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American History 2
n/a
112
History
11th Grade
05/13/2015

Additional History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term

Separation of powers

#20

 

 

 

Definition

1.) To protect citizens against Tyranna r powerful kings, the national governements power was further divided among three branches.

2.)The three brancehes of the United States government are the Legislative, Excutive and Judicals Branches.

3.)This separation of power makes it almost impossible for any one individual or group to gain contol the entire government.


Term

Limited Government

21#

Definition

1) The constitution stickly limits the power of the federal and state government over our lives.

2.) The federal government has only those powers given to it by the constition. The costiution also lists certain powers specifically denied to either the federal or state government.

3.) The Elastic Clause expands the powers of the federal government by giving congress whatever additional power are "necessary and proper" for carrying out those powers specifically listed in the constition. These additional powers are called implied powers.

4.) the bill or right and later amendent to the constition placed additional limits on the powers of both the federal  and state government

Term

Checks And Balances

#22

Definition

1.) To make sure that the national government did not become too strong or oppress tose it was suppose to govern, the constitution also gave each each branch of the federal government several ways to stop or check the other branches.

2.)Serveral examplesof checks and balances are: Congress has the power to override a Presidential veto and reject treaties. The supreme court has the power to decide if laws are constitutional. The president has the power to veto laws 

Term

Our Flexible Constitution

#23

Definition

1.) The constitution has the ability to adapt to changing situtations.

2.) The constitution can be changed by amendments are for important reason, after congress vote for a constitution in order to apply the meaning of the constitution to new situations.

3.) The supreme court is responsible for interpreting the language of the constitution in order to apply the meaning of the constitution to the new situations.

Term

The Unwritten Consitution 

#24

Definition

1.) The federal government relies on many pratices that developed after the constitution was put into effect. 

2.) These practices are reffered to as our "unwritten Constitution".

3.) Some examples are Judicial review on the supreme courths power to review ferderal or state laws to determine if they are constitutional or the formation or the polictical parties.

Term

The House Of Representives

#26

Definition

1.)Each member of the House of Representatives is elected for a two-year term.

2.)The number of representives of each state is determined by that states population.

3.) Every ten years a census is taken and the seats in he house of representives are redistributed.

4.)The house has 435 members

Term

The 13th & 14th and 15th

#37

Definition

1.) the thirteenth amendent prohibits slavery.

2.) The fourteenth amendment gave former slves citizenship, guaranteed all citizens that they would enjoy "equal protection of the law" and "due processof the law" From the governments.

3.) Also the 14th amendment was important beccause it extended the federal lawto prtect individuals from actions taken by the state goverment.

5.) 15th amendment guaranteed free slaves the right to vote.

Term

The 16th, 17th & 18th

#38

Definition

1.) the 16th Amendenment was ratified in 1913. It gave congress the power to taxs people on their income.

2.) The 17th amendenment allowed for the direct election of sentors by voters.

3.) The 18th banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in 1919 but was replaced in 1933 by the twenty-first amendement.

Term

The 19th, 24th & 26th Amendent

#39

Definition

1.) The 19th Gave wemon the right to vote.

2.) The 24 prohibited poll taxex in federal elections.

3.) The 26th gave people the right to vote upon reaching the age 18.


Term

The radical Republicans  

#57

Definition

1.) Northerns were outrage at the election of rebel leaders in the south and the passager of the black codes or law that southern states had passed to preserve traditional southern life-styles despite of ban on slavery.

2.) The black codes had made it illegal for freemen to hold public office or travel freely .

3.) The radical republicans a group of notherns congressmen with a majority in congress wanted the freeman to have political equalitiy.

4.) They passed a civil rights Bill Guaranteeing  freemens right and granted citizenship to all former slaves in the 14 amendement.

Term

Reconstruction in the south

#58

Definition

1.) The freemans bureau was estblished to help freed slaves 

2.) However, sourtherns wanted freed slaves to have as few rights as possible.

3.) The 15th guaranteed freemen the right to vote.

4.) A new political leadership emerged in the south, consistering of carpetbaggers scalawgs and freemen.

5.) Howver, when the northerns army left in 1877, white southern regained power to reconstruction failed.

Term

The Economic Effect: The New South

#59

Definition

1.) Without slave labor the old plantation system could not be restored. 

2.) Many plantationd owners entered into sharedcropping arrangements with their former slaves .

3.) Other freedmen became tenant farmers.

4.) Share-croppers and tenants farmers gave much of their haverst to the owners and lived in poverty.

5.)Few freedem were able to become landowers themselves 

6.) With financial backing from te north, railroads, cottonmills and furnaces for steeling-making were built.

7.) Reconstruction had failed to improve the economic life of most freedmen.

Term

Segregration

#60

Definition

1)      The social system that developed in the aftermath of Reconstruction was one of racial segregation and white supremacy.

2)      African Americans were deprived of their political and civil rights.

3)      Literacy tests were introduced as a requirement for voting.

4)      Poll taxes were introduced.  Poll taxes were registration fees for voting.  Due to the failure of Reconstruction, few African Americans could afford to pay poll taxes.

5)      However, “Grandfather Clauses” allowed poor whites to vote by allowing anyone whose ancestors had voted before the war to vote without a test or tax.

6)      “Jim Crow” laws segregated African Americans from whites.

7)      In 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court upheld segregation.

