United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
United States History
Regents Preparation
Answer/Cue Review
The purpose of Answer/Cue Review is to prepare a student for the upcoming United States History and Government Regents. The
idea is for the student to trigger their memory from seeing a word, term, or topic on a multiple-choice question. This plan is not fool
proof, but will allow the student to gain confidence in answering a multiple-choice question. If a student can successfully answer
64% or 32 out of 50 questions correctly, then they have a good chance at passing the exam. If you can get any higher than 65%, the
better your chance for mastery is going to be. Good Luck!
If this is what the question is about…
Question Topic
….. then these are the cues you are looking for.
Answer/Cue
Geography:
Appalachian Mountains
limits expansion (Proclamation of 1763)
Mississippi River
aides farmers, western boundary (1783),
New Orleans
promotes trade
Great Plains
later settlement (late 1800s)
Rocky Mountains
resources, obstacle for RR
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Enlightenment thinkers,
Declaration of Independence
Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire
limits on government, natural rights, protect against abuses of
federal gov’t,
list grievances, consent of the governed
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Mayflower Compact, New England town meetings
representative assemblies, self- gov’t
Virginia House of Burgesses
establish democracy, consent of governed
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Thomas Paine/Common Sense
swayed opinion on independence
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British mercantilism
limited colonial trade, triangular trade
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Articles of Confederation
Strengths: Treaty of Paris, does not allow tyranny, representative
legislature, admission of new states
Weaknesses: no chief executive, cannot collect taxes, equal power
among states in legislature, lacks unity, greater power to the states
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Constitutional Convention - Great Compromise
bicameral legislature, representation
Three-Fifths Compromise
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Bill of Rights
protect individual liberties from federal government, guarantee
rights to individual, Civil Rights (Voltaire)
Example: no illegal search/seizure
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Federalism (Limit on Gov’t)
Federal system
MPK
divided power by level of gov’t
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United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
Elastic clause (Flexibility)
“...necessary and proper…”clause,
power of Congress, Louisiana Purchase, National Bank, loose
interpretation
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Checks and Balances (Limit on Gov’t)
Separation of Powers
separation of powers, no branch too
strong, judicial review (constitutionality of law), veto, override, OR
any two branches given as examples
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Amending Process (Flexibility)
change the Constitution: possibly Electoral College, flag burning,
two term presidents, voting rights: Blacks, women, 18yr. Olds
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Constitutional Structure and Function
President (Executive)
two-term limit, Commander-in-Chief, veto power, Cabinet
Congress (Legislative)
House of Representatives
Elastic clause
reapportionment(census), revenue bills
Senate
Supreme Court (Judicial)
ratify treaties, approve appointments
Judicial review, judicial activism
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Unwritten Constitution
Cabinet, Judicial Review, Political Parties
Committee System, Lobbying
Practices by custom/ tradition
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Washington’s Farewell Address
no entangling military alliances, geography (Atlantic Ocean)
supports precedent
(Commercial ties are okay)
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Political Parties formation
Formed b/c interpretation of the Constitution (Loose vs. strict) Cabinet
Hamilton’s financial plan
- Supports manufacturing over agriculture
Creates sound economic policy
Gradually pay off nation’s debt
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Marshall Court
strengthen the national government
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
establish judicial review
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Thomas Jefferson and Louisiana Purchase
modified belief in strict interpretation
Doubles size of United States
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Monroe Doctrine
prevent further European colonization of
Western Hemisphere
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MPK
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United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
Manifest Destiny
expansion westward, acquisition of land
Debate over expansion of slavery, Mexican
Cession, Oregon, Gadsden Purchase
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Women’s Right to Vote (Suffrage)
Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony
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Civil War
Sectionalism
different economies, states’ rights
Popular Sovereignty
people decide slavery issue in territories
Northern Advantages
population, war supplies, industry, RRs
Republican platform
no extension of slavery
Lincoln’s primary war aim
preservation of the Union
Emancipation Proclamation
frees slaves in rebel territory only
Homestead Act (1862)
Pacific Railroad Act (1862)
free land out west, farms on Great Plains
encourage settlement, promote expansion
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Reconstruction
Results
13th, 14th, 15th Amendments, federal supremacy over the states,
Freedman’s Bureau, Black Codes (harsh treatment)
Jim Crow Laws,
Presidents’ Plan
easily readmitting the south, 10% plan
Congressional Plan
harsh treatment of conquered territory,
Radical Reconstruction, military
occupation, 14th Amendment, Freedman’s
Bureau
New South
Solid South
more industrial economy in South
consistently democratic South
Sharecropping
economic dependence for former slaves,
cycle of debt, tenant farming
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The West
Homestead Act
encourage settlement of west on farms
Farmers
technological advances increase output
Indian Policy – Dawes Act
Indian Wars
reservations, assimilation onto farms
conflict over land – Great Plains
Populists
regulation of railroads, leads to
Progressives, aid the farmer, Granger cases
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The Lives of African Americans (former slaves)
denied civil rights in South
W.E.B DuBois
MPK
immediate equality for blacks
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United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
Booker T. Washington
focus on achieving respect before rights
Gradually achieving rights for blacks
Plessy v. Ferguson
constitutional to have separate but equal
Jim Crow Laws okay, equal protection?
