US History-RCT – Flashcards
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DEMOCRACY
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Type of government that recognizes the people's right to take part directly or indirectly in controlling the government. Key idea: government must have consent of the governed.
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CONSTITUTION
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The written plan of the US government. Establishes how the government works.
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LEGISLATIVE
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Branch of government whose primary duty is to make the laws. Branch that Congress is.
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EXECUTIVE
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Branch of government whose primary duty is to enforce/carry out the laws. The President is the head of this branch.
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JUDICIAL
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Branch of government whose primary duty is to interpret the laws. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation performing this function.
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AMENDMENT
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A formal change or addition to the Constitution. Allows the government to meet the changing needs of American society.
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JUDICIAL REVIEW
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The power of the Supreme Court to declare whether an action of the President or a law passed by Congress violates the Constitution. This is an example of checks and balances.
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ELECTORAL COLLEGE
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Method of indirectly electing the President included in the Constitution because the writers of the Constitution did not trust the common people to choose the President.
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IMPEACH
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Power of the House of Representatives to formally accuse a public official such as the President of wrongdoing.
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LOBBYIST
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A person who is not an elected official who is a member of a special interest group that tries to influence what laws are passed.
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NEW IMMIGRANTS
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Refers to the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who came primarily during the age of Industrialization in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
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NATIVISM
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The belief in the U.S. that immigrants are inferior and should not be allowed into the U.S.
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MELTING POT THEORY
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The belief that different immigrant groups will assimilate into American society but in the process a new American identity will emerge from the blending of cultures.
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CULTURAL PLURALISM
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Belief that immigrants to the U.S. maintain their own cultural identity and thus the U.S. is a type of society in which diverse ethnic, racial, national groups go-exist while maintaining their own cultural heritage.
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MUCKRAKERS
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American journalists/writers who tried to improve society by exposing corruption, health hazards, and other social problems.
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CIVIL SERVICE
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Reform movement which insisted that government jobs and promotions should be based on merit rather than on the spoils system/political patronage.
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JIM CROW
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Term used for the segregation laws passed in the Southern states following the period of Reconstruction.
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CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
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Nonviolent protest against unjust laws. This method was used by Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
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AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
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Actions taken by businesses, colleges, the government, etc to increase the number of minorities and women in jobs and higher education. Critics of this call it reverse discrimination.
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SUFFRAGETTES
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People who campaigned for women's right to vote in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
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FEMINIST MOVEMENT
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The struggle of women starting in the 2nd half of the 1900's for equality. Key concerns included equal pay for equal work and the passage of an Equal Rights Amendment.
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MANIFEST DESTINY
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Idea commonly held by Americans that the U.S. had the God given right to expand westward across the entire North American continent.
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COLLECTIVE SECURITY
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System in which member nations agree to take joint action to meet threats to international peace. League of Nations and United Nations are examples.
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CAPITALISM
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Economic system in which businesses are privately owned and operated for profit. Competition is necessary for this system to work.
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LAISSEZ_FAIRE
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Noninterference - a policy by which the government does not regulate business and does not interfere with the economy.
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CORPORATION
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Type of business organization developed in the U.S. during the late 1800's in which a business is begun by selling shares of stock to investors to raise the venture capital to begin the business.
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MONOPOLY/TRUST
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Business that eliminates competition and thus gains total or near total control of an entire market for a particular good or service.
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
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Process in which a union negotiates with management (business owners) for a contract.
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TARIFF
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Tax on imported goods designed to discourage Americans from buying foreign goods so as to promote the development of American industry and products.
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CENSUS
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Requirement of the Constitution that the population of the United States be counted every ten years so as to determine how many representatives each state should have in the House of Representaives.
