question

Where is the Yellow River

answer

In Northeast China, the mouth is a bit south of Beijing. It is the 7th largest river in the world, running west to east, and draining into the Bohai Sea.

question

What is the 1st Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceable assembly, and to petition the government.

question

What is the 2nd Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Right to keep and bear arms.

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What is the 3rd Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Protection from quartering of troops.

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What is the 4th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

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What is the 5th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, private property.

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What is the 6th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Trial by jury, speedy trial, and other rights of the accused.

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What is the 7th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Civil trial by jury.

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What is the 8th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Prohibition of excessive bail, as well as cruel or unusual punishment.

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What is the 9th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

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What is the 10th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

Powers of states and people. Anything not in the constitution is left to the states.

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What is the 11th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1795): Clarifies judicial power over foreign nationals, and limits ability of citizens to sue states in federal courts and under federal law.

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What is the 12th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1804): Changes the method of presidential elections so that members of the electoral college cast separate ballots for president and vice president.

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What is the 13th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1865): Abolishes slavery and grants Congress power to enforce abolition.

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What is the 14th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1868): Defines United States citizenship; prohibits states from abridging citizens' privileges or immunities and right to due process and the equal protection of the law; repeals the three-fifths compromise.

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What is the 15th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1870): Prohibits the federal government and the states from using a citizen's race, color, or previous status as a slave as a qualification for voting.

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What is the 16th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1913): Authorizes unapportioned federal taxes on income.

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What is the 17th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1913): Establishes direct election of senators.

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What is the 18th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1919): Prohibited the manufacturing, importing, and exporting of beverage alcohol. Repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment.

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What is the 19th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1920): Prohibits the federal government and the states from using a citizen's sex as a qualification for voting.

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What is the 20th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1933): Changes details of Congressional and presidential terms and of presidential succession. (lame duck ammendment)

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What is the 21st Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1933): Repeals Eighteenth Amendment but permits states to retain prohibition and ban the importation of alcohol.

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What is the 22nd Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1951): Limits president to two terms.

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What is the 23rd Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1961): Grants presidential electors to the District of Columbia.

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What is the 24th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1964): Prohibits the federal government and the states from requiring the payment of a tax as a qualification for voting for federal officials. (poll taxes)

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What is the 25th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1967): Changes details of presidential succession, provides for temporary removal of president, and provides for replacement of the vice president.

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What is the 26th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1971): Prohibits the federal government and the states from using an age greater than 18 as a qualification to vote.

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What is the 27th Ammendment of the US Constitution?

answer

(1992): Limits congressional pay raises. Was one of original 12 Bill of Rights.

question

What does Article 1 of the US Constitution Cover?

answer

Legislative Power

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What does Article 2 of the US Constitution Cover?

answer

Executive Power

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What does Article 3 of the US Constitution Cover?

answer

Judicial Power

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What does Article 4 of the US Constitution Cover?

answer

States Powers & Limits

question

What does Article 5 of the US Constitution Cover?

answer

Process of Ammendment

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What does Article 6 of the US Constitution Cover?

answer

Federal Power

question

What does Article 7 of the US Constitution Cover?

answer

Process of Ratification

question

What was the Mayflower Compact?

answer

(1620): First governing document of Plymoth Colony.

question

What was the Massachussets Body of Liberties?

answer

(1641): First established legal code in New England. Compiled by the Puritan minister Nathaniel Ward.

question

What was the English Bill of Rights?

answer

(1689): It is one of the basic documents of English constitutional law, alongside Magna Carta, the Act of Settlement and the Parliament Acts.

question

Who Wrote \"Common Sense\" ?

answer

Thomas Paine. In 1776, it advocated reasons for splitting from Britain.

question

What was \"The Rights of Man\"?

answer

Thomas Paine wrote the Rights of Man in 1791, it is a work glorifying the French Revolution.

question

What are \"The Federalist Papers\"?

answer

A series of 85 articles arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. They were first published serially in New York City newspapers. A compilation, called The Federalist, was published in 1788. The Federalist Papers serve as a primary source for interpretation of the Constitution, as they outline the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government. The articles were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

question

What political party did Alexander Hamilton start?

answer

The Federalist party in 1792, which advocated strong national government. It was opposed by Thomas Jefferson & James Madison's Republican party.

question

What were the Alien and Sedition Acts?

answer

With war looming against a major power, France, Federalists in Congress in 1798 passed the laws to protect national security. These 4 laws limited freedom of speech, made it possible to kick out foreign nationals, and changed citizenship to be gained after 14 years of residence, instead of 5. Never tested in court, but is generally accepted to be unconstitutional.

question

What was the Alien Registration Act?

answer

AKA - Smith Act of 1940 made it a criminal offense for anyone to conspire to overthrow the government. It also required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government. The Act is best known for its use against political organizations and figures, mostly on the left. A series of United States Supreme Court decisions in 1957 threw out numerous convictions under the Smith Act as unconstitutional.

question

Name the countries that feed into the Nile River.

answer

Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of the Congo

question

Name the countries that feed into the Amazon River.

answer

Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela

question

What countries feed into the Congo River?

answer

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Cameroon, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda

question

What countries feed into the Niger River?

answer

Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Algeria, Guinea, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, CÃƒÂ´te d'Ivoire, Benin, Chad

question

What body of water does the Danube drain into?

answer

The Black Sea.

question

What countries feed into the Danube River?

answer

Romania (28.9%), Hungary (11.7%), Austria (10.3%), Serbia and Montenegro (10.3%), Germany (7.5%), Slovakia (5.8%), Bulgaria (5.2%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (4.8%), Croatia (4.5%), Ukraine (3.8%), Czech Republic (2.6%), Slovenia (2.2%), Moldova (1.7%), Switzerland (0.32%), Italy (0.15%), Poland (0.09%), Albania (0.03%)

question

What countries feed into the Brahmaputra River?

answer

India (58.0%), P.R. China (19.7%), Nepal (9.0%), Bangladesh (6.6%), Disputed India/P.R. China (4.2%), Bhutan (2.4%)

question

What river expels the most water / second?

answer

The Amazon

question

What countries feed into the Mekong River?

answer

Laos, Thailand, P.R. China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar

question

What was The Berlin Conference?

answer

1884-1885 regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa. Its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, is often seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa.

question

What African countries were never colonized?

answer

Ethiopia and Liberia.

question

What is the world's largest desert?

answer

Antartica. The largest hot desert is the Sahara in North Africa, which is the size of the U.S.

question

Name the 3 deserts of Africa from north to south.

answer

Sahara, Namib, Kalahari

question

What natural features border the Gobi Desert?

answer

The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altay Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southeast.

question

What countries have access to the Dead Sea?

answer

It is on the border between the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan.

question

What countries have access to the Black Sea?

answer

Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine

question

What countries have access to the Caspian Sea?

answer

Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan. Russia's Volga river and a canal system links it to the Black Sea.

question

Where are the Ural Mountains?

answer

Western Russia.

question

What killed more people: the black plague or colonization of america?

answer

Colonization of America.

question

Which side did native americans fight on in the American Revolution?

answer

Both, but mainly supported the British.

question

What was the Indian Removal Act?

answer

(1830): A law passed by Congress in order to facilitate the relocation of American Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands further west. It authorized President Andrew Jackson to negotiate land-exchange treaties with tribes living within the boundaries of existing U.S. states. Resulted in the forcable movement of tens of thousands of native americans. The most well known was the Trail of Tears (1838), when 4,000 Cherokees were killed during their forced relocation.

question

What were the \"Five Civilized Tribes\"

answer

The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, all located in the southeast. They were considered civilized by whites because they followed many of their practices, such as slavery.

question

What was the Battle of the Little Bighorn?

answer

(1876): Also called Custer's Last Stand, it was the most famous incident of the Indian Wars. Cheyenne and Sioux Indians killed Custer and all of his men.

question

What was Jamestown?

answer

The first successful English colony, established in 1607 on a small river near Chesapeake Bay. It was headed by John Smith, who befriended Pocahontas. It was all male.

question

Where did the pilgrims settle?

answer

In Massachussetts, established Plymouth in 1620.

question

Who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony?

answer

The Puritans in 1629.

question

What year did the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty take effect? What countries had nues then and now?

answer

1970. U.S., U.K., China, Russia, France had them then. Today Israel, Pakistan, and India do also.

question

What was the Agricultural Revolution?

answer

Period from the early 1700s until the mid-1800s during which machines and improved technology replaced manual labor and traditional methods in farming.

question

What were the Allied Powers?

answer

The countries of Britain, Soviet Union, United States, and France that formed an alliance during World War II.

question

What were the Articles of Confederation?

answer

The compact that was first made by the original thirteen states of the United States and was adopted March 1, 1781, and remained the supreme law until March 1789.

question

What were the Axis Powers?

answer

A group of countries that opposed the Allied Powers in World War II, including Germany, Italy, and Japan as well as Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

question

What group controlled Mexico when Spanish settlers arrived in the 16th century?

answer

The Aztecs.

question

What was the Berlin Airlift?

answer

Airlift by U.S. in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of West Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin.

question

When did the Berlin Wall exist?

answer

1961 to 1989.

question

What was the Boston Massacre?

answer

March 5, 1770, a brawl between American colonists and British soldiers where the colonists hit the British soldiers with snowballs and the British soldiers shot into the crowd killing 5 of the colonists.

question

Who were the \"Buffalo Soldiers\"?

answer

Members of one of the African American regiments within the U.S. Army after the Civil War, serving primarily in the Indian wars of the late 1860s.

question

What were the Camp David Accords?

answer

Started by President Carter in 1978, a framework for peace negotiations concerning Israeli-occupied Arab territories Jordan's West Bank, and Egypt's Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula.

question

What was the Declaration of Independance?

answer

The document recording the announcement of the second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain.

question

What is the difference between de facto segregation and de jure segregation?

answer

De facto segregation is segregation of races that actually exists, though not by law. De jure segregation is segregation of races by law.

question

Who were the Democratic-Republicans?

answer

Early political party that was unopposed in national politics through the Era of Good Feeling; split in 1828. They advocated states powers and strict constructionism of the constitution. Opposed Alexander Hamilton's Federalist party.

question

What was the importance of Dred Scott v. Sanford?

answer

In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that even free Africans could not sue in a federal court, since they were not citizens of the United States and that slaves brought into free territory remained slaves because they were a form of property.

question

What is the elastic clause?

answer

Part of Article I of the Constitution that gives Congress authority to pass laws in addition to those specified.

question

What was the Emancipation Proclimation?

answer

Declaration issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, freeing the slaves in those territories still rebelling against the Union.

question

What was the Embargo Act of 1807?

answer

It prohibited all international exports from American ports. It represented President Thomas Jefferson's response to the United Kingdom's Orders in Council (1807) and France's Continental System, which were severely hurting America's merchant marines. Although it was designed to force the British and French to change their commercial systems, neither country did, and the Act was repealed in 1808. The Act failed to prevent the War of 1812.

question

What was the Age of Enlightenment?

answer

It was 18th century european philosophical movement (part of Age of Reason). Leading thinkers believed that the future could be shaped and directed by reason. They believed that society was based on natural laws. Thus, these thinkers challenged the power of absolute monarchs or kings and the idea that a monarch or king ruled by divine right.

question

What was the Era of Good Feelings?

answer

Period from 1815 to 1821 that followed the War of 1812 where the last Federalist candidate was defeated and the issues of slavery were emerging as a result of the Missouri Compromise. James Monroe defeated the last Federalist candidate in 1816, and won unopposed in 1820.

question

What was the espionage act of 1917?

answer

Passed by Congress in 1917 after the United States entered World War I; set a $10,000 fine and 20 years imprisonment for interfering with the recruiting of troops or the disclosure of information dealing with national defense.

question

What is the definition of Fascism?

answer

Form of government characterized by militarism, extreme nationalism, and a oneparty dictatorship.

question

Describe the Federal Reserve System.

answer

\"The central bank of the United States; incorporates 12 Federal Reserve branch banks and all national banks and state-charted commercial banks and some trust companies. It was was created in 1913 by the Federal Reserve Act. The main tasks of the Federal Reserve are:

question

Who is Alan Greenspan?

answer

Was chairman of the Fed from 1987-2006. His replacement is Ben Bernanke.

question

What happened at Fort Sumter?

answer

In 1861 Confederates attacked the fort, which led to its surrender and was the opening engagement of the Civil War. It is located in Charleston, South Carolina.

question

What was the French and Indian War?

answer

The war that raged in North America through the late 1750's and early 1760's was but one part of the larger struggle between England and France for dominance in world trade and naval power. The British victory in that struggle, known in Europe as the Seven Years' War , ended the long struggle among the three principal powers in northeastern North America: The English, the French, and the Iroquois Confederacy, it confirmed England's commercial supremacy and cemented its control of the settled regions of North America.

question

What was the Fugitive Slave Law?

answer

In 1850, the law stated that in the future any federal marshal who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave could be fined $1000, people suspected of being a runaway slave could be arrested without warrant and turned over to a claimant on nothing more than his or her sworn testimony of ownership, and any person aiding a runaway slave by providing shelter, food or any other form of assistance was liable to six months imprisonment and a $1000 fine.

question

What was the Gilded Age?

answer

The Gilded Age (c.1876-1914) was a period of intense economic development and wealth transfer in the United States. Following the generation of the American Civil War and Reconstruction of the South, this period corresponded with the Second Industrial Revolution and the greatest economic, territorial, industrial, and population expansion in American history. The explosion of commerce and heavy industry, supported by mercantilist economic policies and federal railway subsidies, the innovation of new techniques in steel production and the use of electric power, and the continued development of the American West catalyzed dramatic social changes, created a number of immensely wealthy businessmen, the \"Robber Barons\", and also galvanized the American Labor Movement.

question

What was the Good Neighbor Policy?

answer

The \"Good Neighbor\" policy was the policy of the United States Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in relation to Latin America during 1933-45, when the active U.S. intervention of previous decades was moderated in pursuit of hemispheric solidarity against external threats.

question

What was The Roosevelt Corollary?

answer

\"The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (from 1901 to 1909) was a substantial alteration (called an \"\"amendment\"\") of the Monroe Doctrine by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The U.S. would now consider Latin America as an agency for expanding U.S. commercial interests in the region, along with its original stated purpose of keeping European hegemony from the hemisphere. In essence, Roosevelt's Monroe Doctrine would be the basis for a use of economic

question

What is a graduated income tax?

answer

An income tax that takes proportionately more from higher wage earners.

question

What was the Great Compromise of 1787?

answer

Created a bicameral legislature in the Constitution; it established that representation in one house was to be proportional to population in one house and equal among states in the other.

question

What was the Haymarket Riot?

answer

Began in 1886 with a riot at the McCormick Harvester plant in Chicago where unionized workers were striking for shorter work days and then a few days later moved to Haymarket Square where a protest meeting was called to denounce the events of the previous day; resulted in several deaths.

question

What is a holding company?

answer

Business owning a majority of stock in member companies and therefore able to dictate common policy. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest publicly traded holding companies; it owns numerous insurance companies, manufacturing businesses, retailers, and other companies.

question

What was the U.S. Homestead Act?

answer

Law passed in 1862 that offered certain settlers 160 acres of land if they built a house and farmed for five years.

question

What are Implied powers, in relation to the U.S. Constitution?

answer

Powers not specifically given to the Federal Government of the United States. Implied powers are derived from an enumerated power and the Necessary-and-proper clause, which can also be recognized as the elastic clause. These powers are not stated specifically but are considered to be \"reasonably\" implied through the exercise of delegated powers. The implied powers of the Federal government was an idea formed after Thomas Jefferson decided to go ahead with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, although the Constitution did not explicitly give him the power to do so. Later, the implied powers played an important role in the court decision of McCulloch v. Maryland, with the Second Bank of the United States using the idea to argue the constitutionality of Congress's creating it in 1816.

question

Who were the Incas?

answer

An empire centered in what is now Peru from AD 1438 to AD 1533. Over that period, the Inca used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate in their empire a large portion of western South America, centred on the Andean mountain ranges, and including parts of Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Spanish conquered them in 1533.

question

When did the industrial revolution begin?

answer

In Britain in the mid 1700s. It used steam from coal to power machines.

question

What were the intolerable acts?

answer

A series of laws passed by the British in 1774 in an attempt to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party; also called Coercive Acts or Punitive Acts.

question

What is the signifigance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

answer

In 1854, it established that the people of a territory should decide whether slavery would be allowed there. Opponents saw it as the triumph of the Slave Power and formed the Republican Party to defeat it. The Act was a key step on the way to the American Civil War.

question

When did the KKK form?

answer

1866 in Tennessee.

question

When were the Lincoln - Douglas Debates?

answer

These debates were held between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln held during the 1858 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Lincoln opposed extending slavery to new western states.

question

When was the Louisiana Purchase?

answer

Purchased under Jefferson from France in 1803 for $15 million; extends from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. If adjusted for the relative share of GDP, this amount would equal approximately $390 billion in 2003. The land included in the Purchase comprises 22.3 percent of the territory of the modern United States.

question

What was the Magna Carta?

answer

\"Great Charter forced upon King

question

When was work on the Manhattan Project finished?

answer

1945 the bomb was tested in New Mexico.

question

What is the importance of Marbury v. Madison?

answer

(1803) landmark case in United States law wherein the U.S. Supreme Court established judicial review as a legitimate power of the Court on constitutional grounds.

question

Who was Jackson Pollack?

answer

1912-1956 An influential American artist and a major force in the abstract expressionism movement. Pollock's style changed dramatically beginning in 1947. He began painting with his (usually large) canvases placed on the floor, and developed what was called his \"drip\" technique, or the more preferred term, his \"pour\" technique. He used his brushes as sticks to drip paint, and the brush never touched the canvas. This was an origination of action painting. In this process he moved away from figurative art, and changed the Western tradition of using an easel and brush, as well as moving away from use only of the hand and wrist - as he used his whole body to paint. Pollock was dubbed \"Jack the Dripper\" due to his painting style. Died of car crash in 1956.

question

Who was John Singer Sargent?

answer

1856-1925 A painter known for his portraits. He is usually thought of as an American artist, although he lived most of his life in Europe. Sargent's portraits subtly capture the individuality and personality of the sitters. In a time when the art world was focused on impressionism and emphasizing artistic individuality, Sargent emphasized his own form of Realism and regularly did commissioned portraits of the wealthy.

question

Who was Mary Cassat?

answer

Lived 1844-1926. American impressionist artist who worked in Paris. After experimenting with different printmaking techniques like etching and aquatint she finally discovered drypoint combined with aquatint as her favorite intaglio process. Between 1889 and 1890 she created a set of twelve wonderful drypoints. From 1890 to 1891 she made a series of ten color prints, known as The Ten. This series is considered as a landmark in Impressionist printmaking.

question

Who was Mark Rothko?

answer

1903-1970 Russian-born American Jewish painter who is often classified as an abstract expressionist. Among the founders of the New York School, his work concentrated on basic emotions, often filling the canvas with very few, but intense colours, using little immediately-apparent detail. He killed himself.

question

Who was James Whistler?

answer

1834-1903 American-born, British based painter and etcher. Most famous work is Whistler's Mother. Whistler's belief that art should concentrate on the arrangement of colors led many critics to see his work as a precursor of abstract art.

question

Who was Winslow Homer?

answer

1836-1910 an American landscape painter. By 1857 his freelance illustration career was underway and he contributed to magazines such as Ballou's Pictorial and Harper's Weekly. His works, mostly engravings, are characterized by clean outlines, simplified forms, dramatic contrast of light and dark, and lively figure groupings.

question

Who was Nathaniel Hawthorne?

answer

1804-1864 a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature. Hawthorne is best-known today for his many short stories and The Scarlet Letter. Much of Hawthorne's work is set in colonial New England, and many of his short stories have been read as moral allegories influenced by his Puritan background.

question

Who was Robert Maplethorpe?

answer

1946-1989 an American photographer, famous for his large-scale, highly-stylized black & white portraits, photos of flowers and male nudes. The frank, erotic nature of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks. His most common themes were portraits of (now) famous people (including Andy Warhol, Deborah Harry, Richard Gere, and Patti Smith)

question

Who was Herman Melville?

answer

1819-1891 an American novelist, essayist, and poet. During his lifetime his early novels were popular, but his popularity declined later in his life. By the time of his death he had nearly been forgotten, but his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, was \"rediscovered\" in the 20th century. His short story \"Bartleby the Scrivener\" is among his most important pieces because It has been considered a precursor to Existentialist and Absurdist literature.

question

Who was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?

answer

1807-1882 an American poet who wrote many works that are still famous today, including The Song of Hiawatha, Paul Revere's Ride and Evangeline. He also wrote the first American translation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno. His poetry is based on familiar and easily understood themes with simple, clear, and flowing language. His poetry created an audience in America and contributed to creating American mythology.

question

Who was Ralph Waldo Emerson?

answer

1803-1882 a famous American essayist and one of America's most influential thinkers and writers. First expressed the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his essay Nature. Emerson made a living as a popular lecturer in New England and the rest of the country outside of the south.

question

Who was Henry David Thoreau?

answer

1817-1862 an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is famous for Walden, on simple living amongst nature, and Civil Disobedience, on resistance to civil government and among 22 other books that Thoreau published. He was a lifelong abolitionist.

question

Who was Frederick Douglass?

answer

1818-1895 an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. Among the most prominent African Americans of his time, and one of the most influential lecturers and authors in American history. Most well-known work is his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Later became the publisher of a series of newspapers.

question

Who was William Lloyd Garrison?

answer

1805-1879 A prominent white abolitionist, journalist and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the radical abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. After the abolition of slavery, he continued working on other reform movements, especially temperance and women's suffrage.

question

Who was John Brown?

answer

1800-1859 One of the first white abolitionists to advocate, and to practice, guerrilla warfare as a means to the abolition of slavery. He first gained national notoriety when he led a company of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis, in which he fought two major battles with pro-slavery terrorists, directed the Pottawatomie massacre on the night of May 24th, 1856, and liberated 11 slaves from slaveholders in neighboring Missouri. Brown's most famous deed was the raid he led on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia). Brown's subsequent capture by federal forces commanded by Robert E. Lee, his trial, and his execution by hanging are generally considered an important part of the origins of the American Civil War.

question

Who was Horace Greeley?

answer

1811-1872 an American newspaper editor, reformer and politician. His New York Tribune was the most influential newspaper of the period 1840-1870. Greeley used it to promote the Whig and Republican parties. Go West, Young Man! he advised ambitious youth. Champion of the workingman, he attacked monopolies of all sorts and rejected land grants to railroads. Fought the extension of slavery.

question

What was Bleeding Kansas?

answer

Sometimes referred to as Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a sequence of violent events involving abolitionists (anti-slavery) and pro-slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri between roughly 1854 and 1856. It led up to the civil war.

question

Who was Henry Ward Beecher?

answer

1813-1887 Theologically liberal American Congregationalist clergyman and reformer, and author. One of his elder sisters was Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. An advocate of women's suffrage and for temperance, and a foe of slavery, he bought guns to support Bleeding Kansas.

question

Who was Stephen A. Douglas?

answer

American politician from Illinois, was one of the Democratic Party nominees for President in 1860. Lost to Lincoln. Was an expansonist. As senator, supported the Missouri Compromise.

question

Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe?

answer

1811-1896 an abolitionist, and writer of more than 10 books, the most famous being Uncle Tom's Cabin which describes life in slavery.

question

What is the importance of Marbury v. Madison?

answer

(1803) landmark case in United States law wherein the U.S. Supreme Court established judicial review as a legitimate power of the Court on constitutional grounds.

question

Who was Jackson Pollack?

answer

1912-1956 An influential American artist and a major force in the abstract expressionism movement. Pollock's style changed dramatically beginning in 1947. He began painting with his (usually large) canvases placed on the floor, and developed what was called his \"drip\" technique, or the more preferred term, his \"pour\" technique. He used his brushes as sticks to drip paint, and the brush never touched the canvas. This was an origination of action painting. In this process he moved away from figurative art, and changed the Western tradition of using an easel and brush, as well as moving away from use only of the hand and wrist - as he used his whole body to paint. Pollock was dubbed \"Jack the Dripper\" due to his painting style. Died of car crash in 1956.

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Who was John Singer Sargent?

answer

1856-1925 A painter known for his portraits. He is usually thought of as an American artist, although he lived most of his life in Europe. Sargent's portraits subtly capture the individuality and personality of the sitters. In a time when the art world was focused on impressionism and emphasizing artistic individuality, Sargent emphasized his own form of Realism and regularly did commissioned portraits of the wealthy.

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Who was Mary Cassat?

answer

Lived 1844-1926. American impressionist artist who worked in Paris. After experimenting with different printmaking techniques like etching and aquatint she finally discovered drypoint combined with aquatint as her favorite intaglio process. Between 1889 and 1890 she created a set of twelve wonderful drypoints. From 1890 to 1891 she made a series of ten color prints, known as The Ten. This series is considered as a landmark in Impressionist printmaking.

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Who was Mark Rothko?

answer

1903-1970 Russian-born American Jewish painter who is often classified as an abstract expressionist. Among the founders of the New York School, his work concentrated on basic emotions, often filling the canvas with very few, but intense colours, using little immediately-apparent detail. He killed himself.

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Who was James Whistler?

answer

1834-1903 American-born, British based painter and etcher. Most famous work is Whistler's Mother. Whistler's belief that art should concentrate on the arrangement of colors led many critics to see his work as a precursor of abstract art.

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Who was Winslow Homer?

answer

1836-1910 an American landscape painter. By 1857 his freelance illustration career was underway and he contributed to magazines such as Ballou's Pictorial and Harper's Weekly. His works, mostly engravings, are characterized by clean outlines, simplified forms, dramatic contrast of light and dark, and lively figure groupings.

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Who was Nathaniel Hawthorne?

answer

1804-1864 a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature. Hawthorne is best-known today for his many short stories and The Scarlet Letter. Much of Hawthorne's work is set in colonial New England, and many of his short stories have been read as moral allegories influenced by his Puritan background.

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Who was Robert Maplethorpe?

answer

1946-1989 an American photographer, famous for his large-scale, highly-stylized black & white portraits, photos of flowers and male nudes. The frank, erotic nature of some of the work of his middle period triggered a more general controversy about the public funding of artworks. His most common themes were portraits of (now) famous people (including Andy Warhol, Deborah Harry, Richard Gere, and Patti Smith)

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Who was Herman Melville?

answer

1819-1891 an American novelist, essayist, and poet. During his lifetime his early novels were popular, but his popularity declined later in his life. By the time of his death he had nearly been forgotten, but his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, was \"rediscovered\" in the 20th century. His short story \"Bartleby the Scrivener\" is among his most important pieces because It has been considered a precursor to Existentialist and Absurdist literature.

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Who was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?

answer

1807-1882 an American poet who wrote many works that are still famous today, including The Song of Hiawatha, Paul Revere's Ride and Evangeline. He also wrote the first American translation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno. His poetry is based on familiar and easily understood themes with simple, clear, and flowing language. His poetry created an audience in America and contributed to creating American mythology.

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Who was Ralph Waldo Emerson?

answer

1803-1882 a famous American essayist and one of America's most influential thinkers and writers. First expressed the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his essay Nature. Emerson made a living as a popular lecturer in New England and the rest of the country outside of the south.

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Who was Henry David Thoreau?

answer

1817-1862 an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is famous for Walden, on simple living amongst nature, and Civil Disobedience, on resistance to civil government and among 22 other books that Thoreau published. He was a lifelong abolitionist.

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Who was Frederick Douglass?

answer

1818-1895 an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. Among the most prominent African Americans of his time, and one of the most influential lecturers and authors in American history. Most well-known work is his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Later became the publisher of a series of newspapers.

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Who was William Lloyd Garrison?

answer

1805-1879 A prominent white abolitionist, journalist and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the radical abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. After the abolition of slavery, he continued working on other reform movements, especially temperance and women's suffrage.

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Who was John Jay?

answer

1745-1829 was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat and jurist. Considered one of the \"founding fathers\" of the United States, Jay served in the Continental Congress, and was elected President of that body in 1778. During and after the difficult and dangerous years of the American Revolutionary War, he was an ambassador to Spain and France, helping to fashion American foreign policy and to secure favorable peace terms from the British and French. He cowrote the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Jay also served on the U.S. Supreme Court as the first, as well as the youngest, Chief Justice of the United States from 1789 to 1794. Perhaps the most controversial of the Supreme Court's early decisions under him was Chisholm v. Georgia, in which it held that the federal judiciary could hear lawsuits against states. Soon thereafter, responding to the concerns of several states, Congress proposed the Eleventh Amendment, which granted states immunity from certain types of lawsuits in federal courts. The Amendment was ratified in 1795.

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Who was Oliver Ellsworth?

answer

1745-1807 an American lawyer and politician, was a revolutionary against British rule, a drafter of the United States Constitution, and third Chief Justice of the United States.

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Who was John Marshall?

answer

1755-1835 Supreme court chief justice nominated by John Adams in 1801. In the landmark case Marbury v. Madison (1803), Marshall held that the Supreme Court could overturn a law passed by Congress if it violated the Constitution, legally cementing the power of judicial review. The Marshall Court also made several important decisions relating to federalism. Marshall took a broad view of the powers of the federal governmentÃ¢â‚¬â€in particular, the interstate commerce clause and the necessary and proper clause. For instance, in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Court ruled that the interstate commerce clause and other clauses permitted Congress to create a national bank, even though the power to create a bank is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Similarly, in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the Court found that the interstate commerce clause permitted Congress to regulate interstate navigation.