Term

Booker T Washington versus

#61

Definition

1)      Booker T. Washington was a former slave who believed that freedmen should focus on achieving economic independence before seeking full equality.  He founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

 

2)      W.E.B. DuBois believed that full equality was an immediate concern.  He helped form the N.A.A.C.P.

Term

Industrial Revolution

#62

Definition

1)      The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the mid-1700s, and reached the United States in the early 1800s.

2)      New inventions and ideas introduced new ways of making goods and meeting people’s needs.

3)      An Industrial Revolution occurs when people begin producing goods with machines and building factories.

 

4)      Goods became cheaper, demand increased, and more people worked in factories.

Term

A Modern Industrial Economy 

#63

Definition

1)      The first transcontinental railroad, linking the east and west coasts, was completed in 1869.

2)      Construction of railroads stimulated the iron, steel, and coal industries.

3)      Between 1860 and 1900, the population of the United States more than doubled.  Population growth was partly fueled by European immigration.

4)      In the late 19th century, a national market developed.  Railroads, telegraphs, and telephones linked different parts of the country.

 

5)      National producers could often make, ship, and sell goods faster and cheaper than local producers.

Term

Technological Progress

#64

Definition

1)      New technologies helped fuel the economic expansion of the late 19th century.

2)      The Bessemer process made steel production more economical.

3)      By 1900, Thomas Edison’s expanded uses for electricity powered an increasing number of machines, including electric streetcars and subway trains.

4)      The internal combustion engine was used to run cars and the first airplanes.

 

5)      Elias Howe invented the sewing machine.  Elisha Otis invented the passenger elevator.  Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter.  Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.  Thomas A. Edison invented the electric light bulb, and the Wright Brothers invented the airplane.

Term

A Corpoartion

#65

Definition

1.) A corporation is a legal entity apart from its owners.  Stockholders are partial owners.

2.) This means that a corporation is a business organization owned by stockholders.

3.)The stockholders can only lose their investment if the corporation fails.

4.) Remember, the poem:

Stocks, you own

Bonds, you loan

 
Term

The Gilded Age 

#66

Definition

1)      Because of the lavish lifestyle of those who became rich from industry, the period from 1865 to 1900 became known as the Gilded Age.

2)      Some entrepreneurs of the Gilded Age were called robber barons because these businessmen destroyed competition and kept workers’ wages down with their ruthless tactics.

 

3)      Andrew Carnegie and his steel mills as well as John D. Rockefeller and his Standard Oil Company were the two most famous entrepreneurs of the Gilded Age.

Term

The demand for reform And an end to monopolies

#67

Definition

1)      While many producers hoped to eliminate competition by establishing a monopoly (complete control of the manufacture of a product), reformers began to petition the government for change.

2)      Generally, U.S. leaders believed that the government should not interfere in the market but the Interstate Commerce Act was passed in 1887.  It prohibited unfair practices by railroads.

 

3)      In 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed.  It outlawed unfair monopolistic practices that stifled competition.

Term

Hazardous working conditions 

#68

Definition

1)      Thousands of workers were injured or killed in accidents each year.

2)      Workers faced a six-day work week of 10 to 14 hours per day.

3)      Pay averaged from $3.00 to $12 weekly.

4)      Jobs were on a take-it or leave-it basis.

5)      Industrial workers could be fired for any reason.

 

6)      There was no unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, health insurance, or old-age insurance.  Children worked in factories.

Term

The Rise of Union

#69

Definition

1)      As businesses became more powerful, workers realized that they needed some form of labor organization to protect their interests.

2)      A union is an organization of workers that tries to promote better working conditions, wages, and benefits.

 

3)      Industrialists like Andrew Carnegie used immigrant workers or closed down factories rather than negotiate with unions.

Term

The Knight of labor

#70

Definition

1)      In 1869, the Knights of Labor began. 

2)      It hoped to form one large nation union joining together all skilled and unskilled workers.

3)      Under the leadership of Terrence Powderly, it grew rapidly in the 1880s.

However, it was too loosely organized to be effective against big business

Term

The American Federation of labor 

#71

Definition

1)      The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was formed in 1881 by Samuel Gompers.

2)      Unlike the Knights of Labor, the AFL consisted of separate unions of skilled workers joined together into a single federation of workers.

3)      Gompers limited his goals to winning improved wages and working conditions for workers, higher pay, and an 8-hour work day.

 

4)      He wanted closed shops or businesses that only hired union members.

Term

Government Attitudes to Unions

#72

Definition

1-      Political leaders often favored laissez-faire policies.  They believed that businesses should have the right to hire and fire employees as they pleased and that the government should not interfere in the market.

2-      Union activities were often associated with violence.  In 1886, the Haymarket Affair occurred.  A bomb exploded at a demonstration of striking workers.

 

3-      However, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911, changed government attitudes.  Almost 150 young women workers died because the factory had been bolted shut from the outside.

Term

Government reform after the fire at the Triangle shirtwaist factory

#73

Definition

1)      Soon after the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Congress passed legislation favorable to unions.

2)      Congress also created the Department of Labor to study labor problems, collect statistics, and enforce labor laws.

 

3)      The Clayton Antitrust Act banned the use of federal injunctions (court orders) to prohibit strikes in labor disputes.

Term

Urbanization

#74

Definition

1)      One important result of industrialization was the rapid expansion of American cities.

2)      The movement of people from rural areas to cities is known as urbanization.

3)      Large families crowded into tenements, single-room apartments often without hear or lighting.

