HISTORY EXAM

Political Concepts

• Capitalism – An economic system where businesses are owned by private people, not the government, and people work for profit.

• Socialism – A system where the government owns major businesses and services to help everyone get equal access to things like healthcare and education.

• Democracy – A government where the people vote to make decisions or choose leaders.

• Laissez-faire – An idea that the government should not get involved in business and let it run on its own. “Leave them alone”.

• Communism – A system where all property is shared, and the government controls everything to make everyone equal.

• Absolute Monarchy – A government where a king or queen has total power over the country.

• Misogyny – Dislike or hatred of women.

• Xenophobia – Fear or dislike of people from other countries.

• Constitution – A written plan that explains how a government works and what rights people have.

• Nazism – A political movement in Germany led by Adolf Hitler, based on racism, dictatorship, and extreme nationalism.

• Social Democracy – A system that combines democracy with some socialist ideas, like government help for the poor.

• Colonialism – When a country controls land in another part of the world and uses it for its own benefit.

• Slavery – When people are treated as property and forced to work without pay or freedom.

• Marxism – The ideas of Karl Marx, saying that workers should rise up against rich owners and create a classless society.

• Ethnocentrism – Thinking your own culture is better than others.

• Racism – Believing that some races are better than others.

• Republic – A government where leaders are elected by the people.

• Fascism – A political system led by a dictator with strong control over people’s lives and no tolerance for opposition.

• Natural Rights – Basic rights people are born with, like life, freedom, and property.

• Racial Supremacy – The belief that one race is better than all others.

• Imperialism – When a country takes over other lands to build a big empire.

• Suffrage – The right to vote in elections.

• Absolute Monarchy – A government where a king or queen has total power and makes all the decisions without needing approval from anyone else.

• Oliver Cromwell – A military and political leader in England who helped remove the king during the English Civil War. He ruled the country as a strict leader, almost like a dictator, even though the monarchy had been ended for a time.

Geographical Terms

• Sphere – A round shape like a ball; the Earth is a sphere.

• Equator – An imaginary line around the middle of the Earth, dividing it into north and south.

• Island – Land surrounded by water.

• Peninsula – Land that is almost surrounded by water but still connected to land.

• Oasis – A spot in the desert where there is water and plants.

• Geography – The study of the Earth’s land, water, and people.

• Prime Meridian – An imaginary line that divides the Earth into eastern and western halves.

• Longitude – Lines on a map that go up and down and measure how far east or west a place is.

• Latitude – Lines on a map that go sideways and measure how far north or south a place is.

• Isthmus – A narrow strip of land that connects two larger areas of land.

• Glacier – A large, slow-moving mass of ice.

• Cartography – The science or art of making maps.

• Astronomy – The study of stars, planets, and space.

• Natural Resources – Things from nature that people use, like water, trees, or oil.

Absolute Monarchy

• Louis XIV of France – A French king who ruled with total power and built the Palace of Versailles.

• Spanish Armada – A large fleet of ships sent by Spain in 1588 to attack England, but it failed.

• Versailles – A huge and fancy palace in France, built by King Louis XIV.

• Peter the Great of Russia – A Russian tsar who tried to make Russia more modern like Europe.

• James I of England – A king who believed strongly in ruling with total power and argued with Parliament.

  Age of Enlightenment

  Natural rights – Basic rights all people are born with, like life and freedom.

  John Locke – Believed people have natural rights and that government should protect them.

  Voltaire – Spoke out for freedom of speech and religion.

  Adam Smith – Economist who supported capitalism and free markets.

  Thomas Hobbes – Believed people need a strong ruler to keep order.

  Montesquieu – Said power should be split into three parts (branches of government).

  Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Believed in the will of the people and that government should follow it.

  Salon – A gathering where people talked about ideas, especially during the Enlightenment.

  Age of Revolutions (U.S. and France)

  Stamp Act – British law that taxed printed materials in the American colonies.

