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106 terms

US History

100 cards for extra credit
American Indian Movement (AIM)
American Liberty League
Formed in, a conservative anti-New Deal organization; members included Alfred Smith, John W. Davis, and the Du Pont family. It criticized the "dictatorial" policies of Roosevelt and what it perceived to be his attacks on the free enterprise system.
Anaconda Plan
Army-McCarthy Hearings
Ballinger-Pinchot Affair
Birth of a Nation
Camp David Accords
An agreement between the leaders of Israel and Egypt at the presidential retreat in the hills of Maryland that said that Israel would withdraw form the Sinai peninsula in return for Egypt's recognition of Israel as a nation. deal brokered by Jimmy Carter and signed in early 1979.
Battle of Chateau-Thierry
One of first 1918 World War I battles where soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force fought and suffered severe casualties
Civil Rights Act of 1866
This act pronounced all African Americans to be US citizens (repudiated the Dred Scott decision), and also attempted to provide a legal shield against the operation of the southern states' Black Codes. Passed by Congress over the veto of Johnson.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Service Commission
In 1883, the new president, Chester A. Arthur signed the Pendleton Act which created this. This is a system that includes the most government jobs, except elected positions, the judiciary, and the military. The aim of this was to fill jobs on the basis of value. Jobs went to those with the highest scores of examinations.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Created in April 1933. Within 4 months, 1300 CCC camps were in operation and 300,000 men between ages 18 and 25 worked for the reconstruction of cities. More than 2.5 million men lived and/or worked in CCC camps.
Clayton Antitrust Act
1914 law that made certain business practices illegal (price discrimination or discounts for buying in large volumes) and protected the rights of labor unions and farm organizations
Committee on Public Information
Created by Wodrow Wilson during WWI to mobilize public opinion for the war, this was the most intensive use of propaganda until that time by the US. The image of "Uncle Sam" was created for this propaganda campaign.
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
union organization of unskilled workers; broke away from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1935 and rejoined it in 1955. Effective in automobile and rubber industries.
Most extreme portion of the Peace Democrats. They openly obstructed the war through attacks against the draft, against Lincoln, and the emancipation. Based in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. There was really no victory for this group.
Currency Act
Declaration of Rights and Grievances
this document sent to King George III by the First Continental Congress in 1774 urged him to correct the wrongs incurred by the colonists, but did acknowledge the authority of Parliament to regulate trade and commerce.
Dominion of New England
Eisenhower Doctrine
Emergency Quota Act
A government legislation that limited the number of immigrants from Europe which was set at 3% of the nationality currently in the U.S. It greatly limited the number of immigrants who could move to the U.S. And it reflected the isolationist and anti-foreign feeling in America as well as the departure from traditional American ideals.
Espionage Act
Federal Reserve System
The system created by Congress in 1913 to establish banking practices and regulate currency in circulation and the amount of credit available. It consists of 12 regional banks supervised by the Board of Governors. Often called simply the Fed.
Federal Trade Commission
Authorized afetr the passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, it was established as the major government body in charge of regulating big business. The FTC investigated possible violations of antitrust laws.
The Feminine Mystique
betty Friedan's 1963 book that was the bible of the Feminist Movement of the 60s and 70s. Maintained that the emphasis on the family after WWII forced women to think primarily as housewives and robbed women of their creative potential
First Great Awakening
Force Act
Jackson's response to South Carolina's nullification of the Tariff of 1832; enabled him to make South Carolina comply through force; Henry Clay reworked the tariff so that South Carolina would accept it, but after accepting it, South Carolina also nullified the Force Act
Fordney-McCumber Tariff
1922 This tariff rose the rates on imported goods in the hopes that domestic manufacturing would prosper. This prevented foreign trade, which hampered the economy since Europe could not pay its debts if it could not trade.
