ALL NECESSARY VOCAB Flashcards
1
Q
Jamestown
A
The first successful settlement in the Virginia colony founded in May, 1607. Harsh conditions nearly destroyed the colony but in 1610 supplies arrived with a new wave of settlers. The settlement became part of the Virginia Company of London in 1620. The population remained low due to lack of supplies until agriculture was solidly established. Jamestown grew to be a prosperous shipping port when John Rolfe introduced tobacco as a major export and cash crop.
2
Q
Columbia Exchange
A
a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology transformed European and Native American ways of life. Disease killed millions of natives, while new foods brought from the Americas sustained larger populations in Europe
3
Q
Encomienda System
A
created by the Spanish to control and regulate American Indian labor and behavior during the colonization of the Americas. It’s a dependency relation system, where the stronger people fed/protected the weakest in exchange for a labor/slavery. The birth of this type of “system” was initially developed by Portugal to drive their sugar trade off the coast of Africa which gave rise to institutionalized slavery, which Portugal dominated during the 15th century. The Spanish use of it, for which it is most famous, grew out of the Portuguese prototype and was implemented to control and regulate American Indian labor and behavior during the colonization of the Americas. This system of domination was gradually off set by the introduction of African slave labor, which combined with mineral wealth, lead to Spain becoming the richest European nation in the sixteenth century
4
Q
Roanoke Colony
A
First attempt by British (Sir Walter Raleigh) to settle North America in 1587 that failed. Before Jamestown and Plymouth were settled, Roanoke Island, NC played host to the first English-speaking colonists in America, but when ships returned to resupply the 100 man settlement, they were mysteriously gone.
5
Q
Louisiana
A
Area that was named after Louis XIV when French explores ventured into the area from the mouth of the Mississippi River.
6
Q
Mestizo
A
a term traditionally used in Spain and Spanish America to mean a person of combined European and Native American descent.
7
Q
The Mayflower Compact
A
1620 - The first governing document of Plymouth Colony written by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower prior to landing in Massachusetts establishing themselves as a political society and setting guidelines for self-government. Decisions by the will of the majority.
8
Q
The House of Burgesses
A
1619 - America’s Oldest Legislative Assembly. The first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America, governed in conjunction with a colonial governor and his council.
9
Q
Acts of Toleration
A
1689 - Founded Maryland partly as a refuge for English Catholics. Sought enactment of the law to protect Catholic settlers and those of other religions that did not conform to the dominant Anglicanism of Britain and her colonies.
10
Q
Roger Willaims
A
A Puritan, English Reformed theologian, and later a Reformed Baptist who was an early proponent of religious freedom and separation of church and state. He founded Rhode Island after being banished from Massachusetts for his religious beliefs.
11
Q
William Penn
A
Founder of Pennsylvania, and an early advocate of democracy, religious freedom, and Quaker idealism. Under his direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed. In 1681 King Charles II handed over a large piece of his American land holdings to William Penn to satisfy a debt the king owed to Penn’s father.
12
Q
Bacon’s Rebellion
A
An armed rebellion in 1676 by Virginia settlers against the rule of Governor William Berkeley. The colony’s dismissive policy as it related to the political challenges of its western frontier, along with barring common colonists from the governor’s inner circle, helped to motivate a popular uprising against Berkeley who had failed to address the demands of the colonists.
13
Q
King Philip’s War
A
An armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1676. While England was preoccupied with a civil war, colonists were forced to handle their own problems which led to a sense of self-identity.
14
Q
Fundamental Orders of Conneticut
A
First written constitution in US History: representative legislature elected by popular vote, and governor chosen by legislature. Considered by some as the first written Constitution in the Western tradition, and thus earned Connecticut its nickname of The Constitution State.
15
Q
Mercantalism
A
The practice of enacting policies that established colonies as the providers of raw materials for parent country. Essentially, colonies existed to enrich parent country
16
Q
Navigation Acts
A
Acts Laws that monopolized trade with the colonies which effectively forced colonists to accept low prices for products, and pay high prices for manufactured goods
17
Q
Middle Passage
A
the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of Africans were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade. Millions died- an estimated 15% of all Africans shipped.
18
Q
John Locke
A
Influential philosopher that promoted the ideal that governments are bound to natural laws, sovereignty lies with the governed, not the governor, and that the governed have the responsibility to revolt if social contract is broken
19
Q
Great Awakening
A
refers to several periods of religious revival in American religious history characterized by widespread revivals led by evangelical Protestant ministers, a sharp increase of interest in religion, a profound sense of conviction and redemption on the part of those affected, an increase in evangelical church membership, and the formation of new religious movements and denominations.
20
Q
Jonathan Edwards
A
a revivalist preacher who played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening. His most famous work was “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God,”
21
Q
Enlightenment
A
a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.
22
Q
Stamp Act
A
An act of the British Parliament in 1756 that exacted revenue from a direct tax on the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents. Colonial opposition led to the act’s repeal in 1766 and helped encourage the revolutionary movement against the British Crown.
23
Q
Declaratory Act
A
was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act 1765. The declaration stated that the Parliament’s authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament’s authority to pass laws that were binding on the American colonies.
24
Q
Boston Massacre
A
an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers killed five male civilians and injured six others. The incident was heavily propagandized by leading Patriots, such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, to fuel animosity toward the British authorities
25
Committee of Correspondence
The first formal committee was established in Boston in 1764 . They were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of the American Revolution. They coordinated responses to England and shared their plans; by 1773 they had emerged as shadow governments
26
Boston Tea Party
On the night of December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. This resulted in the passage of the punitive Coercive Acts in 1774 and pushed the two sides closer to war.
27
Coercive / Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were the American Patriots' term for a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in throwing a large tea shipment into Boston Harbor.
28
Pontiac's Rebellion
was a war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region after the French Indian War
29
Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, which forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains.
30
Seven Years War / French Indian War
The Seven Years' War was a world war fought between 1754 and 1763, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) comprised the North American theatre of the worldwide Seven Years' War of 1756-1763. The war pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, with both sides supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, as well as by Native American allies. The costly expense of the war would mark a shift in how the British ruled its colonies from a pre-war stance of relative indifference that permitted colonial autonomy, to one of direct intervention so as to alleviate their massive war debt
31
John - Jacques Rousseau
His political philosophy, particularly his formulation of social contract theory and ideals of popular sovereignty, influenced the Enlightenment across Europe, as well as aspects of the American and French Revolutions and the overall development of modern political and educational thought.
32
Continental Congress
a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; rights and grievances; and petitioned King George III for redress of those grievances.
33
Olive Branch Petition
drafted on July 5, 1775, was a letter to King George III, from members of the Second Continental Congress, which represents the last attempt by the moderate party in North America to avoid a war of independence against Britain.
34
Declaration of Independence
defined as the formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain. An example of the Declaration of Independence was the document adopted at the Second Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776
35
Lexington and Concord
The first battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775, when British troops had moved from Boston toward Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists' military supplies and arrest revolutionaries.
36
The Battle of Saratoga
A major battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in 1777 in northern New York state. Benedict Arnold, who had not yet turned traitor, was a leader of the American offensive, which forced the surrender of British troops under General John Burgoyne. As a result France, Spain, and Holland aided the Americans.
37
The Battle of Yorktown
The last major battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in 1781 near the seacoast of Virginia. There the British general— Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army— to your boy: General George Washington
38
Articles of Confederation
An agreement among the thirteen original states, approved in 1781, that provided a loose federal government before the present Constitution went into effect in 1789.
39
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
a very influential pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies.
40
Shay's Rebellion
An uprising led by a former militia officer, Daniel Shays, which broke out in western Massachusetts in 1786. Shays's followers protested the foreclosures of farms for debt and briefly succeeded in shutting down the court system. It influenced the elite to seek a more powerful central government, as the one in place proved impotent to address the unrest in Massachusetts.
41
James Madison
A leader in the drafting of the Constitution,(known as the “Father of the Constitution” he worked tirelessly for its adoption by the states, contributing several essays to The Federalist Papers. He served as president from 1809 to 1817, after Thomas Jefferson.
42
The Federalist Papers
a collection of 85 articles and essays written (under the pseudonym Publius) by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution
43
Alien and Sedition Acts
were four bills passed by the Federalist-dominated 5th United States Congress and signed into law by President John Adams in 1798. Although they were aimed at making the Federalists more powerful, their blatant disregard for the 1st Amendment led to a public uproar that brought about the demise of the party
44
Constitutional Convention
(Philadelphia) The gathering that drafted the Constitution of the United States in 1787; all states were invited to send delegates. The convention, meeting in Philadelphia, designed a government with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
45
Checks and Balances
counterbalancing influences by which an organization or system is regulated, typically those ensuring that political power is not concentrated in the hands of individuals or groups.
46
Virginia Plan
a plan, unsuccessfully proposed at the Constitutional Convention, providing for a legislature with proportional representation and executive and judicial branches to be chosen by the legislature.
47
New Jersey Plan
a plan, unsuccessfully proposed at the Constitutional Convention, providing for a single legislative house with equal representation for each state.
48
Connecticut Plan/Great Compromise
Great Compromise- a compromise adopted at the Constitutional Convention, providing the states with equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives
49
3/5 Compromise
The Three-Fifths Compromise outlined the process for states to count slaves as part of the population in order to determine representation and taxation for the federal government. Slaves would be counted as 3/5 of a person
50
Whiskey Rebellion
also known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791, during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government
51
Revolution of 1800
referred to as the "Revolution of 1800," Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of the Federalist Party in the First Party System
52
XYZ Affair
- a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798, early in the administration of John Adams, involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France over allegations of bribery that led to an undeclared war called the Quasi-War
53
Bill of Rights
first 10 amendments of the Constitution
54
Republican Motherhood
a historical term for an attitude toward women's domestic roles present in the emerging United States before, during, and after the American Revolution. If the new republic were to succeed, women must be schooled in virtue so they could teach their children
55
Louisiana Purchase
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States purchased approximately 828,000,000 square miles of territory from France, thereby doubling the size of the young republic
56
Tecumesh
American Indian chief of the Shawnee tribe. He attempted to unite western Indian tribes against the White people, but was defeated at Tippecanoe (1811). He was killed while fighting for the British in the War of 1812
57
Battle of Tippecanoe
a conflict between the confederacy of native warriors led by Tecumseh, a Shawnee tribe member, and United States armed forces under the leadership of General William Henry Harrison
58
John Marshall
The 4th, and longest-serving Chief Justice in U.S. Supreme Court history, Marshall dominated the Court for over three decades (34 years) and played a significant role in the development of the American legal system. Most notably, he reinforced the principle that federal courts are obligated to exercise judicial review, and worked to ensure a stronger federal government
59
The Marshall Court
refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1801 to 1835, when John Marshall served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States.The Marshall Court played a major role in increasing the power of the judicial branch, as well as the power of the national government
60
Judicial Review
review by the US Supreme Court of the constitutional validity of a legislative act
61
Marbury v. Madison
a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution
62
Battle of New Orleans
American victory in a battle that never had to happen. American forces under General Andrew Jackson defeated British forces on January 8, 1815, several weeks after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which had officially ended the War of 1812
63
Hartford Convention
a series of meetings from December 15, 1814 – January 5, 1815 in Hartford, Connecticut, in which the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War of 1812 and the political problems arising from the federal government's increasing power. There were even radical outcries among Federalists for New England secession and a separate peace with Great Britain
64
Lewis and Clark Expedition
A journey made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, to explore the American Northwest, newly purchased from France, and some territories beyond
65
Era of Good Feelings
the name applied to the period in the United States corresponding with the term of President James Monroe, from 1817 to 1825 when there was one political party and a sense of national purpose
66
Henry Clay's American System
consisted of three mutually reinforcing parts: a tariff to protect and promote American industry; a national bank to foster commerce; and federal subsidies for roads, canals, and other "internal improvements" to develop profitable markets for agriculture.
