APUSH Terms Semester 1 Part 1

Question 1

Abolitionist Movement

Answer 1

Movement dedicated to the abolition of slavery that existed primarily in the North in years leading up to the Civil War with both white and black members.

Question 2

Albany Congress

Answer 2

1754 meeting of representatives of seven colonies to coordinate their efforts against French and Native American threats in the Western frontier region.

Question 3

Alien and Sedition Acts

Answer 3

Proposed and supported by John Adams, gave the president the power to expel aliens deemed “dangerous to the country’s well-being” and outlawed publication and public pronouncement of “false, scandalous, and malicious:” statements about the governement.

Question 4

American Colonization Society

Answer 4

Formed in 1817, stated that the best way to end the slavery problem in the United States was for blacks to emigrate to Africa; by 1822 a few American blacks emigrated to Liberia. Organizations’ views were later rejected by most abolitionists.

Question 5

American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.)

Answer 5

National labor union founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886; original goal was to organize skilled workers by craft. Merged with Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1955.

Question 6

American System

Answer 6

Economic plan promoted by Speaker of the House Henry Clay in years following the War of 1812; promoted vigorous growth of the American economy, the use of protective tariffs to encourage Americans to buy more domestic goods, internal improvements like transportation, and the setup of a National Bank.

Question 7

Anaconda Plan

Answer 7

Critical component of initial Union plans to win the Civil War; called for capture of critical Southern ports and eventual control of the Mississippi River, which would create major economic and strategic difficulties for the Confederacy.

Question 8

Antifederalists

Answer 8

Group the opposed the ratification of the proposed Constitution of the United States in 1787; many feared that strong central government would remove the processes of government “from the people” and replicate the excesses of the British monarchy; later evolve into the Democratic-Republican Party.

Question 9

Appomattox

Answer 9

In the courthouse of this Virginia city Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865.

Question 10

Articles of Confederation

Answer 10

Ratified in 1781, this document established the first official government of the United States; allowed much power to remain in the states, with the federal government possessing only limited powers. Replaced by the Constitution in 1788.

Question 11

Aztecs

Answer 11

Advanced Indian society located in central Mexico; conquered by Spanish conquistador Cortes and small pox.

Question 12

Ballinger-PInchot Affair

Answer 12

Crisis that occurred when William Howard Taft was president, further distancing him from Progressive supporters of Theodore Roosevelt. Richard Ballinger, Taft’s Secretary of the Interior, allowed private businessmen to purchase large amounts of public land in Alaska; Forest Service head Gifford Pinchot (Roosevelt supporter) protested to Congress and was fired by Taft.

Question 13

Bank War

Answer 13

Political battles surrounding the attempt by President Andrew Jackson to greatly reduce the power of the Second Bank of the United States; Jackson claimed the Bank was designed to serve special interests in America and not the common people.

Question 14

Bear Flag Republic

Answer 14

Declaring independence from Mexican control, this republic was declared in 1846 by American settlers living in california; this political act was part of a larger American political and military strategy to wrest Texas and California from Mexico.

Question 15

Bessemer Steel

Answer 15

First produced in 1856 in converter (furnace) invented by Henry Bessemer; was much more durable and harder than iron. Steel was a critical commodity in the Second Industrial Revolution.

Question 16

Bicameral Legislature

Answer 16

A legislative structure consisting of two houses; was adopted by the authors of the U.S. Constitution; membership of the states in one house (House of Representatives) is determined by population, while in the other house (Senate) all states have equal representation.

Question 17

Bill of Rights

Answer 17

Added to the Constitution in 1791, the first 10 amendments protected freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to bear arms and other basic rights of American citizens; passed to gain Anti-Federalists support.

Question 18

Birth of a Nation

Answer 18

Movie released in 1915 by director D.W. Griffith that portrayed the Reconstruction as a period when Southern blacks threatened basic American values, which the Ku Klux Klan tried to protect.

Question 19

Black Codes

Answer 19

Laws adopted by the Southern states in the Reconstruction era that greatly limited the freedom of Southern blacks; in several states blacks could not move, own land, or do anything but farm.

Question 20

Bleeding Kansas

Answer 20

As a result of Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, residents of Kansas territory could decide if territory would allow slavery or not; as a result, both proslavery and antislavery groups flooded settlers into Kansas Territory. Much violence followed very disputed elections in 1855.

Question 21

Boston Massacre

Answer 21

Conflict between British soldiers and Boston civilians on March 5, 1770; after civilians threw rocks and snowballs at the soldiers, the soldiers opened fire, killing five and wounding six.

