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Abolitionism  Active  movement  to  end  slavery  in  the  U.S.  North  before  the  Civil  War  in  the  1860s.  
Baby  boom  Markedly  higher  birth  rate  in  the  years  following  World  War  II;  led  to  the  biggest  demographic  “bubble’’  
in  American  history.    
Bill  of  Rights  First  ten  amendments  to  the  U.S.  Constitution,  adopted  in  1791  to  guarantee  individual  rights  and  to  
help  secure  ratification  of  the  Constitution  by  the  states.  
Beatnik  Artistic  and  literary  rebellion  against  established  society  of  the  1950s  and  early  1960s,  associated  with  Jack  
Kerouac,  Allen  Ginsberg,  and  others.  "Beat"  suggests  holiness  ("beatification")  and  suffering  ("beaten  down").  
Black  Power  Post-­‐1966  rallying  cry  of  a  more  militant  civil  rights  movement.  
Calvinism  Strict  theological  doctrine  of  the  French  Protestant  church  reformer  John  Calvin  (1509-­‐1564)  and  the  
basis  of  Puritan  society.  Calvin  held  that  all  humans  were  born  sinful  and  only  God  s  grace  (not  the  church)  could  
save  a  person  from  hell.  
Chinese  Exclusion  Act  (1882)  Halted  Chinese  immigration  to  the  United  States  .    
Civil  War  The  war  (1861-­‐1865)  between  the  northern  U.S.  states,  which  remained  in  the  Union,  and  the  southern  
states,  which  seceded  and  formed  the  Confederacy.  The  victory  of  the  North  ended  slavery  and  preserved  the  Union.  
Cold  war  Term  for  tensions,  1945–89,  between  the  Soviet  Union  and  the  United  States  ,  the  two  major  world  powers  
after  World  War  II.  
Counterculture  "Hippie"  youth  culture  of  the  1960s,  which  rejected  the  values  of  the  dominant  culture  in  favor  of  
illicit  drugs,  communes,  free  sex,  and  rock  music  
D-­‐Day  June  6,  1944  ,  when  an  Allied  amphibious  assault  landed  on  the  Normandy  coast  and  established  a  foothold  in  
Europe  from  which  Hitler’s  defenses  could  not  recover.    
Declaration  of  Independence  Document  adopted  on  July  4,  1776  ,  that  made  the  official  break  with  Britain  ;  
drafted  by  a  committee  of  the  Second  Continental  Congress  including  principal  writer  Thomas  Jefferson.    
Dust  Bowl  Great  Plains  counties  where  millions  of  tons  of  topsoil  were  blown  away  from  parched  farmland  in  the  
1930s;  massive  migration  of  farm  families  followed  
Deism  An  18th-­‐century  Enlightenment  religion  emphasizing  reason,  not  miracles;  partly  a  reaction  against  
Calvinism  and  religious  superstition.  
"Forty-­‐niners"  Speculators  who  went  to  northern  California  following  the  discovery  of  gold  in  1848;  the  first  of  
several  years  of  large-­‐scale  migration  was  1849.  
Election  A  Puritan  doctrine  in  which  God  "elects,"  or  chooses,  the  individuals  who  will  enter  heaven  according  to  
His  divine  will.  
Emancipation  Proclamation  (1863)  President  Abraham  Lincoln  issued  a  preliminary  proclamation  on  September  
22,  1862  ,  freeing  the  slaves  in  the  Confederate  states  as  of  January  1,  1863  ,  the  date  of  the  final  proclamation.    
Enlightenment  An  18th-­‐century  movement  that  focused  on  the  ideals  of  good  sense,  benevolence,  and  a  belief  in  
liberty,  justice,  and  equality  as  the  natural  rights  of  man.  
Existentialism  A  philosophical  movement  embracing  the  view  that  the  suffering  individual  must  create  meaning  in  
an  unknowable,  chaotic,  and  seemingly  empty  universe.  
Expressionism  Post-­‐World  War  I  artistic  movement,  of  German  origin,  that  distorted  appearances  to  communicate  
inner  emotional  states.  
Federalists  One  of  the  two  first  national  political  parties,  it  favored  a  strong  central  government.    
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Free  Speech  Movement  Founded  in  1964  at  the  University  of  California  at  Berkeley  by  student  radicals  protesting  
restrictions  on  their  right  to  demonstrate.  
