What is a colony?
A plot of land under control of a foreign nation. Great Britain established thirteen colonies in North America prior to the American Revolution.
What is the Articles of Confederation?
The initial Consitutional agreement of the United States was known as the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
What is Black Lives Matter?
An international movement arising from multiple instances of police brutality and racism towards African-Americans.
What is a mission?
Spanish missionaries began coming to North America several hundred years ago in order to establish missions.
What is a Miranda Warning?
A Miranda Warning is a means to inform a person of their Miranda rights prior to being interrogated in police custody.
What is a norm?
A normality formed out of past traditions and collective wisdom.
What is the national debt?
The total amount that the federal government owes to third parties.
What is a treaty?
A binding agreement with a foreign government.
What is the Alamo?
A Spanish mission in San Antonio, Texas.
What is the Tea Party?
Initially formed around Libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul, this is a political movement founded in certain conservative ideologies.
What is Ellis Island?
An island in New York City harbor serving as one of the main immigration stations of the United States.
What is a civil right?
A guarantee that one can act with freedom of movement within a civilization.
What is a political party?
An organization that adheres to a political ideology and works towards implementating policy in kind.
What is a right?
Authority over a specific action by the citizenry as defined in the Bill of Rights.
What is a Native American?
A native inhabitant of North America.
What is foreign policy?
Internationally-facing strategic relations with other nation states.
What is Capitalism?
Capitalism defines a framework for private or corporate ownership of capital goods.
What is a President?
The Chief Executive of the United States as defined in Article 2 of the Constitution.
What is the social safety net?
A set of programs designed to support those suffering from economic hardship in an effort to return them to a stable and competent position.
What is a branch of government?
One of three specialized functions of government as defined by the Constitution; the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch, and the Legislative Branch.
What is a constituent?
A member of a group of citizens that form an electoral constituency.
What is an immigrant?
A native of a foreign land who chooses a life in another.
What is the Republican Party?
Formed in 1854, it is one of two political parties that dominates the election cycle.
What is the Pony Express?
A mail delivery service relying on pony riders
What is the Library of Congress?
The research library for the United States Congress founded by John Adams.
What is the Pan-American Highway?
A system of roadways stretching from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina.
What is the Electoral College?
A group of specific "electors" from each state who then elect the chief executive.
What is Medicaid?
A set of programs designed to provide health coverage for low-income individuals as administered by each state.
What is the corporate tax rate?
The tax rate corporations pay to the government based on their income and deductions.
What is archives.gov?
The National Archives can be found at archives.gov
What is a Presidential Library?
Established libraries of former chief executives, many of which are overseen by the National Archives and Records Administration.
What is a border?
The boundary between the United States and its adjoining neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Maritime borders are also defined where the land meets the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
What is Socialism?
Socialism defines a framework for public or shared ownership by the citizenry of the assets controlled by the government.
What is the military-industrial complex?
A synergetic relationship between the many branches of the military and the private sector.
What is the Federal Reserve?
The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States, and is composed of twelve Federal Reserve Banks each with a corresponding district.
What is a conflict of interest?
A situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity.
What is the Bill of Rights?
The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
What is the Federal Open Market Committee?
The FOMC regulates the open marked operations of the Federal Reserve.
What is the dollar?
The official currency of the United States.
What is a service flag?
A banner displayed by families of military service members as authorized by the Department of Defense.
What is the civil war?
A war fought between the Northern Union and the Confederate States.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
A declaration of independence.
What is a tax?
A payment to the government based on income and other revenue sources for public use.
What is Manifest Destiny?
A movement during the nineteenth century.
What is an oath of office?
An official promise by a person who has been elected to a public office to fulfill the duties of the office according to the law
What is the Misery Index?
Created by economist Arthur Okun, this composite indicator gives us a window into our economic condition.
What is a liberal?
Liberalism is the expression of social change.
What is gerrymandering?
Manipulation of the electoral constituencies represented by elected officials.
What is a census?
The United States Census provides the means to count the population of each state. This is done in order to determine the allocation of Taxes as per the Constitution - Articcle I section 2.
What is the gold rush?
A major escalation of gold mining activity, known as the California Gold Rush, beginning in 1848 in the area east of Sacramento.
What is the Federalist Papers?
A series of eighty-five anonymously published essays in New York state newspapers during 1787 and 1788 designed to urge citizens to ratify the newly drafted Constitution.
What is inflation?
A broad increase in market prices and a resulting decrease in the purchasing value of the dollar.
What is the National Anthem?
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was derived from a poem called "Defense of Fort M'Henry" and a British song written for the Anacreontic Society.
What is a secret society?
An alliance or social construct that operates in secret and does not publicly disclose its intentions.
What is a budget surplus?
An excess of revenue for spending in a given budget cycle. The last budget surplus occurred in 2001.
What is student debt?
Balances accrued by college students owed to universities.
What is the CIA World Factbook?
The CIA World Factbook can be found here.
What is the Green New Deal?
A recent political movement centered around environmental policy and the threat of climate change.
What is a civil servant?
A person dedicated to work in the public sector.
What is the Pentagon?
The headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense.
What is a budget deficit?
The amount the government spends that exceeds revenues collected from taxes and other sources.
What is the Statue of Liberty?
A copper statue gifted to the United States by France and placed on an island in New York harbor.
What is a representative?
An elected official in the House of Representatives that represents his or her constituents.
What is the Liberty Bell?
A large bell located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which was rung during the first public readings of the Declaration of Independence.
What is the Pledge of Allegiance?
The act of reciting a statement of allegience to the flag and to the United States of America.
What is the North American Union?
A theoretical union between Canada, the United States, and Mexico under a single governmental structure similar to the European Union.
What is slavery?
A practice that was abolished in 1865.
What is the District of Columbia?
The federal capital of the United States of America.
What is a states' right?
The right to self-governance by the states in Lieu of a Federal mandate.
What is a conservative?
Conservatism in politics is defined as strctly relying on existing institutions and norms.
What is the Westward expansion?
The migration of citizens into the Western lands of the United States during the nineteenth century.
What is a railroad?
A managed railway infrastructure facilitating passenger or freight train travel.
What is a Senator?
One of a hundred elected officials that are members of the Senate.
What is a zealot?
A zealot is a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.
What is a lobbyist?
A lobbyist is a person who takes part in an organized attempt to influence legislators.
What is a think tank?
A collective ideology maintained by a private entity.
What is legislation?
A body of laws and legal works managed by Congress.
What is the Constitution?
Signed on September 17, 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
What is the Farmer's Almanac?
.
What is Obamacare?
An exchange-based health care insurance framework signed into law by President Barack Obama.
What is a pilgrim?
British citizens who emigrated to North America starting in 1620 for religious reasons and governed initially by the Mayflower Compact.
What is Medicare?
A federal health insurance program for the elderly that covers hospital and outpatient services, medical supplies, preventative care, and prescription drugs.
What is a flag?
The Stars and Stripes evolved from the original thirteen colonies of the United States in 1777.
What is a reparation?
A legal mechanism for compensation.
What is the Louisiana Purchase?
In 1803 the United States purchased 827,000 mi² of land from France, known as the Louisiana Purchase. The purchase price was $15,000,000.
What is the Democratic Party?
Formed in 1828, it is one of two political parties that dominates the election cycle.
What is a constitutional amendment?
There are twenty seven amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
What is the Consumer Price Index?
The Consumer Price Index is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.