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Room>Glossaries
Glossary
of American History
A
Adams,
John
As
the nation's second president, Adams had to deal with deteriorating
relations between the United States and France. Conflicts
between the two countries were evident in the XYZ Affair
and the "Quasi-War" of 1798 to 1800.
Alien
and Sedition Acts
Four
acts passed in 1798 designed to curb criticism of the federal
government. Adopted during a period of conflict with France,
the acts lengthened the period before an immigrant could
obtain citizenship, gave the president power to deport dangerous
aliens, and provided for the prosecution of those who wrote
"false, scandalous and malicious" writings against
the U.S. government.
Allies
In
World War I, the United States, Great Britain, France, and
Russia, the alliance that opposed and defeated the Central
Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary and their allies;
in World War II, primarily the United States, Great Britain,
(free) France, and the Soviet Union that opposed and defeated
the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
American
Exceptionalism
Notion
that America houses biologically superior people and can
spread democracy to the rest of the world. An intellectual
foundation of expansion and racism in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries.
American
Federation of Labor
A
confederation of labor unions founded in 1886, it was composed
mainly of skilled craft unions and was the first national
labor organization to survive and experience a degree of
success, largely because of its conservative leadership
that accepted industrial capitalism.
American
System (of Henry Clay)
Henry
Clay's program for the national economy, which included
a protective tariff to stimulate industry, a national bank
to provide credit, and federally funded internal improvements
to expand the market for farm products.
American
System of Production
The
high cost of labor led to the establishment of a system
of mass production through the manufacture of interchangeable
parts.
Anaconda
Plan
General
Winfield Scott designed this strategic plan in the early
days of the Civil War. to give direction to the Union war
effort against the South. The plan advocated a full naval
blockade of the South's coastline, a military campaign to
gain control of the Mississippi River, and the placement
of armies at key points in the South to squeeze-- like the
Anaconda snake--the life out of the Confederacy. In various-ways,
this plan helped inform overall Union strategy in militarily
defeating the South.
Antifederalists
These
were opponents of the Constitution of 1787 who sought to
continue the confederation of sovereign states and to keep
power as close as possible to the people. In actuality,
the Antifederalists were true federalists in seeking to
balance powers among the states and the national government.
Their confused identity may have cost them support in attempting
to prevent ratification of the Constitution. See Federalists.
Antinomian
Literally
meaning against the laws of human governance. Antinomians
believed that once they had earned saving grace, God would
offer them direct revelation by which to order the steps
of their lives. As such, human institutions, such as churches
and government, were no longer necessary. Mainline Puritans
believed Antinomianism would produce only social chaos and
destroy the Bay Colony's mission, so they repudiated and
even exiled prominent persons like Anne Hutchinson, who
advocated such doctrines.
Axis
Powers
In
World War II, the alliance of German and Italy, and later
Japan.
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B
Bank
of the United States
A
central bank, chartered by the federal government in 1791.
Proposed by Alexander Hamilton, the bank collected taxes,
held government funds, and regulated state banks. The bank's
charter expired in 1811. A second Bank of the United States
was created in 1816. See Second
Bank of the United States.
Bay
of Pigs Fiasco
A
plan to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro and liberate
Cuba with a trained military force of political exiles.
The limited 1961 invasion was an unmitigated military failure
and actually strengthened Castro's position in Cuba.
Beat
Generation
A
cultural style and artistic movement of the 1950s that rejected
traditional American family life and material values and
celebrated African-American culture. They tapped an underground
dissatisfaction with mainstream American culture.
Big
Stick Diplomacy
The
proclaimed foreign policy of Theodore Roosevelt, it was
based on the proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big
stick," and advocated the threat of force to achieve
the United States' goals, especially in the Western Hemisphere.
Bill
of Rights
The
first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which protect
the rights of individuals from the powers of the national
government. Congress and the states adopted the ten amendments
in 1791.
Billy
Yank
This
appellation was used to refer to common soldiers serving
in Union armies during the Civil War. See Johnny
Reb.
Birds
of Passage
Immigrants
who never intended to make the United States their home.
Unable to make a living in their native countries, they
came to America, worked and saved, and returned home. About
20 to 30 percent of immigrants returned home.