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Who was Roger B. Taney?

answer

1777 - 1864 Supreme court chief justice nominated in 1836 by Andrew Jackson. At a time when sectional tensions between the North and South were high, many of the Supreme Court's decisions particularly those relating to slavery met with controversy and contention. Most controversial was the Taney Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). Dred Scott, a slave from Missouri, sued for his freedom on the grounds that his master had taken him into Illinois and the territory of Wisconsin, both of which prohibited slavery, for extended periods of time. Taney, however, ruled that members of the African race, \"beings of an inferior order,\" were not and could never become citizens of the United States. Consequently, he ruled that Scott therefore had no standing to file the lawsuit. Moreover, he held that the Missouri Compromise, under which Congress prohibited slavery in certain territories that formed part of the Louisiana Purchase, was unconstitutional. The controversial decision met with vigorous opposition from abolitionists, and contributed to the tensions that led to the Civil War during the next decade.

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Who was Salmon P. Chase?

answer

1808-1873 Lincoln appointed him to be Chief Justice in 1864. Chase had strong anti-slavery credentials and had previously served Lincoln as Secretary of the Treasury. His post-Civil War tenure featured several key decisions affirming the indestructibility of the Union. Chase continued to serve as Chief Justice until his death in 1873. Many cases that came before the Court in the post Civil War era involved interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Who was Morrison Waite?

answer

1816-1888 Supreme court chief justice nominated by Ulysses S. Grant in 1874. In the Civil Rights Cases (1883), the Court under Chief Justice Morrison Waite held that Congress could not prohibit racial discrimination by private individuals (as opposed to governments) on the grounds of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Who was Melville Fuller?

answer

Chief justice of supreme court nominated by Grover Cleveland in 1888. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Court determined that the equal protection clause did not prohibit racial segregation in public facilities, as long as the facilities were equal (giving rise to the famous term \"separate but equal\"). He declared the income tax law unconstitutional. In Western Union Telegraph Company vs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania he ruled that states could not tax interstate telegraph messages. He struck a blow against government antitrust legislation with the 1895 case United States v. E. C. Knight Co.. In Fuller's majority decision, he found that the refining of sugar by a company within the boundries of one state could not be held to be in restraint of interstate commerce under the terms of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, regardless of the product's final market share.

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Who was Edward Douglass White?

answer

US supreme court justice nominated in 1910 by William Howard Taft. In the early twentieth century, the Supreme Court established that the Fourteenth Amendment protected the \"liberty of contract.\" On the grounds of the Fourteenth Amendment and other provisions of the Constitution, it controversially overturned many state and federal laws designed to protect employees. The first important decision of the era was Lochner v. New York (1905), in which the Court overturned a New York law limiting the number of hours bakers could work each week. In Adair v. United States (1908), the Court overruled a federal law which forbade \"yellow dog contracts\" (contracts that prohibited workers from joining unions). Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923) involved a decision that a District of Columbia minimum wage law was unconstitutional. White was generally seen as one of the more conservative members of the court.

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Who was William Howard Taft?

answer

US president 1909-1913 and supreme court justice nominated by Warren G. Harding in 1921. He remains the only person in the history of the United States to have led both the Executive and Judicial branches of the United States government, and is also the last President to hold a public office after his Presidential term ended. Was a Republican. Among other things, his administration is characterized for trust-busting, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, expanding the civil service, and establishing a better postal system. Two constitutional amendments were passed during his term: the 16th Amendment, authorizing a federal income tax, and the 17th Amendment, mandating the direct popular election of senators instead of by the state legislatures. New Mexico and Airzona became states under him in 1912. As chief justice, made a landmark ruling in Gitlow v. New York, establishing the doctrine of incorporation, under which provisions of the Bill of Rights were deemed to restrict the states.

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Who was Charles Evans Hughes?

answer

Chief justice of U.S. nominated in 1930 by Herbert Hoover. Under him the Supreme Court continued to enforce a Federal laissez-faire approach, overturning many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, which were designed to combat the Great Depression, by 54 margins. Most notably, the National Industrial Recovery Act was overturned in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935), and the Agricultural Adjustment Act was struck down in United States v. Butler (1936). In response, President Roosevelt proposed the Judiciary Reorganization (court packing) Bill.

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Who was Harlan Stone?

answer

Supreme court chief justice nominated in 1941 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Liberal justice who supported new deal programs.

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Who was Frederick Moore Vinson?

answer

Supreme court chief justice nominated in 1946 by Harry S. Truman. On racial segration, he wrote that states practicing the separate but equal doctrine must provide facilities that were truly equal, in Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents. The case of Brown v. Board of Education was before the Court at the time of his death. Vinson, not wanting a 5-4 decision, had ordered a second hearing of the case. He died before the case could be reheard, at which time Earl Warren was appointed to the Court and the case was heard again.

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Who was Earl Warren

answer

\"Chief justice of supreme court nominated by Grover Cleveland in 1888. In Plessy v.Ferguson (1896), the Court determined that the equal protection clause did not prohibit racial segregation in public facilities, as long as the facilities were equal (giving rise to the famous term \"separate but equal\"). He declared the income tax law unconstitutional. In Western Union Telegraph Company vs. The

question

Who was Warren Burger?

answer

US supreme court justice nominated in 1969 by Richard Nixon. The Burger Court is best remembered for its ruling in Roe v. Wade (1973), which held that there is a constitutionally protected right to have an abortion in some circumstances. The Court also made important decisions relating to the First Amendment. In Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), it established the \"Lemon test\" for determining if legislation violates the establishment clause. Similarly, it established the \"Miller test\" for laws banning obscenity in Miller v. California (1973). In United States v. Nixon the court ruled that the courts have the final voice in determining constitutional questions and that no person, not even the President of the United States, is completely above law.

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Who was William Rehnquist?

answer

US supreme court justice nominated in 1972 by Richard Nixon and elevated in 1986 by Ronald Regan to chief justice. The Rehnquist Court generally took a limited view of Congress's powers under the commerce clause, as exemplified by United States v. Lopez (1995). The Court made numerous controversial decisions, including Texas v. Johnson (1989), which declared that flag burning was a form of speech protected by the First Amendment; Lee v. Weisman (1992), which declared officially-sanctioned, student-led school prayers unconstitutional; Stenberg v. Carhart (2000), which voided laws prohibiting late-term abortions; and Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down laws prohibiting sodomy. (Some commentators see these decisions as part of the \"culture wars.\") Another controversial decision of the Rehnquist court in 2003 was Gratz v. Bollinger which upheld affirmative action. Perhaps the most controversial decision made by the Court came in Bush v. Gore (2000), which ended election recounts in Florida following the presidential election of 2000, allowing George W. Bush to become the forty-third U.S. President.

question

What is the capital of Afghanistan?

answer

Kabul

question

Name the capital and countries that border Albania.

answer

Tirana. Adriatic Sea, Serbia & Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece.

question

Name the capital and countries that border Algeria.

answer

Algiers. Mediterranean Sea, Tunesia, Libya, Niger,Mali, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of American Samoa.

answer

Pago Pago. South Pacific Ocean. Near Samoa.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Andorra.

answer

Andorra La Vella. Spain, France.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Angola.

answer

Luanda. South Atlantic Ocean. Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Namibia.

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Name the capital and bordering countries of Argentina.

answer

Buenos Aires. Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, South Atlantic Ocean. Contains the Rio Parana.

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Name the capital and bordering countries of Armenia.

answer

Yerevan. Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Australia.

answer

Canberra. Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, Near East Timor, Papa New Guinea, Indonesia.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Austria.

answer

Vienna (on the Danube river). Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzedrland, Liechtenstein.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Azerbaijan.

answer

Baku (on the Caspian Sea). Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Russia.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of The Bahamas.

answer

Nassau. In North Atlantic ocean near US (florida) and Cuba.

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Name the capital and bordering countries of Bahrain.

answer

Manama. In the Gulf of Bahrain (Persian Gulf) near Saudi Aurabia, Qatar.

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Name the capital and bordering countries of Bangladesh.

answer

Dhaka. India, Burma, and Bay of bengal (Indian Ocean). Contains Ganges , Meghna, and Jamuna Rivers.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Belarus.

answer

Minsk. Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Belgium.

answer

Brussels. North Sea, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Belize.

answer

Belmopan. Mexico, Guatemala, Caribbean sea.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Benin.

answer

Porto Novo. Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Atlantic Ocean.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Bhutan.

answer

Thimphu. China, India.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Bolivia.

answer

La Paz. Chile, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

answer

Sarajevo. Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Adriatic Sea.

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Name the capital and bordering countries of Botswana.

answer

Gaborone. Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Brazil.

answer

Brazilia. Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, North Atlantic Ocean. Contains Amazon and Parana rivers.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Burkina Faso.

answer

Ouagadougou. Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivorie, Mali. Contains the Black Volta River.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Bulgaria.

answer

Sofia. Romania (seperated by the Danube river), The Black Sea, Greece, Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia.

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Name the capital and bordering countries of Burma.

answer

Rangoon. India, China, Laos, Thailand, Bay of Bengal (Indian Ocean)

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Burundi.

answer

Bujumbura. Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Cambodia.

answer

Phnom Penh. Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Gulf of Thailand (Indian Ocean). Contains the Mekong river.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Cameroon.

answer

Yaounde. Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Equitorial Guinea, Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean).

question

What rivers drain into the gulf of Guinea?

answer

Volta, Congo, and Niger.

question

What rivers drain into the gulf of Guinea?

answer

Volta, Congo, and Niger.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries / oceans of Canada.

answer

Ottowa. North Pacific Ocean, Artic Ocean, Greenland (Denmark), Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, Atlantic, U.S.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Central African Republic.

answer

Bangui. Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Republic of Congo.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Chad.

answer

N'Djamena. Libya, C.A.R, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan. Contains Lake Chad.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of Chile.

answer

Santiago. South Pacific Ocean, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, South Atlantic Ocean via Straight of Magellan.

question

Name the capital and bordering countries of China.

answer

Beijing. Mongolia, Russsia, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan. Contains, Yellow, Mekong, Pearl, and Yangtze rivers.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Colombia.

answer

Bogota. Caribbean Sea, Venezuela, Brazil, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Pacific Ocean. Amazon River forms part of the border with Peru.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Democratic Republic of the Congo.

answer

Kinshasa. Republic of the Congo (Congo River makes a large part of the border), Angola, Tanzania (across lake Tanganyika), Rwanda, Brundi, C.A.R., Uganda, Sudan, Zambia. Contains Lualaba river.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Republic of the Congo.

answer

Brazzaville. South Atlantic Ocean, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (most of border is Congo River), Cameroon, Equitorial Guinea, C.A.R.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Costa Rica.

answer

San Jose. Nicaragua, Panama, Caribbean Sea, Pacific Ocean.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Cote d'Ivorie.

answer

Yamoussoukro. Ghana, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Atlantic Ocean, Guinea, Mali.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Croatia.

answer

Zagreb. Slovenia, Adriatic Sea, Sebia and Montenegro (Danube river forms the border), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Czech Republic.

answer

Prague. Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Austria. Contains the Elbe river.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Denmark.

answer

Copenhagen. North Sea, Baltic Sea, Germany, cose to Sweden.

question

What was the Marshall Plan?

answer

Program of European economic recovery after World War II, financed by the United States. Britain, France, West Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy were main recipients. Named for United States Secretary of State George Marshall and supported by President Truman.

question

Who were the Mayans?

answer

An American Indian people of Yucatan and Belize and Guatemala who had a culture characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy; noted for their architecture and city planning, their mathematics and calendar, and their hieroglyphic writing system. They existed at least as early as 1000 BC, and were in decline by the time of Spanish arrival in 1500s. Their society was arranged around kindoms and large cities.

question

What was the Mexican War?

answer

(1846â€\"1848) A war between the United States and Mexico, resulting in the cession by Mexico of lands now constituting all or most of the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

question

What year was the NAACP founded?

answer

1910

question

What year did NAFTA take effect?

answer

1994

question

What year was NATO created?

answer

1949

question

When did the Nuremburg Trials take place?

answer

1945-1946. They were the first international war crimes trials.

question

What was the \"open door policy\"?

answer

United States efforts to develop a trade relationship with China in the late 1800s to early 1900s; urged European nations with spheres of influence in China to not restrict trade in those areas.

question

When was the Oregon territory dispute settled?

answer

The United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of 1846, which set the boundary at the 49th parallel, where it is today.

question

What was the Pinckney Treaty?

answer

Also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795 and established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the U.S. with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River.

question

Who were the Populists?

answer

The Peopleâ€™s Party of 1892 that sought radical reforms in United States economic and social policies; supported a silver standard, increased money supply, and a graduated income tax.

question

What was the immigration act of 1924?

answer

Set immigration quotas of 2 percent of the number of foreign-born persons from a given nation, based on the Census of 1890. Drastically cut immigration from south and east europe, as well as asia.

question

How long did reconstruction last?

answer

1865 to 1877 the states of the Confederacy were controlled by the federal government before being readmitted to the Union. First were occupied by Union armies, then readmitted to the union after elections which saw many former slaves vote, and blacks even win positions of power.

question

What was the sherman Anti-Trust Act?

answer

1890 federal antitrust law intended to control or prohibit monopolies by forbidding certain practices that restrain competition. In the early 1900s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the act applied only to unreasonable restraints of trade and thus could be used only against severe monopolies.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Djibouti.

answer

Djibouti. Eritrea, Somolia, Ethiopia, Red Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of the Dominican Republic.

answer

Santo Domingo. Haiti, North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of East Timor.

answer

Dili. Indonesia, Timor Sea, Banda Sea (south Pacific Ocean).

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Ecuador.

answer

Quito. Columbia, Peru, Pacific Ocean.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Egypt.

answer

Cairo. Israel, Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia (across red sea), Jordan, Sudan, Libya, Mediterranean sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of El Salvador.

answer

San Salvador. Honduras, Guatemala, Pacific Ocean.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Equatorial Guinea.

answer

Malabo. Cameroon, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Eritrea.

answer

Asmara. Red Sea, Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Estonia.

answer

Tallinn. Baltic Sea, Latvia, Russia, Finland (across gulf of Finland).

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Ethiopia.

answer

Addis Ababa. Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somolia, Kenya. Contains source of the Blue Nile & the great rift valley.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Fiji.

answer

Suva. South Pacific Ocean.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Finland.

answer

Helinski. Russia, North Sea, Sweden, Norway, Estonia (across gulf of Finland), Baltic Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of France.

answer

Paris (on the Seine river). Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany (Rhine river forms part of the border), Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Andorra, English Channel (North Atlantic), Mediterranean Sea. Also contains the Rhone river.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of French Guiana.

answer

Cayenne. North Atlantic Ocean, Suriname, Brazil. The only non-independant state in South America.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of French Polynesia.

answer

Papeete. South Pacific ocean. France conducted nuclear tests here as recently as 1996.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Gabon.

answer

Libreville. Atlantic Ocean, Equitorial Guiana, Cameroon, Republic of the congo.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Gabon.

answer

Libreville. Atlantic Ocean, Equitorial Guiana, Cameroon, Republic of the congo.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of The Gambia.

answer

Banjul. Senegal, Atlantic Ocean. Contains the Gambia river delta.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Georgia.

answer

Tblisi (on the Mlkvari River). Russia (across the caucas mountains), Black Sea, Armenia, Turkey, Azerbaijan.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Germany.

answer

Berlin (on the Elbe river). Poland, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Neatherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, North Sea, Baltic Sea. Also contains the Danube and Rhine rivers.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Ghana.

answer

Accra. Togo, Cote d'Ivorie, Burkina Faso, Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic). Contains Lake Volta.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Greece.

answer

Athens. Macedonia, Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ionian Sea, Aegean Sea, Sea of Crete, Mediterranean Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Guatemala.

answer

Guatemala City. Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Guinea.

answer

Conakry. Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivorie, Atlantic Ocean. Contains the Niger River.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Guinea-Bissau.

answer

Bissau. Senegal, Guinea, Atlantic Ocean.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Guyana.

answer

Georgetown. Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil, Atlantic Ocean.

question

When was the Social Security Act enacted?

answer

1935 by FDR's New Deal platform.

question

What was the Spanish American war?

answer

A war between Spain and the United States in 1898, as a result of which Spain ceded Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and Guam to the United States and abandoned all claim to Cuba, which became independant in 1902.

question

What year was Sputnik Launched?

answer

1957

question

What was Tammany Hall?

answer

The democratic political machine controlling New York City politics from the 1854 to the 1934.

question

Who were the Tories?

answer

The majority party in the British Parliament during the American Revolution; also the name for American colonists still loyal to the crown.

question

What was the Truman Doctrine?

answer

(1947) Cold-War policy, established by President Harry S. Truman, pledging United States support for free people'sÂ resisting communism.

question

When was the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed?

answer

1948

question

What was the Wagner Act?

answer

National Labor Relations Act of 1935; legalized union practices such as collective bargaining and the closed shop and outlawed certain antiunion practices such as blacklisting. Part of FDR's programs.

question

How long is a US senator's term?

answer

6 years. It seems more often because elections are staggered.

question

How is a president impeached?

answer

There are two steps: First the House of Reps passes the articles of impeachment, which are the formal allegations, by a simple majority. Next, the Senate votes, by two-thirds majority to convict.

question

What is 11th amendment \"immunity\"?

answer

Generally, a state is immune from suit by an individual. However, a state can consent to be sued, or Congress can abrogate a state's immunity, as long as it is within Congress' authority to do so (i.e. constitutional authority).

question

How is the vacancy of the office of the Vice President filled?

answer

The president nominates a person, who then must be confirmed by a majoirty vote of both houses of Congress. This is embodied in the 25th Amendment.

question

What is \"fast track\" authority in the context of trade agreements?

answer

In various acts, Congress delegated the authority to negotiate trade agreements (treaties) to the president. The Senate then can vote the agreement up or down. Not really provided for by the constitution, but is in practice. Other countries like dealing with only the president, rather than the entire US senate. See Article II Section 2, Clause 2.

question

Does the President have \"line item veto\" power?

answer

No. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling finding the line item veto to be unconstitutional, as the constitution lays out how the president may veto a bill, but is silent as to amending it. This leaves open the question if the constitution can be amended to allow for such a procedure.

question

Can US states create their own foreign policy?

answer

Generally no. US treaties and federal law are said to preempt any state or local law that can be said to be in the area of foreign relations. There is some wiggle room here, however if the effect of the local statute or ordinance is minimal. Courts upheld south african apartheid legislation, wherein cities forced pension funds to divest themselves of any South African investments.

question

Who may suspend the writ of habeas corpus and when?

answer

Who: Good question. Traditionally it was thought that only congress could do so as the power to suspend HC was found in article I of the constitution, wherein the legislature's powers are defined. Lincoln did it, and though it was found to be unconstitutional, he merely ignored the ruling. PResident Grant also did it.

question

Why is the Supreme Court case \"West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish\" important?

answer

The Supreme Court struck down many of the FDR's New Deal reforms because they found they interfered with an individual's right to contract, implicit in the due process clause of the 14th amendmnet. This case, however, was when the supreme court basically overruled itself and started upholding many of FDRs laws, such as minimum wage, and laws limiting the number of working hours, etc. Effectively, one member of the court switched sides after FDR threatened to go to congress to ask to expand the number of supreme court justices so that he could attain a majority. The Judge's change of heart is known as the \"switch in time that saved nine.\"

question

What is an ex-post facto law?

answer

It is a law that punishes conduct that was not previously proscribed. So for instance, a gov't cannot outlaw being a Seahawks fan tomorrow and punish all of those seahawk fans at the superbowl yesterday. This is explictly prohibited by the constitution in Article I, Sectin 9, clause 3 of the constitution. A more common example is when a legislature increases the punishment for a crime. So say a person is convicted of burglary and the maximum sentence, which he receives, is 10 years. The legislature cannot then say that all burglars should get 30 years in prison and make that retroactive to a person already convicted.

question

What top-level domain is assigned to government organizations in the US?

answer

.gov

question

What top-level domain is assigned to colleges and universities in the US?

answer

.edu

question

What top-level domain is assigned to most Canadian companies and organizations?

answer

.ca

question

What top-level domain is assigned to most French companies and organizations?

answer

.fr

question

What top-level domain is assigned to non-profit organizations?

answer

.org

question

What top-level domain is assigned to the Department of Army?

answer

.mil

question

A .xls extension indicates what kind of file?

answer

spreadsheet

question

What is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes?

answer

virus

question

Files that are sent along with an email message are called?

answer

attachments

question

What function do you use to automatically insert data from an xcel file to a word document?

answer

Mail merge wizard

question

What top-level domain is assigned to most British companies and organizations?

answer

.uk

question

Is www.whitehouse.com a government site?

answer

No, it's a pornographic website.

question

The line below the \"TO:\" line is called what?

answer

Subject

question

In Xcel, what function allows you to automatically list data in alphabetical order?

answer

Data: Sort

question

An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document is called what?

answer

hyperlink

question

What does it mean to backup your files regularly?

answer

To copy files to a second medium (a disk or tape) as a precaution in case the first medium fails.

question

What top-level domain is assigned to network organizaitons?

answer

.net

question

What is a domain name?

answer

A name that identifies one or more IP addresses.

question

Why is broadcasting a useful feature in e-mail systems?

answer

It allows you to simultaneously send the same message to multiple recipients.

question

In order to protect your Word file so that no one can change the content when shared, you must save the file as what?

answer

read-only

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Haiti?

answer

Port-au-Prince. Domincan republic, Atlantic ocean, mediterranean sea, near Cuba.

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Honduras?

answer

Tegucigalpa. Pacific ocean, mediterranean sea, nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador.

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Hungary?

answer

Budapest. Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia and montenegro, Romania, Croatia, Ukraine. Contains Danube and Tisza rivers.

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of India?

answer

New Delhi. Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Bangladesh, Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea (Indian Ocean). Contains Ganges and Indus rivers.

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Indonesia.

answer

Jakarta. Malaysia, East Timor, Indian Ocean, Pacific ocean, Papua New Guinea, near Brunei, Australia and Phillipines.

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Iran.

answer

Tehran. Pakistan, Iraq, Persian Gulf,(Indian Ocean), Caspian Sea, Afghanistan, Turkistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia. Near Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE.

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Iraq.

answer

Baghdad. Jordan, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, Persian Gulf. Contains Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Ireland.

answer

Dublin. North Ireland (UK), North Atlantic ocean. Near Whales (across irish sea)

question

What is the Capital and neighboring countries of Israel.

answer

Israel says Jerusalem, most of the world says Tel Aviv. Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Red Sea.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Italy.

answer

Rome. Monaco, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Mediterranean Sea. Contains Po river.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Jamaica.

answer

Kingston. Carribean sea.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Japan.

answer

Tokyo. Pacific ocean, near korea, russia, china.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Jordan.

answer

Amman. Israel, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea. Contains Dead Sea and Jordan River.

question

Name the Capital and neighboring countries of Kazakhstan.

answer

Astana. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgystan, Russia, China, Caspian Sea. Contains Aral sea, Ertis river.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Kenya.

answer

Nairobi. Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somolia, Sudan, Uganda, Indian ocean, lake Victoria.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of North Korea.

answer

Pyongyang. Russia, China, South Korea, Sea of Japan (Pacific Ocean). Near Japan.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of South Korea.

answer

Seoul. North Korea, Sea of Japan (Pacific Ocean). Near Japan, China, Russia.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Kuwait.

answer

Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Persian Gulf. Near Iran.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Kyrgystan.

answer

Bishkek. Uzbekistan, China, Khazakstan, Tajikistan. Contains Naryn River.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Laos.

answer

Vientiane. Thailand (border is Mekong river), China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Latvia.

answer

Riga. Estonia, Lituania, Baltic Sea, Russia, Belarus.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Lebanon.

answer

Beirut. Mediterranean Sea, Syria, Israel.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Lebanon.

answer

Beirut. Mediterranean Sea, Syria, Israel.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Lesotho.

answer

Maseru. South Africa.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Liberia.

answer

Monrovia. Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivorie, Guniea, Atlantic Ocean.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Libya.

answer

Tripoli. Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Tunesia, Algeria, Niger, Mediterranean Sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Liechtenstein.

answer

Vaduz. Switzerland, Austria.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Lithuania.

answer

Vilnius. Russia, Latvia, Poland, Belarus, Baltic Sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Luxembourg.

answer

Luxembourg. Belgium, Germany, France.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Macedonia.

answer

Skopje. Serbia and Montenegro, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria. Contains Vardar river.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Madagascar.

answer

Antananarivo. Near Comoros in Indian ocean.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Malawi.

answer

Lilongwe. Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lake Nyasa. Contains Shire river.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Malaysia.

answer

Kuala Lumpur. Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore. Near Vietnam and Philippines in South China Sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Maldives.

answer

Male. Near India in Indian Ocean.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Mali.

answer

Bamako. Guinea, Senegal, Algeria, Niger, Mauritania, Cote d'Ivorie, Burkina Faso. Contains Niger river.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Malta.

answer

Valletta. Mediterranean sea. Former UK colony, now EU member.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Mauritania.

answer

Nouakchott. Western Sahara, Mali, Algeria, Senegal (border is Senegal river), North Atlantic.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Mexico.

answer

Mexico City. United States, Guatemala, Belize, Pacific ocean, mediterranean sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Moldova.

answer

Chisinau. Romania, Ukraine.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Mongolia.

answer

Ulaanbaatar. China, Russia. Contains part of Gobi Desert.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Morocco.

answer

Casablanca. Western Sahara, Algeria, Spain, Atlantic ocean, mediterranean sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Mozambique.

answer

Maputo. Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, South Africa, Indian Ocean, Lake Nyasa. Contains Zambezi River.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Namibia.

answer

Windhoek. Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, South Atlantic Ocean. Contains Kalahari and Namib Deserts.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Nepal.

answer

Kathmandu. China, India. Contains Mt. Everest.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Netherlands.

answer

Amsterdam. Belgium, Germany, North Sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of New Zealand.

answer

Wellington. South Pacific Ocean near Australia.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Nicaragua.

answer

Managua. Costa Rica, Honduras, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Niger.

answer

Niamey. Nigeria, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Contains Niger River And part of sahara desert.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Nigeria.

answer

Abuja. Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin, Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean). Contains Benue and Niger Rivers. Former English Colony. Member of OPEC.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Norway.

answer

Oslo. Sweden, Finland, Russia, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Oman.

answer

Muscat. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Pakistan.

answer

Islamabad. Afghanistan, India, China, Iran, Arabian Sea (Indian Ocean), Contains Indus River.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Panama.

answer

Panama City. Colombia, Costa Rica, mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean. Contains Panama Canal.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Papua New Guinea.

answer

Port Moresby. Indonesia, Coral Sea (Pacific Ocean). Near Australia.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Paraguay.

answer

Asuncion. Brazil (Rio Parana forms part of border), Argentina, Bolivia.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Peru.

answer

Lima. Pacific Ocean. Equador, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil. Contains source of Amazon River and Lake Titicaca.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Philippines.

answer

Manila. South Pacific Ocean. Near Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Poland.

answer

Warsaw. Baltic Sea, Russia, Belarus, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Lithuania. Contains Vistula and Oder Rivers.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Portugal.

answer

Lisbon. Spain, Atlantic Ocean.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Puerto Rico.

answer

San Juan. Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Spanish colony ceded to US after spanish-american war.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Qatar.

answer

Doha. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Persian Gulf.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Romania.

answer

Bucharest. Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Black Sea, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro (across Danube River).

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Russia.

answer

Moscow. China, Mongolia, Ukraine, Kazakistan, Belarus, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Azerbaijan. Near Japan.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Rwanda.

answer

Kigali. Uganda, Brundi, DPR Congo, Tanzania, lake Kivu.

question

What is the world's oldest republic?

answer

San Marino (301 AD)

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Sao Tome and Principe.

answer

Sao Tome. Gulf of Guinea near Equitorial Guinea.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Saudi Arabia.

answer

Riyadh. Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Persian Gulf, Red Sea. Near Israel, Egypt, Iran, Eritrea, Sudan.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Senegal.

answer

Dakar. The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Atlantic Ocean. Former French Colony liberated 1960.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Serbia and Montenegro.

answer

Belgrade. Bosnia and Hertzegovina, Croatia, Albania, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Adriatic Sea. Part of former Yugoslavia, contains Kosovo and the Danube, Save, and Drina Rivers.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Seychelles.

answer

Victoria. In Indian ocean near Comoros, Madagascar. Independant from UK in 1976.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Sierra Leone.

answer

Freetown. Liberia, Guinea, Atlantic Ocean. Former UK Colony freed in 1961.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Singapore.

answer

Singpore. Malaysia, Indian Ocean, Indonesia (across Singapore Strait). Freed from UK in 1963.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Slovakia.

answer

Bratislava. Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Austria, Hungary (Danube river forms partial border), Contains Vah river.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Slovenia.

answer

Ljubljana. Italy, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Gulf of Venice (Adriatic Sea).

