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American History Flashcards

1
Q

When was the Americas discovered and by who?

A

Christopher Colombus, 1492.

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2
Q

What was the time period called when the major European empires began to explore and claim land in the New World, aka the Americas?

A

Age of Discovery / Age of Exploration.

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3
Q

What was the Seven Years War?

A

A global conflict between the British Empire and France for global pre-eminence and dominion. Prussia and Austria were fighting on the European continent over territorial disputes that emerged from the war of the Austrian Succession while Britain, France and Spain were engaging in conflict in the New World over territorial disputes.

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4
Q

Who formed alliances with one another in the Seven Years War in EU?

A

Britain, Prussia and Portugal vs Austria, France, Sweden, Russia and Spain.

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5
Q

What was the French and Indian War?

A

a theater of the Seven Years’ War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. Both sides engaged in combative disputation over territorial expansion and imperialist activities.

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6
Q

What was the Treaty of Paris?

A

A treaty that designated the termination of the French and Indian War in 1763, in addition to the European Seven Years War. France ceded the Eastern half of the French Louisiana (Land east to the Mississippi river) to Britain, however Britain accrued an extortionate quantity of debt that was owed to the French.

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7
Q

What heroic American founding father was appointed commander of a Virginia militia in the French and Indian War?

A

George Washington.

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8
Q

How much debt did the British Empire accumulate?

A

120 million pound sterling

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9
Q

How did the British Empire plan on generating revenue from the debt they had accrued?

A

The imposition of taxation upon the British Colonies, justifying this tax enforcement because of their engagement in the War and defending the territorial integrity of the land.

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10
Q

What were some of the Tax Acts that were imposed upon the Colonists?

A

Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Tea Act, Townshend Act, Intolerable Act and Navigation Act

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11
Q

What was the Boston Massacre?

A

A confrontation that emerged from British military officials and colonists which resulted in the massacring of 5 civilians. The military soldiers were stationed in Massachusetts for the purpose of enforcing unpopular Parliamentary legislation, contributing to the augmentation of demonstrations and protest.

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12
Q

What was the Gaspee Affair?

A

The Gaspee Affair was a significant event in the lead-up to the American Revolution. HMS Gaspee was a British customs schooner that enforced the Navigation Acts; the American Colonists attacked, boarded and burned the ship.

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13
Q

Why were the American Colonists opposed to the recipience of taxation?

A

Because of the negation of their representation.

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14
Q

What was the Boston Tea Party?

A

A protest against the Tea Act of ‘73 which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts. They viewed this as unfair when colonial importation of Tea had to be taxed. The demonstrators boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into the Boston Harbor.

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15
Q

What was the British variation of penalization that they inflicted upon the colonies as a reverberation of the Boston Tea Party?

A

The Intolerable Act

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16
Q

What was the Intolerable Acts?

A

Laws that were passed to punish Massachusetts colonists for the Boston Tea Party; the abolition of the Province of Massachusetts, allowing british soldiers to be stationed in the housing of colonists, demanding tax reparations for the damages of the boston tea party and barricading and terminated the port for all colonist commerce in Massachusetts

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17
Q

When was the first Continental Congress formed and by who?

A

September 5th, 1774 and by all colonies except Georgia.

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18
Q

Where was the first Continental Congress established and what was its purpose?

A

Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, to engage in linguistic deliberation about how the colonies could collectively respond to the British governments’ coercive actions. They adjudicated to boycott British goods being imported into the colonies unless the British parliament repealed the Intolerable Acts; they established an adjudication to sanction the British Government.

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19
Q

How did the British Empire retaliate against the boycotting of british imports?

A

The invocation of the Restraining Act; limiting all importation to British West Indies and Britain.

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20
Q

What was the purpose of the Massachusetts Provincial Government?

A

To recruit and train a militia for possible hostilities.

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21
Q

Why did open fire occur in Lexington and Concord and on what date did firing occur?

A

April 19th, 1775, because British soldiers were on their way to confiscate military arsenal, weaponry and equipment.

