Comprehensive Study Guide: AP US History Key Concepts and Terminology
American Origins: Exploration, Colonization, and Conflict
Christopher Columbus: Claimed islands in the Caribbean for Spain between 1492 and 1504. Established the Spanish empire as he sought a western passage to the Indies. A poor administrator, he died disgraced in 1506.
Northwest Passage: Mythical water route to Asia. The search for the western path to India and China propelled the encounters and exploration of the Western Hemisphere in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Columbian Exchange: Transfer, beginning with Christopher Columbus's first voyage, of plants, animals, and diseases between the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere. This included squash, potatoes, and corn (maize) from the New World and cattle, horses, and smallpox from Europe.
Epidemic: Widespread occurrence of an infectious disease, such as smallpox, in a community at a particular time.
Encomienda System: Early Spanish colonial system where officials provided protection to Indian populations in return for their labor and production. It was really a form of slavery that lasted until the mid-1500s; it stopped because of exploitation and inefficiency.
Bartolomé de las Casas: Dominican priest who in the early 1500s criticized the cruelty of Spanish policy toward Indians; denounced Spanish actions for their brutality and insensitivity. His criticism helped end the encomienda system.
Hernándo Cortés: Conquered the Aztecs in Mexico. He captured the capital of Tenochititlán, with its leader Montezuma, in 1521; pillaged and destroyed the Aztec civilization.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert: Louis XIV’s minister who rejuvenated the French empire in the Western Hemisphere. In the 1660s, he reorganized and strengthened the colonies of New France.
Pueblo Revolt: Indian uprising in New Mexico in 1680 against Spain and the Catholic Church. Rebels killed 400 colonists and destroyed missions around Santa Fe, successfully holding off the Spanish for 14 years.
Metacom’s (King Phillip’s) War (1675–1676): Conflict between New England colonists and Native American groups. The alliance of Native Americans was organized in resistance to restrictive Puritan laws that deprived them of their land and livelihood.
Richard Hakluyt: British writer who, in the 1580s, encouraged England to explore and settle in North America. His writings prompted England to embark on its North American empire.
English Colonial Settlement, Governance, and Society
John Smith: Saved Jamestown through firm leadership in 1607 and 1608; he imposed work and order in the settlement and later published several books promoting the colonization of North America.
House of Burgesses: First popularly-elected legislative assembly in America; met in Jamestown in 1619.
Mayflower Compact: Written agreement signed in 1620 to create a body politic among the male settlers in Plymouth; served as the forerunner to charters and constitutions that were eventually adopted in all the colonies.
John Winthrop: Leader of the Puritans who settled in Massachusetts Bay in the 1630s; called for Puritans to create "a city upon a hill" and guided the colony through many crises, including the banishments of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.
Theocracy: A government organized and administered by the church. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, only church members could vote in town meetings. The government levied taxes on both church members and nonmembers and required attendance for all at religious services.
Congregationalist (Puritans): Believed the Anglican Church retained too many Catholic ideas and sought to purify the Church of England. The Puritans believed in predestination (man saved or damned at birth) and held that God was watchful and granted salvation only to those who adhered to His goodness as interpreted by the church. Puritans were strong in New England and very intolerant of other religious groups.
Roger Williams: Puritan who challenged the church to separate itself from the government and to give greater recognition to the rights of Native Americans; banished in 1635 and founded Rhode Island (which critics referred to as "Rogue Island").
Anne Hutchinson: Charismatic colonist in Massachusetts Bay who questioned whether one could achieve salvation solely by good works; led the Antinomian controversy by challenging the clergy and the laws of the colony. Banished from Massachusetts in 1638 and was killed by Indians in 1643.
Halfway Covenant: Puritan response to the dilemma of what to do with the children born to nonchurch members as fewer and fewer Puritans sought full membership (visible sainthood) in the church. Leaders allowed such children to be baptized, but they could not take communion, nor could nonchurch males vote in government or church affairs.
