Kaplan GED Notes history
These are notes taken from the Kaplan GED book, which is located in class. This is extra reinforcement for students after each history section that they can use to understand the material better.
Notes/compilation ©2023 Wil Crabtree www.wilcrabtree.com All rights reserved.
Exploration, Colonialism, and the American Revolution
(Page 438 in GED Book)
Key Terms
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Native Americans
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explorers
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colonies
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Pilgrims
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Continental Congress
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Declaration of Independence
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American Revolution
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Articles of Confederation
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U.S. Constitution
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Bill of Rights
According to the archaeological record, the first humans to inhabit North America came from Asia. These people crossed the Bering Strait, which is now the narrow waterway between present-day Russia and Alaska. Over many generations, North and South America were populated. These people, now known as Native Americans, formed multiple cultures and languages over many years.
European explorers were searching for faster sea routes to Asia for trade. In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in an attempt to reach Asia. North and South America were called the “New World.” There were many other explorers after Columbus as European countries attempted to establish trade and later form colonies. Colonization led to the displacement of indigenous peoples, and many died of diseases.
By the 1500s and 1600s, European countries established colonies in North America. The first permanent European settlement was Saint Augustine, which was established by Spain. The first permanent English settlement was Jamestown in 1607.
In 1620, members of a religious community known as Puritans sailed aboard the ship Mayflower. These Puritans were known as the Pilgrims. They established the second English colony in Massachusetts.
By about 1675, Europeans were importing slaves from Africa to North and South America to work on plantations (farms). In what is now the United States slaves were concentrated in the southern colonies.
European countries competed for power as their colonies grew in the early 1700s. In the French and Indian War, England fought an alliance between France and a specific group of Indians. This war lasted from 1754 until 1763. England won and acquired almost all of France’s North American colonies.
After the French and Indian War, England wanted to establish more control over the American colonies and recoup some of the money that had been spent in the conflict. New policies and taxes imposed on the American colonists, which had no representation in the British Parliament, caused conflict. The American Revolution, which was for American Independence from Britain, started in 1775.
Part 2 (Page 440 in GED Book)
The Continental Congress was the provisional government of the United States and appointed George Washington to lead the Continental Army. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress publicly declared the Declaration of Independence.
The British were well-trained and supplied; however, the Americans fought on their home territory and were more motivated to win. The American Revolution ended in 1783 when the British surrendered at the Battle of Yorktown.
The first constitution of the United States was called the Articles of Confederation, which established a very weak central government.
The weak central government was problematic, so the Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution outlines how the federal government should operate and the relationship between the federal government and the states. The Constitution included a provision that it can be amended or changed. The first ten amendments were called The Bill of Rights. These first ten articles asserted protections for the people, including the rights to assemble, practice their own religion, bear arms, have free speech and a free press, and not be forced to house members of the military in their homes.
Westward Expansion, the Civil War, and Reconstruction
Key Terms
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Abolished: to do away with
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Immigrants: People moving from one place to another
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Seceded: To separate
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Confederacy: Confederate States of America; rebels
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Union: United States of America; Yankees
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Reconstruction: Period after the Civil War
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Sharecropping: Paying rent with part of the year’s harvest
(Page 440 in GED book)
The North and the South developed different economies, and while the population grew, there was a period of rapid settlement of the West. The idea that the United States was “destined” to stretch from coast to coast was termed “Manifest Destiny.”
While the North’s economy was more diverse and included commerce (including banking), industries (factories), and agriculture (farming), the South’s economy was based on agriculture but almost exclusively cotton and included slave labor. By the early 1800s, slavery was abolished in all states in the North. As new states were admitted, there was a careful balance of admitting an equal number of southern slave states and northern free states.
The violence in Kansas foreshadowed the American Civil War. In the presidential election of 1860, four candidates ran for president. Abraham Lincoln from the newly formed anti-slavery Republican Party won. Lincoln promised to end the expansion of slavery, but it would be allowed to continue where it currently was legal. This was unacceptable to the South, and most slave states attempted to secede (or leave) the United States. A rebel government was formed known as the Confederate States of America. War broke out in 1861.
The Confederate States initially seemed capable of winning, but by 1863 the tide had turned, and by 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant.
The next twelve years were known as Reconstruction when southern states were re-integrated into the United States. During this period, the sharecropping system began in former slave states, in which freed slaves became economically trapped by having to pay a portion of their crops to their landlord. As former Confederates regained political power in the South, policies and laws were enacted to limit voting rights for former slaves and their descendants.
