U.S. History Terms

abolitionism	The belief that slavery should be abolished.
Alien and Sedition Acts	Laws passed during the second presidency (John Adams) that restricted public activities of radicals who sympathized with the French (who were fighting the British in Europe.)
antebellum	Things and houses built before the Civil War (ante=before, bellum=war).
Articles of Confederation	The 1782 agreement among the states before the Constitution was signed in 1789.
Battle of Bull Run	The first battle of the Civil War. The Confederates won.
Battle of Bunker Hill	The first battle of the Revolutionary War. The British won.
Bill of Rights	The first ten amendments to the Constitution, giving freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly and limiting search and criminal laws.
Boston Tea Party	In 1773 colonists threw tea shipment into the harbor, an act moving toward Revolutionary War.
Civil War	1861-1865, between the Union (northern states) and the Confederacy (southern states). The Union won.
Declaration of Independence	This declares the U.S. independent of the British king; adopted July 4, 1776.
Emancipation Proclamation	President Lincoln declared all slaves to be free, 1863.
French and Indian War	British fought French in America 1754-1763. The British won and kept Canada. Some French people moved to Louisiana.
Gettysburg	The greatest Civil War battle and a turning point. The Union won.
Jamestown	The first English settlement in America; Virginia, 1607.
Lewis and Clark Expedition	President Jefferson sent two explorers to the north-west (later Washington state) to see what he bought from France.
Mason-Dixon Line	Essentially was the division between northern (free) and southern (slaveholding) states.
New Amsterdam	City founded by the Dutch in 17th century; no called New York.
Plymouth Rock	Landing site for early Pilgrim on the Mayflower in 1620.
Revolutionary War	The thirteen American colonies fought the British for independence 1775-1781. The French helped. Official end was the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

(From The Vocabulary Teacher's Book of Lists. 2004, Edward B. Fry)