American culture geography politics society history economy

study names and concepts by making mental connections!!

Initiative that put an end to dust storms in the US?

The Great Plains Shelterbelt

Nation -State? (according to the Montevideo Convention (1933)

permanent POPULATION

a defined TERRITORY

GOVERNMENT

capacity to enter into RELATION WITH OTHER STATES

The Great Seal of the United States (Why 13 arrows/leaves/olives?

Le grand sceau des Etats-Unis

13 colonies

(1776: 13 colonies declare their independance from Great Britain)

Lincoln def of democracy?

“government of the people, by the people, for the people”

(Gettysburg Address, Lincoln during Civil War, 1863)

Declaration of Indepencence?

Articles of Confederation?

US Constitution?

Bill of Rights + subsequent Amendments?

Declaration of Independence

1776

Articles of Confederation

1781

US Constitution

1789

(Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789)

Bill of Rights + subsequent Amendments

1781

2 types of applying laws in the US hybrid system:

Anglo-Saxon: case law and jurisprudence

Codified law (values, ideals, WRITTEN law)Co

Constant rotation but not all at the same time (some ppl in Congress stay for 2 years, others 4 and others 6)

How is a Justice appointed in the Supreme Court?

.

Companies such as ____ sells prescription drugs that are abused and kill a lot of people

Big Pharma

Death penalty: how many and which states in the US?

Synonym?

People can be on “___” for a long time and die with

27 states have the death penalty

Death penalty = capital punishment

(depending on position)

5 states actually apply it:

Florida and Texas apply it

Oregon, California and Pennsylvania use it more rarely

Abortion arguments?

Who decides on abortion rights ?

Abortion:

Pro-choice or pro-life

Roe vs Wade (1973) —> abortion = possible in all states.

Legal up to 22 (usually 24) weeks through pregnancy

BUT states could restrain it

LANDMARK RULING in 2022 (Supreme Court):

Each state can decide.

Is gay marriage allowed in the US?

Who decides?

Each state decided until 2015 Landmark ruling (Obergefell vs Hodges).

Today, gay marriage is possible

DINKS?

Double Income no kids

(Gay couples)

Trial by jury

What is the “fourth estate”

The media is often called so.

“Speaking truth to power”

Declaration of Independence says if the government does not guarantee your inalienable rights, you can

Overturn the government

HISTORY

Names of indigenous peoples in America, Canada and Australia?

America: Indigenous peoples of the Americas

Canada: Aboriginal peoples and First Nations

Australia: Aborigines

Brands that took Native American tribes’ names?

Jeep Cherokee

The Redskins (Washington DC)

Attack helicopter: Apache

Problem with studying Indigenous American peoples is:

traditions were transmitted orally

Where did “First Americans” come from?

Asia

50K years ago

through the Bering strait (détroit de Béring)

arrived in the north

12K years ago: migration southward, corn-growing

Types of societies among aboriginal Americans?

diverse. Hunters-gatherers AND settled farmers

Nomadic AND sedentary

Warrior cultures AND peaceful/pacific ones

Example of rather sophisticated Native American :

Cliff Palace (Pueblo people)

the West has always placed the unknown “other” …

either above or below it.

ex: Orientalism

First tribe to have contact with White people?

Iroquois

sedentary

war-like, defensive

wear feathers etc→ stereotype of the indigenous

To keep a trace of family history, they built…

Totem poles

The New World:

Genocide or not?

they went from 30 million to 3 million people.

it was believed that smallpox and venereal disease (STD’s) were the main cause for death, but now research suggests sicknesses as insignificant as gastroenteritis.

however, settlers did deliberately eradicate parts of the population and used the word “exterminate” to kill those who were anywhere near the territories they wanted to settle in.

important native americans protest?

Standing rock protest (2016)

(Dakota access pipeline)

churchill on democracy:

"Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried"

La démocratie est un mauvais système, mais elle est le moins mauvais de tous les systèmes

until his death, colombus thought america was india

then ____ (__’s) went and realized it wasn’t, and he asked ___ to make a map of america and he did in ___

Amerigo Vespucci (1490’s)

Martin Waldseemüller. 1507 map, 1st use of the word “America”_

______ was a ____ geographer and cartographer famous for creating the ____ in ____.

It was incredibly useful for maritime navigation, even though it distorts the size of landmasses near the poles.

Flemish

Mercator projection

1569

Southern Colonies planted crops to ___ rather than to ____

sell rather than to eat and be self-sufficient

SLAVERY

American Colonial Economics

Major company that contracted people in the first american colonies.

What did workers do?