  Benjamin Franklin – American leader who helped with independence and the Constitution.

  Bastille – A prison stormed during the French Revolution, symbol of royal power.

  Guillotine – A device used to execute people by beheading during the French Revolution.

  George Washington – Led the American army and became the first U.S. president.

  Thomas Jefferson – Wrote the Declaration of Independence.

  Reign of Terror – A time during the French Revolution when many people were executed.

  Napoleon – French military leader who became emperor and expanded French power.

  Waterloo – Battle where Napoleon was defeated for the last time.

  Manifest Destiny – The belief that the U.S. should expand across North America.

  Monroe Doctrine – U.S. policy saying Europe should not interfere in the Americas.

  Italy, Germany, South and Central America, Caribbean, Africa

  Mestizo – A person of mixed Native American and European ancestry.

  Mulatto – A person of mixed African and European ancestry.

  Creole – People of European descent born in the Americas.

  peninsular – People born in Spain living in Latin America.

  Simon Bolivar – Leader who helped South American countries gain independence.

  Otto von Bismarck – United Germany using war and politics.

  Giuseppe Garibaldi – Helped unify Italy.

  Queen Victoria – Queen of Britain during a time of empire and industrial growth.

  Imperialism – When strong countries take over weaker ones.

  Colonialism – When a country controls land in another place for power and profit.

  Opium War – War between Britain and China over drug trade and trade rights.

  Line of Demarcation – A line set by the Pope dividing land between Spain and Portugal.

  Industrial Revolution

  Enclosure – Combining small farms into larger ones, forcing poor farmers to move.

  Thomas Malthus – Said population grows faster than food supply, leading to problems.

  Charles Darwin – Scientist who explained evolution and natural selection.

  James Watt – Improved the steam engine, which powered factories.

  Karl Marx – Believed workers should rise up and create a classless society.

  World War I

  Archduke Ferdinand – His assassination started World War I.

  Lusitania – A ship sunk by Germany that made the U.S. closer to joining WWI.

  Trench warfare – Fighting from ditches; made the war slow and deadly.

  Treaty of Versailles – Peace treaty that ended WWI and punished Germany.

  League of Nations / USSR / WWII

  League of Nations – A group of countries formed after WWI to keep peace (but it failed to stop WWII).

  Bolshevik – A group of revolutionaries in Russia who took over the government and started communism.

  Stalin – A harsh dictator who ruled the Soviet Union with total control for many years.

  World War II

  Fascism – A system where the government has total control, led by a dictator, and people have few freedoms.

  Nazism – A type of fascism from Germany under Hitler, based on racism and extreme nationalism.

  Axis – The countries that fought together in WWII: Germany, Italy, and Japan.

  Winston Churchill – British leader during WWII who helped lead the fight against the Axis.

  Hiroshima – Japanese city destroyed by the first atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. in WWII.

  Benito Mussolini – Dictator of Italy who started fascism and joined Hitler in WWII.

  Adolf Hitler – Nazi leader of Germany during WWII, responsible for starting the war and the Holocaust.

  Allies – The countries that fought against the Axis in WWII, including the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union.

  Holocaust – The mass murder of 6 million Jews and others by the Nazis during WWII.

  United Nations (UN) – An international group formed after WWII to help countries work together and keep peace.

  Government (U.S.)

  Constitution – The main law of the U.S. government that explains how it works and protects people’s rights.

  Three coequal branches of government – The government is split into three parts:

  Legislative (makes laws)

  Executive (carries out laws)

  Judicial (judges laws) — all have equal power.

  System of checks and balances – Each branch of government can limit the others so no one gets too powerful.

  Houses of Congress – The two parts of the legislative branch: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

  Line of succession to Presidential power – The order of who takes over if the president dies or can’t lead (e.g., Vice President, Speaker of the House).

  Supreme Court – The highest court in the U.S. that decides if laws are fair or go against the Constitution.