US History STAAR Guide - Part 1

George Washington

Commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was also the 1st President of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President of the United States.

Benjamin Rush

American physician and political leader, a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

John Hancock

American Revolutionary leader and first signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

John Jay

A Founding Father of the United States who served the new nation in both law and diplomacy. He established important judicial precedents as the first chief justice of the United States (1789-95) and negotiated the Jay Treaty of 1794.

John Witherspoon

Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University); he was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.

John Mulenberg

A Lutheran minister and a brigadier general in the Continental (American revolutionary) Army. He commanded the infantry at the battle of Yorktown.

Charles Carroll

American patriot leader, the longest- surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the only Roman Catholic to sign that document.

Johnathan Trumbull, Sr.

One of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post- Revolutionary state. During the American Revolution he was the only colonial governor who supported the American side.

Declaration of Independence

Lists of grievances against King George III and justifies the colonies breaking away from England.

Unalienable Rights

Rights that cannot be taken away: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Causes of the Revolution

- The British taxed the colonies for revenue to pay for the French and Indian War.
- "No taxation without Representation!" - Colonists resented being taxed without having a voice in Parliament.
- Tax acts include the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, and Tea Act.
- The Boston Massacre
- The Intolerable Acts

Loyalists

Americans who supported Great Britain during the revolution

Patriots

Americans who favored independence from Great Britain during the revolution

Influences of the Constitution

Magna Carta (1215)

Limited the king's powers; provided trial by jury

Influences of the Constitution

English Bill of Rights (1687)

Influenced the Constitution by forbidding cruel and unusual punishment; granting the right to bear arms; laws must be passed by the legislative branch; taxes must be approved by the legislative branch.

Influences of the Constitution

Declaration of Independence (1776)

The Bill of Rights and the Constitution address grievances from the Declaration of Independence. It also lists the unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Influences of the Constitution

Federalist Papers (1787-1788)

Essays written to encourage ratification of the Constitution. The authors include Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.

The Articles of Confederation (1781)

First form of government established by the thirteen states. Replaced by the U.S. Constitution because it had a weak central government.

Replacing the Articles of Confederation

Weaknesses include...

- No executive branch to enforce laws
- Congress could not collect taxes
- No national court system
- Each state had only one vote in Congress, regardless of population

The United States Constitution

1787

Delegates from the thirteen states drafted the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia

The United States Constitution

The Preamble

The introduction of the Constitution that states its purpose.

The United States Constitution

Ratification

To formally approve to go into effect, 9 out of 13 states had to ratify the Constitution

Alexis de Tocqueville

French political thinker and historian best known for writing Democracy in America, examining the equality of social classes and liberty enjoyed in the United States in the 1830s. Wrote about the values crucial to America's success as a constitutional republic: liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism and laissez-faire.

Separation of Powers

Divides the powers of the government into three branches

Legislative Branch

Makes the laws

Executive Branch

Executes the laws

Judicial Branch

Interprets the laws

Federalism

Power is shared between the states and national government.

Republicanism

A system where people vote for elected representatives to run the government.

Checks and Balances

Makes sure no branch of government becomes too powerful.

Example: The President can veto a bill and Congress has the power to override the veto.

Limited Government

Power of the govt. is restricted by the U.S. Constitution. "No one is above the law."

Popular Sovereignty

The people hold supreme power. Addressed in the preamble..."We the people..."

The Bill of Rights

- The first ten amendments of the Constitution
- Protect individual rights and liberties
- The Bill of Rights was necessary in order for some states to ratify the Constitution

1st Amendment

Freedom of speech, religion, and press; right to assemble; right to petition

2nd Amendment

Right to bear arms

3rd Amendment

No quartering of soldiers during peace time

4th Amendment

No unlawful search and seizure

5th Amendment

No double jeopardy; cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself

6th Amendment

The right to a fast and public trial

7th Amendment

Trial by jury

8th Amendment

No cruel or unusual punishment

9th Amendment

Rights reserved to the people

10th Amendment

Power reserved to the states

Manifest Destiny

the belief that the United States should stretch from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans; land acquisition through the 1860s

Texas (1845)

Joined the US as the 28th state

Mexican Cession (1848)

California and New Mexico sold to US for $15 million after the Mexican War

Utah Territory (1850)

Established as a territory; Brigham Young becomes governor

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

Bought from Mexico for $10 million

Oregon Territory (1859)

Becomes the 33rd state

Railroads

- Encouraged settlement in the West
- Created thousands of new jobs
- Transcontinental Railroad completed in 1869 connected the U.S.
east and west coasts by railway.

California Gold Rush (1849)

After gold was
discovered in California, over 40,000 people migrated
from the East to "strike it rich."

Great Plains

Grassland of Central North America that extends from
the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

Homestead Act (1862)

Law that provided 160 acres to anyone who
was willing to settle land in the West.

Exodusters

African Americans who migrated to Kansas after
Reconstruction.

Cattle Drives

As demand for beef increased, cowboys drove herds of
cattle along cattle trails to be shipped to the East by railroad.
Famous trails include the Chisholm, Western, and Goodnight-
Loving.

