Terms : Hide Images
| 290845937 | Joint stock company | Corporation where merchants sold shares to investors to raise funds for colonization, promising profits in return | |
| 290845938 | Colonization | Term to describe the process when countries expand their territory and create colonies on distant soil | |
| 290845939 | Northwest Passage | Theoretical all-water route from Europe to Asia | |
| 290845940 | Exploration | Process of discovering and charting new places, cultures, and ideas | |
| 290845941 | Renaissance | An era of rebirth, new ideas, and new ideology | |
| 290845942 | John Smith | When no gold was found at Jamestown, this man saved the Jamestown colony from disaster | |
| 290845943 | Crusades | Religious was funded by the Pope, the goal being to win back the Holy Land and reintroduce Christianity to the Near East | |
| 290845944 | Inca | Large empire in the Andes mountains in South America - the people were advanced architects and engineers who built rope suspension bridges, mountain-top citadels, and an impressive road network | |
| 290845945 | Puritans | This strict and rigid religious sect believed wanted to reform the Church of England and led the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony | |
| 290845946 | Roger Williams | English Protestant theologian who supported religious freedom and the separation of church and state and established the colony of Rhode Island | |
| 290845947 | Christopher Columbus | This Italian explorer believed he could sail to Asia and was sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to explore a Westward route to the East Indies | |
| 290845948 | Mayflower Compact | This document, the first written law in the New World, was signed in 1620 and established self-government for the Pilgrims | |
| 290845949 | Plymouth | This colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims and along with Jamestown was one of the first successful colonies in the New World | |
| 290845950 | Amerigo Vespucci | Italian explorer, navigator, financier, cartographer and namesake of the Americas | |
| 290845951 | William Penn | A Quaker who was granted a tract of land in the New World, which he named after himself, and recruited persecuted peoples to come live in peace | |
| 290845952 | Bering Strait | The first nomadic tribes came to the Americas via this present-day waterway that separates Russia from Alaska and was once a land bridge between Asia and North America | |
| 290845953 | Quakers | The Society of Friends abandoned the Church of England due to its corruption and rejected the concept of predestination, but believed that salvation was possible for all who heeded the "Inner Light" | |
| 290845954 | Aztec | A warrior people who dominated the Valley of Mexico from about 110 until their conquest between 1519-21 by Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes. They built an impressive island capital at Tenochtitlán, where they conducted human sacrifices | |
| 290845955 | Iroquois League | An alliance of five (later six) Indian nations that sided with England during King William's War, but received little to no help from the English when they were attacked by the French. They later declared neutrality, creating a buffer between the French and English territorial claims | |
| 290845956 | Jamestown | The first successful English colony in the New World, governed by the House of Burgesses, that was plagued by rampant disease and conflict with Native Americans | |
| 290845957 | Triangular Trade | A cyclical system of trade between Europe, Africa, and North America where manufactured goods and slaves were exchanged for natural resources | |
| 290845958 | Revolution | An upheaval resulting in a new regime, new government, or major change | |
| 290845959 | Constitution | The document that establishes government and a code of laws for a nation. | |
| 290871632 | Mercantalism | An economic theory whereby a mother country aims to export more than she imports in hopes of increasing national wealth | |
| 290871633 | Articles of Confederation | First written document that presided over the first national government of the United States and gave most power to state governments, with the few responsibilities that remained going to Congress. Congress dealt with foreign policy and national defense, but couldn't raise troops or impose taxes without unanimous consent of all member states | |
| 290871634 | French and Indian War | The last of the Anglo-French colonial wars (1754-1763) which was fought over rapidly converging territory in North America | |
| 290871635 | Shay's Rebellion | In the fall of 1786, a former Revolutionary War captain led a group of 2,000 small-scale farmers in western Massachusetts in a march against Springfield to protest falling farm prices, a shortage of money, heavy taxes, and mounting debts. The legislature quickly mobilized to suppress the rebellion in early 1787 | |
| 290871636 | Proclamation of 1763 | The royal edict that set a boundary line limiting British settlements to the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains | |
| 290871637 | Ben Franklin | A founding father of the United States who, when not occupied in colonial politics, invented the lightning rod, glass harmonica, and bifocal spectacles | |
| 290871638 | Salutary Neglect | A period of time during the early eighteenth century when Parliament and royal ministers confined their attention to matters of trade and military defense, leaving the colonies on their own. This led to the colonies becoming even more and more independent, growing in wealth, population, and self governing. Colonists also began to assume equality with the English, as members of the empire. | |
| 290871639 | Alexander Hamilton | This Secretary of the Treasury proposed a tax on whiskey, wanted to recharter the Bank of the United States, and hoped to reduced national debt by selling government bonds with a 4% interest rate. He also advocated a stronger central government that promoted industry. | |
| 290871640 | Stamp Act | One of the Intolerable Acts, this law, passed by Parliament in 1765, required all legal documents, publications, and playing cards to sport a royal hallmark. Due to its extreme unpopularity, Parliament repealed it a year later | |
