All terms for U.S. History & Civics final exam, 2025

Voting age in the U.S.

18 (26th Amendment)

Term length for House of Representatives

2 years

Term length for Senate

6 years

Term length for President of the U.S

4 years

Age to serve in House of Representatives

25

Age to serve in Senate

30

Age to serve as President

35

Some powers of U.S. Congress

Propose laws, declare war, propose amendments, override presidential veto

Some powers of U.S. President

Nominates Supreme Court justices, appoints cabinet members, commander-in-chief of U.S. military, approve or veto laws

judicial review

The power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional

Term length for Supreme Court justice

life

Number of people in the House of Representatives

435

Number of representatives California has in the House

52

Number of people in the Senate

100

Name of California's "Congress"

California State Legislature

Name of California's "Senate"

California State Senate

Name of California's "House of Representatives"

California State Assembly

Number of justices on the Supreme Court

9

Judicial branch (Article III)

Interprets laws

Executive branch (Article II)

Enforces or carries out laws

Legislative branch (Article I)

Makes laws

A system in which power is divided between the national (federal) and state governments

federalism

First three words of the Constitution

We the People

First paragraph of the Constitution

Preamble

A group of advisers to the president

Cabinet

to approve something formally, such as a law or treaty

ratify

California's governor

Gavin Newsom

Name one of California's two U.S. senators

Alex Padilla; Adam Schiff

One representative from L.A. in the U.S. House of Representatives

Judy Chu, Laura Friedman, Mike Garcia, Jimmy Gomez, or another of your choice

bill

a proposed law

veto

to reject a law

Federalists

A group and then political party in the 1790s that wanted a strong central government. It was influenced by Alexander Hamilton, and its members didn't think a Bill of Rights was needed.

Anti-Federalists

A group in the 1790s that did not want a strong central government. It was influenced by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, and its members did think a Bill of Rights was needed.

checks and balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

The two parts of the U.S. Congress

Senate and House

Articles of Confederation

"Rough draft" constitution of the U.S. from 1781-1789 (weaknesses: no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

Shays' Rebellion

Revolt by farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Census

The official count of the U.S. population, every 10 years

Apportionment

the process of determining the number of House representatives for each state using decennial census data

Electoral College

a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.

Federalist Papers

A collection of 85 essays by Hamilton, Jay, & Madison to support ratification of the U.S. Constitution

Amendment

Change to the Constitution

Most Popular Amendment Process

2/3 of Congress Proposes; 3/4 of States Ratify (Approve)

First Amendment

RAPPS: Freedom of Religion, Assembly, Press, Petition, and Speech

Second Amendment

Right to bear arms (weapons)

Third Amendment

The government may not house (quarter) soldiers in private homes without consent of the owner

Fourth Amendment

No unreasonable searches and seizures

Fifth Amendment

No one can be deprived by the federal government of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" (includes no self-incrimination, no being tried twice for the same crime)

Sixth Amendment

Right to trial by jury in criminal cases

Seventh Amendment

Right to trial by jury in many civil cases

Eighth Amendment

No excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment

Ninth Amendment

Unenumerated Powers (The listing in the Constitution, of certain rights does not mean that the people do not have the rights that are not listed)

Tenth Amendment

Reserved Powers (The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people)

1776

Declaration of Independence

1789

Constitution goes into effect

1791

Bill of Rights ratified by states

Most famous line of the Declaration of Independence

"All men are created equal"

1776

Declaration of Independence

1789

Constitution goes into effect

1791

Bill of Rights ratified by states

1861-65

U.S. Civil War

1865

Thirteenth Amendment

1914-18

World War I

1917-18

U.S. involvement in World War I

1920

19th Amendment

1939-45

World War II

1941-45

U.S. involvement in World War II

1947-1991

Cold War between US and USSR

1948

Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by UN

1971

26th Amendment

1975

Vietnam War ends

2015

Sustainable Development Goals adopted by UN

Social history

Branch of history that emphasizes the lived experience of ordinary people and the social structures that impact them.

Political history

Branch of history that emphasizes government organizations, leaders, voters and parties.

Suffrage

the right to vote

Disenfranchise

to deprive of the right to vote

Sojourner Truth

United States abolitionist and feminist who was freed from slavery and became a leading advocate of the abolition of slavery and for the rights of women; delivered "Ain't I a Woman?" speech in at a women's rights convention in 1851.

13th Amendment

The constitutional amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude.

19th Amendment

Gave women the right to vote

26th Amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

Reparations

Payment for damages after a war or other harm (such as that given to Japanese Americans who had been interned in WWII through Ronald Reagan's signing the 1988 Civil Liberties Act)

Isolationism

A national policy of avoiding involvement in world affairs

Interventionism

A policy characterized by a nation's willingness to intervene in international situations, including another country's affairs.

Sedition Act of 1918

Wartime law that prohibited any words or behavior that might promote resistance to the United States or help in the cause of its enemies.

Schenck v. United States

1919 Supreme Court case involving limits on free speech that established the "clear and present danger" principle.

4 ways the size of U.S. government increased after WWI (be able to list at least 2)

1. Selective Service Act/register for the draft

2. New governmental agencies to regulate industry, agriculture, and labor.

3. Propaganda to get Americans to support the war.

4. Income taxes

Lend-Lease Act

Law in effect from 1941-45 that allowed sales or loans of war materials to any country whose defense President Roosevelt deemed vital to the defense of the U.S. during WWII

Tuskegee Airmen

Fighter Group of African American pilots famous for detmore than 200 enemy planes during World War II.

Hector Garcia

A World War II veteran who founded the American G.I. Forum, a civil rights group still active today fighting for Latino rights in health care, education, labor agreements, and the court system.

Harriet Robinson

Worker who led a protest at Lowell Mills in Massachusetts in the 1830s and later became a well-known abolitionist

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

This abolitionist speaker, whose husband died four years after they were married, gave a famous 1866 speech titled "We Are All Bound Up Together," urging that African American women be included in the fight for suffrage

Horace Mann

A prominent proponent of public school reform in the early 1800s who set the standard for public schools throughout the nation

Righteous Among the Nations

A honorable designation given to those who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust (example: Miep Gies)

8 characteristics of awe (be able to list at least 3), according to Professor Dacher Keltner

Moral beauty, Collective effervescence, Nature, Music, Visual design, Spirituality & religion, Life & death, Epiphany

17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (be able to list at least 3)

A global framework established by the United Nations in 2015 to address various social, economic, and environmental challenges. The goals aim to promote prosperity, protect the planet, and ensure peace and justice by 2030.

10 Changemaker Questions (be able to list at least 2)

A set of reflective questions designed to encourage critical thinking and social change, such as "What is the issue?" and "Who is affected by it?"