Virginia Company (1600’s)

Worked in tobacco

13 British colonies were established by..

the 1700’s

Slaves were first landed by.. who kidnapped Africans and sold them into slavery on the ,,,

Slavery was strongest in the __

the Dutch (1619)

Slave Coast (east)

Slavery was strongest the rural South

by 1776, almost __ in _ Americans owned a black slave

1 in 4 Americans had a black slave

Slaves were ___ like cattle

branded

Until the Civil War, Supreme Court declared it was illegal to take slaves from their owners into free northern states

Slavery contributed to an economy that required more slavery:

booming economy in the __

US controlled __% of world production

__ was invented and didn’t replace slaves but rather created more production+demand

booming economy in the south

US controlled 75% of world production

Cotton gin was invented and didn’t replace slaves but rather created more production+demand

CONGRESS BANNED SLAVE IMPORTS IN ___

intention:

result (2)

slave imports banned in 1808

intention: weaken the institution

result: +price of existing slaves and +demand in South and New West

AND between 1808 and 1860 the number of slaves went from 1M to 4M

• more “humane” treatment of slaves

• paternalism, dependency and inferiority

ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN __

the British started..

ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN 1833

(one guy’s moral argument won against the economic argument)

British started banning slavery in the seas which they controlled

abolition of slavery in 1833,

start of ABOLITIONISM

__ writes Uncle Tom’s Cabin

abolitionists form the __ in __

Beecher Stowe

abolitionists form the Republican party in 1854 by anti-slavery radicals

Anti-Slavery solution and why is wasn’t realistic

The solution they went for

send them back to Africa? but who’s gonna pay for that? and actually a lot of slaves are born in america so they have nothing to do with africa

WHAT THEY DID:

1821: Purchase of land in West Africa : Liberia (see flag)

(only 15K free slaves left)

Famous rebellion?

1831: Nat Turner’s rebellion in Virginia (brutally crushed)

secret slavery trade between __ and _

1800-1860: Underground slavery trade routes 

US territorial expansion in what years?

by which means? (2)

1803 - 1853

• by purchase: Louisiana, Florida, Arizona, Mexico…

• by war: Texas, California, Nevada, Colorado…

Era of good feeling and nationalism:

1815-1825

(Monroe Doctrine?)

Emergence of Sectionalism

..

Expansion Westwards

• railroad construction date and consequence?

• massive waves of __ date ?

• the term … was coined

• the Homestead Act

• 1830’s: Railroad construction. The Indian Removal Act (1830) & the Indian Wars

• 1840’s: massive waves of immigration from Europe

• Term '“Manifest Destiny” was coined

• Homestead Act: legally recognized land ownership. if you have a house and farm and you’re doing something productive with it, the State will give it to you, and you can get loans from the bank aaand a middle class is created

names of pro- and anti- slavery

Arguments in favor of slavery:

protectionists vs abolitionists

protectionists:

• economy

• moral right to give slaves education and make them convert to christianism

Compromise?

Civil war trigger and dates?

1821: 12 slave states and 12 slave-free states:

—> Missouri Compromise

(Lincoln was later careful not to upset Western states even if they were allowed to have slavery by virtue of the Compromise)

BUT 1861: Majority free states

—> Civil war (1861-1865)

Supreme court rules that a slave that flees southern state is illegal

Dred Scott vs Sandford (1857)

In the 1860 elections, Lincoln didn’t win the … but he won the …

he didn’t win the popular vote (americans were really divided)

he won the electoral vote

Secession

president when?

lincoln’s appeal?

result, who vs who?

Lincoln sworn in as president in 1861

told the south he won’t impose abolitionist laws if it’s gonna break the union

Still SECESSION→ Confederate States of America

and civil war Jefferson Davis vs Lincoln (two very like-minded men, even good friends at some point)

Confederate States of America:

the crossed flag was only waved in the battlefield, wasn’t official

13 stars

North was attacking South (a lot of innocents died)

South was defending itself

= difference in terms of motivation

Maintain Union or fight over slavery?

recup 5 min avant SOUTHERN SECESSION

SECESSION?

South Carolina secedes in 1860, followed by other states

→ Confederate States of America

complete this page

NORTH VS SOUTH

rapport de force?

NORTH:

5x more manufacturing capacity

better off economically

pop. 22M

GOAL: prevent secession by invading south

SOUTH:

best officers, expert riders and maksmen

pop. 9M I think

GOAL: gain independence and keep slavery

MORE DEFENSIVE

1861-2: the Union (north) called for ____

Blockage of

volunteers, including Blacks who would be encouraged to fight for their brothers in the South to be freedc.

→ 75K ppl

Blockade of Southern ports (cutting trade)

1st battle of the Civil War?

Main battlegrounds?

Fort Sumter, S.C.

Main battlegrounds:

virginia (east coast)

mississippi river

1862-3

HEAVY LOSSES on the north side (10K’s)

South backed by Britain and France

Who was General Robert E. Lee?

