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a-level History - America P1 > Unit 1.1: The Changing Political Environment > Flashcards

Unit 1.1: The Changing Political Environment Flashcards

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1
Q

Republican

A

Centre right to right conservative, unprogressive, reactionary political party in the US that focuses on everyone having liberties, limited government intervention and low taxes

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2
Q

Democrat

A

Centre to centre left, liberal, progressive, political party in the US that advocates for more social liberties, and equality through government intervention, trade unions and social welfare

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3
Q

Congress

A

Legislative branch of the US government - contains the House of Representatives and the Senate who both have to agree on laws before they are passed - President can veto these

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4
Q

Senate

A

Upper chamber of congress - they’re voted by the state and there are 2 senators per state guaranteeing equal representation

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5
Q

House of Representatives

A

Lower chamber of congress - youre voted by the state, the size of the state dictates the number of representatives in the chamber - bigger state means more representation and vice versa

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6
Q

Reactionary

A

They only make change if it is needed not for no reason

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7
Q

Democracy

A

A system of government where the whole population or all eligible members of a state has a say, typically through elected representatives who vote for their constituents in Congress rather than the members of the states themselves

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8
Q

Why is the US a democracy?

A

They had just led a revolution to remove the monarchy and wanted to be free and vote as they wanted which is the opposite of what was allowed during King George’s times

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9
Q

When was the US constitution created?

A

1787

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10
Q

Can the US constitution be changed easily? Why?

A

No it cannot, this is because legislation can be declared unconstitutional meaning that the constitution near impossible to change

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11
Q

Does the US have a separation of powers? Why?

A

Yes it does, so that the power of the President can be checked, members of the Supreme Court can be nominated by presidents and approved by senate and the president can only serve 2 4-year terms (passed after Roosevelt’s death) - made up of judicial branch, executive branch and judicial branch

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12
Q

Is the US a republic or a monarchy?

A

A republic - president is the head of state not a king or queen

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13
Q

How did the founding fathers try to stop a future president from becoming a dictator?

A

They introduced the US constitution and created a separation of powers and checks and balances

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14
Q

What are the 2 main political party’s in the US?

A

Republicans
Democrats

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15
Q

What were 3 key influences on US politics?

A

The American Civil War
The situation of US minorities and especially the blacks
WWI

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16
Q

When was the American Civil War?

A

1861-1864

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17
Q

How did the American Civil War influence US politics?

A

It divided the US
The reconciliation of the south after the war with the northern states was never completed - the northern states won
The south was left bitter and not as economically developed the north - this is still impactful today with southern states being very obviously less developed
Slavery was abolished in 1865 by Abraham Lincoln - leading to his assassination - impacted civil rights movement but showed the idea of equality with black people wasn’t common

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18
Q

Why was there an American Civil War?

A

The disagreement between southern and northern states on slavery, economic policies and the role of the federal government

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19
Q

How did the situation of US minorities and especially the Blacks influence US politics?

A

The Blacks were discriminated against by law and by custom e.g. lack of rights, slavery etc. - meant that for years black people didnt have equal rights
Mainly discriminated against by law in the south of the US (de jure) - racism still more popular in south than in north
Mainly discriminated against by custom in the North of the US (de facto)
Native Americans were also forced into reserves and lost their historical lands - still used today, most Native Americans still live in reserves

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20
Q

How did WWI influence US politics?

A

The US became even more isolationist than they were before 1917
Led to the use of isolationism in the US
This was mainly because the Americans thought they were conned into joining WWI by the British and their own arms making companies

21
Q

How many Native American reserves are still present today?

A

326

22
Q

What is communism?

A

Communism is a political viewpoint that was created by Karl Marx (and Engles, who helped summarise and clarify Marx’s ideas) - they believe in fairness and equality for all, they also believe there should only be one political party and that everyone should work for the state.

23
Q

Where is communism in the stages of a society’s development, in an ideal world?

A

It is the final stage in a society’s development after the government has been abolished - the most ideal and perfect way a society should be

24
Q

What are the stages of society’s development?

A
  1. Primitive communism - cavemen etc.
  2. Feudalism
  3. Capitalism
  4. Socialism
  5. Communism (once the government is destroyed)
25
Q

What is the symbol for communism? What does it represent?

A

A hammer - for the workers
A sickle - for the peasants and the farm labourers

26
Q

When were there communist revolution in Russia?

A

1905-1917

27
Q

When was the most impactful communist revolution led in Russia? What did this lead to and what was the impact of this?

A

1917 - the USSR was created after the monarchy was abolished in the communist revolution when the bolsheviks took power - this shocked the world and worldwide revolutions began by workers against their capitalist masters

28
Q

Why was there a Red Scare?

