Vocab Flashcards
Revolution
The forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system,
Ideology
The ideas and manner of thinking characteristic of a group, social class, or individual; the study of their origin and nature.
Manifest Destiny
19th century belief or doctrine that the expansion of the US throughout the continent was both justified and inevitable.
Utopia
A place or state of things in which everything is perfect.
Dystopia
A place or state of things in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.
Inalienable
Unable to be taken away from or given away by the possessor.
Secede
Withdraw formally from a membership in a federal union, an alliance, or a political or religious organization.
Bill of Rights
A statement of the rights of a class of people; the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship.
Republic
A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
Reconstruction
The period 1865–77 following the Civil War, during which the states of the Confederacy were controlled by the federal government and social legislation, including the granting of new rights to African-Americans, was introduced.
Reservation
An area of land set aside for occupation by North American Indians.
Gettysburg Address
A three-minute address by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg (November 19, 1863).
Soliloquy
An act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, esp. by a character in a play.
Plebeians
(in ancient Rome) a commoner.
Allusion
An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
Hijab (veil)
A head covering worn in public by some Muslim women.
Amendment
An article added to the US Constitution.
Preamble
The introductory part of a statute or deed, stating its purpose, aims, and justification (specifically in relation to the US Constitution).
Abolition
The abolishment of slavery.
Portentous
Of or like a sign or warning that something, esp. something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen.
Symbol
A thing that represents or stands for something else, esp. a material object representing something abstract.
Oratory
The art or practice of formal speaking in public.
Emancipation Proclamation
The proclamation issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, freeing the slaves in those territories still in rebellion against the Union.
Frontier
The extreme limit of settled land beyond which lies wilderness, esp. referring to the western US before Pacific settlement.
