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US History Facts
8th Grade U.S. History STAAR Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Jamestown; 1607 | What was the name of the first permanent English settlement? What year was it established? |
| July 4th, 1776 | When was the Declaration of Independence written and signed? |
| 1620 | What year was the Mayflower Compact written? |
| 1787 | When was the Constitution ratified? |
| 1803 | What year was the Louisiana Purchase completed? |
| 1861-1865 | What are the dates of the years of the Civil War? |
| Lexington/Concord | The first shots of the American Revolution were fired at which location? |
| Saratoga | Which battle was the turning point of the American Revolution? |
| Yorktown | The British defeat at which location in Virginia by George Washington’s troops signaled the end of the American Revolution? |
| Ft. Sumter | The first shots of the Civil War were fired at which location in South Carolina? |
| Gettysburg | Which battle was the turning point in the Civil War for the North? Confederate troops were forced to retreat and never invaded the North again. |
| Vicksburg | The capture of which city in Mississippi by the North in 1863, effectively split the Confederacy in two and gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union? |
| Appomattox Courthouse | What is the name of the small town in Virginia where Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army to Ulysses S. Grant ending the Civil War? |
| mercantilism | an economic theory that a country’s strength is measured by the amount of gold it has, that a country should sell more than it buys and that the colonies exist for the benefit of the Mother Country. |
| abolitionist | a person who wanted to end slavery in the United States |
| protective tariff | a tax placed on goods from another country to protect the home industry |
| sectionalism | is a strong sense of loyalty to a state or section instead of to the whole country |
| Manifest Destiny | is the belief that the United States should own all of the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans |
| Temperance Movement | a campaign against the sale or drinking of alcohol |
| representative government | a system of government in which voters elect representatives to make laws for them |
| republic | is a nation in which voters choose representatives to govern them |
| Virginia House of Burgesses | the first representative assembly in the colonies |
| Legislative, Executive, Judicial | What are the 3 branches of government? |
| Constitution | Which document sets out the laws and principles of the government of the United States? |
| George Washington's Farewell Address | Which speech advised the United States to stay “neutral in its relations with other nations” and to avoid “entangling alliances”? |
| Monroe Doctrine | warned the European nations to stay out of affairs in the western hemisphere, no interference by European countries would be allowed or the U.S. would intervene (especially in Latin America where there were revolutions) |
| Treaty of Paris, 1763 | Which treaty ended the French and Indian War and effectively kicked the French out of North America |
| Treaty of Paris, 1783 | Which document ended the American Revolution and forced Britain to recognize the United States as an independent nation? |
| Northwest Ordinance | Which document was a policy of establishing the principles and procedures for the orderly expansion of the United States? (set the laws for becoming a state) |
| Mayflower Compact | the agreement signed in 1620 by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, to consult each other about laws for the colony and a promise to work together to make it succeed |
| Federalist Papers | a series of essays written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, defending the Constitution and the principles on which the government of the United States was founded |
| Common Sense | a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine to convince colonists that it was time to become independent from Britain |
| Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments to the Constitution and detail the protection of individual liberties |
| Gettysburg Address | a short speech given by Abraham Lincoln to dedicate a cemetery for soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is considered to be a profound statement of American ideals |
| Emancipation Proclamation | Abraham Lincoln issued which document on January 1, 1863, setting all slaves in the Confederate states free? |
| Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address | Which speech stated that, “no state…can lawfully get out of the Union”, but pledged there would be no war unless the South started it? |
| Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address | Which speech was meant to help heal and restore the country after four years of Civil War? |
| Great Compromise | Which agreement created two houses of Congress?-One based on population, the other gave equal representation to each state. |
| Samuel Adams | a member of the Sons of Liberty who started the Committee of Correspondence to stir public support for American independence |
| Benjamin Franklin | an inventor, statesman, diplomat, signer of the Declaration of Independence and delegate to Constitutional Convention |
| King George III | was the King of England who disbanded the colonial legislatures, taxed the colonies, and refused the Olive Branch Petition leading to the final break with the colonies |
| Thomas Jefferson | wrote the Declaration of Independence; became the 3rd President of the United States and purchased the Louisiana territory, doubling the size of the United States |
| Thomas Paine | wrote pamphlets like Common Sense and The Crisis to encourage American independence and resolve |
| George Washington | the leader of the Continental Army who became the first President of the United States |
| 8th Amendment | prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail or fines |
| 9th Amendment | states that the people have rights other than those specifically mentioned in the Constitution |