Question 22

Boston Tea Party

Answer 22

In response to the Tea Act and additional British taxes on tea, Boston radicals disguised as Native Americans threw nearly 350 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773.

Question 23

Brown vs. Board of Education

Answer 23

1954 Supreme Court decision that threw out the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling that schools could be “separate but equal” ruling and began the long and painful process of school desegregation in the South and other parts of America.

Question 24

Bull Moose Party

Answer 24

Name given to the Progressive party in the 1912 presidential campaign; Candidate was ex-president Theodore Roosevelt ran against Republican William Taft and Democrat Woodrow Wilson, with Wilson emerging victorious.

Question 25

Battle of Bunker Hill

Answer 25

June 1775 British attack on colonial forces at Breed's hill outside Boston; British, though victorious, lost many.

Question 26

Calvinism

Answer 26

Protestant faith that preached salvation "by faith alone" and predestination.

Question 27

Carpetbaggers

Answer 27

Term used by Southerners towards northerners who came to the Reconstruction South to gain financially or politically.

Question 28

Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia

Answer 28

1831 Supreme Court case in which the Cherokee tribe claimed that Georgia had no right to enforce laws in Cherokee territory, since Cherokees were a sovereign nation; Ruling stated that Cherokees were not citizens and therefore had no right to appeal in federal court.

Question 29

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Answer 29

Act that struck down Black Codes and defined the rights of all citizens; also stated that federal gov. could act when civil rights were violated at the state level.

Question 30

Civil Service Commission

Answer 30

Created by the Pendelton Civil Service Act of 1883, was in charge of testing applicants and assigning them appropriate gov. jobs; filling jobs on a basis of merit (not spoils system).

Question 31

Clayton Antitrust Act

Answer 31

1914 act designed to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890; certain activities previously committed by big businesses, such as not allowing unions in factories and not allowing strikes were declared illegal.

Question 32

Common Sense

Answer 32

1776 publication written by Thomas Paine; spoke out against monarchy and helped many undecided colonists support independence from Britain.

Question 33

Compromise of 1850

Answer 33

Created by Henry Clay; California entered Union as free, New Mexico & Utah popular sovereignty, slave trading illegal in D.C., and stronger Fugitive Slave law.

Question 34

Compromise of 1877

Answer 34

Settled presidential election of 1876; Rutherford B. Hayes becomes president, and Union army stops enforcing Reconstruction in the South (districts removed).

Question 35

Battle of Concord

Answer 35

April 19, 1775 battle between British soldiers and Massachusetts militiamen after British destroy Massachusett's arsenal.

Question 36

Copperheads

Answer 36

Democrats in Congress who opposed Lincoln and North's attack on the South, claiming that the war would result in large num. of freed slaves entering the north and a total disruption of the northern economy.

Question 37

Dark Horse Candidate

Answer 37

Candidate for office with little support before the beginning of the nomination process; ex. James K. Polk.

Question 38

Dawes Act of 1887

Answer 38

1887 act designed to break up Native American tribes, offered native American families 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of land for grazing; large amounts were not claimed and thus purchased by land speculators.

Question 39

Declaration of Rights and Grievances

Answer 39

1774 measure adopted by the First Continental Congress, stating that Parliament had some rights to regulate colonial trade with Britain, but they did not have the right to tax the colonies without their consent.

Question 40

Declaratory Act

Answer 40

1766 British law stating that the Parliament had absolute right to tax the colonies as they saw fit and to make laws that would be enacted in the colonies; used to save face from the repeal fo the Stamp Act.

Question 41

Democratic Party

Answer 41

Party born during the candidacy of Andrew Jackson; originally drew its principles from Thomas Jefferson and advocated limited government.

Question 42

Direct Primary

Answer 42

Progressive-era reform adopted by some states that allowed candidates from state offices to be nominated by the rank-and-file party members in statewide primaries instead of by the party bosses.

Question 43

Dollar Diplomacy

Answer 43

Foreign policy of President Taft, which favored increased American investment in the world as a major method for increasing American influence and stability abroad.

Question 44

Dominion of New England

Answer 44

Instituted by King James II in 1686, where Sir Edmund Andros governed the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Plymouth, and New Hampshire as a single colony without an elective assembly; overthrown in April 1689 after the Glorious Revolution.

