OCR GCSE History B Key Terms

A severe power vacuum following the death of the Great Seljuk Sultan that shattered the Muslim empire into rival, warring factions just before the First Crusade.

The 1865 constitutional amendment that legally abolished slavery across the entire United States.

A set of 17 printed instructions issued by Elizabeth I's Privy Council to standardise the response to plague outbreaks across England.

An act that broke the London Guild of Distillers' monopoly and encouraged domestic distilling, leading to the Gin Craze.

The turning point legislation that successfully curbed the Gin Craze by banning small shop sales, restricting licenses, and using harsh punishments.

A discriminatory law passed by the Californian state government charging non-US citizens a steep monthly fee to mine, aimed at driving out Chinese and Mexican prospectors.

An agreement guaranteeing specific lands on the Great Plains to tribes like the Cheyenne and Arapaho, which was flagrantly violated by Pikes Peak miners.

A severe pollution event where the smell of untreated sewage in the River Thames forced the national government to fund London's sewer system.

The 'transition' stage of national public health reform that compelled local authorities to inspect for 'nuisances', defined overcrowding, and required house connections to main sewers.

A peace agreement that closed the Bozeman Trail, established the Great Sioux Reservation, and promised the Black Hills to the Sioux forever.

The popular name for the unfulfilled promise of land redistribution to newly freed slaves, representing the failure of economic Reconstruction.

The funding model for the 1911 National Insurance Act where workers paid 4d, employers paid 3d, and the state paid 2d to create a 9d weekly fund.

The major Islamic empire based in Baghdad that supplied the Vikings with vast quantities of silver and luxury goods.

The private, often luxurious residence of the head of a monastery, reflecting their high social standing and administrative power.

A sworn oath taken by a criminal in sanctuary to leave the country forever in order to avoid standing trial.

The process where a criminal in sanctuary swore an oath to permanently leave England in exchange for their life, walking to a port in sackcloth carrying a cross.

The colloquial term for the policy of writing off 25% of a state marriage loan for every child a couple had.

People who were physically fit and willing to work but were unable to find employment.

Sections of a coal mine where difficult geological conditions prevented miners from extracting enough coal to earn a fair wage under the piece-rate system.

An individual or group actively campaigning to end a practice, such as the death penalty.

The Republican candidate who won the 1860 presidential election on a platform of preventing the expansion of slavery, triggering Southern secession.

The habitual failure to appear for work, which increased in Nazi Germany as the war turned against them and conditions deteriorated.

Conscientious objectors who refused to undertake any work, combatant or civilian, that supported the war effort, usually resulting in severe imprisonment.

Akbar’s Grand Vizier and close friend who wrote the Akbarnama and helped articulate the emperor's religious policies.

The German military intelligence organization, which became a center for high-level resistance against Hitler.

Complying with Nazi rules and 'getting on with life' without necessarily supporting the ideology; a middle ground between collaboration and resistance.

Social skills taught to upper-class girls (music, dancing, sewing) to prepare them for marriage.

A famous geographic Pals' battalion drawn from Lancashire towns, which suffered catastrophic casualties at the village of Serre during the Battle of the Somme.

A position or level of wealth that a person earns through their own effort, merit, or trade.

A 1585 law allowing a tribunal of 24 peers to investigate and execute any person involved in a plot against Elizabeth I.