Key Terms in American History
Terms
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- momement to end slavery
- Abolitionism
- the process of changing the Constitution
- amend
- 1815 plan to make U.S. economically self-sufficient
- american system
- anti-federalists
- people who opposed ratification of the Constitution
- Appomattox Courthouse
- where the South finally surrendered during the Civil War
- the process of blending into society
- assimilation
- 1676 revolt against colonial authority
- Bacon's Rebellion
- the distribution of power between the 3 branches of gov't.
- balance of power
- 1829-1830 attack by President Jackson on national bank
- Bank War
- 1836 battle between Indian and colonists over control of the Northwest Territory
- Battle of Fallen Timbers
- 1863, ended the South's hopes of winning a battle in the North
- Battle of Gettysburg
- 1775, first battles of the American Revolution
- Battles at Lexington and Concord
- 1863, south lost control of Mississippi
- Battle of Vicksburg
- 1781, last major campaign of the American Revolution
- Battle of Yorktown
- 1777, turning point of the American Revolution
- Battle of Saratoga
- 1863 battle between Texans and the Mexican Army
- Battle at the Alamo
- conflict between proslavery and anti-slevery people in Kansas
- Bleeding Kansas
- when goods are prevented from going into or out of an area
- blockade
- 1770, conflict between British and colonists
- Boston Massacre
- 1773, protest by colonists in which they dumped tea into Boston Harbor
- Boston Tea Party
- 1849, migration of people to the area after gold was discovered
- California Gold Rush
- a crop grown to be sold rather than used by the farmer
- cash crop
- a contract given to someone to establish a colony
- charter
- each of the three branches of gov't. limits the power of the others
- checks and balances
- the movement of plants, goods,and diseases between the New World and Europe
- Columbian Exchange
- ended Reconstruction
- Compromise of 1877
- the southern states who seceded
- confederacy
- first U.S. gov't.
- Confederation Congress
- the people who vote for a member of government
- constituents
- 1787, the meeting of people that agreed on the Constitution
- Constitutional Convention
- military of the colonists
- Continental Army
- the group of leader that governed the colonies during the American Revolution
- Contitental Congress
- 1795 invention by Eli Whitney that made processing cotton much easier
- cotton gin
- 1861 plan that maght have preveted secession
- crittenden plan
- was the principal route through the appalachian moutains
- cumberland gap
- political party established by Jefferson and Madison
- Democratic-Republican
- idea that states had the right to reject any law passed by Congress
- doctrine of nullification
- everyone is entitled to be treated equally under the law
- due process of law
- a group of voters chosen by each state to elect the President and Vice President
- electoral college
- prevents ships from entering or leaving a port
- embargo
- 1825 waterway connected Great Lakes to New York City
- Erie Canal
- the President and his cabinet
- executive branch
- method of building goods that included many workers and machines working in one place
- factory system
- a system of sharing power between the states and the national gov't
- federalism
- supported ratification of the constitution
- federalists
- relations with government of other countris
- foreign polocy
- beginning of the Civil War
- Fort Sumter
- federal agency set up to help former slaves in the South
- Freedman's Bureau
- an economic system that has few gov't restrictions
- free enterprise
- political party formed in 1846 to stop the spread of slavery
- Free-Soil Party
- 1754-1763, world-wide war between France and England
- French & Indian War
- Puritan plan of gov't in Connecticut in 1639
- Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
- religious revival, 1730-1740
- Great Awakaning
- agreement reached during the constitutional convention that created the American system of gov't
- Great Compromise
- no one can be held by the gov't without cause
- habeas corpus
- 1859 slave revolt
- Harpers Ferry
- the process of accusing a gov't official of wrongdoing
- impeachment
- someone who agreed to work for an employer in exchange for passage to the New World
- indentured servant
- a personal liberty guaranteed by the Bill of Rights
- individual rights
- an economy begins to be based on factories instead of farming
- industrialization
- the idea that as many people as possible should be able to vote
- Jacksonion Democracy
- first permanent English settlement in the New World in 1607
- Jamestown
- the Supreme Court
- judicial branch
- the idea that the Supreme Court has the right do review all laws made by Congress
- judicial review
- war between Puritans and Indians, 1675-1676
- King Philip's War