Fugitive  Slave  Act  of  1850  Gave  federal  government  authority  in  cases  involving  runaway  slaves;  so  much  more  
punitive  and  prejudiced  in  favor  of  slaveholders  than  the  1793  Fugitive  Slave  Act  had  been  that  Harriet  Beecher  
Stowe  was  inspired  to  write  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin  in  protest;  the  new  law  was  part  of  the  Compromise  of  1850,  
included  to  appease  the  South  over  the  admission  of  California  as  a  free  state.    
Fundamentalism  Protestant  movement  started  in  the  early  twentieth  century  that  proclaimed  the  literal  truth  of  
the  Bible;  the  name  came  from  The  Fundamentals,  published  by  conservative  leaders.  
Great  Awakening  Fervent  religious  revival  movement  in  the  1720s  through  the  40s  that  was  spread  throughout  the  
colonies  by  ministers  like  New  England  Congregationalist  Jonathan  Edwards  and  English  revivalist  George  
Whitefield.  
Great  Depression  Worst  economic  depression  in  American  history;  it  was  spurred  by  the  stock  market  crash  of  
1929  and  lasted  until  World  War  II.  
Great  Migration  Large-­‐scale  migration  of  southern  blacks  during  and  after  World  War  I  to  the  North,  where  jobs  
had  become  available  during  the  labor  shortage  of  the  war  years"In  God  We  Trust"  Phrase  placed  on  all  new  U.S.  
currency  as  of  1954  
Harlem  Renaissance  African-­‐American  literary  and  artistic  movement  of  the  1920s  and  1930s  centered  in  New  
York  City  ’s  Harlem  district;  writers  Langston  Hughes,  Jean  Toomer,  Zora  Neale  Hurston,  Countee  Cullen,  and  others  
were  active  in  the  movement.  
House  Un-­‐American  Activities  Committee  (HUAC)  Formed  in  1938  to  investigate  subversives  in  the  government;  
best-­‐known  investigations  were  of  Hollywood  and  of  former  State  Department  official  Alger  Hiss,  who  was  accused  
in  1948  of  espionage  and  Communist  party  membership.  
Imagists  A  group  of  mainly  American  poets,  including  Ezra  Pound  and  Amy  Lowell,  who  used  sharp  visual  images  
and  colloquial  speech;  active  from  1912  to  1914.  
Iron  Curtain  Term  coined  by  Winston  Churchill  to  describe  the  cold  war  divide  between  western  Europe  and  the  
Soviet  Union  ’s  eastern  European  satellites.  
Jim  Crow  Minstrel  show  character  whose  name  became  synonymous  with  post-­‐Reconstruction  laws  revoking  civil  
rights  for  freedmen  and  with  racial  segregation  generally.    
Knickerbocker  School  New  York  City-­‐based  writers  of  the  early  1800s  who  imitated  English  and  European  literary  
fashions.  "Light"  literature  -­‐  Popular  literature  written  for  entertainment.  
Korean  War  Conflict  touched  off  in  1950  when  Communist  North  Korea  invaded  South  Korea,  which  had  been  
under  U.S.  control  since  the  end  of  World  War  II;  fighting  largely  by  U.S.  forces  continued  until  1953  
Ku  Klux  Klan  Organized  in  Pulaski,  Tennessee,  in  1866  to  terrorize  former  slaves  who  voted  and  held  political  
offices  during  Reconstruction;  a  revived  organization  in  the  1910s  and  1920s  stressed  white,  Anglo-­‐Saxon,  
fundamentalist  Protestant  supremacy;  the  Klan  revived  a  third  time  to  fight  the  civil  rights  movement  of  the  1950s  
and  1960s  in  the  South.  
Manifest  Destiny  Imperialist  phrase  first  used  in  1845  to  urge  annexation  of  Texas;  used  thereafter  to  encourage  
American  settlement  of  European  colonial  and  Indian  lands  in  the  Great  Plains  and  Far  West  
March  on  Washington  Civil  rights  demonstration  on  August  28,  1963,  where  the  Reverend  Martin  Luther  King,  Jr.,  
gave  his  “I  Have  a  Dream’’  speech  on  the  steps  of  the  Lincoln  Memorial.  
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McCarthy  era  The  period  of  the  Cold  War  (late  1940s  and  early  1950s)  during  which  U.S.  Senator  Joseph  McCarthy  
pursued  American  citizens  whom  he  and  his  followers  suspected  of  being  members  or  former  members  of,  or  
sympathizers  with,  the  Communist  party.  His  efforts  included  the  creation  of  "blacklists"  in  various  professions  -­‐-­‐  
rosters  of  people  who  were  excluded  from  working  in  those  jobs.  McCarthy  ultimately  was  denounced  by  his  Senate  
colleagues.  
