GACE History (6-12) (721) cheat sheet

A primary source is created during the period studied or by a participant; a secondary source later interprets or analyzes primary evidence.

Sourcing evaluates a source's author, audience, purpose, date, origin, and bias before using its claims.

Corroboration compares independent sources on the same question to identify agreement, disagreement, and gaps.

Contextualization places evidence in its original political, social, economic, and cultural setting rather than judging it by present norms.

Close reading identifies a source's central claim, supporting evidence, tone, assumptions, and significant omissions.

Causation analysis distinguishes long-term structural causes, immediate triggers, and short- and long-term consequences.

Continuity and change analysis identifies persistent patterns, turning points, and the pace and scope of transformation.

Historical periodization depends on explicit criteria; different criteria or perspectives can produce different boundaries and labels.

A defensible historical argument uses claim-evidence reasoning, cites sources, and acknowledges counterevidence.

The Neolithic Revolution began around 10,000 BCE with domestication of plants and animals, producing surpluses, settled villages, specialization, and social stratification.

Early river valley civilizations included Mesopotamia on the Tigris-Euphrates, Egypt on the Nile, the Indus civilization, and Shang China on the Yellow River.

Classical empires such as Han China, Rome, Persia, and Maurya/Gupta India built roads, law codes, bureaucracies, and trade networks that integrated large regions.

The Silk Roads and Indian Ocean routes exchanged silk, spices, metals, ideas, religions, technologies, and diseases; monsoon winds shaped Indian Ocean trade.

The Islamic Golden Age preserved and extended Greek, Persian, and Indian knowledge in algebra, optics, medicine, and philosophy.

The Mongol Empire of the thirteenth century was the largest contiguous land empire and facilitated Eurasian trade while spreading plague and destruction.

The Columbian Exchange after 1492 transferred crops, livestock, people, and diseases between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia, causing demographic collapse and dietary change.

The Industrial Revolution began in late eighteenth-century Britain with coal, steam, factories, and railroads, accelerating urbanization and global inequality.

Decolonization after World War II produced new states in Asia and Africa through nationalism, negotiation, and armed struggle amid U.S.-Soviet competition.

The Declaration of Independence (1776) asserted natural rights, consent of the governed, and grievances against the British crown.

The U.S. Constitution (1787) established federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and a bicameral Congress.

The Bill of Rights (1791) protects individual liberties; the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) applies due process and equal protection to states.

The Civil War (1861-1865) was fought over slavery and Union; the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) declared slaves in Confederate areas free.

The Reconstruction Amendments abolished slavery (13th), guaranteed due process and equal protection (14th), and protected voting rights (15th).

Progressive Era reforms included antitrust action, regulation, direct election of senators, and women's suffrage via the Nineteenth Amendment (1920).

The New Deal (1930s) expanded federal relief, recovery, and regulation, including Social Security (1935) and banking reform.

Cold War containment used the Marshall Plan, NATO, military deterrence, and interventions; the civil rights movement won the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965).

The Great Society (1960s) created Medicare and Medicaid and expanded federal education and anti-poverty programs.

Georgia was founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe at Savannah, the last of the original thirteen colonies, partly as a buffer against Spanish Florida.

The Georgia Trustees initially banned slavery and rum; Georgia became a royal colony in 1752 and slavery expanded under the crown.

Georgia's signers of the Declaration of Independence were Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton.

Georgia seceded in 1861; the 1864 Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea brought widespread destruction and Union victory.

The county unit system weighted rural counties in Democratic primaries and was struck down in the 1960s for violating equal protection.

Jimmy Carter served as Georgia governor (1971-1975) and U.S. president (1977-1981), brokering the Camp David Accords.

Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics, accelerating international visibility and urban development.

Georgia's 1983 constitution provides for a governor with four-year terms and a bicameral General Assembly.

Major Georgia economic sectors include agriculture, textiles, logistics, film and television, and corporate headquarters such as Coca-Cola.

Federalism divides power into delegated national powers, reserved state powers, and concurrent powers shared by both.

Congress is bicameral: the House has 435 members apportioned by population with two-year terms; the Senate has 100 members with six-year terms.

The president serves a four-year term and is limited to two elected terms by the Twenty-Second Amendment.

The judiciary interprets laws; judicial review, established in Marbury v. Madison (1803), lets courts invalidate unconstitutional acts.

Checks and balances include presidential vetoes, congressional override, Senate confirmation, and judicial review.

Article V amendment requires two-thirds approval in Congress or a national convention and ratification by three-fourths of states.

Civil liberties protect individuals from government overreach; civil rights guarantee equal treatment and participation.

The Electoral College has 538 electors, equal to House and Senate seats plus three for D.C.; 270 votes win the presidency.

Interest groups, political parties, and media connect citizens to government by aggregating interests, mobilizing voters, and shaping public debate.

Scarcity means limited resources cannot satisfy all wants, forcing choices and trade-offs.

Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative forgone when a choice is made.

The law of demand states that, all else equal, quantity demanded falls as price rises; the law of supply states quantity supplied rises as price rises.

Market equilibrium occurs where quantity demanded equals quantity supplied; surpluses push prices down and shortages push prices up.

GDP equals consumption plus investment plus government spending plus net exports (C+I+G+X-M); real GDP adjusts for inflation.

Inflation is measured with the Consumer Price Index; unemployment types include frictional, structural, and cyclical.

The Federal Reserve uses open market operations, reserve requirements, and the discount rate to pursue maximum employment and stable prices.

Fiscal policy uses government taxation and spending; expansionary policy raises demand, while contractionary policy reduces inflation.

Comparative advantage holds that parties gain from trade by specializing where their opportunity cost is lower, even if one is more productive overall.