67
Panic of 1819
the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States caused by the 2nd Bank of the US, followed by a general collapse of the American economy persisting through 1821
68
Eli Whitney's Interchangeable Parts
parts (components) that are, for practical purposes, identical. They are made to specifications that ensure that they are so nearly identical that they will fit into any assembly of the same type
69
Cotton Gin
an invention of Eli Whitney that greatly increased the profitability of growing cotton
70
Market Revolution
a term used by historians to describe the expansion of the marketplace that occurred in early nineteenth-century America, prompted mainly by the construction of new roads and canals to connect distant communities together for the first time, and the growing dominance of factories.
71
McCulloch v. Maryland
A U.S. Supreme Court case in which Chief Justice John Marshall established that the federal government has "implied powers" to carry out, without state interference, any and all rights given by the Constitution
72
Missouri Compromise
an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. Maine was admitted to balance the addition of a slave state, and slavery was prohibited in new territories above the 36th parallel
73
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 (Western Hemisphere) is a potentially hostile act against the US. the best known U.S. policy toward the Western Hemisphere. Buried in a routine annual message delivered to Congress by President James Monroe in December 1823, the doctrine warns European nations that the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet monarchs.
74
Nativists
the political position of supporting a favored status for certain established inhabitants of a nation- particularly Protestants- as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. In times past they were adamantly anti-Catholic, while today they are critical of non-Western faiths, i.e., Donald Trump
75
Tammany Hall
a Democratic political organization in New York City that drew heavily upon the patronage of Irish immigrants. Founded in 1789 as a fraternal benevolent society (Tammany Society), and associated especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s with corruption and abuse of power
76
King Cotton
The phrase King Cotton came to mean the reliance the American South had one its largest crop, and how that influenced major issues in American history
77
Nat Turner
an enslaved African American who led a rebellion of slaves and free blacks in Southampton County, Virginia on August 21, 1831, that resulted in the deaths of 55 to 65 white people
78
Commonwealth v. Hunt
a case in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on the subject of legalizing labor unions. Prior to Hunt the legality of labor combinations in America was uncertain. Legalized labor unions
79
Cyrus McCormick
- was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.
80
John Deere
American industrialist, manufacturer of agricultural implements, b. Rutland, Vt. He was one of the pioneers of the steel plow industry. A blacksmith by trade, he established (1837) a shop at Grand Detour, Ill. Contributed significantly to improving the output of agriculture with technology
81
Irish Potato Famine
A famine in Ireland in the nineteenth century caused by the failure of successive potato crops in the 1840s. Many in Ireland starved, and many emigrated. More than a million Irish came to the United States during the famine
82
Know-Nothing Party
political party that was established with Protestant nativism sentiments to address the large influx of Irish and German immigrants, many who were Catholic. Because their platform was based largely upon hate, they met in private so as to shield their hater-negativity from public criticism. They planed how to vote in private, and when asked by an outsider about what their party advocated and their plans, members would shield their organization by replying that they “knew nothing.”
83
Indian Removal Act
signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy
84
Cherokee Nation v Georgia
a United States Supreme Court case. The Cherokee Nation sought a federal injunction against laws passed by the U.S. state of Georgia depriving them of rights within its boundaries, but the Supreme Court did not hear the case on its merits. It ruled that it had no original jurisdiction in the matter, as the Cherokees were a dependent nation, with a relationship to the United States like that of a "ward to its guardian," as said by Justice Marshall
85
The Trail of Tears
a series of forced removals of Native American nations from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to an area west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Native Territory
86
Nicholas Biddle
an American financier who served as the third and last president of the Second Bank of the United States
87
Bank War
to the political struggle that developed over the issue of rechartering the Second Bank of the United States (BUS) during the Andrew Jackson administration (1829–1837).
88
Spoils System
in the politics of the United States, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—as opposed to a merit system, where offices are awarded on the basis of some measure of merit, independent of political activity
89
Corrupt Bargain
In the 1824 election, even though Jackson won the popular vote had had the most electoral points, without an absolute majority, the 12th Amendment dictated that the Presidential election be sent to the House of Representatives, whose Speakerand candidate in his own right, Henry Clay, gave his support to John Quincy Adams, and was then selected to be his Secretary of State
90
Revolution of 1828
The Election of 1828 was a transforming event from several perspectives. Andrew Jackson's victory broke the line of presidents from Virginia and Massachusetts, and to many citizens represented the triumph of the common man
91
Peggy Eaton Affair
Margaret O'Neale (Peggy) Eaton (1799-1879) was the wife of John Eaton, President Andrew Jackson's Secretary of War from 1829 to 1831, and the focus of a Washington sex scandal that divided the Jackson administration. The daughter of a Washington, D.C. tavern keeper, Peggy Eaton earned a reputation as a beauty
92
Nullification Crisis
- ensued after South Carolina declared that the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign boundaries of the state
93
Whigs
political party active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States that was started by henry Clay to stand up to “King Andrew Jackson”
94
Long Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign
the nickname given to William Henry Harrison's 1840 presidential campaign. Democrats characterized him as a man who preferred to sit in his log cabin and drink hard cider than run a country
95
Utopian Communities
An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects. A work of fiction describing a utopia. An impractical, idealistic scheme for social and political reform
96
Horace Mann
an American politician and educational reformer. A Whig devoted to promoting speedy modernization, he served in the Massachusetts State legislature
97
Temperance
moderation in or abstinence from the use of alcoholic beverages
98
Liberia
African nation formed by Americans to serve the purpose of moving salves back to Africa
99
Fredrick Douglass
an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York
100
Harriet Tubman
- an American abolitionist, humanitarian, and an armed scout and spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved families and friends,using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad
101
Antebellum
the pre-American Civil War period in the United States
102
Romanticism
an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated towards the end of the 18th century. characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature
103
Transcendentalism
a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the eastern United States. It arose as a reaction to or protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality at the time
104
Ralph Waldo Emerson
an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century
105
Henry David Thoreau
an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience", an argument for disobedience to an unjust state
106
Second Great Awakening
a Protestant religious revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800 and, after 1820, membership rose rapidly among baptists and methodists
107
Mormons
a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity, which began with Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s who introduced the Book of Mormon which detailed the story of Jesus in America
108
Cult of Domesticity
a prevailing value system among the upper and middle classes during the nineteenth century in the United States[2] and Great Britain. This value system emphasized new ideas of femininity, the woman's role within the home and the dynamics of work and family. The cult of domesticity revolved around the women being the center of the family; they were considered "The light of the home".
109
Seneca Falls Convention
the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman". Held in Seneca Falls, New York, it spanned two days over July 19–20, 1848. They produced the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, a document signed in 1848 by 68 women and 32 men—100 out of some 300 attendees at the first women's rights convention to be organized by women
110
Manifest Destiny
a widely held belief in the United States that its settlers were destined to expand across North America
111
Samuel Morse
Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system, and co-developer of the Morse code, and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy
112
Wilmot Proviso
proposed by Congressman David Proviso as an American law to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War. The conflict over the proviso was one of the major events leading to the American Civil War
113
Bear Flag Republic
short-lived, unrecognized breakaway state that, for twenty-five days in 1846, militarily controlled the area to the north of the San Francisco Bay in the present-day state of California
114
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
the peace treaty signed on February 2, 1848, in the Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo (now a neighborhood of Mexico City) between the United States and Mexico that ended the Mexican–American War (1846–48). It ceded large amounts of land from Mexico to the US
115
Mexican Cession
a historical name in the United States for the region of the modern day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848
116
Zachery Taylor
12th President of the United States, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. Before his presidency, Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major general, and famous for his role in the Mexican-American War
117
Free Soil Movement
third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership consisted of anti-slavery former members of the Whig Party and the Democratic Party
118
Bleeding Kansas
a series of violent political confrontations in the United States involving anti-slavery "Free-Staters" and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian", or "southern yankees" elements in Kansas between 1854 and 1861
119
Popular Soverignty
the principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people. A highly controversial approach to slavery in the territories as propounded by senator Stephen A. Douglas. It meant that local residents of a territory would be the ones to decide if slavery would be permitted, and it led to bloody warfare in Bleeding Kansas as violent proponents and enemies of slavery flooded Kansas territory in order to decide the elections
120
Compromise of 1850
a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War(1846–1848). The compromise, drafted by Whig Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky and brokered by Clay and Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois, reduced sectional conflict
121
Stephen A. Douglas
an American politician from Illinois and the designer of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. He was a U.S. representative, a U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1860 election, losing to Republican Abraham Lincoln
122
Kansas-Nebraska Act
created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and President Franklin Pierce. The popular sovereignty clause of the law led pro- and anti-slavery elements to flood into Kansas with the goal of voting slavery up or down, resulting in Bleeding Kansas
123
Secession
the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity (a country), but also any organization, union or military alliance. Threats of secession can also be a strategy for achieving more limited goals
124
Fugitive Slave Laws
law passed by the United States Congress in 1793 and 1850 to force the return of slaves who escaped from one state into another state or territory
125
Underground Railroad
a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century enslaved people of African descent in the United States in efforts to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause
126
Dred Scott v. Sandford
imply as the Dred Scott case, was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on US labor law and constitutional law. It held that "a negro, whose ancestors were imported into [the U.S.], and sold as slaves", whether enslaved or free, could not be an American citizen and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States.