Metaphysical  poetry  Intricate  type  of  17th-­‐century  English  poetry  employing  wit  and  unexpected  images.  
Mexican  War  Controversial  war  with  Mexico  for  control  of  California  and  New  Mexico  ,  1846–48;  the  Treaty  of  
Guadalupe  Hidalgo  fixed  the  border  at  the  Rio  Grande  and  extended  the  United  States  to  the  Pacific  coast,  annexing  
more  than  a  half-­‐million  square  miles  of  potential  slave  territory.  
Midwest  The  central  area  of  the  United  States,  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  including  the  Prairie  
and  Great  Plains  regions  (also  known  as  the  Middle  West).  
Millennialism  Seventeenth-­‐century  Puritan  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  would  return  to  Earth  and  inaugurate  1,000  
years  of  peace  and  prosperity,  as  prophesied  in  the  New  Testament.  
Minstrel  show  Blackface  vaudeville  entertainment  popular  in  the  decades  surrounding  the  Civil  War  
Mock-­‐epic  A  parody  using  epic  form  (also  known  as  mock-­‐heroic).  
Mormons  Founded  in  1830  by  Joseph  Smith,  the  sect  (officially,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-­‐Day  Saints)  was  
a  product  of  the  intense  revivalism  of  the  “Burned-­‐Over  District’’  of  New  York  ;  Smith’s  successor  Brigham  Young  led  
15,000  followers  to  Utah  in  1847  to  escape  persecution.  
Motif  A  recurring  element,  such  as  an  image,  theme,  or  type  of  incident.  
Muckrakers  American  journalists  and  novelists  (1900-­‐1912)  whose  spotlight  on  corruption  in  business  and  
government  led  to  social  reform.  
National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People  (NAACP)  Founded  in  1910,  this  civil  rights  
organization  brought  lawsuits  against  discriminatory  practices  and  published  The  Crisis,  a  journal  edited  by  African-­‐
American  scholar  W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois.  
Nativism  Anti-­‐immigrant  and  anti-­‐Catholic  feeling  in  the  1830s  through  the  1850s;  the  largest  group  was  New  York  
’s  Order  of  the  Star-­‐Spangled  Banner,  which  expanded  into  the  American,  or  Know-­‐Nothing,  party  in  1854.    
New  Frontier  John  F.  Kennedy’s  program,  stymied  by  a  Republican  Congress  and  his  abbreviated  term;  his  
successor  Lyndon  B.  Johnson  had  greater  success  with  many  of  the  same  concepts.  
Neoclassicism  An  18th-­‐century  artistic  movement,  associated  with  the  Enlightenment,  drawing  on  classical  models  
and  emphasizing  reason,  harmony,  and  restraint.  
New  England  The  region  of  the  United  States  comprising  present-­‐  day  Maine,  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut  and  noted  for  its  early  industrialization  and  intellectual  life.  
Traditionally,  home  of  the  shrewd,  independent,  thrifty  "Yankee"  trader.  
Okies  Displaced  farm  families  from  the  Oklahoma  dust  bowl  who  migrated  to  California  during  the  1930s  in  search  
of  jobs.  
Old  Southwest  In  the  antebellum  period,  the  states  of  Alabama  ,  Mississippi  ,  Louisiana  ,  Texas  ,  Arkansas  ,  and  parts  
of  Tennessee  ,  Kentucky  ,  and  Florida  
Objectivist  Mid-­‐20th-­‐century  poetic  movement,  associated  with  William  Carlos  Williams,  stressing  images  and  
colloquial  speech.  
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Peace  of  Paris  Signed  on  September  3,  1783,  the  treaty  ending  the  Revolutionary  War  and  recognizing  American  
independence  from  Britain  also  established  the  border  between  Canada  and  the  United  States,  fixed  the  western  
border  at  the  Mississippi  River,  and  ceded  Florida  to  Spain.  
Pentagon  Papers  Informal  name  for  the  Defense  Department’s  secret  history  of  the  Vietnam  conflict;  leaked  to  the  
press  by  former  official  Daniel  Ellsberg  and  published  in  the  New  York  Times  in  1971  
Pilgrims  Puritan  separatists  who  broke  completely  with  the  Church  of  England  and  sailed  to  the  New  World  aboard  
the  Mayflower  founding  Plymouth  Colony  on  Cape  Cod  in  1620.  
