American History - Introductory

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. Alexander Hamilton
    United States statesman and leader of the Federalists
  4. 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
  5. amend
    make revisions to
  6. amendment
    a statement that is added to a proposal or document
  7. American Civil War
    civil war in the United States between the North and the South; 1861-1865
  8. American Revolution
    the revolution of the American Colonies against Great Britain; 1775-1783
  9. Andrew Jackson
    7th president of the US
  10. Andrew Johnson
    17th President of the United States
  11. annex
    take territory as if by conquest
  12. 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
  13. assembly line
    series of machines and workers that build step-by-step
  14. baby boom
    generation in United States born shortly after World War II
  15. Battle of Gettysburg
    a battle of the American Civil War
  16. Battle of Midway
    naval battle of World War II
  17. Benedict Arnold
    United States general and traitor in the American Revolution
  18. 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)
  19. Benjamin Harrison
    23rd President of the United States (1833-1901)
  20. Bill Clinton
    42nd President of the United States (1946-)
  21. Bill of Rights
    a statement of fundamental freedoms and privileges
  22. blockade
    a war measure isolating an area of importance to the enemy
  23. 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
  24. boycott
    refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization
  25. cabinet
    group chosen by a head of state to run executive departments
  26. Calvin Coolidge
    elected vice president and succeeded as 30th President of the United States when Harding died in 1923 (1872-1933)
  27. cash crop
    a cultivated plant that is grown to be sold for profit
  28. Chester A. Arthur
    elected vice president and became 21st President of the United States when Garfield was assassinated (1830-1886)
  29. citizen
    a native or naturalized member of a state
  30. civil disobedience
    refusal to comply with a law as a form of political protest
  31. civil right
    right belonging to a person by reason of citizenship
  32. civil war
    a war between factions in the same country
  33. 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
  34. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  35. communism
    a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
  36. Confederacy
    a group of Southern states that broke away from the U.S. in 1860–61
  37. Constitution
    the constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states
  38. D-day
    date of the Allied landing in France, World War II
  39. 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
  40. diversity
    noticeable variety
  41. draft
    compulsory military service
  42. dust bowl
    a region subject to dust storms
  43. 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)
  44. Eleanor Roosevelt
    wife of Franklin Roosevelt and a strong advocate of human rights (1884-1962)
  45. electoral college
    the body that formally selects the United States president
  46. Eli Whitney
    United States inventor of the mechanical cotton gin
  47. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
    United States suffragist and feminist
  48. Ellis Island
    an island in New York Bay that was formerly the principal immigration station for the United States
  49. embargo
    a government order imposing a trade barrier
  50. faction
    a clique that seeks power usually through intrigue
  51. federalism
    government divided between central and regional powers
  52. foreign policy
    a plan of action governing international relations
  53. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    32nd President of the United States
  54. Franklin Pierce
    14th President of the United States (1804-1869)
  55. Frederick Douglass
    United States abolitionist who escaped from slavery and became an influential writer and lecturer in the North (1817-1895)
  56. French and Indian War
    a war in North America between France and Britain
  57. frontier
    a wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country
  58. George H.W. Bush
    vice president under Reagan and 41st President of the United States (born in 1924)
  59. George W. Bush
    43rd President of the United States
  60. George Washington
    1st President of the United States
  61. Gerald Ford
    38th President of the United States
  62. 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)
  63. Great Depression
    the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s
  64. Grover Cleveland
    22nd and 24th President of the United States (1837–1908)
  65. 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
  66. Harlem Renaissance
    a period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished
  67. Harry Truman
    33rd President of the United States
  68. Henry Ford
    United States manufacturer of automobiles who pioneered mass production (1863-1947)
  69. Herbert Hoover
    31st President of the United States
  70. immigrant
    a person who comes to a country in order to settle there
  71. impeach
    charge with an offense committed while in office
  72. Industrial Revolution
    the transformation from an agricultural to an industrial nation
  73. inflation
    a general and progressive increase in prices
  74. installment plan
    a system for paying for goods by installments
  75. integration
    incorporating a racial or religious group into a community
  76. interstate highway
    one of the system of highways linking major cities in the 48 contiguous states of the United States
  77. James A. Garfield
    20th President of the United States
  78. James Buchanan
    15th President of the United States (1791-1868)
  79. James K. Polk
    11th President of the United States
  80. James Madison
    4th President of the United States
  81. James Monroe
    5th President of the United States
  82. Jimmy Carter
    39th President of the United States
  83. John Adams
    2nd President of the United States (1735-1826)
  84. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
    35th President of the United States
  85. John Quincy Adams
    6th President of the United States; son of John Adams
  86. John Tyler
    elected vice president and became the 10th President of the United States when Harrison died (1790-1862)
  87. Joseph McCarthy
    United States politician who unscrupulously accused many citizens of being Communists (1908-1957)
  88. Korean War
    a war between North and South Korea
  89. labor union
    an employee organization that bargains with an employer
  90. land grant
    a grant of public land (as to a railway or college)
  91. 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
  92. lend-lease
    the transfer of aid to an ally in a common cause
  93. 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
  94. Lexington and Concord
    the first battle of the American Revolution (April 19, 1775)