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22
Q

Who was Paul Revere

A

The person who performed a midnight ride to warn the Patriot Militia that the british were coming

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23
Q

Who won the battle of Lexington and Concord

A

The colonial militia

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24
Q

What happened after the British soldiers retreated to the town of Boston?

A

The conglomeration of soldiers that were part of the militia materialized a blockade of the parameters, initiating the Siege of Boston.

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25
What was the Battle of Bunker Hill?
A battle between the militia and british soldiers that was oriented towards securing the positioning of Bunker Hill because it gave the proprietors access to the Boston Harbor.
26
Who won the Battle of Bunker hill?
The british won, however suffering heavy casualties in the process. The colonists defended the british from to waves of aggression, but had to give up their positions because of the diminutive quantity of ammunition and resources they had to stabilize the onset of future advancements.
27
Why was the continental army established who was appointed Commander in Chief?
General George Washington, because of the necessity of establishing a sophisticated and organized army
28
What did George Washington read to his army to augment their morale?
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
29
What was Washington's plan he utilized to encourage the withdrawal of the british from Boston?
The ordering of artillery to be transferred from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge by Henry Knox
30
What was one of the driving contributing factors the cultivate and establish the Declaration of Independence?
To demonstrate to France the authenticity of their ambitious aspirations to achieve independence, this being a condition necessary to receive legitimate assistance from France in fighting the war.
30
What was one of the driving contributing factors the cultivate and establish the Declaration of Independence?
To demonstrate to France the authenticity of their ambitious aspirations to achieve independence, this being a condition necessary to receive legitimate assistance from France in fighting the war.
31
Why did the British evacuate and withdrawal from the Boston and where did they go?
Because of the assemblage of artillery on the parameters of the siege; they went to Nova Scotia.
32
Who won the battle of Brooklyn?
British Empire
33
Who won the battle of the White Plains?
Royal Army.
34
Who was the commander of the army advancing in the battles of New York for the British?
William Howe
35
Who lost the battle of Fort Washington and lee and why was it so disastrous?
Continental Army; 3,000 soldiers had been captured and military morale had suffered greatly.
36
How many soldiers did the Continental Army have before the battle of Brooklyn compared to after the battle of Fort Washington and Lee?
19,000 soldiers to 2,000
37
Where did the continental army retreat the after the losses in Fort Washington and Lee?
into PA, across the Delaware River.
38
How did Washington encourage soldiers to serve for just 1 more month after their temporary settlement across the Delaware River?
By convincing them that this is the last chance to engage in the provisioning of their military labor in a manner that serves the ideals of Liberty and the country, something that they wouldn't have an opportunity to accomplish under virtually any other circumstance.
38
How did Washington encourage soldiers to serve for just 1 more month after their temporary settlement across the Delaware River?
By convincing them that this is the last chance to engage in the provisioning of their military labor in a manner that serves the ideals of Liberty and the country, something that they wouldn't have an opportunity to accomplish under virtually any other circumstance.
39
On what night did Washington cross his troops across the Delaware River?
December 26th, 1776
40
What was the battle of Trenton?
Washington launched a surprise attack on Trenton, NJ, after crossing the Delaware, and captured 2/3 of the Hessian soldiers while maintaining negligible losses. The continental army won.
41
Why was the battle of Trenton important?
Because it boosted the morale of the army and resulted in the confiscation of weaponry and supplies.
42
What was the battle of Princeton?
One week after the victory at Trenton, the continental army circumnavigated around the Royal army and fought British soldiers and secured a victory at the battle of Princeton.
43
What was the Battle of Saratoga?
A battle considered a turning point in the Revolutionary War; the Continental Army defeat the Royal Army commanded by John Burgoyne after being surrounded by the patriots and forced to surrender. October 7th 1777
44
How did the Royal army lose the battle of Saratoga?
Because of the abstention and negation of the execution of the military machination they had coordinated; the plan was to divide New England from the rest of the colonies by having three columns meet at the point of Albany. One from the South, North and East, all confronting the Continental Army at Albany, NY.
45
At what point did King Louis XVI join the war and declare war on Britain?
After the battle of Saratoga. The Treaty of Alliance was signed on February 6th, 1778
46
What was the Siege of Yorktown?
