APUSH Unit 6 Vocabulary

Maine

In 1898, the U.S. government sent this battleship to "visit" Cuba, but actually to protect and evacuate Americans and to demonstrate U.S. concern for Cuba. It mysteriously blew up in Havana harbor due to an internal explosion, but Americans blamed the Spaniards, fueling cries for war.

John Hay

He was the Secretary of State and a witty poet-novelist-diplomat. He created the Open Door policy, telling the European powers to respect certain Chinese rights and the ideal of fair competition in regards to keeping the Chinese market open to others. Later, the policy embraced the territorial integrity of China in addition to its commercial integrity. These principles helped spare China from possible partition by European powers.

George Dewey

He was the commander of the American Asiatic Squadron at Hong Kong. Roosevelt sent him to take over Spain's Philippines during the Cuban conflict. He became a national hero after destroying the Spanish fleet and eventually capturing Manila.

Robert M. La Follette

He was the governor of Wisconsin and a militant progressive Republican leader. He fought against monopoly and perfected a scheme for regulating public utilities. He wrested considerable control from the crooked corporations and returned it to the people.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

This naval captain wrote "The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783", arguing that control of the sea was key to world dominance. It stimulated the naval race among great powers and inspired Americans to raise a better navy and demand an isthmian canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Anti-Imperialist League

This organization sprang into being to fight the McKinley administration's expansionist moves. Its members included very prominent Americans, such as Mark Twain, Samuel Gompers, and Andrew Carnegie. They argued that the annexation of the Philippines went against the American policy of self-determination. They also believed that imperialism was costly and unprofitable.

Federal Reserve Act

This piece of economic legislation established the Federal Reserve Board, which oversaw a nationwide system of 12 regional reserve districts, each with its own central bank. Although these regional banks were actually bankers' banks, the final authority of the Federal Reserve Board guaranteed a substantial measure of public control. The board was also allowed to issue paper money in order to increase the amount of money in circulation in times of financial crisis.

Rough Riders

This portion of the American army invading Cuba was organized by Theodore Roosevelt and led by Colonel Leonard Wood. It was a regiment of volunteers with little discipline, and consisted of western cowboys, ex-polo players, and ex-convicts.

Louis D. Brandeis

This reformer and attorney persuaded the Supreme Court to accept the constitutionality of laws protecting women workers by presenting evidence of the harmful effects of factory labor on women's weaker bodies. He advocated banking reform through his book "Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It". He was also the first Jew to be nominated (by Wilson) to the Supreme Court

John ("Black Jack") Pershing

This veteran of the Cuban and Philippine campaigns was ordered to break up "Pancho" Villa's bandit band, who was trying to provoke war between the U.S. and Mexico by killing many Americans. He and his troops penetrated deep into Mexico quickly. They clashed with Carranza's forces and mauled the Villistas, but missed capturing Villa himself.

New Nationalism

This was Roosevelt's Progressive Republican platform which urged the national government to increase its power to remedy economic and social abuses.

New Freedom

This was Wilson's Democratic platform which included calls for stronger antitrust legislation, banking reform, and tariff reductions.

Roosevelt Corollary

This was an extension of the Monroe Doctrine. It stated that if the Latin American countries were not paying their debts to their European debtors, the U.S. would intervene on behalf of the Europeans, take over the customshouses, and pay off the debts. This way, the Europeans would not have to intervene and possibly occupy Latin America.

Emilio Aguinaldo

This well-educated, part-Chinese leader commanded Filipino insurgents in collaboration with George Dewey to overthrow Spanish rule.

Lusitania

This British passenger liner was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank off the coast of Ireland. Many lives were lost, including those of 128 Americans. The Germans justified the shooting because the ship was carrying ammunition, but Americans saw it as mass murder. Wilson promptly sent a series of strong notes to the German warlords in an effort to address the problem while avoiding war.

dollar diplomacy

This approach to foreign policy was used by President Taft. It used the lever of American investments to boost American political interests abroad by encouraging Wall Street bankers to let out their surplus dollars into foreign areas of strategic concern to the U.S.

Gifford Pinchot

This conservationist was the head of the federal Division of Forestry. He, along with Roosevelt, wanted to use the nation's natural endowment intelligently. He was against commercial interests that abused nature, but also romantic preservationists that wished to shut it off completely.

Clayton Anti-Trust Act

This law aimed at crushing monopolies by lengthening the Sherman Act's list of business practices that were deemed objectionable, including price discrimination and interlocking directorates.

Meat Inspection Act

This law decreed that the preparation of meat shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection from corral to can. The largest packers eventually accepted it as an opportunity to drive smaller competitors out of business. They could receive the government's seal of approval on their exports.

Federal Trade Commission Act

This law empowered a presidentially appointed commission to turn a searchlight on industries engaged in interstate commerce. The commissioners were expected to crush monopoly at the source by rooting out unfair trade practices such as unlawful competition, false advertising, mislabeling, adulteration, and bribery.

Pure Food and Drug Act

This law was designed to prevent the adulteration and mislabeling of foods and pharmaceuticals.

John Muir

This naturalist and preservationist was a member of the Sierra Club. He valued the mystic allure of unspoiled nature and believed that it should not be touched by the civilizing hand of humanity.

Big Sister Policy

Advocated by James G. Blaine, this doctrine aimed at rallying the Latin American nations behind the U.S. and opening the Latin American markets to Yankee traders.

Great Rapprochement

After the conflict between Britain and Venezuela, the British inaugurated this era of friendliness with the U.S.

Wilson's and labor

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Insular Cases

In these court cases, the Supreme Court decreed that the Constitution did not necessarily extend with full force to the new islands of the Philippines and Puerto Rico. It declared that Puerto Ricans and Filipinos might be subject to American rule, but they did not enjoy all American rights.

Platt Amendment

The Cubans were forced to write this into their own constitution in 1901, basically bringing Cuba under American control. The Cubans had to agree not to sign treaties that might compromise their independence and not to take on debt beyond their resources, as the U.S. saw fit. They agreed that the U.S. could intervene with troops to restore order if necessary and to sell/lease needed coaling or naval stations (i.e. Guantanamo) to the U.S. It was abolished in 1934.

referendum

The Progressives wanted this device that would place laws on the ballot for final approval by the people, especially laws that had been railroaded through a compliant legislature by free-spending agents of big business.

recall

The Progressives wanted this in order to enable the voters to remove faithless elected officials, particularly those who had been bribed by bosses or lobbyists.

initiative

The Progressives wanted this so that voters could directly propose legislation themselves, thus bypassing the boss-bought state legislatures.

muckrakers

These magazine writers did extensive research and wrote mudslinging articles criticizing economic and social evils, such as trusts, big businesses, and slums. The circulation of these magazines boomed, and the articles were backed-up by fact. These people believed that in order to right social wrongs, they must count on publicity and arouse public conscience. They did not want to overthrow capitalism, but to cleanse it.