OAE Integrated Social Studies (025) cheat sheet

Colonial foundations: Mayflower Compact (1620) self-government; Virginia House of Burgesses (1619) first elected assembly; mercantilism bound colonies to British trade.

Constitutional compromises: Great Compromise (bicameral Congress: population in House, equal state representation in Senate); Three-Fifths Compromise counted enslaved people as 3/5 for representation; Electoral College.

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists: Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Madison, Jay) argued for ratification; Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights, added 1791.

Key Marshall Court rulings: Marbury v. Madison (1803, judicial review); McCulloch v. Maryland (1819, implied powers, national supremacy); Gibbons v. Ogden (1824, commerce power).

Civil War causation chain: Missouri Compromise (1820) → Compromise of 1850 → Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854, popular sovereignty) → Dred Scott (1857) → secession (1860-61).

Reconstruction amendments: 13th (1865, abolished slavery), 14th (1868, citizenship, due process, equal protection), 15th (1870, voting regardless of race).

Progressive Era: 16th (income tax), 17th (direct Senate election), 18th (Prohibition), 19th (women's suffrage, 1920) amendments; muckrakers exposed urban and industrial abuses.

New Deal and Great Society: Social Security Act (1935), Wagner Act (1935) labor rights; Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965), Medicare/Medicaid (1965).

River valley civilizations: Mesopotamia (Tigris-Euphrates, cuneiform, Hammurabi's Code), Egypt (Nile, hieroglyphics), Indus (planned cities), Shang China (oracle bones).

Classical empires: Greece (direct democracy in Athens), Rome (republic to empire, Twelve Tables, Roman law legacy), Han China (Confucian bureaucracy, Silk Roads).

Spread and split of religion: Buddhism from India along Silk Roads; Christianity legalized under Constantine (Edict of Milan, 313); Great Schism (1054) split Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic.

Islamic Golden Age (8th-13th c.): preservation of Greek texts, algebra (al-Khwarizmi), medicine (Ibn Sina), House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

Feudalism and manorialism: lord-vassal obligations, serf labor tied to land; Black Death (1347-1351) reduced population and weakened serfdom in Western Europe.

Renaissance (14th-17th c.) humanism and printing press (Gutenberg, c. 1450); Reformation began 1517 with Luther's 95 Theses; Counter-Reformation via Council of Trent.

Revolutions: Scientific Revolution (empirical method); Enlightenment (Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau); French Revolution (1789) ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity.

Industrialization and empire: Britain's coal and capital led the Industrial Revolution; Berlin Conference (1884-85) partitioned Africa; decolonization peaked after World War II (1945-1975).

Five themes of geography: location (absolute/relative), place, human-environment interaction, movement, region.

Map tools: latitude measures north-south (0° equator); longitude measures east-west (0° prime meridian); scale converts map distance to real distance; contour lines show elevation.

Climate vs. weather: climate is long-term averages; major controls are latitude, altitude, ocean currents, and proximity to water; Köppen system classifies climate zones.

Population patterns: most people live in mid-latitudes near coasts and rivers; demographic transition model stages link birth/death rates to economic development.

Push-pull migration: push factors (war, famine, persecution) vs. pull factors (jobs, safety, freedom); refugees are forced migrants crossing borders.

Cultural diffusion types: relocation, expansion (contagious, hierarchical, stimulus); language families (Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan) and universalizing vs. ethnic religions.

Economic geography: primary (extraction), secondary (manufacturing), tertiary (services), quaternary (information); core-periphery and globalization patterns.

Human-environment interaction: deforestation, desertification, and climate change illustrate adaptation and modification of environments; sustainability balances use and renewal.

Scarcity forces trade-offs; opportunity cost is the value of the next-best alternative forgone.

Supply and demand: demand slopes down, supply slopes up; equilibrium price clears the market; surplus pushes price down, shortage pushes price up.

Elasticity: demand is elastic when substitutes are plentiful or the good is a luxury; inelastic for necessities; total revenue rises with price cuts only when demand is elastic.

Market structures: perfect competition (many firms, identical goods), monopolistic competition (differentiated), oligopoly (few firms), monopoly (single seller, high barriers).

GDP = C + I + G + (X − M); real GDP adjusts for inflation using a price index; unemployment types are frictional, structural, cyclical.

Money and banking: Federal Reserve controls money supply via open market operations, discount rate, reserve requirements; inflation erodes purchasing power.

Fiscal vs. monetary policy: fiscal = government spending/taxation (Congress and President); monetary = central bank interest rate and money supply actions.

Comparative advantage: nations gain by specializing where opportunity cost is lowest; absolute advantage means producing more with the same resources.

Constitutional principles: popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, judicial review.

Checks and balances examples: presidential veto, congressional override (2/3), Senate confirmation of appointments, judicial review of statutes.

Federalism: enumerated (delegated) powers, reserved powers (10th Amendment), concurrent powers (taxation), and the supremacy clause (Article VI).

Bill of Rights core protections: 1st (speech, religion, press, assembly, petition), 4th (search and seizure), 5th (self-incrimination, due process), 6th (counsel, speedy trial).

Landmark civil liberties cases: Tinker (1969, student speech), Gideon (1963, right to counsel), Miranda (1966, warnings), Brown v. Board (1954, desegregation).

Election and voting: Electoral College votes equal House seats plus two senators per state; amendments 15, 19, 24 (poll tax ban), and 26 (voting age 18).

Citizen duties vs. responsibilities: duties include obeying laws, paying taxes, jury service; responsibilities include voting, volunteering, staying informed.

State and local government: most criminal law and education policy is state-level; local governments derive authority from state constitutions and charters.

Inquiry arc (C3 Framework): developing questions → applying disciplinary concepts → evaluating sources and using evidence → communicating conclusions and taking informed action.

Primary vs. secondary sources: primary is created at the time by participants (letters, artifacts, laws); secondary interprets primary sources (textbooks, documentaries).

Sourcing heuristics: consider author, audience, purpose, date, and bias; corroborate claims across multiple independent sources before concluding.

Document-based question (DBQ) structure: thesis, document analysis with citation, outside evidence, and synthesis; each document must be explicitly referenced.

Chronological and cause-effect reasoning: distinguish long-term causes from immediate triggers; avoid post hoc fallacies; use timelines and periodization.

Map and data literacy: read legends, scales, and axes; distinguish correlation from causation; evaluate sample size and source reliability in charts.

Argument writing: claim, evidence, reasoning (CER); counterclaim acknowledgment strengthens historical arguments; cite sources consistently.

Civic and media literacy: evaluate online sources for credibility, cross-check claims, and recognize propaganda techniques such as loaded language and bandwagon appeals.