127
Lincoln Douglas Debates
(also known as The Great Debates of 1858) were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate
128
John Brown
an American abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States
129
Harpers Ferry Raid
an effort by white abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia
130
Uncle Tom's Cabin
an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War"
131
Jefferson Davis
president of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and just like “Robert E. Lee” and “Stonewall Jackson” a HISD school named to identify the school as a “white” school, as opposed to a “black” school like “Jack Yates” or “Booker T. Washington.”
132
Greenbacks
fiat paper currency issued by the United States during the American Civil War that was green on the back. They were legal tender by law, but were not backed by gold or silver, only the credibility of the U.S. government. US money has characteristically had green backsides since
133
Homestead Act
several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. In all, more than 270 million acres of public land, or nearly 10% of the total area of the U.S., was given away free to 1.6 million homesteaders; mostly west of the Mississippi River
134
Anaconda Plan
planned blockade of the Southern ports, and called for an advance down the Mississippi River to cut the South in two. The blockade was likened to the coils of an anaconda suffocating its victim. The snake image caught on, giving the proposal its popular name
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Gettysburg
1863 - Battle that marked the high tide of the South’s advance, and after suffering a crushing defeat, Lee’s Army thereafter was in a state of retreat
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Vicksburg
1863 - Battle that captured the last strong hold of the South on the Mississippi River, and effectively gave control of the river to the North, and split the Confederacy
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Sherman's March
led by General Sherman across the South using scorch earth warfare. The high point of the campaign was the destruction and burning of Atlanta
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Habeas Corpus
the legal concept from Western tradition that one is innocent until proven guilty. During the Civil War Lincoln suspended this right to arrest anti-union / pro-confederate advocates in border states, so as to secure them for the Union
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Emancipation Proclamation
a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. It purported to change the federal legal status of more than 3 million enslaved people in the designated areas of the South from "slave" to "free".
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13th Amendment
outlawed slavery
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Draft Riots
New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), were violent disturbances in New York City that were the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. The riots remain the largest civil and racial insurrection in American history
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Copperheads
Northern Peace Democrats who opposed the American Civil War
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14th Amendment
addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. The amendment was bitterly contested, particularly by the states of the defeated Confederacy, which were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress
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15th amendment
prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". It was ratified on February 3, 1870, as the third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments
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Jim Crow Laws
state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted after the Reconstruction period, these laws continued in force until 1965.
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Credit Mobiler
scandal of 1872-1873 damaged the careers of several Gilded Age politicians. Major stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad formed a company, the Crédit Mobilier of America, and gave it contracts to build the railroad. They sold or gave shares in this construction to influential congressmen
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William "Boss" Tweed
widely known as "Boss" Tweed—was an American politician most notable for being the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century New York City and State. Tweed was convicted for stealing an amount estimated by an aldermen's committee in 1877 at between $25 million and $45 million from New York City taxpayers through political corruption, although later estimates ranged as high as $200 million
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Thomas Nast
editorial cartoonist considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was central to exposing the crimes "Boss" Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine through cartoons. Among his notable works were the creation of the modern version of Santa Claus and the political symbol of the elephant for the Republican Party (GOP)
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Compromise of 1877
unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election. It resulted in the national government pulling the last federal troops out of the South, and formally ended the Reconstruction Era, ushering in the era of “Jim Crow” all so that Republican Rutherford B. Hayes would be awarded the White House through the electoral college
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Reconstruction
refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States. It was a time of great pain and endless questions. On what terms would the Confederacy be allowed back into the Union? Who would establish the terms, Congress or the President?
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Freedman's Bureau
a U.S. federal government agency established in 1865 to aid freedmen (freed slaves) in the South during the Reconstruction era of the United States, which attempted to change society in the former Confederacy
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Radical Republicans
a wing of the Republican Party organized around an uncompromising opposition to slavery before and during the Civil War and a vigorous campaign to secure rights for freed slaves during Reconstruction
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Johnson Impact
After passing the Tenure of Office Act (1867) that denied the Johnson powers used by previous presidents, Republicans set up President Johnson to break the law, and then by tried him for impeachment. Driven by wide dislike for Johnson’s sympathy for fellow Southern Democrats and ex-Confederates. He avoided conviction by just 1 vote
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Carpet baggers
- a Northerner who moved to the South after the American Civil War, during the Reconstruction era (1863–1877). Many white Southerners denounced them fearing they would loot and plunder the defeated South and be politically allied with the Radical Republicans
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Sharecropping
a new system that replaced slavery, but kept many poor farmers (black and white alike) in poverty. residents of land used their work to pay for their livelihoods
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Ku Klux Klan
an extreme reaction to Reconstruction in the South that gave rise to a secret organization that use terror tactics to undue the influence of the North, the rise of opportunity for freed slaves, and to preserve the white/Protestant social structure of the South
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American Railroad
America's first big buisness
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Vanderbilt
American business magnate and philanthropist (Vanderbilt University) who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After sucess in the inland water trade, he invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry, most importantly the New York Central Railroad
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Transcontinental Railroad
built over the last third of the 19th century, it created a nationwide transportation network that united the country by rail, creating the world's first transcontinental railroad when it opened in 1869. Helped open up unpopulated interior regions of America to exploration and settlement that would not otherwise have been feasible; formed the backbones of cross-country passenger and freight transportation networks
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Andrew Carnegie
a Scottish immigrant industrialist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He is often identified as one of the richest Americans ever, and with his money he built a leadership role as a philanthropist
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Vertical Integration
an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is owned by that company
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Holding Company
a kind of company is created to own and control diverse companies. Pioneered by JD Rockefeller, JP Morgan also managed such a company that orchestrated the management of companies it acquired in various industries, such as banking, rail transportation, and steel
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US Steel
founded by financier J. P. Morgan and his attorney by combining 3 companies, including Andrew Carnegie’s Carnegie Steel Company, for $492 million ($14.16 billion today). At one time, U.S. Steel was the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world
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JD Rockefeller
an American oil industry business magnate and philanthropist, who is considered to be the wealthiest American of all time by virtually every source, and—largely—the richest person in modern history
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Horizontal Integration
the process of a company controlling production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain. A company may do this via internal expansion, acquisition or merger. The process can lead to monopoly if a company captures the vast majority of the market for that product or service
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Standard Oil Trust
an American oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world of its time
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JP Morgan
an American financier and banker who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation in late 19th and early 20th Century United States. When he died, however, his personal fortune, relatively “small” to his business endeavors, which has led historians to believe he was merely an American point man for international banking, likely the Rothschild’s that his father worked for. This prompted John D. Rockefeller to say: "and to think, he wasn't even a rich man."
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Second Industrial Revolution
also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid industrialization in the final third of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th
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Bessemer process
a steel-making process, now largely superseded, in which carbon, silicon, and other impurities are removed from molten pig iron by blasts of air
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Thomas Edison
an American business man who made his fortune off of patenting inventions
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George Westinghouse
an American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the railway air brake and worked with Nikola Tesla to become a pioneer of the electrical industry
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Sears and Roebuck
an American department store chain founded in 1886 which uniquely contributed to consumption with their famous mail order catalog (Amazon prime of its day).
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RH Macy
Formed one of the first large scale department stores that has a business model of carrying many products under one roof. From the beginning, Macy's logo has included a star, which comes from a tattoo that Macy got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship
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Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
was the first Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts
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Railroad Strike of 1877
sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval. At the time, the workers were not represented by labor unions. The city and state governments organized armed militias, aided by national guard, federal troops and private militias organized by the railroads, who fought against the workers. An estimated 100 people were killed in the unrest across the country
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Knights of Labor
the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the workingman, rejected socialism and anarchism, and demanded the eight-hour day. The Haymarket bombing largely discredited the organization
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Haymarket Bombing
It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; scores of others were wounded
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American Federation of Labor
A national labor association that focused on using the skill from a craft as negotiation leverage, and formed as an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor
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Samuel Gompers
founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and served as the organization's president from 1886 until his death in 1924. He promoted thorough organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages
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Pullman Strike
a nationwide railroad strike and a turning point for US labor law. Eugene Debs and the ARU called a massive boycott against all trains that carried a Pullman car. The federal government obtained an injunction against the union, Debs, and other boycott leaders, ordering them to stop interfering with trains that carried mail cars. After the strikers refused, President Grover Cleveland ordered in the Army to stop the strikers from obstructing the trains. Violence broke out in many cities, and the strike collapsed
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Eugene Debs
instrumental in the founding of the American Railway Union (ARU), one of the nation's first industrial unions. As a leader of the ARU, Debs was convicted of federal charges for defying a court injunction against the strike and served six months in prison. Thereafter he was devoted to socialism, became one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President
182
Adam Smith
- economist, philosopher, and author the Wealth of Nations that promoted Laissez-faire capitalism
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Laissez Faire Capitalism
is French for "leave alone" which means that the government leaves the people alone regarding all economic activities. It is the separation of economy and state in which transactions between private parties are free from government interference such as regulations, privileges, tariffs, and subsidies
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Social Darwinism
the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals. Now largely discredited, social Darwinism was advocated by Herbert Spencer and others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was used to justify political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention and reform
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Gospel of Wealth
an article written by Andrew Carnegie in June of 1889 that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich
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Horatio Alger
a prolific 19th-century American writer, best known for his many young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. Many are not aware that he suffered from boanthropy, and could not finish the last books he was writing because he would eat them. He escaped with two fellow inmates from Bridgewater State Hospital, triggering a full-scale manhunt, which ended in him controversially permitting psychometrist Peter Hurkos to use his alleged extrasensory perception to analyze his books to give him greater insight to his cheese carvings
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Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers.