 

4)      Cities were often run by corrupt “political machines”.  Political bosses provided jobs and services for immigrants and the poor in exchange for their votes.  

Term

Old/New Immagration

#75

Definition

1)      Up until 1880, most immigrants had come from Northern Europe.  These “Old Immigrants” were usually Protestants, except for Irish Catholics.

 

2)      Most “New Immigrants” after 1880 were from Southern and Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Greece, and Russia.  They were Catholic and Jewish.

Term

The Rise of Nativism

#76

 

Definition

1)      While the new immigrants settled in ethnic neighborhoods known as ghettos and their children learned English and became familiar with American customs (their children assimilated or “Americanized”), “Old Immigrants” became increasingly hostile.

2)      “Old Immigrants” believed that the new immigrants were inferior. 

3)      Nativists believed that people of other races, religions, and nationalities were physically and culturally inferior.

 

4)      This led to policies hostile to “New Immigrants.”

Term

The Chinese Exclusion Act and the gentlemen agreedment 

#77

Definition

1)      The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882.  It banned all Chinese immigration.

2)      The Gentlemen’s Agreement occurred in 1907.  The Japanese government promised to limit future Japanese immigration.

 

3)      These policies were used to pacify anti-Asian feelings in California.

Term

Settlement Of the last frontier

#78

Definition

1)      Much of the last frontier consisted of the Great Plains, home to millions of buffalo and Native American tribes.

2)      From 1860 to 1890, the herds of buffalo were destroyed.

3)      Gold and silver were discovered and thousands of prospectors moved to California, the Rocky Mountains, and the Black Hills.

4)      The extension of the railroads, especially the transcontinental railroad in 1869, allowed for the settlement of the Great Plains.

 

5)      In 1862, the Homestead Act gave federal land away to anyone who would live on the land and farm it.

Term

The Indian Wars

#79

Definition

1)      The “Indian Wars” pitted settlers and federal troops against the tribes.

2)      These wars lasted from 1860 to 1890.

3)      Native American Indians were placed on reservations.  These reservations were often smaller lands than the tribes previous lands and consisted of undesirable land.

4)      Native Americans were traditionally hunters, not farmers.

Term

Reformers Americanization

#80

Definition

1)      In the late 19th century, prejudice against Native American Indians was widespread.

2)      Some reformers began to protest their mistreatment.  The most famous was Helen Hunt Jackson.  In her book, A Century of Dishonor (1881), she harshly criticized the government for repeatedly breaking its promises to Native American Indians.

3)   The Dawes Act encouraged a policy of Americanization.  The Act officially abolished Native American Indian tribes.  It gave Native American Indians private property but it failed because it did not take into account traditions.

Term

Economic Problem For Farmers in the late 19th century

#81

Definition

1)      In the late 19th century, farmers experienced increasing difficulties.

2)      Overproduction was one cause of these difficulties.  The opening of the West increased the amount of farmland.  Machinery raised productivity.  As farmers produced more, food prices fell.

3)      Farmers had to ship their crops to market.  Railroads used the lack of competition on local routes to charge higher rates for shorter distances.

4)      Farmers were constantly in debt, borrowing to make improvements, buy machinery, or to get by during a poor harvest.

Term

The Grange Movement

#82

Definition

1)      In 1867, the Grange Movement was organized by farmers.

2)      It blamed railroads for farmers’ problems.

3)      While the Supreme Court changed its position on who controlled railroads, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act.  This prohibited railroads from charging different rates for the same distance.

Term

Populist Party 1891-1896

#83

Definition

1)      In 1892, farmers gave their support to the new Populist Party.

2)      This party represented laborers, farmers, and industrial workers in their battle against banking and railroad interests.

 3)      The Populists wanted unlimited coinage of silver to make debt repayment easier, direct election of Senators, term limits for Presidents, progressive taxation (rich taxed more), eight-hour work day, and immigration quotas.

Term

The Election of 1896

#84

Definition

1)      In 1896, the Democratic Party nominated William Jennings Bryan for President.  His “Cross of Gold” speech denounced bankers for “crucifying mankind on a cross of gold.”

2)      Bryan lost the election to the Republican William McKinley.

3)      However, the direct election of Senators and progressive taxation were later passed by other political parties.

Term

The Progressives Movement 1900-1920

#86

Definition

1)      The Progressive Movement flourished between 1900 and the start of World War I.

2)      Progressives were mainly middle-class city dwellers.

3)      The goal of Progressives was to correct the political and economic injustices that had resulted from America’s industrialization.

 4)      They sought to use the power of government to correct the evils of industrialization so that all Americans could enjoy better lives.

Term

The Muckrackers and the social reformers

#87

Definition

1)      Among the most influential Progressives were investigative reporters, writers, and social scientists that exposed government corruption and the abuses of industry.

2)      These writers became known as muckrakers.

3)      Jacob Riis, Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Upton Sinclair were famous muckrakers.

4)      Some Progressives were so stirred by the abuses of industrial society that they made individual efforts at reform.

5)      Jane Addams and Lillian Wald started settlement houses in slum neighborhoods.

6)      Other Progressive groups formed associations to promote social change, such as the N.A.A.C.P.

Term

Progressive Governors

#88

Definition

1)      Progressives replaced “boss rule” with public-minded mayors.

2)      They expanded services to deal with overcrowding, fire hazards, and the lack of public service.

3)      They introduced new forms of city government to halt corruption.

4)      Governors like Robert LaFollete and Theodore Roosevelt took steps to free their state governments from the corrupting influence of big business.