Salem Witchhunt: Period of hysteria in 1692 when a group of teenaged girls accused neighbors of bewitching them. Over ten months, nineteen people were executed and hundreds imprisoned. The hysteria subsided when the girls accused more prominent individuals in the colony, including the governor’s wife.
Act Concerning Religion (Maryland Toleration Act): Passed in Maryland in 1649; granted freedom of worship to all Christians. Although enacted to protect the Catholic minority in Maryland, it served as a benchmark of religious freedom in all the colonies. It did not extend to non-Christians.
Anglican Church: Church of England started by King Henry VIII in 1533; the British monarch was the head of the church. It was strongest in North America in the Southern Colonies. By 1776, it was the second-largest church in America behind the Congregationalists.
Society of Friends (Quakers): Church founded by George Fox that believed in "The Inner Light"—a direct, individualistic experience with God. The church was strongly opposed to the Anglican Church in England and the Congregationalist Church in America. In 1681, William Penn established Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers persecuted in England and in the colonies.
William Penn: Quaker founder of Pennsylvania; intended the colony to be a Quaker haven, but all religions were tolerated. The colony maintained very good relations with Native Americans at first.
First Great Awakening: Religious revival in the colonies during the 1730s and 1740s; George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards preached a message of atonement for sins by admitting them to God. The movement attempted to combat the growing secularism and rationalism of mid-eighteenth-century America.
Jonathan Edwards: Congregational minister of the 1740s who was a leading voice of the Great Awakening; his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God attacked ideas of easy salvation and reminded colonists of the absolute sovereignty of God.
Protestant Evangelicalism: Trans-denominational movement within Protestant Christianity that stressed the preaching of the gospel, personal conversion experiences, the Bible as the sole basis for faith, and active spreading of the faith.
Colonial Labor Systems and Regional Profiles
Headright System: Means of attracting settlers to colonial America; the system granted land to a family head and to anyone he sponsored coming to the colony, including indentured servants. The amount of land varied from fifty to two-hundred acres per person.
Indentured Servants: Mainstay of the labor needs in many colonies, especially in the Chesapeake regions during the seventeenth century. Indentured servants were "rented slaves" who served four to seven years and then were freed to make their way in the world. Most servants came from the ranks of the poor, political dissenters, and criminals in England.
Bacon’s Rebellion: Attacks by frontiersmen led by Nathaniel Bacon against Native Americans in the Virginia backcountry. When the governor opposed Bacon’s action, Bacon attacked Jamestown, burned it, and briefly deposed the governor before the rebellion fizzled. This revolt is viewed as the first strike against insensitive British policy, as a clash between East and West, and as evidence of the dangers of the indentured-servant system.
Chattel Slavery: Characterized by the dehumanizing treatment of people as personal property and commodities to be bought and sold.
Stono Rebellion: Slave rebellion in South Carolina in September 1739; twenty to eighty slaves burned seven plantations, killed twenty whites, and attempted to escape to Florida. The rebellion was crushed; all participating slaves were killed and decapitated, and their heads were placed on display as a deterrent to future uprisings.
New England Colonies: Northernmost British colonies, inclusive of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded primarily as a refuge for Pilgrims and Puritans seeking religious freedom for themselves.
Middle Colonies: British colonies situated between the New England and Chesapeake Colonies, inclusive of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Primarily characterized by their religious and social diversity.
Chesapeake Colonies: British colonies inclusive of Virginia and Maryland. Located further south, these colonies were characterized by an economic dependence on cash crops like tobacco.
Southern Colonies: Inclusive of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. South Carolina in particular became increasingly reliant on slavery due to an economy dependent on labor-intensive crops like rice and indigo.
British Imperial Policy and the Road to Revolution
Mercantilism: Economic doctrine that called for the mother country to dominate and regulate its colonies. The system fixed trade patterns, maintained high tariffs, and discouraged manufacturing in the colonies.
Navigation Acts: Series of English laws enacted to enforce the mercantile system. The laws established control over colonial trade, excluded all but British ships in commerce, and enumerated specific goods that had to be shipped exclusively to England or other English colonies. The acts also restricted colonial manufacturing.
