US History
Iron Curtain
A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world.
Labor Union
An organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions.
National Organization of Women
Founded by Betty Friedan; organization formed to work for economic and legal rights of women; demanded equality in educational and job opportunies, wages, and political representation; creation of childcare facilities; wanted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforce its legal mandate to end sex discrimination
Potsdam Conference
From July 17 to August 2, 1945, President Harry S Truman met with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and British leaders Winston Churchill and later Clement Attlee near Berlin to deliver an ultimatum to Japan: surrender of be destroyed.
National Urban League
Formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions among Negroes, is a nonpartisan Civil Rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. It also helped African Americans moving from the South to find jobs and homes.
Berlin Wall
Fortified and guarded barrier between East and West Berlin erected on orders from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1961 to stop the flow of people to the West. Until its destruction in 1989, the wall was a vivid symbol of the divide between the communist and capitalist worlds.
National Recovery Act (NRA)
Plan devised by the emergency congress designed to combine immediate relief and long-range recovery. It was designed to help the unemployed, labor, and industry.
Domino Theory
A 20th Century Foreign Policy theory, promoted by the government of the United States that speculated if one land in a region came under the influence of Communists, then more would follow in a domino.
Lusitania
A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war. Also caused Germany to say they would stop submarine warfare.
Jacob Riis
A Danish American social reformer, muckraking journalist and social documentary photographer. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the poor by publishing his book "How the other half lives."
Blitzkrieg
A German term for "lightning war," This is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. Its successful execution results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery.
Plessy v Ferguson
(1896) * "Seperate but equal" An 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of segregation laws, saying that as long as blacks were provided with "separate but equal" facilities, these laws did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision provided legal justification for the Jim Crow system until the 1950s.
Korematsu v. U.S
(1941) *Executive Powers This was a landmark United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of citizenship. Court ruled that the race was 'suspect classification', and exclusion was necessary during wartime.
Letter from Birmingham Jail
(1963) A letter that Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed to his fellow clergymen while he was in jail in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, after a nonviolent protest against racial segregation
Roe v Wade (1973)
(1973) *Right of Privacy Whether the Texas law against abortion violates a woman's personal liberty and her right to privacy. Court ruled first trimester abortions OK, and prohibitions of such are unconstitutional.
Roe v Wade
(1973) *Right of Privacy Whether the Texas law against abortion violates a woman's personal liberty and her right to privacy. Court ruled first trimester abortions OK, and prohibitions of such are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court case that held that the Constitution protected a woman's right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus; thus, government regulation of abortions must meet strict scrutiny in judicial review.
Pearl Harbor
(December 7, 1941) The US thought the Japanses would attack British Malaya or the Philipines. But instead they attacked here, at several naval bases wiping out many ships and killing 3000 men. The next day the US declares war on Japan. The Day after that the Germans and Italy declare war on the US. The US decided this was the only way to keep the US safe from anarchy.The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II
Populist Party
3rd political party created by farmers' organizations (Grange, other alliances) They demonstrated their power in the election of 1892 with Populist president candidate James B Weaver of Iowa. They consisted mostly of farmers who were engaged in type of farming being oppressed by new, mechanized commercial agriculture. They believed people should influence the political process.
Equal Protection
14th Amendment - Requires states to guarantee the same rights, privileges, and protection to all citizens
Chinese Exclusion Act
1882, Federal legislation that prohibited most further Chinese immigration to the United States. This was the first major legal restriction on immigration in U.S. history.
Homestead Strike
1892, A strike at a Carnegie steel plant in Homestead, P.A., that ended in an armed battle between the strikers, three hundred armed "Pinkerton" detectives hired by Carnegie, and federal troops, which killed ten people and wounded more than sixty. The strike was part of a nationwide wave of labor unrest in the summer of 1892 that helped the Populists gain some support from industrial workers.
Pullman Strike
1894,began when the national economy fell into a depression, the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages while maintaining rents and prices in a company town where 12,000 workers lived; halted a substantial portion of American railroad commerce; ended when President Cleveland ordered federal troops to Chicago, ostensibly to protect rail-carried mail, but in reality, to crush the strike.
Kellogg- Briand Pact
1928- Between France and US. Denounced war, called for a limitation of arms, and prohibited the use of war as an "instrument of national policy". It outlawed war as a tool of foreign policy.
Truman Doctrine
1947; Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology
Brown v Board of Education
1954) *Equal Protection Whether black youths were being deprived of equal protection by the law. Court rejects 'separate but equal' and declares it unconstitutional. The Supreme Court reversed Plessy v. Ferguson in 1954 by ruling in favor of the desegregation of schools. The court held that "separate but equal" violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and was unconstitutional. Refusing to force the white south to accept the ruling, defiance toward the law sprang up. Many southerners saw it as "an abuse of judiciary power.".
William Howard Taft
27th President of the United States, he was progressive in his polices, and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States. He is the only person to have served in both of these offices.
Woodrow Wilson
28th U.S. president, served in office from 1913 to 1921 and led America through World War I. An advocate for democracy and world peace, He is often ranked by historians as one of the nation's greatest presidents. Once in office, he pursued an ambitious agenda of progressive reform that included the establishment of the Federal Reserve and Federal Trade Commission. He tried to keep the United States neutral during World War I but ultimately called on Congress to declare war on Germany in 1917. After the war, he helped negotiate a peace treaty that included a plan for the League of Nations. Although the Senate rejected U.S. membership in the League.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
A New Deal program designed to raise agricultural prices by paying farmers not to farm. It was based on the assumption that higher prices would increase farmers' purchasing power and thereby help alleviate the Great Depression.
Federal Trade Commission
A banner accomplishment of Woodrow Wilson's administration, this law empowered a standing, presidentially appointed commission to investigate illegal business practices in interstate commerce like unlawful competition false advertising, and mislabeling of goods.
American Indian Movement (AIM)
A coalition that fought for Indian rights guaranteed by treaties(broken by the U.S. government many, many times over) and better conditions and opportunities for American Indians.
Installment Buying
A commodity over a period of time. The buyer gains the use of commodity immediately and then pays for it in periodic payments called installments.
Corporation
A company or group of people authorized to act as a single entity (legally a person) and recognized as such in law.
