These are the most frequently occurring terms on the New York State U.S. History and Government Regents Exam.
1529229693 | self-government (or representative government) | Mayflower Compact and Virginia House of Burgesses | ![]() | 0 |
2092663864 | Proclamation Line of 1763 | established the Appalachian Mountains as the western boundary of the British colonies that would become the USA | ![]() | 1 |
1529229694 | checks and balances | each branch of government has power over other branches; examples include veto, impeachment, judicial review | ![]() | 2 |
1529229695 | electoral college | presidential election decided by states; president can be elected without popular majority | ![]() | 3 |
1529229696 | Cabinet | president's advisers; established by Washington; example of unwritten constitution | ![]() | 4 |
1529229697 | neutrality (isolationism) | USA policy not to interfere with other nations (to avoid war); started by George Washington (as stated in his Farewell Address) | ![]() | 5 |
1529229698 | interpretation of Constitution | Jefferson wanted strict, Hamilton wanted loose; fought over national bank; Louisiana Purchase was example of loose | ![]() | 6 |
1529229699 | judicial review | Supreme Court's power to declare laws unconstitutional; established by Marshall Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803); increased federal power | ![]() | 7 |
1529229700 | Monroe Doctrine | USA wanted to limit European influence and colonization in the Western Hemisphere (Americas) | ![]() | 8 |
1529229701 | Homestead Act | government gave land to westward settlers (from the Great Plains to farther west) | ![]() | 9 |
1529229702 | Plessy v. Ferguson | Supreme Court ruled segregation constitutional (legal); later overturned by Brown v. Board of Education | ![]() | 10 |
2092679881 | literacy tests and poll taxes | were used to prevent African Americans from voting | ![]() | 11 |
1529229707 | nativists | anti-immigration groups; Chinese Exclusion Act, Gentlemen's Agreement | ![]() | 12 |
1529229704 | Open Door policy | USA wanted access to markets and trade opportunities with China | ![]() | 13 |
1529229703 | Social Darwinism and laissez-faire | economic survival of the fittest; government should not interfere with business; explained and justified wealth and monopolies | ![]() | 14 |
1529229705 | trusts and monopolies | ruthless Robber Barrons limited or eliminated competition; Interstate Commerce Act and Sherman Antitrust Act made these illegal | ![]() | 15 |
1529229706 | unions (or organized labor or AFL) | fought to improve working conditions, raise wages, limit work hours | ![]() | 16 |
1529229708 | muckrakers exposed problems | Upton Sinclair's The Jungle; Ida Tarbell's The History of the Standard Oil Company; Frank Norris's The Octopus; Jacob Riis's How the Other Half Lives | ![]() | 17 |
2092679882 | yellow journalism | newspapers exaggerated stories like the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in order to incite public outrage (make people angry) and lead the US into war with Spain | ![]() | 18 |
2092679883 | Federal Reserve | regulates (controls) the US money supply and interest rates | ![]() | 19 |
1529229709 | USA entered WW1 | German submarine warfare violated freedom of the seas; Zimmermann telegram | ![]() | 20 |
1529229710 | fear of foreign conflict (isolationism) | why the Senate opposed the Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations | ![]() | 21 |
2092679884 | opportunities for factory jobs | reason why many African Americans migrated from the South to the North during and after World War One | ![]() | 22 |
1529229711 | Dust Bowl | drought in Great Plains; caused migration to California; Grapes of Wrath was a book about it | ![]() | 23 |
1529229712 | FDR's New Deal and LBJ's Great Society | government help for the poor and needy | ![]() | 24 |
1529229713 | FDR's court-packing | attempt to add more Supreme Court Justices to push New Deal; was considered a threat to checks and balances | ![]() | 25 |
1529229714 | rationing | used during World War Two to ensure military was supplied with resources | ![]() | 26 |
1529229715 | Nuremberg Trials | individuals were held responsibile for human rights violations during war | ![]() | 27 |
1529229716 | GI Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act) | economic assistance to veterans for college and housing | ![]() | 28 |
2092679885 | Marshall Plan | provided economic aid to Western Europe in order to limit the spread of communism | ![]() | 29 |
2092679886 | McCarthyism (named after Senator Joseph McCarthy) | was based on the fear of communism in the US | ![]() | 30 |
1529229717 | civil rights movement | nonviolence, civil disobedience, sit-ins; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; led to Civil Rights Act | ![]() | 31 |
1529229718 | expanded rights of accused | Mapp v. Ohio (1961); Gideon v. Wainwright (1963); Miranda v. Arizona (1966) | ![]() | 32 |
1529229719 | détente | Nixon's policy to reduce tensions between US and Soviet Union; SALT was an example | ![]() | 33 |
1529229720 | civil rights limited in times of crisis | Lincoln suspended habeas corpus (1861); Schenck v. United States (1919); FDR's internment of Japanese Americans (1942); USA Patriot Act (2001) | ![]() | 34 |
1529229721 | Social Security and Medicare | government programs needed because more Americans are living longer | ![]() | 35 |