Term

Progressive Political Reforms 

#89

Definition

1)      Progressives wanted secret ballots to ensure that voters were not subjected to voter intimidation.

2)      They wanted direct party primaries.

3)      Progressives also wanted the direct election of Senators.  Eventually, the Seventeenth Amendment guaranteed the direct election of Senators.

 4)      Voters could introduce bills in some states.

Term

Therodore Roosvelt

#90

Definition

1)      Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency from 1901-1909 launched a series of Progressive reforms.

2)      Roosevelt revived the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.  Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company was broken up.

3)      He distinguished between “good” and “bad” trusts.

4)      His “Square Deal” led to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act to protect consumers.

5)      He also believed in conserving forests and wildlife.

Term

Woodrow Wilson

#91

Definition

1)      Woodrow Wilson was a Progressive Democrat.  He was elected President in 1912.

2)      Wilson promised a “New Freedom” for America.

3)      He wanted to tame big business, increase competition, and eliminate special privileges.

4)      He introduced an income tax.  The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified in 1913 and gave Congress the power to tax income.

 5)      The Federal Reserve Act reformed banking by establishing Federal Reserve banks.

Term

The Clayton Antitrust

#92

Definition

1)      In 1914, Congress passed the Clayton Antitrust Act.

 2)      It increased the federal government’s powers to prohibit unfair business practices.

Term

The Suffrage Movement 

#93

Definition

1)      In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention.

2)      The Convention passed a resolution that women were equal to men.

3)      The movement focused on suffrage or the right to vote.

 4)      Susan B. Anthony and other suffragists were able to win suffrage in several Western states.

Term

The 19th Amendment 

#94

Definition

1)      When American men went off to fight in World War I in 1917, millions of women took their places in factories and workshops.

2)      Women’s contribution to the war was the final argument in favor of women’s suffrage.

3)      The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920.  It established that no state could deny a citizen the right to vote on the basis of gender.

Term

Causes Of the spanish American War

#95

Definition

1)      Many Americans felt that they had a moral obligation to help Cubans in their struggle for independence from Spain.

2)      Yellow journalists like William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer exaggerated news from Cuba to attract American support.

3)      Americans wanted to protect American investments in Cuba.

4)      In the “De Lome Letter”, the Spanish Ambassador called President McKinley “weak”.

5)      The U.S. battleship Maine was blown up in Havana Harbor.

Term

Imperlism 

#96

Definition

1)      After the United States’ victory against Spain, the United States acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

2)      Cuba fell under indirect control of the United States.

3)      The Age of American imperialism began.

4)      Imperialism is the domination of one country by another.

5)      By the early 1900s, the U.S. had also acquired Hawaii, Samoa, and Midway.

 6)      Colonies provided needed raw materials and markets for manufactured goods.

Term

Certificate Of Incorpation 

#97

Definition

1)     Corporations are costly to form.  A certificate of incorporation is a government license to form a corporation.

2)      This license is issued by state governments.

 3)      While stockholders face limited liability, corporations are costly to form and face double taxation.  The corporation is taxed and the dividends or shareholders’ profits are taxed.

 

Term

The American Colonies

#98

Definition

1)      Filipinos fought against the United States until they were defeated in 1902. 

2)      However, Philippine independence was later granted by the United States in 1946, after World War II.

3)      In the 1890s, Queen Liliuokalani tried to take power away from the Americans.  She was overthrown by American landowners.

 4)      Eventually, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States in 1959.

Term

Open Door Policy

#99

Definition

1)      The United States announced the “Open Door Policy”. 

2)      It favored equal trading rights for all foreign nations in China.

 3)      With the defeat of the Boxer Rebellion and its hatred of foreigners in China, Americans wanted to ensure that all foreign countries could compete in the Chinese market.

Term

Commodore Perry

#100

Definition

1)      In 1853, the United States forced open an isolationist Japan to Western trade and influence.

 

2)      Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Japan with American gunships to end Japan’s policy of isolationism.

Term

U.S Imperialism in the Caribbean

#101

Definition

1)      Cubans were forced to agree to the Platt Amendment.  This Amendment gave the United States the right to intervene in Cuba at any time.

 

2)      When Panamanians declared their independence from Colombia, the United States supported them.  In return, Panama gave the U.S. control of the Panama Canal Zone.

Term

The Big Stick Policy 

#102

Definition

1)      The so-called “Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine” also became known as the Big Stick Policy.

 2)      President Theodore Roosevelt declared that the U.S. would act as the “international police power” in Latin America.  The U.S. would send its troops to Latin American to protect American interests.

Term

Reasons for the U.S.A.’s involvement in WWI

#103

Definition

1)      While Woodrow Wilson had tried to maintain American neutrality, several factors led to the U.S.A.’s involvement.

2)      The Zimmerman Telegram promised to return U.S. territories to Mexico if Mexico helped Germany against the U.S.

3)      The Germans sank the British passenger ship, The Lusitania.

 4)      German submarines attacked American vessels.

Term

The Selective Service Act

#104

Definition

1) Congress passed the Selective Service Act (1917) to draft men for the army.

Term

The Peace Settlement

#105

Definition

1)      While civil liberties were curtailed (Schenck vs. US.) and restrictions were placed on free speech, Americans won the war.

2)      Wilson’s Fourteen Points called for freedom of seas, reduced armaments, and an end to secret diplomacy.