| 290871641 | Great Compromise | Elements of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan were combined in this agreement, by which each state would have two votes in the Senate, or upper house, and a number of votes proportional to each state's population in the House of Representatives, the lower house | |
| 290871642 | Boston Tea Party | Incident that occured in 1773 in which Bostonians disguised as Indians destroyed nine thousand pounds (currency) of tea to protest against the high taxes imposed by Britain. | |
| 290871643 | 3/5 Compromise | Southern states wanted slaves to count for apportioning representation in the House of Representatives but excluded from tax assessments, and the northern states vice versa. As part of the Great Compromise, free residents were to be counted precisely, and all others would count for three-fifths of a person. Native Americans would not be taxed. | |
| 290871644 | Intolerable Acts | The American term for the Coercive Acts (Legislation passed by Parliament in 1774; included the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act) | |
| 290871645 | Bill of Rights | A written summary of inalienable privileges and liberties that were the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution | |
| 290876029 | Lexington and Concord | The first two battles of the American Revolution that resulted in a total of 273 British casualties and nearly 100 American casualties | |
| 290884140 | Constitutional Concept | The idea to establish three branches of government, stipulate laws and provide guidelines for our nation | |
| 290941331 | John Locke | English philosopher who believed that God didn't dictate human knowledge, but instead gave us the power to acquire our own knowledge - a source of inspiration in the creation of the Constitution | |
| 290941332 | Representation | A facet of government where people use delegates to convey the beliefs of the people as a whole; Parliament in England | |
| 290941333 | Thomas Jefferson | This man composed the first draft of the Declaration of Independence and later became president of the United States | |
| 290941334 | Declaration of Independence | The document, containing a full catalog of the colonists' grievances, that the Second Continental Congress released to justify its decision (reached July 2, 1776) to renounce the colonies' allegiance to the British government, drafted mainly by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by Congress on July 4 | |
| 290941335 | Checks and balances | A system enabled by the separation of powers, where each governmental power keeps tabs the others' decisions and ensures that no one branch gains the upper hand | |
| 290941336 | Slavery | The inhumane act of making other human beings work without pay; people are thought of as property | |
| 290941337 | George Washington | This leading general in the American Revolution was offered kingship, but chose instead to be elected first president of the United States | |
| 290998690 | Strict v. Broad construct | One faction thinks that congress should only exercise prescribed powers so that the central government remains relatively small, while the other party believes Congress should assume certain implied privileges, hence a larger central government | |
| 291006097 | Battle of Saratoga | Americans, under the heroic command of General Benedict Arnold, defeated the British on October 17th 1777 on the Hudson River at this turning-point battle that convinced the French to join the American cause | |
| 291006098 | Federalist Papers | A series of essays promoting the ratification of the Constitution | |
| 291006099 | Valley Forge | Area of Pennsylvania approximately 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia where General George Washigton's continental troops were quartered from December 1777 to June 1778 while British forces occupied Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. Approximately 2,500 men, about a quarter of those encamped there, died of hardship and disease | |
| 291006100 | Sectionalism | This loyalty to a personal region, or state, rather than one's own country, is a source of national conflict and often leads to war | |
| 291006101 | Battle of Yorktown | This decisive battle between the British and combined American and French forces took place September 28th-October 19th, 1781 and was the last major clash of the American Revolution | |
| 291006102 | Treaty of Paris | This document, signed September 3rd, 1783, ended the Revolutionary War | |
| 291006103 | Federalist Era | The time period from the late 1700s to the early 1800s during which the United States Constitution was adopted and the central government expanded | |
| 291012489 | Whiskey Rebellion | This revolt was the result of an unfair tax on an alcoholic beverage. Although there was protest throughout the colonies, President Jackson honed in on a group of Pennsylvania farmers to exert the power of the federal government in upholding nationwide laws | |
| 291012490 | Missouri Compromise | This agreement reached by Congress in 1820 admitted a slave state and Maine as a free state and prohibited slavery in the northern Louisiana Purchase territory | |
| 291042714 | Henry Clay | This leading War Hawk served Kentucky both in the Senate and the House of Representatives and advocated conflict with Britain in the months leading up to the War of 1812; he was later Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams | |
| 291042715 | Washington's Precedents | 1. Inauguration Speech 2. Use of force to assert the law 3. The title president 4. Called upon the cabinet 5. Two term presidency (which became the norm) | |
| 291042716 | American System | A mercantilist economic program featuring three parts. 1. A tariff to promote American industry 2. National bank for commerce 3. Federal payment for roads, canals, etc. | |
| 291042717 | Marbury v. Madison | Supreme court decision of 1803 that created the precedent of judicial review | |
| 291042718 | Andrew Jackson | Strong military leader at the Battle of New Orleans and later President, often stubborn and headstrong | |