Planter  In  the  antebellum  South,  the  owner  of  a  large  farm  worked  by  twenty  or  more  slaves.  
Progressive  party  Created  when  former  president  Theodore  Roosevelt  broke  away  from  the  Republican  party  to  
run  for  president  again  in  1912;  the  party  supported  progressive  reforms  similar  to  the  Democrats  but  stopped  
short  of  seeking  to  eliminate  trusts.  
Progressivism  Broad-­‐based  reform  movement,  1900–17,  that  sought  governmental  help  in  solving  problems  in  
many  areas  of  American  life,  including  education,  public  health,  the  economy,  the  environment,  labor,  
transportation,  and  politics.  
Puritans  English  religious  group  that  sought  to  purify  the  Church  of  England;  founded  the  Massachusetts  Bay  
Colony  under  John  Winthrop  in  1630.  
Post-­‐modernism  Media-­‐influenced  aesthetic  sensibility  of  the  late  20th  century  characterized  by  open-­‐endedness,  
collage,  self-­‐referential  irony  and  the  juxtaposition  of  elements  from  popular  culture.  
Prairie  The  level,  unforested  farm  region  of  the  midwestern  United  States.  
Primitivism  Belief  that  nature  provides  truer  and  more  healthful  models  than  does  culture.  An  example  is  the  myth  
of  the  "noble  savage."  
Radical  Republicans  Senators  and  congressmen  who,  strictly  identifying  the  Civil  War  with  the  abolitionist  cause,  
sought  swift  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  punishment  of  the  rebels,  and  tight  controls  over  the  former  Confederate  
states  after  the  war.  
Red  Scare  Fear  among  many  Americans  after  World  War  I  of  Communists  in  particular  and  noncitizens  in  general,  a  
reaction  to  the  Russian  Revolution,  mail  bombs,  strikes,  and  riots.  
Republicans  Political  faction  that  succeeded  the  Antifederalists  after  ratification  of  the  Constitution;  led  by  Thomas  
Jefferson  and  James  Madison,  it  soon  developed  into  the  Democratic-­‐Republican  party.  
Revolution  of  1800  First  time  that  an  American  political  party  surrendered  power  to  the  opposition  party;  
Jefferson  ,  a  Democratic-­‐Republican,  had  defeated  incumbent  Adams,  a  Federalist,  for  president.  
Romanticism  Philosophical,  literary,  and  artistic  movement  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  was  largely  a  reaction  to  
the  rationalism  of  the  previous  century;  romantics  valued  emotion,  mysticism,  and  individualism.    
Reformation  A  northern  European  political  and  religious  movement  of  the  15th  through  17th  centuries  that  
attempted  to  reform  Catholicism;  eventually  gave  rise  to  Protestantism.  
Revolutionary  War  The  War  of  Independence,  1775-­‐1783,  fought  by  the  American  colonies  against  Great  Britain.  
Romance  Emotionally  heightened,  symbolic  American  novels  associated  with  the  Romantic  period.  
Second  Great  Awakening  Religious  revival  movement  of  the  early  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  reaction  to  
the  growth  of  secularism  and  rationalist  religion;  began  the  predominance  of  the  Baptist  and  Methodist  churches.  
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Second  Red  Scare  Post–World  War  II  Red  Scare  focused  on  the  fear  of  Communists  in  U.S.  government  positions;  
peaked  during  the  Korean  War  and  declined  soon  thereafter,  when  the  U.S.  Senate  censured  Joseph  McCarthy,  who  
had  been  a  major  instigator  of  the  hysteria.  
Seneca  Falls  Convention  First  women’s  rights  meeting  and  the  genesis  of  the  women’s  suffrage  movement;  held  in  
July  1848  in  a  church  in  Seneca  Falls,  New  York,  by  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and  Lucretia  Coffin  Mott.  
Slave  narrative  First  black  literary  prose  genre  in  the  United  States;  accounts  of  life  of  African-­‐Americans  under  
slavery.  
Social  Darwinism  Application  of  Charles  Darwin’s  theory  of  natural  selection  to  society;  used  the  concept  of  the  
“survival  of  the  fittest’’  to  justify  class  distinctions  and  to  explain  poverty.    
Sons  of  Liberty  Secret  organizations  formed  by  Samuel  Adams,  John  Hancock,  and  other  radicals  in  response  to  the  
Stamp  Act;  they  impeded  British  officials  and  planned  such  harassments  as  the  Boston  Tea  Party.    
