Gospel is characterized as the goal of renewing religious faith through dedication to justice and social welfare. Its goal was to encourage people to live like Jesus Christ, meaning to spread love, help others, be forgiving, and other aspects of Jesus’ message. The Salvation Army epitomizes Social Gospel because its members offered assistance to those struggling to survive and carried out various charity projects to elevate the standard of living for the less fortunate; furthermore, it also created a harmonious bridge between these Social Gospel reformers and Protestants. 

• Jane Addams*: The Hull House was a social settlement, a community welfare center, that addressed the issues of poverty that many poor people faced, and encouraged advocacy. Jane Addams was the founder of the Hull House which worked towards improving the community and achieving political reforms. Addams worked towards giving these poor citizens a political voice, day care, classes, and recreation centers, cooperative kitchens and banks, improving health through nurse/doctor appointments, awareness regarding public health and safety issues in which they would complain to the city council. Settlements worked to deal with social and industrial problems that hindered peoples’ lives. They were utilized to institute more effective laws, better educational opportunities, dealing with sanitation issues, flaws in the criminal justice system and the establishment of juvenile courts, and the birth control movement. Social workers advocated for social justice. She was a middle class woman and the Hull House is a settlement house installed in a ghetto of Chicago. The house inspired many other like settlements across the country, while Addams spent her lifetime battling for garbage removal, playgrounds, better street lighting, and police protection.

• Upton Sinclair: Upton Sinclair was a journalist who utilized his novel, The Jungle, to expose the horrors that continued to persist in the working conditions of industrial laborers. He highlighted labor exploitation with a specific focus meatpacking plants in Chicago (rotten meat and filthy packaging). This led to the Pure Food and Drug Act and the creation of the Food and Drug Administration to enforce the new law under the federal government. Citizens were more concerned with the food conditions rather than the plight of the workers. 

  • Others: Jacob Riis: photographer exposing the tenements

  • Triangle Factory Fire → unethical labor system

  • Lincoln Steffens was a muckraker who published works that exposed the corruption within the country’s urban governments. He exposed powerful politicians and accused them of using dramatic language to sway the reader. It called for better regulation/governance over the cities.

• Settlement Houses: Typically run by educated, middle-class women. The first one was the Hull House established by Jane Addams. Immigrants came to live upon them after entering the U.S. At Settlement Houses, instruction was given in English and how to get a job, among other things. They provided services such as a library, nursery, music school, etc. and engaged in reform movements such as fighting to improve workplaces, housing, sanitation, advocated against child labor laws, women's rights, etc. Although settlement houses failed to eliminate the worst aspects of poverty among new immigrants, they provided some measure of relief and hope to their neighborhoods.

• Plessy v. Ferguson*: Plessy v Ferguson essentially claimed racial segregation was constitutional in public facilities as long as both facilities were in equal conditions. Thurgood Marshall was a NAACP lawyer (synthesis to Civil Rights movement in Brown v. Board of Education) who fought against racial discrimination. His goal along with other lawyers was to utilize the 14th Amendment’s equal protection claim to convince the Supreme Court to overturn the 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson which endorsed racial segregation under its “separate but equal” doctrine.

  • Separate but equal 

• Monopolies: Industrialization allowed technological innovations to flourish and business to expand while encouraging the creation of new equipment alongside large profits. Big business grew in correlation to America’s expanding population, conquering of the west, and a connected network of markets. The main natural resources businesses used were fossil fuels, oil, coal, and gas, to shape the economy, environment, and communities. 

  • Gustavus Swift: Vertical integration referred to the model in which a company controlled all aspects of production from raw materials to finished goods. It improved productivity overall, took advantage of all resources, and reduced costs. Predatory pricing was utilized, the practice of reducing prices in certain markets to harm the competitors and raise prices once other companies went under.

  • John D. Rockefeller: Horizontal integration refers to the practice of pushing competitors to the brink of failure and then allowing them the opportunity to merge into the corporation. Many mergers occurred which led to monopolies that would control the country.