Spheres of Influence
A country or area in which another country has power to affect developments although it has no formal authority.
William Jennings Bryan
A dominant force in the populist wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as the Party's candidate for President of the U.S. He served two terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska and was U.S. Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson.
Red scare
A fear of Russia that ran high in the US even after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. This resulted in a nationwide crusade against those whose Americanism was suspect.
Volstead Act
A federal act enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.
Sit-Ins
A form of protest where people from an unwanted race sat in an area where their kind was not wanted. Famous one in North Carolina, Greensboro at Woolworth's store.
Trench Warfare
A form of warfare in which opposing armies fight each other from trenches dug in the battlefield. , Fighting with trenches, mines, and barbed wire. Horrible living conditions, great slaughter, no gains, stalemate, used in WWI.
Alliance System
A formal agreement or treaty between two or more nations to cooperate for specific purposes. A merging of efforts or interests by persons, families, states, or organizations: an alliance between church and state.
Austria- Hungary
A former monarchy (1867-1918) in central Europe that included what is now Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and parts of Romania, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Italy. The empire was broken up after World War I
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
A government program created by Congress to hire young unemployed men to improve the rural, out-of-doors environment with such work as planting trees, fighting fires, draining swamps, and maintaining National Parks. The CCC proved to be an important foundation for the post-World War II environmental movement.
Freedom Riders
A group of northern idealists active in the civil rights movement. The Freedom Riders, who included both blacks and whites, rode buses into the South in the early 1960s in order to challenge racial segregation. Freedom Riders were regularly attacked by mobs of angry whites and received often belated protection from federal officers.
Medicaid
A joint federal and state program that helps low-income individuals or families pay for the costs associated with long-term medical and custodial care, provided they qualify. Although largely funded by the federal government, Medicaid is run by the state where coverage may vary.
March on Washington (1963)
A large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating racial harmony at the Lincoln Memorial during the march. widely credited as helping lead to the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the National Voting Rights Act (1965). 80% of the marchers were black. a. Philip Randolph.
Pure Food and Drug Act
A law passed by Congress to inspect and regulate the labeling of all foods and pharmaceuticals intended for human consumption.
Meat Inspection Act
A law passed by Congress to subject meat shipped over state lines to federal inspection.
Government Regulation
A law that controls the way that a business can operate, or all of these laws considered together: Voters want some government regulation to prevent these financial disasters from happening
Warsaw Pact
A military alliance of communist nations in eastern Europe. Organized in 1955 in answer to NATO, the Warsaw Pact included Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Organization of communist countries set up to counter NATO
Push-and-Pull Factors
A negative aspect or condition that motivates one to leave, esp. in one's country, region, organization, religion, etc.
Ghetto
A part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups.
Conscientious Objectors
A person who for reasons of conscience objects to serving in the armed forces.
Consumers
A person who purchases goods and services for personal use.
Baby Boomers
A person who was born between 1946 and 1964. The Baby Boomer generation makes up a substantial portion of the North American population. Representing nearly 20% of the American public, baby boomers have a significant impact on the economy.
"White Man's Burden"
A phrase used to justify European imperialism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; it is the title of a poem by Rudyard Kipling.
Imperialism
A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
A political and social protest campaign started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. The ensuing struggle lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 21, 1956, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses unconstitutional.
Direct Primary
A primary in which members of a party nominate its candidates by direct vote.
Monroe Doctrine
A principle of US policy, originated by President James Monroe in 1823, that any intervention by external powers in the politics of the Americas is a potentially hostile act against the US.
Recall
A progressive ballot procedure allowing voters to remove elected officials from office.
Initiative
A progressive reform measure allowing voters to petition to have a law placed on the general ballot.
Referendum
A progressive reform procedure allowing voters to place a bill or on the ballot for final approval, even after being passed by legislature.
Graduated Income Tax
A progressive tax system, failure to index the brackets to inflation will result in effective tax increase, as inflation in wages will increase individual income and move individuals into higher tax brackets with higher percentage rate.
Sedition Act
A series of laws, passed that prohibited anyone from making "disloyal" or "abusive" remarks about the US government.
Communism
A social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society, which is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production, absence of social classes, money, and the state. A political system in which the government owns all property and dominates all aspects of life in a country
Bessemer Process
A steel-making process, now largely superseded, in which carbon, silicon, and other impurities are removed from molten pig iron by oxidation in a blast of air in a special tilting retort
Telegraph
A system for transmitting messages from a distance along a wire, especially one creating signals by making and breaking an electrical connection.
Fascism
A system of government characterized by strict social and economic control and a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator. First found in Italy by Mussolini.
"Credibility Gap"
An apparent difference between what is said or promised and what happens or is true.
Transcontinental Railroad
A train route across the United States. It was the project of two railroad companies: the Union Pacific built from the east, and the Central Pacific built from the west. The two lines met in Utah. The Central Pacific laborers were predominantly Chinese, and the Union Pacific laborers predominantly Irish. Both groups often worked under harsh conditions.
Secret Ballot
A voting method in which a voter's choices in an election are anonymous.
Spanish-American War
A war between Spain and the United States fought in 1898. The war began as an intervention by the United States on behalf of Cuba.
Strike
A work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work.
Teller Amendment
Act of Congress in 1898 that stated that when the United States had rid Cuba of Spanish rule, Cuba would be granted its freedom. It prevented Cuba from turning hostile towards the U.S
Demobilization
Act of changing from a war basis to a peace basis including disbanding or discharging troops; "demobilization of factories";"immediate demobilization of the reserves"
Bank Holiday
All banks were to close while Congress met to discuss the bank situation. After four days, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act which allowed banks to reopen only if the Treasury Department inspected and testified that the bank had sufficient tax reserves.
16th Amendment
Allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the U.S. Census.
19th Amendment
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920) extended the right to vote to women in federal or state elections.
Containment
America's strategy against the Soviet Union based on ideas of George Kennan, and declared that the Soviet Union and communism were inherently expansionist and had to be stopped from spreading through both military and political pressure.
Malcolm X
American activist. A member of the Nation of Islam(1952-1963), he advocated separatism and blackpride. After converting to orthodox Islam, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (1964) and was assassinated in Harlem.
