American History Honors Vocab by Julianna Marrero _ Student - GreenLevelHS

Civilization

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 15:52:34 UTC

A complex society with social structures, cultural development, and technological advancements

Mercantilism

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 15:54:19 UTC

A European economic theory that increased the prosperity of a nation through trade

Columbian Exchange

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 15:55:26 UTC

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and cultures between the Old World and the New World

Indentured Servant

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 15:56:48 UTC

A person who signs a contract to work for a certain period in exchange for room, board, and sometimes land or money

Chattel Slavery

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 15:58:08 UTC

A system where enslaved people were legally defined as property and could be bought, sold, and inherited

Puritans

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 16:00:03 UTC

English protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who tried to purify the Church of England of its Catholic Elements

Triangular Trade

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 16:02:01 UTC

A system of commerce that connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas during the colonial era

Encomienda System

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 16:04:28 UTC

A Spanish labor system that granted them Native American laborers for forced labor in exchange for protection and religious conversion

Southern Colonies

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 16:06:24 UTC

5 of the 13 British colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) that developed an agricultural economy from plantations and crops, relying on forced labor

Middle Colonies

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 16:07:55 UTC

4 of the 13 colonies (Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware) they had cultural and religious diversity

New England Colonies

jbmarrero — 2025-08-27 20:24:11 UTC

A group of British colonies founded in the early 17th century, primarily by Puritans (the Northernmost of the original 13 colonies)

Proclamation Line of 1763

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:35:00 UTC

The boundary drawn by the British prohibiting American colonists from settling west of the line. This was intended to prevent conflict with Native Americans after the Seven Years' War

Patriot

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:36:16 UTC

A colonist who supported independence from Britain during the American Revolution

Tory

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:38:18 UTC

Colonists who were loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution

Articles of Confederation

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:40:23 UTC

The United States' first constitution creating a weak central government with most power residing in the individual states

Federalists

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:42:28 UTC

The first American political party that advocated for a strong central government, a national bank, and federal supremacy over states' rights. They wrote the Federalist Papers, supporting the Constitution's ratification.

Anti-Federalists

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:44:39 UTC

People who opposed the ratification of the Constitution because they feared the strong, central government would infringe on states' and individuals' liberties. They wanted a Bill of Rights to protect citizens' freedoms.

Enlightenment

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:47:22 UTC

An intellectual and cultural movement that emphasized reason, science, and skepticism of traditional authority, laying the ideological groundwork for the American Revolution and foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence.

Albany Plan of Union

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:49:34 UTC

The first proposal for a unified, centralized government to manage the British North American colonies. It aimed to create a collective defense against the French and Native Americans, but it was never implemented.

Northwest Ordinance

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:51:29 UTC

A 1787 law by the Confederation Congress that created a government for the Northwest Territory. It provided a framework for governing and admitting new states from the land west of the original states and north of the Ohio River.

Newburgh Conspiracy

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:53:52 UTC

An unsuccessful 1783 rebellion by officers of the Continental Army who demanded back pay and pension promises from the Confederation Congress, which was struggling to pay its debts.

Great Compromise

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:56:26 UTC

AKA Connecticut Compromise, a pivotal agreement made at the Constitutional Convention that established the structure of the US Congress. Created a bicameral legislature. A blend of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.

Three-Fifths Compromise

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 15:58:52 UTC

An agreement made during the Constitutional Convention, where 3/5 of the enslaved population was counted for purposes of determining representation in Congress and taxation. It gave Southern states more power in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College.

Salutary Neglect

jbmarrero — 2025-09-08 16:02:04 UTC

Great Britain's unofficial policy from the late 17th to mid-18th century of loosely enforcing parliamentary laws and trade regulations in its American colonies. It allowed the colonies to develop greater autonomy and self-governance. It ended after the Seven Years' War.

Political Party

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:12:35 UTC

An organization that coordinates candidates to compete in elections and participate in governance. It is common that members hold similar ideas about politics, ideologies, and policy goals.

Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:14:41 UTC

An 1803 SCOTUS case that established Judicial Review (the power of courts to determine the constitutionality of laws and actions by the legislative and executive)

Temperance Movement

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:18:34 UTC

A social reform effort that advocated for the reduction or moderation of alcoholic beverages. It viewed alcohol as a root cause of poverty, domestic violence, and other societal ills.

Abolition Movement

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:19:40 UTC

A social and political campaign that sought to end slavery and the slave trade and promote the rights of enslaved people.

Women's Rights Movement

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:22:33 UTC

A social and political effort to achieve equality for women, advocating for property ownership, education, equal employment, and the right to vote.

Cotton Gin

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:25:35 UTC

A machine invented by Eli Whitney that efficiently separates cotton fibers from their seeds. This led to the widespread expansion of cotton cultivation and contributed to the tensions that led to the Civil War.

Steam Engine

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:28:14 UTC

Uses pressure from boiling water to perform mechanical work. They became a dominant power source during the Industrial Revolution.

Factory System

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:30:39 UTC

A manufacturing method that centralized production in large facilities. It used machinery powered by water or steam, a disciplined workforce and division of labor to produce goods.

Canals

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:31:59 UTC

A human-made waterway constructed to connect bodies of water. They improved trade, commerce, and transportation.

Monroe Doctrine

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:34:13 UTC

A foreign policy statement delivered by President James Monroe, which warned European powers against further colonization or intervention in the Western Hemisphere, in return, the US pledged to remain out of European affairs.

Democratic Party

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:36:07 UTC

The oldest political party in the US. Believe in free trade, social programs, labor unions, equal opportunity, disability rights, etc.

Whigs

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:38:23 UTC

A political party in the US that favored the economic program known as the American System supported a national bank, a protective tariff, and federal subsidies for the construction of infrastructure.

Telegraph

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:39:35 UTC

The electromagnetic device perfected by Samuel Morse that converted messages into electric impulses and back into readable text at a distant location.

Interchangeable Parts

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:41:10 UTC

Identical, pre-manufactured components that can be substituted for one another in a product. Led to mass production, lower costs, and easier repairs.

Impressment

jbmarrero — 2025-09-24 16:42:58 UTC

The act of forcibly taking men into public service, most often the navy, without their consent. It was deeply unpopular and inhumane, which caused riots and contributed to conflicts like the War of 1812.

Manifest Destiny

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:43:50 UTC

The belief that the US was divinely destined to expand across the North American continent, which justified the country's expansion.

Compromise of 1850

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:45:29 UTC

A series of 5 laws passed by the US Congress to de-escalate tensions over slavery by addressing territorial expansion. It aimed to prevent the civil war, but ultimately increased sectional division.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:48:29 UTC

US law that organized the Kansas and Nebraska territories and allowed settlers to decide whether to allow slavery through popular sovereignty. It repealed the Missouri Compromise.

Popular Sovereignty

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:49:42 UTC

The principle that the authority of a government is created and sustained by he consent of its people, who are the ultimate source of political power.

Fugitive Slave Act

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:50:55 UTC

A series of laws that were enacted in the US to force the return of enslaved people who had escaped to free states.

Sectionalism

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:51:52 UTC

The loyalty to a particular region of a country rather than to the country as a whole leading to conflicts between regions.

Secession

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:52:59 UTC

The formal withdrawal of a state from the federal union, 11 Southern states seceded from the Untion to form the Confederate States of America.

Union

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:54:35 UTC

The states that remained loyal to the federal government during the Civil War, primarily the Northern states. They fought to preserve the nation as a single, unified country and ultimately to end slavery.

Confederacy

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:55:40 UTC

The confederate states of America, a government formed by 11 Southern states that seceded from the US. Driven by the desire to preserve slavery and states' rights.

13th Amendment

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:56:32 UTC

The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the US.

14th Amendment

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:57:32 UTC

Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US, including formally enslaved people, also guarantees equal protection of the law and requires due process to all citizens.

15th Amendment

jbmarrero — 2025-10-17 15:58:37 UTC

Granted African American men the right to vote by prohibiting the denial of suffrage based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"

Capitalism

jbmarrero — 2025-10-31 16:42:21 UTC

Economic system where private individuals or businesses own the means of production

Cornelius Vanderbilt

jbmarrero — 2025-10-31 16:44:01 UTC

A US entrepreneur and key figure in the 1800s who amassed his wealth in shipping and railroads. He capitalized the Industrial Revolution.

Andrew Carnegie

jbmarrero — 2025-10-31 16:45:02 UTC

A Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who became the richest man in the world by building the American steel industry in the 19th century.

John D. Rockefeller

jbmarrero — 2025-10-31 16:46:27 UTC

American industrialist and philanthropist who revolutionized the petroleum industry, considered the wealthiest American in history. His oil company controlled 90% of US oil refineries and pipelines.

JP Morgan

jbmarrero — 2025-10-31 16:48:20 UTC

A powerful American financier and banker in the late 19th and 20th centuries who dominated corporate finance and shaped the nation's industrial landscape.

Titans of Industry

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 14:54:34 UTC

A powerful and successful person or company that dominates a particular field through innovation, large-scale business, and significant influence.

Robber Barons

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 14:56:09 UTC

Wealthy American industrialists and financiers are known for amassing fortunes through ruthless and unethical business practices.

Unions

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 14:56:51 UTC

A continuous association of workers formed to maintain and improve their employment conditions through collective bargaining.

Migration

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 15:00:21 UTC

Movement of people from one place to another over time, including patterns, causes, and consequences of these movements.

Gilded Age

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 15:03:21 UTC

A period in US history marked by rapid economic growth and industrialization, particularly in railroads, steel, and oil. Prosperity masked underlying problems like political corruption, social inequality, and poverty for the working class.

Social Darwinism

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 15:04:46 UTC

A discredited social theory that applied Charles Darwin's concept of natural selection to human societies, arguing that the "fittest" individuals, races, or groups would succeed, while the "weak" would fail.

The Gospel of Wealth

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 15:06:14 UTC

A philosophy proposed by Andrew Carnegie arguing that the wealthy have a moral obligation to use their fortunes to benefit society.

Muckraking

jbmarrero — 2025-11-03 15:20:45 UTC

A style of investigative journalism during the Progressive Era where journalists exposed corruption in the government, business, and social injustices through detailed reporting.

Women's Suffrage

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:49:22 UTC

Movement advocating for women's right to vote, which was a decades-long struggle that culminated in the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The movement involved generations of activists who used a variety of methods, including lectures, writing, marching, lobbying, and civil disobedience, to achieve this goal

Prohibition

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:50:17 UTC

National ban on the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages, enacted by the 18th Amendment to the Constitution and enforced by the Volstead Act from 1920 to 1933. This policy was driven by the temperance movement.

Isolationism

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:51:09 UTC

Foreign policy of remaining apart from the political affairs of other countries, particularly by avoiding foreign wars and entangling alliances

Imperialism

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:51:58 UTC

The policy of extending a nation's power and influence through diplomacy, military force, or economic control, which became prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:53:56 UTC

Naval officer and historian whose theories on sea power profoundly influenced U.S. history by arguing that a nation's greatness depended on its naval strength and control of maritime trade routes.

Open Door Policy

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:55:07 UTC

A foreign policy initiative for China, articulated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that advocated for equal trading rights for all nations and respect for China's territorial integrity

Militarism

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:56:35 UTC

The belief in prioritizing military strength, preparedness, and the use of force to achieve national goals, often at the expense of diplomacy

Nationalism

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:58:09 UTC

An ideology of loyalty and devotion to the United States, emphasizing its distinct identity, sovereignty, and interests

League of Nations

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 16:59:28 UTC

An international organization formed after World War I to promote peace and cooperation among nations by resolving disputes through negotiation and collective security

Treaty of Versailles

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 17:04:17 UTC

the 1919 peace treaty that formally ended World War I but was notably rejected by the U.S. Senate, meaning the United States never joined the League of Nations.

Great Migration

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 17:05:08 UTC

the mass movement of approximately six million Black people from the rural Southern United States to Northern, Midwestern, and Western cities between the 1910s and 1970s

Zimmermann Telegram

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 17:06:16 UTC

A secret 1917 communication from Germany to Mexico proposing a military alliance against the United States during World War I. Intercepted and published by the British, the telegram's publication caused outrage in the U.S. and was a major factor in the United States' decision to enter the war against Germany

Stocks on Margin

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 17:07:09 UTC

Buying securities by borrowing a portion of the purchase price from a broker, using an initial cash down payment as collateral. This practice, which surged in the 1920s, allowed investors to amplify potential gains but also magnified losses, and is commonly associated with the lead-up to the 1929 stock market crash.

Tariff

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 17:07:47 UTC

A tax on imported goods that has served as a significant source of government revenue, a tool to protect domestic industries, and a factor in political and international conflicts

3 R's

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 17:08:46 UTC

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, which aimed to provide relief for the needy, stimulate economic recovery, and enact financial reform to prevent future depressions

Island Hopping

jbmarrero — 2025-11-19 17:09:22 UTC

a military strategy used by the United States in World War II to capture strategically important islands in the Pacific while bypassing heavily fortified ones. This "leapfrogging" approach allowed Allied forces to advance more quickly toward Japan, secure bases for air and naval power, cut off Japanese supply lines, and avoid costly, protracted battles on every island.

Holocaust

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:50:09 UTC

The state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its collaborators.

International Organizations

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:51:09 UTC

entities formed by multiple nations (like the UN, World Bank) to foster cooperation on global issues

United Nations

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:52:36 UTC

An international organization established in 1945 after World War II, with the U.S. as a founding member and key proponent, aimed at maintaining peace, security, and cooperation among nations

Bretton Woods System

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:53:50 UTC

A post-WWII international monetary framework (1944-1971) where countries pegged their currencies to the U.S. dollar, which was fixed to gold ($35/ounce), creating stability for trade

NATO

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:54:52 UTC

A U.S.-led military alliance formed in 1949 by North American & European democracies to counter Soviet expansion

Iron Curtain

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:57:43 UTC

post-WWII division of Europe into Soviet-controlled communist East and democratic West, a metaphorical barrier symbolizing political, ideological, and physical separation enforced by the USSR's dominance over Eastern Bloc nations

Warsaw Pact

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:58:49 UTC

a military alliance formed in 1955 by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite statesas a counterweight to NATO

Containment

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 16:59:57 UTC

Cold War foreign policy strategy to stop the spread of communism beyond its existing borders, particularly from the Soviet Union, using economic, military, and political means short of direct large-scale war

Domino Theory

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 17:00:44 UTC

Cold War-era belief that if one nation fell to communism, its neighbors would soon follow

Mutually Assured Destruction

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 17:01:50 UTC

a military doctrine where two opposing nuclear-armed powers, knowing a first strike would guarantee their own catastrophic retaliation, are deterred from attacking

Atomic Bomb

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 17:02:31 UTC

the nuclear weapons developed by the secret Manhattan Project during WWII

Nuclear Weapons

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 17:03:33 UTC

a device which rapidly releases nuclear energy, either through fission (as in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki) or a combination fission and fusion (as in a thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb).

Great Society Program

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 17:04:35 UTC

President Lyndon B. Johnson's ambitious 1960s domestic agenda to end poverty, reduce crime, abolish inequality, and improve the environment, marked by landmark legislation like Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, significantly expanding the federal role in social welfare through education aid, urban renewal, and environmental protection.

Brown v. Board of Education

jbmarrero — 2025-12-15 17:05:35 UTC

a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that unanimously declared state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional

Reaganomics

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:23:58 UTC

The supply-side economic policies of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, centered on cutting taxes, reducing regulation, decreasing non-defense government spending, and increasing military spending to stimulate economic growth

Liberal

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:26:05 UTC

Liberalism generally favors government action, social justice, equality, and economic intervention.

Conservative

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:27:48 UTC

Conservatism generally favors tradition, limited government, individual responsibility, free markets, and slow change.

Moral Majority

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:28:54 UTC

A prominent American political organization founded by Jerry Falwell that mobilized conservative Christians to counter perceived moral decline.

Trickle-down Economics

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:31:23 UTC

A theory suggesting that tax cuts and benefits for the wealthy and corporations will stimulate investment and job creation, eventually benefiting everyone as wealth "trickles down".

Monetary Policy

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:32:31 UTC

Actions taken by a nation's central bank to manage the money supply and credit conditions to achieve economic goals.

Fiscal Policy

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:34:51 UTC

The government's use of spending and taxation to influence the economy.

Laissez-Faire

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:36:05 UTC

An economic philosophy advocating minimal government interference in the economy, letting free markets and private enterprise operate with little regulation.

Inflation

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:36:58 UTC

The general sustained increase in the prices of goods and services, which reduces the purchasing power of money, meaning each dollar buys less over time.

Deregulation

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:39:46 UTC

The process of reducing or eliminating government rules and restrictions of businesses and industries, driven by free-market beliefs that less oversight fosters competition, innovation, and economic growth.

Terrorism

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:41:42 UTC

Unlawful violence against people or property for political or social goals, or intimidating a government or population.

Globalization

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:43:56 UTC

The increasing interconnectedness of the US with the world through trade, technology, migration, and culture.

GDP

jbmarrero — 2026-01-08 17:45:20 UTC

The total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within the US borders in a specific period serves as the primary measure of the nation's economic health and output.