• Industrial Revolutions:

  • First Industrial Revolution: canals are the major transportation source, cotton  which spurs the production of manufactured textiles, clothes.

  • Second Industrial Revolution: revolution in steel and oil and are mass produced by monopolies. Railroad is the largest employer at one point and the fastest transportation system.

Period 7: 1898-1945

• Progressives: Progressives across the country responded to political and economic uncertainty; they called for greater government action regarding social issues such as women's suffrage, the prohibition of alcohol, political corruption, and economic inequality. The major goals of the progressives were to promote the ideas of morality, economic reform, efficiency and social welfare. Increasing democracy (direct primaries), protecting the environment, promoting universal suffrage, etc.

• Personal Mobility- Automobile*: Henry Ford introduced the assembly line into his automobile factories, enabling his company to mass produce cars quickly, making them more available and less expensive for Americans. Consequently, more Americans were able to own cars and engage in the consumer culture: consumption was revolutionized with the purchases of cars in addition to radios, clothing, machinery, etc along with the expansion of credit.

• Great Depression: An uneven distribution of income relates to low wages for laborers while the richest Americans only grew wealthier. Stock Market speculation refers to individuals buying on margin and relying on an increase in price of their stock in order to repay their loans. People bought too much on credit and created an intense debt problem as  individuals were allowed to buy stock on credit. Consumerism: people have to buy things in order for businesses to grow so the economy can flourish, but people can't afford any more consumer goods → vicious cycle of slowing down consumerism which brings on a recession: underconsumption and overproduction: prices fall. The stocks decrease, consumerism fails so businesses lay people off – don’t have the money or resources to keep employees. Excessive use of credit created an extreme debt problem as too many people increased their use of loans/credit. Overproduction of consumer goods reveals too many products were being created, and not enough people could afford to buy them. A weak farm economy refers to farmers’ struggles after World War I as they never achieved consistent success and faced difficult conditions. Government policies trusted business and did not monitor their activity; additionally, the Federal Reserve maintained strict money policies instead of encouraging a stable economy. Global economic problems relate to the interdependence among nations after the first World War which only made the depression worse. 

  • Context: The Hawley-Smoot Tariff was approved by Republican President Hoover which caused problems between trade with other countries around the world who proposed retaliation tariffs which fueled the decline in the economy, sales, and wages and an increase in unemployment

• Prohibition: Prohibition prevented the sale of alcohol across the country through the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act that were supported by organizations such as Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. It was mainly promoted by native, conservative Protestants who resided in small communities. Their goals for prohibition were to remove any temptations that would affect one’s health or Christian values. Furthermore, they hoped prohibition would keep immigrant workers away from immoral practices and increase their standard of living, and eliminate the nefarious saloons. This did not affect the alcohol consumption rate which only mildly decreased as immigrants and working-class laborers couldn’t afford to pay the price of alcohol on the black-market. Illegal speakeasies appeared in cities where infamous gangsters accumulated profit. 

• Women's Suffrage: After the success of fair pay for female workers during World War I and a shift towards a more progressive era, women began to realize that they could achieve more outside their home employment with women’s suffrage. Together, multiple women’s parties, such as the NAWSA, rallied for women to patriotically fight for the right to vote, which was later ratified under the 19th Amendment. Following the fight to vote, women began to also fight for other privileges, such as a social-welfare program, and created more organizations, such as the ERA, that would protect these fundamental rights. Unfortunately, while white women were largely affected by this movement, African American women were not. 

• Preservationists: associated with the protection of buildings, objects, and landscapes.

  • Preservationists want the maintenance of a resource in it present condition, with as little human impact as possible

• Traditionalists vs. Modernists: The Scopes “Monkey” Trial further reveals the battle between traditionalists and modernists as the groups fought over the teaching of evolution. Traditionalists believed that the scientific process should only be supported by the Divine creation in the Bible, whereas modernists supported Darwin’s theory of humans and primates evolving from the same species. John T. Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was condemned for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution to his class and was sentenced to prison; fortunately, it was later overturned, but the rule of only teaching the Divine creation remained for about 30 more years.