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Barbed Wire
The first patent was issued in 1867, and thereafter the frontier was fenced in which brought about the demise of free range cattle and the era of the cowboy
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Homestead Act of 1862
encouraged Western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land
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Dawes Act of 1887
- adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship to stimulate assimilation of them into mainstream American society. The act also provided that the government would classify as "excess" those Indian reservation lands remaining after allotments, and sell those lands on the open market, allowing purchase and settlement by non-Native Americans
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John Muir
A naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. Founder of the Sierra Club
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Plessy v. Fergeson
a landmark constitutional law case of the US Supreme Court. It upheld state racial segregation laws for public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal"
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Booker T. Washington
- Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community, and promoted up lifting the black community through improving their economic status. He called for black progress through education and entrepreneurship, rather than trying to challenge directly the Jim Crow segregation and the disenfranchisement of black voters in the South
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National Grange Movement
a fraternal organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture. The Grange, founded after the Civil War in 1867, is the oldest American agricultural advocacy group with a national scope. Major accomplishments credited to Grange advocacy include passage of the Granger Laws and the establishment of rural free mail delivery
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Granger Laws
a series of laws passed in several midwestern states in the late 1860s and early 1870s with the main goal to regulate rising fare prices of railroad and grain elevator companies.The laws, which upset major railroad companies, were a topic of much debate at the time and ended up leading to several important court cases, such as Munn v. Illinois and Wabash v. Illinois
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Interstate Commerce Commision
a regulatory agency created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers. Created because of the unrest caused by Grangers
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Ocala Platform of 1890
During the 1880s, several agrarian lobbying organizations, including the Southern Farmers' Alliance and the National Farmers' Alliance met at Ocala, Florida, to demand government support for the nation's depressed farmers. The Ocala Platform demanded, among other things, a graduated income tax, and free and unlimited coinage of silver.
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Old immigrants
Most of the old immigrants migrated from Northwestern Europe: England, France, Ireland, and Germany. Many of these immigrants were culturally similar to each other, literate, and had some wealth. Most were Protestant, believed in democracy, and resembled each other physically
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New Immigrants
Immigration to America reached a high point between 1880 and 1920. Many of the new immigrants who migrated during this period were from southern and eastern European nations, such as Greece, Italy, Poland, and Russia. They were culturally different from the old immigrants, and this made it more difficult for them to assimilate into American life
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Jane Adams
She started a famous settlement house in Chicago called the Hull House and was a prominent reformer of the Progressive Era. She helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, local public health, and world peace. She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed to be able to vote to do so effectively.
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Social Gospel
a Protestant movement that was most prominent in the early-20th-century United States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean environment, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war
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National American Women's Sufferage Association
Its founders, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton worked to secure women's enfranchisement through a federal constitutional amendment to give women the right to vote
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Woman's Christian Temperance Union
an active temperance organization that was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." This organization, and others like the Antisaloon League, worked to get the 18th Amendment passed.
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W.E.B DuBois
an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. One of the founders of the NAACP
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Mark Twain
AKA Samuel Clemens was an American writer and humorist. He coined the phrase “Gilded Age.” Often referred to as America’s first realist author
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Realism and Naturalism
They are both "basic" views of life and humanity, stripping away the layers of romanticism to present a " natural" or "real" outlook of the work. They refuse to idealize or flatter the subject. They avoid artificial, fantasy, or supernatural element. Realism sought to be a faithful representation of life, while naturalism was more like a "chronicle of despair." In a way, naturalism proceeded from realism, and can be seen as an exaggerated form of realism; it shows humans as being determined by environment, heredity, and social conditions beyond their control, and thus rather helpless to escape their circumstances
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William Randolph Hearst
an American newspaper publisher who built the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company whose flamboyant methods of yellow journalism influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human interest stories
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Joseph Pulitzer
In the 1890s the fierce competition between him and William Randolph Hearst caused both to use yellow journalism for wider appeal; it opened the way to mass-circulation newspapers that depended on advertising revenue and appealed to readers with multiple forms of news, entertainment and advertising
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Gilded Age
the late 19th century, from the 1870s to about 1900. The term for this period came into use in the 1920s and 1930s and was derived from writer Mark Twain's 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, which satirized an era of serious social problems masked by a thin gold gilding.
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WASP
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
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Solid South
was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of white Democrats in the southern states
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Political machines
is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses. . Machines sometimes have a political boss, often rely on patronage, the spoils system, "behind-the-scenes" control
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Pendelton Act of 1881
established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation
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Billion Dollar Congress
The laws passed during Benjamin Harrison's term in office cost the United States government over a billion dollars
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Populist Party
was an agrarian-populist political party in the United States. For a few years, 1892–96, it played a major role as a left-wing force in American politics
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Farmer's Alliance
was an organized agrarian economic movement among American farmers that developed. The movement included several parallel but independent political organizations that separated varying famers alliances by region and race.
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Omaha Platform
was the party program adopted at the formative convention of the Populist (or People's) Party held in Omaha, Nebraska on July 4, 1892. The Omaha Platform called for a wide range of social reforms, including a reduction in the working day, “a graduated income tax,” and “the free and unlimited coinage of silver.” In 1896, the Populists abandoned the Omaha Platform and endorsed Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan on the basis of a single-plank free silver platform
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William Jennings Bryan
an American orator and politician from Nebraska, and a dominant force in the populist wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as the Party's nominee for President of the United States (1896, 1900, and 1908).
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Cross of Gold Speech
Bryan lambasted Eastern moneyed classes for supporting the gold standard at the expense of the average worker. Delivered on July 9, 1896, instantly made him the sensational new face in the Democratic Party
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Mark Hanna
representing the banking interests in 1896, he set the standard of using money and mass media to promote a candidate which effectively changed how American politics functioned
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Imperialism
an action where a country (usually an empire or kingdom) extends its power by acquisition of territories. It may also include the exploitation of those territories which is similar to colonialism which is generally regarded as an expression of imperialism
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Alfred Thayer Mahan
a United States naval officer and historian, whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His thesis was that naval power = world power. He also coined the term, “Middle East.”
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Yellow Journalism
journalism that is based upon sensationalism and crude exaggeration.
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De Lome Letter
This letter, written by the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, criticized American President William McKinley by calling him weak and concerned only with gaining the favor of the crowd. Elevated tensions that led to the Spanish-American War
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USS Maine
is an American naval ship that sank in Havana Harbor during the Cuban revolt against Spain, an event that became a major political issue in the United States leading to the Spanish-American War
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Teller Amendment
an amendment to a joint resolution of the United States Congress, enacted on April 20, 1898, in reply to President William McKinley's War Message. It placed a condition on the United States military's presence in Cuba. According to the clause, the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people." In short, the U.S. would help Cuba gain independence and then withdraw all its troops from the country
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Splendid Little War
popular phrase for the Spanish American War
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Rough Riders
a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one of the three to see action. Led and formed by Teddy Roosevelt.
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Anti Imperialist League
was an organization established on June 15, 1898, to battle the American annexation of the Philippines as an insular area
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Platt Amendment
It stipulated seven conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish–American War, and an eighth condition that Cuba sign a treaty accepting these seven conditions
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Spheres of Influence
China's military and economic weakness and heightened Western imperialism worldwide during the 1890s resulted in the division of China into Western spheres of influence between Western powers. However, unlike its European counterparts, the United States quite simply stated that all nations should have an equal right to conduct trade in China, regardless of the already established spheres of influence
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Boxer Rebellion
The uprising took place against a background of severe drought and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence. After several months of growing violence against both the foreign and Christian presence, Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "exterminate the foreigners" or sometimes translated as “kill the white devils!”
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John Hay
Hay served for almost seven years as Secretary of State under President McKinley, and after his assassination, under Theodore Roosevelt. Hay was responsible for negotiating the Open Door Policy, which kept China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis, with international powers
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Open Door Policy
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. The Open Door policy was rooted in the desire of U.S. businesses to trade with open markets, though it also tapped the deep-seated sympathies of those who opposed imperialism. Instead of militaries deciding the outcomes of who may be ruled, let businesses compete openly
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Big Stick Policy
refers to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy: "speak softly, and carry a big stick." The idea of negotiating peacefully, simultaneously threatening with the "big stick", or the military, ties in heavily with the idea of Realpolitik, which implies a pursuit of political power that resembles Machiavellian ideals. It is comparable to gunboat diplomacy, as used in international politics by imperial powers
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Panama Canal
an artificial 48-mile waterway built by the United States in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean
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Roosevelt Correlary
an addition from Roosevelt to the Monroe Doctrine that the United States will intervene in conflicts between European countries and Latin American countries to enforce legitimate claims of the European powers, rather than having the Europeans press their claims directly. Effectively, the US will act as policeman of the Western Hemisphere
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Great White Fleet
The popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet of 16 ships that completed a journey around the globe by order of United States President Theodore Roosevelt, to showcase American power
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Mexican Civil War
A series of disturbances that led to civil war in Mexico, and resulted in the US to invade to capture Pancho Villa for his raid on NM, led by US General John Pershing
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Muckrackers
The term was used in the Progressive Era to characterize reform-minded American journalists who attacked established institutions and leaders as corrupt. They typically had large audiences in some popular magazines
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Standard Oil
Established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller as a corporation, it was the largest oil refinery in the world of its time. Its controversial history as one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations ended in 1911, when the Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil was an illegal monopoly
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Jacob Riis
a social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documenting photographer. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City and his most famous work is “How the Other Half Lives.”
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16th amendment
legalized direct income tax that was initially forbidden in the Constitution
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17th amendment
direct election of senators
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18th amendment
prohibition
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19th amendment
women won the right to vote through organizations such as National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA ), and leaders like Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul
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Intititive
(also known as a popular or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote
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Recall
a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before their term has ended
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Referendum
a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a particular proposal
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Muller v, Oregon
a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court that was used to justify both sex discrimination and usage of labor laws. The case upheld Oregon state restrictions on the working hours of women as justified by the special state interest in protecting women's health
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Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers – 123 women and 23 men – who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of better working conditions for sweatshop workers
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Square Deal
President Theodore Roosevelt’s domestic program. His policies reflected three basic ideas: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.
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Trust Busting
Under President Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership, his Attorney General brought 44 suits against monopolists. Notably, J. P. Morgan's Northern Securities Company, a huge railroad combination, was broken up. Bad trusts were those deemed to stem competition and hurt consumers, while others were left alone because they were deemed no danger to consumers
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Upton Sinclair
an American writer who acquired particular fame for his classic muckraking novel The Jungle, which exposed labor and sanitary conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act
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Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
first of a series of significant consumer protection laws enacted by Congress in the 20th century and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration to inspect food
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Meat Inspection Act
an American law that makes it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions
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Conservation of Public Lands
Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in conservation of natural resources. He established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and also established bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests
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Gifford Pinchot
the first Chief of the United States Forest Service from 1905 until his controversial firing in 1910. He worked closely with Roosevelt in conservation
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Progressive Party (Bull Moose)
an American third party formed by former President Theodore Roosevelt, after he lost the nomination of the Republican Party to his former protégé, President William Howard Taft, who had since become his political adversary. The new party was known for taking advanced positions on progressive reforms, and attracting some leading reformers. Beset by factionalism and failure to win many offices, the party went into rapid decline by 1914 and virtually disappeared in 1916.
