A-60 ★ GLOSSARY
House of Burgesses The first elected
assembly in colonial America, established
in 1619 in Virginia. Only wealthy land-
owners could vote in its elections.
House Un- American Activities Com-
mittee (HUAC) Committee formed in
1938 to investigate subversives in the
government and holders of radical ideas
more generally; best- known investiga-
tions were of Hollywood notables and of
former State Department official Alger
Hiss, who was accused in 1948 of espio-
nage and Communist Party membership.
Abolished in 1975.
Hundred Days Extraordinarily produc-
tive first three months of President Frank-
lin D. Roosevelt’s administration in which
a special session of Congress enacted fif-
teen of his New Deal proposals.
Hurricane Katrina 2005 hurricane that
devastated much of the Gulf Coast, espe-
cially New Orleans. The Bush administra-
tion’s response was widely criticized as
inadequate.
illegal alien A new category established
by the Immigration Act of 1924 that
referred to immigrants crossing U.S. bor-
ders in excess of the new immigration
quotas.
Immigration Restriction League A
political organization founded in 1894
that called for reducing immigration to
the United States by requiring a literacy
test for immigrants.
impeachment Bringing charges against a
public official; for example, the House of
Representatives can impeach a president
for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes
and misdemeanors” by majority vote, and
after the trial the Senate can remove the
president by a vote of two- thirds. Two
presidents, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clin-
ton, have been impeached and tried before
the Senate; neither was convicted.
impressment The British navy’s practice
of using press- gangs to kidnap men inHaymarket Affair Violence during an
anarchist protest at Haymarket Square
in Chicago on May 4, 1886; the deaths of
eight, including seven policemen, led to
the trial of eight anarchist leaders for con-
spiracy to commit murder.
Haynes, Lemuel A black member of the
Massachusetts militia and celebrated min-
ister who urged that Americans extend
their conception of freedom to enslaved
Africans during the Revolutionary Era.
headright system A land- grant policy
that promised fifty acres to any colonist
who could afford passage to Virginia,
as well as fifty more for any accompa-
nying servants. The headright policy
was eventually expanded to include any
colonists— and was also adopted in other
colonies.
Helsinki Accords 1975 agreement
between the USSR and the United States
that recognized the post– World War II
boundaries of Europe and guaranteed the
basic liberties of each nation’s citizens.
Hessians German soldiers, most from
Hesse- Cassel principality (hence, the
name), paid to fight for the British in the
Revolutionary War.
Hollywood Ten A group called before the
House Un- American Activities Commit-
tee who refused to speak about their polit-
ical leanings or “name names”—that is,
identify communists in Hollywood. Some
were imprisoned as a result.
Holocaust Systematic racist attempt
by the Nazis to exterminate the Jews of
Europe, resulting in the murder of over
6 million Jews and more than a million
other “undesirables.”
Homestead Act 1862 law that authorized
Congress to grant 160 acres of public land
to a western settler, who had to live on the
land for five years to establish title.
horizontal expansion The process by
which a corporation acquires or merges
with its competitors.