Your FREE Praxis 5004 Flashcards 2026 – 200+ Cards

The 1776 document, drafted mainly by Thomas Jefferson, that announced the thirteen colonies' separation from Britain and asserted the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Rights that cannot be taken away or given up — named in the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The supreme law of the United States, ratified in 1788, that establishes the framework of the federal government and the limits of its power.

The opening statement of the Constitution beginning 'We the People,' which sets out the document's purposes, such as to 'form a more perfect Union' and 'promote the general Welfare.'

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, that guarantee individual liberties such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.

Protects five freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition of the government.

The first U.S. government framework (1781), which created a weak central government with no power to tax and was replaced by the Constitution.

The division of government into three branches — legislative, executive, and judicial — so that no single branch holds all power.

Congress — the Senate and the House of Representatives — which makes federal laws, declares war, and controls spending.

Headed by the President, it carries out and enforces federal laws and includes the Cabinet and federal agencies.

The federal court system, led by the Supreme Court, which interprets laws and decides whether they are constitutional.

The system that lets each branch of government limit the others — for example, the President can veto laws and the Senate confirms appointments.

The sharing of power between a national (federal) government and state governments.

The President's power to reject a bill passed by Congress; Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both houses.

The bicameral federal legislature, made up of the Senate (two per state) and the House of Representatives (apportioned by population).

The upper house of Congress with two members from each state, regardless of population, serving six-year terms.

The lower house of Congress whose 435 seats are apportioned among the states by population, with members serving two-year terms.

The highest federal court, which has final authority to interpret the Constitution; its justices are appointed for life.

The power of courts to declare laws or government actions unconstitutional, established in Marbury v. Madison (1803).

Changing the Constitution typically requires a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

The legal process by which an immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, including residency, a civics test, and an oath of allegiance.

U.S. citizenship granted to anyone born on U.S. soil, guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Duties such as obeying laws, paying taxes, serving on juries, and registering for selective service; voting is a right and civic duty.

The right to vote; expanded over time by the 15th (race), 19th (women), 24th (no poll tax), and 26th (age 18) Amendments.

The body that formally elects the President; each state's electors equal its number of senators plus representatives.

An organized group that seeks to win elections and control government; the two major U.S. parties are the Democrats and Republicans.

The principle that everyone, including leaders, is subject to and accountable under the law.

The idea that government's authority comes from the consent of the people.

The principle that government power is restricted by law, usually through a written constitution.

The period (1607–1776) when thirteen British colonies were established along the Atlantic coast of North America.

Founded in 1607 in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims, who signed the Mayflower Compact, an early agreement on self-government.

The 1620 agreement by Pilgrims to govern themselves by majority rule — an early model of self-government.

The colonial-era trade network linking the Americas, Europe, and Africa that exchanged goods, raw materials, and enslaved people.

The 1775–1783 war in which the thirteen colonies won independence from Great Britain.

A 1773 protest in which colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to oppose taxation without representation.

The colonial slogan protesting British taxes imposed without colonial representation in Parliament.

Commander of the Continental Army and the first President of the United States.

Principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States.

The treaty that ended the American Revolution and recognized U.S. independence from Britain.

The 1803 acquisition from France that doubled the size of the United States.

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

The 1800s movement of settlers across the continent, aided by the Oregon Trail and the transcontinental railroad.

The forced 1830s removal of Cherokee and other Native nations from the Southeast, during which thousands died.

The shift to factory-based manufacturing in the 1800s that transformed the U.S. economy and spurred urban growth.

The movement to end slavery, led by figures such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

The 1861–1865 war between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South), fought largely over slavery and states' rights.

Lincoln's 1863 order declaring enslaved people in Confederate states to be free.

President during the Civil War who preserved the Union and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The 1865–1877 period of rebuilding the South and integrating formerly enslaved people, including the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

The 1865 amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

The 1868 amendment granting citizenship and equal protection of the laws to all persons born in the U.S.

The 1870 amendment prohibiting denial of the vote based on race.

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South from Reconstruction until the mid-20th century.

A wave of newcomers, many entering through Ellis Island, who supplied labor for industry and reshaped U.S. cities.

An early-1900s reform movement that fought corruption and improved labor, food, and political conditions.

The 1920 amendment that guaranteed women the right to vote.

The U.S. entered in 1917, helping the Allies win and emerging as a world power.

The severe economic downturn beginning with the 1929 stock market crash, causing mass unemployment in the 1930s.

President Franklin Roosevelt's 1930s programs to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression.

President during the Great Depression and most of World War II, known for the New Deal.