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Federal Reserve Act
(1914)- signed by President Wilson, it created and established the Federal Reserve System, a privately owned central banking system which has the authority to control the nation’s currency
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NAACP
a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an organization to advance legal justice for African Americans. Its most notable founder was W. E. B. Du Bois.
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The Great Migration
African Americans moving out of the south to mostly urban areas up north or out west for numerous reasons, notably jobs and avoiding racist discrimination. From 1910-1930 1 million moved out, 1940 and 1970 4 million made the move.
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Lusitania
a British ocean liner that a German submarine sank in World War I, causing a major diplomatic uproar. The sinking caused a storm of protest in the United States as 128 American citizens were among the dead
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Jeanette Rankin
first woman in Congress, representing Montana. She took a brave stand of controversially being against both world wars, and fought and protested against wars up through the time of her death during the Vietnam War
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Zimmerman Telegram
secret diplomatic communication (sent via Western Union?) that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event of the United States' entering World War I against Germany. Revelation of the contents enraged American public opinion
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Submarine Warfare
a type of naval warfare enacted by the Germans in which submarines sink vessels such as freighters and tankers without warning to bring hardships upon Britain
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Russian Revolution
revolution in Russia that took the Russians out of WWI in 1917, which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the eventual rise of the Soviet Union.
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Espionage and Sedition Acts
1917 and 1918 - Acts passed to prevent opposition to the war effort, notably speech and the expression of opinions against the government or the war effort. It forbade the use of "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government. The constitutionality of the law, its relationship to free speech, and the meaning of its language have been contested in court ever since, and helped make Wilson unpopular
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Schenck v. US
a controversial United States Supreme Court case concerning enforcement of the Espionage Act of 1917 during World War I that permitted the government to censure free speech in the event that there is a clear and present danger
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John Pershing
General that commanded the AEF (American Expeditionary Force) of the United States Army during World War I.
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Selective Service Act
Act (1917)- authorized the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through the compulsory enlistment (draft) of people
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Western Front
The main theatre of war during World War I in France where trench warfare was prominent. A combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties on the attackers and counter-attacking defenders
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Treaty of Versailles
the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
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Wilson's 14 points
outline of a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination to form a New World Order after WWI. Other members of the Big Four were skeptical of Wilson’s idealism
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League of Nations
an intergovernmental organization founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace, but it failed- largely because the US did not enter after the Senate did not ratify the treaty that would have made the US a member. Forerunner to the UN
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First Red Scare
xenophobia after WWI that shifted the emphasis of “anarchists” being the main fear of society, to Bolshevik inspired communists being the new terrorist oriented bad guys.
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Palmer Raids
occurred in the larger context of the Red Scare. They were a series of raids conducted by the United States Department of Justice to capture, arrest and deport suspected radical leftists. The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, and more than 500 foreign citizens were deported, although Palmer's ambitions were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations, but objected to Palmer's methods
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Palmer Raids
occurred in the larger context of the Red Scare. They were a series of raids conducted by the United States Department of Justice to capture, arrest and deport suspected radical leftists. The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, and more than 500 foreign citizens were deported, although Palmer's ambitions were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations, but objected to Palmer's methods
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Warren Harding
Republican candidate that was chosen to run against the unpopular post WWI Democrats. He did not campaign very heavily, and was chosen as a compromise “safe” candidate, and became the president following Wilson
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Teapot Dome Scandal
a bribery incident that took place during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. The Secretary of the Interior had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and two other locations in California to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding
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Calvin Coolidge
Republican Vice President that became president after President Harding died of a heart attack. He was pro-business and the economy enjoyed growth during his administration.
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Herbert Hoover
Republican president that followed Calvin Coolidge. Although he too was pro-business like the former president, the economic bubble of growth that characterized the 1920’s burst during his presidency and he took much of the blame because it happened during his term in office
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Alfred Smith
- Democratic nominee for president that ran against Hoover, but lost. He is memorable because he was the first Catholic to run for president at a time when bias- particularly in the South- was still strong enough to prevent that from happening
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Henry Ford Assembly Line
Ford revolutionized the efficiency of manufacturing by mechanically moving the semi-finished product from work station to work station, which made assembly faster, cheaper and with less labor
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Jazz Age
a period in the 1920s, ending with the Great Depression, in which jazz music and dance styles became popular, and characterized the wildness of the era.
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Moral Revolution
during the roaring 20’s, this arose as more people questioned the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character that had previously been defined by social norms and religion. This was largely inspired by psychologist Sigmund Freud who provided a scientific explanation of people’s sexual urges, so that what was previously considered inappropriate and immoral, could now be countered as animal instincts that were futile to repress
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Lost Generation
the generation reaching maturity during and just after World War I, characterized by such authors as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose themes mostly pertained to the writers' experiences, and reflected the era’s moral revolution. Some historians refer to this time period in the world as “The Age of Uncertainty.”
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Harlem Renaissance
An African-American cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s, centered in Harlem, that celebrated black traditions, the black voice, and black ways of life. Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri, is often remembered as one of the most famous artists of the movement.
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Scopes Trial
commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial. John T. Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee’s law which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial drew intense national publicity when William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate, argued for the prosecution, and Clarence Darrow, the famed defense attorney, spoke for Scopes. The trial publicized the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy, which set Modernists, who said evolution was not inconsistent with religion, against Fundamentalists, who said the word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge
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Al Capone
The most famed mafia criminal of the 1920s that made his fortune off boot legging alcohol during prohibition.
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21st Amendment
Overturned 18th amendmnt, AKA Prohibition
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Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Italian-born American immigrants who were convicted of murder from an armed robbery in Massachusetts without sufficient evidence. The verdict seems tainted by bias against them because both men adhered to an anarchy ideology against oppressive government, and the judge in the case told them that despite a lack of evidence, their ideas were crimes against America. They were executed in the electric chair
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KKK Resurgence
Spurred by the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy and moral revolution, the Klan saw an upsurge in the 1920s. This was also inspired by the movie “Birth of a Nation” that reflected Klan sentiments, and won the admiration of President Wilson, who was from Virginia.
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Black Tuesday
October 29, 1929. On this date, share prices on the New York Stock Exchange completely collapsed, becoming a pivotal factor in the emergence of the Great Depression
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Federal Reserve and Depression
It is widely believed by economists today (including former Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke) that the actions of the Fed- that were supposed to “stabilize” the economy- actually caused the depression and helped prolong it. While John Maynard Keynes said that an economies could be steered in the right direction through policy, this is a case that shows the danger of how central banks can also steer economies in the wrong direction
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Overproduction
Factories and farms were producing more goods than the people could afford to buy. As a result, prices fell, factories closed and workers were laid off
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Buying on Margin
Buying on margin is the practice of buying stock without paying the full price. A person who is buying on margin pays a small percentage of the price of the stock and borrows the money to pay for the rest. About 90% of stock purchases were being made this way
298
The Bonus Army March
The Bonus Army, some 15,000 to 20,000 World War I veterans from across the country, marched on the Capitol in June 1932 to request early payment of cash bonuses due to them in 1945. Congress voted NOT to give them their bonuses, and the US Army, led by Douglas MacArthur, forcefully removed remaining protesters which was very disheartening to the American public
299
New Deal
A group of government programs and policies established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s; the New Deal was designed to improve conditions for persons suffering in the Great Depression
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First 100 Days
During the first hundred days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, planned to put an end to the Great Depression that was allegedly caused by the policies of his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, by getting 15 major pieces of New Deal legislation passed. Thereafter, the first hundred days of a first-term President are referenced to measure the successes and accomplishments of a president during the time that the president's power and influence are at their greatest
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FDIC
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is the U.S. government insuring deposits in the United States against bank failure. The FDIC was created in 1933 to maintain public confidence and encourage stability in the financial system through the promotion of sound banking practices.
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TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression
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Schechter v. US
The Supreme Court case that invalidated as unconstitutional a provision of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that authorized the President to approve “codes of fair competition” for industries, in this case, the poultry industry
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SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a U.S. government agency that oversees securities transactions, activities of financial professionals and mutual fund trading to prevent fraud and intentional deception
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Social Security
a federal insurance program funded by a direct tax on the income of Americans to provide benefits to retired people and those who are unemployed or disabled. It was monumental in the sense that the government took the step in taking direct responsibility for the financial welfare of its citizens
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WPA
Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of people
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John Maynard Keyes
- British economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. He overturned the then-prevailing idea that free markets naturally adjust themselves, and replaced it with an ideal that deficit government spending can bring balance. Considered to be one of the most influential economists of the 20th century
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Supreme Court Reorganization Plan
Roosevelt submitted the Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937, to allow Associate Justices to the Supreme Court to be appointed for every sitting member over the age of 70-and-one-half years of age, up to a maximum of six. Many attacked his idea as a plan to undermine checks and balances, and fight back against the conservative supreme court that had ruled many of his New deal programs as unconstitutional (such as the NIRA).
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Dust Bowl
the name given to the Great Plains region devastated by drought in 1930s depression-ridden America
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Hoovervilles
A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it. The term was coined by Charles Michelson
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Facism
an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization exemplified by the Axis Powers
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Axis Power
the group of countries that signed the Tripartite Act in 1940, consisting of Germany, Italy and Japan
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Allied Powers
The four nations that recurred as the main forces of the Allied Powers in both wars were France, Russia/USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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Appeasement
In an effort to avoid open conflict with Germany, the democracies adopted this policy, which allowed Hitler to get away with relatively small acts of aggression and expansion. Neville Chamberlin was famous for saying he had achieved, “peace in our time,” but was heavily criticized by Winston Churchill
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Blitzkreig
The use of air power and fast moving tanks in warfare aka "lightning war." Germany successfully used this tactic against Poland and France
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Nye Committee
Concluded in 1934 that the main reason for US participation in the world war was to serve the greed of bankers and arms manufacturers; established by Senator Gerald Nye.
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Neutrality Acts
Passed in wake of the Nye Committee when the US was particularly anti-war. 1935: Authorized the president to prohibit all arms shipments to belligerent nations; 1936) Forbade the extension of loans and credits to belligerents; 1937) Forbade the shipment of arms to the opposing sides in the civil war in Spain
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Lend Lease Act
An Act that replaced the Cash and Carry idea; it allowed Britain to obtain all the US arms it needed on credit
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Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed the US naval base in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. This attack targeted the US Congress' decision to declare war on Japan at the request of Roosevelt. Three days later, the other Axis powers declared war on the United States
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Manhattan Project
a top-secret project that employed over 100,000 people and spent $2 billion to develop a weapon whose power came from the splitting of the atom
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Japanese Internment
the forced relocation and incarceration in camps in the interior of the country of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of whom lived on the Pacific coast during WWII
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Rosie the Riveter
an allegorical cultural icon in the United States who represents the women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who joined the military.
