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US History Sheet
Lowman U.S. History Cheat Sheet
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Declaration of Independence | emphasized consent of the governed and citizens’ unalienable rights; stated American colonies were no longer under British control; inspired others to question their governments |
| Principles of the Constitution | limit the power of the federal government through separation of powers and checks and balances |
| Bill of Rights | lists freedoms (religion, assembly, the press, speech) and rights (due process, trial by jury) guaranteed to all U.S. citizens |
| Laissez-Faire | a policy in which the government has a limited role in the economy; one of five democratic values as observed by Tocqueville |
| Populism | Americans of various backgrounds can participate in government, not just the elite; one of five democratic values as observed by Tocqueville |
| E Pluribus Unum | “out of many, one”; symbolizes the unity of the thirteen original colonies that joined together to form a single nation |
| Civic Responsibilities | U.S. citizens participate in government when they vote in elections, serve on juries, and stay informed on current events |
| Gilded Age | businesses became wealthy; corrupt government officials supported business-first policies |
| Bessemer Steel Process | method for manufacturing stronger, cheaper steel; used for railroads and bridges; led to construction of taller buildings |
| Electricity | made manufacturing more efficient; electric lighting led to longer workdays and more production |
| Transcontinental Railroad | provided farmers and ranchers with access to distant markets; contributed to the settlement of the West |
| Monopoly | total control of an industry by one company; restricted by laws passed to protect competitors and regulate consumer prices |
| Labor Unions | members fought for better pay, safer working conditions, and end of child labor; actions resulted in increased federal involvement |
| Urbanization | rapid growth of cities caused by the migration of people in search of industrial jobs; caused sanitation problems |
| Political Machines | controlled political parties; traded jobs/community improvements for votes; justified corruption by helping poor/immigrants |
| Immigrants | moved to U.S. for better economic opportunities; some worked in factories, others farmed; forced to assimilate into U.S. culture |
| Nativists | viewed immigrants as competition for jobs; wanted restrictions placed on immigration; encouraged assimilation |
| Chinese Exclusion Act | passed to prevent immigrants from taking Americans’ jobs out West |
| Homestead Act | resulted in rapid settlement of the Great Plains, helped close the frontier/settle the west |
| Assimilation | American Indians were forced to adopt U.S. culture through the use of boarding schools, land ownership, and farming |
| Populist Party | supported working-class citizens; a third party, which influences and draws votes away from the major political parties |
| Jane Addams | fought for women’s suffrage and started the Settlement House movement in the U.S. to help assimilate immigrants |
| Jim Crow Laws | passed to limit rights gained by African Americans in the 13th (freedom), 14th (citizenship), and 15th (male suffrage) Amendments |
| W. E. B. DuBois | founded the NAACP, a civil rights group that fought for the legal rights of African Americans |
| State reforms | initiative, referendum, recall; increased citizen participation in democracy; ensured elected officials were held accountable |
| Upton Sinclair | wrote The Jungle, which resulted in government regulation of food products |
| Pure Food and Drug Act | passed to protect consumer health and safety; resulted from the efforts of muckrakers, like Upton Sinclair |
| National Park Service | created to conserve natural resources and maintain designated areas for public use and enjoyment |
| Improved Working Conditions | Child Labor Act passed and Department of Labor created to ensure safety and well-being of all laborers |
| Eighteenth Amendment | prohibited sale of alcohol; supported by women; aimed to reduce crime and health problems; resulted in speakeasies and crime |
| Nineteenth Amendment | increased women’s political power by granting them suffrage, or the right to vote; result of suffrage movement protests |
| Effects of the Spanish-American War | U.S. was established as a world power, gained access to new markets, and acquired new territories in the Pacific (Guam and Philippines) and the Caribbean (Puerto Rico) |
| Hawaii | annexation forced by U.S. and supported by S.B. Dole; provided U.S. with military presence in the Pacific and access to natural resources |
| Big Stick Policy | the threat of U.S. intervention in Western Hemisphere affairs; part of Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine |
| Panama Canal | land obtained through Roosevelt’s Big Stick policy; difficult to build due to climate and terrain; decreased travel time and made trading more efficient |
| World War I | initiated by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and increased tensions in Europe; U.S. was neutral at first but later joined Allies |
| Trench Warfare | caused by the use of machine guns; resulted in periods of stalemate; tanks and poison gas were used to break stalemates |
| U.S. enters WWI | result of Germany’s aggressive actions—Zimmermann Telegram, sinking Lusitania, unrestricted submarine warfare—against U.S. |
| World War I Homefront | U.S. citizens were encouraged to buy bonds to finance the war; women and African Americans worked in war industries |