| free enterprise | the freedom of private businesses to operate competitively for profit with minimal government regulation |
| separation of powers | a system in which each branch of government has it’s own powers |
| popular sovereignty | the idea that people are the final source of power in government; the practice of allowing each territory to decide for itself whether or not to allow slavery |
| amend | means to change |
| unalienable rights | rights that cannot be given up, taken away or transferred. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are some of those rights |
| tyranny | cruel and unjust government |
| democracy | a form of government that is run for and by the people, giving people the supreme power |
| ratify | means to approve by vote |
| judicial review | the right of the Supreme Court to judge laws passed by Congress and determine whether they are constitutional or not |
| civil disobedience | the refusal to obey a government law or laws as a means of passive resistance because of one’s moral conviction or belief |
| Federalists | supporters of the Constitution who favored a strong national government (James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams) |
| Anti-Federalists | people opposed to the Constitution, preferring more power be given to the state governments than to the national government (Patrick Henry, George Mason, Thomas Jefferson) |
| nullification | the idea of a state declaring a federal law illegal |
| primary sources | the original records of an event. They include eyewitness reports, records created at the time of an event, speeches, and letters by people involved in the event, photographs and artifacts |
| secondary sources | the later writings and interpretations of historians and writers. Often secondary sources, like textbooks and articles, provide summaries of information found in primary sources |
| republicanism | people vote for representatives; an attitude toward society in the late 1700s based on the belief that the good virtue and morality of the people was essential to sustain the republican form of government |
| Industrial Revolution | the era in which a change from household industries to factory production using powered machinery took place |
| Magna Carta | signed in 1215 by William and Mary of England, was the first document that limited power of the ruler |
| English Bill of Rights | protected the rights of English citizens and became the basis for the American Bill of Rights |
| Declaration of Independence | was a document written by Thomas Jefferson, declaring the colonies independence from England |
| Articles of Confederation | the first American constitution. It setup a very weak government that placed most of the power in the hands of the states who each had one vote in Congress regardless of population. |
| Andrew Jackson | the leader of the original Democratic Party and a “President of the common man”. He was also responsible for the Trail of Tears, which forced Native Americans west of the Mississippi River. |
| John C. Calhoun | a South Carolina Congressman and Senator who spoke for the South before and during the Civil War |
| Henry Clay | a powerful Kentucky Congressman and Senator who proposed the American System and the Compromise of 1850 |
| Daniel Webster | a Massachusetts Congressman and Senator who spoke for the North and the preservation of the Union |
| Jefferson Davis | the President of the Confederacy during the Civil War |
| Ulysses S. Grant | the General of the Union Army and was responsible for winning the Civil War for the North |
| Robert E. Lee | the General of the Confederate Army |
| Abraham Lincoln | the 16th President of the United States who successfully put the Union back together only to be assassinated 5 days after the Civil War ended |
| Alexander Hamilton | a leader of the Federalists, first Treasurer of the United States, creator of the Bank of the U.S., and killed in a duel by the Vice President of the United States, Aaron Burr |
| Patrick Henry | a passionate patriot who became famous for his fiery speeches in favor of American independence. His most famous quote included the words, “Give me liberty or give me death!” |
| James Madison | considered to be the “Father of the Constitution” |
| Frederick Douglass | a former slave who became the best-known black abolitionist in the country; writer of the North Star and an excellent public speaker |
| James Monroe | the author of the Monroe Doctrine, which shut down the western hemisphere to European expansion or interference |
| Harriet Tubman | was an escaped slave who became a Conductor on the Underground Railroad and helped over 300 slaves to freedom in the North |
| Elizabeth Cady Stanton | organized the Seneca Falls Convention creating the Women’s Rights Movement in the United States |
| 1st Amendment | states that “Congress shall make no law” restricting freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition |
| 4th Amendment | requires that warrants be issued if property is to be searched or seized (taken) by the government |
| 5th Amendment | protects an accused person from having to testify against him or herself (self-incrimination); bans double jeopardy, and guarantees that no person will suffer the loss of life, liberty, or property without due process of law |
| 7th Amendment | guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil suits |
| 3rd Amendment | forbids the government to order private citizens to allow soldiers to live in their homes |
| 2nd Amendment | guarantees the right of states to organize militias, or armies, and the right of individuals to bear arms |
| 6th Amendment | guarantees the right to a speedy public trial by an impartial jury; the right to a lawyer; the right to cross examine witnesses; and the right to force witnesses at a trial to testify |
| 14th Amendment | Amendment guarantees citizenship and rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States |
| Marbury v. Madison | the 1803 Court decision that gave the Supreme Court the right to determine whether a law violates the Constitution. It set up the principle of judicial review |
| 10th Amendment | states that powers not given to the federal government belong to the states |