Black Panthers
An African-American organization established to promote Black Power and self-defense through acts of social agitation. It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s.They achieved national and international presence through their deep involvement in the local community. The Black Power movement was one of the most significant movements (with regards to social, political, and cultural aspects). " The movement had provocative rhetoric, militant posture, and cultural and political flourishes permanently altered the contours of American Identity. started in Oakland, CA.
George Pullman
An American engineer and industrialist. He designed and manufactured the Pullman sleeping car and founded a company town, Pullman, for the workers who manufactured it.
George Westinghouse
An American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry
Susan B. Anthony
An American social reformer and feminist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement.
Ida Tarbell
An American teacher, author, and journalist. One of the leading muckrakers. She is known for her pioneering investigative reporting that led to the breakup of the Standard Oil Company's monopoly.
Cuba
An Island south of the US that is brutally crushed by Spanish troops. US was concerned, having LOTS of investment in Cuba. Cubans are forced into prison/concentration camps, published in US newspapers and pitied.
Federal Reserve Act
An act establishing twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks and a Federal Reserve Board, appointed by the president, to regulate banking and create stability on a national scale in the volatile banking secto
Affirmative Action
An action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.
Berlin Blockade
An attempt in 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of France, Great Britain and the United States to travel to their sectors of Berlin, which lay within Russian-occupied East Germany. Eventually, the western powers instituted an airlift that lasted nearly a year and delivered much-needed supplies and relief to West Berlin. Coming just three years after the end of World War II, the blockade was the first major clash of the Cold War and foreshadowed future conflict over the city of Berlin.
Capitalism
An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state
Trusts
An economic method that had other companies assigns their stocks to the board of trust who would manage them. This made the head of the board, or the corporate leader wealthy, and at the same time killed off competitors not in the trust. This method was used/developed by Rockefeller, and helped him become extremely wealthy. It was also used in creating monopolies.
Capitalism
An economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.
Superpower
An extremely powerful nation, especially one capable of influencing international events and the acts and policies of less powerful nations. After World War II - the United States and the Soviet Union.
Angel Island
An island in San Francisco Bay that has served a variety of purposes, including military forts, a US Public Health Service Quarantine Station, and a US Bureau of Immigration inspection and detention facility.
NAACP
An organization that promotes the rights and welfare of black people. The The National Association for the Advacement of Colored People is the oldest civil rights organization in the United States, founded in 1909. Among the it's achievements was a lawsuit that resulted in the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown versus Board of Education, in 1954, which declared the segregation of public schools unconstitutional.
Radical Republicans
Apart of the Republican Party before and after the Civil War that were critical of Johnson's plan. They were abolitionists before the war, led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner.
Lend-Lease Act
Approve by Congress in March 1941; The act allowed America to sell, lend or lease arms or other supplies to nations considered "vital to the defense of the United States."
Muckrakers
Bright young reporters at the turn of the 20th century who won this unfavorable moniker from Theodore Roosevelt, but boosted the circulations of their magazines by writing exposés of widespread corruption in American society.
Buying on margin
Buying on margin was the act of buying stock for just 10% of the price promising to later pay the rest of it. On top of that, investors often times borrowed money to pay this small percentage. This was a leading contributor to the Great Depression.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
CIA plot in 1961 to overthrow Fidel Castro by training Cuban exiles to invade and supporting them with American air power. The mission failed and became a public relations disaster early in John F. Kennedy's presidency.
Flappers
Carefree young women with short, "bobbed" hair, heavy makeup, and short skirts. They symbolized the new "liberated" woman of the 1920s. Many people saw the bold, boyish look and shocking behavior as a sign of changing morals. Though hardly typical of American women, the flapper image reinforced the idea that women now had more freedom.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Civil-rights organization founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King, Jr., and headed by him until his assassination in 1968. Composed largely of African-American clergy from the South and an outgrowth of the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott that King had led, it advocated nonviolent passive resistance as the means of securing equality for African Americans. It sponsored the massive march on Washington in 1963.
Commodore Dewey
Commodore during the Spanish-American War who captured the Philippines and Guam. Followed Roosevelt's order to attack Spanish forces in the Philippines when war was declared; completely destroyed the Spanish fleet stationed at Manila Bay. His victory shed light on the adjusted purpose of war with Spain, from just freeing Cuba to stripping Spain of all of its colonies.
Vietcong
Communist guerrilla movement in Vietnam that fought the South Vietnamese government forces 1954-75 with the support of the North Vietnamese army and opposed the South Vietnamese and US forces in the Vietnam War.
Consumerism
Concentration on producing and distributing goods for a market which must constantly be enlarged
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Created to deal with one of the poorest regions of the country, the Tennessee Valley. This idea of regional planning had been suggested by Sen. George Norris of Nebraska but rejected--late 1920s. Built hydroelectric power plants and dams to increase electric power and decrease flood control. Provided numerous jobs, soil conservation and reforestation. Many criticized as socialistic--government entered into private enterprise, provided electric power.
Fidel Castro
Cuban revolutionary who overthrew Batista dictatorship in 1958 and assumed control of the island country. His connections with the Soviet Union led to a cessation of diplomatic relations with the United States in such internationl affairs as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Oversaw his country through the end of the Cold War and through nearly a half-century of trade embargo with the US.
War Bonds
Debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. It is an emotional appeal to patriotic citizens to lend the government their money because these bonds offer a rate of return below the market rate.
Selective Service Act
Enacted May 18, 1917 authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through the compulsory enlistment of people.
17th Amendment
Established that senators were to be elected directly. This law was intended to create a more democratic, fair society.
Tet offensive
Executed by the North Vietnam Army and the Viet Kong in '68, the Viet Kong almost succeeded in taking the capital of S.V. and took over the US Embassy. This was captured live on TV and after all that Johnson had been promising, it had a huge impact on the American public. There was much doubt directed at the Johnson administration and the spark of the belief that perhaps it was time to just pull out of the war. This was a turning point. It represented a loss of American morale and the flame of larger anti-war protests. Veterans marched against the war. In 1968 US counter culture spread globally and there were protests around the world
Benito Mussolini
Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia, joined Germany in the Axis pact, and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy., right-wing movement, socialist, influenced by Nietzsche; after WWI broke out, he wanted Italy to participate with France. There was many problems going on in Italy, thus he promised improvement and got into power.