 

3)      He also encouraged the formation of a League of Nations to discourage future wars.

Term

The Treaty of Versailles

#106

Definition

1)      The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty that ended World War I.

2)      It was extremely harsh on the Germans.

3)      Though Wilson was opposed to it, his League of Nations was established.

 4)      The Senate rejected the treaty; the U.S. did not join the League of Nations, and became isolationist.

Term

Kellog-Briand Peace Pact

#126

Definition

1)      In 1928, the U.S. joined 61 nations in signing the Kellog-Briand Peace Pact.  It renounced the use of war as a national policy.

Term
1919 Was A Really Bad Year Because....
Definition

-Red Scare -Spanish Flu Pandimic -Economic Down Town

-Racial Unrest -Wood Wilson not the man.

Term

The Roaring Twenties

#107

Definition

1)      The Roaring Twenties were years of peace and prosperity.

 2)      However, some Americans feared a Communist revolution.  This “Red Scare” led Attorney General Palmer to arrest radicals accused of communist activities.

Term

Sacco and Vanzetti

#108

Definition

1-      Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian immigrants accused of murder to get funds for an anarchist revolution.

 2-      Although the evidence was insufficient and the jury clearly prejudiced against Italian immigrants, they were found guilty and executed.

Term

The Immigration Acts of 1921, 1924, and 1929

#109

Definition

1)      The “Red Scare” and the Sacco and Vanzetti trial greatly contributed to the rise of nativism-a dislike of foreigners.

 2)      A series of immigration acts restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe by establishing quotas for each nationality based on America’s existing ethnic composition.

Term

Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover

#110

Definition

1)      In 1920, Republicans returned to the White House.

2)      Presidents Harding and Coolidge supported laissez-faire economic policies, with minimal interference in business.

3)      During Harding’s term, the Teapot Dome Scandal revealed that an administration official had been bribed to lease oil-rich government lands at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, to businessmen.

4)      Coolidge’s motto was “The business of America is business”.

 5)      Hoover emphasized “rugged individualism”.  He strongly believed that government interference in business could threaten the nation’s prosperity.

Term

The Rise of the Automobile

#111

Definition

1)      The growth of in automobile ownership affected American life.

2)      Automobile production required vast amounts of steel, glass, and rubber-stimulating those industries.

3)      Cars gave people greater mobility.

4)      Cars made suburbs possible.

 5)      Henry Ford introduced the assembly line.

Term

Prohibition

#112

Definition

1)      Reformers saw alcohol as the cause of poverty and crime.

2)      In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified, banning the sale of all alcoholic drinks.

3)      Gradually, Americans began to see this “experiment” as a failure, since many people refused to accept the ban on alcohol.

4)      The Twenty-first Amendment in 1933 ended Prohibition.

 

 

Term

Cultural Values of the 1920s

#113

Definition

1)      The Scopes “Monkey” Trial occurred when Tennessee passed a law that forbade teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution.

2)      In 1925, John Scopes, a biology teacher, was tried and convicted for teaching evolution.

3)      This trial highlighted the clash between science and religion.

4)      Women demonstrated greater freedoms in the twenties.  They worked outside the home, they rejected traditional clothing, and some even smoked.

 5)      The Lost Generation of writers like Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald rejected the desire for material wealth.

Term

The Harlem Renaissance

#114

Definition

1)      African American writers such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen expressed a new pride in their heritage, while attacking racism.

2)      The 1920s is often referred to as the Jazz Age, reflecting the greater importance of African-American music.

 3)      Migration of African Americans to northern cities increased.

Term

Kellog-Briand Peace Pact

#126

Definition

1)      In 1928, the U.S. joined 61 nations in signing the Kellog-Briand Peace Pact.  It renounced the use of war as a national policy.

Term

Causes of the Great Depression

#115

Definition

1)      Overproduction occurred.  Companies were producing more goods than consumers could afford to buy.

2)      There was an uneven distribution of income.  Many workers faced hard times.

3)      Many investors hoped to “get rich quick” by investing in stocks with borrowed money (Speculation).  When the stocks failed to produce significant gains, these investors could not pay their loans back.

 4)      Banks made too many bad loans, did not get the money back, and went bankrupt.

Term

The Stock Market Crash

#116

Definition

1)      On October 29, 1929, prices on the New York Stock Exchange began to plunge to all-time lows.

2)      Corporations could no longer raise funds.  People were unable to repay loans.

3)      Banks failed.

4)      Thousands of people lost their savings.

5)      As prices fell, factories closed and workers lost jobs.

 6)      As more workers lost jobs, demand decreased more, and more factories closed in a downward economic spiral.

Term

Hardship in the Cities and on the Farms

#117

Definition

1)      Businesses closed, farmers lost their farms, banks failed, and millions of people were out of work during the Great Depression.

2)      The Great Depression was the most severe economic downturn in the history of American capitalism.

3)      Unlike today, there was no safety net.  There was no Social Security or aid to the disadvantaged, elderly, or poor.

4)      Many Americans went hungry.

5)      In addition to the financial disaster, the farmers of the Great Plains faced natural disasters in the 1930s.

6)      A series of droughts in the early 1930s dried up the crops of the Great Plains as well as the topsoil, turning the soil into dust.

7)      Heavy winds destroyed harvests and carried soil away in huge clouds of dust.

8)      These Dust Bowls led to severe hardships among farmers. 

9)      Farmers were unable to grow enough to pay their bills, often abandoned their land, and moved to California.