Question 45

Dred Scott Case

Answer 45

Supreme Court Case where a slave had lived in a non slave state and a non slave territory and petitioning for his legal freedom; the Court ruled that slaves were not people but property, could not be citizens, had no legal right to petition the Court for anything, and also stated that Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

Question 46

Electoral College

Answer 46

Procedure outlined in the Constitution for the election of the president; votes of electors from each state determined who is elected president.

Question 47

Emancipation Proclamation

Answer 47

Issued by President Lincoln after the Battle of Antietam which abolished slavery in the Confederate states ("states in rebellion); did not apply to border states.

Question 48

Embargo of 1807

Answer 48

Declaration by President Jefferson that banned all American trade with Europe; hoped it would force England and France to respect American neutrality, but instead hurt American economy as England and France found other resources.

Question 49

Enlightenment

Answer 49

18-century European intellectual movement that attempted to discover the natural laws that governed science and society; stated that gov. should exist for the benefit of the people living under it.

Question 50

Era of Good Feelings

Answer 50

Term used to describe the years between 1816 and 1832 when the US. remained generally free of foreign conflicts and political strife was at a bare minimum due to the end of the Federalists (Monroe's presidency).

Question 51

Federal Reserve System

Answer 51

Est. by Federal Reserve Act of 1913, this system est. 12 district reserve banks to be controlled by the banks in each district; improved public confidence in the banking system.

Question 52

Federal Trade Commission

Answer 52

Authorized after the passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914; est. as a the major gov. body in charge of regulating big business; investigated possible violations of antitrust laws.

Question 53

Federalists

Answer 53

Supporters of the Constitution; later political party that supported a larger national government.

Question 54

Feminism

Answer 54

Belief that women should have the same rights and benefits in American society that men do; gained many supporters during the Progressive era, and in the 1960's drew large num. of supporters.

Question 55

15th Amendment

Answer 55

Ratified in 1870, this amendment stated that a persion could not be denied the right to vote based on race or whether or not they had been a slave; extended the rights of blacks to vote to the North.

Question 56

First Great Awakening

Answer 56

Religious revival in the American colonies from 1720's through the 1740's; speakers include Jonathan Edwards.

Question 57

Food and Drug Act

Answer 57

1906 bill that created a federal Food and Drug Administration; ex. of consumer protection legislation of the progressive era (result of Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle).

Question 58

Fort Sumter

Answer 58

Fort located in Charleston, SC that was fired on by Confederate artillery on April 12, 1861; first shots of the Civil War fired; mobilization of a federal army began as a result.

Question 59

Fourteenth Amendment

Answer 59

Ratified in 1868, this amendment stated that "all persons born or naturalized in the U.S." were citizens (defined citizenship); all former Confederate supporters were prohibited from holding office in the U.S.

Question 60

Free Trade

Answer 60

Philosophy that trade barriers and protective tariffs restricted long-term economic growth.

Question 61

Freedmen

Answer 61

Term used for free blacks in the South after the Civil War.

Question 62

Free-Soil Party

Answer 62

Political Party that were opposed to the spread of slavery into any of the recently acquired American territories.

Question 63

French and Indian War

Answer 63

A.K.A the Seven Years War; British and French fought for the right to expand their empire in the Americans. Colonists and Native Americans fought on both sides; English emerged victorious and received all of French Canada.

Question 64

Fugitive Slave Act

Answer 64

Part of the Compromise of 1850, this legislation set up special commissions in Northern states to determine if an accused runaway slave really was one; according to regulations, after the verdict, commissioners were given more money if the accused was found to be a runaway than if he or she was found not to be one.

Question 65

Gadsden Purchase

Answer 65

Strip of territory running through Arizona and New Mexico that the U.S. purchased from Mexico in 1853; Pierce authorized this purchase to secure a southern route of the transcontinental railroad; never used for the transcontinental railroad.

Question 66

Gettysburg Address

Answer 66

Speech made by Abraham Lincoln at dedication ceremony for the cemetery for Union soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Question 67

Battle of Gettysburg

Answer 67

Important battle of the Civil War, this July 1863 victory by Union forces prevented Gen. Robert E. Lee from invading the North; turned the tide of the war in the direction of the Union Forces.

Question 68

Treaty of Ghent

Answer 68

1814 treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain ending the War of 1812; treaty restored diplomatic relations between the two but did nothing to address the issues that had caused the war; terms were that everything taken would be returned and stop fighting.

Question 69

The Gilded Age

Answer 69

Late nineteenth century era with a surface of great prosperity hiding deep problems of social inequality and shallowness of culture.