| 291042719 | Lewis and Clark | These two were hired by Thomas Jefferson to lead the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast with both scientific and commercial goals | |
| 291042720 | Trail of Tears | The route the Cherokees took to go west as mandated by the Indian Removal Act. Many Cherokees died from starvation, disease, exhaustion, and brutality | |
| 291042721 | Louisiana Purchase | Jefferson's $15 million purchase of 828,000 square miles of land from Napoleon that doubled the size of the United States | |
| 291042722 | Nullification | A constitutional doctrine holding that a state has a legal right to declare a national law void within its borders. | |
| 291042723 | Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions | Drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which two state legislatures declared the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. | |
| 291042724 | John Calhoun | An outspoken nationalist of South Carolina who lead the War Hawks and also introduced a bill to create a new national bank and a bill to connect the country with canals and roads | |
| 291042725 | John Adams | Attorney who defended the British after the Boston Massacre, one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, signed the Alien and Sedition Acts | |
| 291042726 | Alexis de Tocqueville | Frenchman who wrote "Democracy in America," in which he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in western societies | |
| 291042727 | Bank of the United States | A centralized government bank, created by Alexander Hamilton, that was not rechartered by Congress | |
| 291042728 | Eli Whitney | The inventor of the Cotton Gin; brought the ideas of the Industrial Revolution from Britain to the United States | |
| 291042729 | Alien and Sedition Acts | Collective name given to four acts passed by congress in 1798 that curtailed freedom of speech and the liberty of foreigners resident in the United States | |
| 291042730 | Daniel Webster | A leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War who first rose to prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests. His increasingly nationalistic views, and his effectiveness as a speaker, made him one of the most famous orators and influential Whig leaders of the Second Party System and one of the nation's most prominent conservatives, leading opposition to Democrat Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party | |
| 291042731 | John Marshall | Leading federalist along with Daniel Webster. Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law (including Marbury v. Madison) and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches. Secretary of State under President John Adams from 1800 to 1801. | |
| 291042732 | Dartmouth College v. Woodward | Supreme court decision of 1810 that settled the nature of public versus private charters and resulted in the rise of the American business corporation | |
| 291042733 | McCulloch v. Maryland | Supreme Court decision of 1819 that upheld the constitutionality of the Second Bank of the United States to exercise of federal powers within a state | |
| 291042734 | War of 1812 | War between the United States and Britain, fought largely over British restrictions of American shipping | |
| 291042735 | John Quincy Adams | Sixth president of the US, Federalist, involved in the Treaty of Ghent, and author of the Monroe Doctrine | |
| 291042736 | Tecumseh | Native American leader of the Shawnee who opposed the Us in the War of 1812 | |
| 291042737 | Embargo Act | Act passed by Congress in 1807 prohibiting American ships from leaving for any foreign port and forbid entry of any British ship | |
| 291042738 | Treaty of Ghent | This ended the War of 1812, and although the negotiations went back and forth for months, in the end a settlement was reached where no major concessions were made by either nation | |
| 291042739 | Laissez-Faire | An economic doctrine that government should have minimal intervention in the economy | |
| 291042740 | Monroe Doctrine | Declaration that the Western Hemisphere was to be closed off to further European colonization and that, in turn, the United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of European nations | |
| 291042741 | Cult of Domesticity | The belief that women, by virtue of their sex, should stay at home as the moral guardians of family life | |
| 291042742 | Nativist Organizations | Joined by American-born artisans in the 1840s, these societies sought to curb mass immigration from Europe and limit the political rights of Catholic immigrants | |
| 291042743 | Seneca Falls Convention | The first major gathering for women's equality in legal rights, held in upstate NY in 1848 | |
| 291042744 | Temperance | Protestant reform movement that originated in the 1820s and sought to eliminate the consumption of alcohol | |
| 291042745 | Transcendentalism | Idealistic philosophical and social movement led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau that developed in New England around 1836 in reaction to rationalism. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living | |
| 291042746 | Gibbons v. Ogden | Supreme Court decision of 1824 involving coastal commerce that overturned a steamboat monopoly granted by the state of New York on the grounds that only Congress had the authority to regulate interstate commerce | |
| 291042747 | Alamo | Franciscan misson at San Antonio, Texas that was the site in the 1836 of a siege and massacre of Texans by Mexican troops | |
| 291042748 | Manifest Destiny | Doctrine, first expressed in 1845, that declared the expansion of white Americans across the continent was inevitable and ordained by God | |
| 291042749 | Oregon and Santa Fe trails | An overland trail of more than two thousand miles that carried American settlers from the Midwest to new settlements in Western territories and a 900-mile path opened by American merchants for trading purposes following Mexico's liberalization of the formerly restrictive trading policies of Spain. | |
| 291042750 | Mexico Cession of 1848 | The addition of half a million square miles to the US as a result of the victory in the 1846 war between the US and Mexico |