Term
Hoovervilles
Definition

1)      President Hoover’s Laissez-faire policies failed to help Americans.  He believed the economy would fix itself.

 2)      Shanty towns of the homeless and unemployed were sarcastically called “Hoovervilles”.

Term

The “New Deal”

#119

Definition

1)      Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President in 1932.  He promised Americans a “New Deal” to put them back to work.

 

2)      The “New Deal” was a major turning point in American history it established the principle that the federal government bears the chief responsibility for ensuring the smooth running of the American economy. 

Term

Relief

#120

Definition

1)      Relief measures were short-term actions to tide people over until the economy recovered.  Roosevelt wanted Relief, Recovery, and Reform.  The government gave people jobs to help the economy.

2)      The Civilian Conservation Corps (1933) gave jobs to young people, such as planting and cleaning up forests.

 

3)      The Works Progress Administration (1935) created jobs by hiring artists, writers, and muralists.

Term

Recovery

#121

Definition

1)      Recovery measures were designed to restore the economy by increasing incentives to produce and by rebuilding people’s purchasing power.

2)      The National Recovery Administration (1933) asked businesses to voluntarily limit production, set prices, and implement a minimum wage.  It was found unconstitutional.

 3)      The Agricultural Adjustment Acts paid farmers to plant less in hope of increasing crop prices.

Term

Reform

#122

Definition

1)      Reforms were aimed at remedying defects in the nation’s economy.

2)      The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insured bank deposits so that people would not lose their savings in case a bank failed.

3)      The Securities and Exchange Commission oversaw the stock market.

 4)      The Social Security Act provided unemployment insurance and pension.

Term

The Wagner Act

#123

Definition

1)      The Wagner Act gave workers the right to form unions to bargain collectively with their employer.

Term

Reactions to the New Deal

#124

Definition

1)      Roosevelt’s efforts to combat the depression made him very popular, giving him a victory in the 1936 election.

2)      Roosevelt was elected to a total four terms.

3)      Roosevelt died in 1944 after only one year in his fourth term.  The Twenty-second Amendment was ratified in 1951, limiting future Presidents to no more than two elected terms.

4)      The Supreme Court ruled the National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Acts unconstitutional.

5)      In 1937, Roosevelt proposed adding six new justices to the Supreme Court to give him control of the court.

Public reaction was negative but the Supreme Court stopped overturning New Deal legislation

Term

America’s Attempt at Neutrality Fails

#127

Definition

1)      As European leaders followed a policy of appeasement or giving in to the demands of a potential enemy towards Adolf Hitler, Congress passed a series of acts to keep the United States out of war.

2)      The Neutrality Acts prohibited Americans from selling arms to warring nations or traveling on ships.

3)      However, the United States began preparing for war with the defeat of France to the Nazis.

4)      The Lend-Lease Act allowed President Roosevelt to sell, lease, or lend war materials to any country deemed vital to the defense of the United States.

5)      The Atlantic Charter was signed in 1941 by Roosevelt and Churchill.  It established a world based on Four Freedoms: Speech, Religion, No Want, No Fear.

Term

Pearl Harbor and the Home Front

#128

Definition

1)      On December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

2)      The next day, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

3)      Four days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.

4)      The Draft was instituted.  All men between 18 and 45 were liable for military service.

5)      The draft and the expansion of production brought a final end to the Great Depression.

6)      Women, African Americans, and other minorities worked in factories as other workers went to war.

 

7)      Americans bought war bonds or loaned money to the government to help pay for the war.  The U.S. government now owed money to bondholders.  It became a debtor nation.

Term

The War in Europe

#129

Definition

1)      When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union and declared war on the U.S. before defeating Britain, he made a great mistake.

2)      Roosevelt and Churchill opened a second front against Germany in the West.

3)      On June 6, 1944 - D Day - Allied troops landed in France and moved towards Germany.

4)      In April 1945, Hitler committed suicide.

 

5)      The Soviets captured Berlin and Germany surrendered.

Term

The War against Japan

#130

Definition

1)      At first, the Japanese made significant gains in Asia and the Pacific.

2)      In 1943, the United States began to regain naval superiority in the Pacific.

3)      American forces began “island hopping” to liberate Pacific islands from Japanese control.

4)      On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima.  On August 9, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb over Nagasaki.

 

5)      Japan surrendered.  The emperor was allowed to remain on his throne but lost all political power.

Term

The Legacy of World War II

#131

Definition

1)      Nazi leaders were put on trial for “crimes against humanity” in Nuremberg.  The Nazis had murdered millions of European Jews.  The Nuremberg Trials established that individuals are responsible if they commit atrocities, even during war.

2)General Douglas MacArthur was assigned the task of rebuilding and reforming post-war Japan.  Japan lost its overseas empire, was forbidden from having a large army or navy, and became a democracy.  A new constitution in 1947 made Japan a democracy

Term

The Cold War

 #133

Definition

1)      Stalin put Communist puppet governments in power in all of Eastern Europe, making these countries Soviet “satellites” as if an “Iron Curtain” had fallen between Eastern and Western Europe.

2)      Americans responded to the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe by developing a policy of containment or preventing Communism from spreading to new areas.

3)      The Truman Doctrine marked the beginning of the containment policy.

Term

The Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift

#134

Definition

1)      The Marshall Plan gave massive economic aid to the nations of Western Europe to rebuild their economies and reduce the attraction to Communism.