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Somalia.

answer

Mogadishu. Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Red Sea, Indian Ocean.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of South Africa.

answer

Pretoria. Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique. Free from UK in 1910, republic in 1961.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Spain.

answer

Madrid. Portugal, France, Andorra, Morocco, Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar (UK outpost), contains Tagus River.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Sri Lanka.

answer

Colombo. Bay of Bengal (Indian Ocean)near India and Maldives.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Sri Lanka.

answer

Colombo. Bay of Bengal (Indian Ocean)near India and Maldives.

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Sudan.

answer

Khartoum. Egypt, Libya, Chad, CAR, DPR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Eritria, Ethiopia, Red Sea. Contains Nile River (White and Blue forks).

question

Name the Capital and bordering countries of Suriname.

answer

Paramaribo. French Guiana, Brazil, Guyana, North Atlantic Ocean.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Sweden.

answer

Stockholm. Norway, Finland, Baltic Sea, Near Denmark.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Switzerland.

answer

Bern. Italy, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria. Contains the Rhine river.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Syria.

answer

Damascus. Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Mediterranean Sea. Contains Euphrates river, small bit of Tigris river.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Tajikistan.

answer

Dushanbe. Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Afghanistan.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Tanzania.

answer

Dar es Salaam. Kenya, Burundi, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, DPR Congo, Lake Victoria, Indian Ocean, Lake Nyasa.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Thailand.

answer

Bangkok. Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Gulf of Thailand (South China Sea), Strait of Malacca, contains Mekong River.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Togo.

answer

Lome. Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana, Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean).

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Tunisia.

answer

Tunis. Libya, Algeria, Mediterranean Sea. Independent from france in 1956. Best arab nation on womens rights.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Turkey.

answer

Ankara. Greece, Bulgaria, Syria, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, Bosporus Strait, Dardanelles, contains source of Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Turkmenistan.

answer

Ashgabat. Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Caspian Sea, Amu Darya River.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Uganda.

answer

Kampala. DPR Congo, Rwanda, Lake Victoria, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Victoria branch of the Nile River. Independant from the UK in 1962.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Ukraine.

answer

Kiev. Romania, Russia, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Belarus, the Black Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of the United Arab Emirates.

answer

Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Persian Gulf, near Qatar.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Uruguay.

answer

Montevideo. Brazil, Argentina, Atlantic Ocean, Rio Negro.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Uzbekistan.

answer

Tashkent. Kazakistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Aral Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Venezuela.

answer

Caracas. Colombia, Brazil, Guyana, Mediterranean Sea, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Grenada, Barbados.

question

What year did the US invade Grenada?

answer

1983

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Vietnam.

answer

Hanoi. China, Laos, Cambodia, South China Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of the US Virgin Islands.

answer

Charlotte Amalie. North Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Western Sahara.

answer

Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Atlantic Ocean. It is currently claimed by Morocco and has no capital.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Yemen.

answer

Sanaa. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Red Sea, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somolia, Arabian Sea (Indian Ocean).

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Zambia.

answer

Lusaka. DPR Congo, Malawi, Angola, Botswana, Nambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, contains Zambezi river. Independant from UK in 1964.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Zimbabwe.

answer

Harare. Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa. Independant from UK circa 1961.

question

Name the capital and neighboring countries of Zimbabwe.

answer

Harare. Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa. Independant from UK circa 1961.

question

What year was pakistan partitioned?

answer

1947, immediately fought war with india overt kashmir.

question

When did the second war between India and Pakistan begin?

answer

1965

question

What year did Bangladesh become independant?

answer

1971, resulting in the third India - Pakistan war.

question

During the cold war, who was Pakistan mainly allied with?

answer

The US.

question

During the cold war, who was India mainly allied with?

answer

The USSR.

question

What year did India and Pakistan become nuclear powers?

answer

1998, nearly resulting in a war in 1999.

question

What was France's Vietnam?

answer

The Algerian war, starting in 1954. Harsh crackdown on Algerian militants lead to independance for Algeria in 1962.

question

When was the US Army desegregated?

answer

After WWII, 1945-1950 by decree of president Truman.

question

Who championed the New Deal Policies?

answer

FDR.

question

Who championed the Fair Deal Policies?

answer

Truman

question

Who championed the Great Society Policies?

answer

LBJ

question

Who did Libya side with during the cold war?

answer

The US

question

What were the 4 original African members of the UN?

answer

Liberia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt.

question

What is the War Powers Resolution?

answer

1973. It requires the president to consult with congress before sending troops into battle and requires them to withdraw after 60-90 days if congress does not approve. No president has accepted the constitutionality of this act.

question

What ethnic group was accepted as immigrants in large numbers from the USSR during the cold war?

answer

The Jews.

question

Which ammendments deal with due process?

answer

The 5th and the 14th.

question

What was shay's rebellion?

answer

1786-1787. Massachusetts farmers revolt over high taxes. Under the articles of confederacy, the new US is powerless to stop them due to no money or troops.

question

What was Bacon's rebellion?

answer

1676 rebellion in the Virginia colony pitting poor farmers against indians.

question

What natural resource does Azerbaijan mainly export?

answer

Oil.

question

What is the European Investment Bank?

answer

It is the EU's financing institution, founded in 1957. Located in Luxembourg, its goal is to further the economic goals and carry out the agreements of the EU within, and with other nations.

question

What is the Asian Development Bank?

answer

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a multilateral development finance institution dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific. It was founded in 1966 with 31 members states and has now grown to include 64, including the US, many europen nations, and all asian nations, including the stans. Headquartered in Philippines.

question

What is Freddie Mac?

answer

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (\"Freddie Mac\") NYSE: FRE is a stockholder-owned, publicly-traded company chartered by the United States federal government in 1970 to purchase mortgages and related securities, and then issue securities and bonds in financial markets backed by those mortgages in secondary markets. Freddie Mac, like its competitor Fannie Mae is regulated by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

question

What is Fannie Mae?

answer

Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, created in 1938 to establish a secondary market for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Fannie Mae buys mortgages on the secondary market, pools them and sells them as mortgage-backed securities to investors on the open market. This secondary mortgage market helps to replenish the supply of lendable money for mortgages and ensures that money continues to be available for new home purchases. Freddie Mac makes money by charging a guarantee fee which is usually a small part of the interest payment of the loans they have securitized into bonds. (For example, Freddie Mac may purchase a loan with a rate of 5.19 percent and put it into a mortgage backed security (MBS) bond which has a 5.0 percent coupon, keeping 0.19 percent as the guarantee fee.)

question

What is a duration gap?

answer

\"The duration gap is an accounting term for the difference between the duration of assets and liabilites. The duration gap measures how well cash flows for assets and liabilities are matched. When the duration of assets exceeds the duration of liabilities the duration gap is positive. A positive duration gap means greater exposure to rising interest rates; if interest rates go up then the price of assets fall more than the price of liabilities.

question

What is Ginnie Mae?

answer

The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) was created by the United States Federal Government through a 1968 partition of the Federal National Mortgage Association. The GNMA is a wholly owned corporation within the United States' Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Its main purpose is to provide financial assistance to low- to moderate-income homebuyers, by promoting mortgage credit. They also have the undesirable attribute of being callable every month, meaning that, unlike other bonds, all or part of a GNMA bond might suddenly \"mature\" next month, if all the homeowners decided to pay off or refinance their mortgages. This does not involve a risk of loss to the investor, but rather a premature payment of the principal, and now the investor has to go look for another investment for his money. This is called prepayment risk.

question

What is the term of most bonds?

answer

1 to 30 years. Under 1 year, they are usually referred to as money market instruments.

question

What is LIBOR?

answer

LIBOR stands for the London Interbank Offered Rate and is a daily reference rate based on the interest rates at which banks offer to lend unsecured funds to other banks in the London wholesale (or \"interbank\") money market. LIBOR rates are widely used as a reference rate for :- forward rate agreements, short term interest rate futures contracts, interest rate swaps, floating rate notes, syndicated loans, etc, for a number of currencies, especially the US dollar (see also Eurodollar). They thus provide the basis for some of the world's most liquid and active interest rate markets.

question

What is Euribor?

answer

Euribor (Euro Interbank Offered Rate) is a daily reference rate based on the interest rates at which banks offer to lend unsecured funds to other banks in the euro wholesale (or \"interbank\") money market. The Euro reference rates are based on this.

question

What is the relationship between the yield and the price of a bond?

answer

They are inverse.

question

What is a \"callable\" bond?

answer

A bond that can be paid back early, thus forcing the buyer to find another place to put his money.

question

What is Standard & Poor's ?

answer

A subsidiary of McGraw-Hill that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is one of the top three players in this business, along with Moody's and Fitch Ratings. As a credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's issues credit ratings for the debt of companies. As such, it is designated a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It issues both short-term and long-term credit ratings. Also compiles the S&P 500.

question

What is Moody's ?

answer

It performs financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized ratings scale. The company has a 40% share in the world credit rating market. Moody's was founded in 1909 by John Moody.

question

What is Fitch Ratings?

answer

An international credit rating agency dual-headquartered in New York City and London. It is one of the three Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSRO) designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975, together with Moody's and Standard & Poor's.

question

What is the Bureau of the Public Debt?

answer

An agency in the Treasury department that issues US Bonds.

question

What are the maturities of US Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds? What is the face value?

answer

\"Treasury Bills have maturities of one year or less. Treasury Notes have maturities of two to ten years. Treasury Bonds have maturities greater than ten years. Treasury Bonds are known as T-Bonds, Treasury Notes are called T-Notes, and

question

How often do treasury bills pay interest?

answer

Never. Only T-notes and T-bonds pay interest twice a year. T-bills are simply sold at a discounted price.

question

What is a zero-coupn bond?

answer

A bond that sells at an ititial discount, instead of paying out interest twice a year. A T-bill is an example.

question

What is the benefit of municipal bonds?

answer

They are always free from federal tax, and usually free from state and local tax. Because of this, their yields can be lower.

question

What tend to be the riskiest type of bonds?

answer

Corporate bonds.

question

What are \"junk\" bonds?

answer

Companies with less-than-investment-grade (Ba and below) ratings issue bonds. These securities, known as high-yield, or \"junk,\" bonds, are generally too speculative for the average investor, but they can provide spectacular returns.

question

What are agency bonds?

answer

\"In addition to the U.S. Treasury and local municipalities, other government agencies

question

What are convertible bonds?

answer

They carry a provision that the bond can be converted into shares of common stock under certain circumstances. Convertible bonds can be more attractive that bonds with no conversion provision, depending on the price of the underlying stock.

question

What options do corporations have for raising capital?

answer

Generally speaking, companies have three choices when they want to raise cash. They can issue shares of stock, they can borrow from the bank, or they can borrow from investors by issuing bonds.

question

What was the major reason the US declared war on germany in 1917?

answer

WWI was disrupting US trade with France and Britain.

question

What was Wilson's stated reason the US declared war on germany in 1917?

answer

The resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in the atlantic.

question

How often is the presidential veto overriden?

answer

Less than 5% of the time.

question

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act applies to individuals over what age? What year did it begin?

answer

40. It was written in 1967. The ADEA includes a broad ban against age discrimination and also specifically prohibits: Discrimination in hiring, promotions, wages, or firing/layoffs. Statements or specifications in job notices or advertisements of age preference and limitations. Denial of benefits to older employees. An employer may reduce benefits based on age only if the cost of providing the reduced benefits to older workers is the same as the cost of providing full benefits to younger workers. Since 1978 it has prohibited mandatory retirement in most sectors, with phased elimination of mandatory retirement for tenured workers, such as college professors, in 1993. The ADEA was later amended in 1986 and again in 1991 by the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (Pub. L. 101-433) and the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (P.L. 102-166). The ADEA differs from the Civil Rights Act in that the ADEA applies to firms of 20 or more workers (see 29 U.S.C. Â§ 630(b)) rather than 15 or more workers, thus providing less protection.

question

What is Vroom's expectancy theory?

answer

This theory deals with motivation and management. It assumes that people wish to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. It says that people will be motivated to perform well if good performance will result in outcomes they value. Vroom introduces three variables which he calls Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality. Valence is the importance that the individual places upon the expected outcome of a situation. Expectancy is the belief that output from the individual and the success of the situation are linked, e.g. if I work harder then this will be better. Instrumentality is the belief that the success of the situation is linked to the expected outcome of the situation, e.g. it's gone really well, so I'd expect praise

question

What is \"poisoning the well\"?

answer

Poisoning the well is a logical fallacy where adverse information about someone is pre-emptively presented to an audience, with the intention of discrediting or ridiculing everything that person is about to say. This \"argument\" has the following form: 1. Unfavorable information (be it true or false) about person A is presented. 2. Therefore any claims person A makes will be false.

question

When were the first women allowed to vote in the world?

answer

1893 in New Zealand.

question

What is an aspect of procedural justice theory in management?

answer

If you are giving negative feedback on job performance, you must make it clear why negative feedback is being given.

question

What is the relationship between a nation's capital and current accounts?

answer

Inverse if a neutral balance of payments is to be obtained.

question

What is the Balance of Payments (BOP)?

answer

A measure of how much money is going into or out of a country. If it is coming in, it is a positive balance. The BOP consists of the current, capital, and reserve accounts.

question

What currency does OPEC price oil in?

answer

US Dollars. This is one factor that helps keep the US dollar as a major reserve currency for many nations.

question

What is the Talmud?

answer

One of the Jewish Holy Books. It is a compilation of oral tradition.

question

When did Christianity get it's big break?

answer

In 313, Roman emporer constantine I adopted it as his and the empire's religion, resulting of its spread westward from palestine.

question

How did Zoroastrianism influence Judaism and Christianity?

answer

It introduced the concepts of angels, satan, ressurection, and afterlife.

question

What is the oldest branch of Christianity?

answer

Catholicism.

question

What are The Gospels?

answer

Part of the New Testament, 4 books recording Jesus' life and teachings, often in his own words.

question

Revalations is found in what part of the bible?

answer

New Testament.

question

What book is the prophet Mohammed responsible for?

answer

The Quran.

question

What are the 5 pillars of islam?

answer

The Haaj (pilgrimmage to mecca), Alms of 2.5% for the needy, 5 daily prayers, Fasting during ramadan, and belief in one god.

question

Are the majority of muslims sunni or shiite?

answer

About 90% are Sunni. Shiites live mainly in Iran and Iraq.

question

What are Islam's three holy books?

answer

The Quran, Hadith, and Sunna. Respectively Go'ds words to Muhammed, Muhammed's sayings, and Muhammed's deeds.

question

How does Osama bin Laden translate?

answer

Osama, son of Laden.

question

Is islamic society patriarchal, or matriarchal?

answer

patriarchal.

question

What excuses do Jewish and Islamic men need to divorce their wives?

answer

None. They can divorce with no explanation. Women can only divorce in a few circumstances.

question

When did the U.S. Constitution go into effect?

answer

1789

question

Who can receive foreign ambassadors?

answer

Only the president.

question

Who does the General Accounting Office (GAO) report to?

answer

Congress, on government expenditures and other assignments.

question

Who must the president inform before conducting a covert military operation?

answer

The Congressional Intelligence Committees. For the CIA, it is the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as well.

question

What is proxemics in psychology?

answer

The term proxemics was introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1963 to describe the measureable distances between people as they interacted. Hall pointed out that social distance between people is reliably correlated with physical distance, and described four distances: intimate distance for embracing, touching or whispering (15-45 cm, 6-18 inches) personal distance for interactions among good friends (45-120 cm, 1.5-4 feet) social distance for interactions among acquaintances (1.2-3.5 m, 4-12 ft) public distance used for public speaking (over 3.5 m, 12 ft)

question

What does fiscal policy deal with?

answer

Tax rates and federal job creation.

question

What does monetary policy deal with?

answer

The base interest rate.

question

What happens if the FED interest rate goes too low?

answer

Inflation.

question

What happens if the FED interest rate goes too high?

answer

Unemployment and low economic growth.

question

What does eugenics deal with?

answer

Breeding people with better genes.

question

Who won the Scopes Monkey Trial?

answer

In 1925, the creationist side won.

question

Who was Charlemagne?

answer

Also known as Charles the Great, he was king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. He was crowned Imperator Augustus in Rome on Christmas Day, 800 by Pope Leo III and is therefore regarded as the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, a reincarnation of the ancient Western Roman Empire. Through military conquest and defence, he solidified and expanded his realm to cover most of Western Europe and is today regarded as the founding father of both France and Germany and sometimes as the Father of Europe. His was the first truly imperial power in the West since the fall of Rome.

question

When did the French Revolution occur?

answer

1789 - 1799

question

What was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?

answer

One of the fundamental documents of the French Revolution, defining a set of individual rights and collective rights of the people.

question

What was the age of enlightenment?

answer

A trend in the 18th century in European philosophy, often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. The term also more specifically refers to a historical intellectual movement, \"The Enlightenment.\" This movement advocated rationality as a means to establish an authoritative system of ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge. The intellectual leaders of this movement regarded themselves as courageous and elite, and regarded their purpose as leading the world toward progress and out of a long period of doubtful tradition, full of irrationality, superstition, and tyranny (which they believed began during a historical period they called the \"Dark Ages\"). This movement also provided a framework for the American and French Revolutions, the Latin American independence movement, and the Polish Constitution of May 3, and also led to the rise of capitalism and the birth of socialism.

question

What was the 30 years war?

answer

It was fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally on the territory of today's Germany, but also involving most of the major continental powers. It occurred for a number of reasons. Although it was from its outset a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the self-preservation of the Habsburg dynasty was also a central motive.

question

What 4 freedoms did Rooseveldt mention in his 1941 speech?

answer

Freedom of speech and expression, Freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, Freedom from want - individual economic security, Freedom from fear - world disarmament to the point that wars of aggression are impossible.

question

What was The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act?

answer

Established the United States Civil Service Commission, which placed most federal employees on the merit system and marked the end of the so-called \"spoils system.\" Drafted during the Chester A. Arthur administration, the Pendleton Act served as a response to President James Garfield's assassination by Charles J. Guiteau (a \"disappointed office seeker\"). The Act was passed into law on January 16, 1883.

question

Who was John Dewey?

answer

An American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, whose thought has been greatly influential in the United States and around the world. He is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophical school of Pragmatism, a pioneer in functional psychology, and a leading representative of the progressive movement in U.S. education during the first half of the 20th century.

question

Does the presiden't cabinet deal more with foreign or domestic issues?

answer

Domestic.

question

Who was John Kenneth Galbraith?

answer

A widely read twentieth-century economist, from the American Institutional economics school. On the faculty of Harvard University from 1934 to 1975. He served in the administrations of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson. In 1961, Kennedy appointed him ambassador to India, where he served until 1963. Although he is a former president of the American Economic Association, Galbraith is considered something of an iconoclast by many economists because he eschews mathematical modeling in favor of non-technical political economy. Additionally certain economists have alleged that he does not base his conclusions on solid research. His work includes several books on economic topics (some of which were bestsellers in the late 1950s and during the 1960s) in which he describes ways in which economic theory does not always mesh with real life. He said unions and governement regulations would automatically check the power of corporations over time. In his most famous work, The Affluent Society (1958), which became a bestseller, Galbraith outlined his view that to be successful the United States would need to make large investments in items such as highways and education using funds from general taxation.

question

What is Institutional Economics?

answer

A school of heterodox economics, with a focus going beyond economics' usual concentration on markets to the exclusion of all else. Instead it looks more closely at human-made institutions and views markets as a result of the complex interaction of these various insitutions. Institutional economics was once the dominant school of economics in the United States, including such famous but diverse economists as Thorstein Veblen, Wesley Mitchell, and John R. Commons. While some institutionalists see Karl Marx as belonging to the institutionalist tradition because he described capitalism as a historically bounded social system; other institutionalist economists disagree with Marx's definition of capitalism, instead seeing defining features such as markets, money and the private ownership of production as naturally arising over time, as a result of the purposive actions of individuals.

question

What is the Austrian school of economics?

answer

It is a school of economic thought that rejects opposing economists' reliance on methods used in natural science for the study of human action, and instead bases its formalism of economics on relationships through logic or introspection called \"praxeology\". It is a subset of classical liberal school of economics. Friedrich Hayek was a famous member.

question

Who was Carl Menger?

answer

Founder of Austrian school of economics. Started the neoclassical revolution.

question

What is the importance of Schenck v. United States (1919)?

answer

It established the \"clear and present danger\" doctrine, in establishing that the right ro free speech can be curtailed in wartime. Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion.

question

How is GDP measured?

answer

Consumption + Investments + Government Spending + Exports - Imports. (C+I+G + Net Exports) It is a portion of the expenditure method of measuring GDP.

question

What is Greenfield investment?

answer

This is foreign direct investment that builds new factories or infastructure. It is the type of FDI most sought by host countries because it leads to infastructure and knowledge transfers.

question

What was the UN Earth Summit?

answer

In 1992, a meeting of 172 nations in Rio de Janeiro. It was unprecedented for a United Nations conference, in terms of both its size and the scope of its concerns. The issues addressed included: systematic scrutiny of patterns of production â€\" particularly the production of toxic components, such as lead in gasoline, or poisonous waste alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate change new reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health problems caused by polluted air and smog the growing scarcity of water An important achievement was an agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol.

question

What is the OECD?

answer

An international organisation of those developed countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. It originated in 1948 as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), to help administer the Marshall Plan for the re-construction of Europe after World War II. Later its membership was extended to non-European states, and in 1961 it was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Members include most of rich european nations, Japan, South Korea, Australia, NAFTA members, and Turkey. It is based in Paris.

question

What year was the UN founded?

answer

1945 in San Francisco.

question

What was the Congress of Vienna?

answer

A conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe that was chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and held in Vienna, Austria, from September 1, 1814, to June 9, 1815. Its purpose was to redraw the continent's political map after the defeat of Napoleonic France the previous spring.

question

What were the Wye River Accords?

answer

A political agreement negotiated to implement the earlier Interim Agreement of 28 September, 1995 brokered by the United States between Israel and the Palestine Authority completed on October 23, 1998. It was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. It was negotiated at Wye River, MD (at the Wye River Conference Center) and signed at the White House with President Bill Clinton playing a key role as the official witness. On November 17, 1998, Israel's 120 member parliament, the Knesset, approved the Wye River Memorandum by a vote of 75-19. With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September of 2000, and the counter-attacks by the Israel Defense Forces, the Wye River's understandings and goals remain un-implemented.

question

Who is Costa-Gavras?

answer

A Greek-French filmmaker best known for films with overt political themes. He has made movies mostly in French but also several in English.

question

Who was Aaron Copland?

answer

(November 14, 1900-December 2, 1990) was an American composer of concert and film music. Instrumental in forging a uniquely American style of composition, he was widely known as \"the dean of American composers.\" Copland's music achieved a difficult balance between modern music and American folk styles, and the open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his works are said to evoke the vast American landscape.

question

Who was Carl Sandberg?

answer

(January 6, 1878 â€\" July 22, 1967) was an American poet, historian, novelist, balladeer and folklorist. He was born in Galesburg, Illinois of Swedish parents and died at his home, which he named Connemara, in Flat Rock, North Carolina. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg \"indubitably an American in every pulse-beat.\"He was a successful journalist, poet, historian, biographer, and autobiographer.During the course of his career, Sandburg won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for hisbiography of Abraham Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln: The War Years) and one for hiscollection The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg.

question

Who was Agnes de Mille?

answer

(September 18, 1905 â€\" October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. She was white. In 1939 she was invited to join the American Ballet Theatre. There she created Black Ritual, the first ballet to use an all-black cast. After that, she worked as choreographer on many major musicals and a number of films, including: Rodeo (1942) Oklahoma! (1943) Carousel (1945) Brigadoon (1947) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949) Paint Your Wagon (1951) Juno (1959)

question

Who was Leonard Bernstein?

answer

(August 25, 1918 - October 14, 1990) was an American composer, pianist and conductor. He was the first conductor born in the United States of America to receive world-wide acclaim, and is known for both his conducting of the New York Philharmonic, including the acclaimed Young People's Concerts series, and his multiple compositions, including West Side Story and Candide.

question

Who is Ingmar Bergman?

answer

A Swedish stage and film director who is one of the key film auteurs of the second half of the twentieth century. His films usually deal with existential questions about mortality, loneliness, and faith; they are also usually direct and not overtly stylized. Persona, one of Bergman's most famous films, is unusual among Bergman's work for being both existentialist and avant-garde.

question

Who is Jean-Luc Godard?

answer

A Franco-Swiss filmmaker and one of the most influential members of the Nouvelle Vague, or \"French New Wave\". Known for stylistic implementations that challenged, at their focus, the conventions of Hollywood cinema, he became universally recognized as the most audacious and most radical of the New Wave filmmakers. He adopted a position in filmmaking that was unambiguously political. His work reflected a fervent knowledge of film history, a comprehensive understanding of existential and Marxist philosophy, and a scholarly disposition that placed him as the lone filmmaker among the public intellectuals of the Rive Gauche.

question

What was the Seneca Falls Conference?

answer

1848 in Seneca Falls, NY. the first women's rights convention held in the United States, and as a result is often called the birthplace of the feminist movement.

question

When was the Red Cross founded?

answer

1863

question

When was the first Geneva Convention? The last?

answer

1864. 1949. These conventions set norms for international law.

question

What is the difference between a Grand and Petit Jury?

answer

A Grand Jury is established to determine if a crime has been committed. A petit jury determines whether a person is guilty of a crime that has been committed.

question

What were the Hague Conventions?

answer

1899 and 1907 conventions were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of international law.

question

What was the Treaty of Paris?

answer

Treaty of Paris (1259) - between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France Treaty of Paris (1763) - ended Seven Years' War Treaty of Paris (1783) - ended American Revolutionary War Treaty of Paris (1810) - ended war between France and Sweden Treaty of Paris (1814) - ended war between France and the Sixth Coalition Treaty of Paris (1815) - followed defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo Treaty of Paris (1856) or Congress of Paris - signed March 30 - ended Crimean War Treaty of Paris (1898) - ended Spanish-American War Treaty of Paris (1920) - united Bessarabia and Romania Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 between the World War II Allies and Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Finland Treaty of Paris (1951) - established European Coal and Steel Community

question

What was the Paris Peace conference?

answer

1919 conference at the end of WWI. The League of Nations was created. Can also refer to the 1947 treaty ending WWII.

question

What was the Texas v. Johnson Decision?

answer

(1989), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that invalidated prohibitions on desecrating the American flag in force in 48 of the 50 states. Justice William Brennan wrote for a five-justice majority in holding that the defendant's act of flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

question

What was the Miller v. California Decision?

answer

(1973) was an important United States Supreme Court case involving what constitutes unprotected obscenity for First Amendment purposes. The decision reiterated that obscenity was not protected by the First Amendment and established the Miller test for determining what constituted obscene material.

question

What is the UN convention on the law of the sea?

answer

Took effect in 1994. Establishes 12 mile barrier around nations, and 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones. The us has signed, but not ratified it.

question

When was the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Signed?

answer

1978. it was a reaction to the abuses of the Nixon whitehouse.

question

Who was Gwendolyn Brooks?

answer

(June 7, 1917-December 3, 2000) was an award-winning African American poet. Her poetry is rooted in the poor and mostly African-American South Side of Chicago. She initially published her poetry as a columnist for the Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper. Although her poems range in style from traditional ballads and sonnets to using blues rhythms in free verse, her characters are often drawn from the poor inner city.

question

Where are the Adirondack Mountains?

answer

Northeast New York state. It is a resort area.

question

How are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle related?

answer

Plato was Socrates' student. Aristotle was Plato's student. The three worked with the rationalizing and linearalizing of thought and ideas.

question

What field and period did Hippocrates work in?

answer

Medicine in the 5th century BC greek empire.

question

What came first, Alexander the Great, The Roman Empire, The Greek Empire, Plato?

answer

THe Greek Empire, then Plato, then Alexander, Then The Romans.

question

What did the Roman empire contribute to the world?

answer

Roads, bridges, aqueducts, and a codified legal system. It lasted 800 years.

question

Who won the Punic Wars?

answer

There were a series of 3. Rome beat Carthage in all 3, burning the city to the ground in the end.

question

Hannibal was a military leader of which society?

answer

The Carthaginians. He helped fight the Romans.

question

Where was Alexander the Great from?

answer

Macedonia. He conquered Persia and ruled over Greece, allowing Greek culture to prosper.

question

Who supported Caesar?

answer

He was greatly supported by the lower classes, but fought constantly with the Senate.

question

Who ruled first, Caesar or Marc Anthony?

answer

Caesar. Marc Anthony committed double suicide with Ceopatra.

question

What was the Edict of Milan?

answer

It was a policy under Constantine the great under the Roman empire to end persecution of the christians in the eastern Roman empire, which became the Byzantine empire after Constantine's death.

question

What country did Taoism originate in? What are it's beliefs?

answer

China by Lao-Tzu. Harmony with Nature.

question

What country did Confucianismism originate in? What are it's beliefs?

answer

China by Confucius. Social harmony, importance of families.

question

What country did Hinduism originate in? What are it's beliefs?

answer

India. Reincarnation and levels of spirituality and society.

question

What country did Buddhism originate in? What are it's beliefs?

answer

India by Buddha. Meditation, individual enlightenment.

question

When did Islam begin?

answer

In the 7th century, stated by Muhammed in Mecca.

question

What was the first European empire after the fall of the Romans?

answer

Charlemagne, who ruled a very weak, decentralized empire, with no taxes. After his death, the empire was split under the treaty of Verdun, and eventually dissolved.