Freeport Doctrine
Douglas' opinion (the document) that no matter how the Supreme court ruled, slavery would be defeated if the people voted against it, as it would be impossible to enforce it
Free-Soil Party
a political party formed in 1848 by antislavery northerners who left the Whig and Democratic parties because neither addressed the slavery issue. opposed to the spread of slavery into newly aquired territory
GI Bill
Officially called the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, Provided for college or vocational training for returning WWII veterens as well as one year of unemployment compensation. Also provided for loans for returning veterens to buy homes and start businesses.
Glorious Revolution
In this bloodless revolution of 1688-1689, the English Parliament and William and Mary agreed to overthrow James II for the sake of Protestantism. This led to a constitutional monarchy and the drafting of the English Bill of Rights
Great Migration
Migration of large numbers of American blacks to Midwestern and Eastern industrial cities that began during World War I and continued throughout the 1920s. Additional workers were needed in the North because of immigration restrictions; blacks were willing to leave the South because of continued lynchings there and the fact that their economic situation was not improving.
Great Society
Aggressive program announced by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 to attack the major social problems in America; Great Society programs included the War on Poverty, Medicare and Medicaid programs for elderly Americans, greater protection for and more legislation dealing with civil rights, and greater funding for education. Balancing the Great Society and the war in Vietnam would prove difficult for the Johnson administration.
Greenback party
Political party of the 1870s and early 1880s that stated the government should put more money in circulation and supported an eight-hour workday and female suffrage. The party received support from farmers but never built a national base. The Greenback party argued into the 1880s that more greenbacks should be put in circulation to help farmers who were in debt and who saw the prices of their products decreasing annually.
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
In response to the initial effects of the Great Depression, Congress authorized this tariff in 1930; this established tariff rates on imported goods at the highest level of any point in United States history. Some American companies benefited in the short term, although the effect on world trade was disastrous, as many other countries erected tariff barriers on American imports.
Haymarket Square
Location in Chicago of labor rally called by anarchist and other radical labor leaders on May 2, 1886. A bomb was hurled toward police officials, and police opened fire on the demonstrators; numerous policemen and demonstrators were killed and wounded. Response in the nation's press was decidedly anti-union.
holding company
A company that existed to gain monopoly control over an industry by buying large numbers of shares of stock in as many companies as possible in that industry. The best example in American history was John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil corporation.
horizontal integration
The strategy of gaining as much control over an entire single industry as possible, usually by creating trusts and holding companies. The most successful example of horizontal integration was John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil, who had at one point controlled over 92 percent of the oil production in the United States.
HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)
Committee of the House of Representatives that beginning in 1947 investigated possible communist infiltration of the entertainment industry and, more importantly, of the government. Most famous investigations of the committee were the investigation of the "Hollywood Ten" and the investigation of Alger Hiss, a former high-ranking member of the State Department.
The Influence of Sea Power upon History
Very influential 1890 book by Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, which argued that throughout history the most powerful nations have achieved their influence largely because of powerful navies.l Mahan called for a large increase in the size of the American navy, the acquisition of American bases in the Pacific, and the building of the Panama Canal.
initiative process
Procedure supported by the Populist party in 1890s where any proposed law could go on the public ballot as long as a petition with an appropriate number of names is submitted beforehand supporting the proposed law.
Interstate Commerce Act
Passed in 1887, the bill created America's first regulatory commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission. The task of this commission was to regulate the railroad and railroad rates, and to ensure that rates were"reasonable and just.l"
A policy of disengaging the United States from major world commitments and concentrating on the US domestic issues. This was the dominant foreign policy of the United States for much of the 1920s and the 1930s
The Jazz Singer
1927 film starring Al Jolson the was the first movie with sound. Story of the film deals with young Jewish man who has to choose between the "modern" and his Jewish past.
American foreign policy based on a strident nationalism, a firm belief in American world superiority, and a belief that military solutions were, in almost every case, the best ones. Jingoism was most evident in America during the months leading up to and during the Spanish-American War.
