AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

AP US History Semester 1 Flashcards

Terms : Hide Images
5678563994Federalist PartyFirst American political party formed by George Washington and led by Alexander Hamilton. They were in support of the Constitution, as it gave the government more power. They believed in national banks, tariffs, an elite ruling class, and good relations with Britain. They had major influences and impacts on out national government and its debt.0
5678563995Anti-Federalist PartyA group of members that opposed the creation of a stronger US federal government and the Constitution. They were led by Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. They believed in a weak central government and strong state governments. They supported small farmers and landowners. They helped in preventing the Federalists from creating a political system like that of the British.1
5678563996Whigs Partywere conservatives who supported government programs, reforms, and public schools. They called for internal improvements like canals, railroads, and telegraph lines.2
5678563997Marbury v Madison 1803William Marbury had not had his commission delivered by Adams. Even though this was illegal on Adams part, Congress could not force Marbury to bring the documents. The court was able to form a basis for exercise of judicial review. It defined the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches. (date)3
5678563998McCulloch v Maryland 1819Maryland attempted to impede operation of a branch of the second bank of the US by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland. It established that Congress could implement the Constitution's powers, and state action couldn't impede valid constitutional exercises of power by the government. (date)4
5678563999Plessy v Fergussoncase ruled that "separate but equal" public facilities were legal. reversed in Brown v Board of Ed. Racial segregation5
5678564000Louisiana Purchase 1803The acquisition by the USA of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana. They paid $15 million. It doubled the size of the US, removed France's presence in the region, and it protected US trade access and free passage. (date)6
5678564001Mexican Cession1848. Awarded as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo after the Mexican American War. U.S. paid $15 million for 525,000 square miles.7
5678564002Gadsden Purchase 1853..A region of present day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico purchased by the US in a treaty. It proved the land necessary for a southern transcontinental railroad and attempted to resolve conflicts that lingered after the Mexican-American War. (date)8
5678564003Erie CanalA canal in New York running from Albany to Buffalo. It created a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes which gave the western states direct access tot he ocean without shipping goods downstream on Mississippi River.9
5678564004Boston Massacre 1770The killing of five colonists by British regulars. It was the culmination of the tensions in the American colonies. It made many colonists rally together to counter the evil British. Changed people's mind about the British. (date)10
5678564005Boston Tea Party 1773Political protest by the Sons of Liberty. They destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India company in defiance of the Tea Act by throwing the chests into the sea. It showed that the American colonies had grown tired of arbitrary taxation by the British. (date)11
5678564006Popular SovereigntyA belief that ultimate power resides in the people. The people are able to vote for if they want slavery or not.12
5678564007Second Great AwakeningA Protestant revival movement as a reaction against skepticism, deism, and rationalism. It enrolled new members in existing denominations and led to the formation of new denominations. It revived the emotional side of religion, weakened church authority, and played a role in social reform.13
5678564008French and Indian War 1754-1763Fought between the colonies of British America and New France, supported by military units from their parent countries. Hostilities intensified between the two as they both attempted to colonize land in the Ohio Valley. It marked the beginning of conflicts between Great Britain and the American colonists. (Dates)14
5678564009Revolutionary War 1775-1783War fought between the American colonies and England. American colonies won war and gained independence and British land in North America. (date)15
5678564010Nullification CrisisA sectional crisis with an ordinance declared by the power of the state that the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore void in South Carolina. It showed that the economic and political interests of the North and South were drifting, as they had opposing ideas.16
5678564011Mexican-American War 1846An armed conflict between the US and Mexico that started with the US annexation of Texas and was the result of a disagreement over where the Mexican-American border should be. the US received Mexican territory and it raised the question of slavery in the new territory. (date)17
5678564012Saratoga BattleA battle that took place in New York where the Continental Army defeated the British. It proved to be the turning point of the war. This battle ultimately had France to openly support the colonies with military forces in addition to the supplies and money already being sent.18
5678564013Bull Run BattleWas the first meager battle of the civil war with the confederates winning against the north.19
5678564014Monroe Doctrine 1823A US foreign policy regarding Latin American countries. It stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South American would be viewed as acts of aggression. It directed a clear warning towards all foreign countries telling them to leave the US alone and to stop settling within the country's borders. (date)20
5678564015Slave TradeEuropean trade agreement with Africa dealing with slaves brought from Africa. Integral part of Triangle Trade between the Americas, Africa, and Europe.21
5678564016Amendment 13 1864This abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime. It formally released all slaves and prevented slavery to keep occurring. (date)22
5678564017Amendment 14 1868This granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US, which included former slaves. It defined citizenship within the US (date).23
5678564018Amendment 15 1870This stated that the rights of citizens to vote should not bed denied by the US in race or color. It allowed African American men to vote, though poll taxes and literacy tests still prevented them from doing so. (date)24
5678564019Proclamation Act 1763Issued by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America. It forbade settlers from settling past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. It organized Britain's empire and stabilized relations with Native Americans through trade, settlement, and land purchases. (date)25