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Industrialization
Rise of Corporations
investment capital, laissez-faire, cheap labor, business leaders (robber
barons)
Supply and demand, RR expansion
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Management
Trusts and Monopolies
elimination of competition, need for government regulation, RRs
Social Darwinism
survival of the fittest, hard work = success
Captains of Industry
philanthropy, give back to the public
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Labor
Unions/Organized Labor
Gompers, Powderly, Debs, and Lewis
Knights of Labor, AF of L
Negs. Public perception is that they are violent,
Government actions support big business
Pos.
New Deal, Wagner Act,
Collective bargaining
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Immigration
Modern Policy
problems with illegal aliens
New Immigrants
Southern and eastern Europeans, cheap
labor, urban areas
Nativism
Chinese Exclusion Act, National Origins Act, quotas, restrictions,
KKK, Know Nothings, Red Scare
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Populists/Grangers
Third party success – platform became law
Supports western farmer, against high RR rates, William Jennings
Bryan, Cross of Gold Speech - for free coinage of silver
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Progressives
middle class reform, bring P/E/S equality
Muckrakers (writers)
MPK
Anti-Trust Laws
(Sherman and Clayton)
Riis, Addams, Steffens, Sinclair, Tarbell
Exposed inequalities, poverty, corruption,
Urban living and working conditions
restore competition, eliminate monopolies
government regulation of business
Democratic reform
(local, state and national level)
initiative, referendum, recall, secret ballot,
direct election of Senators
Federal Reserve System
control money supply in circulation and
regulate interest rates
Teddy Roosevelt
Trust buster - regulates business, good and
bad trusts, conservation
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United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
Imperialism
Protect U.S. investments abroad and
Acquire raw materials and markets
Big Stick Policy
Roosevelt Corollary – U.S. can intervene in
Latin America
Panama Canal
intervention in Latin America, canal to
connect Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, strategic and trade route
Open Door Policy
increase trade in China (Asia)
Spanish American War
Pulitzer and Hearst – yellow journalism
Remember the Maine
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World War I
U.S. entry
freedom of the seas, Woodrow Wilson
“make world safe for democracy”
Fourteen Points
prevent future wars, promote peace, selfdetermination, freedom of the seas, reduce arms. Washington Naval
Conference and Kellogg-Briand Pact
League of Nations/ Treaty of Versailles
international organization rejected by
Senate using checks and balances, keep out of entangling alliances,
isolation between wars
Schenck v. U.S. (1919)
clear and present danger, rights are not
Absolute, Espionage Act and Sedition Act,
“…cannot yell fire in crowded theater”
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Roaring Twenties
Old vs. New ways of thinking and acting
Republican Presidents
free enterprise, tax cuts, and laissez-faire
Less government regulation of business,
“Return to Normalcy” – Harding
“The business of America is business” –
Calvin Coolidge
trickle down theory – Hoover
Nativism
KKK, immigration restriction, quotas
Harlem Renaissance
rebirth of black art, literature, and art
(culture), African Americans move north,
Langston Hughes
Scopes Trial
science vs. religion, new vs. old,
Modernist vs. fundamentalist
Flappers
rejection of traditional values
Prohibition
banning of alcohol, difficult to enforce
laws that deal with social attitudes. Also Fugitive Slave Act
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MPK
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United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
Great Depression
Causes
overproduction (manufacturing and farm)
Uneven distribution of wealth, little
government regulation, excessive credit buying
Life during …
escapist movies, people helping people,
Charity
Farmers
start depression in 1920s due to
Overproduction and drought,
Dust Bowl – cause - by drought and
geographic conditions, result – migration west by farmers
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
New Deal
government intervention in the economy
