Download SSKeyTermsCh8-20StudyGuide

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History Alive! Key Terms
Study Guide
American Revolution-Civil War
enslaved Africans- People from Africa who were forced to give up their freedom and work
for their “owners”
Middle Passage- The voyage of slave traders and enslaved Africans from Africa to the
Americas
acts- Laws created or passed by a government
taxation without representation- Forcing people to pay taxes when they have no say in
making the law that created the tax
Patriots- People in the American colonies who wanted the colonists to break away from
Great Britain
Loyalists- People in the American colonies who wanted the colonies to remain under control
of the British King.
Neutralists- American colonists who did not support either side in the fight from
independence against Great Britain
Declaration of Independence- The document that announced the colonies were breaking
away from Great Britain
Second Continental Congress- The meeting of delegates from the American Colonies that
approved the Declaration of Independence
Revolutionary War- The war between the American colonies and Great Britain from 1775
and 1783
Continental Army- The army of volunteers led by George Washington that fought the
British in the Revolutionary War
allies- People or countries who help each other
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Articles of Confederation- The United States’ first governing document
Constitutional Convention- The meeting of delegates in Philadelphia in 1787 that made
plans for a new and stronger U.S. government
Constitution- The document that describes the current government of the United States
branches- Parts of government with different kinds of responsibilities and powers (The U.S.
has 3!)
checks and balances In the Constitution, ways of limiting the powers of the three parts of
government
amendments- Changes that have been approved and made a part of the Constitution
Bill of Rights- The first 10 changes to the Constitution
Manifest Destiny- “Obvious fate.” In the 1800’s many American’s believed it was natural and
right for the U.S. to expand Westward to the Pacific
annex- To add new land to a country by taking control of it
Mormons- Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In the 1800’s, they
settled in the American West, especially Utah
Forty-Niners- Gold-seekers from around the world who rushed to California beginning in
1849.
Chinese Immigrants- People from China who moved to the United States in the 1800’s
Mexicanos- In the 1800’s, Spanish-speaking people who lived in parts of the U.S. that
previously belonged to Mexico
Nez Percé- A group of Native Americans who lived in the West in the 1800’s.
Civil War- The war that divided America in the 1860’s
Union- During the Civil War, the government in Washington D.C. and the states that
remained loyal to it.
Confederacy- The new country that was formed by southern states in 1861.
Gettysburg- One of the greatest battles in the Civil War