question

What was the first empire after the death of the Charlemagne?

answer

The Holy Roman Empire, started by Otto the Great.

question

When did the Black Plague affect europe?

answer

The mid to late 14th century, killing 1/4 of europe.

question

Who was Thomas Aquinas?

answer

A famous realist (follower of Plato) in the middle ages.

question

When did the 100 years war take place?

answer

Towards the end of the middle ages between France and England.

question

When was the Renaissance?

answer

Approx. 1300 to 1600. It was preceded by the Middle (or Dark) ages and preceded the Modern age.

question

Who invented the printing press?

answer

Johannes Gutenberg during the rennaissance, he first printed the bible. The press led to greatly increased literacy.

question

What is the philosophy of humanism?

answer

It came from the Rennaissance. It places emphasis on the individual's potential to reach greatness in any realm - art, science, spirituality, etc...

question

Who were the Medici family?

answer

A Renaissance-era family in Florence, known for their support of the arts.

question

Who was Vasco da Gama?

answer

He sailed from Europe to India around the Cape of Good Hope.

question

Who was Cortez?

answer

A Spanish explorer who conquered the Aztecs.

question

Who was Pizarro?

answer

A Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas of Peru.

question

Why did coastal nations gain in power during the Age of Exploration?

answer

They became very rich and influential due to increased trade. Inland states such as Germany declined in power.

question

When did the Opium Wars come to an end?

answer

In the nineteenth century, Britain bought lots of tea from China through the east india trading company. The Chinese did not want any British products, leading to a major trade deficit for Britain. To counter this, Britain began smuggling opium into China, creating millions of addicts. The Chinese government tried to throw out the British as a result, but the British won. This led to European powers setting up ports in China, and greatly expanding trade. This eventually led to the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, which the Western powers won once again.

question

When was the Indian National Congress established?

answer

1885, still under british rule.

question

Who greatly westernized Imperial Russia?

answer

Peter the Great.

question

What was an immediate economic cause of the French Revolution?

answer

High government spending with low tax collection from the nobles.

question

Who's work did Galileo contradict?

answer

Ptolemy.

question

Who was Herbert Spencer?

answer

He pioneered the field of social darwinism by applying Darwin's ideas to human behavior.

question

Who was John L. Lewis?

answer

(February 12, 1880-June 11, 1969) was a leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960. He was a major player in the History of coal mining. He was the driving force behind the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which established the United Steel Workers of America and helped organize millions of other industrial workers in the 1930s. After resigning as head of the CIO in 1941, he took the Mine Workers out of the CIO in 1942, then back into the American Federation of Labor in 1944.

question

Who is more conservative, the AFL or the CIO?

answer

The AFL is more conservative.

question

What is the Landrum-Griffin Act?

answer

The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (or LMRDA), also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act, is a United States labor law statute that regulates labor unions' internal affairs and union officials' relationships with employers. Enacted in 1959 after revelations concerning corruption and undemocratic practices in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Longshoremen's Association, United Mine Workers and other unions received wide public attention, the Act requires unions to hold secret elections for local union offices on a regular basis and provides for review by the United States Department of Labor of union members' claims of improper election activity.

question

What is The National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act)?

answer

A 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands. The Act does not, on the other hand, cover those workers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act, agricultural employees, domestic employees, supervisors, independent contractors and some close relatives of individual employers.

question

What is the Railway Labor Act?

answer

It governs labor relations in the railway and airline industries in the United States. The Act, passed in 1926 and amended in 1936 to apply to the airline industry, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration and mediation for strikes as a means of resolving labor disputes.

question

What is a wildcat strike?

answer

A strike without union authorization.

question

What is work-to-rule?

answer

A type of slowdown used by workers. It is not completely covered by US labor law.

question

What is a Japanese Strike?

answer

It has the workers maximizing their output. They are nominally working as usual but the surplus can break the planning, especially in just-in-time systems.

question

What protects workers from employment discrimination?

answer

Both state and federal laws.

question

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act covers what size of business?

answer

Businesses with 15 or more employees.

question

Who determines the GAAPs for state and local governement?

answer

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board, since 1984. It is a private, non-governmental, organization. The mission of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of those financial reports.

question

Are GAAPs regulated by law?

answer

The GAAP is not written in law, although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that it be followed in financial reporting by publicly traded companies.

question

Who was John Foster Dulles?

answer

Secretary of State under Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism around the world. He advocated support of the French in their war against the Viet Minh in Indochina and famously refused to shake the hand of Zhou Enlai at the Geneva Conference in 1954.

question

Who was Fiorello LaGuardia ?

answer

(December 11, 1882 - September 20, 1947) was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945. He was popularly known as \"the Little Flower,\" the translation of his Italian first name, also perhaps a reference to his short stature of just 5 feet. According to modern historians, LaGuardia is considered one of New York City's greatest mayors because of his role in leading New York during the Great Depression.

question

In accounting, what is used for inventory: FIFO or LIFO?

answer

LIFO in the United States.

question

What accounting system did merchants of Venice in the late 1400s use?

answer

Double entry bookkeeping.

question

What was The 1973 Rehabilitation Act?

answer

An American piece of legislation that guaranteed certain rights to people with disabilities.

question

What was the first federal law to prohibit racial discrimination in employment?

answer

The 1941 Fair Employment Act. Although it only applied to the national defense industry.

question

Name some laws regulating labor in the US.

answer

Employment law in the U.S. was traditionally governed by the common law rule of \"at-will employment,\" meaning that an employment relationship could be terminated by either party at any time for any reason or without a reason. However, starting in 1941, a series of laws changed this. In 1941, Executive Order 8802 (or the Fair Employment Act) became the first law to prohibit racial discrimination, although it only applied to the national defense industry. Later laws include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and amendments), Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Family and Medical Leave Act 0f 1993, and numerous state laws with additional protections. The Fair Labor Standards Act regulates minimum wages and overtime pay for certain employees who work more than 40 hours in a work week.

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What is the Taft-Hartley Act?

answer

The Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947 and still largely in effect, severely restricts the activities and power of labor unions in the United States. The Act, officially known as the Labor-Management Relations Act, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred Hartley. U.S. President Harry S. Truman described the act as a \"slave-labor bill\" and vetoed it. The United States Senate followed the United States House of Representatives in overriding Truman's veto on June 23, 1947, establishing the act as a law. The Taft-Hartley Act amended the Wagner Act, officially known as the National Labor Relations Act, which Congress had passed in 1935.

question

What labor arrangement does the federal governement operate under?

answer

The Federal Government operates under \"open shop\" rules nationwide, although many of its employees are represented by unions. So, an employee cannot be compelled to join a union that may exist at the employer, nor can the employee be fired if s/he joins the union. In other words, the employee has the \"right to work\", whether as a union member or not.

question

What is a \"union shop\"?

answer

A workplace where an employee must pay dues or their equivalent to the union, but may not be fired if he or she fails to maintain membership in good standing in the union for any reason other than failure to pay such dues.

question

What is a \"closed shop\"?

answer

A workplace where an employee must be a member of the union. This was outlawed by the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.

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Is it legal for an employer to refuse to hire a union member?

answer

No.

question

Where are right-to-work states concentrated?

answer

In the south and midwest.

question

What is a Bill of Attainder?

answer

An act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime, and punishing them, without benefit of a trial. The United States Constitution forbids both the federal and state governments from enacting bills of attainder, in Article 1, Sections 9 and 10, respectively. It was considered an excess or abuse of Royalty, and several of the grievances enumerated in the Declaration of Independence could be characterized as such. They were abolished in the United Kingdom in 1870.

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Who was Samuel Gompers?

answer

(January 27, 1850 - December 13, 1924) was the long-time leader of the American Federation of Labor who helped define the structure and the economic and political goals of the American labor movement. Founded the AFL in 1886. He was influenced by the writings of Marx.

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Who were the Knights of Labor?

answer

A labor union founded in secrecy in December 1869, by a group of Philadelphia tailors led by Uriah S. Stephens. Originally called The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, it was designed to protect all who worked for a living. Labor Day can be traced to two Knights' parades in New York City in 1882 and 1884. Most unions of that era organized workers by trade and skill level. The Knights grouped workers by industry, regardless of trade or skill. With the motto \"an injury to one is the concern of all,\" the Knights of Labor attempted to attain its goals of: An eight-hour work day The end of child labor Equal pay for equal work The Knights had a reputation for being all-inclusive. Women, African Americans (after 1883), and employers were accepted as members. Bankers, lawyers, gamblers, stockholders, and liquor manufacturers were excluded because they were considered unproductive members of society. it lost many of its members when the AFL was founded, and over the years died out.

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What was the National Labor Union?

answer

The first national labor federation in the United States. Founded in 1866 and dissolving in 1872, it paved the way for other organizations, such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor.

question

What sector are labor unions most influential in?

answer

The government (public sector).

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Who was Mary Harris Jones?

answer

(August 1, 1837 - November 30, 1930), better known as Mother Jones, was a prominent American labor and community organizer. She helped found the IWW in 1905.

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What is the IWW?

answer

The IWW was founded in Chicago in June 1905 at a convention of two hundred socialists, anarchists, and radical trade unionists from all over the United States (mainly the Western Federation of Miners) who were opposed to the policies of the American Federation of Labor. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is a famous international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It contends that all workers should be united within a single union as a class and the wage system abolished. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict and government repression. Today it numbers about 2,000 members world-wide, but with a recent renewal of organizing activity membership appears to be rising again. IWW membership does not require that one works in a represented workplace, nor does it exclude membership in another labor union.

question

How did the AFL and CIO differ historically?

answer

The AFL was a craft union, while the CIO was an industrial union.

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When did the AFL and CIO merge?

answer

1955

question

When was the CIO founded?

answer

In 1935 by eight international unions within the American Federation of Labor to pressure the AFL, which had either opposed or given only lukewarm support to organizing mass production industries, to change its policies. After failing to change AFL policy from within, five of these eight unions split from the AFL to found the Congress of Industrial Organizations as a rival federation in 1938. The CIO rejoined the AFL, forming the new entity known as the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), in 1955.

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What is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) ?

answer

Founded in 1932, is currently the second- or third-largest labor union in the United States and one of the fastest-growing, representing over 1.4 million employees, primarily in local government and in the health care industry. Employees at the federal level are represented by other unions, such as the American Federation of Government Employees, with which AFSCME was once affiliated.

question

What is the American Federation of Government Employees?

answer

An American labor union representing over 600,000 employees of the federal government. (State and municipal employees are represented by other unions, most notably the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). It is a member of the AFL-CIO. Its current president is John Gage (labor leader).

question

What is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)?

answer

The SEIU was founded in 1921 in Chicago, currently the fastest growing labor union in the United States, representing 1.8 million workers in about 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. The main divisions are Health Care (almost 50% of the union's membership, including hospital, home care and nursing home workers.), Public Services (government employees), and Property Services (including janitors and security officers). With over 300 local branches, SEIU is affiliated with the Change to Win Federation.

question

What is the Change to Win Federation?

answer

A coalition of American labor unions originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the AFL-CIO. Includes the Teamsters, Laborers' Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and the SEIU.

question

Who are the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union?

answer

A labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile and chemical trades, and retail food. Until July 2005, UFCW was affiliated with the AFL-CIO, where it was the second largest union by membership. Along with two other members of the Change to Win Coalition, the UFCW formally disaffiliated with the AFL-CIO on July 29, 2005.

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What is the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions?

answer

Claiming 157 million members in 225 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) came into being on December 7, 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). Central to the ICFTU's work has been the struggle to defend workers' rights. The ICFTU lobbies for the ratification of what it calls \"core labour standards\" -- the various conventions of the International Labour Organization.

question

What is the International Labour Organization (ILO)?

answer

A specialized agency of the United Nations to deal with labour issues. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1919, it was formed through the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles, and was initially an agency of the League of Nations. It became a UN body after the demise of the League and the formation of the UN at the end of World War II. The organization seeks to strengthen worker rights, improve working conditions and living conditions, create employment, and provide information and training opportunities.

question

What was the Haymarket riot?

answer

1886, in Chicago, Illinois is the origin of international May Day observances and in popular literature inspired the caricature of \"a bomb-throwing anarchist.\" A rally was held in support of an 8 hour work day, a bomb was thrown at police, and police shot into the crowd. 11 were killed in total.

question

What were the Palmer Raids?

answer

The 1918's and 1921's Palmer Raids were a series of controversial raids on American citizens and resident and non-resident aliens in the United States, based on their assumed political beliefs. The raids are named for Alexander Mitchell Palmer, United States Attorney General under Woodrow Wilson. Palmer stated his belief that Communism was \"eating its way into the homes of the American workman,\" and that Socialists were responsible for most of the country's social problems.

question

Who was Victor L. Berger?

answer

(February 28, 1860 - August 7, 1929) was a Jewish American United States politician and a founding member of the Socialist Party of America. In 1919 he was convicted of violating the Espionage Act and twice denied a seat in the House of Representatives though elected repeatedly.

question

What is Leavenworth?

answer

There are two US prisons in Leavenworth, Kansas. One is for the military, one is for civilians. Both are maximum security. The military one houses the US Military's Death Row.

question

Who was Emma Goldman?

answer

(June 27, 1869 - May 14, 1940) was a Lithuanian-born anarcho-communist known for her anarchist writings and speeches. Adopted by First-wave feminists, she has been lionized as an iconic \"rebel woman\" feminist. Goldman played a pivotal role in the development of anarchism in the US and Europe throughout the first half of the twentieth century. She immigrated to the United States at seventeen and was later deported to Russia, where she witnessed the results of the Russian Revolution. She spent a number of years in the South of France where she wrote her autobiography, Living My Life, and other works, before taking part in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 as the English language representative in London of the CNT-FAI.

question

Who was J. Edgar Hoover?

answer

(January 1, 1895 - May 2, 1972) was the founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its present form and its director from May 10, 1924 until his death in 1972. Hoover was appointed acting director of the FBI by President Coolidge to reform and clean up the bureau, which was considered a haven of corruption. During his tenure, Hoover attained extraordinary power and unusual discretionary authority, while also feuding with many adversaries.(January 1, 1895 â€\" May 2, 1972) was the founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its present form and its director from May 10, 1924 until his death in 1972. Hoover was appointed acting director of the FBI by President Coolidge to reform and clean up the bureau, which was considered a haven of corruption. During his tenure, Hoover attained extraordinary power and unusual discretionary authority, while also feuding with many adversaries. Various accusations have since surfaced: that Hoover had links to the Mafia, that he gathered information for the purposes of blackmail, or that he was a closeted homosexual 'passing' as straight while persecuting others with the same orientation and family history. To date, J. Edgar Hoover is the longest-serving leader of an executive branch agency in the United States, having served under a record eight presidents, from Calvin Coolidge to Richard Nixon; indeed, it is because of Hoover that, since his tenure, FBI Directors have been limited to ten-year terms.

question

What was COINTELPRO?

answer

COINTELPRO is an acronym (Counter Intelligence Program) for a program of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. Although covert operations have been employed throughout FBI history, the formal COINTELPRO operations of 1956-1971 were broadly targeted against organizations that were (at the time) considered to have politically radical elements, ranging from those whose stated goal was the violent overthrow of the US government (such as the Weathermen) to non-violent civil rights groups such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference to racist and segregationist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party. COINTELPRO began in 1956 and was designed to \"increase factionalism, cause disruption and win defections\" inside the Communist Party U.S.A.

question

What was the Quirin affair?

answer

8 Germans who had lived in America and returned to Germany before WWII snuck into the US to sabatoge the war industries. They were caught and executed by a military tribunal established by FDR.

question

What was the VENONA project?

answer

A long-running and highly secret collaboration between United States intelligence agencies and the United Kingdom's MI5 and GCHQ that involved the cryptanalysis of messages sent by several Soviet intelligence agencies, starting in the 1940s.

question

What is the difference between the ICC and the ICJ in the Hague?

answer

The International Criminal Court is a permanant war crimes tribunal. The International Court of Justice rules on disputes between states.

question

Who is Desmond Tutu?

answer

A South African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. Tutu was the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

question

Approx. how many people live in Africa?

answer

900 million.

question

Approx. how many people live in Asia?

answer

3.9 billion.

question

Approx. how many people live in South America?

answer

330 Million.

question

Approx. how many people live in the E.U.?

answer

460 Million.

question

Who is Brazil's biggest trading partner?

answer

The US.

question

When was Mercosur founded?

answer

In 1991. It is a trading block of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Venezuela and Bolivia will become members soon.

question

What is the Andean community?

answer

A trade bloc comprising the South American countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The trade bloc was formerly called the Andean Pact and came into existence with the signing of the Cartagena Agreement in 1969. Its headquarters are located in Lima, Peru. The Andean Community has 120 million inhabitants living in an area of 4,700,000 square kilometers, whose Gross Domestic Product amounted to US$260 billion in 2002. The Andean Community together with Mercosur comprises the two main trading blocs of South America. In 1999 these organizations began negotiating a merger with a view to creating a South American Free Trade Area (SAFTA). On December 8, 2004 it signed a cooperation agreement with Mercosur and they published a joint letter of intention for future negotiations towards integrating all of South America in the context of the South American Community of Nations, patterned after the European Union.

question

What is Intelsat?

answer

The worldâ€™s largest commercial satellite communications services provider. On July 18, 2001, Intelsat became a private company, 37 years after being formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites (Intelsats) to provide international broadcast services. The consortium began on August 20, 1964, with 11 participating countries. On April 6, 1965, Intelsatâ€™s first satellite, the Early Bird, was placed in geostationary orbit above the Atlantic Ocean by a Delta D rocket. In 1973, the name was changed and there were 80 signatories. Intelsat provides service to over 600 Earth stations in more than 149 countries, territories and dependencies. By 2001, INTELSAT had over 100 members.

question

What is the Latin American Integration Association?

answer

A Latin American trade integration association, based in Montevideo. Its main objective is the establishment of a common market, in pursuit of the economic and social development of the region. Its members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. It is the successor to LAFTA.

question

What is LAFTA?

answer

The Latin American Free Trade Association was created in 1960 by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The signatories hoped to create a common market in Latin America. By 1970, LAFTA expanded to include Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. In 1980, LAFTA reorganized into the Latin American Integration Association. Membership remained unchanged until Cuba joined in 1999.

question

What is the South American Community of Nations?

answer

Will be a continent-wide free trade zone that will unite two existing free-trade organizationsâ€\"Mercosur and the Andean Communityâ€\"eliminating tariffs for non-sensitive products by 2014 and sensitive products by 2019. The headquarters of this new organization will be in Lima while the South American Bank will be in Brasilia according to the agreements during the meetings. Complete integration between the Andean Community and Mercosur into the South American Community of Nations is expected by 2007. At the Third South American Summit, on 8 December 2004, presidents or representatives from twelve South American nations signed the Cuzco Declaration, a two-page statement of intent, announcing the foundation of the South American Community. Panama attended the signing ceremony as observer. Leaders announced their intention to model the new community after the European Union, including a common currency, parliament, and passport. According to Allan Wagner, Secretary General of the Andean Community, a complete union like that of the EU should be possible by 2019.

question

Who was SimÃ³n BolÃvar?

answer

(July 24, 1783 â€\" December 17, 1830) was a South American revolutionary leader. Credited with leading the fight for independence in what are now the countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia, he is revered as a hero in these countries and throughout much of the rest of Hispanic America. Bolivar is known as the George Washington of hispanic South America. In Spanish he is known as \"El Libertador\", The Liberator.

question

What year was Alaska purchased from Russia?

answer

1867

question

What is a 'blue law' ?

answer

A type of law restricting activities or sales of goods on Sunday, which had its roots in accommodating Christian Sunday worship, although it persists to this day more as a matter of tradition. The term blue law may have been first used by Reverend Samuel Peters in his book General History of Connecticut, which was first published in 1781, to refer to various laws first enacted by Puritan colonies in the 17th century which prohibited the selling of certain types of merchandise and retail or business activity of any kind on certain days of the week (usually Sunday).

question

Which African countries are not part of the African Union?

answer

Only Morocco. The African Union (abbreviated AU) was founded in July 2002. The AU is a federation consisting of 53 states. It was formed as a successor to the amalgamated African Economic Community (AEC) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Eventually, the AU aims to have a single currency and a single integrated defense force, as well as other institutions of state, including a cabinet for the AU Head of State. The purpose of the federation is to help secure Africa's democracy, human rights and a sustainable economy, especially by bringing an end to intra-African conflict and creating an effective common market.

question

What were the Navigation Acts?

answer

The English Navigation Acts were a series of laws which, beginning in 1651, restricted foreign shipping. Resentment against the Navigation Acts was a cause of the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the American Revolutionary War.

question

Who was Oliver Cromwell?

answer

(April 25, 1599 Ã¢â‚¬â€œ September 3, 1658) was an English military leader and politician. After leading the rebellion against the British monarchy, he ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland as a semi-autocratic Lord Protector, from December 16, 1653 until his death, which is believed to have been by either malaria or poisoning. After his burial he was exhumed and hanged, drawn and quartered by the Royalists after the Restoration of the monarchy, which was the traditional punishment for treason in England at the time. He is intensely disliked in Ireland and Scotland, but liked in England.

question

What was the English Civil War?

answer

A series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between English Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651. The first (1642 - 1645) and the second (1648) Unlike other civil wars in England which focused on who ruled, this war also concerned itself with the manner of governing the British isles. Accordingly, historians also refer to the English Civil War as the English Revolution. Oliver Cromwell was leader of the Parlimentarians.

question

What is the Petition of Right?

answer

A document produced by the English (pre-British) Parliament in the run-up to the English Civil War. It was addressed to Charles I of England in 1628 in an attempt to seek redress on the following points: forced loans arbitrary arrest imprisonment contrary to the Magna Carta arbitrary interference with property rights lack of enforcement of habeas corpus forced billetting of troops imposition of martial law exemption of officials from due process

question

What were The Great Awakening (s)?

answer

Great Awakenings are commonly said to be periods of religious revival in Anglo-American religious history. They have also been described as periodic revolutions in American religious thought. The Great Awakenings appear to form a cycle, with a period of roughly 80 years. There are three generally accepted Great Awakenings in American history: The First Great Awakening (1730s - 1740s), The Second Great Awakening (1820s - 1830s), and The Third Great Awakening (1880s - 1900s). In addition, Strauss and Howe, projecting the cycle backwards through time, list two additional Great Awakenings in British history: The Protestant Reformation (1510s - 1540s) The Puritan Awakening (1620s - 1650s)

question

What did the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 accomplish?

answer

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC; 1887 - 1995) was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland. The Commission's seven members were appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate. This was the first independent agency or so-called \"Fourth Branch\" agency. The ICC's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers. The ICC was dissolved in 1995.

question

What is the Federal Trade Commission?

answer

The Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. Its principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices.

question

What is the National Labor Relations Board?

answer

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the United States Government charged with conducting elections for union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. It is governed by a five-person board, whose members are appointed by the President and a presidentially-appointed General Counsel. The General Counsel acts as a prosecutor and the Board acts as an appellate judicial body from decisions of administrative law judges. The NLRB was established in 1935 through passage of the National Labor Relations Act (better known as the Wagner Act), which was amended by the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. The Board's jurisdiction is limited to private sector employers and the United States Postal Service; other than Postal Service employees, it has no authority over labor relations disputes involving governmental employees, railroad and airline employees covered by the Adamson Railway Labor Act, or agricultural employees. In those parts of the private sector it does cover, on the other hand, its jurisdictional standards are low enough to reach almost all employers whose business has any appreciable impact on interstate commerce.

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When was the FCC established?

answer

The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 as the successor to the Federal Radio Commission and is charged with regulating all non-Federal Government use of the radio spectrum (including radio and television broadcasting), and all interstate telecommunications (wire, satellite and cable) as well as all international communications that originate or terminate in the United States. It is an important actor in US telecommunication policy. The FCC took over wire communication regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission.

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When was the SEC founded?

answer

The SEC was created by section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

question

What is the Surface Transportation Board?

answer

The STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress created to resolve railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers. The STB is decisionally independent, although it is administratively affiliated with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

question

What is the Consumer Product Safety Commission?

answer

an independent agency of the U.S. federal government created in 1972 through the Consumer Safety Act to protect Ã¢â‚¬Å\"against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer productsÃ¢â‚¬Â. The CSPC has the authority to regulate the sale and manufacture of most consumer products, with the exception of those regulated by other agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATFE).

question

When was OSHA created?

answer

The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created by Congress under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon,on December 29, 1970. Its mission is to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths by issuing and enforcing rules (called standards) for workplace safety and health. This same act also created the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a research agency whose purpose is to determine the major types of hazards in the workplace and ways of controlling them. OSHA's statutory authority extends to most nongovernmental workplaces where there are employees. State and local government workers are excluded from Federal coverage, however, states operating their own state workplace safety and health programs under plans approved by the U.S. Department of Labor cover most private sector workers and are also required to extend their coverage to public sector (state and local government) workers in the state.

question

Name the cabinets of the Executive branch.

answer

\"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,

question

Name the non-departmental cabinet level poistions.

answer

Vice President of the United States Joseph Biden, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina and Mona Sutphen, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lisa P. Jackson, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag, Director of the National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Director of the CIA Leon Panetta, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Elizabeth Rice, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute, White House Counsel Bob Bauer, National Security Advisor Gen James L. Jones, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair

question

Who won the Boer Wars?

answer

The Boers won the first war (1881), the British won the second (1902).

question

What is nativism?

answer

Fear and distrust of foreigners.

question

What was the Northwest Ordinance?

answer

An act of the Continental Congress of the United States passed on July 13, 1787 under the Articles of Confederation. The primary effect of the ordinance was the creation of the Northwest Territory as the first organized territory of the United States out of the region around the Great Lakes north and west of the Ohio River. On August 7, 1789, the U.S. Congress affirmed the Ordinance with slight modifications under the Constitution. Arguably the single most important piece of legislation passed by the Continental Congress other than the Declaration of Independence, it established the precedents by which the United States would expand westward across North America by the admission of new states, rather than by the expansion of existing states. The banning of slavery in the territory had the effect of establishing the Ohio River as the boundary between free and slave territory in the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. This division helped set the stage for the balancing act between free and slave states that was the basis of the most critical political question in American politics in the 19th century until the Civil War.

question

What states were part of the Northwest Territory?

answer

Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana. They all became states in the early to mid 1800's.

question

Who was Willa Cather?

answer

(December 7, 1873 - April 24, 1947) is among the most eminent female American authors. She is known for her depictions of US prairie life in novels like O Pioneers!

question

Who was Helen Hunt Jackson?

answer

(October 18, 1831-August 12, 1885) was an American writer. In 1879, her interests turned to the plight of the Native Americans after attending a lecture in Boston by Ponca Chief Standing Bear, who described the forcible removal of the Ponca Indians from their Nebraska reservation. Jackson was angered by what she heard regarding the unfair treatment at the hands of government agents and became an activist. She started investigating and publicizing the wrongdoing, circulating petitions, raising money, and writing letters to the New York Times on behalf of the Poncas. She also started writing a book condemning the Indian policy of the government and the history of broken treaties. Because she was in poor health at the time, she wrote with desperate haste. A Century of Dishonor, calling for change from the contemptible, selfish policy to treatment characterized by humanity and justice, was published in 1881

question

What is neoorthodoxy?

answer

Neo-orthodoxy is an approach to theology that was developed in the aftermath of the First World War (1914-1918). It is primarily associated with the Swiss Protestant Karl Barth (1886-1968) and theologian Emil Brunner (1899-1966). The neo-orthodox thinkers had strong disagreements between themselves and so neo-orthodoxy cannot be considered to be a unified system. Nevertheless, this type of theology has a number of distinctive traits: Revelation Transcendence of God Existentialism Sin

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What was The Social Gospel Movement?

answer

The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The movement applies Christian principles to social problems, especially poverty, liquor, drugs, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically the Social Gospel leaders were overwhelmingly post-Millenarian. That is they believed the Second Coming could not happen until mankind rid itself of social evils by humanly effort. Part of the Christian \"modernism\" trend with a strong emphasis on social justice, the movement is a rival to the later movements of evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity. In the early 20th century, many Americans were disgusted by the poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. The social gospel movement provided one basis for those beliefs. They aimed to improve the lives of the poor. Many Catholic and Protestant clergymen despised crime and disease in lower-class slums, yet they did not see the connection between horrid living conditions and personal transgression. They believed that sin was a personal vice against God and that poverty itself was an \"Act of God.\" Activists in the Social Gospel movement hoped that by providing decent food and shelter, as well as allowing the poor to develop talents and skills, the quality of their moral lives would begin to improve.

question

What was the Gadsden Purchase?

answer

The Gadsden Purchase is a 29,640 miÃ‚Â² (76,770 km2) region of what is today southern Arizona and New Mexico that was purchased by the United States from Mexico in 1853. The purchase included lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande. After the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, border disputes between the United States and Mexico remained unsettled. Land that now comprises lower Arizona and New Mexico was part of a proposed southern route for a transcontinental railroad. U.S. President Franklin Pierce was convinced by Jefferson Davis, then the country's Secretary of War, to send James Gadsden (who had personal interests in the rail route) to negotiate the Gadsden Purchase with Mexico. Under the resulting agreement, the U.S. paid Mexico $10 million (equivalent to $233 million in 2004 dollars[1]) to secure the land. The treaty included a provision allowing the U.S. to build a transoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, though this option was never exercised. The acquisition of land in this purchase defined the final boundaries of the continental United States.

question

What year did Mexico separate from Spain?

answer

1810. It's war to win its freedom ended in 1821.

question

What was the Bear Flag Republic?

answer

A republic that lasted for 25 days, started in Sonoma, CA in 1846 when Americans took over the town from the Mexicans. Once the Mexican-American War had begun, they joined America.

question

What was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

answer

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the peace treaty that ended the Mexican-American War (1846â€\"1848). The treaty provided for the Mexican Cession, in which Mexico ceded 1.36 million kmÂ² (525,000 square miles) to the United States in exchange for USD$15 million. The United States also agreed to take over $3.25 million in debts Mexico owed to American citizens. The cession included parts of the modern-day U.S. states of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming, as well as the whole of California, Nevada, and Utah. The remaining parts of what are today the states of Arizona and New Mexico were later ceded under the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.