The U.S. entered after Pearl Harbor (1941), helping defeat the Axis powers by 1945.

The 1941 Japanese attack on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii that brought the United States into World War II.

The post-WWII rivalry (roughly 1947–1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union over political and economic systems.

The 1950s–1960s struggle to end racial segregation and secure equal rights for Black Americans.

A leader of the Civil Rights Movement who advocated nonviolent protest and delivered the 'I Have a Dream' speech (1963).

Landmark law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Civil-rights activist whose 1955 refusal to give up her bus seat sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Federal law that banned discriminatory voting practices such as literacy tests.

The constitutional agreement counting three-fifths of a state's enslaved population for representation and taxation.

The 1787 agreement creating a bicameral Congress: equal Senate representation and population-based House representation.

Essays by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay arguing for ratification of the Constitution.

Opponents of the Constitution who feared a strong central government and pushed for a Bill of Rights.

The constitutional guarantee that the government must follow fair legal procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property.

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantee that states must treat people equally under the law.

A legal protection requiring that a detained person be brought before a court to determine whether the detention is lawful.

The 1787 Philadelphia meeting where delegates drafted the U.S. Constitution.

The group of department heads who advise the President and lead the executive agencies.

The constitutional process by which the House charges, and the Senate tries, a federal official for serious misconduct.

Loyalty to the interests of one region over the nation, a key tension between North and South before the Civil War.

The idea that states retain powers not delegated to the federal government, a major issue leading to the Civil War.

The 1823 policy warning European powers against new colonization or interference in the Americas.

Completed in 1869, it linked the eastern and western United States and accelerated settlement and trade.

The decades-long campaign, led by activists such as Susan B. Anthony, that won women the right to vote in 1920.

A formerly enslaved man who became a leading abolitionist writer and speaker.

An escaped enslaved woman who guided others to freedom via the Underground Railroad.

A secret network of routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape to free states and Canada.

A lawmaking body with two chambers; the U.S. Congress has the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Ways citizens take part in government, such as voting, volunteering, contacting officials, and serving on juries.

Imaginary horizontal lines that measure distance north or south of the equator, expressed in degrees.

Imaginary vertical lines that measure distance east or west of the prime meridian, expressed in degrees.

The line of 0° latitude that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

The line of 0° longitude, running through Greenwich, England, that divides Earth into Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

The part of a map that explains what its symbols, colors, and lines represent.

A map symbol showing the cardinal directions — north, south, east, and west.

The ratio that relates distance on a map to actual distance on the ground.

The four main points of a compass: north, south, east, and west.

The points between the cardinal directions: northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest.

A map that shows natural features such as mountains, rivers, and elevation.

A map that shows human-made boundaries such as countries, states, and cities.

Half of Earth — Northern/Southern divided by the equator, or Eastern/Western divided by the prime meridian.

One of Earth's seven large landmasses: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

A natural feature of Earth's surface, such as a mountain, plateau, valley, plain, or peninsula.

A piece of land nearly surrounded by water but connected to a larger landmass.

A flat, elevated landform that rises sharply above the surrounding area.

A large area of flat or gently rolling land, often used for farming.

A fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed where a river empties into a larger body of water.

A smaller stream or river that flows into a larger one.

The typical pattern of temperature and precipitation in a region over a long period of time.

Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere; climate is the long-term average of weather in a place.

An area defined by shared characteristics, such as climate, landforms, language, or economy.

Materials from nature that people use, such as water, timber, minerals, and fossil fuels.

A resource that can be replenished naturally over a short time, such as sunlight, wind, or water.

A resource that exists in limited supply and is not replaced quickly, such as coal, oil, or natural gas.

The ways people adapt to, depend on, and modify their physical surroundings.

How people adjust their behavior or technology to live in a particular environment, such as building irrigation in dry regions.

The movement of people from one place to another to live, often driven by jobs, climate, or conflict.

Reasons people migrate: push factors drive people away (war, famine); pull factors attract them (jobs, safety).

The growth of cities as people move from rural areas to urban centers.

The number of people living in a given area, usually expressed as people per square mile or kilometer.

Location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region — a framework for studying geography.

The exact position of a place, given by its latitude and longitude coordinates.

Where a place is in relation to other places, such as 'north of the river.'

A three-dimensional model of Earth that shows its true shape, sizes, and distances more accurately than a flat map.

A method of showing the round Earth on a flat map, which always distorts size, shape, or distance.

A region of Earth that shares the same standard time, based on lines of longitude.

The study of human cultures, societies, and their development over time.

The shared beliefs, customs, values, language, and ways of life of a group of people.

The spread of cultural ideas, goods, and practices from one group or region to another.