Progressives
Favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, especially in political matters.
Korean War
First "hot war" or the Cold War. Began in 1950 when the Soviet-backed North Koreans invaded South Korea before meeting a counter-offensive by UN Forces, dominated by the US, and the war ended in stalemate in 1953.
Sherman Antitrust Act
First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions
Zimmerman telegraph
German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman had secretly proposed a German-Mexican alliance against the United States. When the note was intercepted and published in March 1917, it caused an uproar that made some Americans more willing to enter the war.
Central Powers
Germany and its allies (Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire) in World War I.
"Hoovervilles"
Grim shantytowns where impoverished victims of the Great Depression slept under newspapers and in makeshift tents. Their visibility (and sarcastic name) tarnished the reputation of the Hoover administration.
Lyndon B Johnson
He came into power after Kennedy's assassination in Texas. He was a champion of civil rights legislation and the "war on poverty." He was bent on accruing a reputation like that of FDR for his Great Society, a dream of an American society of equality and opportunity, but instead was saddled with the Vietnam war. Known for his push for Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the Immigration Act of 1965 which did away with national-origins quotas and increased legal immigration. Vietnam: When he was unable to turn the tide with Operation Rolling Thunder and bombing, he adopted the meatgrinder strategy of imposing unacceptable casualties, resulting in a massive increase in the number of troops
Theodore Roosevelt
He unexpectedly became the 26th president of the United States in September 1901, after the assassination of William McKinley. Young and physically robust, he brought a new energy to the White House, and won a second term on his own merits in 1904. Roosevelt confronted the bitter struggle between management and labor head-on and became known as the great "trust buster" for his strenuous efforts to break up industrial combinations under the Sherman Antitrust Act. He was also a dedicated conservationist, setting aside some 200 million acres for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges during his presidency. In the foreign policy arena, Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War and spearheaded the beginning of construction on the Panama Canal. He returned to politics in 1912, mounting a failed run for president at the head of a new Progressive Party.
Herbert Hoover
He was a republican who believed in Laissez-Faire economics. Was elected to office in 1928. Hoover aimed to eliminate poverty during his presidency, however, was unable to prevent the Great Depression. He did not think it was the government's job to interfere in the economy and he feared that the federal aid would weaken individual character.
Upton Sinclair
He was a writer of novels of social protest and political tracts; he is best known for his 1906 expose of the meatpacking industry, "The Jungle."
Archduke Francis Ferdinand
He was heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On June 28, 1914 while paying a state visit to Sarajevo and was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. His assassination is what the catalyst that initiated World War I.
Richard M. Nixon
He was in 1956 Eisenhower's Vice-President., When he was elected there was high inflation and economic recession from high spending in the war. His greatest success was easing coldwar tensions and with forign countries. He was impeached because of the Watergate Scandal but resigned before he was removed from office., 37th President of the United States (1969-1974) and the only president to resign the office. He initially escalated the Vietnam War, overseeing secret bombing campaigns, but soon withdrew 540,000 American troops and successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending American involvement in the war. He was responsible for the Nixon Doctrine. He was also the first President to ever resign, due to the Watergate scandal.
War Industries Board
Headed by Bernard Baruch, this federal agency coordinated industrial production during World War I, setting production quotas, allocating raw materials, and pushing companies to increase efficiency and eliminate waste. Under the economic mobilization of the War Industries Board, industrial production in the United States increased 20 percent during the war.
New Immigrants
Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who formed a recognizable wave of immigration from the 1880s until 1924, in contrast to the wave of immigrants from western Europe who had come before them. These new immigrants congregated in ethnic urban neighborhoods, where they worried many native-born Americans, some of whom responded with nativist anti-immigrant campaigns and others of whom introduced urban reforms to help immigrants assimilate.
Old Immigrants
Immigrants who had come from North Western areas of Europe. Germans and Scandinavians from Western Europe who came before the 1880's. They discriminated against the "new immigration" and considered themselves "natives." The mixing of the other Europeans would tarnish their true Anglo-Saxon heritage
Security Council
Important part of the United Nations; has to maintain international peace and security; takes care of the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action
Wounded Knee (1973)
In February 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota, which was the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux by federal troops. They insisted that the government honor treaty obligations of the past.
Appeasement
In a political context is a diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an enemy power in order to avoid conflict. In WWII it was the term for the British-French policy of attempting to prevent war by granting German demands.
League of Nations
International organization founded in 1919 to promote world peace and cooperation but greatly weakened by the refusal of the United States to join. It proved ineffectual in stopping aggression by Italy, Japan, and Germany in the 1930s.
Thomas Edison
Inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.
Elijah McCoy
Inventor and engineer, who was notable for his 57 U.S. patents, most to do with lubrication of steam engines.
Cambodia
Is a Southeast Asian nation were a series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia during mid-1970 by the United States and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. These invasions were a result of policy of former President Richard Nixon whose decision it was to invade. A total of 13 major operations were conducted
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Is a U.S. Civil Rights Organization that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement. Founded in 1942, it was one of the "Big Four" civil rights organizations, along with the SCLC, the SNCC, and the NAACP. Though still existent, it has been much less influential since the end of the 1955-68 civil rights movement.
Nationalism
Is a belief or political ideology that involves an individual identifying with, or becoming attached to, one's nation.
Serbia
Is a country on southeast Europe's Balkan peninsula. After Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated there. Austria-Hungary declared war on them. War was fought from late July 1914, when Austria-Hungary invaded the Kingdom of Serbia at the outset of World War I, until the war's conclusion in November 1918.
Guerrilla Warfare
Is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as armed civilians or irregulars use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.
Horizontal Integration
Is a strategy where a company creates or acquires production units for outputs which are alike - either complementary or competitive. One example would be when a company acquires competitors in the same industry doing the same stage of production for the creation of a monopoly.
Sharecropping
Is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant (freed slave) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land.
"Open Door" Policy
Is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy established in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, as enunciated in Secretary of State John Hay's Open Door Note, dated September 6, 1899 Message delivered by John to the nations of the world, begging them to respect Chinese rights and influence in the spirit of fair competition.
