Study material generated by AI from this openly licensed book (CC BY-SA 4.0). Not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.
The American Yawp, Volume 1, edited by Joseph Locke and Ben Wright, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the original free This shelf’s study material is shared under the same license (CC BY-SA 4.0).
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Beringia | Land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, over 600 miles wide, exposed when seas were low. Coastal migrations came about 24,000–15,000 years ago. |
| Three Sisters | Corn, beans and squash planted together in raised hills. |
| Cahokia | Largest Mississippian city, near St. Louis. About 30,000 people around 1,000 years ago. |
| Columbian Exchange | Plants, animals, microbes and people moving across the Atlantic after 1492. |
| Encomienda | Spanish crown grants of Native labor and tribute to colonists. |
| Middle Passage | The sea crossing, 2nd of 3 forced journeys: trek to coast, voyage, then seasoning. |
| Puritans | Calvinist reformers of the Church of England. Believed in predestination (the "Elect"). |
| Great Awakening | 1730s–50s revivals stressing a personal bond with God. The Second Awakening came in the early 1800s. |
| Virtual representation | British claim that Parliament spoke for colonists who elected no members. Colonists rejected it. |
| Extended republic | Madison's idea that a large, diverse nation can govern itself. |
| Market Revolution | Shift from local trade to a national cash economy, built on steam, canals and factories. |
| Nullification | Calhoun's doctrine (1828) that a state may void a federal law it finds unconstitutional. |
| Spoils system | Rewarding supporters with government jobs. Jackson called it "rotation in office." |
| Manifest destiny | Belief that the US was meant to spread across the continent. Term popularized in 1845. |
| Popular sovereignty | Settlers of a territory vote on whether to allow slavery. |
| Immediatism | 1830s demand for immediate emancipation, pursued through moral suasion. |
| Cult of domesticity | Ideal of women as pious, pure, submissive and home-centered. |
| Black Codes | Postwar Southern laws that limited Black labor, movement and testimony. |
| Primary vs. secondary source | Made at the time studied vs. a later interpretation. |
Road to Revolution
From Articles to Constitution
Road to Civil War
Civil War to Reconstruction's end
| Misconception | Correction |
|---|---|
| The "New World" was empty or simple. | Millions of people speaking hundreds of languages lived there. Cahokia was larger than London. |
| Every opinion about the past is equally valid. | Interpretations must rest on evidence and method. |
| History gives simple lessons. | Its lessons depend on context. It offers perspective, not formulas. |
| One wave of disease swept the Americas. | Local epidemics recurred every 7–10 years for over two centuries. |
| Cortés won with guns and horses. | He won mainly through Native alliances and diplomacy. |
| Puritans sought religious toleration. | They saw toleration as dangerous and wanted a godly "City on a Hill." |
| Northern industry weakened slavery. | Textile mills raised cotton demand, which spread slavery west. |
| Federalist attacks on the three-fifths clause were moral. | Most argued enslaved people were property and should not count at all. |
| The Emancipation Proclamation freed everyone. | It covered only Confederate-held areas. Slavery ended legally with the 13th Amendment. |
| Secession was about states' rights. | Secession documents centered on protecting slavery. |