Salutary Neglect: British policy followed from 1607 to 1763 of generally leaving the colonies alone to conduct their own internal affairs and interfering very little. Through this lack of control, the colonies thrived and prospered. The British abandonment of this policy after 1763 was a major factor that created friction leading to revolution and independence.
Seven Years War: Fought between England and France from 1756 to 1763 (known as the French and Indian War in the colonies, where it started in 1754 over control of the Ohio River Valley). Resulted in France’s complete withdrawal from North America and served as the impetus for Parliament’s new taxing policy that led to the American Revolution.
Pontiac's Rebellion (1763): Indian uprising in the Ohio Valley region that killed 2,000 settlers. As a result, the British sought peace with the Indians by prohibiting colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains through the Proclamation of 1763. Colonists viewed this ban as an unlawful restriction of their rights and generally ignored it.
Sugar Act (1764): Designed to raise revenue by stiffening the Molasses Act (1733), establishing new customs regulations, and trying smugglers in British vice-admiralty courts. Marked the first attempt to tax the colonies to raise revenue rather than regulate trade. It lowered the tax on imported sugar in hopes of discouraging smugglers and thereby increasing collection of the tax.
Stamp Act (1765): A tax on more than fifty items such as pamphlets, newspapers, playing cards, and dice. Set off strong protests among colonists, who claimed it was an internal tax designed only to raise revenue and therefore unlawful for Parliament to levy.
Stamp Act Congress (1765): Assembly met in New York City to protest the Stamp Act. Delegates from nine of the thirteen colonies petitioned the king and organized a boycott that eventually helped force the repeal of the tax. The meeting and boycott marked a major step toward colonial unity and resistance against British authority.
Declaratory Act (1766): Passed by the British Parliament as it repealed the Stamp Act; a face-saving action that asserted Parliament's sovereignty over colonial taxation and legislative policies in all cases whatsoever.
Townshend Acts (1767): Levied import taxes on items such as paper, glass, and tea. Designed to address colonial resistance to "internal taxation" like the Stamp Act (which had no connection to trade and aimed solely at raising revenue). Colonials viewed the Townshend Acts as revenue-raising measures as well and refused to pay them.
Virtual Representation: Idea offered by Britain in response to colonial demands for representation in Parliament and to establish lawful authority to tax them. Held that Parliament was a collective representation of all Englishmen regardless of where they resided; a group's interest was supposedly represented in London by virtue of being English. Colonial leaders rejected this argument.
Boston Massacre: Confrontation between British soldiers and Boston citizens in March 1770 in which troops shot and killed five colonials. American radicals used the event to roil relations between England and the colonies over the next five years.
Coercive Acts (1774): British actions designed to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. Known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts, they included:
Closing the port of Boston.
Revoking the Massachusetts charter.
Trying all British colonial officials accused of misdeeds outside the colony.
Housing British troops in private dwellings.
These laws directly brought about the convening of the First Continental Congress in 1774.
Sons of Liberty: Street gangs formed during the Stamp Act crisis to enforce nonimportation boycotts and prevent the distribution and sale of tax stamps. Served as the vanguard of the Revolution by intimidating British officials with violence.
Samuel Adams: Agitator and leader of the Sons of Liberty who supported independence as soon as the British veered from salutary neglect. Primary leader of the Boston Tea Party and later a delegate to the Continental Congress.
Patrick Henry: Early advocate of independence, strong opponent of the Stamp Act, and great defender of individual rights. In 1775, he famously declared: "Give me liberty, or give me death."
John Dickinson: Conservative colonial leader who authored Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. He advocated for colonial rights but urged conciliation with England and opposed the Declaration of Independence; later helped write the Articles of Confederation.
Thomas Paine: Writer of Common Sense, an electrifying pamphlet published in January 1776 calling for a clean break with England. Written with great passion and force, it swept the colonies and provided a clear rationale for colonial independence.
