US History Semester 1 Final Study Guide

What were the causes and effects of the First and Second Awakenings?

Enlightenment caused people to question traditional authority

List the provisions of the first Amendment, especially those concerning religion

Protects religion, free exercise thereof, freedom of speech, right of people to assemble, and petition government for a redress of grievances

Why were the Articles of Confederation inherently weak and what was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention of 1787?

Weak central government, no money, quarreling state, boundary and border disputes, no military leadership. Convention wanted to revise, but realized it needed to be redone

Define: Federalism

Divide powers between states and national government

What did Thomas Jefferson argue for in the Declaration of Independence and how was this document influenced by the Enlightenment?

Argued for unalienable rights (life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness). He took what Locke said and was influenced by the independence of the Enlightenment

What were the various compromises made at the Constitutional Convention?

-Great Compromise: Voting in senate

-3/5 Compromise: Count enslaved for population

Who were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists and what are the basic arguments concerning strictly or loosely interpreting the Constitution or whether or not the United States should have a strong central government?

-Federalists: strong central government, rule by educated elite, little faith in common people

-Anti-Federalists: Should be run by people, weak federal government, power with states

What are some of the basic rights embodied in the Bill of Rights?

Freedom of religion/speech, right to bear arms, no quartering soldiers, no illegal search and seizure, right to speedy and public trial, trial by jury, no excessive bails, unnumerated rights, and reserve constitutional powers

Explain how the system of checks and balances works

Balance power, each branch must be approved by another

What basic principle was established by the 1803 Sumpreme Court Decision Marbury v Madison?

Judicial Review, which meant the Supreme Court Decision was final.

What were the provisions of the Missouri Compromise?

States added north of the Missouri Compromise line would not allow slavery. States added south of the Missouri Compromise line would al

What did the phrase “Manifest Destiny” come to mean?

The belief that the US would inevitably expand westward to the Pacific ocean Mexican territory

What was the goal of the Emancipation Proclamation?

To weaken the Confederacy by declaring enslaved people in rebellious states free

What were the provisions of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments?

To abolish slavery, grant civil rights, and citizenship to formerly enslaved people, and protect their voting rights

What were the long term effects of Reconstruction?

Established Black citizenship and institutions such as black colleges and schools, but still succumbed to violent white supremacy

What was the effect of the Dred Scott Decision?

Ruled that black people, enslaved or free, were not citizens and had no right to sue in federal court

Why did women meet at the Seneca Falls New York in 1848?

To hold the first women’s rights conventions

What were some of the effects of urbanization?

Economic and environmental challenges. Inequality due to social status, such as how slums lacked basic human necessities

How were political machines able to stay in power?

They acted like pyramids, practicing corrupt things to keep their followers. They provided help to loyal supporters, like businesses or people in general who needed basic necessitie

Why were rich industrialists sometimes describes as “Robber Barons”?

They used ruthless tactics like exploiting workers, bribing officials, and creating monopolies to build massive fortunes during the Gilded Age

What is the difference between vertical and horizontal integration?

Horizontal: Merging with or acquiring competitors at the same stage of service
Vertical: Acquiring companies that supply or distribute your own products

Which “captains of industry” monopolized which industries?

-John D. Rockefelle (oil)

-Andrew Carnegie (steel)

-J.P. Morgan (Finance)

-Cornelius Vanderbilt (Railroads)

Define: laissez faire, Social Darwinism

-Laissez faire: when the government is not involved in businesses

-Social Darwinism: The

What were the “Jim Crow” laws?

Enforced racial segregation and disenfranchised African Americans

How did Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois differ in their views for achieving equality in America?

Washington believed in gradual equality- focus on economic security. WEB Dubois demanded immediate equality and opportunity

What did the Supreme Court rule in the 1896 Supreme Court Decision “Plessy v Ferguson”?

-ruled separate but equal

-segregation

What were the goals of the Progressive movement?

To regulate big businesses and promoting moral improvement and efficiency

Why was Theodore Roosevelt called a “trustbuster”?

Called for many monopolies to end

What did the “muckrakers” Jacob Riis, Lincoln Steffends, and Upton Sinclair write and what impact did this writing have on the Progressive movement?

They wrote about poverty, inequalities, lynching, racism, monopolies, and workers’ rights, which brought people’s suffering to the attention of the government

What were the provisions of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments?

authorized federal income tax, established direct election of senators, established Prohibition (banning alcohol), granted women the right to vote

Why were referendum, recall, and initiative instituted by Progressive reformers?

To combat corruption and concentrated power by giving citizens direct control over law making and officials

What were some of the reasons some Americans desired to establish colonial empires abroad?

economic, military purposes. They also wanted to spread Christianity

What was the purpose of the 1899 Open Door policy?

To keep the Chinese market available to all nations. They also wanted to prevent monopolization of Chinese trade

What were some of the long term and immediate causes of the Spanish American War?

-Long term: America wanted to support Cuba gain their independence, and also saw it as an opportunity for land and power

-Immediate: The explosion of the USS Maine

Why did Emilio Aguinaldo lead a rebellion against the United States in 1898?

The United States of America had denounced the Philippines as traitors, killing their people and destroying all their homes

What did the United States acquire as a result of the Spanish American war?

Philippines, Spain, Guam, and temporarily Cuba

How was the United States able to gain control of the Panama Canal Zone?

They supported Panama in their fight for independence

What were the foreign policy objectives of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson?

-Roosevelt: Big Stick Policy

-Taft: Dollar Diplomacy

-Wilson: Moral Diplomacy

What did Theodore Roosevelt stipulate in his “corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine?

US would intervene in Latin American countries to prevent European interference, called “interference police power”

What did the Supreme Court decide in Schenk v the United States?

During War time, speech can be limited by government

Who formed the NAACP and for what purpose?

WEB Dubois and Ida B. Welly for legal protections of Black Americans

In what ways did the Presidencies of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover represent a shift away from Progressivism? What were noteworthy events of their presidencies?

Pro-business

-Government should not regulate

-Tax breaks

Which strategies were used to encourage consumer spending?

-ads

-assembly line

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