| 13th Amendment | abolished slavery |
| Dred Scott v. Sanford | the Supreme Court decision that said slaves were property and not citizens |
| 15th Amendment | guarantees the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race |
| Eli Whitney | Who invented the cotton gin- an invention that speeded the cleaning of cotton fibers and in effect, increased the need for slaves |
| Robert Fulton | Which person's use of the steamboat revolutionized transportation and trade in the United States? |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | Which Supreme Court case stated that states had no right to interfere with federal institutions within their borders; strengthened federal power? (battle over the National Bank) |
| New England Colonies | Region of colonies with colder climates and rocky soil including- Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island Settled by Pilgrims in 1620 and Puritans in the 1630s to escape religious persecution in England |
| Middle Colonies | Region of colonies with fertile soil and lots of forests, many different groups lived in this region which included the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware NY was important trading area |
| William Penn | colonized Pennsylvania as a place for the Quakers |
| Abigail Adams | John Adam's wife, she appealed to her husband to protect the rights of women |
| Wentworth Cheswell | Revolutionary war veteran who was the first African American elected to office. Made the same midnight ride as Paul Revere |
| Mercy Otis Warren | New England woman who wrote many works. These included a history of the revolution, a play, and poems. One of America's first writers |
| James Armistead | An African American Spy; He spied on British General Cornwallis |
| Bernardo de Galvez | Spanish General, shipped supplies to Americans, commanded the Spanish against British in Louisiana, protected city of New Orleans, and kept the British from taking the Mississippi River during American Revolution |
| Crispus Attucks | A free black man who was the first person killed in the Revolution at the Boston Massacre |
| Haym Solomon | Polish Jew who helped finance the American Revolution. He also spied for the Americans, and was a translator for the British |
| Marquis de Lafayette | French soldier who served under George Washington in the American Revolution |
| John Paul Jones | American naval founder/commander in the American Revolution. Said "I have not yet begun to fight." |
| Sugar Act | Tax on Sugar Reaction: Taxation Without Representation |
| Stamp Act | Tax on written goods (paper, stamps, etc.) Reaction: Protests and the Sons of Liberty |
| Townshend Acts | Which act placed a tax on imported goods? Reaction: Boycotts |
| Intolerable Acts | Which acts were so harsh to the colonists and essentially closed Boston? Reaction: Formed the First Continental Congress |
| John Adams | 2nd President, XYZ Affair, Alien and Sedition Acts |
| Thomas Hooker | Founder of the state of Connecticut and was the Father of American Democracy. Connecticut adopted the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut sometimes called the "First written Constitution." |
| Anne Hutchinson | Banished from Massachusetts colony; one of the founders of Rhode Island |
| Fundamental Orders of Connecticut | First Constitution written in America - limited the governor's power in Connecticut, allowed non church members to vote |
| War of 1812 | Which war was caused by the following items? England prevented trade with other countries, England Impressed (kidnapped) sailors and forced them into the British Navy, England encouraged Native Americans to attack settlers (gave them weapons) |
| Mexican American War | Which war was caused by the annexation of Texas, the Texas' border dispute and Mexicans "spilling blood" on American soil |
| Battle of Antietam | Civil War battle in which the North succeeded in halting Lee's Confederate forces in Maryland. Was the bloodiest battle of the war resulting in 25,000 casualties. Lincoln chose this time to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. |
| Worcester v. Georgia | The US Supreme Court ruled that the state of Georgia was not entitled to take Cherokee lands |
| Gibbons v. Ogden | Which Supreme Court case concluded that the Federal Government had the right to regulate trade within states? (started over steamboats) |
| Missouri Compromise | Allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state, Maine to enter the union as a free state, prohibited slavery north of latitude 36˚ 30' within the Louisiana Territory |
| Compromise of 1850 | Includes California admitted as a free state, and the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Made popular sovereignty in most other states from Mexican- American War |
| Dawes Act | Reservations were broken into individual land plots |
| Homestead Act | A law that a person could claim 160 acres of land in the West |
| Fugitive Slave Act | An act that allowed slave owners from retrieving their slaves from Union Territory. It was believed that this act would bring slavery North |
| Kansas-Nebraska Act | This Act set up Kansas and Nebraska as states. Each state would use popular sovereignty to decide what to do about slavery. People who were proslavery and antislavery moved to Kansas, but some antislavery settlers were against the Act. T |
| American System | Henry Clay's plan for economic growth. Protective tariff, roads/canals, second national bank |
| Transcendentalism | A philosophy that taught that the spiritual world is more important than the physical one |
| Laissez Faire | Idea that citizens have the right to privacy and independence from government control |
| 2nd Great Awakening | A period of religious revivalism in the 1800's that focused on reform and repairing moral injustices (most reform movements began due to the 2nd Great Awakening) |
| Virginia Plan | Each state would have a different number of representatives based on the state's population |
| New Jersey Plan | The number of representatives should be the same for each state |
| Phillip Bazaar | Navy Seaman in the Civil War; Recipient of the Medal of Honor |