Vertical Integration
Is an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or (market-specific) service, and the products combine to satisfy a common need.
Market Economy
Is an economy in which decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution are based on supply and demand, and prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system.
Hawaii
Is an isolated volcanic archipelago in the Central Pacific. U.S. wanted Hawaii for business and so Hawaiian sugar could be sold in the U.S. duty free, Queen Liliuokalani opposed so Sanford B. Dole overthrew her in 1893, William McKinley convinced Congress to annex Hawaii in 1898
Monopoly
Is being the only one in a given selling a specific product, or having exclusive control over a certain thing, or the trade mark of a board game where the aim is to buy properties on the board and then build hotels on those properties.
Segregation
Is the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.
Medicare
Is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people with disabilities, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease
Gross National Product (GNP)
Is the total value of all the goods and services produced by a nation in a single year.
Interstate Commerce Act
It established the federal government's right to oversee railroad activities and required railroads to public their rate schedules and file them with the government
Square Deal
It was Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. These three demands are often referred to as the "three C's."
Hiroshima
Japanese city which the first atomic bomb was dropped (August 6, 1945). (The US had warned Japan that it had weapons of mass destruction. The Japanese were warned to surrender or suffer the consequences.)
Nagasaki
Japanese city which the second atomic bomb was dropped (August 9, 1945).
"Great Society"
Johnson demanded an end to poverty and racial injustice, promising to carry on JFK's legacy but wanting to add in his own plans and ideas. He was bent on fixing the inequalities of US society and planned to end segregation among other racial injustices. He wanted to secure a reputation like that of FDR with a similar New Deal kind of structure. This is what Johnson wanted to be known and remembered for but instead he was stuck with the Vietnam war which ended up taking all his time so he was unable puruse his Great Society to any extent.
Yellow Journalism
Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers
National Recovery Administration (NRA)
Known by its critics as the "National Run Around," the NRA was an early New Deal program designed to assist industry, labor, and the unemployed through centralized planning mechanisms that monitored workers' earnings and working hours to distribute work and established codes for "fair competition" to ensure that similar procedures were followed by all firms in any particular industrial sector.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment. Conceived to help African Americans, the bill was amended prior to passage to protect women, and explicitly included white people for the first time. It also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Quota system
Limiting by nationality the number of immigrants who may enter the US each year.
Assembly line
Manufacturing allowed workers to remain in one place and master one repetitive action, maximizing output. It became the production method of choice by the 1930s.
Glasnost
Meaning "openness," a cornerstone along with Perestroika of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reform movement in the USSR in the 1980s. These policies resulted in greater market liberalization, access to the West, and ultimately the end of communist rule. (1039)
Perestroika
Meaning "restructuring," a cornerstone along with Glasnost of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reform movement in the USSR in the 1980s. These policies resulted in greater market liberalization, access to the West, and ultimately the end of communist rule. (1039)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Military alliance of Western European powers and the US and Canada established in 1949 to defend against the common threat from the Soviet Union, marking a giant stride forward for European unity and American internationalism.
Integration
Mixing races in public places. It includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely bringing a racial minority into the majority culture.
National Woman Suffrage Association
NWSA American organization, founded in New York City, that was created by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. An organization founded in 1890 to demand the vote for women
Jazz Age
Name for the 1920s, because of the popularity of jazz-a new type of American music that combined African rhythms, blues, and ragtime
NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) created in 1909 by a group of liberals (including Du Bois, Jane Addams and John Dewey) to eradicate racial discrimination
William Randolph Hearst
Newspaper editor in New York City who grew competitive and employed yellow journalism in order to entice readers to buy their papers; both men stopped at nothing in order to get a good story, and so were able to deliver shocking stories and exciting anecdotes.
Anti-Imperialist League
Objected to the annexation of the Philippines and the building of an American empire. Idealism, self-interest, racism, constitutionalism, and other reasons motivated them, but they failed to make their case; the Philippines were annexed in 1900
Black Tuesday
On October 29th, 1929, the stock market boom came to an end as millions of panicked investors frantically traded shares with one another. As a result, stock prices rapidly collapsed, leading to the Great Depression
San Juan Hill
One of the most important battles of the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt and Rough Riders defeated Spain. Placed America at an advantage. Two days later, American ships destroyed the Spanish fleet in Cuba. In August, the US and Spain agreed to a treaty ending the war.
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
One of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April of 1960. SNCC grew into a large organization with many supporters in the North who helped raise funds to support SNCC's work in the South, allowing full-time SNCC workers to have a $10 a week salary. Many unpaid volunteers also worked with SNCC on projects in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, and Maryland. played a major role in the sit-ins and freedom rides, a leading role in the 1963 March on Washington, the Freedom Summer, and the MFDP. young people.
Speculation Boom
One who buys property, goods, or financial instruments not primarily for use but in anticipation of profitable resale after a general rise in value.
Neutrality Acts
Originally designed to avoid American involvement in World War II by preventing loans to those countries taking part in the conflict; they were later modified in 1939 to allow aid to Great Britain and other Allied nations. They were four laws passed in the late 1930s that were designed to keep the US out of international incidents.
Tenement
Originally referred simply to a multiple-family rental building; in late 1800s, used to describe slum dwellings only. Had many windowless rooms, little or no plumbing or central heating, & perhaps a row of privies in the basement
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United States. Echoing the language of the 15th Amendment, the Act prohibited states from imposing any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." specifically no literacy tests. signed into law by LBJ.
Socialism
Political belief in promoting social and economic equality through the ownership and control of the major means of production by the whole community rather than by individuals or corporation
Anarchism
Political belief that all organized, coercive government is wrong in principle, and that society should be organized solely on the basis of free cooperation. Total absence of rule or government; confusion; disorder
Hawks vs. Doves
Popularly, "hawks" are those who advocate an aggressive foreign policy based on strong military power. "Doves" try to resolve international conflicts without the threat of force.
