GED (General Educational Development) Social Studies Syllabus

What rights does the Fifth Amendment protect for the accused?

Protection against self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; it also requires just compensation for taken property.

What does the Fourth Amendment protect against?

Unreasonable searches and seizures; it generally requires that warrants be based on probable cause.

What is the difference between a U.S. citizen by birth and by naturalization?

A birthright citizen is born in the U.S. (or to U.S.-citizen parents); a naturalized citizen is a foreign-born person who legally becomes a citizen through an application process.

Which constitutional amendment guarantees that the right to vote cannot be denied based on race?

The Fifteenth Amendment (1870).

Which amendment guaranteed women the right to vote, and in what year?

The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920.

What is the difference between a direct democracy and a representative democracy (republic)?

In a direct democracy citizens vote on laws themselves; in a representative democracy citizens elect officials to make laws on their behalf.

What was the Mayflower Compact and why was it significant?

A 1620 agreement by the Pilgrims to govern themselves by majority rule—an early example of self-government and consent of the governed in the colonies.

What was the significance of the Declaration of Independence (1776)?

It formally announced the American colonies' separation from Britain and asserted that all men are created equal with unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

What does 'no taxation without representation' mean in the context of the American Revolution?

Colonists objected to being taxed by the British Parliament when they had no elected representatives in it—a key grievance leading to the Revolution.

What was the Emancipation Proclamation (1863)?

President Lincoln's order declaring enslaved people in Confederate-held states to be free, shifting the Civil War toward ending slavery.

Which amendment abolished slavery in the United States?

The Thirteenth Amendment (1865).

What was Reconstruction?

The period (1865-1877) after the Civil War during which the South was rebuilt and reintegrated, and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments expanded rights for formerly enslaved people.

What were Jim Crow laws?

State and local laws in the South that enforced racial segregation and discrimination against Black Americans after Reconstruction.

What characterized the Industrial Revolution in the United States?

A shift from agricultural and handmade production to mechanized factory production, leading to urbanization, new industries, and the growth of big business.

Why did large waves of immigrants come to the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s?

To escape poverty, famine, and persecution and to seek economic opportunity and jobs in growing American industries and cities.

What was the Progressive Era?

A reform period (roughly 1890s-1920s) aimed at curbing corruption, regulating big business, improving labor conditions, and expanding democracy.

What was the Great Depression and when did it begin?

A severe worldwide economic collapse that began with the U.S. stock market crash of 1929, causing mass unemployment, bank failures, and poverty.

What was the New Deal?

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's set of programs in the 1930s to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression (e.g., Social Security, public works jobs).

What event brought the United States into World War II?

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

What was the significance of Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?

The Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, overturning the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplish?

It outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment and public accommodations.

What is the economic concept of scarcity?

The condition that resources are limited while human wants are unlimited, forcing individuals and societies to make choices.

What is opportunity cost?

The value of the next-best alternative given up when a choice is made.

How does the law of supply and demand determine price in a market?

Price tends to settle at equilibrium, where the quantity buyers demand equals the quantity sellers supply; shortages push prices up and surpluses push prices down.

What are the three main functions of money?

A medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account (a measure of worth).

What is inflation?

A sustained rise in the general level of prices over time, which reduces the purchasing power of money.

What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

The total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a given period, used to measure the size of an economy.

What is the difference between fiscal policy and monetary policy?

Fiscal policy is the government's use of taxing and spending to influence the economy; monetary policy is the central bank's (Federal Reserve's) control of the money supply and interest rates.

What is the difference between a budget surplus and a budget deficit?

A surplus occurs when income exceeds spending; a deficit occurs when spending exceeds income.

In personal finance, what is the difference between a credit card and a debit card?

A debit card spends money you already have in your account; a credit card borrows money that must be repaid, often with interest if not paid in full.

What is compound interest?

Interest calculated on both the original principal and the accumulated interest, causing savings or debt to grow faster over time.

What is the difference between human geography and physical geography?

Physical geography studies natural features (landforms, climate, water); human geography studies people and their activities (population, culture, cities, economies).

What do latitude and longitude measure on a map?

Latitude measures distance north or south of the Equator; longitude measures distance east or west of the Prime Meridian.

What are push factors and pull factors in migration?

Push factors drive people away from a place (war, poverty, disaster); pull factors attract people to a new place (jobs, safety, opportunity).

What is population density?

The average number of people living per unit of area (e.g., per square mile), calculated by dividing total population by land area.

What is urbanization?

The growth in the proportion of people living in cities, often due to migration from rural areas in search of work and services.

Give one example of how humans modify the physical environment and one of how the environment affects human activity.

Humans modify the environment by building dams or clearing forests; the environment affects humans when climate or natural resources determine where people farm or settle.

What is globalization?

The increasing interconnection of countries through trade, technology, communication, and the movement of people, goods, and ideas across the world.

What is one major benefit and one major drawback of globalization?

A benefit is access to wider markets and cheaper goods; a drawback is loss of local jobs or industries and increased economic interdependence/vulnerability.