Industrialization, Immigration, and the Progressive Era
(Page 442 in GED Book)
Key Terms
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industrialization
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natural resources
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immigrants
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union
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strikes
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Progressive Era
American industries grew dramatically in the mid-1800s. Industrialization occurred because of access to natural resources in the West, including metals and fuels that could build and power factory machines. Access to the West was made possible in large part due to the development of the railroad.
Many factories were built near large cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburg. Large cities allowed large numbers of people to live near their workplaces.
The growth of factories led to new jobs, and many people decided to immigrate to the United States. Most came from European countries, including Germany, Italy, Russia, and Ireland. Other immigrants came from Mexico and other Central American countries. Asian immigration had slowed due to legal restrictions.
Factory work was dangerous, which over time led to the formation of unions demanding safer working conditions and higher wages. Strikes, which shut down the factories, could force factory owners to agree to their demands. Many current labor laws, such as the five-day workweek, originate from this period.
The U.S. as an Emerging World Power
(Page 444 in GED Book)
Key Terms
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Imperialism
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Allies
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Central Powers
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Great Depression
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Fascism
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Axis
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Holocaust
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Militarism
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Nationalism
Remember the acronym M.A.I.N. for the causes of WW1! (militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism)
The growth of industrialization led to the growth of global imperialism. Imperialism is a system in which powerful countries impose a degree of economic, military, and/or political power over weaker countries or regions. European countries had engaged in imperialism for centuries, but the United States became involved in the late 1800s.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 resulted in Spain handing control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States.
World War I, originally known as The Great War and called “the war to end all wars,” began in 1913 between the Allies (Britain, Russia, and France) and Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). The rise of new technologies (airplanes, tanks, barbed wire, etc.) led to the war lasting longer than expected. The United States did not enter the war until 1917.
The period between World War I and World War II was a period of economic depression. The economic depression led to the rise of fascism in Europe. Fascism involved government control of all large industries while allowing for smaller businesses to remain in private ownership. In contrast, socialism involved government control over all the means of production. European fascists and socialists clashed, particularly in Germany, where the National Socialists or NAZI party came to power under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.
During World War II, the U.S. president was Franklin D. Roosevelt. When he died, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the president. (The British Prime Minister was Winston Churchill.)
With the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the United States entered World War II. The United States fought in Europe and Asia, with allies including Great Britain and France.
The final major push to win World War II was known as D-Day, in which Allied forces invaded NAZI controlled France. (The D-Day operation was overseen by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who would later be elected president.)
World War II featured massive loss of life on all sides, both military and civilian. Massive fire bombings of civilians, the first use of atomic weapons, and genocide occurred during the war. In NAZI Germany and NAZI-controlled territories, policies against political opponents, the disabled, gay, Roma (or Gypsy) people, and Jews led to large-scale human extermination. This was known as the Holocaust. The NAZIs murdered at least six million Jews of all ages and backgrounds.
The Cold War and the Civil Rights Era
(Page 446 in the GED Book)
Key Terms:
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Cold War
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Civil rights movement
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Technology
Even before WWII drew to a close, communist (government ownership) and capitalist (free enterprise) countries began to clash. Because direct fighting never broke out in a “hot war” this conflict was called the Cold War. The United States (capitalist) and the USSR or Soviet Union (communist) were the informal leaders of each side. Although the Cold War did not become World War III, there were several wars during the period, including Korea (from the 1950s) and Vietnam (1954-1975). Korea was divided into two countries, one communist and the other capitalist and Vietnam was overtaken by the communists in 1975 after the withdrawal of American forces.
Communist countries formed a formal alliance with the Warsaw Pact, and capitalist countries formed an alliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO still exists today. The United States is still a member.
With the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Cold War ended. Countries that had been forced into the USSR became independent. Many of these countries as well as independent Warsaw Pact countries, abandoned communism and authoritarianism. In Germany, the Berlin Wall served as a border between two German countries. When communist East Germany collapsed, the wall was broken down, and West Germany absorbed East Germany into a unified country shortly thereafter.
Because of laws that restricted the rights of Black Americans became commonplace following the Civil War and Reconstruction, equality under the law did not exist, particularly in the South. From the 1950s, the civil rights movement campaigned to end racial and segregation discrimination, including limits on voting rights.
Rev. Martin Luther King Junior was a key civil rights leader. (He was named in honor of German Protestant minister Martin Luther; just be careful not to confuse them.)
The late 20th century was a period of technological growth, including humans in space and on the Moon, advances in medicine, and computers.