Technology on the Great Plains

Soddy

A house built of mud and grass that was settled
because of a lack of wood on the Great Plains.

Technology on the Great Plains

Barbed Wire

Used to fence in land on the Great Plains,
eventually leading to the end of the open frontier.

Technology on the Great Plains

Windmill

Allowed dry-land farming by bringing up
underground water to irrigate crops on the Great Plains.

Technology on the Great Plains

Steel Plow

Farm machine used to break up soil to allow the
planting of crops. The steel plow made farming more efficient.

Native American and A Way of Life

Buffalo

The Great Plains Indians relied on the buffalo to
continue their way of life. When the buffalo was killed off, so
was the lifestyle of the Plains Indians.

Native American and A Way of Life

Reservations

Plots of land given to Native Americans to live on as
white settlers moved West.

Native American and A Way of Life

Dawes Act

U.S. law that attempted to assimilate Indians by giving
them individual plots of land.

Native American and A Way of Life

Battle of Wounded Knee

U.S. soldiers massacred 300 unarmed Native
Americans in 1890. This ended the Indian Wars.

Andrew Carnegie

Business tycoon who controlled most of
the Steel industry. Carnegie was also known as a "Captain of
Industry" and a "robber baron.". "The Gospel of Wealth"
was Carnegie's famous essay about the role of industrialists.

John Rockefeller

Business tycoon who owned Standard
Oil and Controlled 90% of the oil industry in the late 1800's.
He was able to control the industry by making Standard Oil a
trust.

Monopolies

Situation in which one company controls the supply of a
product or service.

Trusts

Small companies join together to form one large company,
usually as a monopoly.

Sherman Antitrust Act

Outlaws business monopolies

Labor Unions

Organizations that protected the interests of the worker.

- Labor unions dealt with the dangerous working conditions and
long working hours that workers were faced with.
- They helped end child labor practices.
- Famous labor unions include the Knights of Labor and
American Federation of Labor (AFL).
- Labor unions helped organize strikes to protest the injustices of
the workplace.

Industrialization

The rise of a manufacturing economy and decline of
an agricultural economy.

Urbanization

The large growth of cities. With urbanization came a
large range of urban problems including sanitation,
transportation, and crowded living conditions.

Jane Addams

Founder of Chicago's Hull House;
campaigned for feminists and child labor reform.

Settlement Houses

community centers that helped
immigrants address the problems of squalid living
conditions, disease, illiteracy, and unemployment.

Social Gospel

movement applying Christian ethics to social issues,
particularly issues of social justice.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Banned Chinese immigration to U.S.
beginning in 1882. Ban was lifted in 1943.

Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

Law designed to regulate the
railroads and their monopolistic ways of doing business.

Federal Reserve Act of 1913

Created and set up the Federal Reserve
System, the central banking system of the United States of America, and
granted it the legal authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes (now
commonly known as the U.S. Dollar) and Federal Reserve Bank Notes as
legal tender.

Political Machines

Corrupt organized groups that controlled political
parties in the cities. A political boss leads the machine and attempts to
grab more votes for his party.

Tweed Ring Scandal

Political scandal
involving William Tweed and the Tammany Hall
political machine in New York City.

Thomas Nast

Political cartoons helped raise awareness of political corruption

Civil Service Reform

laws passed in the 1870s and 1880s began to
require government workers to take tests to work for the government and
began replacing the "spoils system".

Immigrants

- About 20 million European immigrants arrived in the U.S. between
1870 and 1920.
- Before 1890, most immigrants came from Western and Northern
Europe. These were known as the "Old Immigrants."
- An increase of Southern and Eastern immigrants occurred after
1890. They were known as the "New Immigrants" and their arrival
increased social tension.
- 300,000 Chinese immigrants arrived between 1851 and 1883.

Tenements

Apartments built in city slums to house
large numbers of people. Many immigrants were forced
to live in tenements in "slum" neighborhoods.

Child Labor

was a major problem during the Gilded
Age

Sweat Shops

A small factory where workers work
many hours in bad conditions for little pay.
Immigrants (and children) were considered cheap
labor and paid very little for their work.

Populism

The movement of the people, born with the founding of the
Populist Party in 1892. William Jennings Bryan was their leader.

Farm Crisis (1880s-1890s)

Farmers had overfarmed their land, were
being overcharged to ship products and were deep in debt. Would
lead to support of Populist Party.

Frances Willard

American educator, temperance reformer
and women's suffragist. Influence was instrumental in the
passage of the 18th and 19th Amendments to the U.S.
Constitution.

Goals of Progressivism

- Protect social welfare
- Create economic reform
- Political reform of government

Muckraker

Reporters and writers who exposed
government corruption and the abuses of big business.

Suffrage

The right to vote

16th Amendment

established the federal income tax

17th Amendment

The direct election of U.S. Senators. Made govt.
more responsive to the people.

18th Amendment

The prohibition of alcohol

19th Amendment

The right to vote for women

Initiative

Procedure by which citizens can propose a law to be placed
on a ballot.

Referendum

a vote on an initiative

Recall

Procedure by which a public official may be removed from
office by popular vote.

Ida B. Wells

African American journalist who led an anti-
lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s.