Black
Codes
Laws
passed by Southern state legislatures during Reconstruction,
while Congress was out of session. These laws limited the
rights of former slaves and led Congress to ratify the Fourteenth
Amendment.
Black
Power
A
rallying cry for more militant blacks advocated by younger
leaders like Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown, beginning
in the mid-1960s. It called for African Americans to form
their own economic, political, and cultural institutions.
Black
Tuesday
October
29,1929, the day of the stock market crash that initiated
the Great Depression.
Bonus
Army
Group
of unemployed World War I veterans who marched on Washington,
D.C., in June 1932 to ask for immediate payment of their
war pensions.
Brain
Trust
Close
advisors to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the
early days of his first term whose policy suggestions influenced
much New Deal legislation.
Brown
v. Board of Education of Topeka
Supreme
Court decision of 1954 that overturned the "separate
but equal doctrine" that justified Jim Crow laws. Chief
Justice Earl Warren argued that "separate educational
facilities are inherently unequal."
Burr,
Aaron
Thomas
Jefferson's first vice president, who killed Alexander Hamilton
in a duel in 1804.
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C
Cabinet
This
term refers to the heads of the executive departments.
Calhoun,
John C.
As
vice president, Calhoun anonymously expounded the doctrine
of nullification, which held that states could prevent the
enforcement of a federal law within their boundaries.
Calvinism
Broadly
influential Protestant theology emanating from the French
theologian John Calvin, who fled to Switzerland, where he
reordered life in the community of Geneva according to his
conception of the Bible. Calvinism emphasized the power
and omnipotence of God and the importance of seeking to
earn saving grace and salvation, even though God had already
determined (the concept of predestination) who would be
eternally saved or damned.
Camp
David Accords
An
historic 1979 peace agreement negotiated between Egypt and
Israel at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland.
Under the pact, Israel agreed to return captured territory
to Egypt and to negotiate Palestinian autonomy in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
Capital
Punishment
During
the early nineteenth century, a movement arose to end the
death penalty.
Carpetbaggers
People
who moved to the South during or following the Civil War
and became active in politics, they helped to bring Republican
control of southern state governments during Reconstruction
and were bitterly resented by most white Southerners.
Carter,
Jimmy
Georgia
governor in 1970, and president in 1976. His progressive
racial views reflected an emergent South less concerned
with racial distinctions and more concerned with economic
development and political power.
Cautious
Revolutionaries
Sometimes
called reluctant revolutionaries, these leaders lacked a
strong trust in the people to rise above their own self-interest
and provide for enlightened legislative policies (see public
virtue). At the time of the American Revolution, they
argued in favor of forms of government that could easily
check the popular will. To assure political stability, they
believed that political decision making should be in the
hands of society's proven social and economic elite. John
Dickinson, John Adams (very much an eager revolutionary),
and Robert Morris might be described as cautious revolutionaries.
(see radical revolutionaries)
Central
Powers
In
World War I, Germany and Austria-Hungary and their allies.
Channing,
William Ellery
America's
leading exponent of religious liberalism, Channing was one
of the founders of American Unitarianism.
The
China Lobby
An
informal group of media leaders and political pundits who
criticized the communist takeover of China, claiming the
United States could have prevented it.
City
Upon a Hill
Phrase
from John Winthrop's sermon, "A Model of Christian
Charity," in which he challenged his fellow Puritans
to build a model, ideal community in America that would
serve as an example of how the rest of the world should
order its existence. Here was the beginning of the idea
of America as a special, indeed exceptional society, therefore
worthy of emulation by others. The concept of American exceptionalism
has dominated American history and culture down to the present.
Civil
Rights Act of 1964
Landmark
legislation that prohibited discrimination on the basis
of race, sex, religion, or national origin in employment
and public facilities such as hotels, restaurants, and playgrounds.
It established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Clay,
Henry
As
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senator, and unsuccessful
candidate for the presidency, he was an advocate of the
"American System," which called for a protective
tariff, a national bank, and federally funded internal improvements.
See American system (of Henry Clay).
Colonization
The
effort to encourage masters to voluntarily emancipate their
slaves and to resettle free blacks in Africa.