• Conservationists: The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to protect natural resources, including animal and plant species as well as their habitat for the future.

  • Numerous national parks and set aside beautiful landmarks under the Antiquities Act (Grand Canyon).

• Welfare State: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BECAMES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELL-BEING OF AMERICAN PEOPLE. Social welfare, more government regulations and intervention. The new fundamental right that was added during the New Deal was that the government must take action to provide assistance for those in need and ensure that all citizens participate in the basic welfare programs.

• Franklin D. Roosevelt*(6): FDR’s personal charm captured the attention of many Americans as his personality and willingness to experiment new policies instilled hope in the future of America. Some evidence to prove that he had rapport with the American people were his successful New Deal, appearing relatable to the general public despite being a wealthy individual, and utilizing the radio through his fireside chats where he would intimately address American citizens. A sympathetic congress consists of allies from FDR’s political party, Democrats, who fully supported the innovative ideas that were presented; therefore, FDR would not have achieved as much if they weren’t sympathetic, meaning mostly Republicans who held different opinions, because there would be more backlash and conflicts between the parties. The House and Senate were mostly Democrats who held similar beliefs. The Hundred Days refers to the 15 important bills that Congress passed within the first few months of FDR’s presidency that mainly focused on the failure of banks, the overproduction of agriculture, plummeting businesses, and the extremely high rate of unemployment.  

• New Deal*: FDR achieved relief through combatting the unemployment problem that plagued America after the Great Depression as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration provided funds for state relief programs, and the CWA/CCC providing countless of American men jobs in construction and reforestation. He achieved recovery through the Federal Housing Administration which helped people pay off their mortgages and attain their homes, and moreover the number of Americans who could own homes increased. FDR instituted reform such as governmental regulation of banks and restrictions on the stock market to ensure major crashes wouldn’t occur to the same extent and drastically affect all of America. He achieved very much through his various programs.

  • CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps: built roads, bridges, trails, infrastructures

  • HOLC: Home Owners Loan Corporation: refinanced home mortgages, help Amricans retain homes

  • Federal Housing Administration allowed more Americans to own homes

  • Securities and Exchange Commission places restrictions on the stock market → limit credit transactions and prevent sale of stock to insiders

    • Government Regulation!!!

  • Wagner Act protected the right of industrial workers to become members of unions and prevented employers from firing workers if they organized activities.

  • The Fair labor standards act: minimum wage laws were introduced

  • The National Labor Relations Board further protected the right to unionize and ensured the safety of their workers. 

  • The Social Security Act further develops the welfare state that placed the responsibility for the well-being and safety of citizens on the federal government. 

• Radio: The radio and the developing record business along with city dance halls featured jazz music which prompted its spread across the nation. Jazz is such an important invention because it influenced genres of music that are popular among American citizens today. It allowed African American jazz musicians and European performers to create popular tunes: these were mainly composed by African American artists, while Europeans were able to add components of their classical music.  

• Cinema: movie theaters were being established in many towns, many Americans frequently went to see movies, the movie industry became big - Hollywood. Influences popular culture.

• Harlem Renaissance*: During the Harlem Renaissance, artists, writers, and individuals advocated pride for being African American and found a voice for themselves. Many African Americans moved to Harlem which became a supportive cultural center. Painter Jacob Lawrence used beautiful techniques and colors to reveal the struggles and goals of African Americans, while Zora Neale Hurston traveled throughout the South and the Caribbean compiling information such as African American fairy tales, songs, and religious beliefs. It was really a rebirth of African American pride and how they attained a newfound sense of confidence and power through these new artistic communities. Jazz music was one of the most important products of the Harlem Renaissance and exposed African Americans to big recording labels and the spotlight of American culture.

  • Marcus Garvey, an immigrant from Jamaica, managed the Universal Negro Improvement Association which advocated for the respectful treatment of prideful African Americans. He garnered a lot of attention and support through inspiring actions such as the UNIA publishing its own newspaper and collecting assets for the Black Star steamship company. Garvey promoted this project in order to increase trade with the West Indies and provide a safe passage for African Americans to Africa, where Garvey advised his supporters to relocate as they would not be treated justly in any country where the Caucasian race was dominant. 

