GACE History (6-12) (721) key terms

The study of how history is written, including the methods historians use, the questions they ask, and how interpretations change as new evidence or perspectives appear.

An original document, object, recording, or account created by someone who participated in or directly witnessed an event, such as a letter, diary, photograph, treaty, or oral interview.

A work that interprets or analyzes primary evidence after the fact, such as a textbook, scholarly article, biography, or documentary; its conclusions depend on the sources and methods its author used.

The practice of comparing multiple sources that describe the same event to identify agreement, disagreement, and gaps, thereby judging which details are reliable and which need further evidence.

The political, social, economic, and cultural circumstances surrounding an event or document that help explain why it happened and what it meant to people at the time.

The process historians use to divide the past into named eras, such as the Middle Ages or the Progressive Era, based on patterns they judge significant; different periodizations reflect different interpretations.

The shift from hunting and gathering to settled farming and herding that began around 10,000 BCE in several regions, producing food surpluses, larger settlements, social hierarchies, and eventually cities.

A Babylonian legal collection inscribed around 1750 BCE that publicized penalties for offenses and reflected the principle of retaliatory justice; it is among the earliest surviving written law codes.

A system in classical Athens in which eligible male citizens voted directly on laws and public policies in an assembly; it excluded women, enslaved people, and foreign residents.

A form of government in Rome from about 509 to 27 BCE in which citizens elected officials and the Senate held influence, with power shared among magistrates and assemblies.

A medieval European arrangement in which lords granted land to vassals in exchange for military service, while peasants worked the land; it combined personal obligation with local political authority.

An intellectual movement of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries that emphasized the study of classical texts, human potential, and worldly achievement rather than focusing exclusively on religious doctrine.

A sixteenth-century religious movement that challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, led to new Protestant denominations, and reshaped European politics, literacy, and culture.

The transatlantic transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases that began after 1492, reshaping diets and populations in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

The transition beginning in eighteenth-century Britain from hand production to machine manufacturing, which concentrated workers in factories, accelerated urbanization, and transformed social and economic life.

The first constitution of the United States, in effect from 1781 to 1789, which created a weak central government with a unicameral Congress and no power to tax or regulate interstate commerce effectively.

A system in which power is divided between a national government and state governments, each with its own authority; the U.S. Constitution assigns expressed, implied, and reserved powers.

The nineteenth-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across North America, used to justify territorial acquisition and westward settlement despite the displacement of Native peoples.

The period after the Civil War, roughly 1865 to 1877, when federal policy addressed the readmission of former Confederate states and the rights of formerly enslaved people.

A term for the late nineteenth-century United States marked by rapid industrialization, railroad expansion, and conspicuous wealth alongside political corruption and sharp labor conflict.

A period of reform roughly from the 1890s to the 1920s when activists and lawmakers sought to curb political corruption, regulate big business, and improve social conditions.

A series of federal programs and reforms enacted under President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s to relieve Depression suffering, promote recovery, and regulate the financial system.

A mid-twentieth-century campaign by Black Americans and allies to end racial segregation and disenfranchisement, producing landmark laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The large-scale movement of African Americans from the rural South to northern and western cities during the twentieth century, driven by job opportunities and escape from racial violence.

The colony of Georgia from 1733 to 1752, governed by a board of trustees in London that banned slavery and strong drink and emphasized small farms and defense of the Carolinas.

A late eighteenth-century scheme in which Georgia legislators sold millions of acres in what is now Alabama and Mississippi to land companies at low prices amid bribery, prompting public outrage and federal intervention.

The forced removal of Cherokee and other southeastern Native nations to Indian Territory in the 1830s, during which thousands died from exposure, disease, and starvation.

An 1895 speech by Booker T. Washington urging African Americans to accept segregation temporarily and pursue vocational education and economic advancement rather than immediate political equality.

A Georgia election rule used from 1917 to 1962 that gave rural counties disproportionate voting weight in statewide primaries, reducing the influence of urban voters and reinforcing segregationist politics.

The division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so that no single branch can control all governing decisions.

Constitutional provisions that allow each branch of government to limit the actions of the others, such as a presidential veto, Senate confirmation, and judicial review of legislation.

The authority of courts, established in Marbury v. Madison, to declare laws or executive actions unconstitutional and therefore invalid, serving as a check on the legislative and executive branches.

The constitutional body of electors chosen by states that formally selects the president and vice president, with each state's votes based on its congressional representation.

The legal requirement that government follow fair procedures and protect individual rights before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property, as guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The fundamental economic condition in which human wants exceed the limited resources available to satisfy them, forcing individuals and societies to make choices.

The value of the next best alternative given up when a choice is made, including both money and nonmonetary benefits forgone.

The interaction between how much producers offer at various prices and how much consumers are willing to buy, which together help determine market prices and quantities.

The total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a specific period, commonly used to measure economic output and growth.

A sustained rise in the general price level of goods and services, which reduces the purchasing power of money and is often measured by the consumer price index.

The central bank of the United States, which conducts monetary policy, supervises banks, and seeks to promote stable prices and maximum employment.