US History Exam Guide: Key Points

Early American Settlers

• Settlers came from Asia via the Bering Sea, 20,000-30,000 years ago.
• First European settlers were Vikings, predating Columbus.

European Interests and Exploration

• Crusades initiated contact with Asian wealth.
• Constantinople's fall led to new routes to India and China.
• Advances: caravel, compass, astrolabe, gunpowder.
• Henry the Navigator's school in Lisbon.
• Vasco Da Gama first to sail around Africa.

Columbus and Meso-America

• Columbus funded by Spain, mistakenly thought he reached India.
• Meso-American tribes: Mayas, Aztecs, Incas.
• Social hierarchy, human sacrifice for bounty.

Colonization and Conquistadors

• John Cabot's discovery claimed Canada for England.
• Treaty of Tordesillas supported Spanish conquests.
• Hernán Cortez conquered the Aztecs.
• Columbian Exchange: diseases, livestock, crops.

Religious Reformation

• Corruption in the Catholic Church.
• Martin Luther's 95 Theses.
• John Calvin's predestination doctrine.

Early American Colonies

• Toleration Act of 1649 attracted Calvinists to New England.
• Puritans sought to purify the church.
• Pilgrims sought religious journeys.

Politics and Revolution

• First legislative house in Plymouth, Virginia 1649.
• Great Awakening: religious revival.

American Revolution

• British Acts: Stamp, Townshend, Tea, Intolerable.
• Declaration of Independence 1776.

Key Figures

• George Washington, first president, led Continental Army.

Post-Revolution America

• Constitution: checks and balances.
• Articles 1-3 detail government structure.

Civil War

• Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
• Key battles: Gettysburg, Antietam, Vicksburg.

Reconstruction

• Amendments: 13th (abolish slavery), 14th (citizenship), 15th (voting rights).
• Andrew Johnson's presidency faced impeachment.

Economic Expansion

• Massive capital influx, railroads expanded.
• Key industrial figures: Carnegie (steel), Rockefeller (oil).

Progressive Era

• Reforms: women's suffrage, child labor laws.
• Muckrakers exposed social issues.

World Wars

• US neutrality in WWI; later joined due to Lusitania sinking, Zimmerman Telegram.
• WWI aftermath led to economic boom in the 1920s.

Great Depression and New Deal

• Stock market crash (Black Friday) led to economic hardship.
• New Deal programs aimed to recover economy.

Post-WWII Boom

• Economic boom due to pent-up consumer demand.
• Rise in GNP and living standards.