Adams-Clay Corrupt Bargain: During the election of 1824, none of the candidates won the majority so the House of Representatives had to choose. Henry Clay, who was Speaker of the House, had a huge influence and got John Q. Adams into office. Then Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State. This angered many citizens since they felt "the people" didn't decide.

Adam's "Midnight Judges": After Adams lost the re-election, he decided to appoint new federal judges at the very last minute (some say he signed them at midnight of his last day in office), and most of those appointed were Federalists. The incident caused much resentment and led to the case of Marbury vs. Madison. The result of the case was that the courts had the power of judicial review.

Adams-Onis Treaty: Since Spain had their hands full with slave revolts in the West Indies they gave Florida to America. They also ceded claims in Oregon. In return America ceded land in what would later be Texas.

Adkins vs. Children's Hospital: In 1923 this case was brought to court. It resulted in reversing the previous case Muller vs. Oregon that said that there should be separate safety precautions for women. The main argument in this case was that since women claimed equality to get the vote that they should be equal in other areas as well.

Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA): Setup during Franklin D. Roosevelt's 100 day congress. In all, it helped millions of farmers during the Great Depression.

Alien and Sedition Acts: The Alien Act raised the requirement for citizens from 5 years to 14 years. The Sedition Act impeded on the freedom of Speech and the Freedom of the Press.

Andrew Jackson taking Florida: In 1818, Jackson followed Indians into the Florida territory. Two Indian chiefs were hung and 2 British subjects were executed. He also captured 2 Spanish ports.

Anti-Masonic Party: The Anti-Masonic Party emerged because of a disappearance and probable murder of a man who was going to expose secret rituals of the Madison’s in 1826.The Party didn't like monopolies, but they were actually anti-Jackson. In 1831, the Anti-Masonic Party was the 1st to hold a circus like national nominating convention.

Appomattox: The Appomattox was a courthouse in Virginia where, in 1865, Lee and Grant signed the treaty ending the Civil War.

Atlantic Charter: One night in August of 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winton Churchill met in secret. They discussed a 8 point charter, the Atlantic Charter, that included a new version of Woodrow Wilson's League of Nations.

Axis Alliance: Between Hitler (Germany) and Mussolini (Italy). It is also called the Rome-Berlin Axis. Japan did not join the Axis until farther into the conflict.

Bank of the U.S. (BUS): The Bank of the U.S. is mainly connected with Hamilton during the time that Washington was in office. Hamilton liked the idea of having the bank to further unite the nation and create a more centralized government. Along with creating the Bank of the U.S., Hamilton’s other ideas were things like how the national government should consume state debts. Jefferson, on the other hand, thought the B.U.S. was a bad idea. Yet, the Bank was created and was located in Philadelphia. Later on when Jefferson came into office he vetoed Henry Clay's resharter. Jefferson removed federal funds from the bank. This was mainly because Jefferson didn't like monopolies.

Battle of Fallen Timbers: In 1794 General Wayne crushed Indians, after which he found that they had obtained British guns. It resulted in the Treaty of Greenville where the Indians agreed to abandon their British friends.

Battle of New Orleans: The battle was fought on January 8th, 1815, which was after the Treaty of Ghent was signed ending the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson led the fight against the British. In total 2,000 British and 73 Americans were killed. Jackson came out of the battle victorious. His successfulness helped him in his future election.

Battle of Thames: America and Britain wanted control of the Great Lakes (This is sometimes difficult to remember since the river that runs through London is names the Thames). Oliver Perry, for America, built a small fleet with which they captured the British fleet. This made the British retreat from Detroit and Fort Malden. They then were crushed by Harrison at the Battle of Thames.

Bill of Rights: At first, there was no Bill of Rights in the Constitution, which almost provoked the Anti-Federalist not to ratify the Constitution. So, the Federalist promised to add the bill later if they would ratify the Constitution now. They agreed. The Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to safeguard important American rights.

Black Codes: Black Codes were setup after the Civil War. Since the slaves had been set free, the Southeners wanted to keep the freedmen in a inferior position in society. Things that the Black Codes did were force freed slaves to work for their previous masters, they couldn't serve on a jury, and they couldn't rent or lease land.

"Black Tuesday": On October 29th, 1929 16,410,030 shares were sold on the stock market.This is the Stock Market Crash that began the Great Depression. It was partially triggered by the British's raise in interest rates and predictions of depression.

"Bleeding Kansas": After the Kansas-Nebraska act, that said that Kansas and Nebraska would use popular sovereignty to decide whether they would be free or slave. Pro-slavery citizens from the South quickly went across the border in hope of making Kansas a slave state. In Kansas, they voted for slavery and many also killed abolitionists. 

Bonus Army: Impoverished veterans of World War I camped out in the Hoovervilles in hope of getting compensations for their work in the arm.

