AP American History
Terms
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- veto
- the executive power to prevent acts passed by the legislature from becoming laws
- province
- a medium-sized subunit of territory and governmental administration within a larger nation or empire
- nationalism
- fervent belief and loyalty given to the political unit of the nation-state
- coureurs des bois
- french-canadian fur trappers; literaly "runners of the woods"
- almshouse
- a home for the poor, supported by charity or public funds
- mulatto
- a person of mixed african and european ancestry
- buffer
- in politics, a small territory or state between two larger, antagonistic powers and intended to minimize the possibility of conflict between them
- minister
- in politics, a person appointed by the head of state to take charge of some department or agency of government
- apprentice
- a person who works under a master to acquire instruction in a trade or profession
- agitators
- those who seek to excite or persuade the public on some issue
- tenant farmer
- one who rents rather than owns land
- revival
- in religion, a movement of renewed enthusiasm and commitment, often accompanied by special meetings or evangelical activity
- blue laws
- laws designed to restrict personal behavior in accord with a strict code of morality
- nation-state
- the form of political society that combines centralized government with a high degree of ethnic and cultural unity
- ecological
- concerning the relations between the biological organisms and their environment
- headright
- the right to acquire a certain amount of land granted to the person who finances the passage of a laborer
- primogeniture
- the legal principle that the oldest son inherits all family property or land
- stratification
- the visible arrangement of society into a hierarchical pattern, with distinct social groups layered one on top of the other
- autocratic
- absolute or dictorial rule
- heresy
- departure from correct or officially defined belief
- duty (duties)
- a customs tax on the export or import of goods
- secular
- belonging to the worldly sphere rather than to the specifically sacred or churchly
- commissions
- an official certification granting a commanding rank in the armed forces
- conquistador
- a spanish conqueror or adventurer in the americas
- toleration
- originally, religious freedom granted by an established church to a religious minority
- fertility
- the ability to mate and reproduce abundant young
- monopoly
- the complete control of a product or sphere of economic activity by a single producer or business
- primeval
- concerning the earliest origin of things
- passive resistance
- nonviolent action or opposition to authority, often in accord with religious or moral beliefs
- boycott
- an organized refusal to deal with some person, organization, or product
- matrilinear
- the form of society in which family line, power, and wealth are passed primarily through the female side
- ecosystem
- a naturally evolved network of relations among organisms in a stable environment
- inflation
- an increase in the supply of currency relative to the goods available, leading to a decline in the purchasing power of money
- flotilla
- a fleet of boats, usually smaller vessels
- guerilla warfare
- unconventional combat waged by small military units using hit-and-run tactics
- mestizo
- a person of mixed native american and european ancestry
- jeremiad
- a sermon or prophecy recounting wrongdoing, warning of doom, and calling for repentance
- caravel
- a small vessel with a high deck and three triangular sails
- melting pot
- popular american term for an ethnically diverse population that is presumed to be "melting" toward some eventual commonality
- conversion
- a religious turn to god, thought by calvinists to involve an intense, identifiable personal experience of grace
- autocratic
- marked by strict authoritarian rule, without consent or participation by the populace
- middlemen
- in trading systems, those dealers who operate between the original buyers and the retail merchants who sell to consumers
- proprietary
- concerning exclusive legal ownership, as of colonies granted to individuals by the monarch
- demographic
- concerning the general characteristics of a given population, including such factors as numbers, age, gender, birth and death rates,and so on
- hinterland
- an inland region set back from a port, river, or seacoast
- sect
- a small religious group that has broken away from some larger mainstream church, often claiming superior or exclusive possession of religious truth
- hierarchy
- a social group arranged in ranks or classes
- calling
- in protestantism, the belief that saved-individuals have a religious obligation to engage in worldly work
- propaganda
- a systematic program or particular materials designed to promote certain ideas; sometimes but not always the term is used negatively, implying the use of manipulative or deceptive means
- admiralty courts
- in british law, special administrative courts designed to handle maritime cases without a jury
- depreciate
- to decrease in value, as in the decline of the purchasing power of money
- commonwealth
- an organized civil government or social order united for a shared purpose
- seditious
- concerning resistance to or rebellion against the government
- desert
- to leave official government or military service without permission
- confederacy
- an alliance or league of nations or peoples looser than a federation
- feudal
- concerning the decentralized medieval social system of personal obligations between rulers and ruled
- penal code
- the body of criminal laws specifying offenses and prescribing punishments
- strategic
- concerning the placement and planned movement of large-scale military forces so as to gain advantage, usually prior to actual engagement with the enemy
- speculation
- buying land or anything else in the hope of profiting by an expected rise in price
- gentry
- landowners of substantial property, social standing, and leisure, but not titled nobility
- corporation
- a group or institution granted legal rights to carry on certain specified activities
- joint-stock companies
- an economic arrangement by which a number of investors pool their capital for investment
- mercantilism
- the economic theory that all parts of an economy should be coordinated for the good of the whole state; hence, that colonial economics should be subordinated for the benefit of an empire
- virtual representation
- the political theory that a class of persons is represented in a lawmaking body without direct vote
- charter
- a legal document granted by a government to some group or agency to implement a stated purpose, and spelling out the attending rights and obligations
- asylum
- a place of refuge and security, especially for the persecuted or unfortunate
- lynching
- the illegal execution of an accused person by mob action, without due process of law
- regulars
- trained professional soldiers, as distinct from militia or conscripts
- voyageurs
- french-canadian explorers, adventurers, and traders
- middle passage
- that portion of a slave ship's journey in which slaves were carried from africa to the americas
- plantation
- a large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor
- blue blood
- of noble or upper-class descent
- predestination
- the calvinist doctrine that god has foreordained some people to be saved and some to be damned
- capitalism
- an economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets
- squatter
- a frontier farmer who illegally occupied land owned by others or not yet officially opened for settlement
- mobility
- the capacity to pass readily from one social or economic condition to another
- elite
- the smaller group at the top of a society or institution, usually possessing wealth, power, or special privileges
- disfranchise
- to take away the right to vote
- census
- an official count of popuulation, often also including other information about the population
- seige
- a military operation of surrounding and attacking a fortified place, often over a sustained period
- domestic
- concerning the internal affairs of a country
- sallies (sally)
- in warfare, very rapid military movements, usually by small units, against an enemy force or position
- naturalization
- the granting of citizenship to foreigners or immigrants
- civil war
- any conflict between the citizens or inhabitants of the same country
- mutinous
- concerning revolt by subordinate soldiers or seamen against their commanding officers
- peasant
- a farmer or agricultural laborer, sometimes legally tied to the land
- visible saints
- in calvinism, those who publicly proclaimed their experience of conversion and were expected to lead godly lives
- ethnic
- concerning diverse peoples or cultures, specifically those of non-anglo-saxon background
- encomienda
- the spanish labor system in which persons were held to unpaid service under the permanent control of their masters, though not legally owned by them
- tidewater
- the territory adjoining water affected by tides----that is, near the seacoast or coastal rivers
- menial
- fit for servants; humble or low
- patronage
- a system in which benefits, including jobs, money, or protection are granted in exchange for political support
- indentured servant
- a poor person obligated to a fixed term of unpaid labor, often in exchange for a benefit such as transportation, protection, or training
- saga
- a lengthy story or poem recounting the great deeds and adventures of a people and their heroes
- elect
- in calvinist doctrine, those who have been chosen by god for salvation
- militia
- an armed force of citizens called out only in emergencies
- social structure
- the basic pattern of the distribution of status and wealth in a society