Judiciary Act
1801 bill passed by the Federalist Congress just before the inauguration of President Thomas Jefferson; Federalist in the bill attempted to maintain control of the judiciary by reducing the number of Supreme Court judges (so Jefferson probably wouldn't be able to name a replacement) and by increasing the number of federal judges (who President Adams appointed before he left office). Bill was repealed by new Congress in 1802
Justice Reorganization Bill
Franklin Roosevelt's 1937 plan to increase the number of Supreme Court justices. He claimed that this was because many of the judges were older and needed help keeping up with the work; in reality he wanted to "pack the court" because the Court had made several rulings outlawing New Deal legislation. Many Democrats and Republicans opposed this plan, so it was finally dropped by Roosevelt.
Kerner Commission
Established in 1967 to study the reason for urban riots, the commission spoke at length about the impact of poverty and racism on the lives of urban blacks in America, and emphasized that white institutions created and condoned the ghettoes of America.
King-Crane Commission
The American commission that went into carious regions of the Middle East immediately after World War I to discover what political future was desired by residents of the region. I was determined that many did not want to be controlled by Britain and France, and saw the United States in a favorable light. Predictable, the British and French saw to it that the findings of the commission were largely kept quiet.
King William's War
Colonial war against the French that lasted from 1689 to 1697; army from New England colonies attacked Quebec, but were forced to retreat because of the lack of strong colonial leadership and an outbreak of smallpox among colonial forces
Know-Nothing Party
Political party developed in the 1850s; that claimed that the other political parties and the entire political process were corrupt, the immigrants were destroying the economic base of America by working for low wages, and the Catholics in America were intent on destroying American democracy. Know-Nothings were similar in many ways to other nativist groups that developed at various points in America's history.
laissez-faire economic principles
Economic theory derived from eighteenth-century economist Adam Smith, who stated that for the economy to run soundly the government should take a hands-off role in economic matters. Those who have favored policies such as high import tariffs do not follow laissez-faire policies; a policy like NAFTA has more support among the "free market" supporters of Adam Smith
Lend-Lease Act
Legislation proposed by Franklin Roosevelt and adopted by Congress in 1941, stating that the United States could either sell or lease arms and other equipment to any country whose security was vital to America's interest. After the passage of this bill, military equipment to help the British war effort began to be shipped from the United States.
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
A 1767 pamphlet by Pennsylvania attorney and landowner John Dickinson, in which he eloquently stated the "taxation without representation" argument, and also stated that the only way that the House of Commons could represent the colonies in a meaningful way would be for actual colonists to be members of it.
After World War II, the first "suburban" neighborhood; located in Hempstead, Long Island, houses in this development were small, looked the same, but were perfect for the postwar family that wanted to escape urban life. Levittown would become a symbol of the post-World War II flight to suburbia taken by millions.
Lowell System
Developed in the textile mills of Lowell,Massachusetts, in the 1820s, in these factories as much machinery as possible was used, so that few skilled workers were needed in the process, and the workers were almost all single young farm women, who worked for a few years and then returned home to be housewives. Managers found these young women were the perfect workers for this type of factory life.
Marshall Plan
Plan announced in 1947 whereby the United States would help to economically rebuild Europe after the war; 17 Western European nations became part of the plan. The United States introduced the plan so that communism would not spread across war-torn Europe and bring other European countries into the communist camp.
McCarran Internal Security Act
Congressional act enacted in 1950 that stated all members of the Communist party had to register with the office of the Attorney General and that it was a crime to conspire to foster communism in the United States
McCarran-Walter Act
1952 bill that limited immigration from everywhere except Northern and Western Europe and stated that immigration officials could turn any immigrant away that they thought might threaten the national security of the United States.
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
.American forces played a decisive role in this September 1918 Allied offensive, which was the last major offensive of the war and which convinced the German general staff that victory in World War I was impossible.
