US History Sem. 1 Exam

Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Preamble to the Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

posterity

all future generations

September 11th terrorist attacks, 2001

Four coordinated terrorist attacks were launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the US in NYC and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Four passenger airliners were hijacked by terrorists. 2 crashed into the World Trade Center in NYC. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon in DC. The fourth plane was targeted at Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attacked terrorists on the plane. Led directly to 2002 invasion of Afghanistan (then the base of al-Qaeda operations) and the longest war in US history.

9/11 Deaths

2996

Afghanistan War

(2001-Present) to find/kill 9/11 attack architect Osama Bin Laden, destroy Al Qaeda, remove the Taliban from power and; help build a nation better for its citizens than what we found

Steel and the Bessemer process

In the 1850s an American named Kelly and a Brit named Bessemer discovered that cool air blown over red hot iron caused it to burn up carbons and impurities in the iron creating a purifying effect on the iron. The end product was a harder material that was easier and cheaper to make. This process was used by Andrew Carnegie, and became a foundational industry for railroad expansion and eventually the construction of skyscrapers.

Otis

invented the elevator, allowing for the vertical expansion of buildings (skyscrapers).

Gilded Age

A name for the late 1800s, coined by Mark Twain to describe the tremendous increase in wealth caused by the industrial age and the ostentatious lifestyles it allowed the very rich. The great industrial success of the U.S. and the fabulous lifestyles of the wealthy hid the many social problems of the time, including a high poverty rate, a high crime rate, and corruption in the government.

Rockefeller

Captain of industry that created a monopoly in oil refineries

Andrew Carnegie

A Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Carnegie Steel Company in 1892. By 1901, his company dominated the American steel industry.

Old Immigrants

immigrants who had come to the US before the 1880s from Britain, Germany, Ireland, and Scandenavia, or Northern Europe

New Immigrants

immigrants who had come to the US after the 1880s from Southern and Eastern Europe.

push factors

a factor that causes people to leave their homelands and migrate to another region (War, Poverty, Famine, Natural Disaster etc.).

pull factors

Positive conditions and perceptions that effectively attract people to new locales from other areas (Jobs, Low Crime Rate, Political Stability).

Nativism

the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.

The New Colossus

A poem by Emma Lazarus inscribed on the Statue of Liberty's base highlights the U.S.'s pro-immigration sentiments.

Tenement Housing

Housing in the city where many factory workers were forced to live in one-room apartments. Often with multiple families and very unsanitary conditions.

Factory working conditions

dangerous, long hours and little pay, women, and children work for less than men.

Rise of Labor Unions

During the 1800s, labor unions became more and more common. Their leaders sought to achieve the unions' goals through political actions. Their goals included a reduction in the length of the workday, safer working conditions, and better pay.

Westward Expansion/Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny motivated the westward expansion of America. Manifest Destiny is the idea that America was "destined by God" to spread to the west coast ("from sea to shining sea"). America also desired the natural resources and mineral wealth in the west. Texas annexation and the Mexican Cession were both major pieces of U.S. westward expansion.

Homestead Act

1862 law that gave 160 acres of land to citizens for a small fee of $10 and who are willing to live on and cultivate land in western territories for five years.

Transcontinental Railroad

Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, making westward expansion cheaper, faster, and safer.

Buffalo

An animal that was used by the Plains Indians for food, shelter, and clothing for thousands of years. This animal was strategically brought to the brink of extinction by the U.S. government in order to control Native American food supplies and weaken the Plains tribe's spirits.

Aaron Huey's (TED talk) emphasis was on

Honoring the treaties; giving back the Black Hill; acknowledging the tragedy of the Wounded Knee Massacre which ended the "Indian Wars".

Native American Boarding Schools

-BIA sent children to boarding schools

-Required to speak English, covert to Christianity, and become educated in the ways of Western civilization

-Children of different tribes were mixed together

-Between sessions, children were boarded with local white families

Muckrakers

Journalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

The author who wrote a book about the horrors of food productions in 1906, the bad quality of meat and the dangerous working conditions. Later lead to new federal food safety laws.

Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives

Danish immigrant who became a reporter who used photography to point out the terrible conditions of the tenement houses of the big cities where immigrants lived during the late 1800s.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

March 1911 fire in a New York factory that trapped young women workers inside locked exit doors; nearly 50 ended up jumping to their death; while 100 died inside the factory; this led to the establishment of many factory reforms, including increasing safety precautions for workers, and expanding fired department resources.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

-protected national parks

-established the National Forest Laws

-trust buster against monopolies

-Food Safety Regulations

-speak softly & carry a big stick=foreign policy

(Great White Fleet)

-Rough Riders (Spanish American War Vet)

Manifest Destiny (1845)

Stated that the US was destined to expand to the Pacific Ocean.

Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force and acquiring new territories for resources and markets.

American Imperialism

the period when America sought to control the political and economic fortunes of weaker nations such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.

Isolationism

A policy of nonparticipation in either international economic or political relations/wars. The United States remained neutral during the first part of the first world war.

Spanish-American War (1898)

Conflict between the U.S. and Spain that began the rise of the U.S. as a world power. The U.S. gained possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines as a result. It also encouraged the annexation of Hawaii.

Spanish American War Causes

America's supported the ongoing struggle by Cubans and Filipinos against Spanish misrule and the mysterious explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor.

Yellow Journalism

Journalism that exploits distorts or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers. Pioneered by William Randolph Hearst and Joeseph Pulitzer whose newspapers helped furnish support for the Spanish American War.

Anti-Imperialists

Opposed to US Imperialism: 1). Morality-believed that taking over Filipinos would violate American principle "the right of all people to independence and self-government" 2). Social Darwinists feared controlling Asian territories would have contaminating effects due to contact with "inferior" Asian races.

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

Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, Assassination

Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand

This is the Arch-Duke of Austria who was assassinated by the Serbian Black Hand in 1914. This was the spark that started World War I by triggering the web of secret alliances in Europe.

Central Powes

Germany (Prussia), Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire

Triple Entente (Allies)

A military alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia in WWI

Woodrow Wilson

28th president of the United States, known for his neutral stance on World War I up until U.S. entry in 1917. Created the 14 points post-war plan and League of Nations idea (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize.

Lusitania (1915)

British vessel which was sunk in 1915 by a German submarine resulting in the death of 139 Americans. Became a rallying call for pro-war sentiments against the central powers in the U.S.

American Causes of WW1

-Unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany

-Protecting U.S. investments in the allied powers

-Zimmerman Telegrams

Zimmerman Telegram

A telegram Germany Sent to Mexico to convince Mexico to attack the U.S.

WW1 Technology

Machine Guns, Flame throwers and Howitzers [large cannons] changed how and where war was fought. Trench Warfare emerged due to machine guns. The Germans first used Chemical Weapons [poison gas/mustard gas] which caused huge blisters, blindness and damage to lungs. The Airplane was used for the 1st time in battle as well as Battleships. This would lead to a stalemate on the western front and the loss of millions of lives.

over the top

Expression referring to climbing out of a trench or over the front edge of the trench to begin moving across no man's land.

Committe on Public Information

1917, Wilson set up this new agency led by George Creel. This agency's goal was to popularize the war by distributing millions of copies of pamphlets explaining U.S. war aims in several languages. 4-minute men speeches by influential people, as well as propaganda posters and advertisements.

War Bonds

Short-term loans that individual citizens made to the government that financed two-thirds of the war's cost

Schenck v. United States

A 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during World War I. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils. Holmes referenced the Italian Hall disaster in Calumet within his argument.

Armistice Day

11am, November 11, 1918 (11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918) World War 1 came to an end.

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Treaty that ended World War I; it was much harder on Germany than Wilson wanted but not as punitive as France and England desired. It was harsh enough, however, to set stage for Hitler's rise of power in Germany in 1930s.

League of Nations

an international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations

Big Three

France, Great Britain, and U.S. were the major countries that negotiated the peace of WW1. Germany was left out of the peace treaty discussions/decisions. United States would refuse to accept the terms of the treaty.