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COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

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The Columbian Exchange refers to the exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between Europe and the New World following the discovery of America in 1492. New World crops such as corn, tomatoes, and potatoes had a dramatic effect on the European diet. At the same time, Old World domesticated animals such as horses, cows, and pigs, had a dramatic effect on life in the New World.

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MERCANTILISM

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Mercantilism, the economic philosophy guiding Great Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, viewed colonies as existing only to benefit the mother country. Like other mercantile powers, Great Britain sought to increase its wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by establishing a favorable balance of trade with its colonies.

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HALF-WAY COVENANT

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The Puritans established the Half-Way Covenant to ease requirements for church membership and retain control. The Half-Way Covenant allowed the baptism of the children of baptized, but unconverted, Puritans.

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ENLIGHTENMENT

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The Enlightenment was an eighteenth-century philosophy stressing that reason could be used to improve the human condition and that the natural world provided models for human institutions. Enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Jefferson stressed the idea of natural rights. This idea can clearly be seen in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

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THE FIRST GREAT AWAKENING

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This term refers to a wave of religious revivals that spread across the American colonies during the 1730s and 1740s as the power of the Puritans waned.

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CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

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The 1787 Constitutional Convention sought to correct weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation by creating a strong central government that shared powers with the states.

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SEPARATION OF POWERS

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This term refers to the division of power among the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. Alexander Hamilton defended the principle of separation of powers when he wrote, “There is no liberty if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers. . . .”

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CHECKS AND BALANCES

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This refers to a system in which each branch of government can check the power of the other branches. For example, the president can veto a bill passed by Congress, but Congress can override the president’s veto.

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HAMILTON’S FINANCIAL PLANS

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Hamilton sought to create a sound financial footing for the new republic by assuming state debts, creating a national bank, and imposing tariffs to protect home industries.

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JUDICIAL REVIEW

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The Supreme Court can strike down an act of Congress by declaring it unconstitutional. This principle was established in the case of Marbury v. Madison.

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AMERICAN SYSTEM

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Chiefly proposed by Henry Clay, the American System was a set of proposals designed to unify the nation and strengthen its economy by means of protective tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements such as canals and new roads.

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REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD/ CULT OF DOMESTICITY

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This idea refers to the idealization of women in their roles as wives and mothers. The concept of republican motherhood suggested that women would be responsible for raising their children to be virtuous citizens of the new American republic.

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TRANSCENDENTALISM

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Transcendentalism was a philosophical and literary movement of the 1800s that emphasized living a simple life and celebrating the truth found in nature and in personal emotion and imagination. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were the foremost transcendentalist writers.

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UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES

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A number of small, self-sufficient communities developed in the nineteenth century in an attempt to achieve perfection. Perfectionism was the belief that humans can use conscious acts of will to create communities based on cooperation and mutual respect. Utopian communities such as Brook Farm, New Harmony, and Oneida reflected the blossoming of perfectionist aspirations.

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SECOND GREAT AWAKENING

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This refers to a wave of religious enthusiasm that spread across America between 1800 and 1830. Middle-class women played an especially important role in the Second Great Awakening by making Americans aware of the moral issues posed by slavery. The Second Great Awakening also led to reformist zeal for causes such as prison reform and anti-liquor laws.

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JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY

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This term refers to a set of political beliefs associated with Andrew Jackson and his followers. Jacksonian democracy included respect for the abilities and aspirations of the common man, expansion of white male suffrage, appointment of political supporters to government positions, and opposition to privileged Eastern elites.

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NULLIFICATION

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Nullification is a legal theory that a state in the United States has the right to nullify (invalidate) any federal law that the state deems unconstitutional. The concept was first introduced by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in 1798. John C. Calhoun was also a proponent of the doctrine of nullification. Inspired by his leadership, a convention in South Carolina declared the tariffs of both 1828 and 1832 unenforceable in that state.

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MANIFEST DESTINY

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This refers to the nineteenth-century belief that the United States had an obligation to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean.

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POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY

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Popular sovereignty is the principle that the settlers of a given territory have the sole right to decide whether slavery will be permitted there. Popular sovereignty led to a divisive debate over the expansion of slavery into the territories. The first great test of popular sovereignty occurred in Kansas following passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

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RECONSTRUCTION

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Implemented by Congress, Reconstruction focused on reorganizing the governments of the Southern states after the Civil War and allowing them to reenter the Union.

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SOCIAL GOSPEL

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The Social Gospel refers to a nineteenth-century reform movement based on the belief that Christians have a responsibility to confront social problems such as poverty actively. Led by Christian ministers, advocates of the Social Gospel argued that real social change would result from dedication to both religious practice and social reform.

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GOSPEL OF WEALTH

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This was the belief that the wealthy were the guardians of society and, as such, had a duty to serve and lead society in humane ways. Andrew Carnegie was the foremost advocate of the Gospel of Wealth.

