GLOSSARY ★ A-49Bank War Political struggle in the early
1830s between President Jackson and
financier Nicholas Biddle over the renew-
ing of the Second Bank’s charter.
Barbary Wars The first wars fought by
the United States, and the nation’s first
encounter with the Islamic world. The
wars were fought from 1801 to 1805
against plundering pirates off the Medi-
terranean coast of Africa after President
Thomas Jefferson’s refusal to pay them
tribute to protect American ships.
Bargain of 1877 Deal made by a Republi-
can and Democratic special congressional
commission to resolve the disputed presi-
dential election of 1876; Republican Ruth-
erford B. Hayes, who had lost the popular
vote, was declared the winner in exchange
for the withdrawal of federal troops from
involvement in politics in the South,
marking the end of Reconstruction.
Bay of Pigs Invasion U.S. mission in
which the CIA, hoping to inspire a revolt
against Fidel Castro, sent 1,500 Cuban
exiles to invade their homeland on
April 17, 1961; the mission was a spectac-
ular failure.
the Beats A term coined by Jack Kerouac
for a small group of poets and writers who
railed against 1950s mainstream culture.
Bill for Establishing Religious Free-
dom A Virginia law, drafted by Thomas
Jefferson in 1777 and enacted in 1786, that
guarantees freedom of, and from, religion.
Bill of Rights First ten amendments to
the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791
to guarantee individual rights against
infringement by the federal government.
birth control movement An offshoot
of the early twentieth- century feminist
movement that saw access to birth control
and “voluntary motherhood” as essential
to women’s freedom. The birth- control
movement was led by Margaret Sanger.
Black Codes Laws passed from 1865 to
1866 in southern states to restrict therising demand for sugar, rice, coffee, and
tobacco.
Attucks, Crispus During the Boston
Massacre, the individual who was suppos-
edly at the head of the crowd of hecklers
and who baited the British troops. He was
killed when the British troops fired on the
crowd.
Axis powers In World War II, the nations
of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Aztec Mesoamerican people who were
conquered by the Spanish under Hernan
Cortes, 1519–1528.
baby boom Markedly higher birthrate
in the years following World War II; led
to the biggest demographic “bubble” in
American history.
backcountry In colonial America, the
area stretching from central Pennsylvania
southward through the Shenandoah Val-
ley of Virginia and into upland North and
South Carolina.
Bacon’s Rebellion Unsuccessful 1676
revolt led by planter Nathaniel Bacon
against Virginia governor William Berke-
ley’s administration because of govern-
mental corruption and because Berkeley
had failed to protect settlers from Indian
raids and did not allow them to occupy
Indian lands.
Balkan crisis A series of ethnic and polit-
ical crises that arose following the disso-
lution of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Many
atrocities were committed during the
conflict, and NATO, the United Nations,
and the United States intervened several
times.
Bank of the United States Proposed by
the first secretary of the treasury, Alex-
ander Hamilton, the bank that opened in
1791 and operated until 1811 to issue a
uniform currency, make business loans,
and collect tax monies. The Second Bank
of the United States was chartered in 1816
but President Andrew Jackson vetoed the
recharter bill in 1832.