2)      While Germany was divided, the Soviets blockaded West Berlin (the democratic side), the Western Allies began a massive airlift to feed and supply the city.  Within a year, the Soviets lifted the blockade.

Term

N.A.T.O. , the Warsaw Pact, and China 

#135

Definition

1)      The United States, Canada, and ten Western European countries formed NATO in 1949.  These countries pledged to defend every other member if attacked.

2)      The Soviets responded by forming the Warsaw Pact with its Eastern European satellites in 1955.

3)      Meanwhile, China fell to communism in 1949 under the leadership of Mao Zedong.  President Truman refused to recognize the Communist government.

4)      The United States prevented the admission of Mao’s China to the U.N.

Term

The Korean War

#136

Definition

1)      Korea had been divided into two zones after WWII.  North Korea was communist and South Korea was not.

2)      In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to unify the country under communist rule.

3)      Truman fired MacArthur for wanted to recapture China from the Communists.

4)      Eisenhower ended the war with minor border adjustments.

Term

The Soviets, Nuclear Weapons, and Sputnik

#137

Definition

1)      In 1949, the Soviet Union had developed its own atomic bomb, starting a nuclear arms race.

2)      In 1952, the United States developed the hydrogen bomb.  The Soviets followed a year later.

3)      Nuclear weapons acted as a deterrent because in most situations nuclear weapons could not be used due to the massive destruction that would follow.

4)      In 1957, the Soviets launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into space.

5)      The “Space Race” had begun by 1958.

Term

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

#138

Definition

1)      President Truman ordered the establishment of Loyalty Review Boards to investigate “un-American acts”.

2)      In 1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were indicted for selling secret information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.  They were executed, even though many Americans doubted their guilt.

Congress conducted loyalty checks

Term

The McCarthy Hearings

#139

Definition

1)      In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy shocked the nation by claiming to know the names of many Communists who had infiltrated the State Department and the U.S. Army.

2)      McCarthy eventually lost his influence.

3)      However, the term McCarthyism has come to mean making wild accusations without proof.

4)      McCarthyism showed the anxiety caused by the Cold War.

Term

Brown V. Board of Education, 1954

#140

Definition

1)      This Supreme Court decision ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.  It overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.

 2)      Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the unanimous decision to end segregation in public schools.

Term

The Civil Rights Movement

#141

Definition

1)      Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged in the late 1950s as the main leader of the Civil Rights Movement.  He was nonviolent.

2)      Nonviolent protesters engaged in civil disobedience, opposing unjust laws as Thoreau and Gandhi had.

3)      Freedom Riders tried to desegregate bus lines.

4)      President Eisenhower ordered federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to desegregate the public schools.

5)      Sit-ins and picketing occurred against segregation.

6)      In 1963, the March on Washington called for a new Civil Rights Bill.

Term

Voting Rights and Affirmative Action

#142

Definition

1)After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Civil Rights leaders turned their energies to registering black voters and encouraging them to vote.

2)The Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) eliminated poll taxes in federal elections.

3)The Voting Rights Act (1965) ended poll taxes and suspended literacy tests where they were being used to prevent African Americans from voting.

4)In 1965, President Johnson signed an executive order requiring employers with federal contracts to raise the number of their minority and female employees to correct past imbalances.  Affirmative Action was upheld by the Supreme Court in University of California v. Bakke (1978

 
Term

Eisenhower Years

#143

Definition

1)      During the Eisenhower years, there was a housing boom.  Developers built cheaper, mass-produced housing due to the rise in birth rates.

2)      The Gross Domestic Product doubled.  The demand for consumer goods reached all-time highs.

3)      In the late 1950s, there was a greater emphasis on conformity.

Term

The Kennedy Years

#144

Definition

1)      As part of his New Frontier, Kennedy proposed a tax cut to stimulate the economy, the creation of Medicare, civil rights legislation, and increased aid to education.

2)      However, his attempt to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs (1961) failed.  While his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis (keeping Soviet missiles out of Cuba) in 1962 was a great success.

3)      He was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

Term

LBJ’s Great Society

#145

Definition

1)      Lyndon Baines Johnson became President after Kennedy’s assassination.

2)      He proposed the most far-ranging social legislation since the New Deal.  His proposals were called “The Great Society” because he hoped to increase opportunities for all.

3)      LBJ passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

4)      He expanded Social Security with the creation of Medicare or medical care for the elderly.

He declared a war on poverty.  However, his involvement in Vietnam weakened his Presidency

Term

“Youth Culture”

#146

Definition

1)      In the 1960s and early 1970s, many young people adopted a spirit of rebelliousness.  They challenged the materialism of those in charge of American society.

2)      They were shocked at the Establishment’s indifference to poverty and other problems.

3)      This “youth culture” experimented openly with drugs and sex.

4)      Many young people protested the war in Vietnam.

5)      Protests continued until the United States withdrew from the war in 1973.

ement in Vietnam weakened his Presidency

Term

Women’s Liberation

#147

Definition

1)The Feminist Movement of the 1960s was directed at achieving economic and social equality.

2)Betty Freidan wrote The Feminine Mystique.

3)Affirmative Action opened universities to women.

4)In 1963, the “Equal Pay” Act was passed.

5)Feminists introduced Ms. as opposed to Miss or Mrs.

6)Roe v. Wade (1973) guaranteed the right to an abortion.