Thomas Jefferson: Lead author of the Declaration of Independence. In the document, he explained the colonists’ philosophy of government and reasons for separation, asserting that governments that failed to protect unalienable rights should be changed.
John Locke: English philosopher who wrote that governments have an explicit duty to protect people’s life, liberty, and property. Colonial leaders read his ideas and incorporated them into their political rhetoric and thinking.
George III: King of England during the American Revolution. Until 1776, colonists believed he supported their attempts to retain their rights; in reality, he was a strong advocate for harsh policies toward them.
Loyalists (Tories): Colonists who remained loyal to England during the Revolution. They were often older, better-educated individuals who were members of the Anglican Church. The British hoped to utilize them as a pacification force but failed to organize them properly.
The Revolutionary War and Diplomatic Alliances
George Washington: Commander of the Continental Army. While not a military genius, his personal integrity and judgment kept the army together, making him indispensable to the colonial cause.
Baron von Steuben: Prussian-born aristocrat and military leader who assisted the American cause during the Revolutionary War. Trained ill-equipped and poorly trained Continental soldiers during the winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge. He improved troop organization, camp sanitation, the arrangement of tents, firing and volley exchange methods, and the command structure, proving critical in getting the American military on track during the early years of the war.
Marquis de Lafayette: French aristocrat and military leader who assisted Americans in the Revolutionary War. Given command of troops and provided substantial assistance to the American cause, particularly at the Battle of Yorktown. His high aristocratic standing and connections to France aided significantly in securing French aid.
Battle of Saratoga: Turning point of the Revolution in October 1777, in which an army of 6,000 British soldiers surrendered in New York. The engagement resulted from a failed British plan to divide the colonies along the Hudson River Valley. The American victory convinced France to formalize a military alliance with the colonies, assuring the ultimate success of American independence.
Battle of Yorktown: Decisive siege ending in October 1781 when George Washington trapped 8,000 British soldiers on a peninsula in Virginia following a British campaign in the southern colonies. The defeat caused Britain to cease large-scale fighting in America and enter negotiations that led to independence.
Ben Franklin: Leading American diplomat, statesman, and advisor throughout the Revolutionary era. Active in all prerevolutionary congresses, he secured the vital French alliance of 1778 and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
John Jay: Lead diplomat in negotiating the Treaty of Paris (1783). Dealt secretly with British representatives in Paris and achieved all of America’s goals for independence despite the deviousness and meddling of France and Spain.
The Critical Period, Constitutional Framework, and Early Republic
Shays’s Rebellion: An uprising in western Massachusetts between August 1786 and February 1787 that shut down local courts and threatened revolution in the state. The national government’s inability under the Articles of Confederation to suppress the revolt reinforced beliefs that the Articles needed to be strengthened or completely abandoned.
Annapolis Convention: Meeting held at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786 to discuss interstate commerce. Although only five states sent delegates, Alexander Hamilton used the forum to issue a call for states to convene the next spring in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. It served as a stepping-stone to the Constitutional Convention.
Northwest Ordinance (1787): The major success of Congress under the Articles of Confederation, organizing the Northwest Territory for future statehood:
Established territorial status for a region once its population reached 5,000.
Allowed a territory to petition for statehood with the same rights as existing states upon reaching a population of 60,000.
Established the legal framework for national expansion and the admission of new states.
Outlawed slavery within the Northwest Territory, representing the first official national government action against the institution.
Virginia Plan: Constitutional proposal presented by Edmund Randolph and James Madison that granted Congress increased taxing and legislative powers. Proposed a bicameral legislature consisting of an elected lower house and an upper house appointed by the lower house, with representation in both based on state population (strongly favoring large states).
New Jersey Plan: Alternative proposal offered by William Paterson to counter the Virginia Plan. Called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for each state. It maintained the basic structure of the Articles of Confederation while strengthening government powers to levy taxes and regulate commerce.
Great Compromise: Broke the impasse at the Constitutional Convention over congressional representation. Established a bicameral Congress: seats in the lower chamber (House of Representatives) assigned according to state population, and equal representation for states in the upper chamber (Senate).