• Red Scare*: After WWI, Russia erupted in their Bolshevik revolution and overthrew their tsar. U.S. General Palmer, fearing similar groups of radicals in America, conducted the Palmer Raids during the Red Scare to arrest suspected communists (many Eastern European/Italian immigrants) or anarchists and deport them with no legal representation/rights. It was a fearful time regarding the communist ideology which would be carried into the Second Red Scare under Joseph McCarthy. The Loyalty-Security Program under Truman allowed officials to interrogate any individual who worked for the government if any sign of disloyalty appeared; however, many abused this program while many were convicted with barely any evidence and people obsessively searched for anyone who wasn’t a “normal” fit in the government, including the LGBTQ+ community. 

• Modernism: Modernists were people who embraced new ideas, styles, and social trends. For them, traditional values were chains that restricted both individual freedom and the pursuit of happiness. As these groups clashed in the 1920s, American society became deeply divided.

• Quotas: The National Origins Act of 1924 essentially used old census statistics to dictate the amount of immigrants that could migrate from European countries to the United States based on the number of European citizens from their country present in 1890; furthermore, the number of foreigners coming from that specific country could not surmount 2% of their population present in 1890, which was often an extremely small number. This is incredibly significant to US history because it emphasized immigration regulations and created tensions between natives and individuals who moved to the United States. This issue remains prominent today: the laws have slightly shifted, as immigration has become easier for Europeans, but immigration for Mexicans has grown increasingly more difficult under the current government administration. Furthermore, the act influenced other anti-immigrant measures as Asian American lives were limited through these new regulations and put them in a vulnerable position during World War II.

• Great Migration*: The Great Migration was the movement of around 6 million African Americans emigrating from the rural south to the urban north. Many African americans came to the north looking for better rights (such as being able to vote), some came for better job opportunities (especially wartime jobs as WWI required the production of more weapons), while some came for better housing.

• Spanish-American War*: The Spanish American War of 1898 was when America became a world power. America supported groups who resisted Spanish rule, the Spanish supposedly sank a US battleship in Maine, and American imperialism were the causes of the war. The United States gained territories outside of the country: Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Guam.

  • The Teller Amendment essentially stated that the United States did not want to maintain control over Cuba, they merely wanted the island to gain independence. The Platt Amendment clearly contradicts that as Cuba was forced to integrate it into its constitution which stated the Cuba could only create treaties with the United States and the United States possessed the power to intervene in Cuban affairs when it seemed necessary and America had access to Guantánamo Bay (allowing the U.S. navy base to reside there). 

  • The Roosevelt Corollary granted the United States the power to watch over the entire Caribbean. 

• Woodrow Wilson(7): Advocated for democracy and peace. Fourteen Points after WWI that included the League of Nations. Wilson passes the female suffrage amendment. Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States who is famous for bringing about a reformation in America through his antitrust laws, establishing the Federal Reserve System and winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the international organization League of Nations.

• World War I: The U.S. navy played a crucial role in blockading Germany in order to help the Allies defeat the Central Powers the war (caused by nationalism, imperialism, and militarism ignited by the assassination of the archduke of Austria-Hungary). The U.S. entered the war due to Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare and fear of an alliance with Mexico. President Woodrow Wilson created the Fourteen Points in the Treaty of Versaille to establish peace among the nations.

  • League of Nations: Wilson’s Fourteen Points was proposed at the conference in Versailles to maintain peace and push the world in a progressive direction: important ones include open diplomacy; absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas; arms reduction; removal of trade barriers; and national self-determination for peoples in the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and German empires. Wilson believed this could be possible with the creation of the League of Nations in order to grant every country independence and integrity, deal with disagreements, regulate arms production, and stop aggressive nations with military tactics. Wilson believed that this would emit the need to ever have a war again, but his plan did not succeed. The U.S. never joined.