Relief, Recovery, and Reform
Political, Social, and Economic help
Bank Holiday
restore confidence in financial institution
FDIC insure bank deposits (similar to SEC)
Court Packing
FDR tries to appoint more SC justices to
promote New Deal Programs, Congress rejects plan b/c it clashes
w/ Checks and Balances
Opposition
Conservatives think New Deal is too
involved w/ economy and it endangers free enterprise
FDR’s Third term (Presidential)
due to World War II – crisis
conflicts w/ unwritten tradition and leads to 22nd Amendment
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World War II
MPK
neutrality between wars, leads to end of
Great Depression
Good Neighbor Policy
less intervention in Latin America
Neutrality
isolation between wars, Neutrality Acts
No response to aggressor nations
Not in League of Nations
Lend Lease Act
more direct involvement in war, favors the
Allies, Cash and Carry and Destroyer for Bases Deal
Atlantic Charter
post war aims to prevent war
Japanese Americans
internment, limit civil liberties during war
Korematsu v. U.S. (1944) – clear and
present danger vs. equal protection under law
Women
African Americans
Rosie the Riveter, fill defense jobs of
soldiers at war
Atomic Bomb
dropped to save American casualties (lives)
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United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
Cold War
War of words, tension between the U.S
and U.S.S.R., nuclear arms race, space race, join international
organizations
Truman Doctrine
containment, stop spread of communism
to Greece and Turkey with ($)
Marshall Plan
Economic recovery ($) for western Europe
Nuremberg War Crimes Trial
individuals can be held responsible for
wartime atrocities against civilians
Korean War
United Nations action, Truman fires
General Macarthur as Commander-in-Chief for insubordination
(civilian control of military)
NATO
collective security, shift from isolation to
Internationalism, in competition with Warsaw Pact
Eisenhower Doctrine
stop spread of communism in Mideast
Red Scare
search for communists infiltrating America
House Un-American Committee,
McCarthyism, Loyalty Oaths, Rosenbergs
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1960s
Decade of Change, Civil Rights, Reform
Domino Theory
stop spread of communism in Southeast
Asia or Vietnam
Vietnam War
public opinion affects foreign policy, war
viewed as unjust, leads to passage of War Powers Act
New Frontier
John Kennedy – promotes space program
Great Society
Lyndon Johnson - war on poverty,
government intervenes in economic and social lives of society,
Medicare and Medicaid
Reforms of 1960s
consumer protection, environment, civil
rights, women’s movement
Warren Court (Rights of Accused)
Miranda rights, Gideon v. Wainwright,
right to lawyer
Civil Rights
MPK
Martin Luther King, Jr.
civil disobedience, integration, passive
Resistance, promote civil rights acts
Brown v. B.O.E. (1954)
“separate but equal is unequal”
Integration of public schools,
equal protection of the law
**Leads to Eisenhower enforcing law and protecting black students
with federal troops
Affirmative Action
help minorities have equal opportunity but
leads to reverse discrimination
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United States History Regents Answer/Cue Review
The 1970s
Détente
easing of Cold War tensions, SALT I
nuclear limits
War Powers Act (1973)
limits power of the President
Watergate
No person is above the law, leads to
distrust in the government
Economy
Oil crisis, high unemployment, inflation,
Stagflation
_______________________________________________________________________________
1980s
Reaganomics
supply-side economics similar to Hoover’s
trickle down theory, tax breaks to wealthy causes recession, New
Federalism gives social programs back to states, defense deficit
spending
George H.W. Bush
Good foreign policy – Persian Gulf War
Bad domestic policy – tax increases
_________________________________________________________________________________
1990s
Clinton
deflects corruption to be a success,
NAFTA improves trade, sends troops overseas to secure peace
Social Issues
Disabled Americans, social security,
universal healthcare, campaign reform, term limits,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Present Day
MPK
George W. Bush
9/11, increase government powers, Patriot Act, Iraq
Obama
Civil Rights, Change, Financial Bailouts, Afghanistan, Healthcare
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