USHIST Final Exam

**The Enlightenment**

* An era where thinking dominated Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. 

**John Locke**

Enlightenment thinker

* Born with blank slates- society and education can make people better.
* Influenced Declaration of Independence and US Constitution

**Baron Montesquieu**

* Separation of Powers to protect people’s liberty: 
* Distribution of power between Executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
* Influenced Declaration of Independence

**Jean-Jacques Rousseau** 

* Believed that man is born free, but civilization corrupts
* governments are formed by the “consent” of people
* people can make their own laws
* when they deny rights, governments can be terminated.
* Influenced Declaration of Independence

**French & Indian War**

* fought over the Ohio valley
* 1689-1748- 3 wars between France & England
* 1754- 63- Leaves the British in tremendous debt
* Seven Years’ War

**Sons of Liberty**

* Organized huge demonstrations and intimidated stamp distributors.
* **Boston Tea Party**
* December 17, 1773
* British Tea was made cheaper and they bypass American merchants
* Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans- threw 342 chests into Boston Harbor
* East Indian was the company of tea

**Coercive Acts**

* Takes away traditional British rights

**1st Continental Congress**

* 1774
* 12 colonies present 
* Agree to disobey Coercive Acts
* Produced the Declaration of Rights and Grievances

**2nd Continental Congress**

* Names militias Continental Army
* Names George Washington commander
* Send Olive Branch Petition to King
* Had trouble paying for the war because lacked the ability to tax

**Olive Branch Petition**

* Sent to the king
* the last attempt to prevent formal war from being declared
* Written by John Dickinson

**Committees of Correspondence**

* Coordinated colonies' actions against England
* Helped unify colonies
* Shaped public opinion

**Thomas Jefferson**

Wrote the Declaration of Independence

**Thomas Paine**

* “Common Sense”
* King is now the enemy - not just Parliament
* Parliament did nothing without King’s approval
* Monarchies take power away
* King George is a tyrant

**Loyalists**

People that are loyal to England

**Minutemen**

Soldiers that got ready in one minute

**Lexington & Concord**

* Minutemen fight at Lexington Green
* British March to seize “MinuteMen” guns - Battle at North Bridge, Concord
* British retreat to Boston w/ high casualties

**Bunker Hill**

* June 16, 1775
* 1,000 casualties

**Admiral Rochambeau**

* controlled the Chesapeake Bay and cornered the British forcing a surrender.
* Met with Washington in Yorktown

**Valley Forge**

* 1777-78 Washington’s 12,000 men settle for the winter
* Lack of food, warm shelter, and basic supplies
* 2000 died

**Treaty of Paris**

British recognized the US as a new nation, signed on Sept. 3, 1783

***Declaration of Independence***

* __Preamble__- explains why the Continental Congress drew up the Declaration.
* __Declaration of Natural Rights__- This states that people have certain basic rights and that government should protect those rights.
* __List of Grievances__- Lists the colonists’ complaints against the British government.
* __Resolution of Independence by the US__- Declares that the colonies are “Free and Independent States” with the full power to make war, form alliances, and trade with other countries.

Author and date of adoption- Written by Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1776

**Perceived benefits of the Articles of Confederation**

* Right to declare war, raise armies, and sign treaties. 
* Northwest Ordinance
* Commerce treaties

**Major failures of the Articles of Confederation**

* Western Policies
* Problems with trade
* Problems with Spain
* Problems with Britain
* Economic Crisis

**Shay’s Rebellion**

* The government started to raise taxes instead of paper money.
* Fell heavy on farmers
* In January 1787, Shay and about 1,200 farmers headed to a state arsenal intending to seize weapons before marching on Boston. 
* This led to the ratification of the Constitution

**The original purpose of the Convention**

intended to revise the Articles of Confederation but instead drafted a new constitution.

**Components of the Virginia Plan**

Proposed scrapping the Articles of Confederation and creating a new national government with the power to make laws binding upon the states and to raise its own money through taxes.

**New Jersey Plan**

Proposed by William Paterson – delegate, Equal reps in the legislature, Larger states rejected

Components of the Connecticut Compromise,

Lower house - popularly elected, assigned delegates based on population, House of Representatives,

Upper house – elected by state legislatures, Equal # of reps from each state, The Senate, Only needs 50% of the vote to pass legislation

3/5th Compromise

Every 5 enslaved people would count as 3 free people for determining both representation and taxes.

Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation established a very weak central government. Under the Articles, once a year, each state would select a delegation to send to the capital city. They were referred to as the Confederation Congress. The US could not tax and impose tariffs.

Connecticut/ “Great Compromise”

the committee proposed that in one house of Congress – the House of Representatives – the states would be represented according to the size of their populations. In the other house – the House of Senate – each state would have equal representation.

Slavery Compromise

3/5 Compromise …”Other people”, Slave Trade and Commerce Clause, and Fugitive Slave Clause

Federalist Papers

85 pamphlets & essays supporting the Constitution

Impeachment

a president can be impeached for Treason, High Crimes & Misdemeanors, and Bribery.

Necessary & Proper Clause

is the constitutional source of the vast majority of federal laws. Virtually all of the laws establishing the machinery of government, as well as substantive laws ranging from antidiscrimination laws to labor laws, are enacted under the authority of the Necessary and Proper Clause.

Legislative Branch

made up by the two houses of congress. They make the laws.

Bicameral Legislature

the house of representatives and senate

House of Representative Member Requirements

Every 2-year election at least 25 yrs old, 7 years US Citizen

Senate Requirements Member Requirements

Every 6-year election

35 years old, 9 years US Citizen

Executive Branch

headed by the president, implements and enforces laws passed by Congress.