Morrill Land-Grant Act
1862 federal act designed to fund state "land-grant' colleges. State governments were given large amounts of land in the western territories; this land was sold to individual settlers, land speculators, and others, and the profits of these land sales could be used to establish the colleges.
NAFTA (North American Free trade Agreement)
Ratified in 1994 by the US Senate, this agreement established a free trade zone between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Critics of the agreement claim that many jobs have been lost in the United States because of it.
National American Woman Suffrage Association
The major organization for suffrage for women, it was founded in 1890 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Supported the Wilson administration during World War I and split with the more radical National Woman's Party, who in 1917 began to picket the White House because Wilson had not forcefully stated that women should get the vote.
National Origins Act
Very restrictive immigration legislation passed in 1924, which lowered immigration to 2 percent of each nationality as found in the 1890 census. This lowered immigration dramatically and, quite intentionally, almost eliminated immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe.
Neutrality Act of 1935
To prevent the United States from being drawn into potential European conflicts, this bill said that America would not trade arms with any country at war, and that any American citizen traveling on a ship of a country at war was doing so at his or her own risk.
Neutrality Act of 1939
Franklin Roosevelt got Congress to amend the Neutrality Act of 1935; new legislation stated the England and France could buy arms from the United States as long as there was cash "up front" for these weapons. This was the first military assistance that the United States gave the Allied countries.
New Deal
Series of policies instituted by Franklin Roosevelt and his advisors from 1933 to 1941 that attempted to offset the effects of the Great Depression on American society. Many New Deal policies were clearly experimental; in the end it was the onset of World War II, and not the policies of the New Deal, that pulled the United States out of the Great Depression.
New Federalism
A series of policies during the administration of Ronald Reagan that began to give some power back to the states that had always been held by the federal government. Some tax dollars were returned to state and local governments in the form of "block grants"; the state and local governments could then spend this money as they thought best.
Northwest Ordinances
Bills passed in 1784, 1785,and 1787 that authorized the sale of lands in the Northwest Territory to raise money for the federal government; these bills also carefully laid out the procedures for eventual statehood for parts of these territories.
Ocala Platform
Platform of the Farmer's Alliance, formulated at an 1890 convention held in Ocala, Florida. This farmer's organization favored a graduated income tax, government control of the railroad, the unlimited coinage of silver, and the direct election of United States senators. Candidates supporting the farmers called themselves Populists and ran for public offices in the 1890s.
Acronym for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, this organization sets the price for crude oil and determines how much of it will be produced. The decision of OPEC to raise oil prices in 1973 had a dramatic economic impact in both the United States and the rest of the world.
Palmer Raids
Part of the Red Scare, these were measures to hunt out political radicals and immigrants who were potential threats to American security. Organized by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer in 1919 and 1920 (and carried out by J.Edgar Hoover), these raids led to the arrest of nearly 5500 people and the deportation of nearly four hundred.
Panic of 1837
The American economy suffered a deep depression when Great Britain reduced the amount of credit it offered to the United States; American merchants and industrialists had to use their available cash to pay off debts, thus causing businesses to cut production and lay off workers.
Pendleton Civil Service Act
1883 act that established a civil service system; there were a number of government jobs that were filled by civil service examinations and not by the president appointing one of his political cronies. Some states also started to develop professional civil service systems in the 1880s.
A group of intelligence officials who worked for the committee to reelect Richard Nixon in 1972; the job of this group was to stop leaks of information and perform "dirty tricks" on political opponents of the president. The Plumbers broke into the office of Daniel; Ellsberg's psychiatrist, looking for damaging information against him and totally discredited the campaign of Democratic hopeful Edmund Muskie.
Port Huron Statement
The manifesto of Students for a Democratic Society, a radical student group formed in 1960. The Port Huron Statement called for a greater role for university students in the nation's affairs, rejected the traditional role of the university, and rejected the foreign policy goals that America was embracing at the time.