Great Confederate general. Controversial figure today

(his house became a cemetery for northern dead soldiers, near the pentagon)

Lincoln’s rhetoric

effect?

Emancipation Proclamation

• Sept 22, 1862

• Moral justification for war

Reminder that war is about slavery

not much effect

1862-3

Main battlegrounds?

Change in 1863?

important battle?

Union success in Mississippi

• Capture of New Orleans

• Fall of Vicksburg

• —> Confederacy split in two

1863: North tired of the war

General Lee tries to loop around and capture WASHINGTON DC

horrible battles (Gettysburg)

Gettysburg?

Confederate attack (while they previously were more defensive)

4-day battle

50K casualties

LARGEST battle on US soil (in terms of number of men)

SO LINCOLN STEPS IN:

The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)

Goes to battlefield after the battle and makes it a memorial for those who died there

“The government of the people, by the people, for the people”

1864-5

Confederacy is ___

Gen. ___ went to Georgia and ___

Confederacy is WEAK

Gen. Sherman went to Georgia and destroyed everything on his way

“War is hell”. Let’s burn Georgia to the ground so the other states will stop fighting.

1865:

Richmond

Lincoln after the war at Appomattox. When and what did he say?

April 9th, 1865

Lincoln:

“The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again.”

Death toll of the Civil War???

635 000 dead

deadliest in the history of the US

Cowboys?

Crippled gen

Jobless young men

Went to the west

was a thing for 20-30 years

IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH:

Destruction in the South

April 14th 1865 what happened?

Lincoln killed in a theater by a man who said

“Sic semper tyrannis!”

(This always to tyrants)

2 LONGER-TERM OUTCOMES?

RECONSTRUCTION?

Union preserved!

NO more slavery nationwide (13th Amendment)

Reconstruction:

• 1865 Freedmen’s Bureau for former slaves to find work and rebuild their lives (many were pissed off)

• 1866 the Civil Rights Act and 14th Amendment

• 1866 KKK founded

• 1870’s: “Jim Crow” laws to marginalize Blacks 

Pres. Johnson too lenient?

What did KKK do?

Blacks murdered and found hanging/torn apart in gutters etc every week

3 VISIONS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

Booker T. Washington:

• “Racial accommodationist”

• Conformism is the way to go. Become like whites to get equality

W.E.B. Dubois

• We are different, we are not white.

• → let’s develop an intellectual elite to achieve integration

Marcus Garvey:

• We’re different and proud: Black nationalism and separatism. Black pride (“Black is beautiful”).

• (sent ppl to see their roots in Africa)

SEGREGATION (dates)

which Amendments and law?

SEGREGATION (1870’s - 1960’s)

“Separate but equal”

• 13th and 14th Amendments

• Southern States: Jim Crow laws (ex: if ur grandfather couldn’t vote, u can’t vote)

Chicago, Detroit etc were famous destinations during ____

Chicago, Detroit etc were famous destinations during the Great Migration (North). Good jobs for blacks with little edu (jazz in Chicago)

Desegregation in the military date?

1948

FOREIGN POLICY

(compléter début)

Isolationist slogan/flag usa?

America saying if Europeans invade any part of the americas, it will consider it as an attack against its safety.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Mid 1800’s growing nation and new territory (by purchase and war)

Engagement or isolationism?

Manifest destiny

Boat destroyed somewhere, US blame Spain and take over Philippines, Cuba etc in the name of “freedom”

Usa creates an empire and used it for trade and business and FOOD

example?

Guatemala, the “banana republic”

“Mission civilisatrice”, equivalent to manifest destiny ?

Panama ? Création

Usa paid Columbia so Panama would break away from it.

US owned the Canal (1913) till 1999

US foreign policy early 1900’s

2 diff presidents

Theodore Roosevelt:

Realism: expanding US powrt

Interventionism: wanted US to join war against Germany

Woodrow Wilson:

Liberalism: spreading American ideals.

WWI was called…

The Great European War

(in the last month of WWI it was called WWI cause the historian who named it knew there’d be a second war)

German provocations during WWI:

BUT..

• Sinking of the RMS Lusitania (1915)

• Sinking all ships going to Britain to try and starve them to death or make them stop fighting (1917)

• Casus belli: the Zimmermann Telegraph: Germany to help Mexico invade US

Brits let their troops be led by French men to win WWI

Wilson’s idealism?

Peace without victory? → didn’t work

Wilson’s 14 points:

• no secret military agreements

• Reduction is armaments

• Free trade and freedom of the seas

• National boundaries based on self-determination

1920’s vs 1930’s USA?

roaring 20’s: was great

30’s: Wall Street crash → Great Depression

—> both led to isolationism