- the House of Representatives and the Senate; the branch that makes the laws
- legislative branch
- group that explored the lands of the Louisiana Purchase
- Louis and Clark expedition
- everyone, even elected officials, must obey the laws
- limited gov't
- textile mills founded 1826
- Lowell Mills
- someone loyal to England during American Revolution
- Loyalist
- idea that America had a right to all of the land between the east and west coasts
- manifest destiny
- 1620 agreement between PIlgrims to establish a gov't in the New World
- Mayflower Compact
- idea American culture is a blend of many different cultures
- melting pot
- economic system in which England controlled the trade of the colonies
- mercantilism
- land in Southwest given up by Mexico in 1848 after the Mexican War
- Mexican Cession
- war between US and Mexico, 1846-1848
- Mexican War
- journey of captured Africans the the New World to be sold
- middle passage
- armed civilians who are supposed to defend their communities
- militia
- group of people who moved west to avoid religious persecution
- Mormons
- to not become allies with any country
- Neutral
- plan of gov't that the constitutional convention considered
- Virginia Plan
- land that formed the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois
- Northwest Territory
- trail from Missouri to Oregon
- Oregon Trail
- someone who supported the American Revolution
- Patriot
- founded the Plymourth colony
- pilgrims
- large farm that raises cash crops
- plantation
- group of people that supports a candidate running for a gov't position
- political party
- gov't in which the people have the power
- popular sovereignty
- settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony
- Puritans
- wanted to use the federal gov't to impose a new order on the South and wated to grant citizenship rights to former slaves
- Radical Republicans
- the process of approving the Constitution
- ratification
- process of re-admitting southern states into the Union
- reconstruction
- system of gov't in which officials are elected in order to represent the interests of the voters
- representative gov't
- the idea that gov't should be based on the consent of the goverened
- repulicanism
- political party formed in 1854
- Republican Party
- a colony ruled by governers appointed by the king
- royal colony
- English policy of not interfering in the colonies
- salutary neglect
- a trail from Missouri to New York
- Sata Fe Trail
- withdrawl of southern states from the Union
- Secession
- religious revival, 1790-1800
- Second Great Awakening
- tension between North and South as each region placed their own interests above those of the country as a whole
- Sectionalism
- 1848 women's rights meeting
- Seneca Falls Convention
- the division of gov't into three branches
- seperation of powers
- 1787 uprising of farmers
- Shay's Rebellion
- laws that regulated how slaves could be treated
- slave codes
- a person was owned by another person in order to control their labor
- slavery
- secret society who opposed British policies
- Sons of Liberty
- idea that the power of the states should not be tramples on by the national gov't
- states' rights
- 1739 uprising of slaves
- Stono Rebellion
- the right to vote
- Sufferage
- fees charged on an economic activity
- tariff/tax
- 1828 tariff that made Southerners angry
- Tariff of Abominations
- people who thought that drinking alcohol was wrong
- temperance movement
- 1836, Texas declared it indeperndence from Mexico
- Texas Revolution
- agreement at the constitutional convention that allowed slaves to count as 3/5th of a white person
- Three-Fifths Compromise
- Union strategy to attack not just enemy troops, but anything that helped the enemy: buildings, crops, and rail lines
- total war
- enforced journey by Cherokee Indians in 1838-1839 from their lands in the east to the west
- Trail of Tears
- philosophy that believed in the goodness of humans and which valued experience and intuition above reason and logic
- transcendentalism
- system of trade in which goods were exchanged between Europe, Africa, and the New World colonies
- triangular trade
- right that the government cannot take away
- unalienable rights
- law that is forbidden by the Constitution
- unconstitutional
- series of escape routes for runaway slaves
- Underground Railroad
- growth of cities
- urbanization
- 1619, firt representative gov't in the colonies
- Virginia House of Representatives
- 1812-1815 conflict between England and US
- War of 1812
- political party formed in 1834
- Whig Party
- 1794 protest by farmers
- Whiskey Rebellion
- 1846 proposal that would have banned slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico
- Wilmot Proviso
- people who thought that women should have the same rights as men
- women's rights movement
- 1797 incident in which French officials demended a bribe from US diplomats
- XYZ affair