Key Concepts in American History: Terms and Definitions

1. ABC Book of History(: Katie Johnston 2nd 5-17-11

2. Annex- to add territory to ones own territory to • Ambush- a surprise attack • Abolitionist- a person who strong favors doing away with slavery • Arsenal- storage for weapons and ammunition

3. Backcountry- a region of hills and forest west of tide waters • Burgesses- elected represenstive to an assembly • Blockade runner- ships that sail in and out of a blockaded area • Boycott- to refuse to buy items from a particular country

4. Cabinet- a group of advisers to the president • Canal- an artificial water way • California gold rush- a large-scale and hasty movement of people to a region where goldhas been discovered, as to California in 1849. • Capital- money for investment

5. Debtor- person or country that owes money • Diversity- variety or difference • Disarmament- removal of weapons • Desert- to leave with put permission

6. Emancipate- to free from slavery • Export- to sell goods abroad • Embargo- and order prohibiting trade with another • Emigrant- a person who leaves one country to go to another

7. Frigate- warship • Feedman- a person freed from slavery • Fugitive- runaway or attempting to • Federalist- supporter of the constitution

8. Genocide- to deliberate destruction of a rail political or cultural group • Green back- a piece of US paper money issued by the north during the civil war • Guerrilla warfare- Fighting in which small independent bands of soldiers harass an enemy through surprise raids, attacks on communications and the like. • Guerilla tactics- Guerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army.

9. Horizontal integration- the merging of firms at the same stage of production. • Holocaust- mass slaugher of the jews • Habias corpus- A writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, esp. to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention • Human rights- A right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person

10. Implied powers –powers not specifically mentioned in the constitution • Import- to buy goods from foreign markets • Impressment – forcing people into service such as the navy • Ironclad- armored navy vessel

11. Judicial review- the right of the supreme court to determine whether a law is constitutional • Join occupation – the possetionans settlement of and area shared by two or more countries • Judicial branch- the branch of the United States government responsible for the administration of justice • John Paul Jones- founder of the US navy

12. Kansas Nebraska act- the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands, allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their • Kentucky- sided with the union in the civil war • Kansas- fighting for slavery (confederare) • Bleeding Kansas- was a series of violent events, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858.

13. Landslide- over whelming victory • Literacy- the ability to read and right • Legislative branch- the branch of the government that makes laws • Lexington- the first battle of the revolutionary war

14. Maize- corn • Majority- more than half • Manumission- the freeing of enslaved people • Mission- religious settlement

15. Neutral- take no side in conflict • Naturalization- to grant full citizen ship to an immigrant • Nonimportation- the act of not using or importing goods • Neutral rights- the right to sail the seas and not take sides in war

16. Offensive- position of attacking or the attack itself • Ordinance- a law • Overseer- supervisor of a large operation • Override- to overturn a law

17. Patriots- American colonist who were determined to fight the British until Americas indolence was won • Petition- a formal request • Pilgrimage- a journey to a holy place • Privateers- armed private ships

18. Quakers- believed that every individual had an inner light that could guide them to salvation

19. Ranchero – Mexican ranch owner • Ratify- to give official approval • Reconstruction- the rebuliding of the confederate states after the civil war • Recruit- to enlist soilders in the army

20. Secede- to leave or withdraw • Secession- withdraw from the union • Sectionalism- loyalty to a region • Suffrage- the right to vote

21. Tariff- a tax on imported goods • Technology- the application of scientific discovery to practice use • Total war- war on all aspects of enemy life • Turnpike- road that one must pay to use

22. Unalienable rights- a right that cannot be surrendered • Unconstitutional- not agreeing with the constitution • Underground railroad- escape routes for enslaved African Americans • utopia- a perfect society

23. Veto- to overturn a law • Vigilantes- people who take the law into their own hands • Vaquero- hispanic ranch hand

24. Warhawks- republicans during Madison's presidency who pressed war with puitans • Writs of assistance- legal documents that allows officers to search homes and warehouses for smuggled goods • Department of war- provides nations defence • West indies- Caribbean islands

25. xyz affair- An incident in Franco-American relations in which a bribery attempt perpetrated by French agents in 1797 led the US to the brink of formal war with France.

26. Yankee- northern citizen • Yeoman- southern owner of a small farm with no slaves • Yellow journalism- a type of sensational, biased, and false reporting

27. John peter zenger- famous writer