| Hiram Rhodes Revels | First African American elected to the US Senate |
| Dorothea Dix | Woman responsible for prison reform |
| Horace Mann | Father of American Education System; reformed school days and years |
| William Carney | First African American Recipient of the Medal of Honor (Civil War) |
| Hudson River School | School whose artists painted nature and landscapes of the United States |
| John James Audubon | A Hudson River School artist known for his books on ornithology (birds) |
| William Blackstone | An English jurist (attorney) whose works about individual rights influenced James Madison and Thomas Jefferson |
| Charles de Montesquieu | French philosopher whose ideas about the separation of powers in government influenced Federalists such as James Madison |
| John Marshall | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; presided over the cases of McCulloch v. Maryland, Gibbons v. Ogden, and Marbury v. Madison |
| French | Which group of explorers colonized North America and were mainly fur traders and trappers? |
| Looking for religious freedom | Why did the Puritans and other religious groups come to North America? |
| Atlantic Ocean | Along which body of water were the original 13 colonies located? |
| Maryland | Which colony was established by Lord Baltimore as a haven (safe place) for Catholics? |
| Southern Colonies | Region of colonies with a warmer climate and very fertile soil which produced cash crops like tobacco and later cotton. Included colonies of Virginia, Georgia, the Carolinas Large plantations developed in this region with many slaves. |
| House of Burgesses, Mayflower Compact, Fundamental Orders of Connecticut | What are some examples of attempts at self-government in the colonies? |
| 1st Great Awakening | Movement in the 1700s that emaphasized the power of religion in people's lives |
| Valley Forge | Location in which Washington spent the winter of 1776 with his troops training and regrouping |
| No power to tax or regulate trade, could not force the state militaries to help, no court system | What were some of the problems with the Articles of Confederation? |
| Shay's Rebellion | Farmers revolted against the government for taking their farms after the American Revolution. This event proved the Articles were too weak since they could not put the rebellion down. |
| Three-Fifths Compromise | Settled how slaves would be counted for purposes of population- 5 slaves would count as 3 people for tax and representation |
| limited government | Principle of the Constitution that means no person is above the law and government's power is limited |
| popular sovereignty | Principle of the Constitution that means people rule and are the source of all authority in government |
| federalism | Principle of the Constitution that divides power between the federal (national) government and the state governments |
| separation of powers | Principle of the Constitution that gives 3 branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) separate powers and jobs |
| checks and balances | Principle of the Constitution that keeps any branch from having more power than the other branches |
| Obey the law, pay taxes, serve on a jury if called, attend school, serve in the armed forces (if called) | What are some examples of civic duties (responsibilities) of U.S. citizens? |
| 8th Amendment | No cruel or unusual punishment or excessive bail |
| serve 2 terms, appoint a Cabinet | What are some examples of precedents set by George Washington? |
| Louisiana Purchase | What did Thomas Jefferson buy that doubled the size of the U.S.? |
| National Bank | What did Alexander Hamilton establish as part of his economic plan as Secretary of Treasury to Washington? |
| Era of Good Feelings | time in which pride in the United States really took off, only one political party and we had defeated Britain again in the War of 1812 |
| Florida | What land did the U.S. purchase from Spain in 1819? |
| Erie Canal | What was built in 1825 that sped up transportation and trade between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean? |
| Indian Removal Act | Government was given the power to relocate Native Americans to west of the Mississippi under this law. |
| Boston Tea Party | colonists dressed as Native Americans raided ships in the Boston Harbor and threw tea crates overboard in protest over the Tea Act |
| Trail of Tears | forced movement of Native Americans to reservations in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during which many died |
| All white men could vote (did not have to own property any more) | How did voting rights change when Andrew Jackson was president? |
| Seneca Falls Convention | meeting held in Seneca Falls, New York where women's rights was discussed |
| Declaration of Sentiments | written at the Seneca Falls Convention by Elizabeth Stanton, stated the reasons why women were not treated equally (changed the words from the Declaration of Independence) |
| Mormons | Brigham Young led this group of people to Salt Lake City in search of religious tolerance |
| Mexican Cession | the land that was acquired after the U.S-Mexican War in which the U.S. paid $15 million to Mexico |
| Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo | treaty that ended the U.S.-Mexican War |
| James K. Polk | president who believed in Manifest Destiny and began the process of adding on the rest of the land in the U.S., starting with Texas |
| potato famine (their main food, potato disease killed almost all crops of potatoes in Ireland) | Why did the Irish immigrate in large numbers to America in the 1800s? |
| William Lloyd Garrison | abolitionist, wrote the Liberator in support of ending slavery |
| Hiram Rhodes Revels | first African American Senator elected in the United States |
| Reconstruction | time period following the Civil War in which the Nation tried to come together again, but was difficult as there were still many issues to be solved |
| Black Codes | laws passed to keep former slaves from getting any rights, keep them from voting, etc. |
| Freedman's Bureau | organization that tried to help former slaves get food, clothing, medical care, education |
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