John F. Kennedy
President of the United States from 1960-1963 when he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. He was perhaps one of the most well-loved presidents in history as he was youthful and seemed to represent America moving forward in a new direction. He was the first media president, swaying many voters by his performance in the first televised presidential debate. He won the election on an extremely small margin... promised to be more active in the fight against communism
John F. Kennedy
President of the United States who narrowly defeated the incumbent vice-president Nixon in 1960 to become the youngest person ever elected president. Launched New Frontier programs and urged legislation to improve civil rights; assumed the blame for the Bay of Pigs ivasion and was credited as well for the superb handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was assasinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald
Black Codes
Prevented colored people the right to vote, serve on juries, testify in court against whites, hold office, or serve in the military and regulated their marriages and labor contracts
18th Amendment
Prohibited the non-medical sale of alcohol This amendment is the midpoint of a growing drive towards women's rights as well as showing the moral attitude of the era.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island given to the US by Spain as a payment for the cost of the Spanish American War.
Queen Liliuokalani
Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She took the throne in 1891 following the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. She was a strong voice for native Hawaiians, whose power had been limited by the increasing influence of U.S. settlers in Hawaii.
Ku Klux Klan
Reconstruction-era organization that was revived in 1915 and rose to political power in the mid-1920s when membership reached 4 to 5 million; opposed to blacks, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants, its membership was rural, white, native-born, and Protestant.
National Origins Act
Reduced immigration until 1927 to 2 percent of each nationality's representation in the 1890 census; After 1927 (later postponed to 1929) the law set a cap of 150,000 immigrants per year and continued to tie admission into the U.S. to the quota system
"Big Stick" policy
Refers to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy: "speak softly, and carry a big stick.
Child Labor
Refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is deemed harmful.
Fireside chats
Roosevelt utilized the radio to reach out to the nation as whole. By talking to the nation over the radio Roosevelt was establishing a more "personal" connection. Fireside chats were Roosevelt's various radio addresses that people could listen to in the comfort of their own homes.
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force
Joseph Stalin
Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953. He led the Soviet Union with an iron fist, using Five-Year Plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush opposition.
Dust Bowl
Severe drought ruined crops in the Great Plains. This region became known as the dust bowl, named after the dust that constantly flew around and smothered everything. As the horrid conditions in the Dust Bowl coupled with poor farming practice, 350,000 farmers whose crops had been ruined migrated to California. These ex-farmers became known as Okies.
Japanese-American Internment
Similar to the Red Scare in WWI, many Americans feared Japanese Americans were a threat to American safety. 110,000 Japanese-Americans were forced into these camps because the US feared that they might act as saboteurs for Japan in case of invasion. The camps deprived the Japanese-Americans of basic rights, and the internees lost hundreds of millions of dollars in property. In the Supreme Court ruling in Korematsu v. U.S. (1944), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the concentration camps.
Philippines
Sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. An armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following annexation by the United States.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Standoff between John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in October 1962 over Soviet plans to install nuclear weapons in Cuba. Although the crisis was ultimately settled in America's favour and represented a foreign policy triumph for Kennedy, it brought the world's superpowers perilously close the brink of nuclear confrontation.
Equal Rights Amendment
Supported by the National Organization for Women, this amendment would prevent all gender-based discrimination practices. However, it never passed the ratification process.
Dwight Eisenhower
Supreme Commander of the US Forces in Europe during World War II; became President of the US and during his two terms presided over the conomically prosperous 1950s. He was praised for his dignity and decency, though critcized for not being more assertive on civil rights
New Deal
The 1st was to a collection of programs created in the early 1930s that aimed to improve the economic situation in America. The 2nd was a set of new programs put into place from 1934 to 1936. These included additional banking reforms, new tax laws, and new relief programs. The primary goal of the Second New Deal was to take a crack at "money classes" and use the tax dollars of the rich to help the country.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The 32nd president of the United States. He was president from 1933 until his death in 1945 during both the Great Depression and World War II. He is the only president to have been elected 4 times, a feat no longer permissible due to the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
Harry S. Truman
The 33rd U.S. president, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Truman, who led the country through the last few months of World War II, is best known for making the controversial decision to use two atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945. After the war, Truman was crucial in the implementation of the Marshall Plan, which greatly accelerated Western Europe's economic recovery.
Cold War
The 45 year diplomatic tension between the US and the Soviet Union that divided much of the world into polarized camps, capitalist against communist.
Double V Campaign
The African American community in the United States resolved on a "Double Victory": African Americans pledged to fight not only for victory over Hitler in Europe, but also against racism at home.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was established by Roosevelt in the Glass-Steagall Act. This Act insured deposits up to $2500 and reduced the number of bank closings in 1934.
Rough Riders
The First United States Volunteer Calvary, a mixture of Ivy League athletes and western frontiersmen who volunteered to fight in the Spanish-American War. Recruited by Theodore Roosevelt, they won many battles in Florida and enlisted in the invasion army of Cuba.
U.S.S Maine
The battleship sent to Havana to protect Americans and their property; an explosion sank it; killing 260 men. Newspapers said the ship was blown up by Spain and it became a Ralling call for war. "Remember the Maine"
Militarism
The belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in direct response to a minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.
Mobilization
The act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war.
Segregation
The act or policy of separating people of different races, religions or sexes and treating them in a different way
15th Amendment
The amendment that stated that no one could be rejected voting rights based on race, color, or ex-slave.
Nazism
The body of political and economic doctrines held and put into effect by the Nazis in Germany from 1933 to 1945 including the totalitarian principle of government, predominance of especially Germanic groups assumed to be racially superior, and supremacy of the führer
Arms Race
The buildup of arms was also a characteristic of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, though the development of nuclear weapons changed the stakes for the par.
Homefront
The civilian population and activities of a nation whose armed forces are engaged in war abroad.
Great Depression
The economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock-market crash in October, 1929, and continuing through most of the 1930s. One of the darkest moments in World History.
Indochina
The federation was accepted in Cambodia and Laos. Vietnamese nationalists, however, demanded (1945) the complete independence of Annam, Tonkin, and Cochin China as Vietnam, and after Dec., 1946, these regions were plunged into bitter fighting between the French and the extreme nationalists, oftentimes led by Communists. The war in Vietnam dragged on for years, culminating in the French defeat at Dienbienphu. The Geneva Conference in 1954 effectively ended French control of Indochina.
Thurgood Marshall
The first African American judge of the US Supreme Court. He is remembered especially for winning the 1954 case before the Supreme Court which ended segregation in public schools.