Three-Fifths Compromise: Agreement at the Constitutional Convention that settled the impasse over taxation and representation in the House of Representatives by agreeing to count slaves as three-fifths of a person for both purposes. This formula had previously been used in 1783 to calculate financial assessments under the Articles of Confederation.
Federalists: Individuals who supported the ratification of the U.S. Constitution by the states (not to be confused with the later Federalist political party).
Anti-Federalists: Individuals who opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution; feared the excessive concentration of power placed in the national government at the expense of the states.
Federalist Papers: Series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay published in New York newspapers to persuade the state to ratify the Constitution. Collectively viewed as an authoritative treatise on constitutional principles.
James Madison: Strong nationalist who organized the Annapolis Convention, authored the Virginia Plan, and drafted the constitutional amendments that became the Bill of Rights. Later became a founding leader of the Democratic-Republican Party.
Strict Constructionist: A person who interprets the Constitution narrowly, asserting that any power not explicitly granted in the document cannot be exercised by the government. Aimed at restricting central federal power and preserving states' rights.
Loose Constructionist: A person who interprets the Constitution broadly via the "elastic clause" (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18), asserting that the federal government holds wide latitude of action and can exercise implied powers deemed "necessary and proper" to fulfill its enumerated duties.
The Federalist Era and Partisan Divides
Alexander Hamilton: Strong nationalist and first Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington. Advocated for a strong central government, established the national financial plan, and founded the Federalist Party.
Federalist Party: Political party led by Alexander Hamilton. Favored a powerful central government, commercial interests, Hamilton’s financial plan, and close diplomatic ties to Great Britain. Found its strongest support among property owners and the merchant class.
Democratic-Republican Party: Political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Opposed centralized political power, championed states' rights, fought Hamilton's financial program, and supported close ties to France. Heavily influenced by agrarian interests in the South.
Thomas Jefferson: First Secretary of State who led the opposition against Hamilton and Washington’s policies centralizing power. Founded the Democratic-Republican Party; elected Vice President in 1796 and President in 1800.
Whiskey Rebellion (1794): Uprising among farmers in western Pennsylvania protesting an excise tax levied on whiskey, which they viewed as an unfair and illegal internal tax similar to the Stamp Act. President Washington mobilized an overwhelming military force to suppress the insurrection, demonstrating the power of the new federal government to enforce national law.
Jay’s Treaty (1794): Agreement between the U.S. and Great Britain in which the British promised to evacuate military forts in U.S. territory along the Great Lakes, and the U.S. agreed to pay pre-Revolutionary War debts owed to British creditors. Britain also granted limited trade access to the British West Indies. The treaty was barely ratified due to fierce Democratic-Republican opposition.
Pinckney's Treaty (1795): Agreement negotiated with Spain that opened the Mississippi River to American navigation and granted western settlers the right of deposit in New Orleans. Spain consented out of fear that Jay’s Treaty signaled an Anglo-American alliance.
Washington’s Farewell Address: Presidential valedictory message in which George Washington warned the nation against foreign entangling alliances and domestic political factions (political parties). Established the philosophical foundation for American isolationist foreign policy for the next 150 years.
XYZ Affair: Diplomatic episode during John Adams's presidency intended to resolve tensions with France over Jay's Treaty and American neutrality. Three French agents demanded a bribe from American envoys before negotiations could begin. The Americans refused, sparking anti-French hysteria and military preparations in the U.S.
Alien and Sedition Acts: Series of laws passed by Federalists to suppress perceived French agents working against American neutrality. Allowed the president to deport "dangerous" aliens, increased residency requirements for naturalization, and curtailed freedom of speech and the press by criminalizing criticism of the federal government.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: Political statements drafted secretly by James Madison (for Virginia) and Thomas Jefferson (for Kentucky) in opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Advanced the compact theory of the Constitution, arguing that states formed the federal compact and retained the right to nullify federal laws that exceeded constitutional powers.