  • Treaty of Versailles: France and Britain marginalized certain individuals and nations, especially Germany and Russia, in a way punishing them with certain provisions, that angered them and would lead to WWII. Germany was forced to pay reparations for the war damages and give up their resources, ships, patents, and territory to France: they suffered a severe economic depression. They wanted to punish the defeated nations which reveals the peace among equals ideal was not recognized for its impactful potential. 

• World War II: The U.S. formally entered the war after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor despite neutral U.S. showing clear support for the Allies - Great Britain/France - against Nazi Germany (Holocaust) and the Soviet Union (until the Battle of Stalingrad). The war heavily increased the power of the federal government as it supported an army, assembled a workforce, and increased the production of weapons - ending the Great Depression! Impactful results include the Double V-Campaign, Japanese internment, atomic bombing of Japan, migration to cities, women in the workforce, and eventually the Cold War - MIC.

• American Expeditionary Force: On September 12, 1918, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) under General John J. Pershing launched their first major offensive in Europe as an independent army. Their successful campaign was a major turning point in the war for the Allies. Ultimately, U.S. forces helped to defeat Germany earlier than expected.

• Isolationism: General Nye was the generally progressive Republican senator of North Dakota who started the investigation into the profits of weaponry manufacturers during World War I as a response to the isolationism that was spreading across America about World War II involvement. Neutrality Act of 1935 which was to prevent America’s involvement with WWII. It placed an embargo on selling weapons to countries partaking in war and citizens who traveled with warring nations were doing so understanding the risk. The United States and most Americans clearly supported Britain and France during the war. Cash and Carry Policy: allies of America who were engaged in warfare could buy weapons and consumer goods from the United States as long as they paid by cash and used their own country’s means of transportation. The Committee to Defend America was led by William Allen White and fellow interventionists who believed the U.S. should provide assistance to their allies in WWII despite neutrality. The National Defense Advisory Commission (increase in defense spending and military alliance with Britain), the Four Freedoms speech (FDR endorsing the actions of Britain and France), the Lend-Lease Act (lend GB weapons), and the Atlantic Charter (joint-press release with Churchill) were the steps defied “neutrality” and were taken to prepare for an inevitable involvement in WWII. 

• Japanese Internment: Japanese Americans were horribly treated during WWII. Despite German and Italian citizens being free, Americans became fearful of Japanese Americans after the Japanese military attack Pearl Harbor. People in America, but especially on the West Coast grew wary of Americans with Japanese ancestry who were actually quite small in number: therefore, it was decided to set up internment camps where Japanese Americans would be relocated and imprisoned for a certain amount of time. The Executive Order 9066 under FDR gave the War Department the power to forcefully remove Japanese Americans from their homes into the internment camps throughout the war. This was a huge surprise to these Americans with Asian ancestries because they were NATIVE-BORN Americans: they had never lived in Japan and America was their home. All of their earnings were unaccounted for and their businesses and estates were immediately lost.

  • Hirabayashi v. US and Korematsu v. US: Gordon Hirabayashi refused to be evacuated to an internment camp, turned himself into the FBI, and claimed the racist camps violated the principles of the U.S. Constitution. As a result of his case and Korematsu v. U.S., the Court permitted Japanese Americans to leave internment camps if needed regarding the war effort, but did not address the constitutionality of the internment camps. Congress apologized in 1988 and paid $20,000 to surviving internees. 

• Fascism: a form of government that is a type of one-party dictatorship. They work for a totalitarian one-party state. This aim is to prepare the nation for armed conflict, and to respond to economic difficulties. Fascism puts nation and race above the individual.

• Nazi Germany: Adolf Hitler gains power in Germany after their economic depression and the Nazi Party controlled the country which they transformed into a dictatorship. Carries out the Holocaust → millions of Jewish people murdered. Begins WWII.