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Harry Truman
Roosevelt's replacement for too-radical VP Henry Wallace; A Missouri senator with a national reputation for having conducted a much-publicized investigation of war spending
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Eisenhower
The US General that led Operation Torch in November of 1942 in an effort to seize North Africa from Germany, and then Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe
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MacArthur
The general who commanded army units in the southern Pacific
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Nimitz
The leading US admiral who adopted the strategy of "island-hopping" to enable the Allied powers to get within fighting range of the Japanese islands.
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Battle of Midway
One of two decisive battles against Japan that marked the turning point in the war; the interception and decoding of Japanese messages enabled US forces to destroy four Japanese carriers and 300 planes
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Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia
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D Day
June 6, 1944....the date the Allied drive to liberate France began, with the largest invasion by sea in history. On this day, British, Canadian, and US forces under the command of General Eisenhower secured several beachheads on the Normandy coast
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A Bomb
A weapon whose power came from the splitting of the atom; it was successfully tested on July 15, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico and then used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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The Big Three
The leaders of the US, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain who arranged to confer secretly to coordinate their military strategies and to lay the foundation for peace terms.
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The United Nations
The peacekeeping organization that was conceived during WWII and put in place immediately after the war. Ratified on October 24, 1945.
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GI Bill
The G.I. Bill, formally known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans.
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Baby Boom
The explosion of marriages and births after the end of WWII that resulted in 50 million babies entering the U.S population between 1946 and 1964 due to younger marriages and larger families
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Suburban Growth
- The desperate need for housing after WWII resulted in a construction boom developers such as William J. Levitt build mass-produced low-priced family homes outside of the city which became coveted wants of familes, and assisted by the contrction of highways
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Sunbelt
States in the South from Florida to California that became attractive places for families to move after WWII because of the warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities that developed when tax dollars shifted to the region for industry during the Cold War. It shifted the industry, people, and ultimately political power from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West
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Executive Order 9981
On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, creating the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. The order mandated the desegregation of the U.S. military
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22nd Amendment
Ratified in 1951, this amendment placed a limit of a person to two presidential terms, or no more than ten years of office (If a vice-president served as president for less than half the president's term, he could be elected two more times.)
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Taft Hartley Act
(1947) A pro-business Act that Congress passed over Truman's veto that was to check the growing power of unions. The provisions of this law included: outlawing the closed shop (requiring workers to join union before they were hired), and permitting states to pass "right to work" laws outlawing the union ship
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Dixiecrats
The conservative faction of the Democratic Party that split and abandoned support for Truman during his run for reelection due to his support for civil rights, led by J. Strom Thurmond.
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Cold War
The conservative faction of the Democratic Party that split and abandoned support for Truman during his run for reelection due to his support for civil rights, led by J. Strom Thurmond.
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Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet politician, political theorist and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.
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World Bank
Also known was the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, this was created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. The U.S offered the Soviet Union membership, but the Soviets declined because they viewed the bank as an instrument of capitalism. The bank was supposed to fund the rebuilding of a war-torn world. This was an example of how the ideologies of democracy and communism were generally incompatible.
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Satellite Countries
- Eastern European countries that came under the control of the Soviet Union after WWII as Communist dictators came into power of the territories once controlled by the Nazis. Soviet Russia said it needed control of these territories as a buffer to protect Russia from invasion. The Soviet takeover of the countries alarmed Great Britain and the United States.
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Iron Curtain
The term coined by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a March 1946 speech in Fulton, Missouri where Churchill proclaimed that the Soviet Union was establishing an Iron Curtain between the free countries of Western Europe and the communist-controlled countries of Eastern Europe. This metaphor was used throughout the Cold War to refer to the Soviet Union's satellite states. It also implied the partnership of Western democracies to halt the expansion of communism.
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George Kennan
An expert on Soviet affairs who is credited for coming up with the "containment policy" the United States applied to the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. He wrote an article explaining that stopping communism from expanding would eventually cause the Soviet Union to collapse or back off their Communist ideology of world denomination.
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Containment Policy
The policy that the U.S applied to the Soviet Union and the spread of communism during the Cold War that was formulated by George Kennan, Dean Acheson, and General George MacArthur. The United States needed to implement long-term military, economic, and diplomatic strategies in order to stop the spread of communism. According to Kennan, the Soviet Union would collapse under its own weight to have to become content to give up its ideology of world denomination
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Truman Doctrine
When there was a Communist-led uprising against the government in Greece and the Soviet Union wanted some control of Turkey's Dardanelles, Truman asked Congress to give $400 million to assist the "free people" in the countries against the "totalitarian" regimes. His actions became known as the Truman Doctrine, in which the US would support any democratic nation that resisted communism.
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Marshall Plan
Outlined by George Marshall in June 1947, this extensive program of U.S economic aid would help nations of Europe revive their economies and strengthen democratic governments. In December, Truman submitted the $17 billion dollar plan, also known as the European Recovery Program. $12 billion in aid was approved for distribution to countries in Western Europe over a four-year period. With this plan, the countries' economies greatly recovered, ending the chance of communist takeover.
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Berlin Airlift
In June 1948, the Soviets cut off all access by land to West Berlin. Truman ordered U.S planes to fly in supplies to the people within the blockade. The supplies was flown in until the blockade ended. Seeing that their blockade was useless, the Soviets opened the highways to Berlin in May 1949 as not to escalate the situation into war.
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Partition of Germany
After the Berlin Airlift lasting from 1948-1949, the French, English, and American zones of occupation were joined together into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) while the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany. This division lasted for the remainder of the Cold War until the Berlin Wall was broken down.
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NATO
1949, Truman proposed that the United States join a military alliance to protect Western Europe. The Senate agreed, and ten European nations along with the U.S and Canada created NATO, a military alliance for defending all members from outside attack.
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NSC-68
In 1950, the National Security Council produced this secret report that said to fight the Cold War, the U.S needed: (1) quadruple U.S government defense spending to 20 percent of GNP (2) form alliances with non-Communist countries around the world, (3) convince the American public that a costly arms buildup was imperative for the nation's defense.
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Firing of MacArthur
The U.S General who led the U.N forces during the Korean War. After he managed to stabilize the fighting near the 38th parallel, he called for an expanded war, including bombing and invasion of mainland China. Truman warned him not to speak out badly against official U.S policy, but he spoke out anyways. In April 1951, Truman with the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recalled MacArthur for insubordination. He returned a hero as most Americans as Truman's "limited war" was viewed by many was a weak act of appeasement
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Chinese Civil War
This civil war from the 1930s was renewed after the end of WWII between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong. The U.S had supported the Nationalists in WWII, but they were losing popularity because of runaway inflation and widespread corruption while the Communists appealed to poor landless peasants. Truman sent George Marshall to negotiate an end to the civil war, but it fell apart. The U.S gave the Nationalist government $400 million, but most of it ended up with the Communists do to corruption. Thus, mainland China fell to the Communists in 1949 and the Nationalists resided on an island (Taiwan).
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Korean War
The war began with an unexpected invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950. Truman called a special session of the U.N Security Council, where it was voted that a U.N force would defend South Korea. U.S troops made up most of the U.N forces and were led by General Douglas MacArthur. War was never officially declared. At first, the North Koreans were able to push its opponents to the tip of the peninsula, but MacArthur reversed the war by leading a amphibious assault at Inchon. However, in November 1950, Chinese troops crossed into Korea and drove troops out of North Korea. Peace talks began at Panmunjom in July 1951 and an armistice as signed in 1953 where it was decided to divide into North and South Korea along the 38th parallel
357
HUACC
Originally established in 1939 to seek out Nazis but was reactivated during WWII to find Communists. It investigated government officials as well as looked for Communist influence in such organizations as the Boy Scouts and in the Hollywood film industry. Actors, directors, and writers were called before the committee to testify, and those who refused to testify were tried for contempt of Congress and other were blacklisted from the industry.
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Alger Hiss Pumpkin Papers
A prominent official in the state department who had assisted Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference who in 1950 was convicted of perjury and sent to prison due to accusations that he was Communist and had given secret documents to Chambers. He claimed that he was innocent. The trial was carried out by the HUAC and the testimony of Whittaker Chambers, a confessed Communist, and the investigative work of Richard M. Nixon, led to his incrimination
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Rosenburg Case
The trial in 1951 that accused Julius and Ethel Rosenberg of spying for the Soviet Union to get nuclear weapons secrets. The FBI had found them at the center of a Soviet Spy ring. They were found guilty of treason and were executed in 1953. Civil rights groups raised questions about whether anti-Communist hysteria had played a role in their conviction and punishment.
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Joseph McCarthy/ McCarthyism
A Republican senator from Wisconsin who used the growing concern over communism in his reelection campaign. He announced in a speech in 1950 that 205 Communists were still working in the State Department. This sensational accusation was publicized in the American press, and he became one of the most powerful men in America. People feared the damage he could do if his accusing finger pointed their way. He lost credibility in 1954 when a Senate committee held televised hearing on Communist infiltration in the Army, and McCarthy was seen as a bully.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
an American politician and Army general who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961
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Richard Nixon
President of the United States from 1969-1974, he rose to national prominence as a "communist hutner" and member of HUAC in the 1950s. He was vice president under Eisenhower from 1953-1961 and defended American capitalism in the 1959 Kitchen Debate with Khrushchev. He ran unsuccessfully for president against JFK in 1960 but was elected in 1968, resigning amid the Watergate scandal in 1974
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Federal Highway Act of 1956
federal legislation signed by Eisenhower to construct thousands of miles of modern highways in the name of national defense. Offically called the National Interstate and Defense of Highways Act, this bill dramatically increased the move to the suburbs, as white middle-class people could more easily commute to urban jobs
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John Foster Dulles
served as U.S. Secretary of State under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against Communism throughout the world
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Brinkmanship
the art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping. Especially associated with Dulles and using the threat of nuclear weapons.
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CIA covert operations
a covert operation (also as CoveOps or covert ops) is "an operation that is so planned and executed as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor."
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korean armstice
the armistice which ended the Korean War. It was signed by U.S. Army Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr. representing the United Nations Command (UNC), North Korean General Nam Il representing the Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, and effectively split Korea into a northern communist country, and a southern free country
368
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
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State of Israel
Founded in 1948 when the UN split Palestine between Arabs and Jews, which created fighting that still persists. It is a Jewish state based on the beliefs of Zionism.