Ellis Island
The gateway for millions of immigrants to the U.S. as the nation's busiest immigration inspection station from 1892 until 1954.
Stock
The goods or merchandise kept on the premises of a business or warehouse and available for sale or distribution.
Americanization
The influence of the U.S. on the culture of other countries. Also refers to the process of acculturation by immigrants or annexed populations to American customs and values.
Naval blockade
The interdiction of a nation's lines of communication at sea by the use of naval power.
Great Migration
The movement of 6 million African Americans out of the rural southern US to the urban northeast, Midwest, and west.
West Berlin
The part of the capital city of Berlin that was under control of the Americans, Brits and French after World War II.
East Berlin
The part of the capital city of Berlin that was under control of the Soviet Union World War II.
Nativism
The policy of protecting of the interest of native born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.
Nativism
The policy of protecting the interests of native born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.
Urbanization
The process of people moving to cities.
Second Industrial Revolution
The rapid rate of path breaking inventions. Is usually dated between 1870 and 1914, although a number of its characteristic events can be dated to the 1850s.
Disarmament
The reduction or withdrawal of military forces and weapons. The reduction of armed forces and weapons
Women's Suffrage
The right of women to vote and to stand for electoral office.
Haymarket Riot
The riot took place in Chicago between rioters and the police. It ended when someone threw a bomb that killed dozens. The riot was suppressed, and in addition with the damaged reputation of unions, it also killed the Knights of Labor, who were seen as anarchists.
Nuclear Proliferation
The spread of nuclear weapons to new nations.
Reservation
The system that allotted land with designated boundaries to Native American tribes in the west, beginning in the 1850s and ending with the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. Within these reservations, most land was used communally, rather than owned individually. The U.S. government encouraged and sometimes violently coerced Native Americans to stay on the reservations at all times.
Allied Powers
The victorious allied nations of World War I and World War II. In World War I, the Allies included Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and the United States. In World War II, the Allies included Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States.
"Four Freedoms"
These were goals articulated by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech, he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy: Freedom of speech Freedom of worship Freedom from want Freedom from fear
Jim Crow Laws
These were racial segregation state and local laws enacted after the Reconstruction period in Southern United States that continued in force until 1965 mandating de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern U.S. states, starting in 1890 with a "separate but equal" status for African Americans.
Social security
This Act provided old-age pensions for most privately employed workers. This act did not include farm workers and domestic servants due to wide opposition from southern Democrats. The act was not funded by general taxes but by mandatory contributions paid by workers and their employers.
Manila Bay
This Battle took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish-American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo that marked an end to wooden ships to the more powerful American Steel Navy.
13th Amendment
This abolished slavery in the United States and provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States
War Powers Act
This act stated that the president must report to Congress within 2 days of putting troops in danger in a foreign country, and there would be a 60 to 90 day limit for over seas troop presence.
14th Amendment
This amendment declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were entitled equal rights regardless of their race, and that their rights were protected at both the state and national levels.
Adolf Hitler
This dictator (1889-1945) was the leader of the Nazi Party. He believed that strong leadership was required to save Germanic society, which was at risk due to Jewish, socialist, democratic, and liberal forces. German Nazi dictator during World War II.
Civil Rights Act
This granted citizenship and the same rights enjoyed by white citizens to all male persons in the United States "without distinction of race or color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude."
Black Power
This group emphasized racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture and promote black collective interests, advance black values, and secure black autonomy. a range of political goals, from defense against racial oppression, to the establishment of separate social institutions and a self-sufficient economy (separatism help usher in black radical thought, and action against white supremacy.
Paris Peace Accords
This intended to establish peace in Vietnam and an end to the Vietnam War. It ended direct U.S. military combat, and temporarily stopped the fighting between North and South Vietnam.
General Assembly
This is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the United Nations, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports from other parts of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions.
National Labor Relations Act
This law also known as the Wagner Act. Established National Labor Relations Board; protected the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands.
De Lome letter
This letter, written by the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, was re-printed in the New York Journal; it was highly critical of President McKinley and viewed by many as an official Spanish insult against the US.
Women's Liberation Movement
This refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence
Literacy Tests
This refers to state government practices of administering tests to prospective voters purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote. In practice, these tests were intended to disenfranchise African-Americans.
Bull Market
This term describes a situation in which the value of stocks is rising quickly. This occurred in 1929 when the New York Stock Exchange had reached an all-time high, with stocks selling for more than 16 times their actual worth. Unfortunately, at this time, it was not a true rising market and it eventually crashed.
Social Darwinism
This was a belief held by many that stated that the rich were rich and the poor were poor due to natural selection in society. This was the basis of many people who promoted a laissez fairee style of economy.
Atlantic Charter
This was a policy issued on August 14, 1941 by Great Britain and the US early in World War II, defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It outlined a vision in which a world would abandon their traditional beliefs in military alliances and spheres of influence and govern their relations with one another though democratic process, with an international organization serving as the arbiter of disputes and the protector of every nation's right of self determination.
Ku Klux Klan
This was a secret organization. Extremely racist Whites who hated the Blacks and founded the "Invisible Empire of the South," in Tennessee 1866—an organization that scared Blacks into not voting or not seeking jobs, etc... they encouraged violence against the Blacks in addition to terror. This radical group threatened a lot of what abolitionists wanted to do.
Grandfather Clauses
This was a statute enacted by many American southern states in the wake of Reconstruction that allowed potential white voters to circumvent literacy tests, poll taxes, and other tactics designed to disfranchise southern blacks
Palmer Raids
This was an attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Though more than 500 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor who had responsibility for deportations and who objected to Palmer's methods. The Palmer Raids occurred in the larger context of the Red Scare, the term given to fear of and reaction against political radicals in the U.S. in the years immediately following World War I.
Poll Taxes
This was enacted in Southern states had the effect of disenfranchising many blacks as well as poor whites, because payment of the tax was a prerequisite for voting.
Relief, Recovery, Reform
Three components of the New Deal. The first "R" was the effort to help the one-third of the population that was hardest hit by the depression, & included social security and unemployment insurance. The second "R" was the effort in numerous programs to restore the economy to normal health, achieved by 1937. Finally, the third "R" let government intervention stabilize the economy by balancing the interests of farmers, business and labor. There was no major anti-trust program.
