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US History Top 100

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118287552Whiskey Rebelliona 1794 protest over a tax on all liquor made and sold in the United States. Prez Washington sent in the army, and rebellion disappeared. Disagreements about his decision led to development of two party system (Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans)
118287553Washington's Farewell AddressWarned Americans not to make permanent alliances, not to form political parties and to avoid sectionalism.
177230481Federalist PartyFirst political party in US, led by Alexander Hamilton, believed in strong central government, wanted to base economy on industry & trade, pro-British, loose constructionists
118287554Democratic-Republican PartyDemocratic-Republicans: Led by Jefferson, believed in reserving power for states/individuals, pro-farmers, pro-French, strict constructionists
118288578Alien & Sedition ActsLaws passed by Federalist Congress and Prez John Adams in 1798 that enabled the government to imprison or deport aliens and to prosecute critics of the government. Nullified by Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions!
118288579Marbury vs. MadisonEstablished the principle of judicial review
118288580Louisiana PurchaseTerritory in western United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million by Prez Jefferson (Jefferson moves from strict constructionism to loose constructionism!)
121048194American SystemNationalist economic program advanced by Henry Clay that included support for a national bank, high tariffs, and internal improvements like roads and canals
121048195Monroe Doctrine1820 American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from European powers
121048196Nullificationthe states'-rights doctrine that a state can refuse to recognize or to enforce a federal law passed by the United States Congress (examples: Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, South Carolina Nullification Crisis)
121048197Indian RemovalNineteenth century policy of the government of the US to remove Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river (example: Cherokee moved from southeast to Oklahoma territory in Trail of Tears)
121048198TranscendentalismA philosophy pioneered by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in the 1830's and 1840's, in which each person has direct communication with God and Nature, and emphasized self-reliance
121048199Abolitionismmovement to end slavery in the United States. Key abolitionists: Grimke Sisters, William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator newspaper), Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, David Walker, Harriet Tubman...
121048200Tecumseha famous chief of the Shawnee who tried to unite Indian tribes against the increasing white settlement (1768-1813)
121048201War of 1812War between the U.S. and Great Britain which lasted until 1814, ending with the Treaty of Ghent and a renewed sense of American nationalism
121048202Mexican Cessionland that Mexico sold to the United States after the Mexican War through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; included what is now California, Nevada, and Utah; most of Arizona and New Mexico
121048203Missouri Compromisean agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories. Missouri becomes slave state, Maine becomes free state, establish 36/30 line (north of that line would be free territory, south of the line could be slave territory)
121048204Compromise of 1850Postponed the Civil War by adding California into union as a free state BUT gave popular sovereignty to Utah and New Mexico and passed strict new Fugitive Slave Law. Also banned slave trade in Washington D.C.
121048205Kansas-Nebraska Act1854 - Created Nebraska and Kansas as states and gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be a free or slave state through popular sovereignty. Led to "Bloody Kansas"
121048206Dred Scott v. SanfordSupreme Court case that decided US Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories. Ruled against Dred Scott, saying that slaves would remain slaves even in non-slave states and slaves could not sue because they were not citizens
121048207Emancipation Proclamationissued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, it declared that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be free. Made the Civil War about ending slavery in the United States! (Lincoln's original goal was only to preserve the Union)
121048208GettysburgTurning point of the Civil War fought over three days in Pennsylvania, ultimately a Northern victory. Site of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address reminding the nation of the importance of continuing the war, bringing the Union back together, and protecting the Constitution.
12104820914th AmendmentThe 14th guaranteed citizenship to former slaves.
121048210ImpeachmentPresident in office being formally accused of a crime and put on trial in the Senate. Happened to Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton.
121048211Compromise of 1877Ended Reconstruction. Newly elected Republican Prez Rutherford B. Hayes promised 1) Remove military from South, 2) Appoint Democrat to cabinet (David Key postmaster general), 3) Federal money for railroad construction and levees on Mississippi river
121048212Manifest DestinyBelief that the U.S. should extend all the way to the pacific ocean. Supported by people migrating west into new territories during the 1800s (farmers, Mormons, miners, ranchers...) and new laws encouraging people to head west (Homestead Act, Indian Removal)
121048213Transcontinental RailroadCompleted in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west and opening the west to a population boom
121048214Dawes ActAn act that removed Indian land from tribal possesion, redivided it, and distributed it among individual Indian families. Designed to break tribal mentalities and promote individualism.
121048215Cross of Gold SpeechWilliam Jennings Bryan's populist speech about how the gold standard hurt everyday Americans and supporting the policy of bimetallism instead.
121048216PopulismGrassroots political movement of the late 1800s, started by farmers protesting unfair prices and policies of the railroads.