Modern Conservatism, Cold War Crises, and Social Revolutions
Earl Warren: Controversial Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953–1969); led the court in expansive racial, social, and political rulings, including school desegregation and broadening legal protections for individuals accused of crimes.
Thurgood Marshall: Chief legal counsel for the NAACP in the 1940s and 1950s who headed the legal team in Brown v. Board of Education; appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson as the first African American Justice on the Supreme Court.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Proposed by John F. Kennedy and signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson. Outlawed segregation in public accommodations, libraries, parks, and amusement facilities, and broadened federal authority to protect civil rights and prevent employment discrimination.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Expanded federal protection for voter registration, authorized federal investigation of voter irregularities, and outlawed the use of literacy tests.
Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965: Abolished national-origins quotas in place since the 1920s, opening immigration to large numbers of non-European immigrants from Asia and Latin America.
Great Society: President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ambitious social and economic domestic program aimed at ending poverty and racial injustice. Included Medicare, Medicaid, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, and the broader "War on Poverty."
Lyndon B. Johnson: President (1963–1969); his domestic agenda was overshadowed by the massive escalation of the Vietnam War, increasing U.S. troop deployments from 16,000 in 1963 to 540,000 in 1968. Following the political fallout of the Tet Offensive, he chose not to run for reelection.
Barry Goldwater: Unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate against Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Campaigned to dismantle the New Deal, escalate the military effort in Vietnam, and maintain the status quo on civil rights. Considered the ideological forerunner and "grandfather" of the 1980s conservative movement.
George Wallace: Alabama governor and third-party presidential candidate in 1968 and 1972; ran on a platform promoting racial segregation and "law-and-order." Paralyzed during an assassination attempt in 1972, which effectively ended his national political career.
New Left: Label applied to radical political movements of the 1960s. Influenced by the "Old Left" of the 1930s (which critiqued capitalism and praised communist achievements), the New Left mobilized around civil rights and actively opposed American foreign policy, particularly the Vietnam War.
Richard Nixon: President (1969–1974); pursued a strategy of gradual troop withdrawal from Vietnam, extended diplomatic recognition to Communist China, and pursued détente with the Soviet Union. His domestic and international accomplishments were ultimately overshadowed by the Watergate scandal.
Silent Majority: Label used by Richard Nixon to describe middle-class Americans who supported his administration, obeyed the law, and sought "peace with honor" in Vietnam, in contrast to the vocal antiwar and civil rights activists protesting across the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Henry Kissinger: National Security Advisor and Secretary of State to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Key architect of the Vietnam peace settlement, the diplomatic opening to the People's Republic of China, and détente with the Soviet Union.
George McGovern: Democratic presidential nominee in 1972; ran on a platform advocating immediate withdrawal from Vietnam and guaranteed annual income for the poor. His political standing suffered when he waffled in support of his vice-presidential running mate, leading to a landslide defeat.
Warren Burger: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1969–1986). Appointed to steer the court in a more conservative direction after Earl Warren, his court nonetheless upheld school busing, recognized abortion rights in Roe v. Wade, and ordered Richard Nixon to surrender the Watergate tapes.
Roe v. Wade (1973): Landmark Supreme Court decision ruling that first-trimester abortions are protected under a constitutional right to privacy.
Watergate Scandal: Series of political scandals beginning in June 1972 when operatives connected to the Nixon White House broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters to place illegal wiretaps. When the burglars were caught, Nixon and top aides engaged in an extensive obstruction of justice. The scandal forced Nixon to resign in 1974 and resulted in prison terms for several top aides.
Gerald Ford: President (1974–1977); only individual to serve as both vice president and president without being elected to either office. Appointed vice president under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment following Spiro Agnew’s resignation, he ascended to the presidency when Richard Nixon resigned.
The Late Twentieth Century: Economic Malaise to the Conservative Realignment
Stagflation: Economic condition prevailing throughout the 1970s characterized by stagnant economic growth, high unemployment, and rapidly rising prices (inflation). Largely precipitated by sharp spikes in global oil prices.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): Cartel of oil-producing nations that used petroleum as an economic weapon to alter American Middle Eastern foreign policy. Imposed oil boycotts that caused severe energy shortages and economic instability across the United States throughout the 1970s.
