History & civics definitions

6 history & civics terms from Achievable exam prep courses, each defined in plain language with links into the course textbook.

• American RevolutionThe American Revolution was the conflict from 1765 to 1783 in which thirteen British colonies rejected imperial authority, declared independence in 1776, and won it through war. It produced the United States and a republican government grounded in popular sovereignty.
• Articles of ConfederationThe Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the United States, in effect from 1781 to 1789. They created a loose league of sovereign states with a weak central government that had no power to tax or regulate trade.
• Columbian ExchangeThe Columbian Exchange was the transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Americas and Europe, Africa, and Asia after 1492. It reshaped diets, economies, and populations on both sides of the Atlantic.
• Compromise of 1850The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five laws passed by Congress to settle disputes over slavery in territory won from Mexico. It admitted California as a free state and enacted a stricter Fugitive Slave Act, delaying but not preventing sectional conflict.
• Constitutional ConventionThe Constitutional Convention was a gathering of delegates from twelve states in Philadelphia from May to September 1787. Called to revise the Articles of Confederation, it instead drafted an entirely new United States Constitution.
• Election of 1860The election of 1860 was the U.S. presidential contest in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated a divided field of three opponents. His victory without a single Southern electoral vote triggered the secession of seven Southern states and set the country on the path to the Civil War.