  95. 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
  96. Lyndon Baines Johnson
    36th President of the United States
  97. Martin Luther King Jr.
    United States charismatic civil rights leader and Baptist minister who campaigned against the segregation of Blacks (1929-1968)
  98. Martin Van Buren
    8th President of the United States (1782-1862)
  99. mass medium
    a technology that publicly transmits to a large audience
  100. mass production
    the manufacturing of large quantities of goods
  101. melting pot
    a place where diverse people, cultures, and ideas are mixed
  102. 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
  103. militia
    civilians trained as soldiers, not part of the regular army
  104. Millard Fillmore
    elected vice president and became the 13th President of the United States when Zachary Taylor died in office (1800-1874)
  105. 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
  106. monopoly
    a market in which there are many buyers but only one seller
  107. Monroe Doctrine
    an American foreign policy opposing interference in the western hemisphere from outside powers
  108. multiculturalism
    the doctrine that different peoples can coexist peacefully
  109. Native American
  110. NATO
    an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security
  111. neutrality
    nonparticipation in a dispute or war
  112. New Deal
    the economic policy of F. D. Roosevelt
  113. Panama Canal
    a ship canal 40 miles long across the Isthmus of Panama built by the United States (1904-1914)
  114. patriotism
    love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
  115. Pearl Harbor
    a harbor on Oahu to the west of Honolulu
  116. poll tax
    an amount to be paid as a requirement for voting
  117. propaganda
    information that is spread to promote some cause
  118. public works
    structures created by government for everyone's use
  119. ratify
    approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation
  120. ration
    restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity
  121. recall
    the act of removing an official by petition
  122. recession
    a situation in which the state of the economy declines
  123. Reconstruction
    the period after the American Civil War when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union; 1865-1877
  124. redcoat
    British soldier; so-called because of his red coat
  125. referendum
    a legislative act referred for approval to a popular vote
  126. republic
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  127. reservation
    a district that is set aside for a particular purpose
  128. Richard Nixon
    vice president under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States; resigned after the Watergate scandal in 1974 (1913-1994)
  129. Robert E. Lee
    American general who led the Confederate Armies in the American Civil War (1807-1870)
  130. Ronald Reagan
    40th President of the United States (1911-2004)
  131. 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)
  132. Rutherford B. Hayes
    19th President of the United States
  133. secede
    withdraw from an organization or polity
  134. secession
    formal separation from an alliance or federation
  135. sedition
    an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority
  136. segregation
    a social system that provides different facilities for minority groups
  137. sharecropper
    a tenant farmer who owes a portion of each harvest for rent
  138. sit-down strike
    a strike in which workers refuse to leave the workplace until a settlement is reached
  139. sit-in
    a protest in which people occupy seats and refuse to move
  140. slavery
    the practice or system of owning people as property
  141. Social Security
    social welfare program in the U.S.
  142. Spanish-American War
    a war between the United States and Spain in 1898
  143. stalemate
    a situation in which no progress can be made
  144. state
    territory occupied by an administrative district of a nation
  145. states' rights
    the rights conceded to the states by the United States constitution
  146. stock market
    an exchange where security trading is conducted by professional stockbrokers
  147. strike
    refusal to work in protest against low pay or bad conditions
  148. suburb
    a residential district located on the outskirts of a city
  149. suffrage
    a legal right to vote
  150. supply-side economics
    the theory that lower taxes leads to financial prosperity
  151. Supreme Court
    the highest federal court in the United States
  152. tariff
    a government tax on imports or exports
  153. tenement
    a run-down apartment house barely meeting minimal standards
  154. Theodore Roosevelt
    26th President of the United States
  155. Thomas Edison
    United States inventor
  156. Thomas Jefferson
    3rd President of the United States
  157. treaty
    a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
  158. Ulysses S. Grant
    18th President of the United States
  159. union
    a political unit formed from previously independent groups
  160. United Nations
    an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security
  161. urbanization
    the social process whereby cities grow
  162. vaudeville
    a genre of variety show with songs, comic acts, etc.
  163. veto
    vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent
  164. victory garden
    a small plot of land used to grow food during wartime
  165. 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
  166. War of 1812
    a war (1812-1814) between the United States and England which was trying to interfere with American trade with France
  167. Warren Gamaliel Harding
    29th President of the United States
  168. William Henry Harrison
    9th President of the United States
  169. William Howard Taft
    27th President of the United States and later chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1857-1930)
  170. William McKinley
    25th President of the United States
  171. Woodrow Wilson
    28th President of the United States
  172. 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
  173. World War II
    a war between the Allies and the Axis from 1939 to 1945
  174. 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
  175. Zachary Taylor
    12th President of the United States; died in office
Created on Wed Mar 08 11:51:07 EST 2017 (updated Wed Apr 12 12:01:32 EDT 2017)

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