Columbian
Exchange
The
process of transferring plants, animals, foods, diseases,
wealth, and culture between Europe and the Americas, beginning
at the time of Christopher Columbus and continuing throughout
the era of exploration and expansion. The exchange often
resulted in the devastation of Native American peoples and
cultures, so much so that the process is sometimes referred
to as the "Columbian collision."
Committee
on Public Information (CPI)
U.S.
propaganda agency of World War I.
Committees
of Correspondence
As
American leaders became increasingly anxious about a perceived
British imperial conspiracy to deprive them of their liberties,
they set up networks of communication among the colonies.
Beginning in 1773 colonial assemblies began to appoint committees
of correspondence to warn each other about possible abuses.
In some colonies, such as Massachusetts, local communities
also organized such committees, all with the intention of
being vigilant against arbitrary acts from British officials.
Common
Sense
This
best-selling pamphlet by Thomas Paine, first published in
1776, denounced the British monarchy, called for American
independence, and encouraged the adoption of republican
forms of government. Paine's bold words thus helped crack
the power of reconciliationist leaders in the Second Continental
Congress who did not believe the colonies could stand up
to British arms and survive as an independent nation.
Compromise
of 1877
A
bargain made between southern Democrats and Republican candidate
Rutherford B. Hayes after the disputed presidential election
of 1876. The southern Democrats pledged to let Hayes take
office in return for his promise to withdraw the remaining
federal troops from the southern states. The removal of
the last troops in 1877 marked the end of Reconstruction.
Coney
Island
Popular
site of New York amusement parks opening in 1890s, attracting
working class Americans with rides and games celebrating
abandon and instant gratification.
Copperheads
Not
every person living in the North during the Civil War favored
making war against the Confederacy. Such persons came to
be identified as Copperheads. Often affiliated with the
Democratic party and residing in the Midwest, Copperheads
favored a negotiated peace settlement that would allow the
South to leave the Union. Some of them were arbitrarily
thrown into jail without proper habeas corpus proceedings
after publicly advocating their views.
Court
Packing
President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's controversial plan to appoint
Supreme Court justices who were sympathetic to his views,
by offering retirement benefits to the sitting justices.
Coverture
Coverture
Coverture
Coverture is closely connected with patriarchy because this
concept contends that the legal identity of women is subordinated
first in their fathers and, then, in their husbands, as
the sanctioned heads of households. See patriarchal.
Coxey's
Arrny
A
movement founded by Jacob S. Coxey to help the unemployed
during the depression of the 1890s, it brought out-of-work
people to Washington, D.C., to demand that the federal government
provide jobs and inflate the currency.
Crandall,
Prudence
A
Quaker schoolteacher, Crandall sparked controversy when
she opened a school for the education of free blacks.
Cuban
Missile Crisis
The
conflict in 1962 prompted by Soviet installation of missiles
on Cuba and President Kennedy's announcement to the American
Public. After days of genuine fe~ar on both sides, the two
sides negotiated a whereby the Soviet Union removed the
missiles and the United States pledged not to invade Cuba.
Cuffe,
Paul
An
African American sea captain, Cuffe led the first experiment
in colonization when he transported 38 free blacks to Sierra
Leone in 1815.
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D
Dartmouth
v. Woodward
A
landmark 1819 Supreme Court decision protecting contracts.
In the case, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the
charters of business corporations are contracts and thus
protected under the U.S. Constitution.
Dawes
Severalty Act
Legislation
passed in 1887 to authorize the president to divide tribal
land and distribute it to individual Native Americans, it
gave 160 acres to each head of the household in an attempt
to assimilate Indians into citizenship.
D-Day
June
6, 1944, the day Allied forces landed on the beaches of
Normandy, in France, leading to the defeat of Germany.
Declension
A
term associated with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, referring
to the declining zeal of later generations or movement away
from the utopian ideals of those Puritan leaders, such as
John Winthrop, who founded the colony. As an example of
declension, see halfway
covenant.
Deregulation
An
economic policy, begun during the administration of Jimmy
Carter, which freed air and surface transportation, the
savings and loan industry, natural gas, and other industries
from many government economic controls.
Detente
A
relaxation of tensions between the United States and the
Soviet Union that was begun by President Richard M. Nixon.