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What is Anglicisation?

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Anglicisation or Anglicization (see -ise vs -ize) is a process of making something British and/or English. For example, people may be Anglicised: an immigrant to England may be said to become Anglicised as he or she acclimates to the culture. However, Anglicisation is most commonly discussed in the more abstract context of language: language is said to become Anglicised as it becomes more like the English language.

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What was the Roosevelt Corollary?

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The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (from 1901 to 1909) was asubstantial alteration (called an \"amendment\") of the Monroe Doctrine by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. In its altered state, the Monroe Doctrine would now consider Latin America as an agency for expanding U.S. commercial interests in the region, along with its original stated purpose of keeping European hegemony from the hemisphere. In essence, Roosevelt's Monroe Doctrine would be the basis for a use of economic and military hegemony to make the U.S. the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere. The new doctrine was a frank statement that the U.S. was willing to seek leverage over Latin American governments by acting as an international police power in the region. Described as a policy of speaking softly but carrying a big stick, the Roosevelt announcement launched an era of the \"big stick.\" In contrast with later dollar diplomacy, Roosevelt's approach was more controversial among isolationist-pacifists in the U.S.

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What was dollar diplomacy?

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\"Dollar diplomacy\" was the term used to describe the efforts of the United States â€\" particularly under President William Howard Taft â€\" to further its foreign policy aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power. The term is based on the earlier but related \"gunboat diplomacy\" â€\" the demonstration or implied threat of superior military power to influence terms of trade and colonialism. The term was originally coined by critics of Philander C. Knox (Taft's secretary of State) who worked aggressively to extend American investments into less-developed regions (especially Latin America and China). At the time, during the largely isolationist-pacifist sentiments in the U.S. showed disapproval for the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection, and those like Taft who sought to expand the United States' reach saw the use of money as a suitable compromise. The term has historically been used by Latin Americans as a characterization of their disapproval for the role of that the U.S. government â€\" through its support for U.S. corporations â€\" have played in using economic, diplomatic, and military power to invade their economies.

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What is an ad valorem tariff?

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A Tariff based on a percentage of the price of a good.

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What is a specific tariff?

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A Tariff of a certain amount of money per weight unit of good.

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What is a compound tariff?

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A TARIFF for a good that combines both a SPECIFIC TARIFF plus an AD VALOREM TARIFF.

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In international trade, what are quotas?

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A quota is a limit on the number of an item that may be imported. (i.e. 50,000 cars from japan in a year). It is a form of protectionism.

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Who said \"War is merely a continuation of politics,\"?

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Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz (June 1, 1780 - November 16, 1831) was a Prussian general and influential military theorist. He is most famous for his military treatise Vom Kriege, translated into English as On War.

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If a US citizen breaks a law abroad, how is he punished?

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US citizens are subject to the laws of whatever country they are in. The State department usually will not ask for a deportation.

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How does a firm maximize profit?

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By producing at a level where marginal revenue equals marginal cost.

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Who is most affected by per unit taxes?

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The cost of per unit taxes is split between the buyer and the seller.

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Who is most affected by per unit taxes?

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The cost of per unit taxes is split between the buyer and the seller.

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Where do the majority of UN troops come from?

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Smaller countries. The top 5 troop donating nations are India, Nigeria, Jordan, Bangladesh, and Australia. The US is the top money donator to the UN, but it donates few troops.

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What is an executive agreement?

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An executive agreement one of three mechanisms by which the United States enters into binding international agreements. They are considered treaties as the term is used under international law in that they bind both the United States and a foreign state. However, they are not considered treaties as the term is used under United States Constitutional law, because the United States Constitution's treaty procedure requires the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, and these agreements are made solely by the President of the United States. An executive agreement can only be negotiated and entered into through the president's authority (1) in foreign policy, (2) as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, or (3) from a prior act of Congress. For instance, it is as commander-in-chief that the President negotiates and enters into status of forces agreements (SOFAs), which govern the treatment and disposition of U.S. forces stationed in other nations. An executive agreement, however, cannot go beyond the President's constitutional powers.

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What takes presedence, US domestic law or international law?

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The US considers its domestic law to hold sway over international law. European nations tend to hold international law in a higer regard.

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What european country besides Switzerland was neutral in both world wars?

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Sweden.

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What are natural rights?

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Natural rights are universal rights derived from natural law. John Locke, for example, argued that these rights are integrated with the very definition of what it means to be human.

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What is natural law?

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Natural law is law that exists independently of the positive law of a given political order, society or nation-state. It is simultaneously a legal philosophy or perspective, and a genre of law - depending on the jurisdiction in which the term is used. s philosophical perspective, especially in the English and American legal traditions, the principles of natural law are expressed, obliquely or openly, in such documents as Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, when rights are discussed, explicitly or implicitly, as being inherent. For example, the phrase \"all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain rights\" expresses a natural law philosophy. Social contract theorists, such as Hobbes, Locke or Rousseau all believed in a natural law and in natural rights, which were transferred from the individual subject to the sovereign state. The state would then protect individuals from each other through the mediation of its monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force.

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What is statism?

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Statism is a term used in a variety of disciplines (economics, sociology, education policy etc) to describe a system that involves a significant interventionist role for the state in economic or social affairs. In economics, the term \"statism\" refers to any economy where the state plans or coordinates the economy, or the advocacy of such a system.

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What school of economic thought did Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek belong to?

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The austrian school (free markets).

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Who was John Locke?

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John Locke (August 29, 1632 â€\" October 28, 1704) was an influential English philosopher and social contract theorist. He developed an alternative to the Hobbesian state of nature and argued a government could only be legitimate if it received the consent of the governed and protected the natural rights of life, liberty, and estate. If such consent was not given, argued Locke, citizens had a right of rebellion. Locke's ideas had an enormous influence on the development of political philosophy, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and contributors to liberal theory. His writings, along with those of the writings of many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, influenced the American revolutionaries as reflected in the American Declaration of Independence.

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What is the Social Contract?

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Social contract theory (or contractarianism) is a concept used in philosophy, political science and sociology to denote an implicit agreement within a state regarding the rights and responsibilities of the state and its citizens, or more generally a similar concord between a group and its members, or between individuals. All members within a society are assumed to agree to the terms of the social contract by their choice to stay within the society without violating the contract; such violation would signify a problematic attempt to return to the state of nature. It has been often noted, indeed, that social contract theories relied on a specific anthropological conception of man as either \"good\" or \"evil\". Thomas Hobbes (1651), John Locke (1689) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762) are the most famous philosophers of contractarianism, which is the theoretical groundwork of democracy. It is also one of a few competing theoretical groundworks of liberalism, but Rousseau's social contract is often seen as conflicting with classical liberalism which advocates protection of individual liberty from the will of the community.

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Who was Voltaire?

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(21 November 1694 â€\" 30 May 1778), was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher. Voltaire is well-known for his sharp wit, philosophical writings, promotion of the rights of man, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform despite strict censorship laws in France and harsh penalties for those who broke them. A satirical polemist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize Church dogma and the French institutions of his day. Voltaire is considered one of the most influential figures of his time.

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What is deism?

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Historical and modern deism is defined by the view that reason, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God. Deists reject both organized and revealed religion and maintain that reason is the essential element in all knowledge. Deism has become identified with the classical belief that God created but does not intervene in the world, though this is not a necessary component of deism.

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What is neoliberalism?

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Neoliberalism is widely used as a description of the revived form of economic liberalism that became increasingly important in international economic policy discussions from the 1970s onwards. In its dominant international use, neoliberalism refers to a political-economic philosophy that de-emphasizes or rejects government intervention in the domestic economy. It focuses on free-market methods, fewer restrictions on business operations, and property rights. In foreign policy, neoliberalism favors the opening of foreign markets by political means, using economic pressure, diplomacy, and/ormilitary intervention.

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What is the accelerator effect in economics?

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The accelerator effect in economics refers to a positive effect on private fixed investment of the growth of the market economy (measured e.g. by Gross Domestic Product). Rising GDP (an economic boom or prosperity) implies that businesses in general see rising profits, increased sales and cash flow, and greater use of existing capacity. This usually implies that profit expectations and business confidence rise, encouraging businesses to build more factories and other buildings and to install more machinery. (This expenditure is called fixed investment.) This may lead to further growth of the economy through the stimulation of consumer incomes and purchases, i.e., via the multiplier effect.

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What is the multiplier effect in economics?

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In economics, a multiplier effect â€\" or, more completely, the spending/income multiplier effect â€\" occurs when a change in spending causes a disproportionate change in aggregate demand. It is particularly associated with Keynesian economics; some other schools of economic thought reject or downplay the importance of multiplier effects, particularly in the long run. The local multiplier effect specifically refers to the effect that spending has when it is circulated through a local economy. For example, when the building of a sports stadium is proposed, one of the suggested benefits is that it will raise income in the area by more than the amount spent on the project.

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What is aggregate demand?

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In economics, aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services in the economy (Y) during a specific time period. It is often called effective demand. Put another way, it is the demand for the gross domestic product of a country when, and only when, it is in equilibrium (the total new production sold through the market). This demand consists of four major parts, which can be stated in either nominal or \"real\" terms: personal consumption expenditures (C) or \"consumption,\" demand by households and unattached individuals; its determination is described by the consumption function. gross private domestic investment (I), demand by business firms and some individuals, for new factories, machinery, computer software, housing, other structures, and inventories. gross government investment and consumption expenditures (G). net exports (NX and sometimes (X-M)), i.e., net demand by the rest of the world for the country's output.

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What is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act?

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The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, prohibits employment discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older. The law also sets standards for pensions and benefits provided by employers and requires that information about the needs of older workers be provided to the general public. The ADEA includes a broad ban against age discrimination and also specifically prohibits: Discrimination in hiring, promotions, wages, or firing/layoffs. Statements or specifications in job notices or advertisements of age preference and limitations. Denial of benefits to older employees. An employer may reduce benefits based on age only if the cost of providing the reduced benefits to older workers is the same as the cost of providing full benefits to younger workers. Since 1978 it has prohibited mandatory retirement in most sectors, with phased elimination of mandatory retirement for tenured workers, such as college professors, in 1993. The ADEA was later amended in 1986 and again in 1991 by the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The ADEA differs from the Civil Rights Act in that the ADEA applies to firms of 20 or more workers rather than 15 or more workers, thus providing less protection.

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What was the civil rights act of 1991?

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The Civil Rights Act of 1991 is a United States statute that was passed in response to a series of United States Supreme Court decisions limiting the rights of employees who had sued their employers for discrimination. The Act also represented the first effort since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to modify some of the basic procedural and substantive rights provided by federal law in employment discrimination cases: it provided for the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages, while limiting the amount that a jury could award.

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What was the civil rights act of 1968?

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The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibited discrimination in housing, there were no federal enforcement provisions. The 1968 expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. It also provided protection for civil rights workers. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968) .

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What is the difference between the current and capital accounts?

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The current account deals with the balance of imports and exports, while the capital account deals with the balance of monetary flows. The two have an inverse relationship.

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What is proxemics?

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The term proxemics was introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1963 to describe the measureable distances between people as they interacted. Hall pointed out that social distance between people is reliably correlated with physical distance, and described four distances: intimate distance for embracing, touching or whispering (15-45 cm, 6-18 inches) personal distance for interactions among good friends (45-120 cm, 1.5-4 feet) social distance for interactions among acquaintances (1.2-3.5 m, 4-12 ft) public distance used for public speaking (over 3.5 m, 12 ft) Hall pointed out that different cultures maintain different standards of personal space. In Latin cultures, for instance, those relative distances are smaller, and people tend to be more comfortable standing close to each other; in Nordic cultures the opposite is true.

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What is a block grant?

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In a federal system of government, a block grant is a large sum of money granted by the national government to a regional government with only general provisions as to the way it is to be spent. An advantage of block grants is that they allow regional governments to experiment with different ways of spending money with the same goal in mind, though it is very difficult to compare the results of such spending and reach a conclusion. A disadvantage is that the regional governments might be able to use the money if they collected it through their own taxation systems and spent it without any restrictions from above. Since the 1980s, the United States government has provided vast sums of money through block grants, under a policy that has come to be known as \"devolutionary\" or \"new federalism.\" According to the General Accounting Office, from 1980 to 2001 the number of federal block grant programs went from 450 to 700. The grants are aimed at a wide range of activities from education, to healthcare, to transportation, to housing, to counterterrorism. In the United States, the formulas for how much money states receive favor small states. Most grant programs have a minimum amount per state - usually 0.5 % or 0.75 %.

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Why was US. v. Lopez significant?

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From 1937 to 1995, the Supreme Court of the United States did not void a single Act of Congress for exceeding Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, instead holding that anything that could conceivably have even a slight impact on commerce was subject to federal regulation. It was thus seen as a (narrow) victory for federalism when the Rehnquist Court reined in federal regulatory power in United States v. Lopez (1995) and United States v. Morrison (2000).

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What is Cognitive dissonance?

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Cognitive dissonance arises from conflicting cognitions. Cognitive dissonance is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, which for the purpose of cognitive dissonance theory can be defined as any element of knowledge, attitude, emotion, belief or value, as well as a goal, plan, or an interest. In brief, the theory of cognitive dissonance holds that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to minimize the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions.

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What is the Fundamental attribution error?

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The fundamental attribution error (sometimes referred to as the actor-observer bias, correspondence bias or overattribution effect) is the tendency for people to over-emphasize dispositional, or personality-based, explanations for behaviors observed in others while under-emphasizing the role and power of situational influences on the same behavior. In other words, people tend to have a default assumption that what a person does is based more on what \"kind\" of person he is, rather than the social and environmental forces at work on that person. This default assumption leads to people sometimes making erroneous explanations for behavior. This general bias to over-emphasizing dispositional explanations for behavior at the expense of situational explanations is much less likely to occur when people evaluate their own behavior.

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What is the yield curve?

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In finance, the yield curve is the relation between the interest rate (or cost of borrowing) and the maturity of the debt for a given borrower in a given currency. For example, the current U.S. dollar interest rates paid on U.S. Treasury securities for various maturities are closely watched by many traders.

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How often does congress override a president's veto?

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Less than 5% of the time.

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What is the Government Accountability Office (GAO)?

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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the non-partisan audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of Congress, and an agency in the Legislative Branch of the United States Government. The GAO was established by the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921. According to GAO's current mission statement, the agency exists to support the Congress in meeting its Constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the American people. The GAO is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States, a unique non-partisan position in the U.S. Government. The Comptroller General is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate for a 15-year, non-renewable term. The President selects a nominee from a list of at least three individuals recommended by an 8 member commission of congressional leaders. The Comptroller General may not be removed by the President, but only by Congress through impeachment or joint resolution for specific reasons. GAO examines the use of public funds, evaluates federal programs and activities, and provides analyses, options, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make effective oversight, policy, and funding decisions. In this context, GAO works to continuously improve the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the federal government through financial audits, program reviews and evaluations, analyses, legal opinions, investigations, and other services. The GAO's activities are designed to ensure the executive branch's accountability to the Congress under the Constitution and the government's accountability to the American people.

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Who was Edward Teller?

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Edward Teller (January 15, 1908 - September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-born American nuclear physicist, known colloquially as \"the father of the hydrogen bomb.\" He was an early member of the Manhattan Project charged with developing the first atomic bombs. During this time he made a serious push to develop the first fusion-based weapons as well, but these were deferred until after World War II. After his controversial testimony in the security clearance hearing of his former Los Alamos colleague Robert Oppenheimer, Teller became ostracized by much of the scientific community. He continued to find support from the U.S. government and military research establishment. He was a co-founder of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and was both its director and associate director for many years. Over the course of his long life, Teller was known both for his scientific ability and his difficult interpersonal relations, and is considered one of the key influences on the character Dr. Strangelove in the 1964 movie of the same name.

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Name the order of presidential succession.

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Vice President, Speaker of House, President Pro Tempore of Senate, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defence, Attorney General.

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What year was FDR's court packing scheme?

answer

1937

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What year was the Dredd Scott case?

answer

1857. It ruled that blacks are property, and further pushed nation towards civil war.

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What is the Liquidity Preference of Interest?

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It was originally Keynes' idea. The hypothesis is that people prefer to have their money be liquid, and must have a reason for it not to be liquid. So, lowering interest rates on low liquidity investment items (30 year bonds, etc...) will make them less attractive to invest in. So, when long term interest rates drop, the demand for money rises.

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What was the post WWII dollar shortage?

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Postwar world capitalism suffered from a huge dollar shortage. The United States was running huge balance of trade surpluses, and the U.S. reserves were immense and growing. It was necessary to reverse this flow. Dollars had to leave the United States and become available for international use. In other words, the United States would have to reverse the natural economic processes and run a balance of payments deficit. The modest credit facilities of the IMF were clearly insufficient to deal with Western Europe's huge balance of payments deficits. The problem was further aggravated by the reaffirmation by the IMF Board of Governors in the provision in the Bretton Woods Articles of Agreement that the IMF could make loans only for current account deficits and not for capital and reconstruction purposes. Only the United States contribution of $570 million was actually available for IBRD lending. In addition, because the only available market for IBRD bonds was the conservative Wall Street banking market, the IBRD was forced to adopt a conservative lending policy, granting loans only when repayment was assured. Given these problems, by 1947 the IMF and the IBRD themselves were admitting that they could not deal with the international monetary system's economic problems.6 Thus, the much looser Marshall Planâ€\"the European Recovery Programâ€\"was set up to provide U.S. finance to rebuild Europe largely through grants rather than loans. The Marshall Plan was the program of massive economic aid given by the United States to favored countries in Western Europe for the rebuilding of capitalism. From 1947 until 1958, the United States deliberately encouraged an outflow of dollars, and, from 1950 on, the United States ran a balance of payments deficit with the intent of providing liquidity for the international economy.

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What was the Bretton Woods triangle trade?

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Bretton Woods, then, created a system of triangular trade: the United States would use the convertible financial system to trade at a tremendous profit with developing nations, expanding industry and acquiring raw materials. It would use this surplus to send dollars to Europe, which would then be used to rebuild their economies, and make the United States the market for their products. This would allow the other industrialized nations to purchase products from the Third World, which reinforced the American role as the guarantor of stability. When this triangle became destabilized, Bretton Woods entered a period of crisis which lead ultimately to its collapse.

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What is a dirty float in economics?

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It is when a country tries to manipulate the value of its floating currency.

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In international trade, what is dumping?

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A standard technical definition of dumping is the act of charging a extraordinarily lower price for a good in a foreign market than one charges for the same good in a domestic market. True dumping (by a technical definition) is actually very difficult under free trade, and is also made illegal by the WTO. In the United States, domestic firms can file an antidumping suit under the regulations determined by the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission. These proceedings operate on a timetable governed by U.S. law. The Department of Commerce has regularly found that dumping occurs in U.S. markets.

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What is the european Common Agricultural Policy?

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The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies which represents about 44% of the EU's budget (43 billion Euro's scheduled for 2005). These subsidies work by guaranteeing a minimum price to producers and by direct payment of a subsidy for crops planted. This provides some economic certainty for EU farmers and production of a certain quantity of agricultural goods. Reforms of the system are currently underway including a phased transfer of subsidy to land stewardship rather than specific crop production from 2005 to 2012. The OECD countries' total agricultural subsidies amount to more than the GDP of the whole of Africa. CAP price intervention causes artificially high food prices throughout the EU. Some have suggested that Europeans pay about 25% higher prices for food than they would without the CAP.

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Who can participate in cases at the ICJ?

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Cases can only be between states, both of whom have to accept the jurisdiction of the court to try the case.

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What is the Belgium War Crimes Law?

answer

Belgium's War Crimes Law invokes the concept of universal jurisdiction to allow anyone to bring war crime charges in Belgian courts, regardless of where the alleged crimes have taken place. The law took effect in 1993 and was expanded the following year after 10 Belgian soldiers were killed in Rwanda. The law reached prominence after the Rwandan Genocide. According to the Washington Post, the process of prosecution of Rwandans in Belgium for crimes committed in the violence were set in motion by Martine Beckers, a Brussels resident, whose sister Claire called her to tell her of being attacked by soldiers, who soon after killed her, her family, and 10 other villagers who were unable to reach a United Nations peacekeepers' compound.

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What nations oppose the ICC?

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US, China, Israel, Zimbabwe.

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What is APEC?

answer

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a group of Pacific Rim countries who meet with the purpose of improving economic and political ties. It holds annual meetings in each of the member countries and has standing committees on a wide range of issues, from communications to fisheries. Currently, most countries with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean are members of the organization, with the exception of Colombia and Ecuador in South America, the six Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama, Cambodia and North Korea in Asia and the Pacific Islands, such as Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Guam has also been actively requesting a separate membership, citing the example of Hong Kong and Taiwan, but the request is objected by USA, which currently represents Guam. The heads of government of all APEC members meet annually in a summit.

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Name some countries with a Federalist system of government.

answer

Switzerland, US, Belgium, Germany, Canada.

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What region of the world receives the most immigrant visas to the US?

answer

Latin America, then Asia, then Europe.

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What was the Morrill tariff?

answer

The Morrill Tariff of 1861 was a protectionist tariff bill passed by the U.S. Congress in early 1861. It was signed into law by Democratic president, James Buchanan of Pennslyvania, where support for higher tariffs to protect the iron industry was strong. It replaced the Tariff of 1857. The high rates of the Morrill tariff inaugurated a period of relatively continuous trade protection in the United States that lasted until the Underwood Tariff of 1913. As Frank Taussig observes, the schedule of the Morrill Tariff and its two successor bills were retained long after the end of the Civil War.

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What was the Tariff of 1857?

answer

The Tariff of 1857 was a major tax reduction in the United States, creating a mid-century lowpoint for tariffs. It amended the Walker Tariff of 1846 by lowering rates to around 17% on average. The Tariff of 1857's cuts lasted only three years, though. In 1861 the country changed course under the heavily protectionist Morrill Tariff of 1861.

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What was the Walker tariff?

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The 1846 Walker tariff was a Democratic bill that reversed the high rates of tariffs imposed by the Whig-backed \"Black Tariff\" of 1842 under president John Tyler. It was one of the lowest tariffs in American history. The tariff's reductions (35% to 25%) coincided with Britain's repeal of the Corn Laws earlier that year, leading to a decline in protection in both and an increase in trade. The bill resulted in a moderate reduction in many tariff rates and was considered a success in that it stimulated trade and brought needed revenue into the U.S. Treasury, as well as improved relations with Britain that had soured over the Oregon boundary dispute.

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What was the Homestead Act?

answer

The Homestead Act of 1862 is a piece of U.S. legislation which gave one quarter of a section of a township (160 acres, or about 65 hectares) of undeveloped land in the American West to any family head or person that was at least 21 years of age, provided he lived on it for five years and built a house of a minimum of 12 by 14 feet, or allowed the family head to buy it for $1.25 per acre ($308/kmÂ²) after six months. The act was signed into law by President Lincoln on May 20, 1862. By the end of the 19th century, over 570 million acres (2,300,000 kmÂ²) remained open to settlement, but very little of this was usable for agriculture. As the Frontier moved west onto the arid Great Plains, the amount of land a homesteader was allowed to claim was changed to 640 acres (2.6 kmÂ²), a full section. In 1906, the Forest Homestead Act was passed. The Homestead Act of 1912 reduced the homestead requirement from five to three years. Although a few isolated pockets remained into the 1950s, most of the desirable land in the lower 48 states had been taken up by 1910 or so. Homesteading in the Lower 48 states was totally abolished by Congress in 1976, and in Alaska in 1986.

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What was the Chinese Exclusion Act?

answer

The Chinese Exclusion Act, signed into law May 6, 1882, followed revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. The revisions to the treaty allowed the U.S. to suspend immigration and Congress acted quickly to implement the suspension. The act excluded all Chinese laborers from the United States for 10 years. Amendments made in 1884 tightened the provisions that allowed previous immigrants to leave and return, and clarified that the law applied to ethnic Chinese regardless of their country of origin. The act was renewed in 1892 by the Geary Act for another 10 years, and in 1902 with no terminal date. It was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, allowing a national quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year, although large scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965. The act was passed in response to the large number of Chinese who had immigrated to the Western United States as a result of unsettled conditions in China and the availability of jobs working on railroads. It was the first immigration law passed in the United States targeted at a specific ethnic group.

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What was the Treaty of Tientsin?

answer

Treaty signed in Tianjin in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856-1860). France, UK, Russia, and the United States were party. These treaties opened eleven more Chinese ports (see Treaty of Nanjing) to the foreigners, permitted foreign legations in Beijing, allow Christian missionary activity, and legalised the import of opium. They were ratified by the Emperor of China in the Beijing Convention in 1860, after the end of the war. The major points of the treaties were: Britain, France, Russia and the United States would have the right to station legations in Beijing (a closed city at the time) Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for foreign trade, including Niuzhuang, Danshui, Hankou and Nanjing The right of foreign vessels including warships to navigate freely on the Yangtze River The right of foreigners to travel in the internal regions of China for the purpose of travel, trade or missionary activities China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and France in 2 million taels of silver respectively, and compensation to British merchants in 2 million taels of silver. The Chinese are to be banned from referring to Westerners by the character \"yi\" (barbarian).

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What were coolies?

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The term "coolie" refers to unskilled laborers from Asia in the 1800s to early 1900s who were sent to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, North Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. The term usually referred to Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Korean laborers and was often used in a derogatory way. In India, "coolie" refers to porters who work at railway stations. In Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean, as well as Sri Lanka and South Africa, the word is considered an offensive racial slur on par with "******." In the British Empire, a "coolie" was an indentured labourer with conditions resembling slavery. Chinese coolies contributed to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States, as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway in Western Canada, but many of the Chinese laborers were not welcome to stay after its completion. California's Anti-Coolie Act of 1862 and Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 also contributed to the oppression of Chinese laborers in the United States.

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What is Most Favored Nation Status?

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Most favoured nation (MFN), also called normal trade relations in the United States, is a status accorded by one nation to another in international trade. Somewhat counterintuitively, it does not confer particular advantages on the receiving nation, but means that the receiving nation will be granted all trade advantages, such as low tariffsm that any third nation also receives. In effect, having MFN status means that one's nation will not be treated worse than anyone else's nation. The members of the World Trade Organization, which include all developed nations, accord MFN status to each other. Exceptions exist for preferential treatment of developing countries, regional free trade areas and customs unions. In the early days of international trade, most favoured nation status was usually used on a dual-party, state-to-state basis. A nation could enter into a most favored nation treaty with another nation. Generally bilateral, in the late 19th and early 20th century unilateral most favored nation clauses were imposed on Asian nations by the more powerful Western countries (see Open Door Policy). In the 1990s continued most favoured nation status for the People's Republic of China sparked U.S. controversy because of its sales of sensitive military technology and its use of prison labor, and its most favoured nation status was only made permanent in 2000. All of the former Soviet states, including Russia, were granted most favoured nation status in 1992. In the United States, \"most favored nation status\" has been called Normal Trade Relations since 1998 as all but a handful of countries had this status (The impetus for the change in terminology came from irritation voiced by some Americans that various totalitarian governments around the world enjoyed being a \"most favored nation\" of the United States).

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What was the Burlingame Treaty?

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The Burlingame Treaty, between the United States and China, amended the Treaty of Tientsin and established formal friendly relations between the two countries, with the United States granting China Most Favored Nation status. It was ratified in 1868. The treaty: Recognized China's right of eminent domain over all her territory; Gave China the right to appoint consuls at ports in the United States, \"who shall enjoy the same privileges and immunities as those enjoyed by the consuls of Great Britain and Russia\"; Provided that \"citizens of the United States in China of every religious persuasion and Chinese subjects in the United States shall enjoy entire liberty of conscience and shall be exempt from all disability or persecution on account of their religious faith or worship in either country\"; and Granted certain privileges to citizens of either country residing in the other, the privilege of naturalization, however, being specifically withheld. Importantly, Chinese immigration to the United States was encouraged. The treaty was reversed in 1882 by the Chinese Exclusion Act.

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What was the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965?