121048217Interstate Commerce ActEstablished the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) - monitors the business operation of carriers transporting goods and people between states - created to regulate railroad prices
121059483NativismAnti-immigrant policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones. On the rise in the US in the 1800s with waves of "New" immigrants. Extreme examples of nativism: Know-Nothing Party, Chinese Exclusion Act
121059485MonopolyEstablishing total control over an industry, usually through vertical or horizontal integration and creation of a trust.
121059486Social DarwinismThe application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - used as justification for the existence of poverty and imperialism in the late 1800s.
121059488Thomas NastPolitical cartoonist who worked to expose corruption and abuses of the Tweed ring, criticized the South's attempts to impede Reconstruction, and lampooned labor unions. Created the animal symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties.
121059489Sherman Anti-Trust Actan 1890 law that banned the formation of trusts and monopolies in the United States, first used by Teddy Roosevelt to regulate good trusts/bust bad trusts.
121059490ProgressivismSocial and political movement in late 1800s aimed at correcting problems of Industrial Revolution. Wanted to end child labor, support education, social welfare, stop alcohol abuse, promote women's suffrage and workers' rights, end abuses of corporation.
121059491Triangle Shirtwaist Fire(1911) 146 women killed while locked into the burning building (brought attention to poor working conditions)
121059492MuckrakersJournalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public (Upton Sinclair, Jacob Riis, Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffans...)
121059493Robert LaFolletteThree term governor of Wisconsin, then U.S. Senator in 1906, he was one of the earliest proponents of Progressive Reform.
121059494Federal Reserve Acta 1913 law that set up a system of federal banks and gave government the power to control the money supply
121059495Plessy v. FergusonSupreme Court decision ruling that segregation in public places was legal as long as the different facilities for blacks and whites were equal.
121059496DisenfranchisementBeing deprived of the right to vote. African-Americans were systematically disenfranchised in the American South after Reconstruction. Examples: poll taxes, literacy test, grandfather clause
121059497Booker T. WashingtonCivil Rights leader who wanted economic equality first for African-Americans, okay with slow and steady change, founded the Tuskegee Institute.
121059498Alfred MahanNavy officer and author of "Influence of Sea Power on History" whose ideas encouraged US to build a powerful navy (AKA the Great White Fleet)
121059499Josiah StrongMinister and author of "Our Country," believed in Anglo-Saxon superiority and the importance of American imperialism and Christian missionary work.
121059500Seward's FollyAmericans criticized William Seward's purchase of Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars in 1867, calling it a mistake
121059501Annexation of HawaiiAmerican plantation owners take over control of Hawaii from Queen Lilioukalani, create a provisional government, territory later annexed by Prez McKinley in 1898. US naval base on Hawaii: Pearl Harbor
121059502Spanish-American WarWar fought between the US and Spain in Cuba and the Philippines in 1898. It lasted less than 3 months and resulted in Cuba's independence as well as the US annexing Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
121059503Open Door PolicyA policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China.
121059504Roosevelt CorollaryRoosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force
121059505Big Stick DiplomacyDiplomatic policy developed by T.R where the "big stick" symbolizes his power and readiness to use military force if necessary. It is a way of intimidating countries without actually harming them and was the basis of U.S. imperialistic foreign policy.
121059506Yellow Journalismsensational stories that were often biased or untrue. Used by Hearst and Pulitzer to persuade American public to back Spanish-American War
121059507US Involvement in WWIHappens because of propaganda, unrestricted German submarine warfare (sinking of the Lusitania) and the Zimmerman telegram
121059508Russian RevolutionEnded royal rule in Russia and led to creation of a communist government in 1917 led by Vladimir Lenin. Resulted in Russia leaving Allied Powers and no longer contributing to the fight against Germany in WWI
121059509Fourteen PointsWoodrow Wilson's plan for world peace following WWI, included the creation of the League of Nations (which US never joined)
121059510Treaty of VersaillesTreaty that ended WWI created by the "Big Four" (US, France, Great Britain, Italy). Three items in treaty planted seeds for WWII: war guilt clause, German reparations, and loss of Germany territory.
121059511Dawes PlanAmerican plan to loan money to Germany, who would pay their reparations to France and Britain, who would pay back their debt to America.
121059512Kellogg-Briand Pact1928 agreement between 15 nations outlawing war; eventually 48 other nations joined the pact; had no way of enforcing peace.
121059514Harlem RenaissancePeriod in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished, centered in Harlem NY. Examples: Langston Hughes (writer/poet), Zora Neale Hurston, Louis Armstrong (jazz)
121059515ProhibitionLaw forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages. Resulted in 18th Amendment in US, later repealed with 21st Amendment. Prohibition led to bootleggers and speakeasies, ultimately alcohol consumption did go down, but crime rose significantly.
