8th Grade US History Midterm Vocab PDF

Holy Innocents' Episcopal School Grade 8 United States History **Midterm Exam Vocab List** **Unit 1:** *Colony*: An area settled and ruled by the government of a distant country. *Sons of Liberty*: This secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight the abuses of...

Holy Innocents' Episcopal School Grade 8 United States History **Midterm Exam Vocab List** **Unit 1:** *Colony*: An area settled and ruled by the government of a distant country. *Sons of Liberty*: This secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight the abuses of taxation by the British government. *Boston Tea Party*: A political protest on December 16, 1773, by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, against the tax policy of the British government and the East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. *Intolerable Acts*: A series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance. *Declaration of Independence*: A document adopted on July 4, 1776, in which the American colonies declared their independence from Britain. **Unit 2:** *Constitution:* The fundamental principles that govern a state or country. The U.S. Constitution is the highest law in the nation. *Bill of Rights:* The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship. *Legislative Branch:* The branch of government having the power to make laws. The Congress, made up of the House and the Senate, is the legislative branch. *Judicial Branch:* The branch of government charged with the interpretation of laws and the administration of justice. The court system is the judicial branch. *Executive Branch:* The branch of government responsible for implementing, supporting, and enforcing the laws made by the legislative branch and interpreted by the judicial branch. The president and many government agencies make up the executive branch. **Unit 3:** *Manifest Destiny:* The belief that the expansion of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean was both justified and inevitable. *Louisiana Purchase:* A land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for \$15 million *Trail of Tears:* The forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. *Reservations:* Areas of land Native American tribes were forced to move onto by the federal government during westward expansion. *Gold Rush:* A period that began in 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter\'s Mill in California, leading to a large migration of settlers wanting to get rich **Unit 4:** *Sectionalism*: The division of the United States into different regions with distinct economic, cultural, and political interests. *Missouri Compromise*: A law passed in 1820 to keep the number of free states and slave states in the United States equal, and outlawed slavery above the 36th parallel (the bottom of the state of Missouri). *Abolitionism*: The movement to end slavery, which gained momentum in the United States in the 19th century. *Secession*: The action of withdrawing formally from membership in a federation or body, especially a political state. *Total War*: A military strategy that involves striking not only the enemy's military forces but also their resources and civilian infrastructure. General Sherman carried out total war in Georgia during the Civil War.