a decisive victory by a combined force of the American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and French Army troops led by Comte de Rochambeau over British Army troops commanded by British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown Campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American region, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.
47
When did the Louisiana Purchase occur?
April 30th, 1803
48
Why did the population size of the indigenous people of the Americas attenuate so drastically after European exploration and colonialization?
Approximately 50-100 million Indigenous Indians died from disease related deaths such as smallpox and influenza combined with the incarceration, deportation and warfare that was committed against these peoples
49
How did Europeans traffic african slaves?
through the transatlantic slave trade
50
What was the Mexican-American War
A war that emerged from disputation over the American annexation of texas and where the parameters of texas actually lie.
50
What was the Mexican-American War
A war that emerged from disputation over the American annexation of texas and where the parameters of texas actually lie.
51
What was the result of the Mexican-American war?
The signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the cession of territory of Nevada, Arizona, California and Utah
52
What was the California Gold rush and its consequences?
The migration of approximately 30,000 civilians to the pacific coast in their endeavors of locating gold. This resulted in the California Genocide
52
What was the California Gold rush and its consequences?
The migration of approximately 30,000 civilians to the pacific coast in their endeavors of locating gold. This resulted in the California Genocide
53
What was the California Genocide?
The genocide, mass killing, rape, torturing, enslavement and child separation of 1,000s of Indigenous peoples during the California gold rush, committed by private civilians and federal agencies and militias.
54
What was the American Civil War?
A war between the Union (States that remained loyal to the Federal Union, or the North) and the Confederacy (those states who vote to secede from the United States). The central reasoning behind the war was the status of slavery, especially the expansionism of slavery into the territories acquired from the Louisiana Purchase or Mexican American War.
55
What elicited the motivation to secede from the Union?
The election of Abraham Lincoln, running on a campaign which was determined to achieve the termination and abolition of slavery.
56
What is the Emancipation Proclamation?
An executive order and proclamation established by Abraham Lincoln announcing the abolition of slavery and freeing all of the formerly enslaved black individuals in the secessionist states. "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free...."
57
What side was considered to have an advantage in the Civil War?
The union, because of the extent of industrialization they had achieved, in addition to the larger population.
58
What was the battle of Bull Run?
The first initial confrontation in the Civil War, giving the Confederacy the victory
59
What was the Battle of Gettysburg?
A victory for the Union which is considered to be the turning point of the War. This victory terminated his Gettysburg campaign for invading the North and attempting to persuade politicians to cease their participatory engagement with the war
60
What was the Battle of Appomattox Court House?
Robert E. Lee's capitulation of his army to the Union forces and the cessation of the bloodiest american conflict
61
What was the reconstruction era?
was the effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy and 4 million newly-freed people into the United States.
62
What amendments were passed during the Reconstruction era?
13th, 14th and 15th.
63
What was American Industrialization?
The Industrial Revolution shifted from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy where products were no longer made solely by hand but by machines. This led to increased production and efficiency, lower prices, more goods, improved wages, and migration from rural areas to urban areas. Samuel Slater was responsible for opening the first textile mill
64
What contributed to the Great Depression?
The equity appreciation of the overall stock market in the 20's; people apprehended the investment in stocks as an easy way to make money. People mortgaged their homes, invested with borrowed money etc. Monetary policy of the federal reserve and the augmentation of interest rates seemed to exasperate the decline, also government tariffs seemed to contribute as well
65
What caused the economic boom in the 1920s?
The birth of the automobile - Ford Model T, and relinquishment of tariffs and restrictions on imported goods
66
What was the Vietnam War?
A war fought between North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam (capitalist). The north being supported by China and the USSR and the South being supported by America and anti-communist nations.
67
Why did we engage in the War?
Because of the West's conceptualization that a neighboring country has a larger propensity to become communist if the nation located nearly them successfully achieves socialism; thus the US wanted to prevent the spread of Communism.
68
What was the Red scare?
A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. It is often characterized as political propaganda. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which are referred to by this name. In the U.S this class of information was promulgated and advanced by Senator Joseph McCarthy