An object made or used by people in the past that helps us learn about their culture.

A custom or belief passed down through generations within a culture.

A shared cultural identity based on common ancestry, language, religion, or nationality.

The study of human society, social groups, and how people interact within them.

The lifelong process by which people learn the norms, values, and behaviors of their society.

An established structure that meets a society's needs, such as the family, school, government, or religion.

The shared rules and expectations that guide behavior within a society.

The ideas a society holds about what is good, right, and desirable.

Two or more people who interact and share a sense of belonging, such as a family or team.

A group of people who live in the same area or share common interests and institutions.

The expected behavior that comes with a person's position in society, such as parent, student, or worker.

The statistical study of human populations, including size, growth, and distribution.

Computer technology that stores, maps, and analyzes geographic data.

A map that uses contour lines to show the elevation and shape of the land.

Broad regions defined by typical temperature and precipitation, such as tropical, temperate, and polar.

A community of living things interacting with one another and their physical environment.

The careful use and protection of natural resources to prevent waste or depletion.

The gradual wearing away and movement of soil and rock by wind, water, or ice.

An area where people share common cultural traits such as language, religion, or way of life.

The original inhabitants of a region, whose cultures developed there before later settlers arrived.

An ancient civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, often called the 'cradle of civilization.'

A region of rich farmland in the Middle East where some of the earliest civilizations arose.

A civilization along the Nile River known for pharaohs, pyramids, and hieroglyphic writing.

The river whose annual floods made farming possible and sustained ancient Egyptian civilization.

The ancient Egyptian writing system that used pictures and symbols to represent sounds and ideas.

A civilization known for democracy, philosophy, and the arts, centered on city-states like Athens and Sparta.

An early form of direct democracy in ancient Athens in which male citizens voted on laws.

A civilization that grew from a republic into an empire and influenced law, government, and engineering.

Rome's government before the empire, in which elected senators and officials shared power.

A civilization that developed along the Huang He (Yellow River) and produced inventions such as paper and the compass.

A network of trade routes connecting China to the Middle East and Europe, spreading goods and ideas.

The period in Europe (roughly 500–1500 CE) marked by feudalism, the power of the Church, and limited trade.

The medieval system in which lords granted land to vassals in exchange for military service and loyalty.

A 14th–17th-century European rebirth of art, learning, and science that revived classical ideas.

Gutenberg's 15th-century invention that allowed books to be mass-produced and spread knowledge widely.

The 15th–17th-century period when European nations explored and colonized distant lands by sea.

The transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Americas and the rest of the world after 1492.

The explorer whose 1492 voyage opened lasting contact between Europe and the Americas.

The shift, beginning in Britain in the late 1700s, from hand production to machine and factory manufacturing.

A global war (1914–1918) fought largely in Europe between the Allied and Central Powers.

A global war (1939–1945) between the Allied and Axis powers, the deadliest conflict in history.

An international organization founded in 1945 to promote peace, security, and cooperation among nations.

The study of how people produce, distribute, and consume goods and services with limited resources.

The basic economic problem that resources are limited while people's wants are unlimited.

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

The amount of a good or service that producers are willing to offer at various prices.

The amount of a good or service that consumers are willing to buy at various prices.

Prices tend to rise when demand exceeds supply and fall when supply exceeds demand.

The price at which the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded.

Goods are physical products you can touch; services are activities people perform for others.

Producers make goods and services; consumers buy and use them.

An economic system in which prices and production are driven by supply, demand, and private decisions.

An economic system in which the government controls what is produced and at what price.

An economic system that combines free markets with some government regulation, as in the United States.

A medium of exchange that people accept in trade; it also serves as a store of value and a unit of account.

Trading goods or services directly for other goods or services without using money.

The exchange of goods and services between people, businesses, or nations.

Imports are goods bought from other countries; exports are goods sold to other countries.

A tax placed on imported goods, often to protect domestic producers or raise revenue.

Focusing on producing a limited range of goods or services to increase efficiency and encourage trade.

Breaking a job into separate tasks done by different workers to raise productivity.

The money a business has left after subtracting its costs from its revenue.

A person who starts and runs a business, taking on risk in hopes of earning a profit.

The resources used to make goods and services: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.

The tools, machines, and buildings used to produce goods and services.

Needs are things required to live, such as food and shelter; wants are things people desire but can live without.

A general rise in prices over time that reduces the purchasing power of money.

The reliance of people and nations on one another for goods, services, and resources through trade.

Rivalry among sellers for customers, which tends to lower prices and improve quality.

A complex society with cities, organized government, specialized jobs, writing, and shared culture.