Question 70

Glorious Revolution

Answer 70

A reference to the political events of 1688-1689, when James II abdicated his throne and was replaced by his daughter Mary and her husband, Prince William of Orange; American colonists in response, revolted against appointed Catholic officials in NY and MD, and in Mass. the governor was sent back to England with the colonial demand that he Dominion of New England be disbanded.

Question 71

Gold Standard

Answer 71

Economic system that bases all currency on gold, i.e. all paper currency could be exchanged at a bank for gold.

Question 72

Gospel of Wealth

Answer 72

Philosophy of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who stated that wealthy industrialists had an obligation to use their profits to help their local communities (esp. in the arts).

Question 73

Great Compromise

Answer 73

Plan drafted by Roger Sherman of Connecticut during the construction of the Constitution that stated one house of the U.S. Congress would be based on population (House of Representative) and the other house all states would be represented equally (Senate).

Question 74

Greenback Party

Answer 74

Political party of the 1870's and early 1880's that stated the gov. should put more money in circulation to help the farmers in debt, supported an eight-hour workday, and female suffrage; received support from farmers, but never reached national level.

Question 75

Greenbacks

Answer 75

Paper money issued by the American gov. during and after the Civil War that was not backed up by gold or silver.

Question 76

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

Answer 76

Treaty ending the war with Mexico that gave the U.S Texas territory to the Rio Grande River, New Mexico, and California for $15 million and the U.S. gov. assumed all claims of Americans against the Mexican government.

Question 77

Hartford Convention

Answer 77

Meeting of New England federalists in the closing months of the War of 1812 where they threatened that New England would secede from the U.S. unless trade restrictions imposed by Madison were lifted and a 2/3 majority vote law to declare war was passed; end of Federalist Party due to American victory in the war.

Question 78

Haymarket Square

Answer 78

Chicago labor rally called by anarchist and other radical labor leaders on May 2, 1886; bomb was hurled toward police officials and policed opened fire on demonstrators; Knights of Labor union was blamed and membership declined and eventually ended the Knights.

Question 79

Hessians

Answer 79

German troops who fought in the Revolutionary War on the side of Great Britain; treated and paid like mercenaries.

Question 80

Holding Company

Answer 80

Company that existed to gain monopoly control over an industry by buying large number of shares of stock in as many companies as possible in that industry; ex. John D. Rockefeller & Standard Oil corp.

Question 81

Homestead Act of 1862

Answer 81

Enactment by Congress that gave 160 of publicly owned land to a farmer who lived on the land and farmed it for two years; inspired many Americans to move westward.

Question 82

Horizontal Integration

Answer 82

Strategy of gaining as much control over an entire single industry as possible, usually by creating trusts and holding companies, stamping out competition, or buying out others; ex. Rockefeller & Standard Oil.

Question 83

Hull House

Answer 83

Est. by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in Chicago in 1889 to provide housing for new and incoming immigrants; settlement house.

Question 84

The First Hundred Days

Answer 84

The beginning of the New Deal Presidency of FDR; programs were implemented to assist farmers, banks, unemployed workers, and businessmen; prohibition was repealed.

Question 85

Impeachment

Answer 85

The process of removing an elected public official from office.

Question 86

Impressment

Answer 86

British practice of forcing civilians, ex-sailors, and even foreigners' sailors into naval service; one of the causes of the War of 1812.

Question 87

Indentured Servants

Answer 87

Legal arrangement when an individual owned compulsory service for a free passage to the American colonies; mostly inhibited the colonies in the colonial years.

Question 88

Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.)

Answer 88

Est. in 1905, this union attempted to unionize unskilled workers who were usually not recruited by the American Federation of Labor; included blacks, poor sharecroppers, and newly arrived immigrants from Eastern Europe; "Wobblies"; ended in WWI.

Question 89

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History

Answer 89

1890 book by Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan that argued that the most powerful nations were powerful because of their navies; called for a large increase in the size of the American navy, acquisition of American bases in the Pacific, and the building of the Panama Canal.

Question 90

Initiative Process

Answer 90

Procedure supported by the Populist part in 1890's here any proposed law could go on the public ballot as long as a petition with an appropriate number of names is submitted beforehand supporting the proposed law.

Question 91

Interstate Commerce Act

Answer 91

Established the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) - monitors the business operation of carriers transporting goods and people between states - created to regulate railroad prices.

Question 92

Intolerable Acts

Answer 92

Term used by anti-British speakers across the colonies for the series of bills passed in Great britain to punish the Mass. colony for the Boston Tea Party;closed Boston harbor, prohibited local meetings, and mandatory quartering of troops in the homes of Mass. residents.

