A Level History: USA, India, and Empire Comprehensive Revision

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key historical terms, movements, legislation, and policies across USA 1917–80 & Reagan 1981–96, India 1914–48, and the British Empire.

Return to Normalcy

Warren G. Harding's post-WWI policy platform advocating reduced government intervention through laissez-faire economics, lower taxes, and a focus on business growth.

Rugged Individualism

The Republican belief maintained under Presidents Coolidge and Hoover that individuals are alone responsible for their own economic prosperity and well-being.

Bonus Army

A 1932 protest in Washington D.C. involving 17,000 WWI veterans demanding early bonus payments, whose violent dispersal severely damaged public confidence in Herbert Hoover.

Executive Office of the President (EXOP)

An administrative organisation created by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to strengthen presidential control and management of the executive branch.

Fireside Chats

Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio broadcasts between 1933 and 1944 used to explain New Deal policies in simple language directly to the American public, bypassing critical newspapers.

Court-Packing Plan (1937)

Franklin D. Roosevelt's unsuccessful proposal to appoint up to six additional Supreme Court justices after the Court invalidated New Deal measures like the Agricultural Adjustment Act.

Truman Doctrine

President Harry S. Truman's assertive Cold War foreign policy committed to containing communism and assisting nations threatened by Soviet expansion.

Interstate Highway Act (1956)

Major infrastructure legislation passed under President Dwight D. Eisenhower that authorised the largest public works project in United States history.

Great Society

President Lyndon B. Johnson's domestic reform programme that expanded federal welfare spending by over $100 billion, introducing Medicare and Medicaid to eliminate poverty.

Tet Offensive (1968)

A coordinated military offensive launched by approximately 85,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, contradicting official US claims that the war was being won.

Pentagon Papers (1971)

Classified government documents published in 1971 that revealed successive presidential administrations had systematically misled the public about the Vietnam War.

Stagflation

An economic condition in the 1970s marked by stagnant economic growth alongside simultaneously high inflation (reaching 13.5%) and high unemployment (reaching 7%).

Teapot Dome Scandal

A political corruption scandal during the Harding administration in which government officials secretly leased federal oil reserves to private companies for personal profit.

Palmer Raids

Mass federal operations conducted during the First Red Scare (1919–1920) resulting in approximately 10,000 arrests, 6,000 detentions, and hundreds of deportations of suspected radicals.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

A congressional investigative committee that conducted anti-communist loyalty inquiries during the Second Red Scare, leading to the blacklisting of 300 to 500 Hollywood professionals.

Silent Majority

A term used during the Nixon era referring to the broad group of Americans who held traditional values, favoured law and order, and opposed countercultural protests and social disruption.

Great Migration

The movement of approximately 1.5 million African Americans from the South to Northern cities between 1917 and 1932 to escape discrimination and secure industrial employment.

Double V Campaign

A slogan and movement embraced by African Americans during World War II advocating for victory against fascism abroad and victory against racial discrimination at home.

Executive Order 9981

An executive order issued by President Harry S. Truman in 1948 that desegregated the United States armed forces.

Black Panther Party

A radical organisation established in 1966 that promoted armed self-defence, community-controlled policing, and grassroots social initiatives such as free breakfast programmes.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Landmark federal civil rights legislation that banned segregation in public accommodations and outlawed employment discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

A federal law that prohibited racial discrimination in voting, banning literacy tests and protecting Black Americans' constitutional right to vote.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

A Native American activist organisation founded in 1968 that used militant direct action, including the Occupation of Alcatraz and the Wounded Knee standoff, to demand treaty rights and sovereignty.

United Farm Workers (UFW)

A labour union co-founded in 1962 by César Chávez that organised strikes, nationwide boycotts, and hunger strikes to secure contracts for Mexican American agricultural labourers.

Brown Berets

A militant Chicano youth organisation founded in 1967 to protest police brutality and educational inequality, organising the 1968 East Los Angeles student walkouts.

Young Lords Organisation

A Puerto Rican activist organisation formed in Chicago in 1969 that drew inspiration from the Black Panthers to implement free breakfast schemes and local health clinics.

La Raza Unida Party

A Chicano political party founded in 1970 by José Ángel Gutiérrez to field independent Hispanic candidates and increase political representation and voter registration.

Stonewall Riots (1969)

Demonstrations that erupted following a police raid on a gay bar in New York City, serving as the catalyst for the modern gay rights movement.

The Feminine Mystique

A 1963 book by Betty Friedan that exposed the dissatisfaction of suburban housewives and helped initiate the 1960s women's liberation movement.

Emergency Quota Act (1921)

Federal legislation introducing the first numerical limits on immigration to the United States, restricting annual arrivals based on national origin percentages.

Immigration Act of 1924

A restrictive immigration law that reduced quotas for Southern and Eastern Europeans by roughly 80 percent compared to pre-war levels.

Immigration and Nationality Act (1965)

Legislation that abolished the national origins quota system, enabling substantial increases in immigration from Asia and Latin America.

Reaganomics

President Ronald Reagan's supply-side economic policy focused on cutting taxes (lowering top rates from 70% to 28%), deregulating industry, and reducing non-defence spending.

Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI)

A proposed space-based anti-ballistic missile defence system initiated under President Ronald Reagan as part of an expansion of military expenditure.

Reagan Democrats

Blue-collar, socially conservative voters predominantly in the Midwest and South who defected from the Democratic Party to support Ronald Reagan.

Culture Wars

A term describing the ideological clashes between liberals and social conservatives during the 1980s and 1990s over issues such as abortion, gay rights, gender roles, and permissiveness.