• Holocaust: the decimation of millions of Jews in Europe under Nazi influence spearheaded by Adolf Hitler. When many Jews fled to the United States, the immigration laws remained exclusive and strict as the government did not show any compassion towards the suffering Jews. When the SS St. Louis brought a thousand Jewish refugees, FDR refused to let them enter America and forced them to return to Germany where most if not all of them were sent to concentration camps like Auschwitz and died a horrible death. Many nations practiced this exclusionist policy which only allowed Nazism to grow stronger. Anti-Semitism was also present among citizens and leaders in the United States which did not help the strict immigration laws. Only 21,000 Jews were allowed to come into America during the war: this is nothing compared to the 6 million Jews that died in Europe. The War Refugee Board helped move many Jews into safer environments after the war ended.

• Island Hopping: “Island hopping” strategy refers to the American strategy of continuously taking over one island at a time despite intense resistance from Japan. Two of the most significant events that occurred in the Pacific theater during the war were the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway Island. The Battle of the Coral Sea was when the Americans stopped the Japanese offensive towards Australia. The American navy destroyed the Japanese fleets at the Battle of Midway Island.

• DDAY: The promised second front through France would be known as D-Day. Under General Eisenhower, allied troops stealthily moved across the English Channel onto the beaches of Normandy. Despite many soldiers dying, the allies received supplies and were able to defeat the Germans as the Soviets occupied the other 2/3s on the Eastern front. Bombers and air warfare demolished cities in Germany. At the Battle of Bulge, the Germans were finally pushed across the Rhine River back into Germany. After the allied powers moved through the rest of Europe and Hitler killed himself, Germany surrendered.

• Atomic Bombs: The Manhattan Project refers to the atomic bomb: the first atomic chain reaction was produced by refugees of WWII, Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard, both escaping from fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany. Albert Einstein also worked on this project and these scientists convinced FDR the creation of the atomic bomb was crucial as German scientists were also working on developing the same thing. Very few people knew about this development at the time which is very surprising due to the following facts: it cost 2 billion dollars, provided over 120,000 people with jobs, 19 different states held the construction of 27 installations, and Congress, Vice President Truman, and most of the American population were unaware of any of this. It has a frightening amount of power. Truman decided to drop the bomb because America wanted an unconditional surrender from Japan, but the US military believed that the Japanese military wouldn’t surrender unless something utterly catastrophic happened to their country, and the U.S. didn’t want to invade because so many allied lives would be lost. The Japanese soldiers were focused on honor, shown threw the suicidal kamikaze, and were not filling to go down without a fight: they literally were fighting to the death and every soldier appeared to be willing to give his life which did not make the situation any easier. Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Japanese civilians.

• Labor Unions: Knights of Labor (laborers control their work, cooperative commonwealth and diverse membership, federal regulation of corporations and legislation that would allow employees to negotiate with their workers during strikes, safety laws in work spaces, prohibiting child labor, taxing the wealthy, public ownership of railroads/telegraphs, right to organize, self-disciplined and responsible), American Federation of Labor (Samuel Gompers  pure-and-simple unionism, strict membership of workers, organized by craft and occupation, few allies, better wages, hours, and working conditions, not involved with politics, collective bargaining), and the Industrial Workers of the World.  The Industrial Workers of the World became prominent in the early 1900s and advocated for political action. They supported communist ideals championed by Marx and believed laborers could overthrow capitalism with strikes and resistance. It incited many protests on the local level and gained a large following. 

Period 8: 1945-1980 → TO BE USED FOR SYNTHESIS

• Soviet Union

• Cold War*

• Korean War 

• Vietnam War*

• Détente

• Containment

• Anti-War protests

• Military Industrial Complex*

• Martin Luther King, Direct Action/Non-Violence

• Brown v. Board Of Education*

• Civil Rights Act 1964*

• Gay and Lesbian Activists

• Lyndon Johnson*(8)

• Great Society*

• Baby Boom

• Sun Belt

• Suburbs

• Immigration Act 1965

• Feminists

• Evangelicals

Period 9: 1980-Present → TO BE USED FOR SYNTHESIS

• Ronald Reagan*(9)

• Election of 1980

• Religious Fundamentalism

• Tax Cuts

• Computers

• Internet

• Service Sector*

• September 11, 2001

• War on Terrorism*

• World Trade Center

• Free Trade

• Climate Change