Unrestricted submarine warfare
Type of naval warfare in which submarines sink vessels such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules").
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader. A noted orator, he opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Nobel Peace Prize (1964)
Robert La Follette
U.S. leader of the Progressive Movement, who as governor of Wisconsin and U.S. senator was noted for his support of reform legislation. He was the unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Progressive party in 1924, winning almost five million votes, or about one-sixth of the total cast.
United Nations
UN is international body formed to bring nations into dialogue in hopes of preventing further world wars; much like the former League of Nations in ambition, it was more realistic in recognizing the authority of the Big Five Powers in keeping peace in the world, thus guaranting veto power to all permant members of its Security Council (Britian, China, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States)
"War on Poverty"
Waged by Johnson's Great Society programs that presented a classic liberal platform. • Civil and voting rights acts • Public school funding—when the rich moved to the suburbs all the poverty and squalor remained in the cities, destroying the tax base which of course had negative effects on public education • Medicare and Medicaid • National endowment for arts and humanities (PBS) • Clean air and water quality acts • Endangered species preservation act (1966)
Vietnam War
Was a Cold War conflict. A protracted military conflict (1954-1975) between South Vietnam, supported by United States forces, and Communist North Vietnam. The war resulted in a North Vietnamese victory and unification of Vietnam under Communist rule.
Andrew Carnegie
Was a Scottish American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He built a leadership role as a philanthropist. He gave away to charities and foundations about $350 million. Founder of Carnegie Steel who became the leader in the nation's steel industry
Ho Chi Minh
Was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Economic Boom
Was a period in American History often referred to as the Roaring Twenties. This period of economic boom was marked by rapid industrial growth and advances in technology. The Economic Boom in the 1920's saw increases in productivity, sales and wages accompanied by a rising demand for consumer products leading to massive profits for businesses and corporations.
Roaring Twenties
Was a time when many people defied Prohibition, indulged in new styles of dancing and dressing, and rejected many traditional moral standards.
Rosa Parks
Was an African-American Civil Rights activist, whom the United States Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". She got arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott
J.P. Morgan
Was an American financier, banker, and philanthropist who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric. After financing the creation of the Federal Steel Company, he merged in 1901 with the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses, including Consolidated Steel and Wire Company, to form the United States Steel Corporation
General Douglas MacArthur
Was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army who was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He was one of only five men ever to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the U.S. Army, and the only man ever to become a field marshal in the Philippine Army.
John D. Rockefeller
Was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. He revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy.
Betty Friedan
Was an American writer, activist, and feminist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique which criticized the culture for forcing women to be only housewives and mothers
Alexander Graham Bell
Was an eminent Scottish-born scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone.
Herbert Hoover
Was the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933). Hoover, born to a Quaker family, was a professional mining engineer. He achieved American and international prominence in humanitarian relief efforts in war-time Belgium and served as head of the U.S. Food Administration during World War I.
American Federation of Labor
Was the first federation of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association and led by Samuel Gompers; an alliance of skilled workers in craft unions; concentrated on bread-and-butter issues such as higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions.
Holocaust
Was the genocide in which approximately six million Jews were killed by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and its collaborators. Some historians use a definition of the Holocaust that includes the additional five million non-Jewish victims of Nazi mass murders, bringing the total to approximately eleven million. Killings took place throughout Nazi Germany and German-occupied territories.
Great Migration
Was the movement of 6 million African Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West that occurred between 1910 and 1970.
War Guilt Clause
Was the opening article of the reparations section of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War between the German Empire and the Allied and Associated Powers.
Sacco and Vanzetti
Were Italian immigrants charged with murdering a guard and robbing a shoe factory in Braintree; Mass. The trial lasted from 1920-1927. Convicted on circumstantial evidence; many believed they had been framed for the crime because of their anarchist and pro-union activities. Despite criticism from liberals and radicals all over the world, the men were electrocuted in 1927.
Wilbur and Orville Wright
Were two American brothers, inventors, and aviation pioneers who are credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight
Fourteen points
Woodrow Wilson's proposal to ensure peace after World War I, calling for an end to secret treaties, widespread arms reduction, national self-determination, and a new league of nations.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Works Progress Administration worked with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, or FERA, to build dikes that reduced the threat of flooding in the Everglades. May 6, 1935 It was established under Hoover and continued under Roosevelt. It built many public buildings and roads, and as well operated a large arts project.
Treaty of Versailles
World War I concluded with this vengeful document, which secured peace but imposed sharp terms on Germany and created a territorial mandate system to manage former colonies of the world powers. To Woodrow Wilson's chagrin, it incorporated very few of his original Fourteen Points, although it did include the League of Nations that Wilson had long sought. Isolationists in the United States, deeply opposed to the League, led the opposition to the Treaty, which was never ratified by the Senate.
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Wrote The Influence of Sea Power upon History, which argued that control of the sea was the key to world dominance; it stimulated the naval race among the great powers. Which describe "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century."
Berlin Airlift
Year-long mission of flying food and supplies to blockaded West Berliners, whom the Soviet Union cut off from access to the West in the first major crisis of the Cold War.
Harlem Renaissance
a flowering of African American culture in the 1920s when New York City's Harlem became an intellectual and cultural capital for African Americans; instilled interest in African American culture and pride in being an African American.
Panama Canal
a quicker passage to the Pacific from the Atlantic and vice versa. It cost $400,000,000 to build. Columbians would not let Americans build the canal, but then with the assistance of the United States a Panamanian Revolution occurred. The new ruling people allowed the United States to build the canal.
Prohibition
a total ban on the manufacture, sale, and transportation of liquor throughout the United States. 1919-1933.
Samuel Morse
an American inventor. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system and code.
Antiwar protests
was a student protest that started as the Free Speech movement in California and spread around the world. All members of the Anti-War Movement shared an opposition to war in Vietnam and condemned U.S. presence there. They claimed this was violating Vietnam's rights. This movement resulted in growing activism on campuses aimed at social reform etc. Primarily a middle-class movement. CULTURAL.
