Proprietary colony
colony owned and governed by an individual who could govern it as he wanted
Bacon's Rebellion
A rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon with backcountry farmers to attack Native Americans in an attempt to gain more land
Committees of correspondence
Organization founded by Samuel Adams consisting of a system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies
Intolerable Acts
In response to Boston Tea Party, 4 acts passed in 1774, Port of Boston closed, reduced power of assemblies in colonies, permitted royal officers to be tried elsewhere, provided for quartering of troop's in barns and empty houses
Townshend Acts
A tax that the British Parliament placed on leads, glass, paint and tea
Treaty of Paris of 1783
Treaty Between England and the Colonies, formally ended the American Revolutionary War
Northwest Ordinance
A 1787 law that set up a government for the Northwest Territory
Shay's Rebellion
Led by Daniel Shay, was a protest against the land being taken away and the taxes that they had just worked so hard to get rid of
Great Compromise
Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house
Enumerated vs. implied powers
Enumerated powers are powers specifically mentioned in the constitution, Implied powers are powers that are not specifically mentioned in the constitution, but are necessary for a successful government, such as the national bank
Necessary & Proper clause
Constitutional clause that gives congress the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" for executing its powers
John Adams
America'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
Alien and Sedition Acts
Laws passed by congress in 1798 that enabled the government to imprison or deport aliens and to prosecute critics of the government
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Written anonymously by Jefferson and Madison in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, they declared that states could nullify federal laws that the states considered unconstitutional.
Election of 1800
Jefferson and Burr each received 73 votes in the Electoral College, so the House of Representatives had to decide the outcome. The House chose Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice President.
Judicial Review
The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and actions of local, state, or national governments unconstitutional
Marbury vs. Madison
Case in which the supreme court first asserted th power of Judicial review in finding that the congressional statue expanding the Court's original jurisdiction was unconstitutional
Eli Whitney
United States inventor of the mechanical cotton gin (1765-1825)
Sectionalism
Loyalty to one's own region of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole
Spoils system
Rewarding people with government jobs on the basis of their political support
Nullification Crisis
Southerners favored freedom of trade and believed in the authority of states over the federal government. Southerners declared federal protective tariffs null and void
John C. Calhoun
South Carolina Senator - advocate for state's rights, limited government, and nullification
Temperance movement
Reform movement begun in the 1800's that fought to ban alcohol in the U.S
William Lloyd Garrison
United States abolitionist who published an anti-slavery journal (1805-1879)
Frederick Douglass
Self-educated slave who escaped in 1838, Douglass became the best-known abolitionist speaker. He edited an anti-slavery weekly, the North Star.
Manifest Destiny
The belief that the U.S. should extend all the way to the Pacific Ocean because it was God's will
Wilmot Proviso
Bill that would ban slavery in the territories acquired after the War with Mexico (1846)
Harriet Tubman
United States abolitionist born a slave on a plantation in Maryland and became a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad leading other slaves to freedom in the North (1820-1913)
Transcontinental railroad
Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west
Kansas-Nebraska Act
1854 - 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
Popular sovereignty
The concept that political power rests with the people who can create, alter, and abolish government. People express themselves through voting and free participation in government
Dred Scott v. Sandford
1857 Supreme Court decision that stated that slaves were not citizens; that livig in a free state or territory, even for many years, did not free slaves; and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitional
Harper's Ferry Raid
John Brown seized the US arsenal at Harper's Ferry. He planned to end slavery by massacring slave owners and freeing their slaves. He was captured and executed
1860 Election
Whig party collapsed and the Republicans under Lincoln came to power, Republican Party we know today
Secession
The withdrawal of eleven Southern states from the Union in 1860 which precipitated the American Civil War
Crittenden's Compromise
Compromise that would gaurantee slavery where it already existed and would reinstate the Missouri Compromise line extending it to California. It did not pass
Jefferson Davis
an American statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865
Fort Sumter
Federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the confederate attack on the fort marked the start of the Civil War
Martial law
The body of law imposed by the military over civilian affairs (usually in time of war or civil crisis)
Robert E. Lee
Confederate general who had opposed secession but did not believe the Union should be held together by force
Greenbacks
Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war
Antietam
The first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties
Battle of Vicksburg
1863, Union gains control of Mississippi, confederacy split in two, Grant takes lead of Union armies, total war begins
13th Amendment
This amendment freed all slaves without compensation to the slaveowners. It legally forbade slavery in the United States.
Appomattox Courthouse
The Virginia town where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in 1865, ending the Civil War
Wade-Davis Bill
Name for Congress' plan for Reconstruction; more harsh than President's
Freedmen's Bureau
1865 - Agency set up to aid former slaves in adjusting themselves to freedom. It furnished food and clothing to needy blacks and helped them get jobs
14th Amendment
Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws
Johnson's Impeachment
Used Tenure of Office Act to ban Johnson from firing Secretary of War -impeached, found not guilty by 1 vote
15th Amendment
Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color , or precious condition of servitude
Compromise of 1877
Ended Reconstruction. Republicans promise 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
Homestead Act
1862 - provided free land in the west as long as the person would settle there and make improvements in five years
Dawes Act
An 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
Laissez-Faire
Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs
Alexander Graham Bell
United States inventor (born in Scotland) of the telephone (1847-1922)
Robber Barons
People who'd built fortunes by swindling investors and taxpayers, and bribing officials
Pacific Railway Act
1862 legislation to encourage the construction of a transcontinental railroad, connecting the West to industries in the Northeast (Union Pacific and Central Pacific RR)
Vertical integration
Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution
Horizontal integration
Type of monopoly where a company buys out all of its competition
Marxism
A branch of socialism that emphasizes exploitation and class struggle and includes both communism and other approaches
American Federation of Labor
A federation of North American labor unions that merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955
Chinese Exclusion Act
(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate
Social Gospel Movement
A movement emphasizing the application of Christian principles to social problems
Dwight Moody
Made the Moody Bible Institute. Helped generations of urban evangelists to adapt traditional Christianity into city life
Pendleton Act
1883 law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons
Election of 1884
Republican candidate- Senator James G. Blaine. "Mugwumps" announced that they would bolt the party and support an honest Democrat. Democrat candidate- Grover Cleveland. Cleveland won
Interstate Commerce Act
Established the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) - monitors the business operation of carriers transporting goods and people between states - created to regulate railroad prices
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions
Populism
The political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite
Grange
An association formed by farmers in the last 1800s to make life better for farmers by sharing information about crops, prices, and supplies
Farmer's Alliance
A Farmers' organization founded in late 1870s; worked for lower railroad freight rates, lower interest rates, and a change in the governments tight money policy
Election of 1896
Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by historians to be one of the most dramatic in American history
William Jennings Bryan
United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school
Plessy v. Ferguson
A 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal