American History - Middle School

You have a constitutional right to learn these words related to American history! This comprehensive vocabulary list will take you from the settlement of the colonies through the present day. It includes topics such as the Constitution and civil rights, slavery and the Civil War, American presidents, immigration and multiculturalism, and much more.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abolitionist
    a reformer who favors putting an end to slavery
  2. Abraham Lincoln
    16th President of the United States
  3. affirmative action
    a policy designed to redress past discrimination
  4. Alexander Hamilton
    United States statesman and leader of the Federalists
  5. Allies
    the alliance of nations that fought the Axis in World War II and which (with subsequent additions) signed the charter of the United Nations in 1945
  6. amend
    make revisions to
  7. amendment
    a statement that is added to a proposal or document
  8. American Civil War
    civil war in the United States between the North and the South; 1861-1865
  9. American Revolution
    the revolution of the American Colonies against Great Britain; 1775-1783
  10. Andrew Carnegie
    United States industrialist and philanthropist who endowed education and public libraries and research trusts (1835-1919)
  11. Andrew Jackson
    7th president of the US
  12. Andrew Johnson
    17th President of the United States
  13. annex
    take territory as if by conquest
  14. appeasement
    the act of acceding to demands
  15. armistice
    a state of peace agreed to between opponents
  16. Articles of Confederation
    a written agreement ratified in 1781 by the thirteen original states; it provided a legal symbol of their union by giving the central government no coercive power over the states or their citizens
  17. assembly line
    series of machines and workers that build step-by-step
  18. assimilation
    the process of absorbing one cultural group into another
  19. atomic bomb
    a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239)
  20. baby boom
    generation in United States born shortly after World War II
  21. Bartolomeo Vanzetti
    United States anarchist (born in Italy) who with Nicola Sacco was convicted of murder and in spite of world-wide protest was executed (1888-1927)
  22. Battle of Gettysburg
    a battle of the American Civil War
  23. Battle of Midway
    naval battle of World War II
  24. beatnik
    a young person who rejects conventional ideas and behavior
  25. Benedict Arnold
    United States general and traitor in the American Revolution
  26. Benjamin Franklin
    printer whose success as an author led him to take up politics; he helped draw up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he played a major role in the American Revolution and negotiated French support for the colonists; as a scientist he is remembered particularly for his research in electricity (1706-1790)
  27. Benjamin Harrison
    23rd President of the United States (1833-1901)
  28. Bill Clinton
    42nd President of the United States (1946-)
  29. Bill of Rights
    a statement of fundamental freedoms and privileges
  30. blacklist
    a record of people or things that are banned or out of favor
  31. blockade
    a war measure isolating an area of importance to the enemy
  32. Boston Tea Party
    demonstration (1773) by citizens of Boston who (disguised as Native Americans) raided three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor; organized as a protest against taxes on tea
  33. boycott
    refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization
  34. brinkmanship
    act of pushing a dangerous situation to the edge of disaster
  35. cabinet
    group chosen by a head of state to run executive departments
  36. Calvin Coolidge
    elected vice president and succeeded as 30th President of the United States when Harding died in 1923 (1872-1933)
  37. carpetbagger
    an outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously
  38. cash crop
    a cultivated plant that is grown to be sold for profit
  39. casualty
    someone injured or killed in a military engagement
  40. Cesar Chavez
    United States labor leader who organized farm workers
  41. Chester A. Arthur
    elected vice president and became 21st President of the United States when Garfield was assassinated (1830-1886)
  42. citizen
    a native or naturalized member of a state
  43. civil disobedience
    refusal to comply with a law as a form of political protest
  44. civil right
    right belonging to a person by reason of citizenship
  45. civil war
    a war between factions in the same country
  46. Clarence Darrow
    United States lawyer famous for his defense of lost causes
  47. closed shop
    a company that hires only union members
  48. Cold War
    a state of political hostility that existed from 1945 until 1990 between countries led by the Soviet Union and countries led by the United States
  49. collective security
    a system for international peace
  50. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  51. communism
    a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
  52. Confederacy
    a group of Southern states that broke away from the U.S. in 1860–61
  53. Constitution
    the constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states
  54. containment
    political strategy to check the expansion of a hostile power
  55. counterculture
    a lifestyle and set of values that oppose societal norms
  56. Cuba
    a communist state in the Caribbean on the island of Cuba
  57. D-day
    date of the Allied landing in France, World War II
  58. Declaration of Independence
    the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the Colonies from Great Britain
  59. deficit spending
    paying with money attained through loans
  60. deflation
    reduction of economic activity that results in lower prices
  61. detente
    the easing of tensions or strained relations
  62. diversity
    noticeable variety
  63. domino theory
    idea that communist nations will convert neighboring nations
  64. draft
    compulsory military service
  65. Dred Scott
    United States slave who sued for liberty after living in a non-slave state; caused the Supreme Court to declare the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional (1795?-1858)
  66. dust bowl
    a region subject to dust storms
  67. Dwight D. Eisenhower
    United States general who supervised the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany; 34th President of the United States (1890-1961)
  68. Earl Warren
    United States jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1891-1974)
  69. Eleanor Roosevelt
    wife of Franklin Roosevelt and a strong advocate of human rights (1884-1962)
  70. electoral college
    the body that formally selects the United States president
  71. Eli Whitney
    United States inventor of the mechanical cotton gin
  72. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
    United States suffragist and feminist
  73. Ellis Island
    an island in New York Bay that was formerly the principal immigration station for the United States
  74. embargo
    a government order imposing a trade barrier
  75. faction
    a clique that seeks power usually through intrigue
  76. fascism
    a political theory advocating an authoritarian government
  77. federalism
    government divided between central and regional powers
  78. Federal Reserve
    the central bank of the United States
  79. feminism
    the movement aimed at equal rights for women
  80. filibuster
    a tactic for delaying legislation by making long speeches
  81. flapper
    an unconventional young woman in the 1920s
  82. foreign policy
    a plan of action governing international relations
  83. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    32nd President of the United States
  84. Franklin Pierce
    14th President of the United States (1804-1869)
  85. Frederick Douglass
    United States abolitionist who escaped from slavery and became an influential writer and lecturer in the North (1817-1895)
  86. French and Indian War
    a war in North America between France and Britain
  87. frontier
    a wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country
  88. George H.W. Bush
    vice president under Reagan and 41st President of the United States (born in 1924)
  89. George W. Bush
    43rd President of the United States
  90. George Washington
    1st President of the United States
  91. Gerald Ford
    38th President of the United States
  92. Gettysburg Address
    a three-minute address by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg (November 19, 1863)
  93. GNP
    total value of goods and services produced in a country
  94. grandfather clause
    an exemption to a rule based on prior circumstances
  95. Great Depression
    the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s
  96. Grover Cleveland
    22nd and 24th President of the United States (1837–1908)
  97. Gulf War
    a dispute over control of the waterway between Iraq and Iran broke out into open fighting in 1980 and continued until 1988, when they accepted a UN cease-fire resolution
  98. Harlem Renaissance
    a period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished
  99. Harry Truman
    33rd President of the United States
  100. Henry Ford
    United States manufacturer of automobiles who pioneered mass production (1863-1947)
  101. Herbert Hoover
    31st President of the United States
  102. immigrant
    a person who comes to a country in order to settle there
  103. impeach
    charge with an offense committed while in office
  104. imperialism
    a policy of extending your rule over foreign countries
  105. Industrial Revolution
    the transformation from an agricultural to an industrial nation
  106. inflation
    a general and progressive increase in prices
  107. installment plan
    a system for paying for goods by installments
  108. integration
    incorporating a racial or religious group into a community
  109. internment
    confinement during wartime
  110. interstate highway
    one of the system of highways linking major cities in the 48 contiguous states of the United States
  111. isolationism
    a policy of nonparticipation in international relations
  112. James A. Garfield
    20th President of the United States
  113. James Buchanan
    15th President of the United States (1791-1868)
  114. James K. Polk
    11th President of the United States
  115. James Madison
    4th President of the United States
  116. James Monroe
    5th President of the United States
  117. Jimmy Carter
    39th President of the United States
  118. John Adams
    2nd President of the United States (1735-1826)
  119. John Brown
    abolitionist who was hanged after leading an unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1800-1859)
  120. John D. Rockefeller
    United States industrialist who made a fortune in the oil business and gave half of it away (1839-1937)
  121. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
    35th President of the United States
  122. John Locke
    English empiricist philosopher who believed that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience (1632-1704)
  123. John Quincy Adams
    6th President of the United States; son of John Adams
  124. John Scopes
    Tennessee highschool teacher who violated a state law by teaching evolution; in a highly publicized trial in 1925 he was prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan and defended by Clarence Darrow (1900-1970)
  125. John Tyler
    elected vice president and became the 10th President of the United States when Harrison died (1790-1862)
  126. Joseph McCarthy
    United States politician who unscrupulously accused many citizens of being Communists (1908-1957)
  127. Keynesian
    of or relating to a noted English economist or his theories
  128. Korean War
    a war between North and South Korea
  129. labor union
    an employee organization that bargains with an employer
  130. laissez faire
    a doctrine that government should not interfere in commerce
  131. land grant
    a grant of public land (as to a railway or college)
  132. League of Nations
    an international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations; although suggested by Woodrow Wilson, the United States never joined and it remained powerless; it was dissolved in 1946 after the United Nations was formed
  133. lend-lease
    the transfer of aid to an ally in a common cause
  134. Lewis and Clark Expedition
    an expedition sent by Thomas Jefferson to explore the northwestern territories of the United States; led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark; traveled from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River from 1803 to 1806
  135. Lexington and Concord
    the first battle of the American Revolution (April 19, 1775)
  136. Louisiana Purchase
    territory in the western United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million; extends from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada
  137. Lyndon Baines Johnson
    36th President of the United States
  138. Malcolm X
    militant civil rights leader (1925-1965)
  139. Manhattan Project
    code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II
  140. manifest destiny
    a policy of imperialist expansion said to be inevitable
  141. Marshall Plan
    a United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952); named after George Marshall
  142. martial law
    military rule over civilian affairs
  143. Martin Luther King Jr.
    United States charismatic civil rights leader and Baptist minister who campaigned against the segregation of Blacks (1929-1968)
  144. Martin Van Buren
    8th President of the United States (1782-1862)
  145. mass medium
    a technology that publicly transmits to a large audience
  146. mass production
    the manufacturing of large quantities of goods
  147. McCarthyism
    unscrupulously accusing people of disloyalty
  148. melting pot
    a place where diverse people, cultures, and ideas are mixed
  149. mercantilism
    a system of increasing wealth through colonization and trade
  150. Mexican War
    after disputes over Texas lands that were settled by Mexicans the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846 and by treaty in 1848 took Texas and California and Arizona and New Mexico and Nevada and Utah and part of Colorado and paid Mexico $15,000,000
  151. militia
    civilians trained as soldiers, not part of the regular army
  152. Millard Fillmore
    elected vice president and became the 13th President of the United States when Zachary Taylor died in office (1800-1874)
  153. Miranda rule
    the rule that police (when interrogating you after an arrest) are obliged to warn you that anything you say may be used as evidence and to read you your constitutional rights (the right to a lawyer and the right to remain silent until advised by a lawyer)
  154. Missouri Compromise
    an agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories
  155. monopoly
    a market in which there are many buyers but only one seller
  156. Monroe Doctrine
    an American foreign policy opposing interference in the western hemisphere from outside powers
  157. muckraker
    one who spreads real or alleged scandal about another
  158. multiculturalism
    the doctrine that different peoples can coexist peacefully
  159. Nathan Hale
    a soldier of the American Revolution who was hanged as a spy by the British; his last words were supposed to have been "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country" (1755-1776)
  160. Native American
  161. nativism
    a policy of favoring established inhabitants, not immigrants
  162. NATO
    an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security
  163. Nat Turner
    United States slave and insurrectionist who in 1831 led a rebellion of slaves in Virginia; he was captured and executed (1800-1831)
  164. naturalize
    make into a citizen
  165. neutrality
    nonparticipation in a dispute or war
  166. New Deal
    the economic policy of F. D. Roosevelt
  167. Nicola Sacco
    United States anarchist (born in Italy) who with Bartolomeo Vanzetti was convicted of murder and in spite of world-wide protest was executed (1891-1927)
  168. open-door policy
    the policy of granting equal trade opportunities to all countries
  169. Panama Canal
    a ship canal 40 miles long across the Isthmus of Panama built by the United States (1904-1914)
  170. Patrick Henry
    a leader of the American Revolution and a famous orator who spoke out against British rule of the American colonies (1736-1799)
  171. patriotism
    love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
  172. Pearl Harbor
    a harbor on Oahu to the west of Honolulu
  173. poll tax
    an amount to be paid as a requirement for voting
  174. populism
    political doctrine that supports the rights of common people
  175. progressive
    favoring or promoting change, often by government action
  176. prohibition
    when the sale of alcoholic beverages was banned in the U.S.
  177. propaganda
    information that is spread to promote some cause
  178. public works
    structures created by government for everyone's use
  179. Rachel Carson
    United States biologist remembered for her opposition to the use of pesticides that were hazardous to wildlife (1907-1964)
  180. ratify
    approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation
  181. ration
    restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity
  182. recall
    the act of removing an official by petition
  183. recession
    a situation in which the state of the economy declines
  184. Reconstruction
    the period after the American Civil War when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union; 1865-1877
  185. redcoat
    British soldier; so-called because of his red coat
  186. red scare
    a period of general fear of communists
  187. referendum
    a legislative act referred for approval to a popular vote
  188. reparation
    something done or paid in expiation of a wrong
  189. republic
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  190. reservation
    a district that is set aside for a particular purpose
  191. Richard Nixon
    vice president under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States; resigned after the Watergate scandal in 1974 (1913-1994)
  192. Robert E. Lee
    American general who led the Confederate Armies in the American Civil War (1807-1870)
  193. Ronald Reagan
    40th President of the United States (1911-2004)
  194. Rosa Parks
    United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national Civil Rights movement (born in 1913)
  195. Rutherford B. Hayes
    19th President of the United States
  196. Samuel Adams
    American Revolutionary leader and patriot
  197. Samuel Gompers
    United States labor leader (born in England) who was president of the American Federation of Labor from 1886 to 1924 (1850-1924)
  198. scalawag
    (history) a Southerner who supported Reconstruction policies
  199. secede
    withdraw from an organization or polity
  200. secession
    formal separation from an alliance or federation
  201. sedition
    an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority
  202. segregation
    a social system that provides different facilities for minority groups
  203. September 11
    the day in 2001 when Arab suicide bombers hijacked United States airliners and used them as bombs
  204. sharecropper
    a tenant farmer who owes a portion of each harvest for rent
  205. siege of Vicksburg
    a decisive battle in the American Civil War
  206. sit-down strike
    a strike in which workers refuse to leave the workplace until a settlement is reached
  207. sit-in
    a protest in which people occupy seats and refuse to move
  208. Sitting Bull
    a chief of the Sioux
  209. slavery
    the practice or system of owning people as property
  210. slave trade
    traffic in people who are forced into unpaid labor
  211. socialism
    a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
  212. Social Security
    social welfare program in the U.S.
  213. Spanish-American War
    a war between the United States and Spain in 1898
  214. sputnik
    a Russian artificial satellite
  215. stagflation
    slow economic growth with high prices and unemployment
  216. stalemate
    a situation in which no progress can be made
  217. state
    territory occupied by an administrative district of a nation
  218. states' rights
    the rights conceded to the states by the United States constitution
  219. stock market
    an exchange where security trading is conducted by professional stockbrokers
  220. strike
    refusal to work in protest against low pay or bad conditions
  221. suburb
    a residential district located on the outskirts of a city
  222. suffrage
    a legal right to vote
  223. supply-side economics
    the theory that lower taxes leads to financial prosperity
  224. Supreme Court
    the highest federal court in the United States
  225. tariff
    a government tax on imports or exports
  226. Teapot Dome scandal
    a government scandal involving a former United States Navy oil reserve in Wyoming that was secretly leased to a private oil company in 1921; became symbolic of the scandals of the Harding administration
  227. temperance
    the act of abstaining, especially from drinking alcohol
  228. tenement
    a run-down apartment house barely meeting minimal standards
  229. Theodore Roosevelt
    26th President of the United States
  230. Thomas Edison
    United States inventor
  231. Thomas Jefferson
    3rd President of the United States
  232. Thomas Paine
    American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)
  233. treaty
    a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
  234. Treaty of Versailles
    the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans
  235. Truman doctrine
    President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology
  236. Ulysses S. Grant
    18th President of the United States
  237. union
    a political unit formed from previously independent groups
  238. United Nations
    an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security
  239. Upton Sinclair
    United States writer whose novels argued for social reform
  240. urbanization
    the social process whereby cities grow
  241. vaudeville
    a genre of variety show with songs, comic acts, etc.
  242. veto
    vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent
  243. victory garden
    a small plot of land used to grow food during wartime
  244. Vietnam War
    a prolonged war (1954-1975) between the communist armies of North Vietnam who were supported by the Chinese and the armies of South Vietnam who were supported by the United States
  245. War of 1812
    a war (1812-1814) between the United States and England which was trying to interfere with American trade with France
  246. Warren Gamaliel Harding
    29th President of the United States
  247. William Henry Harrison
    9th President of the United States
  248. William Howard Taft
    27th President of the United States and later chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1857-1930)
  249. William Jennings Bryan
    United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)
  250. William Lloyd Garrison
    United States abolitionist who published an anti-slavery journal (1805-1879)
  251. William McKinley
    25th President of the United States
  252. Woodrow Wilson
    28th President of the United States
  253. World War I
    a war between the allies (Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Montenegro) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) from 1914 to 1918
  254. World War II
    a war between the Allies and the Axis from 1939 to 1945
  255. Yorktown
    in 1781 the British under Cornwallis surrendered after a siege of three weeks by American and French troops; the surrender ended the American Revolution
  256. Zachary Taylor
    12th President of the United States; died in office
Created on Wed Mar 08 11:45:09 EST 2017 (updated Wed Apr 12 12:27:25 EDT 2017)

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