121059517Bonus ArmyGroup of WWI vets that marched to D.C. in 1932 to demand the immediate payment of their government war bonuses in cash. Prez Hoover forced them to leave using the military, resulted in popularity decrease.
121059518Causes of Great DepressionOverspeculation in stock market (Black Tuesday, October 1929), too-easy access to credit, imbalance in foreign trade (Hawley Smoot Tariff), Dust Bowl
121059519New Deal AgenciesFDIC, SEC, CCC, AAA
121059521Deficit SpendingGovernment spends money it doesn't have. FDR used this to fund programs to help solve the problems of the Great Depression.
121059522Lend Lease ActAllowed sale or loan of war materials to any country whose defense the president deems vital to the defense of the U.S
121059523Pearl HarborUSvmilitary base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.
121059524D-DayAllied forces land on the beaches of Normandy, France to begin massive offensive against Germany in occuped territories in Europe. Led by Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 6, 1944. Allied success and led to V-E Day after failed German counterattack at Battle of the Bulge
121059525GI BillLaw passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes, start businesses, and pay for higher education
121059526Manhattan ProjectCode name for the secret United States project directed by J. Robert Oppenheimer, set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II. Prez Truman decided to drop 2 atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to end war with Japan and save lives in American soldiers.
121059527Korematsu vs. US1944 SC decision that upheld as constitutional the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent in prison camps during WW2.
121076414Iron CurtainWinston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West.
121076415Marshall PlanIntroduced by Secretary of State George G. Marshall in 1947, he proposed massive and systematic American economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help prevent the spread of Communism.
121076416ContainmentAmerican policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world. Reaction to the Domino Theory, which held that if the US allowed on country to fall to communism, other countries in that same region would also fall.
121076417Cuban Missile Crisisan international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR. When the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, President John F. Kennedy demanded their removal and announced a naval blockade of the island; the Soviet leader Khrushchev acceded to the U.S. demands a week later.
121076418McCarthyismTerm associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee. Became a synonym for public charges of disloyalty without sufficient regard for evidence.,
121076419Brown v. Board of EducationSupreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, overturned Plessey v Ferguson.
121076420Martin Luther King, Jr.African-American civil rights leader in the 1950s and 1960s. Opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. His methods were opposed by other civil rights leaders such as Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.
121076421Gulf of Tonkin ResolutionGave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.
121076422Great SocietyPresident Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.
121076423War Powers ActIn 1973, this law reversed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Presidents now had to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops; had to gain congress' approval to stay longer than 90 days.
121076424DetentePolicy used by Prez Richard Nixon to relax tensions between the United States and its two major Communist rivals, the Soviet Union and China
121076425Watergatea political scandal involving abuse of power and bribery and obstruction of justice after break-in at Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Led to the resignation of Prez Richard Nixon in 1974.
121076426Betty FriedanAmerican feminist, activist and writer. Best known for writing book "The Feminine Mystique".
121076427Cesar ChavezOrganized Union Farm Workers (UFW); help migratory farm workers gain better pay & working conditions
121076428Camp David AccordsA peace treaty between Israel and Egypt where Egypt agreed to recognize the nation state of Israel. Engineered by US Prez Jimmy Carter
121076429Title IXfederal legislation that prohibited discrimination in education whether in academics or athletics. Required equal funding for men's and women's athletics!
121076430Regents of UCLA v. BakkeSupreme Court ruling on affirmative action in higher education. Bakke had argued that reverse discrimination (discrimination against whites) was the only factor keeping him from being accepted as a student at UCLA.
121076431NAFTANorth American Free Trade Agreement; allows open trade with US, Mexico, and Canada, signed by Prez Bill Clinton
121076432Election of 2000George W. Bush vs. Al Gore. Election was noteworthy for a controversy over the awarding of Florida's 25 electoral votes, the subsequent recount process in that state, and the unusual event of the winning candidate having received fewer popular votes than the runner-up.
121076433No Child Left BehindLaw signed by George W. Bush that holds states, schools, and school districts more accountable for their standardized test scores.
121076434Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg SchoolsSupreme Court decision that allowed for busing in order to integrate schools
121076435Texas v. JohnsonA 1989 case in which the Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.
121076436Graying of Americarefers to the growing percentage of older people in the U.S. population (growing baby boomer population)
121076437Patriot ActThis law passed after 9/11 expanded the tools used to fight terrorism and improved communication between law enforcement and intelligence agencies
121076438Bush DoctrineA policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad - used to justify War in Iraq against Saddam Hussein in 2003.
17724145913th AmendmentEnded slavery in the United States
17724146015th AmendmentEstablished suffrage for African-American men
177241461W.E.B. DuboisCivil rights leader who demanded immediate civil rights for African-Americans, one of the founders of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP
177241462Susan B. AnthonySupported women's rights and women's suffrage, attended Declaration of Sentiments

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