Jimmy Carter: President (1977–1981); sought an ethical foreign policy "as good and great as the American people." His greatest foreign policy achievement was brokering the Camp David Accords, while his presidency was crippled by ongoing economic malaise and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Defeated after one term, he achieved considerable acclaim as an ex-president.
Camp David Accords (1979): Framework for peace negotiated between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, brokered by Jimmy Carter. Under the agreement, Israel returned captured land to Egypt in exchange for Egyptian diplomatic recognition of Israel. It failed to produce a comprehensive permanent peace in the Middle East.
Crisis of Confidence ("Malaise") Speech: Televised national address delivered by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 in which he warned that an invisible crisis of confidence threatened the nation and struck "at the very heart and soul of our national will." The speech led many citizens to believe the president was pessimistic and had surrendered to national problems.
Iran Hostage Crisis (1979–1981): International crisis that began when Iranian radicals, backed by their revolutionary government, seized 52 Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held them hostage for 444 days. The captors demanded the return of the deposed Shah to stand trial and sought to punish the U.S. for historical interventions.
Ronald Reagan: President (1981–1989); spearheaded a conservative revolution opposed to détente with the Soviet Union and the growth of the federal welfare state. Credited by supporters for victory in the Cold War, while critics pointed to his fiscal deficits and cuts to social programs.
Supply-Side Economics (Reaganomics): Economic philosophy adopted by the Reagan administration centered on substantial tax cuts and federal budget reductions. The goal was to stimulate private investment, encourage savings, create jobs, and ultimately generate higher aggregate tax revenues for the government.
Deregulation: The policy of scaling back federal regulations on private business. During the 1980s, the Reagan administration ended price controls on domestic oil, dismantled federal health and safety inspections for nursing homes, and deregulated the commercial airline and savings and loan industries.
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI): High-technology missile defense system proposed by Ronald Reagan in 1983, popularly labeled "Star Wars." Designed to use space- and ground-based systems to destroy incoming Soviet nuclear missiles.
Sandra Day O’Connor: Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, becoming the first woman to serve as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Geraldine Ferraro: New York Representative selected by Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale in 1984 as his running mate, making her the first woman on a major political party's presidential ticket.
Iran–Contra Affair (1986–1987): Political scandal involving covert operations by Reagan administration officials. The U.S. secretly sold weapons to Iran to help secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon; the profits were diverted to fund the Contras, anti-communist rebels fighting in Nicaragua, despite an explicit congressional ban on such aid. High-level aides took the blame, insulating President Reagan from impeachment.
Sunbelt: Geographic region comprising the South and Southwest characterized by warm weather. The area has experienced an enormous influx of population and political influence since the late 1970s.
The Post-Cold War World and the Twenty-First Century
George H.W. Bush: President (1989–1993); campaigned in 1988 on Reagan's legacy with the pledge, "Read my lips: no new taxes." Successfully organized an international military coalition during the Persian Gulf War, but an economic downturn and his abandonment of the tax pledge contributed to his defeat in the 1992 election.
Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm): Military campaign carried out in early 1991 by a massive United States-led international coalition to liberate Kuwait following an invasion by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces. Involved an extensive air bombardment followed by a swift ground assault launched from Saudi Arabia.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Landmark civil rights statute enacted in 1990 prohibiting discrimination against individuals with physical or mental disabilities in employment, public transportation, schooling, and access to commercial and public accommodations.
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA): Federal legislation enacted in 1990 (and amended in 2024), propelled by the American Indian Movement (AIM). Requires federal agencies and museums to return Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and items of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated tribes. Enacted under Congress's affirmation that human remains "must at all times be treated with dignity and respect."
