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U.S History Vocabulary > U.S Vocabulary > Flashcards

U.S Vocabulary Flashcards

1
Q

Power

A

The ability to control or direct someone or something

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2
Q

Authority

A

Power combined with the right to use it

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3
Q

Customs

A

Traditions or practices; doing dishes every night, going out every Friday

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4
Q

Principles of Morality

A

Basic ideas about what’s right or wrong

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5
Q

Lexington/Concord

A

The two places where the rebels and the British first fought, starting the Revolutionary War

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6
Q

Boycott

A

To refuse to buy a product

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7
Q

King George III

A

The king of England at that time, who made unfair laws that angered the colonists

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8
Q

The Boston Massacre

A

In 1770 British troops clashed with a group of Bostonians resulting in the death of 5 colonists

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9
Q

Proclamation of 1763

A

The British decree outlawing any colonies west of the Appilations

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10
Q

Parliament

A

The assembly of representatives that make laws in Britain

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11
Q

Declaration of Independence

A

The document that declared our independence from Britain, signed on July 4th, 1776

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12
Q

Plymouth Colony

A

The small group of people who landed in the New World in 1620 searching for religious freedom and no taxes

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13
Q

Roanoke

A

The first failed attempt for the English to colonize the New World

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14
Q

Quartering Act

A

It required the colonies to quarter British soldiers

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15
Q

Boston Tea Party

A

Angered by the tax on tea, colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians dumped tons of tea overboard into the Boston Harbor

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16
Q

Stamp Act

A

The 1765 British decree taxing all legal papers in the colonies

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17
Q

Manifest Destiny

A

The belief that is was the destiny of America to expand to its natural borders

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18
Q

Jamestown

A

First successful colony in the new world in Jamestown, Virginia

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19
Q

Treaty of Paris

A

Treaty ending the Revolutionary War in 1783

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20
Q

Bill of Rights

A

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, protects Americans’ basic rights

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22
Q

Constitution

A

The document organizing the framework of government. Includes all the branches and their checks and balances. Signed in 1783

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23
Q

Amendments

A

Changes or additions to a document, like the Constitution

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24
Q

Compromise

A

Solution that pleases both sides

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25
Q

Congress

A

Group of officials that pass laws and debate issues

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26
Delegate
Person who represents others
27
Executive
Branch that enforces laws
28
Federal
A form of government in which states are united under one power
29
Judicial
A branch of government that contains the court system, including the Supreme Court
30
Legislative
A branch of government that makes laws; made up of Congress
31
Preamble
The introduction of the Constitution; explains the reason for the government
32
Revolutionary War
The war that gave the colonies independence from Britain
33
Unanimous
Everyone agreeing on the same thing
34
Amendment
A change or addition to a legal document.
35
Frontier Line
The land between civilization and wilderness.
36
Northwest Territory
The land north of the Ohio River & was created into 5 states.
37
Surveyed
To measure land to determine the exact boundaries of a given area. Used for townships
38
Northwest Ordinance
The 1787 law that set forth a plan of government for the townships 36 sq miles at one dollar an acre in the Northwest Territory. Created by Thomas Jefferson. The law banned slavery, gave freedom of religion and trial by jury. 60,000 citizens in territory to apply for statehood.
39
Republicanism
For the country to thrive its citizens need certain virtues. These include a sense of equality, simplicity, and to sacrifice for the public good.
40
Louisiana Purchase
The United States’ purchase from France (Napoleon) in 1803 of land west of the Mississippi. Jefferson purchased all 800,000 square miles for $15 million.
41
Lewis and Clark expeditions
The expeditions from 1804-1806 that explored the Louisiana Territory.
42
Tributary
A river that flows into a larger river.
43
Zebulon Pike
An army officer who lead an expedition in 1805 to the Southern half of the Louisiana purchase. He was hired to find the head waters of the Red River, but never found it. He never climbed the famous peak in Colorado that bears his name.
44
Sacajawea/Shoshoni Indian
She was a teenage Indian who helped navigate Lewis and Clark as they explored the Louisiana Purchase. This nomadic tribe gave horses to the expedition that was invaluable to the success of the journey to the Pacific Ocean.
45
Missouri River
To start the expedition it was the river which Lewis and Clark and other men traveled up in flat bottomed river boats called pirogues.
46
Stephen Long
1820 also tried to find Red River. Both a scientist and explorer, Long followed the Platte River westward from Missouri. He mapped the Great Plains, climbed Pikes Peak, and then headed south to find Red River. He never found the Red River.
47
Reconstruction
The period after the Civil War (1865-1877) when the federal government took action to rebuild the South
48
Amnesty
Official pardon
49
Thirteenth Amendment
The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery
50
Black Codes
Laws limiting the freedoms of African-Americans, passed by Southern states after the war
51
Moderates
People who oppose extreme change
52
Civil Rights
The rights of all citizens
53
Fourteenth Amendment
The constitutional amendment declaring that all native-born or naturalized persons were citizens and had the same rights
54
Scalawag
An insulting term to describe a white Southerner who supported Reconstruction
55
Carpetbagger
Insulting term used to describe a Northerner who moved to the South during Reconstruction
56
Fifteenth Amendment
The constitutional amendment that declared the right to vote should not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude
57
Lynch
To kill someone without a trial
58
Compromise of 1877
The agreement that resolved an 1876 election dispute: Ruthford B. Hayes became President and then removed the last of federal troops from the South
59
Share cropping
A system in which a farmer rented tools, land, seed, and housing in return for a share of the crop
60
Jim Crow Laws
Laws that made segregation official in public facilities in the South
61
Segregation
Separation of race
62
Plessy v. Ferguson
The 1896 Supreme Court decision declaring the segregation was lawful as long as blacks and whites had access to equal facilities

U.S History Vocabulary (1 decks)

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