Boston Tea Party: Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty dressed like Indians and went aboard an English ship and dumped the cargo of tea into the bay, because they were upset over the tax on tea. This led to the Intolerable Acts.

Boxer Rebellion: A group in China revolted, killing many missionaries and other whiles. In response, many different countries pulled troops together to create an army to defeat the revolt. The revolt was settled and the United States received $24.5 million is compensation, but they gave $18 million back to China.

Brook Farm: Brook farm was a transcendental inspired utopia. These utopias were mostly successful until the town caught on fire and burnt down. They soon went into debt and dissolved.

Brook-Sumner Incident: On May 22, 1856, Brook approached Sumner and beat him with his cane. Nearby Senators looked on as the attack occurred. Brook was praised by those in the South. Sumner, however, obtained such serious injuries that he had to go to Europe for treatment.

Bull Moose: This phrase refers to when Teddy Roosevelt declared that he was as strong as a Bull Moose. He said this prior to the election where he ran against his former friend Taft, because he no longer agreed with him. T. Roosevelt's involvement in the election insured a victory for the Democratic Party by splitting the Republican votes.

Burning of D.C.: During the War of 1812 some British ships landed in the Chesapeake Bay area. They troops marched north and, upon reaching the capital, burned D.C.

Burr-Hamilton Duel: Burr plotted to have New York and New England secede from the Union. Hamilton, however, interfered and challenged Burr to a duel. In the duel, Hamilton died. Afterwards Burr then tried to separate the West from the East. He was arrested in 1806, but his case was dismissed by Marshal.

Checkers Speech: The Checkers Speech was given by Nixon. It challenged the accusation of opening a slush fund during the time he was a senator. (The Speech was named after his dog Checkers!)

Chesapeake Affair: There was a group of warships off the coast of Virginia. The British ship requested that 4 deserted that were supposable on the ship to be returned to them. In reality, however, there were no deserters on the ship. Since the American ship Chesapeake wouldn't compile to the British demands, the British ship fired 3 times upon the Chesapeake. 18 Americans were wounded and 3 were killed. The British ship ended up taking 4 "deserters". Afterwards, the London Foreign Offices admitted they were in the wrong.

The CIO: The CIO began in 1935 by John Lewis. The CIO helped automobile workers and won is a dispute against General Motors. It was part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.

Civilian Conservation Corps. (CCC): The CCC was a part of the New Deal agency. It employed around 3 million boys and men during the Great Depression. An example of the work they did was in the Grand Canyon National Park. Workers usually sent money back to their families.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty: This treaty, signed in 1850, agreed that neither Britain nor America could obtain more water ways in Latin America.

Clipper Ships: Clipper ships were small boats, which were equipped with large sails. They were fast and profitable. The life of the clipper ship was short though, since the English built iron trump steamers.

Committees of Correspondence: Was established by Samuel Adams in 1772. It helped unite the colonies by speeding information between them using the process of exchanging letters.

Common Sense: Written by Thomas Paine, Common Sense became the most influential pamphlet ever written during the revolutionary period.

Compromise of 1850: Created by Henry Clay, the compromise declared that California, Oregon, and any other unorganized territory to be free, Utah and New Mexico were undecided, and Texas as slave state. Everything else in the previous compromise was kept the same though.

Compromise of 1877: Was a result of the Hayes-Tiden stand-off. The Compromise was that Hayes received the presidency and the Reconstruction in the South ended.

Compromise Tariff: This tariff was created by Clay in hope of keeping the Union together without force. It reduced the Tariff of 1832 by about 10% over the next 8 years. This was a good compromise as far as compromises go since both sides believed that they had come out on top.

Comstock Law: Passed in 1873, helped arm Anthony Comstock to defend sexual purity.

Comstock Lode: A large amount of silver that was fund in Nevada between the years of 1860-1890 totaling $340 million. People who went there longing to find silver were called 59ers.

Containment: The American theory of keeping communism in Russia.

Court Packing Plan: Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted the court to be in his favor, so he bribed the older justices to resign. The oldest conservationist resigned, and FDR replaced him with Black.

Credit Mobilier Scandal: A railroad scandal where the railroad would hire themselves and get rebates for it. To keep it under wraps though, they handed out shares to congressmen. It was eventually exposed by the newspapers. The vice president and 2 congressmen were found guilty after being investigated for any connection to the scandal.

Crittenden Compromise: The compromise was created in 1860 by Senator James Henry Crittenden. The compromise pretty much extended the 36, 30 line created by the Missouri Compromise to California. There would be no slavery above this line while the territories stayed territories, and below the line slavery would be protected also long as the territories stayed territories, but when a territory decided to become a state whether the state would be slave or free would depend on popular sovereignty. This pretty much said that those state above the line would become free and those below might become either slave or free. Lincoln flatly rejected the compromise though.

Cumberland: Construction of the road begun in 1811 and it ran from Maryland-Illinois.