Question 93

Isolationism

Answer 93

Foreign policy of disengaging the United States from major world commitments and concentrating on U.S. domestic issues.

Question 94

Jay's Treaty

Answer 94

1794 Treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain designed to ease tensions between the two; British made concessions about abandoning the forts they occupied in the west, but did not make any over the rights of American ships.

Question 95

Judicial Review

Answer 95

Gave U.S. supreme Court the power to decide on the constitutionality of any law passed by the U.S. Congress or by the legislature of any state; stated in Marbury vs. Madison.

Question 96

Judiciary Act

Answer 96

1801 bill passed by the Federalist Congress just before Jefferson's inauguration; bill attempted to maintain control of the judiciary by reducing the number of Supreme Court judges and by increasing the number of federal judges appointed by Adams; repealed by new Congress in 1802.

Question 97

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Answer 97

1854 compromise legislation crafted by Douglas that allowed the settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide if those territories would be slave or free (popular sovereignty); large number of settlers moved into Kansas to influence the vote; much violence resulted.

Question 98

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Answer 98

Response to Alien and Sedition Acts; claimed that the Acts went beyond the powers that the Constitution stated belonged to the federal government and that the states' did not have to follow it; set precedent for Southern arguments of nullification of federal laws deemed unconstitutional by the states.

Question 99

King William's War

Answer 99

Colonial war against the French that lasted from 1689 to 1697; army from New England colonies attacked Quebec, but were forced to retreat because of the lack of strong colonial leadership and an outbreak of smallpox among colonial forces

Question 100

Kitchen Cabinet

Answer 100

An informal group of advisors with no official titles, who the president relies on for advice. Most famous during Andrew Jacksons administration.

Question 101

Knights of Labor

Answer 101

The major labor union of the 1880s; was not a single large union, but a federation of the unions of many industries. Accepted unskilled workers; lost much publicity after Haymarkets Square riot of 1886.

Question 102

Know-Nothing Party

Answer 102

Political party developed in the 1850s that claimed that the other political parties and the entire political process were corrupt. Believed immigrants were destroying the economic base of America, and Catholics in America intended to destroy American democracy.

Question 103

Ku Klux Klan

Answer 103

Organization founded in the South during the Reconstruction era by whites who wanted to maintain white supremacy through terror. Revitalized in the 1920s, when opposed to Catholics and Southern and Eastern European immigrants.

Question 104

Labor Movement

Answer 104

The drive that began in the second half of the nineteenth century to have workers join labor unions.

Question 105

Laissez-faire

Answer 105

The doctrine that government should not interfere in commercial affairs, derived from eighteenth-century economist Adam Smith.

Question 106

Land Speculation

Answer 106

The practice of buying up land with the intent of selling it off in the future for a profit. Existed in the Kentucky territory in the 1780s, throughout the West after the Homestead Act.

Question 107

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Answer 107

1804-1806 - Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were commissioned by Jefferson to map and explore the Louisiana Purchase region. Beginning at St. Louis, Missouri, the expedition travelled up the Missouri River to the Great Divide, and then down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. It produced extensive maps of the area and recorded many scientific discoveries, greatly facilitating later settlement of the region and travel to the Pacific coast.

Question 108

Lexington and Concord

Answer 108

The first battle of the Revolution in which British general Thomas Gage went after the stockpiled weapons of the colonists in Concord, Massachusetts. 8 Colonists killed, 9 wounded.

Question 109

The Liberator

Answer 109

Abolitionist paper published by William Lloyd Garrison from 1831 to 1865. Influence of the growing abolitionist movement leading to the Civil War.

Question 110

Battle of the Little Bighorn

Answer 110

1876 Montana battle where Colonel George Custer and more than 200 of his men were killed by a group of Cheyenne and Lakota warriors. Last major victory by Native-American forces over a US army unit.

Question 111

London Company

Answer 111

A joint-stock company chartered in 1606 and was responsible for founding the first permanent English settlement in America; Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.

Question 112

Lost Generation

Answer 112

Group of American intellectuals/writers who viewed America in the 1920s as bigoted, intellectually shallow, and consumed by the quest for a dollar.

Question 113

Louisiana Purchase

Answer 113

The U.S., under Jefferson, bought the territory from France, under the rule of Napoleon, in 1803. The U.S. paid $15 million and Napoleon gave up his empire in North America. The U.S. gained control of Mississippi trade route and doubled its size.