Potsdam Conference
July 1945 conference between new president Harry Truman, Stalin and Clement Atlee, who had replaced Churchill. Truman took a much tougher stance toward Stalin than Franklin Roosevelt had; little substantive agreement took place at this conference. Truman expressed reservations about the future role of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe at this conference.
putting-out system
The first textile production system in England, where merchants gave wool to families, who in their homes created yarn and then cloth; the merchants would then buy the cloth from the families and sell the finished product.. Textile mills made this procedure more efficient.
Queen Anne's War
1702 to 1713 war, called the War of the Spanish Succession in European texts, pitted England against France and Spain. Spanish Florida was attacked by the English in the early part of this war, and Native Americans fought for both sides in the conflict. The British emerged victorious and in the end received Hudson Bay and Nova Scotia from the French.
Pragmatic policy of leadership, in which the leader"does what he or she has to do" in order to be successful. Morality has no place in the mind-set of a leader practicing realpolitik. The late nineteenth-century German chancellor Otto con Bismarck is the best modern example of a leader practicing realpolitik.
Rebel Without a Cause
1955 film starring James Dean exploring the difficulties of family life and the alienation that many teenagers felt in the 1950s. Juvenile delinquency, and the reasons for it, was the subtext of this film, as well as the source of countless other 1950s-era movies aimed at the youth market.
Removal Act of 1830
Part of the effort to remove Native Americans for "Western" lands so that American settlement could continue westward, this legislation gave the president the authorization (and the money) to purchase from Native Americans all of their lands east of the Mississippi, and gave him the money to purchase lands west of the Mississippi for Native Americans to move to.
Resettlement Administration
In an attempt to address the problem of Dust Bowlers and other poor farmers, this 1935 New Deal program attempted to provide aid to the poorest farmers, resettle some farmers from the Dust Bowl, and establish farm cooperatives. This program never received the funding it needed to be even partially successfully, and in 1937 the Farm Security Administration was created to replace it.
Revenue Act of 1935
Tax legislation championed by Franklin Roosevelt that was called a "soak the rich" plan by his opponents. Under this bill, corporate, inheritance, and gift taxes went up dramatically; income taxes for the upper brackets also rose. By proposing this, Roosevelt may have been attempting to diffuse the popularity of Huey Long and others with more radical plans to redistribute wealth.
Revenue Act of 1942
Designed to raise money for the war, this bill dramatically increased the number of Americans required to pay income tax. Until this point, roughly 4 million Americans paid income tax; as a result of this legislation nearly 45 million did.
Rio Pact
1947 treaty signed by the United States and most Latin American countries, stating that the region would work together on economic and defense matters and creating the Organization of American States to facilitate this cooperation.
SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks)
1972 treaty signed by Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev limiting the development of additional nuclear weapon systems and defense systems to stop them. SALT I was only partially effective in preventing continued development of nuclear weaponry.
satellite countries
Eastern European countries that remained under the control of the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. Most were drawn together militarily by the Warsaw Pact; satellite nations that attempted political or cultural rebellion, such as Hungary in 1956 or Czechoslovakia in 1968, faced invasion by Soviet forces.
Scramble for Africa
.The competition between the major European powers to gain colonial territories in Africa that took place between the 1870s and the outbreak of World War I. Conflicts created by competing visions of colonial expansion increased tensions between the European powers and were a factor in the animosities that led to World War I.
Second Great Awakening
Religious revival movement that began at the beginning of the nineteenth century; revivalist ministers asked thousands of worshippers at revival meetings to save their own souls. This reflected the move away from predestination in Protestant thinking of the era.
Second National Bank
Bank established by Congress in 1816; President Madison had called for the Second Bank in 1815 as a way to spur national economic growth after the War of 1812. After an economic downturn in 1818, the bank shrank the amount of currency available for loans, an act that helped to create the economic collapse of 1819.