 
Term

Black Power and “Red Power”

#148

Definition

1)      After the assassination of Dr. King in 1968, riots occurred.  The Kerner Commission discovered that urban poverty and racism contributed to the riots.  Some African Americans felt that the traditional nonviolent approach had failed. 

2)      The Black Panthers demanded reparations for centuries of discrimination.

3)      Black Muslims believed that African Americans should have their own state.  Malcom X initially advocated violence but moderated his views after a pilgrimage to Mecca.

 4)      The American Indian Movement or A.I.M. advocated “Red Power” as they sought respect for Native American Indians.  They introduced the term “Native American.”

Term

The Warren Court

#149

Definition

1)      Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Supreme Court became a major instrument of social change.

2)      In Mapp v. Ohio (1961), the Supreme Court did not permit evidence in court that was obtained by illegal police searches.

3)      In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Court ruled that a free lawyer must be provided to those defendants who could not afford a lawyer.

4)      In Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the Court ruled that the police must inform suspects of their Miranda rights: to remain silent and to have

lawyer present during questioning.

Term

The Vietnam War

#150

Definition

1)      Vietnam was once a French colony.  In 1954, the Vietnamese defeated the French and subsequently was divided into a North or Communist Vietnam and a South or non-Communist Vietnam.

2)      After an election in 1956 was not held to reunite the country, South Vietnamese Communists (the Vietcong) with North Vietnamese support began a guerrilla war against the government of South Vietnam.

3)      U.S. leaders believed in the Domino Theory or the idea that if South Vietnam fell to communism other countries would follow.  Therefore, Kennedy sent aid to Vietnam. 

4)      Lyndon Johnson announced that the North Vietnamese had attacked U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964.

5)      The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave the President power to stop communist aggression in South Vietnam.  LBJ sent many American soldiers to Vietnam.

 

Term

Nixon

#151

Definition

1)      President Nixon believed that social problems were best dealt with at the local level.  Under his New Federalism, he reversed the trend of increasing federal control.  He also cut spending on social programs.

2)      He established relations with Communist China and encouraged détente (relaxing strained relations) with the Soviet Union.

 3)      However, Nixon resigned when he was discovered lying about the break-in of the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel.

Term

Ford and Carter

#152

Definition

1)      Gerald Ford, an unelected Vice President who had been appointed President when Spiro Agnew was forced to resign as Vice President for taking bribes, became the next President after Nixon.  He pardoned Nixon for any crimes.  The nation suffered from stagflation or high unemployment and high inflation.  By 1975, South Vietnam had fallen to the Communists.  He also signed the Helsinki Accords with the Soviet Union recognizing post-World War II borders and pledging to respect human rights.

2)      Jimmy Carter was elected President in 1977.  Carter signed a treaty to return the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999.  He hosted the Camp David Accords to foster peace between Egypt and Israel. 

3)      However, Carter was blamed when Iranians overthrew their dictator, the Shah, and seized the American embassy.  Hostages were released under Reagan.

Term

Ronald Reagan

#153

Definition

1)      Ronald Reagan became President in the election of 1980.  He believed that individuals and businesses were better able to solve economic problems than the government was.  He supported the policy of New Federalism begun under Nixon.

2)      He encouraged supply-side economics.  He believed a large supply of goods would decrease prices and stop inflation.  Under “Reaganomics”, he cut taxes on businesses and wealthy.  He felt these people would invest their tax savings to finance the expansion of industry.

3)      The Reagan Doctrine stated that the U.S. would no longer use containment but would aid anti-Communist “freedom fighters”.  The Reagan administration secretly sold arms to Iran.  Profits were used to support the “Contras” in Nicaragua.

Term

George H.W. Bush Presidency

#154

Definition

1)      Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibiting discrimination against the disabled.

2)      He was blamed for the nation’s recession.

3)      He sent troops to Panama against Noriega and Iraq against Saddam Hussein after Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait.

Term

Clinton

 #155

Definition

1)      Bill Clinton won the election of 1992.  He was elected to two terms.

2)      The House voted to impeach or indict the President after he lied about a sexual liaison but the Senate vote fell short of the two-thirds required to convict him.

3)      Clinton pushed the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA through Congress.  It created a trade association between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

4)      He spearheaded the use of NATO forces to bomb Serbia when Serbian nationalists persecuted Muslims in Kosovo.

5)      He was a tireless negotiator in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Term

George W. Bush

#156

Definition

1)      George W. Bush, son of former President George H.W. Bush, was elected in 2000 in the closest Presidential election in U.S. history.

2)      He introduced the No Child Left Behind Act, requiring states to test students in both English and mathematics.

3)      On September 11, 2001, terrorists from the radical Islamic al-Qaeda network hijacked U.S. airliners and crashed them into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.  About three thousand people were killed.

4)      He declared a “War on Terrorism” and invaded Iraq after suspicion that the Iraqi leader was developing nuclear weapons of mass destruction.  An Office of Homeland Security was created.

Term

Toward a Post-Industrial World

#157

Definition

1)      The U.S. has been shifting from an industrial economy to a “post-industrial” or service economy.  Americans are now more likely to work as salespeople, computer programmers, bank tellers, or teachers than as factory workers.

2)      The Internet, a worldwide linking of computers, makes it easier to communicate and find information.

3)      Global warming prevents heat from escaping into space.  The greenhouse effect may raise temperatures enough to cause polar ices to melt.  The environment is a concern for all Americans.

The “baby boomers” (born between 1945 and 1965) will begin to retire causing concerns for Social Security

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