Diem,
Ngo Dinh
Although
a Catholic in a Buddhist nation and a leader with no popular
charm, the American government manufactured Diem's 1956
election because of his anticommunist views. The American
government gradually realized Diem's lack of popular support
and stood by when he was assassinated in 1963.
Dien
Bien Phu
Vietminh
siege of 13,000 French soldiers in 1954 at a remote military
outpost. The French surrender led to the 1956 elections
designed to reunify Vietnam.
Divine
Right Rule
Long-held
belief that monarchs were God's political stewards on earth.
Because their authority to rule supposedly came directly
from God, the decision making of monarchs was held to be
infallible and thus could not be questioned. Some of England's
Stuart kings in the seventeenth century viewed themselves
as ruling by divine right, a position that numerous subjects
rejected, even to the point of civil war in the 1640s and
the beheading of Charles I in 1649.
Dix,
Dorothea
The
leader of efforts to reform the treatment of the mentally
ill.
Douglass,
Frederick
The
nation's most famous fugitive slave and African-American
abolitionist, Douglass supported political action against
slavery.
Dumbbell
Tenement
Apartment
buildings built to minimal codes and designed to cram the
largest number of people into the smallest amount of space.
The dumbbell indentation in the middle of the building,
although unsightly, conformed to the
Tenement
Reform Law of 1879
Tenement
Reform Law of 1879 required all rooms to have access to
light and air.
Dunmore's
Ethiopian Regiment
In
November 1775 John Murray, Lord Dunmore (Virginia's last
royal governor), issued an emancipation proclamation that
freed all slaves and indentured servants living in Virginia
who were willing to bear arms against their rebellious masters.
As many as 2000 slaves fled to the British banner, and some
became members of Dunmore's Ethiopian regiment. With little
training in arms, this regiment fared poorly in a battle
with Virginia militia in December 1775. An outbreak of smallpox
later killed many of the ex-slaves who responded to Dunmore's
proclamation.
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E
Electric
Trolley
Public
transportation for urban neighborhoods, using electric current
from overhead wires. Between 1888 and 1902, 97 percent of
urban transit mileage had been electrified.
Emancipation
Proclamation
President
Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation in September
1862 that all slaves would be declared free in those states
that were still in rebellion against the Union at the beginning
of 1863. Receiving no official response from the Confederacy,
Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation on January
1, 1863. All slaves in the rebellious Confederate states
were to be forever free. However, slavery could continue
to exist in border states that were not at war against the
Union. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation represented the
beginning of the end of chattel slavery in the United States.
Embargo
of 1807
An
attempt to stop British and French interference with American
shipping by prohibiting foreign trade.
Emerson,
Ralph Waldo
A
poet and essayist, Emerson espoused a philosophy called
transcendentalism, which emphasized self-reliance and intuition.
Enclosure
Movement
As
the demand for wool heightened in England during the sixteenth
century because of the emerging textile industry, Parliament
passed laws that allowed profit-seeking landowners to fence
in their open fields to raise more sheep. Thousands of peasants
who, as renters, had been farming these lands for generations
were evicted and thrown into poverty. Many moved to the
cities, where as "sturdy beggas" they too often
found little work. In time, some migrated to English colonies
in America, where work opportunities were far more abundant.
Encomienda
System
The
government in Spain gave away large tracts of conquered
land in Spanish America, including whole villages of indigenous
peoples, to court favorites, including many conquistadores.
These new landlords, or encomenderos, were supposed to educate
the natives and teach them the Roman Catholic faith. The
system was rife with abuse, however. Landlords rarely offered
much education, preferring instead to exploit the labor
of the local inhabitants, whom they treated like slaves.
Enlightenment
A
broadly influential philosophical and intellectual movement
that began in Europe during the eighteenth century. The
Enlightenment unleashed a tidal wave of new learning, especially
in the sciences and mathematics, that helped promote the
notion that human beings, through the use of their reason,
could solve society's problems. The Enlightenment era, as
such, has also been called the "Age of Reason."
Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were leading proponents
of Enlightenment thinking in America.
Enumerated
Goods
Products
grown or extracted from England's North American colonies
that could be shipped only to England or other colonies
within the empire. Goods on the first enumeration list included
tobacco, indigo, and sugar. Later furs, molasses, and rice
would be added to a growing list of products that the English
colonies could not sell directly to foreign nations.
