Regents Review Sheet 2023

US History Regents Review Topics

Domestic Affairs

  • European Settlement of North America

    • French and Indian War

    • The Enlightenment, John Locke, Natural Rights

  • The Constitution

    • Federalist Papers

    • Federalists vs. Anti-federalists

    • Elastic Clause

    • Due Process

    • Equal Protection of Law

  • Civil War and Reconstruction

    • Emancipation Proclamation

    • Pacific Railway Act, 1862

    • Homestead Act

    • Freedmen’s Bureau

  • Gilded Age, Populism and Progressivism

    • Chinese Exclusion Act

    • Muckrakers

    • Social Darwinism

  • Roaring Twenties

    • Great Migration

    • Harlem Renaissance

  • Depression, World War II and Post World War II

    • The New Deal

    • Civil Rights Act

  • Foreign Policy Affairs

    • Washington’s Farewell Address

    • Monroe Doctrine

    • Spanish American War

Marbury vs. Madison, 1803

  • Theme of increasing federal power and the Marshall court decisions.

  • Established the precedent of judicial review by the Supreme Court.

Compromise of 1850

  • Controversy around the expansion of slavery.

  • California became a free state, strengthened fugitive slave law, and applied popular sovereignty to future territories.

Kansas Nebraska Act, 1854

  • Controversy around the expansion of slavery.

  • Reopened the slavery issue in Kansas and Nebraska, leading to conflicts over slavery.

John Brown and Harpers Ferry, 1859

  • John Brown's failed plan to arm slaves and lead an uprising.

  • Southerners saw him as a threat to their slaves and freedoms.

Frederick Jackson Turner

  • The Frontier Thesis.

  • Described the impact of the American frontier on democracy and risk-taking.

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USHistory Regents Review Topics

  • Schenck vs. US, 1919 and Espionage Acts

    • Theme of limitations of civil liberties during World War I.

    • People speaking against the draft or war could violate Sedition Act and Espionage Act.

    • Schenck's arrest upheld, limiting civil liberties in times of "clear and present danger."

  • Back to Africa Movement, 1920’s

    • Theme of Harlem Renaissance and Black Self-Help.

    • Marcus Garvey revived the movement to relocate free black people to Liberia.

    • Black Star Steamship line encouraged migration to Liberia for new lives.

  • The New Deal and the Tennessee Valley Authority

    • Response to the Great Depression.

    • TVA aimed to create jobs, electrify rural regions, and boost the economy.

    • Controversy over government ownership of the corporation.

  • Neutrality Acts, 1935, 36, 37 and 39

    • Theme of US isolationism.

    • Laws aimed to keep the US out of war in Europe.

    • Neutrality Act of 1939 allowed trade with the UK under Cash and Carry policy.

  • FDR and the Court Packing Scheme

    • FDR's attempt to increase Supreme Court justices to 15.

    • Seen as a power grab after Supreme Court declared New Deal laws unconstitutional.

  • Gideon vs. Wainwright

    • Expansion of Rights of the Accused.

    • Established the right to a public defender if unable to afford an attorney.

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USHistory Regents Review Topics

  • War Powers Act, 1973

    • Theme of checks and balances and Vietnam.

    • Restrained the president's ability to commit U.S. forces overseas.

    • Required consultation with Congress before involving U.S. forces in foreign hostilities.

  • Persian Gulf War

    • Theme of UN actions.

    • Triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait over oil fields.

    • US gained UN support to defend Kuwait with minimal