Key Historical Concepts for Exam Review

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts from U.S. history, important amendments, significant court cases, and major economic policies.

Natural Rights

Basic rights all people are born with: life, liberty, and property.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker who created the idea of natural rights.

Social Contract (Locke)

People agree to form a government to protect their rights, and if the government fails, the people can change or overthrow it.

Grievances in the Declaration of Independence

Complaints against King George III, such as unfair taxes, lack of representation, keeping troops in the colonies, ignoring colonial laws, and limiting rights.

Northwest Ordinance

Set rules for admitting new states, banned slavery in the Northwest Territory, protected civil liberties, and encouraged public education.

Articles of Confederation

The First U.S. constitution that created a weak national government.

Problems with Articles of Confederation

Government couldn't tax, had no executive branch, no national court system, weak military, and states acted like separate countries.

Constitution's Improvements

Created 3 branches, allowed taxation, gave Congress more powers, and established a stronger executive and Court System.

Federalism

Divides power between the national government and the states.

Federalist Papers

A collection of essays written to persuade Americans to support and ratify the Constitution.

Federalist Views

Wanted a strong military, supported federal taxes, and favored a stronger executive.

Anti-Federalist Views

Feared a standing army, opposed strong federal taxes, and worried the executive would become too powerful.

Federalist View on Bill of Rights

Thought it wasn't needed.

Anti-Federalist View on Bill of Rights

Wanted it to protect rights.

Bill of Rights Compromise

The compromise was adding the Bill of Rights after ratification.

Limits on Federal Power

Created 3 branches, used checks and balances, federalism, and listed specific powers and limits.

13^{\text{th}} Amendment

Abolished slavery in the U.S..

14^{\text{th}} Amendment

Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.

15^{\text{th}} Amendment

Gave African American men the right to vote.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" segregation was legal.

Jim Crow Laws

State laws that enforced racial segregation in the South.

Miscegenation Laws

State laws whose purpose was to ban interracial marriage and relationships.

Ku Klux Klan (Post-Civil War Goal)

Wanted to restore white control and stop Black political power by using violence, threats, and terror.

Compromise of 1877

Republicans got the Presidency (Hayes); Democrats got Federal troops removed from the South, which ended Reconstruction and allowed segregation to rise.

Homestead Act (1862)

Gave settlers 160 acres of free land if they lived on it and improved it for 5 years.

Dawes Act

To break up Native American tribal lands and force assimilation by giving individual land plots.

Indian Residential Schools (Carlisle)

Aimed to erase Native cultures and force Native children to adopt White/American customs.

Battle of Little Bighorn

Lakota and Cheyenne forces defeated Custer's troops; a major Native victory that led to harsher U.S. retaliation.

Ghost Dance Movement

A native spiritual movement that hoped to restore their lands and way of life and make White settlers leave.

Wounded Knee

The U.S. Army killed hundreds of Lakota, ending Native resistance.

Immigration & Industrialization Connection

Immigrants supplied cheap labor that fueled factories and rapid industrial growth.

Nativism

A belief favoring native-born Americans and opposing immigrants.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law that banned Chinese immigration and denied citizenship to Chinese immigrants.

Emergency Quota Act

A law to sharply limit immigration by favoring Northern/Western Europeans.

Quota System

A system that set strict limits on how many immigrants could enter from each country.

Tenements

Crowded, unsafe apartment buildings where many immigrants lived.

Cultural Diffusion

The spreading of ideas, goods, and traditions, created when immigrants bring their cultures and mix them into American society.

Innovations (Industrialization Age)

Railroads, telegraph, telephone, electric light bulb, steel production (Bessemer process), automobiles, skyscrapers.

Urbanization

The growth of cities as people move there for jobs.

Andrew Carnegie

Built a steel empire using vertical integration and low production costs, becoming one of the richest men in America.

John D. Rockefeller

Controlled the oil industry through Standard Oil and used horizontal integration to eliminate "competition".

Laissez-Faire Capitalism

An economic system where the government does not interfere with business.

Monopolies' Harm to Consumers

Limited competition, raised prices, and reduced choice.

Purpose of Labor Unions

To fight for better wages, safer working conditions, and shorter hours.

Collective Bargaining

Negotiation between workers (through unions) and employers for better conditions.

Homestead Strike & Lockout

Cause: Workers protested wage cuts at Carnegie Steel. Result: A violent clash with Pinkertons; the strike failed and unions lost power.

Scientific Management

A system that studied work tasks to make them more efficient, helping businesses increase productivity.

