Grade 8 Social Studies key terms

An economic policy in which a nation builds wealth by exporting more than it imports and by controlling colonial trade so raw materials and profits flow to the home country.

A system of Atlantic trade routes linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas, carrying manufactured goods, enslaved Africans, and colonial raw materials such as sugar, tobacco, and molasses.

The forced ocean voyage that carried enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas, marked by crowding, disease, and high death rates among captives.

British laws requiring colonial goods to be shipped on English ships and sold through English ports, tightening control over colonial trade and angering merchants who wanted freer commerce.

A long period when Britain loosely enforced its trade laws on the colonies, allowing colonial assemblies to govern local affairs and fostering habits of self-rule.

A 1765 British law taxing printed paper goods in the colonies, including newspapers and legal documents, which sparked organized colonial protest and the slogan against taxation without representation.

The colonial argument that Parliament could not legally tax colonists who elected no members to Parliament, making such taxes a denial of their rights as English subjects.

British laws of 1767 placing duties on imported goods such as glass, paint, paper, and tea, prompting boycotts and heightened tension between colonists and British officials.

Colonial protest groups that organized boycotts, demonstrations, and intimidation of tax collectors to resist British policies such as the Stamp Act.

A 1770 confrontation in which British soldiers fired into a Boston crowd and killed five people, an event colonial leaders publicized to build support against British troops.

A 1773 protest in which colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to oppose a tea monopoly and taxes, leading Britain to punish Massachusetts with the Intolerable Acts.

Punitive British laws of 1774 that closed Boston Harbor, restricted Massachusetts self-government, and allowed troops to be quartered in homes, uniting colonies in resistance.

A 1774 meeting of delegates from twelve colonies that coordinated resistance to Britain, endorsed boycotts, and urged colonies to prepare militias.

The 1776 document, mainly written by Thomas Jefferson, that declared the colonies free from Britain and stated that government derives its power from the consent of the governed.

Basic freedoms that belong to all people by virtue of being human, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which government is meant to protect.

The idea that people agree to give up some freedom to a government in exchange for protection of their rights, and may change a government that fails to protect them.

The first national constitution of the United States, which created a weak central government with a one-house Congress and no power to tax or regulate interstate trade.

An armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers in 1786 and 1787 over debt and taxes, which exposed the weakness of the national government and pushed leaders toward a stronger constitution.

The 1787 meeting in Philadelphia where delegates wrote the United States Constitution, settling disputes over representation, slavery, and the powers of the national government.

An agreement at the Constitutional Convention creating a two-house Congress with representation by population in the House and equal representation by state in the Senate.

An agreement counting three-fifths of a state's enslaved population toward representation and taxation, increasing slaveholding states' power in Congress without granting enslaved people rights.

A system that divides power between a national government and state governments, with each level holding its own authority and responsibilities.

The division of government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches so that no single branch holds all power.

The ability of each branch of government to limit the power of the others, such as a presidential veto or a court ruling a law unconstitutional.

Specific powers granted to Congress by the Constitution, including the power to tax, coin money, declare war, and regulate interstate commerce.

Powers the Constitution does not give to the national government and does not deny to the states, so they remain with the states or the people.

The power of courts to decide whether laws and government actions violate the Constitution, established in the case Marbury v. Madison.

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, which protect individual freedoms such as speech, religion, and fair trial and limit the power of the national government.

The two-step procedure for changing the Constitution, requiring approval by two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states, making change possible but difficult.

The requirement that government follow fair and lawful procedures before taking away a person's life, liberty, or property.

The principle that political power comes from the people, who express it through voting, elections, and consent to be governed.

Loyalty to a region's interests over the nation as a whole, which deepened as the North and South divided over slavery and economic systems before the Civil War.

An 1820 agreement admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while banning slavery in most of the Louisiana Purchase north of a set line.

A set of laws admitting California as a free state, organizing other territories with popular sovereignty, and strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.

The argument that states hold powers the national government must respect, used before the Civil War by some southern leaders to defend slavery against federal limits.

The withdrawal of a state from the Union, which southern states carried out after Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, triggering the Civil War.

Lincoln's 1863 order declaring enslaved people in rebelling Confederate states free, which shifted the war's purpose and allowed Black soldiers to enlist.

The period after the Civil War when the federal government rebuilt the South, readmitted states, and passed amendments extending rights to formerly enslaved people.

Laws passed by southern states after the Civil War that restricted the freedom of Black people, limiting where they could work, travel, and gather.

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the South, separating schools, transportation, and public spaces and denying Black citizens equal treatment.

The shift from handmade goods to machine production in factories, which drew workers to cities and changed the economy, labor, and daily life in the late 1800s.

The rapid growth of cities as people move from farms to urban areas, often driven by factory jobs and immigration during industrialization.

The movement of people into a country to live and work, which supplied much of the labor for American industry and shaped city neighborhoods and culture.

An organization of workers that bargains collectively with employers for better wages, hours, and safety conditions.

A work stoppage organized by employees to pressure an employer for better pay or conditions, a common tactic in late 1800s labor disputes.

A reform effort of the late 1800s and early 1900s that sought to curb corruption, regulate big business, improve working conditions, and expand democratic participation.

A journalist who investigated and exposed corruption, unsafe conditions, and abuses of power in business and government, stirring public demand for reform.

The right to vote in elections, which reformers expanded through movements for women's suffrage and protections for minority voters.

The basic economic problem that people have unlimited wants but limited resources, forcing choices about what to produce and consume.

The value of the next best alternative given up when a person or society chooses one option over another.

The relationship between how much of a good producers offer and how much buyers want, which together set market prices.

An economic system in which private individuals and businesses make most decisions about production and prices, guided by competition and self-interest rather than government commands.

The way people change their surroundings and are changed by them, such as building dams, clearing forests, or adapting to climate and terrain.

Conditions that drive people away from a place, such as war or poverty, and conditions that attract them to a new place, such as jobs or safety.

A firsthand record created by someone who witnessed or took part in an event, such as a letter, diary, photograph, or speech.

A record that interprets or analyzes events after they happened, such as a textbook, encyclopedia article, or historian's book.

The skill of asking who made a source, when, for what audience, and why, in order to judge how trustworthy and useful it is.

A slant or preference in a source that favors one side or viewpoint, which can distort how facts are selected, worded, or left out.

The practice of comparing several sources to see whether they agree, helping a researcher confirm details and detect errors or one-sided accounts.

The conditions, beliefs, and events surrounding a document or event at the time it occurred, which help explain why it happened and what it meant.