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Arab Nationalism
a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world, particularly as it pertains to the plight of the Palestinians.
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Suez Canal Crisis
International crisis launched when Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, which had been owned mostly by French and British stockholders, and denied Israel access to the Suez Canal. It also named the Tripartite Aggression and the Kadesh Operation or Sinai War, was an invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel with the assistance of Britain and France.
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Eisenhower Doctrine
U.S. foreign-policy pronouncement by President Dwight D. Eisenhower promising military or economic aid to any Middle Eastern country needing help in resisting communist aggression
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OPEC
(The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) a group consisting of 12 of the world's major oil-exporting nations, founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members, and to provide member states with technical and economic aid
374
Nikita Khruschev
- Premier of the Soviet Union from 1958-1964, he was a communist party offical who emerge from the power struggle after Stalin's death in 1953 to lead the USSR. He crushed a pro-Western uprising of Hngary in 1956, and, in 1958, issued an ultimatum for Western evacuation of Berline. Defended Soviet-style economic planning in the Kitchen Debate with Richard Nixon in 1959 and attempted to send missiles to Cuba in 1962 but backed down when comfronted by JFK
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Hungarian Revolt
1956 was a nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. Crushed by the Soviet Army.
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Warsaw Pact
formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance and sometimes, informally, WarPac. was a collective defense treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellites
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Sputnik
(1957)- a series of Soviet artificial satellites, the first of which (launched on October 4, 1957) was the first satellite to be placed in orbit. This caused a panic amongst Americans that the Soviets were pulling ahead in technology
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NDEA/NASA
National Defense Education Act was a science initiative to make American schools more geared towards math and science, while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formed to advance the US in its space program. Both were a reaction to Sputnik.
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U-2 Incident
when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down while in Soviet airspace. The aircraft, flown by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pilot Francis Gary Powers, was performing photographic aerial reconnaissance when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile
380
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
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Military Industrial Complex
The military–industrial complex is an informal alliance between a nation's military and the arms industry which supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy
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Jackie Robinson
an American professional baseball second baseman who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era
383
Thurgood Marshall
Marshall was a lawyer who was best known for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education. President Johnson nominated him to the United States Supreme Court in 1967 and he was approved by the Senate, becoming the first black Supreme Court Justice
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Brown V. The Board of Education Topeka
landmark Superme Court decision that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and abolished racial segregation in public schools. This decision was the first major step toward the legal end of racial discrimination and a major accomplishment for the Civil Rights Movement
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Earl Warren
Liberal Californian politician appointed Chief Justice the Supreme Court by Eisenhowerin 1953, he was principally known for moving the Court to the left in defense of civil and individual rights in such cases as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), and Miranda v. Arizona (1966).
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Little Rock Crisis
when a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They attended after President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened with the Amry
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Rosa Parks
NAACP leader in Montgomery, Alabama, who inaugurate the city's famous bus boycott in 1955 by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger. She became a leading symbol of the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and the cause of racial equality throughout her long life
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
a protest sparked by Rosa Park's defiant refusal to move to the back of the bus of black Alabamians against segregated seating on city buses. It lasted from December 1, 1955 until December 26, 1956, and became one of the foundational moments of the Civil Rights Movements. It led to the rise of Martin Luther King Jr., and ultimately to a Supreme Court decision opposing segregated busing
389
MLK Junior
civil rights leader and Baptist preacher who rose to prominence with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. He was an outspoken advocate for black rights throughout the 1960s, most famously during the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered the "I Have a Dream Speech." He was assasinated in Memphis in 1968 while supporting a sanitation workers' strike
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SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC, which is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr, had a large role in the American Civil Rights Movement
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Nonviolent protest
is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, or other methods, without using violence. Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience is often cited as starting the doctrine, and it was successfully implemented by first Mahatma Ghandi, and then MLK.
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sit in movement
Students from across the country came together to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and organize sit-ins at segregated counters throughout the South
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SNCC
youth organization founded by southern black students in 1960 to promote civil rights. drawing on its members' youthful energies, it helped coordinate demonstrations, sit-ins, and voter registration drives
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consumer culture
a form of capitalism in which the economy is focused on the selling of consumer goods and the spending of consumer money; especially noticeable in the culture of the United States
395
Beatniks
a young person in the 1950s and early 1960s belonging to a subculture associated with the beat generation that tended to be more anti-materialism. They stressed artistic self-expression and the rejection of the mores of conventional society; broadly : a usually young and artistic person who rejects the mores of conventional society
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John F. Kennedy
43 year old senator from MA who became president after appearing more vigorous and comfortable on the first televised debates than his republican counterpart. His wife, Jacqueline Kennedy- brought style, glamor and appreciation of the arts to the White House
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New Frontier
domestic policy advocated by JFK in 1960 election; promised to revitalize the stagnant economy & enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.
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Peace corps
an organization set up in the JFK administration that recruited young American volunteers to give technical aid to developing countries
399
Bay of Pigs
CIA sponsored Cuban exiles try to over through Castro; Eisenhower started it but decided not to do it; JFK took full responsibility for the failure
400
Berlin Wall
The East Germans, with Soviet backing, built this around West Berlin to stop east communist Germans from escaping to West Germany
401
Cuban Missile Crisis
The US discovered that the Russians were building missile sites in Cuba for the launching of offensive missiles that could reach the US in minutes; Kennedy responded by announcing to the world that he was setting up a naval blockade of Cuba until the weapons were removed ; Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles from Cuba after Kennedy pledged not to invade the island nation, and remove US missiles from Turkey.
402
Flexible Response
JFK policy to increase spending on conventional arms and mobile military forces to reduce the risk of using nuclear weapons, and also increased sending elite special forces into combat; moving away from idea of massive retaliation
403
Warrn Commision
Headed by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, it concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin in Kennedy's Murder
404
Lyndon B. Johnson
took oath of office as president abruptly after JFK was assassinated aboard the Air Force One airplane at the Dallas airport
405
Great Society
Johnson's domestic agenda to create the world’s “greatest society”, it was a set of New Deal like economic and welfare measure aimed at transforming US way of life
406
War on Povrty
Johnson responded to Harrington's "The other America" by declaring an unconditional war on poverty.
407
barry Goldwater
senator of Arizona who ran for president in 1964, and advocated ending the welfare state, including TVA and social security
408
Medicare
health insurance program that is paid for by taxes for those 65 and older
409
Rachel Carson
author of Silent Spring- clean air and water laws were enacted in part as a response to this book about the environment
410
Civil Rights Act of 1964
made segregation illegal in all public facilities and gave the federal government additional powers to enforce school desegregation
411
Equal Employment Opprotunity Commision
set up in the wake of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to end racial discrimination in employment
412
24th Amendment
abolished the practice of collecting a poll tax; one of the measures that discouraged poor persons from voting
413
Voting Rights Act of 1965
ended Jim Crow tactics to prevent blacks from voting and provided federal registers to ensure voter registration was fair
414
James Meredith
young African American Air Force veteran who broke university segregation by enrolling at the University of Mississippi. He had to be escorted by Federal Marshalls.
415
March On Washington
MLK led one of the largest and most the successful demonstrations in US history, and about 200,000 blacks and whites took part in this successful march where MLK gave the "I Have a Dream" Speech- appealed for the end of racial prejudice and ended with everyone in the crowd singing "We Shall Overcome"
416
Malcolm X
acquired a reputation as the Black Muslim movement / Nation of Islam’s most controversial voice. The Black Muslim’s leader, Elijah Muhammad, preached black nationalism, separatism, and self-improvement. Although Malcolm X initially criticized MLK as "an uncle tom" and advocated self-defense, he later disavowed the Nation of Islam and became a regular Muslim prior to his assassination
417
Black Power
thinking influenced by the radicalism of Malcom X; formed by young blacks; advocating black power; scornful of integration and interracial cooperation, broke with MLK Jr., to advocate greater militancy and acts of violence.
418
Congress of Racial Equity
famous for freedom rides which drew attention to Southern barbarity, leading to the passing of civil rights legislation
419
Black Panthers
organized by Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and other militants as a revolutionary socialist movement advocating self-rule for American blacks
420
Kermer Comission
federal investigation of race riots; conclude in late 1968 that racism and segregation were chiefly responsible and that the US was becoming "two societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal"
421
Warren Court
Supreme Court under Earl Warren; had an impact on the nation comparable to that of John Marshall- especially with cases that dealt with states upholding the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments
422
Gideon v. Wainwright
required that state courts provide counsel for indigent defendants
423
Escobedo v. Illinois
required the police to inform an arrested person of his or her right to remain silent
424
Miranda v. Arizona
extended the ruling in Escobedo to include the right to a lawyer being present during questioning by the police
425
Reappointment
the process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census.
426
Baker v. Carr
declared practices like for one house of a state legislature to be based upon the drawing of district lines that strongly favored rural areas to the disadvantage of large cities unconstitutional: "one man, one vote" meant that election districts would have to be redrawn to provide equal representation for all of a state's citizens
427
Yates v. United States
said that the first amendment protected radical and revolutionary speech, even by Communists unless it was a "clear and present danger" to the safety of the country
428
Engel v. Vitale
ruled that state laws requiring prayers and Bible readings in the public schools violated the first amendments provision for not establishing a state religion; separation of church and state
429
SDS
Students for a Democratic Society - was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main representations of the anti-war movement.
430
counterculture
expressed in young people in rebellious styles of dress, music, drug use, and for some, communal living
431
sexual revolution
one aspect of counterculture that continued beyond the 1960s was a change in many Americans' attitudes toward sexual expressions
432
Betty Friedman
author of The Feminine Mystique- gave the women's movement a new direction by encouraging middle-class women to seek fulfillment in professional careers rather than confining themselves to the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker
433
National Organization for Women
adopted activist tactics of other civil rights movements to secure an amendment that defined men and women as the same, despite physical differences.
434
equal rights amendment
)- proposed constitutional amendment that stated "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of sex" - NOT PASSED, needed 38 sates to ratify, but only 35 approved due largely to a femine organization named “STOP ERA” headed by Phyllis Schlafly
435
Vietnam War
2.7 million Americans served in the conflict and 58000 died in an increasingly costly and hopeless effort to prevent South Vietnam from falling to Communism
436
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
gave the president, as commander in chief a blank check to take "all necessary measures" to protect US interests in Vietnam
437
Tet Offensive
the Vietcong launched an all out surprise attack on almost every provincial capital and American base in South Vietnam; US military counterattacked and effectively put down the Vietcong, but this event caused the US public to turn against the war.