| American Expeditionary Forces | (AEF) soldiers drafted through the Selective Service Act and commanded by General John J. Pershing; led the counterattack on the western front |
| Espionage & Sedition Act | made it a crime to interfere with war effort and limited freedom of speech during wartime; upheld by Supreme Court |
| Wilson's Fourteen Points | ideas to prevent future global conflicts; League of Nations, freedom of the seas, establishment of Poland |
| Treaty of Versailles | intended to weaken Germany after World War I; created the League of Nations; rejected by U.S. |
| Isolationism | post-World War I U.S. policy supported by Henry Cabot Lodge; caused U.S. to refuse League of Nations membership |
| Teapot Dome Scandal | bribery scandal that occurred during Harding’s term; caused citizens to lose trust in the federal government |
| Mass manufacturing | use of assembly-line production to efficiently produce affordable goods and automobiles; popularized by Henry Ford |
| Flappers | women who challenged traditional roles and social norms during the Roaring 20s by embracing bold lifestyles and unique fashion |
| Great Migration | movement of African Americans to northern states in search of economic opportunities and freedom from Jim Crow laws |
| Harlem Renaissance | celebrated African American culture; gospel and jazz music grew in popularity; influenced the Civil Rights movement |
| Overspeculation | excessive trading of stocks based on the belief prices would rise; limited government regulation; led to Great Depression |
| Great Depression | individuals lost wealth and businesses failed; led to foreclosures and homelessness |
| Dust Bowl | homes were buried and farmland ruined; caused by poor farming practices, overproduction, and drought |
| New Deal | Roosevelt’s agenda to provide economic relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression; provided jobs and mortgage loans to citizens; some argued it gave too much power to the federal government |
| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation | (FDIC) government agency that guarantees bank deposits and protects people’s savings |
| Social Security Administration | federal program that helps the elderly, disabled, and retired; increased the government’s role in citizens’ lives |
| Tenth Amendment | cited by the Supreme Court to overturn some New Deal policies that infringed on powers reserved for the states |
| Roosevelt's Court Packing Plan | proposed due to some New Deal plans being overturned; rejected because it increased power of president |
| Twenty-Second Amendment | limits presidents to serve two terms; passed in response to Franklin D. Roosevelt serving four terms |
| Pearl Harbor | U.S. naval base in the Pacific; bombed by the Japanese military in retaliation for a trade embargo; resulted in the U.S. joining WWII |
| World War II Homefront | U.S. citizens were encouraged to purchase war bonds, plant victory gardens, and comply with government rations |
| Women in WWII | took on new roles to support the war effort; worked nontraditional jobs in agriculture, industrial production, and the military |
| Japanese American internment camps | resulted from Executive Order 9066; violated some citizens’ rights to equal protection and due process |
| Tuskegee Airmen | African American fighter pilot unit that overcame discrimination and encouraged the integration of the armed forces |
| Navajo Code Talkers | used their native language to transmit secret military information for the Allies during WWII |
| Vernon Baker | African American WWII veteran who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery |
| The Holocaust | systematic genocide of European Jews; caused many Jews to migrate to America; survivors were liberated by the Allies |
| Atomic bomb | developed in Los Alamos, New Mexico; dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force Japan to surrender and quickly end WWII; resulted in an arms race with the Soviet Union |
| Berlin Airlift | a result of the Soviet blockade of West Berlin; U.S. and Great Britain flew in supplies to citizens of West Berlin |
| Marshall Plan | U.S. provided Western European countries with financial assistance to rebuild after World War II |
| Containment | U.S. foreign policy to stop the spread of communism; reason for UN and U.S. participation in the Korean War |
| House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) | investigated individuals in Hollywood who were suspected of being communists |
| McCarthyism | Red Scare movement led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; some U.S. government officials were accused of being communists |
| Sputnik I | Soviet satellite; led to the space race; caused U.S. to increase funding for math and science education and space exploration |
| Aerospace industry | led to the creation technologies that are now used to improve people’s quality of life |
| GI Bill | Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944; provided tuition reimbursement and low-interest home loans to veterans to assist in their return to civilian life |
| Economic Prosperity | resulted in increased employment opportunities and consumer spending; expanded the middle class |
| Suburbs | expanded after WWII due to baby boom, economic prosperity, increased demand for housing; caused destruction of natural ecosystems |
| Vaccines | designed to limit the spread of infectious diseases; Jonas Salk helped stop polio |
| Brown v. Board of Education | enforced school desegregation; NAACP’s Thurgood Marshall argued the case; overturned Plessy v. Ferguson |
