American history

American history

Industry: History

Add a new term

Contributors in American history

Become a Contributors

American history

Popular Sovereignty

History; American history

The principle, incorporated into the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas Nebraska Act, that the people living in the western territories should decide whether or not to permit slavery.

Political Slavery

History; American history

During the 1760s and 1770s many colonial leaders believed that if they did not keep resisting unwanted British policies, they would fall into a state of political slavery in which they had no ...

A Supreme Court decision in 1896 that ruled "separate but equal" facilities for African Americans were constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, it had the effect of legalizing segregation and ...

Platt Amendment

History; American history

1901 amendment to the Army Appropriation Bill, limiting Cuban independence by giving the United States two naval bases on Cuba and the right to intervene in Cuban affairs if the American government ...

Plantation Legend

History; American history

A stereotype created by popular pre Civil War writers, that depicted the South as a region of aristocratic planters, beautiful Southern belles, poor white trash, and faithful household slaves.

Ping Pong Diplomacy

History; American history

Communist China's chairman Mao Tse tung sent a table tennis team to the world championships in Nagoya, Japan, and then invited an American team to compete in Japan in 1971. This small gesture paved ...

Perpetual servitude

History; American history

Indentured servitude represented temporary service for a specified period, usually from four to seven years, to a legally designated owner. Perpetual servitude meant being owned by some other person ...