Cultural literacy

first amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances

Seven Deadly Sins

Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Sloth, Wrath

Quid pro quo

Latin term for "something for something", you do me a favor I expect something in return

E Pluribus Unun

Latin term meaning out of the many one, out of 13 colonies one country

Tower of Babel

Old Testament version of how language originated; people wanted to built a tower of heaven; God destroyed the tower and the people dispersed all over the world and that s how people started different languages

Type A personality

people who are usually outgoing, ambitious, originally organized, high achiever

Incorporation

portions of the first 10 amendments are made applicable to the states through the due process clause

judicial review

power of the Supreme Court to validate or invalidate acts of the executive branch, the legislative branch, or the lower courts; thus, invalidating the will of the people

enumerated powers

powers granted by the United States that are listed in article 1 section 8 of the constitution; an example is the air force

Gentrification

process of middle and upper class people moving into neighborhoods, property values go up and taxes go up, more businesses start to move in, the lower class is pushed out

Mandela effect

remembering something on way but it's not the way it happened, jif peanut butter

Article IV

requires all states to honor the laws, judgments, and public documents of every state

five provisions of the United States constitution

rule of law, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, bill of rights

Melancholy

sad, dismal usually for no cause

Freudian slip (law)

saying a subconscious thought that you shouldn't say

due process clause

states can't deprive any person life, liberty, or property without due process of the law, habeas corpus rights

Rule of law

the United States is a nation of laws, nobody is above the law, the United States constitution is the supreme law of the land, no law can contradict the constitution, when somebody does something wrong, you seek justice in the court system

Diaspora

the dispersion of any people from their home land ; an example is the Irish potato famine

Federalism

the division of powers between the federal and state government; one federal power is congress can declare war, shared (concurrent power) is collect taxes, state power is set up schools

Thurgood Marshell

the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court, known for a brown vs board of education

Sputnik

the first artificial satellite in space launched by the Soviet Union which started the Space Race which led to the United States creating NASA

1914-1918

the first years of the First World War, also known as the Great War, fought between the allied and central powers

Congressional Medal of Honor

the highest award in the United States military, congress awards the medal, the president gives it to you, the award is given to people who go above and beyond the call of duty

Osama Bin Laden

the leader of the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda and is known and responsible for the attacks on 9/11, he was killed by American troops in Pakistan

Mason-Dixon Line

the line that separates the north and the south

Oval Office

the office of the president of the united states of america located in the west wing of the White House

Articles of Confederation

the original constitution of the United States, the treason why it failed is because there were no federal powers only state powers

10th Amendment

the powers not delegated to the United States constitution, nor prohibited by the states

electoral college

the way we elect the President and vide president in the United States, it's a winner take all system, it is in the constitution, need 270 to win

1939-1945

the years of the second world war fought between the Allied powers and the axis powers

Pandora's box

told not to open the box but she opened the box, when the box was opened all the evils came out into the world

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

two cities in Japan that the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs that stopped the 2nd world war. Batman and Hittler plane

Bible Belt

a string of states that goes fro the Southeast to the Midwest that are usually politically and socially conservative, Baptist and Methodist, used to be called the solid South

Subpeona

a writ ordering you to go to court either to provide testimony or give evidence

Led Harvey Oswald

accused of assassinating JFK

V.J. Day

acronym which stands for victory in Japan day which signifies the end of World War II in the Pacific

Neil Armstrong

an American person who was the first person to walk on the moon in 1969, affirmative action is up to the states, Michigan banned affirmative action

G.O.P

an acronym that stands for the grand old party, anonymous, Republican party

The state of the Union

an annual speech by the president of the United States in front of a joint session of Congress, ends with the state of the Union is strong, mandated by the the constitution, entire government comes

hyperbole

an extreme exaggeration not to be taken literally; i'm so hungry i could eat a horse

Lame Duck

an outgoing elected official from the time of the election to the inauguration of the next official

President pro tempore

becomes president if both president and Vice President die

The 14th amendment

citizenship, places broad restrictions on the power of states to infringe on the rights and liberties of citizens, equal protect clause, due process clause, incorporation

necessary and proper clause/elastic clause

congress has the power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers vested by this constitution in the government of the United States, or in why department of officer thereof"

The fortune 500

500 most profitable companies in the United States ranked by fortune magazine, for example amazon

1776

American declared independence from Britain through the Declaration of Independence

Martin Luther

German Catholic priest, began the Protestant reformation (revolution), had many problems with the Catholic Church and had the 95 thesis

executive privilege

President or any executive cannot legally be forced to disclose their confidential communication to courts or the legislative branch when it would adverse government operations and decision making

Ninth amendment

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people (privacy, voting, and travel); court tries to stay away from the ninth amendment because anything can become a right, forgotten amendment, mostly use due process clause in the 14th amendment

The bill of rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Commerce clause

U.S. Congress has the power to regulate trade with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes; Katzenbach vs McClung, United States vs Lopez, used often with necessary and proper clause

W.A.S.P.

White Anglo Saxon Protestant

1861-1865

Years of the American Civil War fought between the northern states of America and the confederate states of america

Carpe Dien

a Latin term that means seize the day and how it means live life to the fullesg

Simile

a figure of speech comparing two unlike things using like or as

state of emergency

deemed by the President or any executive if something threatens the health or safety of the citizens, must notify congress and habeas corpus rights can be taken away

Bay of Pigs

failed invasion of Cuba, CIA recruited Cubans to take down Cuba, they were captured and killed

Louvre

famous art museum in Paris, France; houses works

xenophobia

fear, distrust, prejudice of people from another country

executive orders

federal directive by the President that had the full force of the law, not legislation, not mentioned in the constitution

Jackie Robinson

first African American baseball player to integrate Major League Baseball, number 42, played for the Brooklyn dodgers

Sandra Day O'Connor

first female Supreme Court justice appointed by Ronald Reagan

Lincoln, McKinley, Garfield, JFK

four presidents of the United States who assassinated during their times in office

implied powers

framers realized that they couldn't name every power that the government would need

equal protection clause

guarantees that all citizens would have the guaranteed right to equal to protection by law, originally for freed slaves

Supreme Court justices

interpret the Constituion, different judicial philosophies, example originalism

Genius of the document

it can be amended, it gives states their own rights, states have their own powers through federalism, language is vague enough to be interpreted differently

originalism

judicial philosophy that interprets the constitution as it is written and anything not in the constitution goes to the state, supported by the 10th amendment

Articles IV, Section 2

keeps states from discriminating against people from another state, can reasonably discriminate (out of state tuition)

Blue laws

known as laws prohibiting certain activities on Sunday

Civil Rights Act of 1964

legislation signed by President Lyndon b Johnson that bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and sexual identification in public places (accommodation)

Blue Collar Worker

manual labor and usually gets paid by the hour, for example enlightened despot

"Pot Calling the Kettle Black"

means criticizing someone for something you have

Alma Matter

means nourishing mother in Latin, today it's used as a school you graduated from