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The Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Act or the INS Act of 1965) abolished the national-origin quotas that had been in place in the United States since the Immigration Act of 1924. An annual limitation of 170,000 visas was established for immigrants from Eastern Hemisphere countries with no more than 20,000 per country. By 1968, the annual limitation from the Western Hemisphere was set at 120,000 immigrants, with visas available on a first-come, first-served basis. The democratic controlled Congress (House of Representatives voted 326 to 69) in favor while the Senate passed the bill by a vote of (76 to 18). President Lyndon Johnson signed the legislation into law. The Act was influenced by the Civil Rights Movement. The Act also began the rejuvenation of the Asian American community in the United States by abolishing the Chinese Exclusion Act (United States) that had restricted immigration from Asia since 1882. Increased numbers of Asian immigrants then began arriving, renewing Asian communities that had nearly died out. Many people feel that this act dramatically changed the face of American society by making it a multicultural nation. Prior to the act the United States was primarily a nation comprised of white Europeans and African Americans. Since the implementation of the law the relative proportion of the white population has been in steady decline. There has been enormous growth of immigration from non-European derived peoples since the implementation of the law.

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What were the zoot suit riots?

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The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that erupted in Los Angeles, California during World War II, between sailors and soldiers stationed in the city and Mexican American youth gangs headed by pachucos, recognized because of the zoot suits they favored. The riots began in the racially charged atmosphere of Los Angeles, where the sailors, soldiers and marines returning from the war had already come into conflict with the local Mexican zoot suiters. On June 3, 1943, a group of servicemen on leave complained that they had been assaulted by a gang of pachucos. In response, they gathered and headed out to downtown and East Los Angeles, which was the center of the Mexican community. Once there, they attacked all the men they found wearing zoot suits, often ripping off the suits and burning them in the streets. In many instances, the police intervened by arresting beaten-up Mexican-American youth for disturbing the peace. African Americans and Filipino Americans suffered the same fate as Mexican Americans [1]. Several hundred pachucos and nine sailors were arrested as a result of the fighting that occurred over the next few days. Of the nine sailors that were arrested, eight were released with no charges, and one had to pay a small fine. The Mexican-Americans were not as fortunate. Many died in jail from their injuries because they were in dire need of medical attention. Many more were convicted of crimes that they did not commit. The government finally intervened on June 7, by declaring that Los Angeles would henceforth be off-limits to all military personnel. In response to the riots Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her weekly column about the problems faced by the Mexican American community as a result of racism in the United States.

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What is an omnibus bill?

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An omnibus spending bill is a bill that sets the budget of many departments of the United States government at once. It is one possible outcome of the budget process in the U.S. Every year, Congress must pass bills that appropriate money for all discretionary government spending. Generally, one bill is passed for each sub-committee of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. Ordinarily, each bill is passed separately â€\" one bill for Defense, one for Homeland Security, and so on. When Congress does not or cannot produce separate bills in a timely fashion (by the beginning of the fiscal year on October 1), it will roll many of the separate appropriations bills into one omnibus spending bill. Some of the reasons that Congress might not complete all the separate bills include partisan disagreement, disagreement amongst members of the same political party, and too much work on other bills. Often times, omnibus spending bills are criticized for being full of pork (unnecessary/wasteful spending that pleases constituents). The bills regularly stretch to more than 1,000 pages long, and often have not even been read in full by the people voting for them. Nevertheless, they have grown more common in recent years. The most recent one is for fiscal year 2005.

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What was the Root-Takahira agreement?

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The Root-Takahira Agreement of 1908 was a contract between the United States and Japan. Relations between Japan and the United States remained tense during Theodore Roosevelt's second term. Tensions had developed earlier over spheres of influence in the Far East and the treatment of Japanese living in the U.S. Further, Roosevelt had never been forgiven for his opposition to Russian reparations for the Japanese at the end of the earlier war between those two nations. Many American farmers and laborers on the West Coast resented competition from hard-working Japanese immigrants. Conditions had deteriorated so badly by 1907 that there was talk of war in both countries. A small, positive step was taken in 1907 when the United States and Japan concluded the so-called \"Gentlemen's Agreement,\" in which Japan promised to slow the exodus of workers destined for the U.S. Racial antipathy remained, however, particularly in California. Roosevelt was dedicated to further improving relations, realizing that the American position in the Philippines would be difficult to maintain against a Japanese adversary. An exchange of notes followed between Elihu Root, the U.S. secretary of state, and Takahira Kogoro, the Japanese ambassador in Washington. The resulting position statements included the following: A pledge to maintain the status quo in the Far East Recognition of China's independence and territorial integrity, and support for continuation of the Open Door policy, An agreement to mutual consultation in the event of future Far Eastern crises.

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What was the Russo-Japanese War?

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The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of Russia and Japan in Manchuria and Korea. Japan won.

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What was the Sino-Japanese War?

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(August 1, 1894 - April 1895) was a war fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan over control of Korea. The principal result was a shift in regional dominance in Asia from China to Japan. Faced with these repeated defeats, China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in April, 1895, agreeing to stay out of Korea and ceding a large portion of eastern Manchuria, including the Liaodong (literally: Eastern Liaoning) portion of the modern Liaoning province, to Japan. Additionally, the island of Taiwan (Formosa) was also ceded to the Japanese. Chinese defeat at the hands of Japan highlighted the failure of the Qing army to modernize and resulted in increased calls within China for accelerated reform. It also encouraged imperialist demands laid on the dynasty by western powers, particularly Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. For example, Russia, after the diplomatic slap in the face given to Japan in the Triple Intervention after the war, moved almost immediately to occupy the entire Liaodong Peninsula and, especially to fortify Port Arthur despite vigorous protests from China, Japan, and the United States Ã¢â‚¬â€ all three favoring an Open Door Policy in Manchuria.

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What was the Naturalization Act of 1870?

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This Naturalization Act limited American citizenship to \"white persons and persons of African descent,\" barring Asians - who were coming to california in large numbers - from U.S. citizenship.

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What was the Emergency Quota Act of 1921?

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The Emergency Quota Act of May 19, 1921 limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 3% of the number of persons from that country living in the United States in 1910, according to Census figures. This totalled about 357,802 immigrants. Of that number just over half was allocated for northern and western Europeans, and the remainder for eastern and southern Europeans, a 75% reduction from prior years. Professionals were allowed in despite their origins. The act was passed in a time of swelling isolationism following World War I.

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What was the Rerum Novarum?

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Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued in 1891. It was an open letter passed to all the bishops that addressed the condition of the working classes. It supported the rights of labor to form unions, but rejected socialism and affirmed private property rights. It discussed the relationships between government, business, labor, and the church proposing a social and economic structure that was later called corporatist. Rerum Novarum is generally accepted to be the founding document of Christian Democracy. While individual positions or statements have been debated, the work was remarkable as a summary of many issues raised by the industrial revolution and modern democratic societies. It began by describing many of the grievances of the working class. But it refuted as false the theories of Marxist socialists and defended private ownership. It stated that solutions would come from the combined actions of the Church, the State, the employer and the employee. It set out principles that should be used in seeking justice in industrial, social, and economic life. One profound effect was to push the Catholic Church and its hierarchy into the modern world. At the time his support for unions and a living wage were viewed as radically leftist.

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What is Christian Democracy?

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Christian Democracy is a political ideology, born at the end of the 19th century, largely as a result of the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII, in which the Vatican recognized workers' misery and agreed that something should be done about it, in reaction to the rise of the socialist and trade-union movements. Though the Christian Democratic movement is very heterogeneous, there is general agreement on certain issues. The proposed design of the Christian Democratic state is decentralized, made up by various bodies, but having an unquestionable capacity. Christian Democracy sees the economy as being at the service of humanity; however, most Christian Democratic Parties do not call capitalism itself into question. The duty of the state to care for its citizens is of some importance for Christian Democrats, but they generally oppose Christian socialism. In recent decades, Christian Democratic parties in Europe have shifted more towards a right-wing policy of economic liberalism, based on reducing the role of the state in the economy. Meanwhile, Christian Democratic parties in Latin America are generally more inclined to support left-wing economic views than their European counterparts. On issues of public morality and tradition, Christian Democrats are conservative, and often tend to follow the views of the Vatican on such issues as abortion and same-sex marriage. However, most of them have accepted separation of church and state and divorce.

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What was the Memorial Day massacre of 1937?

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At the Memorial Day massacre of 1937, police shot and killed ten demonstrators. The incident took place during the \"Little Steel Strike\" of 1937 in United States. The incident arose after U.S. Steel signed a union contract, but smaller steel manufacturers (called \"Little Steel\"), including Republic Steel, refused to do so. In protest, the Steel Workers Organization Committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) called a strike. On Memorial Day, hundreds of sympathizers gathered at Sam's Place, headquarters of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee. As the crowd marched across the prairie towards the Republic Steel Mill, a line of Chicago policeman blocked their path. When the foremost protestors argued their right to continue, police fired on the crowd. As the crowd fled, police bullets killed ten people.

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What was the Bombing of the Panay?

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The Panay incident was a Japanese attack on the United States Navy gunboat Panay while she was anchored in the Yangtze River outside of Nanjing on December 12, 1937, immediately preceeding the Rape of Nanking. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The Japanese claimed that they did not see the United States flags painted on the deck of the gunboat, apologized and paid an indemnity. Nevertheless, the attack and reports of the Nanking Massacre caused US opinion to turn sharply against the Japanese. In spite of this outrage, American isolationism kept them out of war, even when it was clear that the act was intentional.

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What is the longest river in Asia?

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The, Yangtze River, with its mouth at Shanghai. It is the third longest in the world after the amazon and the nile.

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What is the second longest river in the world?

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The nile. Only the amazon is longer.

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What was the Dumbarton Oaks Conference?

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The Dumbarton Oaks Conference (or Washington Conversations on International Peace and Security Organization), held beginning in August 1944 in a Washington, DC mansion (Dumbarton Oaks), was where the United Nations was formulated and negotiated. Discussions on the make-up of the UN included which states would be invited as members. The conference was attended by representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of China. Discussions included the formation of the Security Council and the right of veto that would be given to its permanent members. The conference was followed up by a San Francisco Conference, where the Security Council veto powers were established.

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What was the Yalta conference?

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It was the wartime meeting from February 4 to 11, 1945 between the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. The delegations were headed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, respectively. They discussed houw Germany would be occupied, how europe would be rebuilt, and Russia pledged to enter the war against Japan soon after Germany was defeated. They also set the date for the UN charter conference, which would be held in San Francisco.

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What was the Potsdam conference?

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The Potsdam Conference was a conference held at Cecilienhof in Potsdam, Germany (near Berlin), from July 17 to August 2, 1945. The participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the three largest and most powerful of the victorious Allies that defeated the Axis Powers in World War II. Stalin, Winston Churchill, and TrumanÃ¢â‚¬â€as well as Clement Attlee, who replaced Churchill after the Labour Party's defeat of the Conservatives in the 1945 general elections had gathered to decide how to administer the defeated Nazi Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier, on May 8 (V-E Day). The goals of the conference also included the establishment of post-war order, peace treaties issues, and countering the effects of war.

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What was the Tehran conference?

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The Tehran Conference was the meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill between November 28 and December 1, 1943 that took place in Tehran, Iran. It was the first war conference among the three world powers (the USSR, the U.S. and the UK) in which Stalin was present. It succeeded the Cairo Conference and was followed by Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference. The chief discussion was centered on the opening of a second front in Western Europe. At the same time a separate protocol pledged the three countries to recognize Iran's independence.

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What was the Treaty of San Francisco?

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The Treaty of Peace with Japan between the Allied Powers and Japan, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951 in San Francisco, California. The treaty served to officially end World War II, to formally end Japan's position as an imperial power and allocate compensation to Allied civilians and former prisoners of war who had suffered Japanese war crimes. The Treaty made extensive use of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to enunciate the Allies' goals.

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What was the Japanese Instrument of Surrender?

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The Instrument of Surrender of Japan was the armistice ending World War II. It was signed by representatives of Japan, US, China, UK, USSR, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands, and New Zealand on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, and which thereby ended the Pacific War and with it World War II.

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What was the Federal Reserve Act?

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A 1913 act of Congress that created the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States of America. According to the United States Constitution, only the U.S. Congress has the power and responsibility to coin money and set its value. In the 1913 Federal Reserve Act however, Congress delegated this power to the Federal Reserve. All banks chartered under the National Banking Act of 1863 were made members of the Federal Reserve System, while others could join. A Board of Governors appointed by the President of the United States supervised the system.

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What was the Lost Generation?

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The term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group of American literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period which saw the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. More generally, the term is being used for the generation of young people coming of age in the United States during and shortly after World War I. The \"Lost Generation\" were said to be disillusioned by the large number of casualties of the First World War, cynical, disdainful of the Victorian notions of morality and propriety of their elders. Like most attempts to pigeon-hole entire generations, this over-generalization is true for some individuals of the generation and not true of others. It was somewhat common among members of this group to complain that American artistic culture lacked the breadth of European workÃ¢â‚¬â€leading many members to spend large amounts of time in EuropeÃ¢â‚¬â€and/or that all topics worth treating in a literary work had already been covered. Nevertheless, this selfsame period saw an explosion in American literature and in art, which is now often considered to include some of the greatest literary classics produced by American writers. This generation also produced the first flowering of jazz music, arguably the first distinctly American artform.

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What was the Harlem Renaissance?

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The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of African-American social thought and culture based in the African-American community forming in Harlem in New York City (USA). This period, beginning with 1920 and extending roughly to 1940, was expressed through every cultural mediumÃ¢â‚¬â€visual art, dance, music, theatre, literature, poetry, history and politics. Instead of using direct political means, African-American artists, writers, and musicians employed culture to work for goals of civil rights and equality. For the first time, African-American paintings, writings, and jazz became absorbed into mainstream culture and crossed racial lines, creating a lasting legacy. At the time, it was known as the \"New Negro Movement\". Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, W.E.B. DuBois, and Marcus Garvey were all part of it.

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What was Transcendentalism?

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Transcendentalism was the name of a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early-to mid-nineteenth century. It began as a protest against the general state of culture and society at the time, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard and the doctrine of the Unitarian church which was taught at Harvard Divinity School. Among their core beliefs was an ideal spiritual state that 'transcends' the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions. Prominent Transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller. The publication of Emerson's 1836 essay Nature is usually taken to be the watershed moment at which Transcendentalism became a major cultural movement. Emerson wrote: \"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds...A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men.\" Emerson closed the essay by calling for a revolution in human consciousness.

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Who was Margaret Fuller?

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(May 23, 1810 - June 19, 1850) was a journalist, critic and women's rights activist. Fuller became friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and was subsequently associated with transcendentalism. She edited the transcendentalist journal, The Dial for the first two years of its existence from 1840 to 1842. When she joined Horace Greeley's New York Tribune as literary critic in 1844, she became the first female journalist to work on the staff of a major newspaper. In the mid-1840s she organized discussion groups of women in which a variety of subjects, such as art, education and women's rights, were debated.

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What was the My Lai Massacre?

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The My Lai Massacre was a massacre by U.S. soldiers of hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children, on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. Becoming a symbol of U.S. war crimes in Vietnam, it prompted widespread outrage around the world and reduced public support for the war in the United States. The explosive news of the massacre fueled the outrage of the American peace movement, which demanded the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. It also led more potential draftees to file for conscientious objector status. Those who had always argued against the war felt vindicated; those on the fringes of the movement became more vocal. The more pivotal shift, however, was in the attitude of the general public towards the war. People who had not previously been interested in the peace/war debates began to analyze the issue more closely. The horrific stories of other soldiers began to be taken more seriously, and other abuses came to light.

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What is Jingoism?

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Jingoism is a term describing chauvinistic patriotism, usually with a hawkish political stance. In plain language, it means bullying other countries or using whatever means necessary to safeguard a country's national interests.

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What territories did the US take from Spain in the spanish american war?

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Puerto Rico, The phillipines, and Cuba. it took place starting in 1898. The phillipinos, and later the cubans would fight for their independance.

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What was the Philippine-American War?

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The Philippine-American War was a war between the armed forces of the United States and the Philippines from 1899 through 1913. In December 1898, the U.S. purchased the Philippines and other territories from Spain at the Treaty of Paris for the sum of 20 million United States dollars, after the U.S. defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War. The U.S. government made plans to make the Philippines an American colony. However, the Filipinos, fighting for their independence from Spain since 1896, had already declared their independence on June 12. On August 14, 11,000 ground troops were sent to occupy the Philippines. On January 1, 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo was declared the first President. He later organized a Congress at Malolos, Bulacan to draft a constitution. Tensions between the Filipinos and the American soldiers on the islands existed because of the conflicting movements for independence and colonization, aggravated by the feelings of betrayal on the part of the Filipinos by their former allies, the Americans. Hostilities started on February 4, 1899 when an American soldier named Robert William Grayson shot a Filipino soldier who was crossing a bridge into American-occupied territory in San Juan del Monte, an incident historians now consider to be the start of the war. Eventually the US grew tired of the war. In 1916 the United States granted the Philippines self-government and promised eventual independence. It was finally granted in 1946.

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When did the US enter WWI?

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1918. The armistice was on Nov. 11 of the same year.

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Which president was elected because he opposed the League of Nations?

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Harding. He opposed Wilson's league of nations, as did the US senate.

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When was the US constitution written?

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1787

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When did the US constitution take effect?

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1789

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What is USAID?

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The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the US government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. An independent federal agency, it receives overall foreign policy guidance from the US Secretary of State. It is organized around 4 main pillars: Global Development Alliance Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade Global Health Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance It advances US foreign policy objectives by supporting: economic growth, agriculture and trade health democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance USAID's origins date back to the Marshall Plan reconstruction of Europe after World War II and the Truman Administration's Point Four Program. In September 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act into law and by executive order established USAID by consolidating U.S. non-military foreign aid programs into a single agency.

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What is the Foreign Agricultural Service?

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The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has primary responsibility for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's overseas programs -- market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection of statistics and market information. It also administers USDA's export credit guarantee and food aid programs and helps increase income and food availability in developing nations.

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What is the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)?

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The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is an agency of the U.S. government established in 1971 that helps U.S. businesses invest overseas and promotes economic development in new and emerging markets. OPIC operations cost nothing to American taxpayers because it charges market-based fees for its products and services. The agency has earned a profit in each year of operations Ã¢â‚¬â€ $175 million in 2002 Ã¢â‚¬â€ and built its reserves to more than $4 billion.

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What is the Small Business Administration (SBA)?

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The Small Business Administration, or SBA, is a United States Government agency that provides support to small businesses. The SBA was established on July 30, 1953 by the United States Congress with the passage of the Small Business Act.

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What was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation?

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The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an independent agency of the U.S. government, chartered during the administration of Herbert Hoover in 1932. The agency advanced $2 billion in loans to state and local governments and to banks, railroads, farm mortgage associations, and other businesses, funding, for example, the construction of the original Hayden Planetarium. The RFC also had a division that would give the states loans for emergency relief needs. The RFC was bogged down in bureaucracy and failed to disburse many of its funds. It failed to stem the tide of mass unemployment of the Great Depression. The failure of the RFC helped to lead to the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. President Roosevelt merged the RFC, Board of Economic Warfare (BEW), and the Lend-Lease Office together under the direction of Leo Crowley, former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which was one of the landmarks of the New Deal.

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What is the Export-Import Bank of the United States?

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The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank, Exim Bank or Eximbank) is the official export credit agency of the United States Government. It is an independent agency of the Executive Branch of The United States Governemnt established by the Congress of the United States in 1945 that finances or insures foreign purchases of U.S. goods for customers unable or unwilling to accept credit risk. For instance, in 2004 it insured the purchase by Iraq of fogging machines for insect abatement. There are many other banks around the world called Eximbank, some analogous to the U.S. Ex-Im Bank, and some private commercial banks.

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What is the Organization of American States?

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The Organization of American States (OAS; OEA in the other three official languages) is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the 35 independent nations of the Americas. Founded in 1948. Members include every free nation in the western hemisphere, except cuba, which is suspended. From its creation up until, at the least, the mid-1980s, the OAS was a frequent target for critics, particularly those on the left of the political spectrum, who accused it of being a mere arm of U.S. foreign policy â€\" \"Washington's colonial office\", it was scornfully labeled (this is sometimes attributed to Fidel Castro, but is not verified; see [5]). This interpretation was borne out by the alacrity with which the Organization moved, at Washington's bidding, to expel Cuba in 1962; in contrast, the OAS never took steps to suspend the membership of the various dictatorships that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s and were disrepectful of human rights and democracy â€\" Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala â€\" but that differed from Cuba in their political orientation. The return to democracy that took place in the 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of new trends within the OAS. The Organization's new direction has taken it into areas of greater direct relevance to the peoples of the continent: for example, its highly successful demining programs in Central America and the Andean region. Perhaps more importantly, the Organization's other member states (particularly the South Americans) now appear to be reasserting their political independence and assuming positions that are much less subservient to U.S. interests.

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What is the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights?

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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Spanish, French, and Portuguese Ã¢â‚¬â€œ CIDH) is one of the two bodies that comprise the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights.

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What is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights?

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The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San JosÃƒÂ©, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States (OAS), which serves to uphold and promote basic rights and freedoms in the Americas.

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What was the Organisation of African Unity?

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The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) or Organisation de l'UnitÃ© Africaine (OUA) was established on May 25, 1963. It was disbanded July 9, 2002 by its last chairman, South African Thabo Mbeki and replaced by the African Union. Its intended purpose was to promote the unity and solidarity of the African States and act as a collective voice for the continent. It was also dedicated to the eradication of colonialism and established a Liberation Committee to aid independence movements. Its headquarters were established at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the invitation of its emperor, Haile Selassie I. The Charter of the Organisation was signed by 32 independent African states. At the time of its disbanding, 53 out of the 54 countries in Africa were members; Morocco left in 1985 following the admission of Western Sahara in 1982. Though widely derided as a bureaucratic \"talking shop\" with little power, Ghanaian United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan praised the OAU for bringing Africans together. Nevertheless, in its 39 years of existence critics argue that the OAU did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it \"The Dictators Club\".

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What was the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)?

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The Southeast Atlantic Treaty Organization (SEATO), also known as the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty or the Manila Pact, was an international organisation for defence collaboration established on September 8, 1954. The organization's headquarters was located in Bangkok, Thailand. It was dissolved in 1977. Members: Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Great Britain, United States

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What is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)?

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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political, economic, and cultural organization of countries located in Southeast Asia. Formed on August 8, 1967, by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, as a non-provocative display of solidarity against communist expansion in Vietnam and insurgency within their own borders. Following the Bali Summit of 1976, the organization embarked on a programme of economic cooperation, which floundered in the mid-1980's only to be revived around a 1991 Thai proposal for a regional \"free trade area\".

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What is the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf?

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The Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf, formerly named and still commonly called Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a regional organization involving the six Persian Gulf Arab States with many economic and social objectives in mind. Created May 25, 1981, the Council is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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What is the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area?

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The Euro-Mediterranean free trade area (EU-MEFTA) is based on the Barcelona Process and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The Barcelona Process, developed after the Barcelona Conference in successive annual meetings, is a set of goals designed to lead to a free trade area in the Middle East by 2010. Eventually it will integrate free trade with the EU.

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What is the Eurasian Economic Community?

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The Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC or EAEC) was put into motion on 10 October 2000 when Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed the treaty. EurAsEC was formally created when the treaty was finally ratified by all five member states in May 2001. EurAsEC grew out of the CIS Customs Union. All the members of EurAsEC are also members of the older Commonwealth of Independent States and the relationship between the two organisations is ambiguous.

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What is the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)?

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The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a confederation, or alliance, consisting of 11 former Soviet Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership as of August 26, 2005 and is now an associate member. The creation of CIS signaled the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, according to leaders of Russia, its purpose was to \"allow a civilized divorce\" between the Soviet Republics. However, many observers have seen the CIS as a tool that would allow Russia to keep its influence over the post-Soviet states. Since its formation, the member-states of CIS have signed a large number of documents concerning integration and cooperation on matters of economics, defense and foreign policy.

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What is the Central American Common Market?

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The Central American Common Market (abbreviated CACM - in Spanish: Mercado ComÃƒÂºn Centroamericano, abbreviated MCCA) is an economic trade organization between five nations of Central America. It was established on December 13, 1960 between the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua in a conference in Managua. These nations ratified the treaties of membership the following year. Costa Rica joined the CACM in 1963.

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What is the Pacific Islands Forum?

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The Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental consultative organ which aims to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean and represent their interests. It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum; the name was changed in 2000 to better reflect the correct geographic locations of its member states both in the north and south Pacific. Member states are: Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

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What is the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation?

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The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC, proposed by Ziaur Rahman, the then-president of Bangladesh, was established on December 8, 1985. SAARC is an association of eight countries of South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and most recently admitted, Afghanistan. These countries comprise an area of 5,127,500 km2 and a fifth of the world's population.

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What is the South Asia Free Trade Agreement?

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The South Asia Free Trade Agreement is an agreement reached at the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit at Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on 6 January 2004. It creates a framework for the creation of a free trade zone covering 1.4 billion people in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives.The seven foreign ministers of the region signed a framework agreement on SAFTA with zero customs duty on the trade of practically all products in the region by end 2012.

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What is the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe?

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The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for security. In its region, it is concerned with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has 55 participating states from Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America. The OSCE's Secretariat (headquarters) is located in Vienna, Austria. The Organization also has offices in Copenhagen, Geneva, The Hague, Prague and Warsaw. The organization was established in 1973 as the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE).

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What were the Helinski Accords?

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The Helsinki Accords is the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975 between the United States and Canada, the Soviet Union and the countries of Europe, including Turkey but not Albania and Andorra. The civil rights portion of the agreement provided the basis for the work of Helsinki Watch, an independent NGO created to monitor compliance to the Helsinki Accords (which evolved into several regional committees to finally form Human Rights Watch). While these provisions applied to all signatories the focus of attention was on their application to the Soviet Union and its associates, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

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What was the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE)?

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The organization was established in 1973 as the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). Talks had been mooted about a European security grouping since the 1950s but the Cold War prevented any substantial progress until the talks at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki began in November 1972. These talks were held at the suggestion of the Soviet Union which wished to use the talks to maintain its control over the communist countries in Eastern Europe. Western Europe, however, saw these talks as a way to reduce the tension in the region, furthering economic cooperation and obtaining humanitarian improvements for the populations of the Communist Bloc. The collapse of Communism required a change of role for the CSCE. The Charter of Paris for a New Europe which was signed on November 21, 1990 marked the beginning of this change. With the changes capped by the re-naming of the CSCE to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) on January 1, 1995.

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What is ANZUS?

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The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is the military alliance which binds Australia and the United States, and separately Australia and New Zealand to cooperate on defense matters in the Pacific Ocean area, though today the treaty is understood to relate to attacks in any area. The treaty came about following the close cooperation of the United States, Australia and New Zealand during World War II, during which time Australia had come perilously close to invasion by Japan. Following the end of World War II, the United States was eager to normalize relations with Japan, particularly as the Korean War was stillraging a short distance from Japan. With the involvement of China and possibly the Soviet Union in Korea, the Cold War was threatening to become a full-scale war. However, Australia and New Zealand in particular were extremely reluctant to finalize a peace treaty with Japan which would allow for Japanese rearmament. Both countries relented only when an Australian and New Zealand proposal for a three-way security treaty was accepted by the United States. The resulting treaty was concluded at San Francisco on 1 September 1951, and entered into force on 29 April 1952.

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What is the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council?

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The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a NATO organization, a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and those parts of Asia on the European pheriphary. The member states meet to cooperate and consult on a range of political and security issues. It was formed on May 29, 1997 as the successor to the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC).

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What was the European Defence Community?

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The European Defence Community (EDC) was a plan proposed by RenÃ© Pleven, the French foreign minister at the time, in response to the American call for the rearmament of West Germany. Its intention was to form a pan-European defence force as an alternative to Germany's proposed accession to NATO, meant to harness its military potential in case of conflict with the Soviet bloc. The plan included the countries of France, Germany, Italy, and the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg). A treaty was signed in May 1952, but the plan never went into effect. Because of the failure to obtain a majority in the French Parliament, due to Gaullist fears that it threatened France's national sovereignty, constitutional concerns about the indivisibility of the French Republic, and fears about Germany's remilitarization, the EDC was never ratified and the initiative collapsed on the 30 of August, 1954.

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What is the Western European Union?

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The Western European Union (WEU) is a partially dormant European defence and security organization, established on the basis of the Treaty of Brussels of 1948 with the accession of West Germany and Italy in 1954. Its two stated aims were: to afford assistance to each other in resisting any policy of aggression to promote unity and to encourage the progressive integration of Europe Most of its functions are in the process of being merged into the EU.

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What was the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing?

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The April 5, 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing was a terrorist attack on the West Berlin La Belle discotheque that was frequented by U.S. soldiers. A bomb placed under a table near the DJ booth exploded at the club, killing a Turkish woman and two U.S. servicemen and injuring 230 people, including more than 50 American servicemen. Libya was blamed for the bombing after telex messages had been intercepted from Libya's East Berlin embassy, and the then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan retaliated by ordering airstrikes against the Libyan capital of Tripoli and city of BenghaziÃ¢â‚¬â€see Operation El Dorado Canyon. At least 15 people died in the U.S. airstrikes on Libya Ã¢â‚¬â€œ including a 15-month-old girl said to have been adopted by leader Colonel Gaddafi Ã¢â‚¬â€œ and more than 100 were injured.

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What was the Lockerbie bombing?

