Eason Final Study Guide 2nd Semester
Note: not all of these questions are guaranteed to appear on the test, but many of them will (though not with identical wording)!
What is the Boston Massacre?
What were the important larger regional differences between the 13 colonies (that continued after American Independence)?
What was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence?
What does “unalienable rights” mean?
What were the problems with the Articles of Confederation?
What event convinced many Americans of the need to create what became the Constitution?
What is the supreme law of the land?
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? The Constitution?
What is loose constructionism (and can you identify an example of it)?
What is strict constructionism (and can you identify an example of it)?
What is the difference between federal and state powers/governments?
What is the Great Compromise?
What is the ⅗ Compromise?
What are checks and balances (and can you identify examples for each branch)?
What are the 3 branches of the government?
What does each branch of government do, broadly speaking?
How many senators are there per state? How many years did they serve?
How do (federal) judges take office, and how long do they serve?
What are the basic functions/powers of each branch of government?
How can the Constitution be changed? What are the required thresholds/numbers that must be met?
What is a veto, and which branch of the government gets to use it?
What is the Bill of Rights?
What Amendments provide:
Freedom of speech?
Freedom of assembly?
Right to a trial by jury?
Right to avoid self-incrimination?
Right to bear arms?
Right of women to vote?
Making slavery illegal in the United States?
Citizenship by birth to anyone born in the United States?
The right to vote (for all male citizens)?
Who were the major politicians in George Washington’s cabinet?
What was the Jay Treaty? Why was it negotiated, and why was it widely unpopular?
Who advocated creating a (First) Bank of the United States? Why?
Who opposed creating a (First) Bank of the United States? Why?
What was the Neutrality policy? Who created it, and why?
What did Washington say/tell to Americans in his Farewell Address? What parts of it did Americans actually follow?
What was nullification? How did it connect to the State’s Rights Doctrine?
What was the XYZ Affair? How did Americans react? How did the US government resolve it in the end?
What were the Alien and Sedition Acts? Who created them, and how did others react?
What were the two major political parties in the early years of the United States?
What challenges did Thomas Jefferson face during his presidency?
What events triggered the War of 1812?
What was the Louisiana Purchase? Why was it important?
Lewis & Clark expedition (what, when, why, and where)?
Who were the Forty-Niners? (...and no, not SF’s football team)
What is Manifest Destiny?
What is the Gold Rush?
What President helped create and pass the Indian Removal Act? Why?
What were the political achievements of the Jackson presidency?
What is the Trail of Tears?
What were the causes of the Mexican-American War?
What was the result of the Mexican-American War?
What is sectionalism?
What were the major differences between the North, South, and West (as sections/regions)?
What is the Missouri Compromise?
What invention increased the demand for slave labor in the South?
Who is John Brown and why is he important?
What was the goal of the abolitionist movement?
What was the Compromise of 1850? Why did it matter?
What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why did it matter?
What was the Fugitive Slave Act? What was its impact?
What major issue led to tension between the North and the South?
What changed in the broader relationship between the North and the South in the 1850s? Why?
Who is Harriet Tubman, and why is she important?
What does John Brown and Nat Turner have in common?
What is “Bleeding Kansas?”
What is an abolitionist?
What did popularity sovereignty mean (in the 1850s)?
What was the Dred Scott case/decision, and why did it matter?