5678564020Sugar Act 1764It reduced the tax to three pence (previously six pence). The tax was more enforced and it occurred on other goods like wine, coffee, and calico. It raised revenue for Britain through American colonists, not Europeans. (date)26
5678564021Stamp Act 1765An act of the Parliament of Great Britain that required the colonies have printed materials be produced on stamp paper. These were legal documents. It helped British troops who were stationed in North America, as the taxes went to their benefit. This angered the colonists. It was considered the last straw, leading to the Revolution. (date)27
5678564022Land Ordinance 1785The goal was to raise money through the sale of land in the territory west of the states. It was important because it established the precedent by which the US would expand westward across North America by the admission of new states. (date)28
5678564023Northwest Ordinance 1787It created the Northwest territory from lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains, between Canada and the Great Lakes. Rather than the expansion of existing states and their established sovereignty, it establish admission for new states. (date)29
5678564024Compromise of 1850This admitted California as a free state while it also created fugitive slave laws to capture escaped slaves. It created a way for slaves to not be able to go to the North and be free. The North had to help the South.30
5678564025Intolerable Acts 1774A series of laws passed by the British Parliament after the Boston Tea Party intending to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance. It was a wake up call for the colonies. The Boston harbor closed. England took over all governmental activities. (date)31
5678564026Missouri Compromise 1820It involved primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the southern Missouri border. It became precedent for settling subsequent North and South disagreements over slavery and duty issues. (date)32
5678564027Thomas Jefferson..., Virginian, architect, author, governor, and president. Lived at Monticello. Wrote the Declaration of Independence. Second governor of Virgina. Third president of the United States. Designed the buildings of the University of Virginia.33
5678564028John AdamsAmerica's first Vice-President and second President. Sponsor of the American Revolution in Massachusetts, and wrote the Massachusetts guarantee that freedom of press "ought not to be restrained."34
5678564029Thomas PaineAmerican Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)35
5678564030Andrew JacksonSeventh president of the US. He opposed the national bank and did not support a strong federal government. He enforced the Indian Removal Act. He enforced the idea of a common man and sovereignty.36
5678564031John C CalhounVice President under Andrew Jackson; leading Southern politician; began his political career as a nationalist and an advocate of protective tariffs, later he becomes an advocate of free trade, states' rights, limited government, and nullification.37
5678564032Henry ClayAmerican lawyer, politician, and skilled orator who represented Kentucky. He is important because he was the founder and leader of the Whig Party and a leading advocate of programs for modernizing the economy, like tariffs to eliminate international competition, a national bank, and internal improvements to promote canals, ports, and railroads.38
5678564033John Quincy Adams..., Secretary of State, He served as sixth president under Monroe. In 1819, he drew up the Adams-Onis Treaty in which Spain gave the United States Florida in exchange for the United States dropping its claims to Texas. The Monroe Doctrine was mostly Adams' work.39
5678564034Preston BrooksA hot tempered Congressman of South Carolina took vengeance in his own hands. He beat Sumner with a cane until he was restrained by other Senators over issue of slavery.40
5678564035CottonThe most important cash crop in the South by 1850 that needed a large labor force.41
5678564036Indian Removal ActPart of the Indian Removal policy that was signed into law by Andrew Jackson in 1830; strongly supported in the South where states were eager to gain access to lands occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes.42
5678564037American SystemAn economic regime pioneered by Henry Clay which created a high tariff to support internal improvements such as road-building. This approach was intended to allow the United States to grow and prosper by themselves This would eventually help America industrialize and become an economic power.43
5678564038Adams Onis Treaty1819. Settled land dispute between Spain and United States as a result of tensions brought on by weakening Spanish power in the New World. U.S. gained Florida in exchange for $5 million and renounced any claims on Texas and settled boundary between two countries to the Pacific Ocean.44
5678564039Interchangeable parts1799-1800 - Eli Whitney developed a manufacturing system which uses standardized parts which are all identical and thus, interchangeable. Before this, each part of a given device had been designed only for that one device; if a single piece of the device broke, it was difficult or impossible to replace. With standardized parts, it was easy to get a replacement part from the manufacturer. Whitney first put used standardized parts to make muskets for the U.S. government.45
5678564040Samuel SlaterHe was a British mechanic that moved to America and in 1791 invented the first American machine for spinning cotton. He is known as "the Father of the Factory System" and he started the idea of child labor in America's factories. -increased labor problem -only benefitted employers, not workers -forbid unions46
5678564041Spoils SystemJackson's patronage system, which allowed men to buy their way into office. This resulted in a very corrupt governmental office.47
5678564042"Lowell Girls"/Factory Girls 1820-30'sYoung single women that were the primary source of labor in the factory system in Lowell, Massachusetts48
5678564043Colombian exchangethe exchange between the new world and the old world consisting of the old world bringing wheat, cows, horses, sheep, pigs, sugar, rice, coffee, smallpox, malaria and yellow fever. while the new world sent gold, silver, corn, potatoes, tobacco, and syphills49
5678564044Encomienda SystemsSpanish government's policy to "commend", or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them. Part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indian tribes in the West Indies and on the North American mainland.50
5678564045Tariff of 1828a protective tariff passed by the U.S. Congress that came to be known as the "Tariff of Abominations" to its Southern detractors because of the effects it had on the Antebellum Southern economy; it was the highest tariff in U.S. peacetime and its goal was to protect industry in the northern United States from competing European goods by increasing the prices of European products. Attempt to keep the American system running.51

Need Help?

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!