Equal
Rights Amendment
Proposed
Constitutional amendment that would prohibit discrimination
on the basis of gender.
Era
of Good Feelings
Phrase
used to describe the years following the War of 1812, when
one party, the Jeffersonian Republicans, dominated politics,
and a spirit of nationalism characterized public policy.
Evangelical
Revivalism (Revivals)
A
current of Protestant Christianity emphasizing personal
conversion, repentance of sin, and the authority of Scripture.
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F
The
Fair Deal
Failed
1948 legislative package proposed by President Truman. It
included an expansion of Social Security, federal aid to
education, a higher minimum wage, a national plan for medical
insurance, and civil rights legislation for minorities.
Farewell
Address
In
this 1796 statement, in which he expresses his intention
not to run for a third term as president, George Washington
warns of the dangers of party divisions, sectionalism, and
permanent alliances with foreign nations.
Federal
Reserve System
The
central banking system of the United States, established
with passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, charged
with the responsibility of managing the country's money
supply through such means as lowering or raising interest
rates. A presidentially appointed board of seven members
(the Federal Reserve Board) oversees the twelve regional
banks of the Federal Reserve System.
Federalist
Papers
These
85 newspaper essays, written in support of ratification
of the Constitution of 1787 in New York by James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, described the proposed
plan of national government as a sure foundation for long-term
political stability and enlightened legislation. Although
having little effect on the ratification debate in New York,
the papers soon became classics of political philosophy
about the Constitution as the framework of federal government
for the American republic.
Federalists
In
the campaign to ratify the Constitution of 1787, nationalists
started referring to themselves as federalists, which conveyed
the meaning that they were in favor of splitting authority
between their proposed strong national government and the
states. The confusion in terminology may have helped win
some support among citizens worried about a powerful--and
potentially tyrannical--national government. Some leading
nationalists of the 1780s became Federalists in the 1790s.
See Antifederalists. The term also refers to a political
party founded by Alexander Hamilton in the 1790s to support
his economic program. See Antifederalists.
Finney,
Charles Grandison
The
"father of modern revivalism," Finney devised
many techniques adopted by later revival preachers. He encouraged
many women to participate actively in revival.
Fire-eaters
Radical
leaders in the South during the years leading up to the
Civil War, the fire-eaters were persons who took an extreme
pro-slavery position. They repeatedly expressed their desire
to see slavery spread throughout the United States, and
they used states' rights arguments to support their uncompromising
position.
Fireside
Chats
Weekly
radio addresses by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in
which he explained his actions directly to the American
people.
First
100 Days
President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first 100 days in office, when
he proposed and Congress passed fifteen major bills that
reshaped the U.S. economy.
First
Continental Congress
This
body was the most important expression of intercolonial
protest activity up to 1774. Called in response to Parliament's
Coercive Acts, the delegates met in Philadelphia for nearly
two months. More radical delegates dominated the deliberations.
Before dissolving itself, the Congress called for ongoing
resistance, even military preparations to defend American
communities, and a second congress, should King and Parliament
not redress American grievances.
Flapper
Term
for a liberated woman who bucked conventional ideas of propriety
in dress and manners during the 1920s.
Fourteen
Points
President
Woodrow Wilson's formula for peace after World War I.
Free
Soil Party
An
antislavery political party founded in 1848.
Freedmen's
Bureau
(Bureau
of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands) An organization
established by Congress on March 3, 1865 to deal with the
dislocations of the Civil War. It provided relief, helped
settle disputes, and founded schools and hospitals.
Freedom
of Information Act
This
law allows the public and press to request declassification
of government documents.
Freedom
Riders
Civil
rights activists who in 1961 demonstrated that despite a
federal ban on segregated travel on interstate buses, segregation
prevailed in parts of the South.
Friedan,
Betty
Author
of The Feminine Mystique, the. 1963 book that articulated
the discontent among white middle class housewives in the
"Baby Boom" era. She founded the National Organization
for Women (NOW) in 1966.
Fugitive
Slave Law
The
most controversial element of the Compromise of 1850, the
Fugitive Slave Law provided for the return of runaway slaves
to their masters.
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