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SOCIAL DARWINISM

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This refers to the belief that in society, as in nature, a natural evolutionary process occurs, with the fittest surviving. Wealthy business and industrial leaders such as John D. Rockefeller used Social Darwinism to justify their success. He wrote: “The growth of a large business corporation is merely survival of the fittest . . . the American Beauty rose can be produced in the splendor and fragrance which brings cheer to its beholder only by sacrificing the early buds which grow up around it. This is not an evil tendency in business. It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God.”

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FRONTIER THESIS

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This term refers to the argument by historian Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American society more democratic and shaped American values. Turner especially emphasized the importance of cheap, unsettled land and the inspirational power of the frontier to spur democracy. Here is an illustrative quote: “From the beginning of the settlement of America, the frontier regions have exercised a steady influence toward democracy . . . American democracy is fundamentally the outcome of the experience of the American people in dealing with the West . . . .”

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NEW IMMIGRANTS

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This term refers to the massive wave of immigrants who came to the United States between 1880 and 1924. The Old Immigrants came primarily from England, Germany, and Scandinavia. The New Immigrants came primarily from small farms and villages in Southern and Eastern Europe.

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NATIVISM

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Nativists favored the interests of native-born people over the interests of immigrants. The Know-Nothings of the 1840s were the first nativist political party, but nativism grew stronger with the arrival of large new immigrant groups. Nativists usually directed their greatest hostility toward Irish and German Catholic immigrants.

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VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION

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Vertical integration occurs when a company controls both the production and distribution of its product. For example, Andrew Carnegie used vertical integration to gain control over the U.S. steel industry. Horizontal integration occurs when one company gains control over other companies that produce the same product. For example, John D. Rockefeller used horizontal integration in the oil industry.

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POPULISM

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This term refers to the mainly agrarian movement developed in the 1890s that supported the unlimited coinage of silver, government ownership of the railroads, and other policies that favored farmers and the working class.

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PROGRESSIVISM

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Progressivism sought to use government to help create a more just society. They fought against impure foods, child labor, corruption, and trusts. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were prominent Progressive presidents.

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MUCKRAKERS

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These were early twentieth-century journalists who exposed illegal business practices, social injustices, and corrupt urban political bosses. Leading muckrakers included Upton Sinclair, Jacob Riis, and Ida Tarbell.

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ROARING TWENTIES

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This refers to the period of social unrest and tension that occurred in the 1920s with immigration restrictions, the rise of fundamentalism, and changing sexual values.

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PROHIBITION

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From 1919 to 1933, it was illegal to buy, sell, or transport alcohol throughout the United States. It led to a rise in organized crime and defiance of the law until the constitutional amendment establishing prohibition of alcohol was repealed.

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ISOLATIONISM

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Isolationism was a U.S. foreign policy calling for Americans to avoid entangling political alliances following World War I. During the 1930s, isolationists drew support from ideas expressed in Washington’s Farewell Address. The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s were expressions of a commitment to isolationism.

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CONTAINMENT

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Containment defined U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War and was designed to contain or block the spread of communism. George F. Kennan was an American diplomat and specialist on the Soviet Union who advocated, in what has become known as the Long Telegram, that the United States focus its foreign policy on containing the spread of Soviet influence.

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McCARTHYISM

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This term refers to the public accusations of disloyalty without sufficient evidence, which increased following World War II. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy played on the fears of Americans by claiming that communists had infiltrated the U.S. State Department and other federal agencies. Senator McCarthy’s accusations helped create a climate of paranoia as Americans became preoccupied with the perceived threat posed by alleged communists working in the United States.

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DOMINO THEORY

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This theory refers to the belief that, if one country falls to communism, its neighbors will also be infected and fall to communism. For example, the fall of South Vietnam would lead to the loss of all of Southeast Asia. The following statement by a U.S. secretary of state illustrates the domino theory: “If Indo-China were to fall and if its fall led to the loss of all of Southeast Asia, then the United States might eventually be forced back to Hawaii, as it was before the Second World War.”

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MASSIVE RETALIATION

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A military doctrine developed during the Cold War that asserted that, in the event of an attack by the Soviet Union or any other hostile power, the United States would retaliate with massive force, including nuclear weapons. The threat of massive retaliation was viewed as a deterrent to a preemptive strike launched by an enemy of the United States.

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BLACK POWER

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The Black Power movement of the 1960s advocated that African Americans establish control of their political and economic lives. Key advocates of Black Power included Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Huey Newton.

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WATERGATE

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This term refers to a series of political scandals and cover-ups that resulted in Richard Nixon being the only president to resign from office; he did so in 1974.

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DÉTENTE

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The term refers to the relaxation of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union; it was introduced by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and President Richard Nixon. Examples of détente include the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), expanded trade with the Soviet Union, and President Nixon’s trips to China and Russia.

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REAGANOMICS

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The term Reaganomics refers to the economic policies of President Ronald Reagan; it is also called supply-side economics. President Reagan hoped to promote growth and investment by deregulating business, reducing corporate tax rates, and lowering federal tax rates for upper- and middle-income Americans.

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AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

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This refers to attempts to open access to education and employment for members of groups that experienced discrimination (based on race, ethnicity, sex, etc.). Affirmative action laws sometimes imposed quotas for college admissions and hiring to address past injustices or current underrepresentation.