Bill Clinton: President (1993–2001); Democratic leader who implemented a centrist "New Democrat" approach to governance, frequently cooperating with a Republican-led Congress. Key legislative accomplishments included the passage of NAFTA, significant welfare reform, and achieving the first balanced federal budget in decades. Became the second president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Trilateral trade agreement championed by President Bill Clinton linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico into a tariff-free trading zone. Rooted in the principle that free trade is essential to national prosperity and international political stability.
Contract with America: Policy manifesto drafted in 1994 under the leadership of Republican Representative Newt Gingrich. Pledged that congressional Republicans would vote on ten specific legislative initiatives within their first 100 days if they won the congressional majority, including term limits, a balanced budget amendment, federal tax cuts, tough anticrime measures, and welfare reform.
September 11, 2001: Coordinated terrorist attack conducted by nineteen al-Qaeda operatives hijacking four commercial airliners. Two aircraft were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; a third struck the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C.; and a fourth crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania (outside Pittsburgh) after passengers resisted.
George W. Bush: President (2001–2009); Republican who advocated "compassionate conservatism," enacting domestic policies such as substantial tax cuts and national education reform. His presidency was dominated by the post-9/11 "War on Terror," which led to the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, and protracted military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
War on Terror: Broad military, legal, and intelligence campaign initiated by the George W. Bush administration following the September 11 attacks. Encompassed the military invasion of Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaeda, the heightened detention of suspected foreign terrorists, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and enhanced domestic aviation screening.
No Child Left Behind: Federal education reform act signed by President George W. Bush requiring increased state accountability for student academic progress, mandatory standardized achievement testing, and expanded school choice options for families.
Key Social Studies and Historical Vocabulary
Advocate: To support; to be in favor of a particular policy, individual, or action.
Agency: Independent decision-making power and the ability to act within an established social structure.
Agenda: An underlying, often ideologically driven plan, list of goals, or program.
Amend: To alter, modify, or change significantly by formal procedure.
Analysis: The separation of an intellectual or material whole into its component parts for individual study.
Belligerent: Aggressive, hostile, or engaged in warfare.
Bureaucracy: A administrative body of non-elected government officials charged with managing public policy.
Capital: Financial, material, or human resources utilized to accumulate wealth or consolidate power.
Coalition: An alliance of disparate factions, parties, or groups joined together to achieve a common purpose.
Comparative: Examining two or more items or phenomena systematically to discover similarities and differences.
Condemnation: The expression of strong, definitive disapproval or harsh criticism of something.
Constituency: The body of citizens or voters represented by an elected official.
Deficit: An excess of expenditure over revenue during a specific accounting or fiscal period; a financial shortage.
Demographic: Statistical characteristics relating to human populations, such as age, race, income, or geographic distribution.
Depict: To represent, portray, or illustrate in words or artistic form.
Discrimination: Demonstrating partiality, prejudice, or differential treatment against individuals or groups.
Entitlement: The belief in or legal status of being deserving of specific rights, benefits, or privileges.
Espouse: To take up, speak on behalf of, or adopt a cause, theory, or idea.
Fiscal: Pertaining to public revenues, taxation, government expenditures, or public debt.
Ideology: A structured system of beliefs, values, and ideas that shapes political, economic, or social action.
Inflation: A sustained, generalized rise in prices resulting in the decline of purchasing power.
Malevolent: Exhibiting or arising from intense ill will, malice, or evil intent.
Marginalized: Relegated to an unimportant, powerless, or subordinate position within a society.
Matriarchal: A social or organizational structure dominated by female leadership.
Polarization: The division of a population, legislature, or group into two sharply contrasting and opposing extremes.
Proliferation: A rapid and substantial increase or spread in the number or amount of something.
Radical: An individual or movement advocating for immediate, fundamental, and sweeping political or social change.
Ratification: The formal validation, consent, or legal sanction given to a treaty, contract, or constitutional amendment.
Reactionary: An individual who advocates for a return to an idealized political, social, or economic past.
Socioeconomic: Relating to or involving a combination of social and economic factors, such as income, class, and status.
Surplus: The amount of an asset, revenue, or material that remains when use, need, or requirements are fully satisfied.