American History and Government: Essential Vocabulary: American History I

In the early 17th century, Great Britain began establishing colonies in the Americas. The 13 colonies established on the eastern coast of North America later became the United States.

The colonists were subjects of King George III of Great Britain.

The colonists produced and exported goods in order to enrich their home country, England.

The British Empire pursued a policy of mercantilism, the enrichment of a country by engaging in foreign trade and establishing colonies to create more wealth.

Indentured servants, who were required to work for a certain number of years to pay off their debts, provided labor in the American colonies.

The colonists grew cash crops — goods like cotton and tobacco that could be sold for profit — on plantations.

The Boston Tea Party, a protest against high taxes on tea, took place in Boston Harbor, an important port in the American colonies.

The colonists became increasingly angry at the many taxes imposed by King George III on the colonies, claiming that such heavy taxation was unjust.

"No taxation without representation" was a popular political slogan before and during the American Civil War. The colonists asserted that, because the colonies did not have representatives in Parliament, it was unfair for them to pay taxes to the British government.

The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from the American colonies in 1774. The delegates aimed to repair the relationship between Britain and the colonies. Delegates at the Second Continental Congress formally declared independence from Great Britain.

In the Declaration of Independence, the American colonists accused King George III of tyranny and claimed that the King's behavior gave them grounds to form an independent nation.

After the American Revolution, the United States became an independent nation.

During the American Revolution, France was an ally of the United States and provided supplies such as guns and ammunition.

The U.S. Constitution, which was drafted at the months-long Constitutional Convention of 1787, was officially ratified in 1788.

The U.S. Constitution lays out the central features of the U.S. government, including the division of the federal government into three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.

The first ten amendments added to the U.S. Constitution are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. The amendments were ratified in 1791.

Under a system of federalism, a nation splits power between a central government and regional or state governments. When the Constitution was written, however, the word was often used to describe a preference for a stronger central government. Those who supported a strong central government were called Federalists.

The Tariff Act was the first major piece of legislation passed by the first U.S. Congress in 1789. The Act imposed a tax on imported goods and was intended to encourage support of American businesses rather than foreign ones.

The Sedition Act, passed by Congress in 1798, made it illegal to "stir up sedition within the United States" and to say or publish any criticism that defamed the U.S. government.

The years leading up the Civil War saw the rise of the abolition movement, which sought to outlaw the practice of slavery in the United States.

The secession of eleven slave-holding states, known as the Confederate States, was the event that incited the American Civil War.

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln, was a presidential order that freed all enslaved people in the South.

After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Andrew Johnson became the 17th President of the United States.

After the Civil War, many formerly enslaved people became sharecroppers, paying landlords a share of their harvest in exchange for the right to work the land.

The transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869, connected the eastern part of the United States to the West Coast.