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Pan Am Flight 103 was from Heathrow to JFK. On December 21, 1988, the aircraft was blown up as it flew over Lockerbie, Scotland. It was widely regarded as an assault on a symbol of the United States, and with 189 of the victims being Americans, it stood as the deadliest attack on American civilians until September 11, 2001. United Nations sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi secured the handover of the accused on April 5, 1999.

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What was the relevance of Korean Air Flight 007?

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Korean Air Flight 007, was a Korean Air civilian airliner shot down with all on board by Soviet jet interceptors on September 1, 1983 just west of Sakhalin island. KAL 007 carried 269 passengers and crew, including a U.S. congressman. There were no survivors. The Soviet Union stated it did not know the aircraft was civilian, and suggested it had entered Soviet airspace as a deliberate provocation to test their response capabilities. The shoot-down attracted a storm of protest from across the world, particularly the United States.

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What is the Open skies agreement?

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The term open skies refers to either to a bilateral or multilateral Air Transport Agreement which: liberalises the rules for international aviation markets and minimises government intervention â€\" the provisions apply to passenger, all-cargo and combination air transportation and encompass both scheduled and charter services; or adjusts the regime under which military and other state-based flights may be permitted.

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What is the Treaty on Open Skies?

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The Treaty on Open Skies entered into force on January 1, 2002, and currently has 34 States Parties. It establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them. Open Skies is one of the most wide-ranging international efforts to date promoting openness and transparency of military forces and activities. The concept of \"mutual aerial observation\" was initially proposed by President Eisenhower in 1955; the treaty eventually signed was an initiative of President (and former Director of Central Intelligence) George H. W. Bush in 1989. Negotiated by the then-members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the agreement was signed in Helsinki, Finland, on March 24, 1992. The United States ratified it in 1993. The 34 States Parties to the Open Skies Treaty are: Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and United States.

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What were the results of Eisenhower's 1955 \"Open Skies\" proposal?

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At a Geneva Conference meeting with Soviet Premier Bulganin in 1955, President Eisenhower proposed that the United States and Soviet Union conduct surveillance overflights of each other's territory to reassure each country that the other was not preparing to attack. The fears and suspicions of the Cold War led Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khruschev to reject Eisenhower's proposal. Thirty-four years later, the Open Skies concept was reintroduced by President George H. W. Bush as a means to build confidence and security between all North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Warsaw Pact countries. In September 1989, an international Open Skies conference involving all NATO and Warsaw Pact countries opened in Ottawa, Canada. Subsequent rounds of negotiations over the next three years were held in Budapest, Hungary, Vienna, Austria, and Helsinki, Finland. On March 24, 1992, the Open Skies Treaty was signed in Helsinki by Secretary of State James Baker and foreign ministers from 23 other countries. The treaty entered into force on January 2, 2002, after Russia and Belarus completed ratification procedures.

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What was the largest immigration decade in US history?

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The 1910s. The 1980s were the second.

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What was the immigration act of 1990?

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In 1990, Congress passed the Immigration Act, approving a substantial increase in immigration. The United States would now admit 700,000 new immigrants annually, up from 500,000 before the bill's passage. The new system continued to favor people with family members already in the United States, but added 55,000 \"diversity visas\" for countries from which few were emigrating as well as 40,000 permanent job-related visas and 65,000 temporary worker visas. Additional provisions strengthened the U.S. Border Patrol and altered language regarding disease restrictions in a way that permitted the secretary of Health and Human Services to remove AIDS from the list of illnesses making a prospective immigrant ineligible to enter the country.

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What was the immigration act of 1986?

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In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, a comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy designed to nationalize all of the country's permanent inhabitants and prevent illegal entrance in the future. The bill granted temporary resident status to illegal aliens who had lived continuously in the United States since before January 1, 1982. With a basic understanding of English and American civics, these temporary residents could become permanent residents after 18 months. Illegal aliens who had lived in the United States for three years and worked at least 90 days each year in American agriculture could also claim temporary resident status and could become permanent residents three years after the bill's enactment if they worked in agriculture at least one more year. To discourage people from entering the country illegally, Congress authorized over $400 million per year for two years to the INS and strengthened penalties for knowingly hiring an illegal immigrant or smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States.

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Is the bulk of the data assembled by the CIA public or covert?

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Public.

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Does congress play a small or a large role in foreign affairs?

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Large.

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What is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission?

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, is a United States federal agency tasked with ending employment discrimination in the United States. Signed into law by President John F. Kennedy by Executive Order 10925, it can bring suit on behalf of alleged victims of discrimination against private employers. It also serves as an adjudicatory for claims of discrimination brought against federal agencies. The EEOC has five commissioners who make equal employment opportunity policy and approve litigation. These commissioners are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In addition to the Commissioners, EEOC's General Counsel, who, just like the Commissioners, is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, directs the Commission's enforcement and litigation through the regional attorneys in the agency's district offices who file and litigate the Commission's suits throughout the country. The EEOC's mandate is specified under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

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When was Medicaid created?

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Medicaid was created on July 30, 1965 through Title XIX of the Social Security Act. It serves low income americans.

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What effect did Title IX have on public schools?

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Title IX Amendment of the Education Amendments of 1972 is an Act of Congress focusing on equality in sports opportunities and called for the increase of college scholarships of women to ensure parity with male athletes. Eventually the law was expanded to prohibit gender discrimination in any United States educational institution. In 1972, Title IX was adopted as an educational amendment, based on the concept that discrimination on the basis of sex is illegal in any educational program receiving federal funding. Title IX prohibited sex discrimination in schools receiving federal financial assistance.

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What did the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 accomplish?

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Title VII of the 1964 civil rights act was extended to cover federal, state and local public employers and educational institutions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972.

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What was Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy?

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Before the start of WWII, Chamberlain gave The Rhineland in Chekoslovakia to Hitler, thinking it would avert war. This was supported by the British people. Reasons for the support of appeasement include: Memories of the First World War, Fear of strategic bombing, The flaws of the Treaty of Versailles, The Communist threat, Failure to recognise the evil of Nazism, Support for the League of Nations, and time needed to rearm after WWI. The policy was a failure, and Britain declared war after Hitler invaded poland.

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What was the Hoover Commission?

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An effort spearheaded by former president Herbert Hoover. It made a report to president Truman in 1949. The proposals of the Hoover Commission resulted in an extensive reorganization of the executive branch of the federal government. Another one was conductedand published its findings in 1955 during Eisenhower's administration. Their recommendations, over 70 percent of which were implemented by executive and legislative action, resulted in the elimination and consolidation of some departments but also in the creation of such new bodies as the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the General Services Administration. In emulation of the federal government, many states set up similar bodies, known as Ã¢â‚¬Å\"little Hoover commissions.Ã¢â‚¬Â

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Who was Jean Gottmann?

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Jean Gottmann (October 10, 1915 Ã¢â‚¬â€œ February 28, 1994) was a French geographer who was most widely known for coining the term megalopolis to describe the condition of the Boston-Washington corridor. His main contributions to human geography were in the sub-fields of urban, political, economic, historical and regional geography.

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Who was Richard E. Neustadt?

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Richard Elliott Neustadt (June 26, 1919 - October 31, 2003) was an American political historian specializing in the U.S. Presidency. He also served as advisor to several Presidents. Neustadt later founded the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where he taught for more than two decades, retiring in 1989. After his retirement he served as an advisor to Bill Clinton. One of Neustadt's closest students was a young Al Gore. Gore's interest in politics was reignited by a junior seminar taught by Neustadt in 1968 on the presidency. In the course, Gore role-played John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Gore arranged to have private tutorials with Neustadt during his senior year, meeting with him two hours weekly. His most important book, Presidential Power, first published in 1960, influenced Kennedy as well as a whole generation of academics, and continues to be one of the staples of courses about the presidency all over the world. Neustadt took a radically original view. The president, he believed, had to grab \"for just enough power to get by the next day's problems\". Neustadt argued that \"the power of the presidency is the power to persuade\". To be precise, he said, the government has three assets: the power to persuade, its professional reputation, and its public prestige. In a government like that of the United States, where powers are shared between congress, the judiciary and the executive branch headed by the president, the president must do his best to bargain with rival power centres to get what he believes to be needed.

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What was the Skybolt affair?

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The Nassau Agreement was a treaty negotiated between President John F. Kennedy for the United States and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan for the United Kingdom. It was discussed by the two leaders over three days in the Bahamas and signed 18 December 1962. Under the agreement the USA was to provide the UK with nuclear-armed Polaris missiles (under the terms of the Polaris Sales Agreement), in return for which the UK was to lease the Americans a nuclear submarine base in the Holy Loch, near Glasgow. The agreement was clear that the UK's Polaris missiles were part of a 'multi-lateral force' within NATO and could only be used independently when 'supreme national interests' intervened. The agreement followed the collapse of the Skybolt programme, which was an air-launched missile developed jointly by the two nations. No longer needed by the US, Skybolt's termination left a hole in the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. Charles de Gaulle considered the signing of the agreement to be a clear signal that the UK was aligning itself more closely with the US, and this contributed to his decision to refuse the United Kingdom's entry to the EEC in January 1963.

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What is a line officer?

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A line officer (or otherwise termed \"officer of the line\") is a military officer who is trained to command a warship, ground combat unit, or combat aviation unit. Officers who are not line officers are those whose primary duties are in non-direct combat specialties (as opposed to those assigned to non-combat duties for a given tour or rotation) such as chaplains, lawyers, supply officers and medical officers (both nurses and doctors). The navy refers to them as Staff Officers. In the United States military, qualified line officers, regardless of rank, would in times of combat have authority over higher ranking non-line officers.

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What is Anti-clericalism?

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Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes religious (generally Catholic) institutional power and influence in all aspects of public and political life, and the encroachment of religion in the everyday life of the citizen. It suggests a more active and partisan role than mere seperation of church and state.

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What was the Stavisky Affair?

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A financial and political scandal that shook France in 1934. Serge Alexandre Stavisky, a swindler associated with the municipal pawnshop of Bayonne, sold huge quantities of worthless bonds. Despite a shady past he had connections with many persons in responsible positions. Faced with exposure in Dec., 1933, he fled but was discovered by the police at Chamonix (Jan., 1934); he either committed suicide or was murdered by the police. Extremists, particularly of the right, accused the Radical Socialist government of Camille Chautemps of corrupt deals with Stavisky and forced its resignation. The rightists further alleged that Stavisky had been murdered to protect influential persons connected with him. Edouard Daladier, the new premier, used force to repress bloody riots staged (Feb. 6-7, 1934) in Paris by extremists (chiefly royalists), but he too had to resign. He was replaced by Gaston Doumergue and a national unity cabinet. After a long trial (1935-36) of 20 defendants, none of them politically important, 11 of the accused, including Stavisky's widow, were acquitted. Some of the politicians so wildly accused of corruption notably Chautemps were later cleared. The affair had the unfortunate effect of discrediting not only the Radical Socialist party but also parliamentary democracy in general.

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What was the Viche regime?

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It was a dictatorship government in France, after the armistice with Hitler and the dissolution of the Third Republic, mainly from 1940-1942. It wanted to return france to a conservative ideal. It helped the Nazis oppress french citizens, and even fought against the allies in north africa. It was headed by Marchal Phillippe Patain. In 1942, Germany invaded the southern half of France, which had been free, as a result of the allied invasion of North Africa. At this point, the vichy regime was basically just a figurehead.

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Who were the Free French?

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During WWII, the french who refused the legitimacy of the Vichy Regime. Headed by Charles De Gaulle, they eventually took part in normandy and liberated Paris.

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What was the Appeal of June 18?

answer

A speech on June 18th, 1940 by Charles de Gaulle, calling on the French to resist Germany.

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What was Operation Overlord?

answer

The codename for the Normany Invasion in 1944 (WWII).

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What was the Dreyfus Affair?

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The Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal which divided France during the 1890s and early 1900s. It involved the wrongful conviction of Jewish military officer Alfred Dreyfus for treason. The Dreyfus Affair split France into Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards. The sometimes-violent quarrel involved controversial issues in a heated political climate. To some extent, the division was between right-wing anti-Dreyfusards supportive of a return to monarchy and clericalism (the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in public policy) and left-wing Dreyfusards supportive of the Republic and angry with the Church. However, some right-wingers supported Dreyfus for his courage and some left-wingers opposed him for his bourgeois background. The factions in the Dreyfus affair remained in place for decades afterwards. The far right remained a potent force, as did the moderate liberals. The liberal victory played an important role in pushing the far right to the fringes of French politics. It also prompted legislation such as a 1905 enactment separating church and state.

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Who was Patrice MacMahon?

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(July 13, 1808 - October 16, 1893) was a Frenchman of Irish descent. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1875 and as the first President of the Third French Republic from 1875 to 1879. To date he is the only person of Irish descent to have served as a head of state in Continental Europe.

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Who was Plato?

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An Immensely influential ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens where Aristotle studied. In Plato's writings are debates concerning the best possible form of government, featuring adherents of aristocracy, democracy, monarchy as well as other issues. A central theme is the conflict between nature and convention, concerning the role of heredity and the environment on human intelligence and personality long before the modern \"nature versus nurture\" debate began in the time of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, with its modern continuation in such controversial works as The Mismeasure of Man and The Bell Curve. Plato says reason and wisdom should govern. This does not equate to tyranny, despotism or oligarchy, however. Another key distinction and theme in the Platonic corpus is the dichotomy between knowledge and opinion, which foreshadow modern debates between David Hume and Immanuel Kant, and has been taken up by postmodernists and their opponents, more commonly as the distinction between the 'objective' and the 'subjective'.

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Who was Kant?

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Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 - 12 February 1804), was a German philosopher from Kaunigsberg (now Kaliningrad) in East Prussia. Kant is often considered one of the greatest, and is one of the most influential, thinkers of modern Europe and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. Kant is known for his theory that there is a single moral obligation, which he called the Categorical Imperative, which is derived from the concept of duty. It is from the Categorical Imperative that all other moral obligations are generated, and by which all moral obligations can be tested. He believed that the moral law is a principle of reason itself, and is not based on contingent facts about the world, such as what would make us happy. Accordingly, he believed that moral obligation applies to all and only rational agents.

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Who was Hegel?

answer

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Warttemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. He is best known for attempting to elaborate a comprehensive and a system of metaphysics from a logical starting point. Many consider Hegel's thought to represent the summit of early 19th century Germany's movement of philosophical idealism. It would come to have a profound impact on many future philosophical schools, including schools that opposed Hegel's specific dialectical idealism, such as Existentialism, the historical materialism of Karl Marx, historicism, and British Idealism.

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Who was George Bancroft?

answer

George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 - January 17, 1891) was an American historian and statesman. A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, he was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845.

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Who was Charles A. Beard?

answer

Charles Austin Beard (November 27, 1874 - September 1, 1948) was, with Frederick Jackson Turner, the most influential American historian of the early 20th century. As a leader of the \"Progressive School\" of historiography, he introduced themes of economic self-interest and economic conflict, such as the conflict among industrialists in the Northeast, farmers in the Midwest, and planters in the South that he saw as the cause of the Civil War. His revisionist study of the financial interests of the drafters of the United States Constitution seemed radical in 1913, since he proposed that the U.S. Constitution was a product of economically determinist, land-holding founding fathers. He saw ideology as a product of economic interests. His approach lost favor after 1950 as historians paid more attention to ideology as a force. Beard's interest in progressive higher education was an early one. In 1899, he collaborated with John Ruskin at Oxford in the founding of Ruskin House, the first institution of labor education, and which set in motion a succession of failed attempts in the United States which finally culminated with the founding of the National Labor College in 1999. After resigning from Columbia University in protest in 1917, he helped to found the New School for Social Research in New York, and advised on reconstructing Tokyo after the earthquake of 1923. He supported the new deal.

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Who was Henry Adams?

answer

Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 Ã¢â‚¬â€œ March 27, 1918) was an American historian, journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Adams political family. In 1868, Henry Adams returned to the United States and settled down in Washington, D.C., where he started working as a journalist. Adams saw himself as a traditionalist longing for the democratic ideal of the 17th and 18th centuries. Accordingly, he was keen on exposing political corruption in his journalistic pieces.

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Who was Francis Parkman?

answer

Francis Parkman (September 16, 1823 - November 8, 1893) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts. He is best known as a historian, and particularly as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life, and his monumental seven volume France and England in North America. These works are considered masterpieces of both history and literature.

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Who was Frederick Jackson Turner?

answer

Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861â€\"1932) was, with Charles A. Beard, the most influential American historian of the early 20th century. Frederick Jackson Turner is best remembered today for his \"Frontier Thesis\", which he first publicized on July 12, 1893 in a paper read in Chicago to the American Historical Association, during the Chicago World's Fair. Here, he stated that the spirit and success of the United States is directly tied to the westward expansion of the country. Turner is also famous because of his famous lecture on how the frontier had shaped American development, he concluded that the \"first period\" of American history- the period that had nurtured individualism, democracy, and the widespread opportunity for economic autonomy-had come to an end.

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When was the suez canal created?

answer

The canal opened to traffic on November 17, 1869. The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade. Combined with the completion of the American Transcontinental Railroad six months earlier, the entire world could be circled in record time. It played an important role in increasing European penetration and colonization of Africa. External debts forced Said Pasha's successor, Isma'il Pasha, to sell his country's share in the canal to the United Kingdom in 1875. The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 declared the canal a neutral zone under the protection of the British, after British troops had moved in to protect it while they newly settled on civil war torn Egypt in 1882. Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the United Kingdom insisted on retaining control over the canal. In 1951, Egypt repudiated the treaty, and by 1954 the United Kingdom had agreed to pull out. After the Six Day War in 1967, the canal was closed until June 5, 1975. A multinational observer force (MFO), mostly consisting of U.S. Army troops, currently monitors the Sinai. After a U.N. mandate expired in 1979, negotiations began for a new observer force. In 1981, the MFO was stationed in the Sinai in coordination with a phased Israeli withdrawal. This force is not under United Nations auspices. It is there under agreements between the U.S., Israel, Egypt, and other participating nations.

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What was the First Quota Act of 1921?

answer

Also known as the Emergency Quota Act of May 19, 1921 it limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 3% of the number of persons from that country living in the United States in 1910, according to Census figures. This totalled about 357,802 immigrants. Of that number just over half was allocated for northern and western Europeans, and the remainder for eastern and southern Europeans, a 75% reduction from prior years. Professionals were allowed in despite their origins. The act was passed in a time of swelling isolationism following World War I.

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What makes up a nation's Balance of Payments?

answer

The current, capital, and reserve accounts.

question

What are excise taxes?

answer

Excise duties usually have one of two purposes: to raise revenue or to discourage particular behaviour. Taxes such as those on sales of fuel, alcohol and tobacco are often justified on both grounds.

question

What is the difference between Unitary and federal systems of government?

answer

The unitary system gives the main powers to the central government. State, provincial, and local governments are all created by the central government. The non-central governments have only the powers that are appointed by the central government. Countries such as France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom, along with other democratic nations use the unitary system of government. Although, not every country uses the same rules in the centralization and decentralization of powers. China, North Korea, Cuba, and other Communist-based governments have unitary systems too. Unlike the unitary system, the federal system develops when a number of states or providences federate, or form a union, eventually in order to establish a nation. In a government using the federal system, the powers of the governments are jointly shared between the central government and the more local (or regional) governments (state, providential, district, etc.). Both of the national and regional governments are directly tied to the people, who are the source of a democratic governmentâ€™s authority. The United States and Canada have federal systems. Other countries that use the federal plan include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, and Switzerland. It is more difficult for nation-wide communism or totalitarianism to exist in a Federation, for true federalism requires decentralization and cannot coexist with totalitarianism.

question

What was the Peronist movement?

answer

Peronism (also called \"justicialism\") is an Argentine political ideology based on the ideas and programs associated with former president Juan PerÃ³n. PerÃ³n was a pragmatic figure, and through the course of his long career his views would frequently change. His ideology was nevertheless marked by some constants, including: Strong authoritarian centralized government, with strict control of opposition forces (see political repression). Freedom from foreign influences. A third way approach to economics which purported to be neither socialist nor capitalist, but to incorporate elements of both, resembling a kind of state capitalism. PerÃ³n's ideas were widely embraced by a variety of different groups in Argentina across the political spectrum. Peronism is often considered to be a pseudo fascist ideology. Even after PerÃ³n's death, the legacy of Peronism left a lasting impression on the working class, who valued its goals and ideals. Today, there are several Argentine political parties identifying themselves as Peronist, including the party of the nation's current president, NÃ©stor Kirchner.

question

What is Authoritarianism?

answer

Authoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by strict obedience to the authority of the state, which often maintains and enforces social control through the use of oppressive measures. In an authoritarian state, citizens are subject to state authority in many aspects of their lives, including many that other political philosophies would see as matters of personal choice. There are various degrees of authoritarianism; even very democratic and liberal states will show authoritarianism to some extent, for example in areas of national security.

question

What are open, closed, and restricted rules in the House?

answer

Bills favorably reported by committee are placed on the House or Senate calendar, which, in spite of its name, is simply a listing without chronological order. Manybills die on the calendar because they are never considered on the floor. In the House, the Rules Committee acts as a \"traffic cop.\" Its rules are instructions which determine if and when a bill will be considered on the floor, and how. A closed rule forbids amendments and speeds consideration. A restricted rule allows only certain amendments to be considered. An open rule, of course, permits unlimited amendments. The Senate has no Rules Committee but instead relies on a unanimous consent agreement negotiated between the majority and minority leaders to govern consideration of a bill. The Senate also differs in permitting filibusters, which allow senators to delay or even kill bills by unlimited debate, though unlimited debate may be prevented if 60 senators vote for cloture. Cloture was once rare but is becoming more common. The Senate also allows unlimited amendments, which encourages riders: amendments unrelated to the substance of a bill, slipping in \"back-door\" legislation.

question

Who was Cavour?

answer

Count Camillo Benso di Cavour (Turin, August 10, 1810 - Santena, near Turin, June 6, 1861) was a statesman who was a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification and the first Prime Minister of the new Kingdom of Italy. With the election of the liberal Pope Pius IX to the papacy in 1846, Cavour felt that the chance for him to advocate reform had come. In 1847 he founded Il Risorgimento (\"The Resurgence,\" later to become a general term for the unification of Italy), a newspaper espousing liberalism, constitutionalism, and unification. As editor, he soon became a powerful figure in Sardinian politics.

question

What was England's Glorious Revolution?

answer

The term Glorious Revolution refers to the generally popular overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a conspiracy between some parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau. The event is sometimes referred to as the Bloodless Revolution but this name is a misnomer as there was much fighting, with loss of life, in Ireland and to a lesser degree in Scotland. The Glorious Revolution was one of the most important events in the long evolution of powers possessed by Parliament and by the Crown in England. With the passage of the Bill of Rights, it stamped out any final possibility of a Catholic monarchy, and ended moves towards monarchical absolutism in the British Isles by circumscribing the monarch's powers. The King's powers were greatly restricted; he could no longer suspend laws, levy taxes, or maintain a standing army during peacetime without Parliament's permission. Since 1689, England, and later the United Kingdom, has been governed under a system of constitutional monarchy, which has been uninterrupted. Since then, Parliament has gained more and more power, and the Crown has progressively lost it.

question

What were the Wars of the Roses?

answer

The Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) is the name generally given to the intermittent civil war fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The name Wars of the Roses was not used at the time, but has its origins in the badges chosen by the two royal houses, the Red Rose of Lancaster, whose retainers tended to favour red coats or red roses as their symbol, and the White Rose of York, whose men often sported white coats, or white rose insignia. The Wars were fought largely by the landed aristocracy and armies of feudal retainers. The House of Lancaster found most of its support in the south and west of the country, while support for the House of York came mainly from the north and east. The Wars of the Roses, with their heavy casualties among the nobility, would usher in a period of great social upheaval in feudal England and ironically lead to the fall of the Plantagenet dynasty. The period would see the decline of English influence on the Continent, a weakening of the feudal power of the nobles and by default a strengthening of the merchant classes, and the growth of a strong, centralized monarchy under the Tudors. It arguably heralded the end of the medieval period in England and the movement towards the Renaissance.

question

What did Voltaire Believe?

answer

That heretical views should not be persecuted by the government.

question

What is the International Broadcasting Bureau?

answer

The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) is a United States Government federal agency that was created in 1994 to produce political radio and television broadcasts that are intended for audiences in foreign countries. The IBB replaces the former Bureau of Broadcasting.

question

What is Radio Sawa?

answer

Radio Sawa is an Arabic language radio station, funded by the United States government. The station's goal is to provide what they claim is balanced news and information to youth in Arabic-speaking countries, as local news in many Middle Eastern countries is considered by the U.S. government as biased. The station's playlist includes popular Arabic, English and Spanish songs. Radio Sawa's first broadcast was on March 23, 2002. Its broadcasts are recorded in Washington, DC and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Radio Sawa is controlled by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent agency of the U.S. government, such that staff are not civil servants under direct government control.

question

What is the Voice of America?

answer

The Voice of America (VOA) is the official broadcasting service of the United States government. It is one of the best-known stations in international broadcasting and is similar to international broadcasters such as the BBC World Service, BBC World, Deutsche Welle, and Radio France Internationale. VOA was organized in 1942 under the Office of War Information with news programs aimed at German-occupied Europe and North Africa. VOA began broadcasting on February 24, 1942. Voice of America began to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union on February 17, 1947. Under United States law (the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948), the Voice of America is forbidden to broadcast directly to American citizens. The original intent of this legislation is to keep the federal government from having a direct outlet to their domestic public, unlike many European countries.

question

What are Radio MartÃ and TV MartÃ?

answer

Radio MartÃ and TV MartÃ are broadcasters based in Miami, Florida, financed by the United States government (Broadcasting Board of Governors), which transmits Spanish-language radio and TV broadcasts to Cuba. Established in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, at the urging of Jorge Mas Canosa, with the mission of fighting communism.

question

What is Radio Free Europe?

answer

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a radio and communications organization which is funded by the United States Congress. The organization exists in Europe and the Middle East. It broadcasts more than 1,000 hours per week, in 28 languages, via shortwave, AM, FM and the internet. RFE/RL's mission statement is: \"To promote democratic values and institutions by disseminating factual information and ideas.\" The National Committee for a Free Europe was founded in June 1949 in New York. RFE was the broadcasting arm of this organization. The headquarters was established in Munich and it transmitted its first short-wave program on July 4, 1950, to Czechoslovakia. The organization received its funds from the Congress of the United States and until 1971 they were passed to RFE through the CIA. The broadcasts were part of a general CIA psychological warfare campaign directed behind the Iron Curtain.

question

What is Radio Free Asia?

answer

Radio Free Asia was created by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 and began its operations in 1996. It is a private, non-profit corporation funded by Congress of the United States, and supervised by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. BBG's stated mission is \"to promote and sustain freedom and democracy by broadcasting accurate and objective news and information about the United States and the world to audiences overseas\". RFA broadcasts in 9 languages, via shortwave and the Internet. The first transmission was in Mandarin and it is RFA's most elaborate service as it is broadcast twelve hours per day. RFA also broadcasts in Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur, Burmese, Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer (to Cambodia) and Korean (to North Korea). RFA's mission statement: \"RFA broadcasts news and information to Asian listeners who lack regular access to full and balanced reporting in their domestic media. Through its broadcasts and call-in programs, RFA aims to fill a critical gap in the lives of people across Asia.\"

question

What department is the Census Bureau in?

answer

Commerce.

question

What is the current poverty rate in the U.S.?

answer

Approx. 12%. It has hovered between 11 and 15% since the 1970s.

question

What are the 5 pillars of Islam?

answer

The 5 Pillars of Islam are: Profession of Faith - ...no God but God and Mohammad is his Prophet, Sawm = Fasting during the month of Ramadan, Salat = Praying 5 times a day, Zakat = Giving Alms to the poor, Hajj = Performing a pilgrimage to Mecca if you are financially and physically able

question

Who was James Eads?

answer

James Buchanan Eads (23 May 1820â€\"8 March 1887) was an American engineer and inventor.In 1861, after the outbreak of the American Civil War he was contracted to construct ironclads for the United States Navy, and impressed the Navy by producing 8 such ships within 100 days. He continued to produce ironclad steamships throughout the war, which greatly aided the Union. Eads designed and built the first road and rail bridge to cross the Mississippi River, the famous Eads Bridge at St. Louis, Missouri, constructed from 1867 through 1874. The Mississippi in the 100-mile-plus strech between the port of New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico frequently suffered from silting up of its outlets, stranding ships or making parts of the river unnavigable for a period of time. Eads solved the problem with a wooden jetty system that narrowed the main outlet of the river, which caused the river to speed up and cut its channel deeper, so allowing year-round navigation. This system did, however, exacerbate flooding during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He designed a gigantic railway system intended for construction at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which would carry ocean going ships across the isthmus from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean; this attracted some interest but was never constructed.

question

What is the goal of Sinn Fein?

answer

To unite Ireland and kick out the british. The IRA is Sinn Fein's militant wing.

question

Does the bill of rights apply to the states?

answer

Yes, thanks to the 14th ammendment and other court decisions ( in 1925 with Gitlow v. New York ).

question

In the US, who needs to approve treaties, and with what percentage?

answer

The Senate, by a 2/3rds vote.

question

What were the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut?

