TERMS 

1. Mexican war: a war (1846-1848) between the United States and Mexico, which brought more territory into American hands and the issue of whether to extend slavery. 

2. French and Indian wars: the war between England and France. At the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, Great Britain gained control of Canada and all of North America east of the Mississippi.  

3. City upon a hill is an ideal community that the puritans hoped to build in New England 

4. Tea Act was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain to expand the British East India Company's monopoly on the tea trade to all British Colonies, selling excess tea at a reduced price. Passed on May 10, 1973 

5. Boston Tea Party: an event in which a group of patriots responded to tea taxation. They disguised as Indians and boarded British merchant ships and dumped 342 crates of tea in Boston harbor. 

6. The Missouri compromise is a compromise in which slavery was permitted in the new state of Missouri and the Arkansas territory but bared everywhere north and west of Missouri 

7. The compromise of 1950 is a compromise in 1850 admitted California as a free state with the citizens of Utah and New Mexico being allowed to decide whether they want slavery within their borders or not. 

8. The confederate army is the army of the confederate states of America which fought against the US federal gov. 

9. The US army is the army of the US federal gov 

10. The progressive mov't is a mov't to reform society and individuals through giv action to cure the ills of American society that had developed during the great spurt of industrial growth in the last quarter of the 19th century  

11. The Roaring Twenties: the age of jazz and spectacular silent movies and such fads as flagpole-sitting and goldfish-swallowing. 

12. The age of Prohibition: in 1920 a constitutional amendment outlawed the sale of alcoholic beverages. 

13. Red Scare: a period of general fear of communists 

14. Berlin wall was a physical barrier completely surrounding West Berlin, separating East Ger form West Ger for more than a quarter cen. 

15. NATO is a military alliance established by the signing the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4 1949. The NATO constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an external attack. 

16. The Watergate scandal was an American political scandal during the presidency of Richard Nixon that resulted in the indictment and conviction of several of Nixon's closet advisors, and ultimately his resignation on August 9, 1974. 

17. Check Communism 

18. Roosevelt's New Deal was a complex package of eco program initiated btw 1933-35 to promote the eco recovery during the Great Depression and to give relief to the unemployed and reform of business, financial practices. 

19. Nativist sentiment is the feeling of protecting the interests of the Amers against those of the immigrants 

20. Assimilation process is a process in which the immigrants to Ame try to be a part of Ame from generation to gen. 

21. WASPs White Anglo Saxon Protestant, an Amer of Brits or Northern Eu ancestry who is the member of the Protestant church. 

22. Salad pot is concept that the integration of different cultures of US residents combines like a salad. Various Amer cul don't merge together into a single homogeneous culture. Each culture keeps its own distinct qualities. 

23. Melting pot refer to a way in which heterogeneous societies become more homogeneous, in which ppl of different cul, race and religions are combined to develop a multi-ethinic society. 

24. Multiculturalism refer to the density in culture of the US cuz of the big number of immigrants coming to Amer who are different in races, religions, langs and traditions 

25. Psychology of abundance:  

* Historically, A has regarded their country as a land of limitless wealth 

* The abundance of untapped natural resource attracted not only lots of ppl go there to exploit 

* Some A believe in the inexhaustibility of the nation's resources --> has become a part of the Amer way of life 

26. Volunteerism: is the do-it-yourself spirit in American community and political life. Volunteers, usually unpaid, are highly motivated workers who organize themselves and others to solve a particular community problems or meet an immediate social need, rather than waiting for someone else, usually the government, to do it. 

27. Mobility: is a habit created by American pragmatism and trust in an abundance of resources. It is considered as a practical solution to a problem by moving elsewhere and make fresh start. It also shows optimism to seek for a better life. 

28. Budget deficit: the amount by which a government, company, or individual's spending exceeds its income over a period of time. It is a serious problem that hampers economic growth domestically and effects the ability to sell products overseas. 

29. Trade deficit: a negative balance of trade when imports exceed exports 

30. Productivity: refers to the amount of output per unit of input (labor, equipment, and capital). There are many different ways of measuring productivity. For example, in a factory productivity might be measured based on the number of hours it takes to produce a good, while in the service sector, productivity might be measured based on the revenue generated an employee divided by his/her salary. 

31. Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurs are those who built up great industries: steel, rail roads, oil refining, etc.They start with almost nothing and end up with virtually everything. They are everyone's perfect heroes as they reflect the American dream in its purest meaning 

32. Organization man/woman: They run the businesses that are already established by others. With have power and wealth, they are also models of success in US but they do not have a strong hero image as entrepreneurs. 

33. Checks and balances: each branch checks or limits the power of other branch 

Ex: congress makes laws; president can veto them; congress may check the president by overriding his veto with a two-third vote. 

34. Separation of powers: gov's powers r given to 3 branches with separate functions to avoid superior powers rested in small powerful groups or few leaders. 

35. A limited gov: gov power shouldn't become concentrated in hands of a few. Strong gov apprears to be the natural enemy of indi freedom 

36. Interesting group 

* organized by those want to influence public policy decision on special issues such as the environment, civil rights, peace, etc 

* have the desire to sway public opinion and political policy through: press, radio, letters, phone calls 

37. A lobbyist is a lawyer or a former legislator: specializes in the interest he presents, possesses an inside's view of the lawmaking process. Lobbyists work for interest groups by keeping them informed about proposed legislation by talking to decision-makers about their group's concerns. 

38. Winner-take-all election: system only one candidate-the one with more votes is elected to a given office in one district. 

39. The electoral college: a group of ppl chosen by the votes of the ppl in each US state, who come together to elect the Pre 

40. How a bill becomes a law:  

41. Desegregation in the US edu: integration btw blacks and whites in edu 

42. Bussing in the US edu: carrying Ss by bus to a school in a different area where the ppils r or a different race. 

43. Decentralized: spending for public edu is determined bt state and local edu leaders 

44. Affirmative action: setting aside a certain number of places specially for applicants from blacks and other minorities