A

-Americans were big capitalists - they wanted to keep what they worked for and the idea of losing everything scared them
-Communism got rid of political opposition - Americans believed in a democracy and free elections

29
Q

How did the end of the Bolshevik revolution and the end of WWI play a role in the built up of the red scare?

A

Increased the red scare - Bolshevik’s came to USA which spread the ideology of communism - creation of the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labour Party - created fear

30
Q

When did the Bolshevik revolution and WWI end?

A

November 11 1918

31
Q

Why did unemployment rate rise after WWI? How did this increase the red scare?

A

Unemployment rates rose as 4 million soldiers returned from war - it led to strikes and inflation rose which led to even more strikes - Marxists known for strikes

32
Q

How many soldiers came back to the US after WWI?

A

4 million

33
Q

When was the Russian revolution? Who led it?

A

1917 - Russian revolution led by Lenin and Trotsky

34
Q

Why did the Russian revolution increase the red scare?

A

Communism made workers and labour unions, so in the USA they believed the communists could overthrow capitalism to gain management over working conditions to introduce unions and showed the great power of communism and the mass movement it could gain

35
Q

When was the general strike? How many people partook in them?

A

Feb 6 1919 - 60,000 general strikers

36
Q

Why did the general strike increase the red scare?

A

The strikers were labelled as ‘reds’ who were attempting to establish communism in USA - created fear amongst the rich and powerful and made the communists seem aggressive

37
Q

How did the government deal with the strike?

A

After 5 days, 30,000 policemen and troops were sent to stop the strike

38
Q

What did Charles Ruthenberg do? When?

A

May 1st 1919 - Charles Ruthenburg gathered unionists, communists, anarchists and socialists to protests against the jailing of Eugene Debs

39
Q

Who was Eugene Debs?

A

A radical socialist

40
Q

What happened to the revolt led by Ruthenberg?

A

Tanks and police stopped it

41
Q

When did steel workers strike?

A

September 22nd 1919

42
Q

How many steel workers striked?

A

275,000 steel workers withdrew from their jobs

43
Q

Why did the steel workers strike? Why did this generate more fear?

A

They withdrew from jobs as they wanted more unions but also because the bad working conditions that didnt improve after WWI - generated more fear as it showed that the idea of unions was growing more popular, communism and its ideas gaining more support

44
Q

How many strikes were there in 1919? Give an example of a strike that occurred that hasnt been mentioned yet.

A

1919 - more than 3600 strikes e.g. 21 Jan 1919, 35,000 shipyard strikers in Seattle

45
Q

How many bombs were sent to anti anarchists? An example of someone who one was sent to

A

36 bombs - sent to anti anarchists officials and company owners e.g. John D Rockefeller

46
Q

Who was John D Rockefeller?

A

An oil rig owner

47
Q

When were there police strikes in Boston? Why? How did the influence the red scare?

A

1919 - police strikes in Boston - they were seeking recognition for their trade union and improvements in wages and working conditions - even those who were meant to be protecting the people of America and its capitalist system, were revolting against it which caused fear to the government

48
Q

How did the Boston strikes impact America?

A

It caused disruptions, havoc and was just dangerous in general

49
Q
A
  • Businesses sacked employees, anti communists feeling escalated, people no longer felt free to express their opinions, KKK targeted groups who were unamerican like communists, 556 people actually deported for being communists after many reports from neighbours
  • Due to the bombs being sent in letters, it caused fear and paranoia - letters had to be checked before someone got them
  • Woodrow Wilson used espionage act of 1917 and the sedition act of 1918 - lead to labour disputes and disloyalty of America becoming illegal and allowed the deportation of innocent immigrants
  • General Palmer and J Edgar Hoover were appointed to use the acts to incarcerate, deport or fine people or organisations that had Bolshevik conspiracies - were so on edge that they started to send people with the slightest connection to communism, particularly in the palmer raids where thousands arrested 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists
  • 247 communists and anarchists were deported in the soviet arc - showed that most arrested were innocent and it was mainly just intimidation that led to the government arresting these people
  • Palmer thought that on May Day 1920 there would be more attacks and bombings as the protests ceased (after the first red scare, anti communism feelings never fully went away), but it passes and there is no attacks or protests - Palmer as a result gets fired from his position - there was a build up of unnecessary fear
  • USA under high stress bent laws in order to reinforce them (free speech bill didnt matter) - showed that the US government was some what biased and stubborn when it comes to communism
  • Republicans kept on being elected - they were on the other end of the political spectrum of communism
  • The impacts were unnecessarily negative - the people who protested just protected to have better working conditions not becuase they were communists - discrimination against the lower class who rioted to have better working conditions

a-level History - America P1 (2 decks)

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