| Rosa Parks | arrested for an act of civil disobedience; inspired a year-long boycott to fight bus segregation laws |
| Marin Luther King Jr. | important leader of the Civil Rights movement; advocated for racial equality through acts of civil disobedience |
| Black Panthers | used militant actions to fight racial inequality and armed patrols to protect their community; founded by Huey P. Newton |
| Little Rock Crisis | Governor Orval Faubus challenged the federal government’s power to desegregate schools; President Eisenhower sent troops to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education ruling |
| March on Washington | nonviolent protest that resulted in civil rights legislation to improve political and economic opportunities for minorities |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | ended racial segregation in public places |
| Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | established as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; prohibited discrimination by employers |
| Voting Rights Act of 1965 | ended literacy tests and other discriminatory practices set up to limit voter participation; resulted in increased voting by African Americans |
| Great Society | created to end poverty and social injustice; provided low-income families with homes, insurance, and job training |
| Women's Movement | inspired by The Feminine Mystique; women questioned traditional social roles; Title IX passed, but the ERA was rejected |
| Chicano Movement | members advocated for Mexican Americans’ civil liberties; Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers to improve working conditions for migrant workers |
| Chicano Mural Movement | inspired Hispanic cultural pride and unity by painting large artworks |
| Domino Theory | caused U.S. entry into the Vietnam War to contain the spread of communism in Southeast Asia |
| Gulf of Tonkin Resolution | increased executive power; allowed president to take military action without congressional approval |
| Twenty-Sixth Amendment | lowered the voting age to eighteen years old; supporters argued if someone is old enough to serve in the military, then they should be old enough to vote |
| Anti-War movement | caused by the credibility gap between the media and government; Americans viewed the U.S. as the aggressor in Vietnam; included mass demonstrations, burning draft cards, violence at Kent State |
| War Powers Resolution | rebalanced power between the legislative and executive branches; limited the executive branch’s military power |
| Environmental Reforms in the 1970s | federal actions in response to Silent Spring; Environmental Protection Agency, Endangered Species Act, and Earth Day |
| Nixon's foreign policies | normalized relations with China; reduced tensions with the Soviet Union through weapons treaties |
| Watergate Scandal | Nixon attempted to cover up his involvement; led to loss of trust in federal government |
| Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) | passed an oil embargo on the U.S. because it supported Israel; caused a national energy shortage and gasoline price increase |
| Alternative Energy Sources | U.S. government encouraged development to reduce reliance on foreign oil; includes solar panels and wind turbines |
| Camp David Accords | President Carter negotiated a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt |
| Iran Hostage Crisis | Iranian revolutionaries kidnapped Americans after the U.S. allowed the Shah of Iran to enter the country |
| Sandra Day O'Connor | first female Supreme Court justice |
| Persian Gulf War | Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait; UN coalition led by the U.S. fought and liberated Kuwait |
| International trade policies | NAFTA and GATT; passed to increase access to foreign markets and encourage economic competition; resulted in a loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs |
| 2000 Presidential Election | third party influenced which issues were discussed and drew votes away from major party candidates; Supreme Court ruled Florida's recount unconstitutional |
| September 11, 2001 | resulted in U.S. military action in Afghanistan and the global War on Terror |
| USA PATRIOT Act | passed to protect the U.S. from future terrorist attacks; some thought it violated individual rights |
| New Orleans, Louisiana | sits below sea level; flooded when levees failed during Hurricane Katrina |
| 2008 Presidential Election | first time a minority candidate won; Barack Obama was elected as the first African American president |
| Computers & Internet | increased access to information, created online shopping, and improved people’s quality of life |
| Robotics & automation | increased manufacturing and production efficiency |
| Free Enterprise | businesses have economic freedom with minimal government interference; drives companies to compete, which leads to improved products and cheaper prices for consumers |
| Environment | affected by population growth and burning of oil and gas; urbanization caused air/water pollution and destruction of ecosystems |
| Cultural Diffusion | the spread and influence of social activities and products around the world through television, internet, and social media; contributions of and to U.S. culture |
| Rust Belt to Sun Belt Migration | a demographic shift from the Northeast and Midwest to southern states; driven by the search for more job opportunities, a lower cost of living, and a warmer climate |
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