British Raj

The system of direct British colonial governance established over the Indian subcontinent in 1858 following the end of East India Company rule.

Indian Civil Service (ICS)

The elite administrative body of the Raj, overwhelmingly British-run, whose entrance examinations were conducted exclusively in London and in English until 1922.

Lucknow Pact (1916)

A joint agreement between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League presenting common demands for self-government, separate electorates, and one-third representation for Muslims.

Montagu Declaration (1917)

A British policy declaration promising the increasing association of Indians in governance and the gradual development of self-governing institutions.

Rowlatt Act (1919)

British legislation that extended wartime controls into peacetime, permitting detention without trial and censorship to suppress political sedition in India.

Amritsar Massacre (1919)

The killing of 379 and wounding of over 1,200 peaceful Indian demonstrators in Jallianwala Bagh after General Dyer opened fire without prior warning or exit routes.

Hunter Commission (1919)

An official British inquiry into the Amritsar massacre which determined that General Dyer used excessive force, but recommended no formal legal punishment.

Dyarchy

A constitutional division of provincial governance introduced by the Government of India Act 1919, dividing powers between Indian ministers and British officials.

Swaraj

A core nationalist concept in India meaning self-rule or independence, advocated by leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi.

Satyagraha

Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy and practice of non-violent resistance and civil disobedience used to challenge unjust British laws through passive resistance, prayer, and fasting.

Ahimsa

The ancient philosophical doctrine of complete non-violence toward all living beings, forming the moral foundation of Gandhi's political campaigns.

Swadeshi

An economic nationalist strategy promoting the domestic production and purchase of Indian goods while boycotting foreign manufactured goods, particularly British cloth.

Khadi

Traditional hand-spun Indian cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi and the spinning wheel as a symbol of self-reliance, unity, and economic independence from Britain.

Chauri Chaura Incident (1922)

A violent confrontation where protestors burned down a police station and killed 22 policemen, prompting Mahatma Gandhi to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Young Hooligans

A radical nationalist faction within Congress, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, who demanded complete independence (Purna Swaraj) rather than dominion status.

Nehru Report (1928)

A constitutional blueprint drafted by Motilal Nehru proposing dominion status, joint electorates, universal suffrage, and civil liberties, which rejected separate electorates for Muslims.

Purna Swaraj

A resolution passed at the Lahore Congress in December 1929 committing the Indian National Congress to fight for total independence from British imperial rule.

Salt Satyagraha (1930)

A 240-mile protest march to the sea led by Mahatma Gandhi to violate British laws prohibiting Indians from harvesting or trading salt independently.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931)

A political agreement in which Viceroy Lord Irwin agreed to release political prisoners in exchange for Gandhi calling off civil disobedience and attending the Second Round Table Conference.

Khilafat Movement

A pan-Islamic protest movement in India opposing British plans to dismember the Ottoman Empire and remove the Caliph following World War I, temporarily allying with Congress.

Simon Commission (1927)

A British parliamentary group sent to evaluate the Government of India Act 1919, which faced nationwide Indian boycotts and protests because it contained no Indian members.

Irwin Declaration (1929)

A formal announcement by Viceroy Lord Irwin stating that the natural and intended destination of India's constitutional progress was Dominion status.

Communal Award (1932)

A British decision by Ramsay MacDonald granting separate electorates to religious minorities, Sikhs, and Dalits, prompting Gandhi's fast-unto-death in Yeravda Jail.

Poona Pact (1932)

An agreement negotiated between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar that replaced separate electorates for Dalits with reserved seats within a joint Hindu electorate.

Government of India Act 1935

British legislation establishing provincial autonomy, ending dyarchy in the provinces, and proposing an all-India federation, while retaining viceregal control over foreign affairs and defence.

Day of Deliverance (1939)

A celebration held on 22 December 1939 organised by the Muslim League to mark the resignation of Congress provincial ministries following Britain's declaration of war without Indian consent.

Lahore Resolution (1940)

A formal declaration adopted by the Muslim League demanding that Muslim-majority regions in northwestern and eastern India become independent sovereign states.

August Offer (1940)

A British proposal by Viceroy Linlithgow to expand the Executive Council and create a War Advisory Council with Indian representatives, guaranteeing that no constitution would be adopted without minority consent.

Indian National Army (INA)

A military force organised by Subhas Chandra Bose in Southeast Asia with Japanese backing aiming to militarily liberate India from British rule during World War II.

Cripps Mission (1942)

A British mission led by Sir Stafford Cripps offering postwar dominion status and an opt-out clause for individual provinces in exchange for Indian support in World War II.

Quit India Campaign (1942)

A civil disobedience movement initiated by Congress demanding an immediate British withdrawal from India, resulting in mass riots, sabotage, and over 100,000 arrests.

Direct Action Day (16 August 1946)

A mass protest called by the Muslim League to demand a separate Pakistan that resulted in the 'Great Calcutta Killings', leaving approximately 5,000 dead.

Radcliffe Line

The boundary line drawn in 1947 by Sir Cyril Radcliffe in five weeks to divide Punjab and Bengal between the new dominions of India and Pakistan.

Coercive Acts 1774

A package of punitive statutes passed by the British Parliament following the Boston Tea Party to isolate Massachusetts and reassert imperial authority over the American colonies.

Lachlan Macquarie

Governor of New South Wales (1810–1821) who oversaw the transition of Australia from a strict penal colony into a developing society through infrastructure projects and land grants to ex-convicts.