Second New Deal
Beginning in 1935 the New Deal did more to help the poor and attack the wealthy; one reason Roosevelt took this path was to turn the American people away from those who said the New Deal wasn't going far enough to help the average person. Two key legislative acts of this era were the Social Security Act of May 1935 and the June 1935 National Labor Relations Act (also called the Wagner Act), which gave all Americans the right to join labor unions. The Wealth Tax Act increased the tax rates for the wealthiest Americans.
Sherman Antitrust Act
1890 congressional legislation designed to break up industrial trusts such as the one created by John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil. The bill stated that any combination of businesses that was "in the restraint of trade" was illegal. Because of the vagueness of the legislation and the lack of enforcement tools in the hands of the federal government, few trusts were actually prosecuted as a result of this bill.
Smith-Connally Act
1943 legislation that limited the nature of labor action possible for the rest of the war. Many in America felt that strikes, especially those organized in the coal mines by the United Mine Workers, were detrimental to the war effort.
Square Deal
The philosophy of President Theodore Roosevelt; included in this was the desire to treat both sides fairly in any dispute. In the coal miner's strike of 1902 he treated the United Mine Workers representatives and company bosses as equals; this approach continued during his efforts to regulate the railroads and other businesses during his second term.
Taft-Hartley Act
1947 congressional legislation that aided the owners in potential labor disputes. In key industries the president could declare an 80 day cooling off period before a strike could actually take place; the bill also allowed owners to sue unions over broken contracts, and forced union leaders to sign anticommunist oaths. The bill was passed over President Truman's veto; Truman only vetoed the bill for political reasons.
Teapot Dome Scandal
.One of many scandals that took place during the presidency of Warren G. Harding. The Secretary of the Interior accepted bribes from oil companies for access to government oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming; other Cabinet members were later convicted of accepting bribes and using their influence to make millions. The Harding administration was perhaps the most corrupt administration in American political history.
Universal Negro Improvement Association
Black organization of the early 1920s founded by Marcus Garvey, who argued that, however possible, blacks should disassociate themselves from the "evils" of white society. This group organized a "back to Africa" movement, encouraging blacks of African descent to move back there; independent black businesses were encouraged (and sometimes funded) by Garvey's organization.
vertical integration
Type of industrial organization practiced in the late nineteenth century and pioneered by Andrew Carnegie and U.S. Steel; under this system all of the various business activities needed to produce and sell a finished product (procuring the raw materials, preparing them, producing them, marketing them, and then selling them) would be done by the same company.
VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America)
Program instituted in 1964 that sent volunteers to help poor Americans living in both urban and rural settings; this program was sometimes described as a domestic peace corps. This was one of many initiatives that were part of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty program
War Industries Board
.Authorized in 1917, the job of the board was to mobilize American industries for the war effort. The board was headed by Wall Street investor Bernard Baruch, who used his influence to get American industries to produce materials useful for the war effort. Baruch was able to increase American production by a staggering 22 percent before the end of the war.
Washington Conference
1921 conference where the United States, Japan, and the major European powers agreed to build no more warships for 10 years; in addition, the nations agreed not to attack each other's territories in the Pacific. This treaty came from strong post-World War I sentiment that it was important to avoid conflicts between nations that might lead to war.
Webb Alien Land Law
1913 California law that prohibited Japanese who were not American citizens from owning farmland in California. This law demonstrates the nativist sentiment found in much of American society in the first decades of the twentieth century.
Webster-Hayne Debate
1830 Senate debate between Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina over the issue of stat's rights and whether an individual state has the right to nullify federal legislation. Webster skillfully outlined the dangers to the United States that would be caused by the practice of nullification; this debate perfectly captured many of the political divisions between North and South that would increase in the 1830s through the 1860s..
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
New Deal program established in 1935 whose goal was to give out jobs as quickly as possible, even though the wages paid by the WPA were relatively low. Roads and public buildings were constructed by WPA work crews; at the same time, WPA authors wrote state guidebooks, artists painted murals in newly constructed public buildings, and musicians performed in large cities and small towns across the country....