Judicial Branch

7 a system of federal courts that interprets federal laws and renders judgment in cases involving those laws.

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Laws begin as ideas. First, a representative sponsors a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If released by the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated, or amended. If the bill passes by a simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. Finally, a conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. The Government Printing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The President has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill.

Overriding a Presidential Veto

the legislature can override the veto with a ⅔ vote in both houses.

Separation of Powers

the US Constitution provides for a separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government.

Article 1

legislative branch, Make Nation’s Laws, Power to Tax, Decide how federal $ is spent

Article 2

the executive branch, the president can appoint ambassadors and oversees 15 departments.

Article 3

judicial branch, the supreme court

Enumerated Power

powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution.

Reserved Power

not mentioned in the constitution

Concurrent powers

Power Federal govt & states share

How do the views of Federalists **and Anti-Federalists differ?**

Federalists are fighting for the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-federalists are fighting to not have a constitution and a strong central government.

Alexander Hamilton

federalist, wanted national bank, urban

John Marshall

chief justice, oversaw the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Thomas Jefferson

wanted rural economy, secretary of state, cottage industry

Adam Smith

father of capitalism/free market economy

McCulloch v. Maryland

Maryland tried to sue National Bank, necessary and proper clause

Marbury v. Madison

Jefferson told Madison to not deliver documents, judicial review

Gibbons v. Ogden

Federal government has control over interstate commerce

Mercantilism

benefit the mother country, England, and colonies

Characteristics of Capitalism

invisible hand, self

Characteristics of Socialism

Value of the product comes from the laborer, profit is shared, class list society

Strict v. Loose Interpretation of the Constitution

The Loose interpretation states that the Federal government can do what is good for the country even if the Constitution doesn't explicitly allow it, but the Strict interpretation states that the Federal government can only do what the Constitution says it can do.

Implied Powers

not directly listed in the constitution but implied

Enumerated Powers

powers of government listed in the constitution

Deal to move the US Capital

NYC to Washington D.C. for the national government to take over and pay the state debts

Whiskey Rebellion

Congress imposed a tax on the manufacture of whiskey. In 1794, in Pennsylvania, farmers terrorized tax collectors, stopped court proceedings, and robbed the mail.

Louisiana Purchase

US purchase land from France for cheap which nearly doubled the US, in 1803.

Jacksonian Democracy

Led by President Andrew Jackson, this movement championed greater rights for the common man and was opposed to any signs of aristocracy in the nation.

Robber Barons

people who loot an industry and give nothing back

Jay Gould

infamous for manipulation of stock and was the most notoriously corrupt railroad owner

Andrew Carnegie

opened a steel company in 1875 and began using the Bessemer process. Carnegie began vertical integration of the steel industry.

John Rockefeller

Owned Standard Oil, which was the nation’s largest oil refiner, and achieved almost complete horizontal integration.

Gustavus Swift

Founder of Swift Meatpacking

Samuel Gompers

The first president of the AFL, tried to focus on “pure and simple” unionism.

Innovations of the Gilded Age

Railroads that stretch farther, Meatpacking, Refrigerated rail cars, Lightbulb

American Federation of Labor

the most dominant union of the late 1800s, focused on promoting the interests of skilled workers.

Knights of Labor

founded in 1869, supported arbitration, called for an 8

'Wobblies'

nickname for IWW, who wanted to organize all workers according to industry, without making distinctions between skilled and unskilled workers.

Muckrakers

The muckrakers were reform

Upton Sinclair

published his novel The Jungle, featuring appalling descriptions of conditions in meatpacking.

Robert La Follette

Wisconsin governor who made Wisconsin a model of progressive reform.

Trust

a combination of businesses whose intent is to diminish competition

Homestead Strike

20% wage cut, surrounded factory with pickets, strike collapses

Free Enterprise

private business operates in competition and largely free of state control.

Horizontal vs Vertical Integration

Horizontal

combining firms in the same business into one large corporation

Vertical

a company that owns all the different businesses on which it depends on.

Sherman Antitrust Act

Sherman Antitrust Act outlaws "every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade," and any "monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy or combination to monopolize."

Homestead Act

Law that gave out public land to many who would travel to it

Bull Market

* the condition of a financial market in which prices are rising or are expected to rise

Speculation

* Speculation that the Stock market will crash

Buying on Margin

**getting a loan from your brokerage and using the money from the loan to invest in more securities than you can buy with your available cash**

Bank Run

**when large groups of depositors withdraw their money from banks simultaneously based on fears that the institution will become insolvent**

Black Tuesday

Oct. 29, 1929 when price when took a steep dive

Overproduction

Too many products no consumers

Smoot Hawley Tariff

was signed by President Herbert Hoover on June 17, 1930. The act raised US tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods. An Act To provide revenue, to regulate commerce with foreign countries, to encourage the industries of the United States, to protect American labor, and for other purposes.

The Roots of the Great Depression

* Overproduction of crops
* Lack of diversification in the economy
* Declining exports
* Weak international economy

Warning Sign #1 Farmers were in Trouble

* Overproduction after war
* Many farmers couldn't pay debt
* 1 in 4 americans were farmers

Warning Sign #2 Wealth was Not Evenly Distributed in Society

* Only a few americans were wealthy
* 5% of americans held 33% of all income
* Most people lived on economic edge

Warning Sign #3 Americans were Buying on Credit

* Farmers were in debt
* People bought goods with credit and went deeper in debt
* Also used credit to buy stocks
* Banks were in financial trouble because they invested in the stock market