College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) History and Social Sciences Flashcards

24 sample cards from the History and Social Sciences deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What was Manifest Destiny?

   The 19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent.

2. What 1820 agreement admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain Senate balance?

   The Missouri Compromise.

3. What was the Emancipation Proclamation (1863)?

   Lincoln's order declaring enslaved people in Confederate-held territory to be free.

4. Which three Reconstruction amendments abolished slavery, granted citizenship, and protected voting rights regardless of race?

   The 13th (abolished slavery), 14th (citizenship/equal protection), and 15th (voting rights regardless of race).

5. What were the Jim Crow laws?

   State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South after Reconstruction.

6. What was the Gilded Age?

   The late-19th-century era of rapid industrialization, big-business growth, wealth inequality, and political corruption.

7. What is laissez-faire economics?

   The doctrine that government should minimally interfere in the economy and allow markets to operate freely.

8. What was the main goal of the Progressive movement (1890s-1920s)?

   To reform government and society by curbing corruption, regulating business, and addressing problems caused by industrialization and urbanization.

9. What U.S. event in 1898 marked its emergence as an imperial power, gaining Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines?

   The Spanish-American War.

10. What economic event began with the 1929 stock market crash?

    The Great Depression.

11. What was the New Deal?

    Franklin D. Roosevelt's program of relief, recovery, and reform measures to combat the Great Depression.

12. What 1941 attack brought the United States into World War II?

    The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

13. What was the policy of containment during the Cold War?

    The U.S. strategy of preventing the spread of communism beyond where it already existed.

14. What 1964 law banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin?

    The Civil Rights Act of 1964.

15. Which ancient civilization is credited with developing democracy in the city-state of Athens?

    Ancient Greece.

16. What body of law, codified under Emperor Justinian, became the foundation of many Western legal systems?

    Roman law (the Corpus Juris Civilis / Justinian's Code).

17. What was feudalism in medieval Europe?

    A hierarchical social and economic system in which land was exchanged for military service and labor, binding lords, vassals, and serfs.

18. What 16th-century movement, begun by Martin Luther in 1517, split Western Christianity?

    The Protestant Reformation.

19. What was the Enlightenment?

    An 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, individual rights, and challenges to traditional authority.

20. What technological and economic transformation began in late-18th-century Britain with mechanized manufacturing?

    The Industrial Revolution.

21. What three independent variables define an experiment's ability to establish causation in scientific method?

    A manipulated independent variable, a measured dependent variable, and controlled (held-constant) variables, ideally with random assignment.

22. In neuroscience, what is the function of a neuron's axon versus its dendrites?

    Dendrites receive incoming signals; the axon transmits the signal away from the cell body to other neurons.

23. What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning?

    Classical conditioning pairs a neutral stimulus with a reflexive response (Pavlov); operant conditioning changes behavior through reinforcement and punishment (Skinner).

24. What is the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable in sociological/psychological research?

    The independent variable is the presumed cause that is manipulated or measured; the dependent variable is the outcome that is observed to change.

What this deck covers

History and Social Sciences flashcards FAQ