69
What was the Gulf of Tonkin?
An alleged allocation of gunfire against a American Naval ship; contributing to the discretionary propensity for Lyndon B. Johnson to seize the opportunity and justify military escalation; initiating a concatenation of airstrikes on North Vietnamese soil, hoping to elicit the discretion to enter into negotiations and end the war.
70
What was the rationalization for engaging in the Iraqi War?
Along with Iraq's alleged development of weapons of mass destructions, another justification for invasion was the purported link between Saddam Hussein's government and terrorist organizations, in particular al-Qaeda. In that sense, the Bush administration cast the Iraq war as part of the broader War on Terrorism.
71
What were Jim Crow Laws?
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the South had adopted laws, beginning in the late 19th century, banning discrimination in public accommodations and voting.
71
What were Jim Crow Laws?
Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the South had adopted laws, beginning in the late 19th century, banning discrimination in public accommodations and voting.
72
Why is America considered the melting pot?
The United States is often depicted as a “melting pot,” in which diverse cultures and ethnicities come together to form the rich fabric of our Nation
73
What was the immigration act of 1965?
The Immigration and Naturalization Act is a federal immigration law. Also known as the Hart-Celler Act, the law eliminated the national origins quota system, which had set limits on the numbers of individuals from any given nation who could immigrate to the United States.
74
Why was the US economy booming (Golden Age of Capitalism) in the 50s and 60s?
After World War II, the US became the leading net exporter of goods to foreign countries. Infrastructure projects such as mass highway production / demobilization of veterans and the augmentation of the demand for housing construction and purchasing all seem to be components.
75
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston
76
What movement was mostly responsible for influencing the American Revolution and the establishment of the ideals espoused in the constitution and Declaration of Independence?
The enlightenment / Classical Liberalism
77
What was the Emergency Quota Act of 1921?
The Emergency Quota Act restricted the number of immigrants admitted from any country annually to 3% of the number of residents from that country living in the United States as of the 1910 Census.
78
What was the National Origins Act of 1924?
A law that severely restricted immigration by establishing a system of national quotas that blatantly discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and virtually excluded Asians. The policy stayed in effect until the 1960s.
79
What was the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965?
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Cellar Act, abolished the system of national-origin quotas. By equalizing immigration policies, the act resulted in new immigration from non-European nations, which changed the ethnic demographics of the United States. In 1970, 60% of immigrants were from Europe; this decreased to 15% by 2000.
80
What was the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933?
The Glass-Steagall Act prevented banks from operating as both commercial and investment banks.
80
What was the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933?
The Glass-Steagall Act prevented banks from operating as both commercial and investment banks.
81
What was the Gulf War?
The Gulf War was an armed campaign waged by a United States-led coalition of 35 countries against Iraq in response to the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
82
How was immigration important for the history of the US economy?
the immigrant populations provide a rich diversity in the United States, increasing innovation, expanding the labor force with people eager to work (which results in holding down wages for some as employers need to compete for workers diminishes), lowering labor strife (immigrants tend to be compliant workers), and providing a pool of new entrepreneurs.
83
Why was the supply of immigration labor between the 1880s and 1920s important?
This supply of immigration labor colossally contributed to the proliferation of industrialization and the growth of the US economy; more than 1/2 of immigrants comprised of manufacturing workers in the 1920s.
83
Why was the supply of immigration labor between the 1880s and 1920s important?
This supply of immigration labor colossally contributed to the proliferation of industrialization and the growth of the US economy; more than 1/2 of immigrants comprised of manufacturing workers in the 1920s.
84
Why was the Industrial Revolution important?
The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanized manufacturing, and the factory system. New machines, new power sources, and new ways of organizing work made existing industries more productive and efficient.
85
What were the economics benefits of the Industrial Revolution?
It increased job opportunities. The industrial revolution made it possible for more people to have jobs. ... It inspired innovation. ... Production levels increased. ... Competition was created. ... It improved processes in virtually any sector. ... It reduced the influences of borders.

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