History of Economic Transformations

U.S. History Semester 1 Review

• Agricultural Revolution: A period of time when farming methods improved, providing farmers with more efficient ways to farm and feed surrounding populations. This led to better tools and more crops being produced.

• Age of Exploration: Inventions like the compass revolutionized exploration. People migrated to the Americas and began establishing colonies.

• Atlantic Slave Trade: African people were forced to work as slaves in the U.S. This introduced the practice of slavery.

• Joint Stock Companies: Companies sold shares to investors, allowing people to pool money and share profits. This practice gave opportunities to make money.

• Mercantilism: Exporting more goods than importing created wealth and power. This system built a middle class.

• Jamestown and Plymouth Colonies: Jamestown used tobacco for profit, while Plymouth was founded by pilgrims seeking freedom. A system of profit and the house of burgess developed in Jamestown.

• Columbian Exchange: The exchange of diseases, plants, and animals between the Old and New Worlds following Columbus's voyages.

• Mayflower Compact: A document signed by the pilgrims on the Mayflower, claiming territory for America and establishing the foundation for the United States.

• Royal Colonies: Colonies directly ruled by a king or queen.

• Religious Persecution: People were harmed for their religious beliefs

• Indentured Servitude: People worked for a set period of time in exchange for passage or other benefits. This was an early form of labor.

• Protestant Reformation: New religious denominations emerged, questioning practices of the Catholic Church.

• Glorious Revolution: King William III and Queen Mary II were crowned.

• Enlightenment: New ideas about government and society emphasizing reason and individual rights.

• Proclamation of 1763: This prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, leading to conflict between colonists and the British government.

• Stamp Act: A British tax on printed materials sparking protest from colonists.

• Townshend Acts: British acts imposing taxes on various goods, further inflaming colonial resentment

• Boston Massacre: A confrontation between colonists and British troops, resulting in the death of several colonists.

• Gaspee Affair: Colonists attacked and burned a British ship, escalating tensions.

• Boston Tea Party: As a protest against British taxation, colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

• Lexington and Concord: The first armed conflict of the Revolutionary War. Colonists defended themselves against the British attempt to seize weapons.

• Battle of Yorktown: The final major battle of the Revolutionary War, ending in Britain's defeat.

• Declaration of Independence: The official declaration of the American colonies' separation from Great Britain.

• Articles of Confederation: The first government of the newly formed United States, but it was weak and ineffective. The Articles led to the establishment of a new form of government based on more established ideas.

• 3/5ths Compromise: A compromise that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of taxation and representation in Congress.

• Great Compromise: This proposal favored larger states by representing them based on population, and favored smaller states by representing them with 2 senators in a state.

• Revolution of 1800: Thomas Jefferson became president.

• Judicial Review: The Supreme Court's power to review laws to decide constitutionality.

• Bacon's Rebellion: A rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against the government, particularly regarding Native American policy.

• Shays' Rebellion: Farmers protested against high taxes and economic hardship; a major indication of the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

• Whiskey Rebellion: Farmers rebelled against a tax on whiskey; an indication of the new federal government's increasing power.

• Triangular Trade: A system of trade between Europe, Africa and America.

• Louisiana Purchase: A vast area of land west of the Mississippi River was purchased from France by the United States.

• Monroe Doctrine: The policy that the U.S. would not tolerate future European colonization in the Americas.

• Missouri Compromise: A compromise regarding slavery, to balance representation between free and slave states.

• Indian Removal Act of 1830: Caused the forced relocation of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands.

• Second Great Awakening: Religious revivalism in the US.

• Manifest Destiny: The belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across North America.

• Texas: Texas gained independence from Mexico.

• Battle of the Alamo: A critical battle in Texas's fight for independence from Mexico.

• Goliad Massacre: A significant loss for the Texan army and further motivated Texans to gain independence.

• Mexican-American War: Conflict over Texas's annexation and territorial disputes resulted in territorial gains for the US.

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Agreement ending the Mexican-American war, granting more territory to the United States.

• Wilmot Proviso: Proposed that any territory acquired from Mexico would ban slavery, as the US attempted to manage the conflict caused by the annexation.

• Popular Sovereignty: The idea that citizens in each territory should decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery.

• Compromise of 1850: This legislation addressed the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories.

• Fugitive Slave Law: Required the return of runaway slaves. This law angered abolitionists in the North.

• Underground Railroad: Secret routes used to help enslaved people escape to freedom.

• Uncle Tom's Cabin: Book detailing the hardships of slavery and contributing to the abolitionist movement.

• Kansas-Nebraska Act: Opened the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to settlement. This led to "Bleeding Kansas," violence over the issue of slavery.

• Dred Scott Decision: A Supreme Court ruling that declared enslaved people were not citizens and could not sue for their freedom. This further inflamed tensions.

• Lincoln-Douglas Debates: A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas that focused largely on the issue of slavery.

• Secession: Several Southern states seceded from the Union, leading to the formation of the Confederate States of America. This ultimately led to the Civil War.

• Northern Blockade: The Union Navy's blockade of Southern ports.

• Battle of Fort Sumter: The battle that initiated the Civil War.

• Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln's declaration that freed enslaved people in Confederate territory.

• Battle of Antietam: The bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War.

• Battle of Gettysburg: A Union victory, turning point of the Civil War.

• Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th): The 13th abolished slavery, the 14th granted citizenship and equal protection, and the 15th guaranteed the right to vote for male citizens.

• KKK: A terrorist organization that used violence to intimidate African Americans and prevent them from exercising their newly formed rights. This was a significant part of the Reconstruction era.

• Share Cropping: Agricultural system similar to slavery, although not technically slavery, that re-established racial inequality.

• Black Codes: Laws passed after the Civil War that restricted the rights of African Americans; aimed to re-establish the system of racial inequality

• Short Answer: Review of fundamental principles of the Revolutionary Era (such as the ideals of liberty and the right to self-determination), and the writings of Thomas Paine.

• British Advantages & Disadvantages: British military and economic strengths versus the American Colonists' knowledge of the terrain and motivation to fight.

• American Advantages & Disadvantages: American Colonists' strength and motivation to fight for independence versus the weaknesses of their military and political systems.

• Articles of Confederation Weakness: Critically examine the reasons for the Articles of Confederation's weaknesses and why they were ultimately insufficient in form to establish effective governance.

• Missouri and Compromise of 1850: Comprehending the core principles and implications of each compromise, in relation to its role in causing conflict.

• Road to Revolution: Summarize the key events and issues that led to the Revolutionary War.

• Great Compromise: Understand how the Great Compromise settled disputes on representation in the newly formed government.