answer

The Fundamental Orders were adopted by the Connecticut council on January 14, 1639. The orders describe the government set up by the Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers. It has the features of a written constitution, and earned Connecticut its nickname of The Constitution State. The Fundamental Orders is a short document, but contains some principles that were later applied in creating the United States governments. Government is based in the rights of an individual, and the orders spell out some of those rights, as well as how they are ensured by the government. It provides that all free men share in electing their magistrates, and uses secret, paper ballots. It states the powers of the government, and some limits within which that power is exercised. It can be seen as the first constitution in the US. Today, the individual rights in the Orders, with others added over the years, are still included as a Declaration of Rights in the first article of the current Connecticut Constitution, adopted in 1965.

question

What country used to be known as Siam?

answer

Thailand. The name was changed in 1949. The Thais are very proud that they were never colonized by a European power. There are two main reasons for this: it was left as a buffer state between parts of Asia that were colonised by the French and the British and Thailand had a series of very able rulers in the 1800s.

question

What are 5 functions of the Fed?

answer

The Federal Reserve Board controls the supply of money, sets the discount rate, performs open market operations, regulates banks and other financial institutions, and supervises the FDIC.

question

What is the asset utilization ratio?

answer

A measure of how well a firm uses its assets to generate $1 in sales.

question

What is a liquidity ratio?

answer

A measure of how quickly a firm can convert its assets into cash to settle debts.

question

What is the debt utilization ratio?

answer

Debt utilization ratios measure how well the firm is utilizing debt and XYZ company's ability to repay the debt. Many novice investors believe that a company with no debt is superior. Having little debt on the balance sheet is generally very safe. But most companies assume debt to finance operations so the company can grow. General finance textbooks state that the ideal ratios is around 30%, due to leveraged buyouts the ratio of debt to assets or equity has been increasing.

question

What was the \"Velvet Divorce\" ?

answer

The Velvet Divorce is a journalistic term for the dissolution of the former country of Czechoslovakia into the nations of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, effective January 1, 1993. The term is used to liken this event to the Velvet Revolution of 1989 which led to the end of the rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the formation of a new, non-Communist government. The term itself did not catch on either in the Czech Republic, nor in Slovakia, but it is used by the international media.

question

What was the Prague Spring?

answer

The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia starting January 5, 1968, and running until August 20 of that year when the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies (except for Romania) invaded the country.

question

What is the Council of Europe?

answer

The Council of Europe is an international organisation of 46 member states in the European region. The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg on the Franco-German border. Membership is open to all European states which accept the principle of the rule of law and guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms to their citizens. One of the main successes of the Council was the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950, which serves as the basis for the European Court of Human Rights.The Council of Europe is not to be confused with the Council of the European Union or the European Council, as it is a separate organisation and not part of the European Union. The Council of Europe was founded following a speech given by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich on 19 September 1946 calling for a \"United States of Europe\", similar to the United States of America, in the wake of the events of World War II. The Council was officially founded on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London agreed to by the ten original members. This treaty is now known as the Statute of the Council of Europe.

question

What is the Munich syndrome?

answer

The reaction to Chamberlain's trip to Munich in 1938 when he appeased Hitler by giving him Czechoslovakia. In the Cold War, this lead to the assumption that soviet aggression must be checked everywhere, or nowhere would be safe.

question

What are The Narrows?

answer

The entrance to New York Harbor.

question

What is the Korea Strait?

answer

It seperates Korea from Japan, is part of Pacific Ocean. Numerous international shipping lanes pass through the strait, including those carrying much of the traffic bound for the ports of southern South Korea. Both South Korea and Japan have restricted their territorial claims in the strait to 3 nautical miles from shore, so as to permit free passage through it. Passenger ferries ply numerous routes across the strait.

question

Where is the Bosphorus straight?

answer

Located at Istanbul, it connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Mamara, and eventually to the Mediterranean.

question

Where are the Dardanelles?

answer

This strait connects the sea of Mamara to the Mediterranean. It is a passageway for oil coming from the Black Sea. It was the site of the Trojan and Crimean Wars.

question

What was the Crimean war?

answer

The Crimean War lasted from 28 March 1854 until 1856 and was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of the United Kingdom, France, The Piedmont-Sardinia, and (to some extent) the Ottoman Empire on the other. The majority of the conflict took place on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea. Cigarettes were invented during the war. First war to have tactical use of railways. First war to have live reporting (via telegraph). Russia lost.

question

Where is the White Sea?

answer

The White Sea is an inlet of the Barents Sea on the North Western coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, and the Kola peninsula to the north. The important port of Arkhangelsk is located on the White Sea. For much of Russia's history this was Russia's main centre of international maritime trade.

question

Where is the Barents Sea?

answer

To the North East of Finland, bordering the Artic.

question

What was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?

answer

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, actually called the \"Republic of the Two Nations\" or \"Commonwealth of Both Nations\" was a federal monarchic republic that was formed in 1569 by the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and lasted until its final partition in 1795. The state covered not only the territories of what is now Poland and Lithuania, but also the entire territory of Belarus, a large part of Ukraine and Latvia and the most western part of today's Russia. The Commonwealth was an extension of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, a personal union between those two states that had existed from 1386. The Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous states in Europe and for over two centuries successfully withstood wars with the Teutonic Order, the Russians, the Ottomans, and the Swedes. The Commonwealth's political system, often called the Noble's democracy or Golden Freedom, was characterized by the sovereign's power being reduced by laws and the legislature controlled by the nobility. This system was a precursor of the modern concepts of broader democracy, and constitutional monarchy, as well as federation.

question

What were the approx. dates of the Ottoman Empire?

answer

1299-1922. Capital was Istanbul.

question

Where is the Golden Horn?

answer

Istanbul.

question

What was \"Greek fire\" ?

answer

Greek fire (also called Byzantine fire, wildfire and liquid fire) was a weapon used by the Byzantine Empire, said to have been invented by a Syrian Christian refugee named Kallinikos (Callinicus) of Heliopolis (Syria), probably about 673. Some people believe that he acquired this knowledge from the chemists of Alexandria. It was capable of discharging a stream of burning fluid, and was very effective both on sea and land. However, it was used primarily at sea. It is rumored that the key to Greek fire's effectiveness was that it could continue burning under almost any conditions, even under water. It was known to the Byzantines' enemies as a \"wet, dark, sticky fire\" because it stuck to the unfortunate object it hit and was impossible to extinguish. Enemy ships were often afraid to come too near to the Byzantine fleet, because, once within range, the fire gave the Byzantines a strong military advantage. The last testimony of Greek Fire usage was in the Siege of Constantinople, where the secret itself was destroyed in the flames of the Ottoman torches.

question

What started the decline of the Ottoman Empire?

answer

The failed 1689 battle of Vienna.

question

What was the farthest west that the Ottoman Empire reached?

answer

In 1529, it lay siege to Vienna. It was unsucessful, and never went farther west.

question

The sun accounts for what percentage of our solar system's mass?

answer

Over 99% .

question

What was the Great Turkish War?

answer

The Great Turkish War was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and European powers at the time (joined into a Holy League) during the second half of the 17th century. It marked the end of the Ottoman incursion into Europe. 1683Ã¢â‚¬â€œ1699. The Ottomans ceded most of Hungary, Transylvania and Slavonia to Austria while Podolia passed to Poland. Most of Dalmatia passed to Venice, along with the Morea (the Peloponnesus peninsula).

question

When was the Executive Office of the President created?

answer

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP was established by the United States Congress in 1939 after the Brownlow Committee recommended that such a support staff for the President be created. Since its inception under Franklin Roosevelt, the size and influence of the EOP has increased. A CNN article [1] notes that there are about 3,000 EOP staff members as of November 2005. White House Chief of Staff, White House Press Secretary, United States Office of Management and Budget, United States National Security Council, United States Trade Representative, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Council of Economic Advisers, Council on Environmental Quality, Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, Office of Administration, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Office of National AIDS Policy, Office of Science and Technology Policy, President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, USA Freedom Corps, White House Military Office

question

What is the USA Freedom Corps?

answer

The USA Freedom Corps is a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States, the President serving as its chair. Its creation was announced by George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address of January 29, 2002, and it was officially established on January 30, 2002, the next day. Housed at the White House, it identifies itself as a \"Coordinating Council... working to strengthen our culture of service and help find opportunities for every American to start volunteering.\" [1] A USA Freedom Corps Network promotes individual volunteer service opportunities within the United States and abroad. The council is also involved with U.S. federal government service programs such as the Peace Corps, Citizen Corps, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.

question

What is the PFIAB?

answer

Founded in 1956 by President Eisenhower, the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it \"...provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of counterintelligence, and of other intelligence activities. The PFIAB, through its Intelligence Oversight Board, also advises the President on the legality of foreign intelligence activities.

question

What is the Council of Economic Advisors?

answer

The Council of Economic Advisers is a group of economists set up to advise the President of the United States. It is a part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and provides much of the economic policy of the White House. The Council's three members are nominated by the President and approved by the Senate.

question

What is the Council on Environmental Quality?

answer

The United States Council On Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the White House that coordinates federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives. Congress established the CEQ within the Executive Office of the President as part of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Additional responsibilities were provided by the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970.

question

What is the National Economic Council?

answer

The National Economic Council (NEC) is a United States government agency in the Executive Office of the President. Created by President Bill Clinton in 1993 by Executive Order, its functions are to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues, coordinate economic policy advice for the President, ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President's economic goals, and monitor implementation of the President's economic policy agenda. The Director of the NEC is also Assistant to the President for Economic Policy.

question

What is the Office of National Drug Control Policy?

answer

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), a component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, was established in 1988 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Its stated goal is to establish policies, priorities, and objectives to eradicate illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences in the United States.

question

What was the Battle of Waterloo?

answer

The Battle of Waterloo, fought on June 18, 1815, was Napoleon Bonaparte's last battle. After his exile to Elba, he had reinstalled himself on the throne of France for a Hundred Days. During this time, the forces of the rest of Europe converged on him, commanded by the United Kingdom's Duke of Wellington, and Prussia's Gebhard von BlÃ¼cher.The battlefield is in present day Belgium, about 12 km (7.5 miles) SSE of Brussels, and 2 km (1.2 miles) from the town of Waterloo. As far back as 13 March, six days before Napoleon reached Paris, the powers at the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw; four days later the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria and Prussia bound themselves to put 150,000 men into the field to end his rule. Napoleon knew that, once his attempts at dissuading one or more of the allies from invading France had failed, his only chance of remaining in power was to attack before the Allies put together an overwhelming force. If he could destroy the existing Allied forces in Belgium before they were reinforced, he might be able to drive the British back to the sea and knock the Prussians out of the war. He failed, and died in exile 6 years later.

question

What was the Napoleonic code?

answer

The original Napoleonic Code was the French civil code, established at the behest of NapolÃ©on I. It entered into force on March 21, 1804. Even though the Napoleonic code was not the first legal code to be established in a European country with a civil legal system, it is considered the first successful codification and strongly influenced the law of many other countries. It dealt only with civil law issues.

question

Distorted assett allocation, black markets, and shortages can result from what economic regulation?

answer

Price controls.

question

Do LLCs, partnerships, and sole proprietorshops pay higher or lower taxes than corporations?

answer

Corporations pay higher taxes.

question

What are the 3 components of Social Security in the US?

answer

Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance. Because of this, SS is sometimes called OASDI.

question

What is the largest government program in the world?

answer

The U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world.

question

How many trust funds make up Social Security?

answer

The Social Security System Comprises Four Trust Funds: Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (DI), Hospital Insurance (HI), Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI)

question

What is an Amicus Curiae brief?

answer

Amicus curiae (Latin, plural amici curiae) is defined as, \"A friend of the court. One not a party to a case who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it\". [1]. The information may be a legal opinion in the form of a brief, testimony that has not been solicited by any of the parties, or a learned treatise on a matter that bears on the case. The decision whether to admit the information lies with the discretion of the court. In prominent cases, amici curiae are generally organizations with sizeable legal budgets. Non-profit legal advocacy organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union or the Electronic Frontier Foundation frequently submit such briefs to advocate for or against a particular legal change or interpretation. If a decision could affect an entire industry, companies other than the litigant(s) may wish to have their concerns heard. In the United States, Federal courts often hear cases involving the constitutionality of state laws: other states may file briefs as amici curiae when their laws are likely to be affected.

question

Who is Stewart Brand?

answer

An author, editor, and creator of The Whole Earth Catalog and CoEvolution Quarterly. His intent with the Whole Earth Catalog was to enable people to find virtually any sort of information useful to themselves, in the belief that humans would then develop a new, positive and sustainable culture and technology for themselves; in this way, his ideas were forerunners of the Internet. Hence, Brand later pioneered the online community The WELL.

question

When was the Progressive Era in the US?

answer

1880s to start of WWI.

question

What was the Hawley-Smoot Act?

answer

Tarriff act enacted in 1930, it imposed record tariffs to protect US companies. Some say it made the depression worse.

question

What was The Emergency Banking Act?

answer

An act of the United States Congress spearheaded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. It was passed on March 9, 1933. The act allowed a plan which would close down insolvent banks and reorganize and reopen those banks strong enough to survive. On March 6, 1933, the day after Roosevelt's inauguration, he called a special session of congress which instituted a mandatory four-day bank holiday. This act provided for the re-opening of banks after federal inspectors had declared them to be financially secure. Within 3 days of the act's passage, 5,000 banks had passed inspection and were re-opened. Roughly two thirds of US banks quickly re-opened under this act, and faith in banking institutions was somewhat restored. This act was a temporary solution to a major problem. The 1933 Banking Act passed later that year presented elements of a more permanent solution, including the formation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

question

Was it good or bad for the early movie industry that its movies were silent?

answer

Good. Many early moviegoers were non english speakers.

question

Who patented the movie camera?

answer

Thomas Edison.

question

What was the Fair Labor Standards Act?

answer

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, established a national minimum wage, guaranteed time and a half for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minors in \"oppressive child labor\". The law originally contained a large number of special industry exemptions, many of which were designed to protect traditional pay practices in small, rural businesses. The bulk of these exemptions have been repealed. Currently, the most important issues relate to the so-called \"white collar\" exemptions applicable to professional, administrative and executive employees.

question

What was the Walsh-Healy Act?

answer

Passed in 1936, the Walsh-Healy Act stated that workers must be paid not less than the \"prevailing minimum wage\" normally paid in a locality; restricted regular work ing hours to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, with time-and-a-half pay for additional hours; prohibited the employment of convicts and children under 18; and established sanitation and safety standards.

question

Is North Ireland part of the UK?

answer

Yes.

question

What nations are still part of the British Commonwealth?

answer

Antigua and Barbuda since independence in 1981 ,Australia since adoption of the Statute of Westminster in 1942 (retroactive to 1939), The Bahamas since independence in 1973, Barbados since independence in 1966, Belize since independence in 1981, Canada since the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Grenada since independence in 1974, Jamaica since independence in 1962, New Zealand since adoption of the Statute of Westminster in 1947, Papua New Guinea since independence in 1975, Saint Kitts and Nevis since independence in 1983, Saint Lucia since independence in 1979, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines since independence in 1979, The Solomon Islands since independence in 1978, Tuvalu since independence in 1978, The United Kingdom.

question

Who can legally violate equal opportunity laws?

answer

Churches. They can discriminate in hiring based on religion.

question

What is a controlled-circulation magazine?

answer

A magazine that sets its circulation and gets money from advertisers.

question

What branch of government negotiates treaties?

answer

The Executive, subject to the approval of the senate.

question

Who was the Marshall plan named after?

answer

George Marshall, Secretary of State at the end of WWII.

question

Who was Aaron Burr?

answer

Aaron Burr, Jr. (February 6, 1756 - September 14, 1836) was an American politician and adventurer. He was a major formative member of the Democratic-Republican Party in New York and a strong supporter of Governor George Clinton. He is remembered not so much for his tenure as the third Vice President, under Thomas Jefferson, as for his duel with Alexander Hamilton and his trial and acquittal on charges of treason.

question

What is the largest denomination of US money ever created?

answer

100,000 in 1934.

question

Who is on the $1 bill?

answer

Washington.

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Who is on the $2 bill?

answer

Thomas Jefferson.

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Who is on the $5 bill?

answer

Lincoln.

question

Who is on the $10 bill?

answer

Alexander Hamilton.

question

Who is on the $20 bill?

answer

Andrew Jackson.

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Who is on the $50 bill?

answer

Ulysses S. Grant .

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Who is on the $100 bill?

answer

Benjamin Franklin.

question

What is the life span for a US treasury note?

answer

Commonly used bills such as the 1,5,10, and 20 dollar bills last about 2 years. For the 2, 50 and 100, it can be over 4 years.

question

What was the 1975 Helsinki Conference?

answer

It founded the The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

question

What was \"The Eastern Question\" ?

answer

Term that applies to a host of problems surrounding the decay of the Ottoman empire. The diplomacy of the Eastern Question went forward in disregard, and often ignorance, of the wishes of the Balkan peoples. Because of its traditions and structures, old-style diplomacy was poorly equipped to deal with popular movements like nationalism. The diplomacy of the Eastern Question began in the Early Modern Period, before modern nationalism or representative governments. Economic and social change, international rivalry and unsolved problems combined to unsettle the Balkans. Neither local states nor Great Powers could control the situation. The result was a succession of Balkan crises, some of which had serious consequences for Europe as a whole.

question

Where is Sevastopol?

answer

On the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea in Ukraine.

question

What is \"Scuttling\" a ship?

answer

Intentionally sinking it.

question

What is the oldest ongoing country in the world?

answer

China.

question

What empire has controlled the most territory in human history?

answer

The British Empire was, at one time, the foremost global power, and the most extensive empire in the history of the world. It was a product of the European Age of Discovery that began with the global maritime explorations of Portugal and Spain in the late 15th century. By 1921 the British Empire held sway over a population of about 470â€\"570 million people; roughly a quarter of the world's population. It covered about 14.3 million square miles (more than 37 million kmÂ²), about a quarter of the world's total land.

question

What empire controlled the highest percentage of world population in human history?

answer

The Roman Empire.

question

What counrty has the most nobel prizes?

answer

USA.

question

Who was Idi Amin?

answer

Idi Amin (May 17, 1928 â€\" August 16, 2003) was an army officer and President of Uganda (1971 to 1979) whose regime was notorious for its brutality. Amin's tenure witnessed much sectarian violence, including the persecution of the Acholi, Lango, and other tribes in Uganda. Reports of the torture and murder of 300,000 to 500,000 Ugandans during Amin's presidency have been widespread since the 1970s.

question

What was the Pearson Commission on International Development?

answer

The Pearson Commission on International Development investigated the effectiveness of the World Bank's development assistance in the 20 years to 1968 and made recommendations for future operation of the organization. In August 1968 Robert S. McNamara, then President of the World Bank, formed the commission, asking former Canadian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lester Bowles Pearson to head the commission. On September 15, 1969 Pearson and seven colleagues on the Commission on International Development delivered their report, Partners in Development.

question

What was the first treaty to recognize and regulate diplomacy?

answer

The Congress of Vienna in 1815.

question

Was diplomacy after WWI more or less open / democratic?

answer

More.

question

Which US president persuaded USSR out of Iran, Spearheaded the Marshall Plan, nuked Japan, established NATO, backed the formation of Israel, and resisted North Korean expansion?

answer

Truman.

question

What was The Antarctic Treaty?

answer

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate the international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only uninhabited continent. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of the southern 60th parallel. The treaty was signed by 12 countries, including the Soviet Union and the United States, and set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation and banned military activity on that continent. This was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The main treaty was opened for signature on December 1, 1959, and officially entered into force on June 23, 1961.

question

When was the Freedom of Information Act created?

answer

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United States. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966, and went into effect the following year.

question

What are some exemptions to the 1966 FOIA?

answer

National security, personal right to privacy, law enforcement, and well water geographic data. Most other info must be provided within 10 days under the 1966 Freedom of Information Act.

question

Who does the Freedom of Information Act apply to?

answer

The 1966 Act applies only to federal agencies. However, all of the states, as well as the District of Columbia and some territories, have enacted similar statutes to require disclosures by agencies of the state and of local governments, though some are significantly broader than others. Many combine this with Open Meetings legislation, which requires government meetings to be held publicly.

question

What was the Point Four Program?

answer

The Point Four Program was a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman at his inauguration speech on January 20, 1949. It took its name from the fact that it was mentioned as the fourth among the foreign policy objectives mentioned in the speech.

question

Where did the Phoenicians come from?

answer

Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plains of what are now Lebanon and Syria. Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread right across the Mediterranean during the first millennium BC.

question

What was Carthage?

answer

Carthage was an ancient city in North Africa located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis, across from the center of modern Tunis in Tunisia. It remains a popular tourist attraction. Carthaginians spoke Punic, a language related to that of the Phoenicians.

question

What was the Free Soil Party?

answer

The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States organized in 1840 that faded out by about 1856. Its main purpose was opposing the extension of slavery into the territories, as well as advocating the abolition of slavery itself.

question

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

answer

The Wilmot Proviso, first suggested on August 8, 1846 in the House of Representatives and attached to many bills in the United States Congress, would have outlawed slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico by the United States as a result of the recently begun Mexican-American War. The proviso, which was never passed, was named for Congressman David Wilmot, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. The Free Soil Party formed in support of the Wilmot Proviso, and their platform of Free Soil was later adopted by the Republican Party, which Wilmot helped begin.

question

When was the Republican Party founded?

answer

The Republican Party was established in 1854 by a coalition of former Whigs, Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers who opposed the expansion of slavery and held a Hamiltonian vision for modernizing the United States.

question

What was the Whig Party?

answer

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. It was integral to the Second Party System and operated from 1832 to 1856 and was formed to oppose the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party he had founded. In particular, the Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the Executive Branch and favored a program of modernization and economic development. Their name was chosen to echo the British Whig Party, who had opposed a strong monarchy, just as the American Whigs were opposing a strong presidency. The Whig Party counted among its members such national political luminaries as Daniel Webster, William Henry Harrison, and their pre-eminent leader, Henry Clay of Kentucky. In addition to Harrison, the Whig Party also counted several war heroes among its ranks, including Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. In its 26-year existence, the Whig Party saw two of its candidates elected President of the United Statesâ€\"-Harrison and Taylorâ€\"-and saw both of them die in office. Four months after succeeding Harrison, Whig President John Tyler was expelled from the Party, and Millard Fillmore, Taylor's Vice President, would prove to be the last Whig to hold the nation's highest office.

question

What was the Know-Nothing party?

answer

The Know-Nothing movement was a nativist American political movement of the 1850s. It grew up as a popular reaction to fears that corruption was overcoming the major cities because of the political activity of Irish Catholic immigrants. It was a short-lived movement mainly active 1854-56; it demanded reform measures but few were passed. There were few prominent leaders, and the membership, mostly middle class and Protestant, apparently was soon absorbed by the Republican Party. In the South the party was not nativist, and allowed Catholics to join; and it was the major opposition to the dominant Democratic Party in the mid and late 1850s. The official name of the movement was the American Party. The origin of the \"Know Nothing\" term was in the semi-secret organization of the party. When a member was asked about its activities, he was supposed to reply \"I know nothing.\" Many active Protestants feared that the Pope planned to undermine American democracy by creating a political network, controlled by him through his bishops and priests. Some Protestants argued that the strong allegiance of Roman Catholics to the Pope and priests ran counter to the values of independent voters that was required by Republicanism.

question

What was the Greenback party?

answer

The Greenback Party (Greenback-Labor Party) was an American political party that was active between 1874 and 1884. Its name referred to paper money, or \"greenbacks,\" that had been issued during the American Civil War and afterward. The party advocated issuing large amounts of money, believing this would help people, especially farmers by raising prices and making debts easier to pay. It was established as a political party whose members were primarily farmers financially hurt by the Panic of 1873. The Greenback Party was founded at a meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 25, 1874. It was originally called the Independent National Party. In 1878, 14 members of the party were elected to the United States Congress. In 1880 the Greenback Party broadened its platform to include support for an income tax, an eight hour day, and allowing women the right to vote. The party's influence declined quickly, and after 1884 it was no longer a force in American politics.

question

What was the Panic of 1873?

answer

The Panic of 1873 was a serious downturn in the economy of the United States that touched off on September 18, 1873, when the Philadelphia banking firm Jay Cooke and Company closed its doors and declared bankruptcy. It was one of a series of economic crises in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The railroad industry, at the time the nation's largest employer outside of agriculture, involved large amounts of money and risk. A large infusion of cash from speculators caused abnormal growth in the industry. Cooke's firm, like many others, was invested heavily in the railroads. The New York Stock Exchange closed for 10 days. Of the country's 364 railroads, 89 went bankrupt. A total of 18,000 businesses failed between 1873 and 1875. Unemployment reached 14 percent by 1876. The tension between workers and the leaders of banking and manufacturing lingered on well after the depression itself lifted in the spring of 1879, the end of the crisis coinciding with the beginning of the great wave of immigration into the United States which would last until the early 1920s.

question

What was the Panic of 1907?

answer

The Panic of 1907 was a relatively serious economic downturn in the United States caused by a New York credit crunch that spread across the nation and led to the closings of banks and businesses. The severity of the downturn was such that it prompted the United States Congress to form the Federal Reserve System. It was the fourth Panic in 34 years. In March 1907, the stock market crashed because of over-expansion and poor speculation. Money became extremely tight. A second crash occurred in October 1907, and was precipitated when, using money borrowed from F. Augustus Heinze, Heinze's brothers failed in their attempts to corner United Copper. To bring relief to the situation, United States Secretary of the Treasury George B. Cortelyou ponied up $35 million of Federal money to quell the storm. Complete ruin of the national economy was averted when J.P. Morgan stepped in to meet the crisis. Morgan organized a team of bank and trust executives. The team redirected money between banks, secured further international lines of credit, and bought plummeting stocks of healthy corporations. Within a few weeks the panic passed, with only minimal effects on the country. By February 1908, confidence in the economy was restored.

question

What was the Panic of 1857?

answer

The Panic of 1857 was a notable sudden collapse in the economy of the United States that occurred in 1857. The collapse ended a period of prosperity and speculation that had followed the Mexican War and the discovery of gold in California in the 1840s. Gold pouring in played its part by helping inflate the currency. Over five thousand businesses failed within a year. At the suggestion of Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, President James Buchanan proposed to Congress that the Treasury be authorized to sell revenue bonds for the first time since the Mexican War. In October, a bank holiday was declared in New England and New York in a vain effort to avert runs on those institutions. Eventually the panic and depression spread to Europe, South America and the Far East. No recovery was evident in the United States for a year and a half and the full impact did not dissipate until the American Civil War.

question

What was the Panic of 1837?

answer

The Panic of 1837 was an economic depression, one of the most severe financial crises in the history of the United States. The Panic was built on a speculative fever. The Panic was followed by a five-year depression, with the failure of banks and record unemployment levels. It was not over until 1843. Out of eight hundred and fifty banks in the United States, three hundred and forty-three closed entirely, sixty-two failed partially, and the system of State banks received a shock from which it never fully recovered.

question

What was the Panic of 1819?

answer

The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis in the United States. It featured widespread foreclosures, bank failures, unemployment, and a slump in agriculture and manufacturing. It marked the end of the economic expansion that had followed the War of 1812. The worst of the crisis was over by 1824.

question

In economics, what is Time preference?

answer

Time preference is the economist's assumption that a consumer will place a premium on enjoyment nearer in time over more remote enjoyment. A high time preference means a person wants to spend their money now and not save it, whereas a low time preference means a person might want to save their money as well. The time preference theory of interest is an attempt to explain interest through the demand for accelerated satisfaction. This is particularly important in microeconomics. The Austrian School sees time as the root of uncertainty within economics.

question

Where does the Pearl river meet the sea?

answer

Pearl River, is China's third longest river (2,200 km, after the Yangtze River and the Huang He), and second largest by volume (after the Yangtze). Located in the south, it flows into the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Macau. Its lower reach forms the Pearl River Delta.

question

What is the territorial signifigance of the Yalu River?

answer

The Amnok River, or the Yalu River, is a river on the border between China and North Korea.

question

Who was Quisling?

answer

Vidkun Quisling (July 18, 1887Ã¢â‚¬â€œOctober 24, 1945) was a Norwegian fascist politician and officer. He held the office of Minister President in occupied Norway from February 1942 to the end of World War II, while the elected social democratic cabinet of Johan Nygaardsvold was exiled in London. After the war he was tried for high treason and subsequently executed by firing squad. His name has become an eponym for traitor, especially a collaborationist. In 1933, Quisling helped found Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian fascist party. When Germany invaded Norway on April 9, 1940, Quisling became the first person in history to announce a coup d'etat during a news broadcast, declaring an ad-hoc government during the confusion of the invasion, hoping that the Germans would support it. Quisling stayed as a powerless figurehead (much like the Vichy regime) until he was arrested May 9, 1945.

question

Is the North Ireland conflict a religious or political one at heart?

answer

Political.

question

Who said \"The world must be made safe for democracy\" ?

answer

Woodrow Wilson in 1917 upon entering WWI.

question

Who was David Ricardo?

answer

David Ricardo (April 18, 1772-September 11, 1823), a British political economist, is often credited with systematizing economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists. He was also a successful businessman, financier and speculator, and amassed a considerable fortune.

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