South  Region  of  the  United  States  including  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  
Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Florida,  West  Virginia,  and  eastern  Texas.  
Southern  renaissance  Literary  movement  of  the  1920s  and  1930s    
Surrealism  European  literary  and  artistic  movement  that  uses  illogical,  dreamlike  images  and  events  to  suggest  the  
unconscious.  
Tall  tale  A  humorous,  exaggerated  story  common  on  the  American  frontier,  often  focusing  on  cases  of  superhuman  
strength.  
Trickster  Cunning  character  of  tribal  folk  narratives  (particularly  those  of  African-­‐Americans  and  Native  
Americans)  who  breaks  cultural  codes  of  behavior;  often  a  culture  hero.  
Transcendentalism  Philosophy  of  a  small  group  of  mid-­‐nineteenth-­‐century  New  England  writers  and  thinkers,  
including  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Henry  David  Thoreau,  and  Margaret  Fuller;  they  stressed  "plain  living  and  high  
thinking."  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe’s  1852  antislavery  novel  popularized  the  abolitionist  position.  
Underground  Railroad  Operating  in  the  decades  before  the  Civil  War,  the  "railroad"  was  a  clandestine  system  of  
routes  and  safehouses  through  which  slaves  were  led  to  freedom  in  the  North.    
Unitarianism  Late  eighteenth-­‐century  liberal  offshoot  of  the  New  England  Congregationalist  church;  rejecting  the  
Trinity,  Unitarianism  professed  the  oneness  of  God  and  the  goodness  of  rational  man.  
Universalism  Similar  to  Unitarianism,  but  putting  more  stress  on  the  importance  of  social  action,  Universalism  also  
originated  in  Massachusetts  in  the  late  eighteenth  century.  
V-­‐E  Day  May  8,  1945  ,  the  day  World  War  II  officially  ended  in  Europe  
Voting  Rights  Act  of  1965  Passed  in  the  wake  of  Martin  Luther  King’s  Selma  to  Montgomery  March,  it  authorized  
federal  protection  of  the  right  to  vote  and  permitted  federal  enforcement  of  minority  voting  rights  in  individual  
counties,  mostly  in  the  South.  
Vision  song  Poetic  song  which  members  of  some  Native  American  tribes  created  when  purifying  themselves  
through  solitary  fasting  and  meditation.  
War  of  1812  Fought  with  Britain  ,  1812–14,  over  lingering  conflicts  that  included  impressment  of  American  sailors,  
interference  with  shipping,  and  collusion  with  Northwest  Territory  Indians;  settled  by  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  in  1814.    
War  on  Poverty  Announced  by  President  Lyndon  B.  Johnson  in  his  1964  State  of  the  Union  address;  under  the  
Economic  Opportunity  Bill  signed  later  that  year,  Head  Start,  VISTA,  and  the  Jobs  Corps  were  created,  and  grants  
and  loans  were  extended  to  students,  farmers,  and  businesses  in  efforts  to  eliminate  poverty.    
   6  

War  Relocation  Camps  Internment  camps  where  Japanese  Americans  were  held  against  their  will  from  1942  to  
1945.    
Watergate  Washington  office  and  apartment  complex  that  lent  its  name  to  the  1972–74  scandal  of  the  Nixon  
administration;  when  his  knowledge  of  the  break-­‐in  at  the  Watergate  and  subsequent  coverup  was  revealed,  Nixon  
resigned  the  presidency  under  threat  of  impeachment.    
Whitewater  Development  Corporation  Failed  Arkansas  real  estate  investment  that  kept  President  Bill  Clinton  and  
his  wife  Hillary  under  investigation  by  Independent  Counsel  Kenneth  Starr  throughout  the  Clinton  presidency;  no  
charges  were  ever  brought  against  either  of  the  Clintons    
Yalta  Conference  Meeting  of  Franklin  D.  Roosevelt,  Winston  Churchill,  and  Joseph  Stalin  at  a  Crimean  resort  to  
discuss  the  postwar  world  on  February  4–11,  1945  ;  Soviet  leader  Joseph  Stalin  claimed  large  areas  in  eastern  
Europe  for  Soviet  domination.    
Yellow  journalism  Sensationalism  in  newspaper  publishing  that  reached  a  peak  in  the  circulation  war  between  
Joseph  Pulitzer’s  New  York  World  and  William  Randolph  Hearst’s  New  York  Journal  in  the  1890s;  the  papers’  
accounts  of  events  in  Havana  Harbor  in  1898  led  directly  to  the  Spanish-­‐American  War.