Progressive Movement Goal

To fix problems caused by industrialization—corruption, unfair business practices, poor working conditions, and social injustice.

Muckraker

A journalist who exposed corruption, poverty, and abuses to inspire reform.

The Jungle

Novel by Upton Sinclair that exposed unsafe and disgusting conditions in the meatpacking industry, leading to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Lewis Hine

Used photography to expose child labor and unsafe working conditions for children.

Jacob Riis

Exposed the poverty and awful living conditions in tenements.

Secret Ballot

A voting method that allows people to vote privately without pressure or intimidation.

17^{\text{th}} Amendment

To allow voters to directly elect U.S. senators.

Theodore Roosevelt

The president who set aside the most land for the creation of national parks.

Imperialism

A policy where a stronger nation takes control of weaker ones for power, resources, or influence.

Isolationism

Avoiding involvement in foreign affairs or wars.

Reasons for Imperialism

For economic resources, new markets, military bases, and National power.

Social Darwinism

The belief that stronger nations or races are naturally meant to dominate weak ones.

Big Stick Diplomacy

Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy: "speak softly and carry a big stick"—negotiate but use military force if needed.

Causes of Spanish-American War

Explosion of the USS Maine, yellow journalism, and U.S. support for Cuban independence.

U.S. Lands Gained (Treaty of Paris)

Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

Purpose of Panama Canal

To create a faster route between the Atlantic and Pacific for trade and the Navy.

Reasons for U.S. Control of Hawaii

For sugar plantations, military bases (Pearl Harbor), and its strategic location.

Causes of WWI (M.A.N.I.A.)

Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Germany used submarines to sink ships without warning; it angered the U.S. after American lives were lost, pushing the U.S. toward War.

Zimmermann Telegram

Germany asked Mexico to attack U.S.; angered Americans.

Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points

Its purpose was to create a League of Nations.

Treaty of Versailles (Cause of WWII)

Punished Germany harshly, causing anger and Hitler's rise.

U.S. Senate Refusal (Versailles)

Feared the League of Nations would drag the U.S. into Wars.

America as World Power (WWI)

Sent troops, helped win the war, joined global diplomacy.

Spanish Influenza (Symptoms & Deaths)

Symptoms: Fever, Fatigue, Pneumonia. Deaths: \sim 50 million worldwide, \sim 675K U.S..

19^{\text{th}} Amendment

Gave women voting rights.

First Red Scare Fear

Fear of Communism spreading to America.

Results of First Red Scare

Arrests, deportations, fear of immigrants.

Ku Klux Klan (1920s Target)

Targeted Blacks, immigrants, Catholics, Jews.

Great Migration

African Americans moved North for Jobs and to escape racism.

Results of Great Migration

Northern Black Communities grew; cultural changes.

Harlem Renaissance

Black artistic and cultural movement.

Henry Ford's Impact

Mass-produced cheap cars; assembly line.

Scopes Trial

Teacher charged for teaching evolution.

Prohibition Amendments

The 18^{\text{th}} Amendment banned Alcohol; the 21^{\text{st}} Amendment repealed it.

Results of Prohibition

Bootlegging, crime, speakeasies.

Henry Ford's Automobile Transformation

Assembly line changed car production.

Charles Lindbergh

Performed the first solo nonstop Atlantic Flight.

Talkie / The Jazz Singer

A Talkie is a movie with sound. The Jazz Singer was the first major one.

KDKA / Radio Impact

KDKA was the first commercial radio station. Radio united the country with shared news and entertainment.

Hoovervilles

Shacks for the homeless, named after Hoover because people blamed him.

Great Depression Timing & Unemployment

Timing: 1929-1941. Worst Unemployment: 1933, with about 25\% of the workforce jobless.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

Total value of goods/services. Recession = short GDP drop. Depression = long, severe GDP drop.

Speculation in the Stock Market

Risky buying, hoping prices rise fast.

Buying Stocks on Margin

Borrowing money to buy stocks; when prices fell, people couldn't repay, helping cause the crash.

Bank Closings' Effect

People lost savings and couldn't get loans, worsening the crisis.

Installment Plan (Short/Long Run)

Definition: Buy now, pay later. Short run: more spending. Long run: more debt.

Inflation vs. Deflation

Inflation = prices rise. Deflation = prices fall.

Monetary Policy

The Fed controls money and interest rates. Lower rates = more inflation. Higher rates = less inflation.

Federal Reserve Mistake (GD)

They raised rates and tightened money, deepening the Depression.