438
Robert Kennedy
JFK’s brother who served as his Attorney General, and later became a Senator from NY. Decided to enter the presidential race after McCarthy's strong showing in NH, but was shot after his major victory in CA’s primary.
439
Medicaid
government paid health care for the poor and the disabled
440
Henry Kissenger
Nixon's national security adviser, he later become secretary of state during Nixon's second term. He helped Nixon to fashion a real-politic approach to foreign policy that promoted American interests over ideals of American values.
441
Vietnamization
President Nixon announced that he would gradually withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam and give the South Vietnamese the money, the weapons, and the training that they needed to take over the full conduct of the war. Under this policy, U.S. troops in South Vietnam went from over 540,000 in 1969 to under 30,000 in 1972.
442
Kent State Massacre
In April 1970, President Nixon expanded the war by using U.S. forces to invade Cambodia. A nationwide protest against this action on U.S. college campuses expanded, and at Kent State University in Ohio National Guard troops killed 4 students which expanded hostility against the war.
443
My Lai
The American public was shocked when pictures were published in LIFE Magazine of a 1968 massacre of women and children by U.S. troops in the Vietnamese village of My Lai.
444
Pentagon papers
The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, a secret government history documenting the mistakes and deceptions of government policy-makers in dealing with Vietnam
445
Paris Accords of 1973
In January 1973, the North Vietnamese agreed to an armistice, in which the United States would withdraw the last of its troops and get back over 500 prisoners of war (POWs). The agreement also promised a cease-fire and free elections. However, after the US exited, Communists took over the country by force.
446
Détente
the easing of hostility or strained relations during the Cold War. President Nixon and Kissinger strengthened the U.S. position in the world by taking advantage of the rivalry between the two Communist giants, China and the Soviet Union. Their diplomacy was praised for bringing about detente, a reduction of Cold War tensions
447
China visits
After a series of secret negotiations with Chinese leaders, in February of 1972 Nixon astonished the world by traveling to Communist China. His visit initiated diplomatic exchanges that ultimately led to U.S. recognition of the Communist government.
448
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
President Nixon used his new relationship with China to put pressure on the Soviets to agree to a treaty limiting antiballistic missiles (ABMs), a new technology that would have expanded the arms race. After the first round of Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I), U.S. diplomats secured Soviet consent to a freeze on the number of ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads. While this agreement did not end the arms race, it was a significant step toward reducing Cold War tensions and bringing about detente.
449
Six Day War of 1967
Israeli preemptive strike where the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armies were decisively defeated, and Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria, and expelled the UN from Jerusalem. The 1967 war, which lasted only six days, established Israel as the dominant regional military power.
450
Yom Kippur war
1973, the Syrians and Egyptians launched a surprise attack on Israel in an attempt to recover the lands lost in the Six-Day War of 1967. President Nixon ordered the U.S. nuclear forces on alert and airlifted almost $2 billion in arms to Israel to stem their retreat. The tide of battle quickly shifted in favor of the Israelis, and angered Arab nations.
451
OPEC oil embargo
After the October 1973 Arab Israel War, angered Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed an embargo on oil sold to Israel's supporters. The embargo caused a worldwide oil shortage and long lines at gas stations in the United States.
452
Stagflation
The U.S. economy in the 1970s faced an unusual combination of economic slowdown and high inflation. To slow inflation, President Nixon at first tried to cut federal spending. When this policy contributed to a recession and unemployment, he adopted Keynesian economics and deficit spending. He surprised the nation by imposing a 90-day wage and price freeze. Next, he took the dollar off the gold standard, which helped to devalue it relative to foreign currencies.
453
southern strategy
Having received just 43 percent of the popular vote in 1968, President Nixon was well aware of being a minority president. To win over the South, he asked the federal courts in that region to delay integration plans and busing orders. He also nominated two southern conservatives to the Supreme Court. The Senate refused to confirm them, and the courts rejected his requests for delayed integration. Nevertheless, his strategy played well with southern white voters who would shift to the Republican Party.
454
Off the Gold Standard
In response to nations losing faith in America as a result of the war in Vietnam, many started to cash in their reserves for gold, but there was actually more US dollars outside of the US than the government had in reserve. So 1971, President Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard, which helped to devalue the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies, and the US went on a purely FIAT money system
455
Title IX
In 1972, Congress passed this statue to end sex discrimination in schools that received federal funding.
456
Roe v. Wade
In 1973, the Supreme Court struck down many state laws prohibiting abortions as a violation of a women's right to privacy.
457
Watergate Scandal
In June 1972, a group of men hired by Nixon's reelection committee were caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic national headquarters in the Watergate complex. This break-in and attempted bugging were only part of a series of illegal activities. No proof demonstrated that Nixon had ordered the illegal activities. However, it was shown that Nixon participated in the illegal cover up of the scandal. Investigation of the president revealed that his aides created a group called the plumbers to stop leaks to the press as well as to discredit opponents, and it was also revealed that the White House created this list of prominent Americans who opposed Nixon or the Vietnam War.
458
US v. Nixon
In the last days of the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court denied Nixon's claims to executive privilege and ordered him to turn over the Watergate tapes.
459
War Powers Act
It was found that President Nixon had authorized 3,500 secret bombing raids in Cambodia, a neutral county. In November 1973, after a long struggle, Congress finally passed this act over Nixon's veto. This law required Nixon and any future president to report to Congress within 48 hours after taking military action and to obtain Congressional approval for any military action lasting more than 60 days. This was also supported in wake of the disastrous results of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave the president full-reign to conduct war.
460
Nixon;s Impeachment
The start of impeachment hearings in the House forced Nixon to eventually turn over the Watergate tapes, tape recordings of Nixon in his office. The tapes clearly implicated Nixon in the cover-up. The House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment: (1) obstruction of justice, (2) abuse of power, and (3) contempt of Congress. On August 9, 1974 Nixon resigned.
461
Gerald Ford
As vice president, he became president when Richard Nixon resigned on August 1, 1974. He was a likeable and unpretentious man, but his ability to be president was questioned by many in the media.
462
Pardon of Nixon
In his first month in office President Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crime he might have committed in office.
463
CIA reform
Former Congressman George H. W. Bush was appointed by President Ford to reform this agency after it had been accused of assassinating foreign leaders.
464
Fall of Saigon
In April 1975, the U.S supported government in Saigon fell and Vietnam became one country under Communist rule. The feared “Domino Theory” proved partially true when in 1975, the U.S. supported government in next door Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge, a radical Communist faction that killed over one million of its people in an effort to rid the country of western influence.
465
James Earl Carter
He was elected president in 1976. He was a former Democratic governor of Georgia. He was helped by running as an outsider and the voters memory of Watergate.
466
Panama Canal Treaty
In 1978, the Senate ratified a treaty that would gradually transfer control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama.
467
Camp David Accords
In September 1978, President Carter arranged for leader of Egypt and Israel to met at the Camp David presidential retreat to provide a framework for a peace settlement between the two countries. In response, Anwar Sadat of Egypt was killed by his own military.
468
Iranian Hostage Crisis
In November 1979, Iranian students from the University of Tehran seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran and held more than 50 of the U.S. staff as hostages. The hostage crisis dragged on for the rest of Carter's presidency.
469
Soviet Afghanistan Invasion
In December 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan, an action that ended a decade of improving U.S.-Soviet relations. The US backed Osama bin Laden to fight the Russians.
470
Ceser Chavez
In 1975, as leader of the United Farm Workers Organization he organized boycotts and eventually gained collective bargaining rights for farm workers
471
Gay liberation movement
By the mid 1970s, homosexuality was no longer classified as a mental illness and the federal Civil Service ended its ban on unemployment of homosexuals.
472
EPA
In 1970, Congress created this agency to protect the environment. Congress also passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, and the Clean Water Act in 1972. The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in Pennsylvania also turned public opinion against nuclear power and strengthened the rising environmental movement.
473
Conservative Movement
a term that describes the process through which control of the Republican Party has been taken by people with strong feelings in favor of robust national defense, low taxes, minimum government regulation, and traditional social values. The conservative movement has resulted in a shift in the ideological base of the Republican Party, while becoming the home to lower-class whites in the Deep South
474
Republiation/Reagan Revolution
strongly conservative values that appealed to moderates and conservatives anxious about social change and the seeming loss of American power and influence on the world stage. Leading the so-called Revolution, Reagan appealed to voters with the promise that the principles of conservatism could halt and revert the social and economic changes of the last generation. Reagan won the White House by citing big government and attempts at social reform as the problem, not the solution.
475
Moral Majority
a prominent American political organization associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s
476
Religious Right
Christian right or religious right is a term used mainly in the United States to label right-wing Christian political factions that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies
477
Reverse Discrimination
(in the context of a misallocation of resources or employment) the practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously (affirmative action), whereby a decision is made on the basis of a demographic, not merit
478
California v. Bakke
the Court ruled unconstitutional a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process, but held that affirmative action programs could be constitutional in some circumstances
479
trickle down economics
a macroeconomic theory that argues economic growth can be most effectively created by investing in capital and by lowering barriers to economic growth, like taxes. During this era it was also refered to as "Trickle-down economics", also "trickle-down theory."
480
Sandra Day O'Conner
First female Supreme Court justice, appointed by Ronald Reagan.
481
SDI/Star Wars
was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons, combining ground-based units and orbital deployment platforms. The ambitious initiative was criticized for allegedly threatening to destabilize the MAD-approach to re-ignite "an offensive arms race" to bankrupt the Soviets
482
Iran Contra Affair
A political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration, whereby the US illegally sold arms to Iran, and used the proceeds to pay for the illegal support of combat forces (the Contras) in Nicaragua.
483
Panama Invasion
The United States military Invasion of Panama during the administration of President George H. W. Bush. During the invasion, de facto Panamanian leader, general, and dictator Manuel Noriega was deposed, and the Panamanian Defense Force dissolved.
484
Persian Gulf War
The United States military Invasion of Iraq during the administration of President George H. W. Bush to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. While Kuwait was freed, Iraqi dictator Sadaam Hussein remained in power
485
NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, is a three-country accord negotiated by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States that entered into force in January 1994 during the presidency of Bill Clinton, whereby trade barrier taxes (tariffs) and polices would be removed to promote more integrated economies.
486
EU
the European Union, often called the EU, was formed in 1993 and is comprised of European member states with the vision of promoting integrated common economic, foreign, security, and justice policies.
487
The World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization formed in 1995 to regulate international trade, and provide for a more integrated world economy.
488
World Bank G-8
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs, while the G-8 is an inter-governmental political forum of the world′s major highly industrialized economies.
489
Bush v Gore
United States Supreme Court decision that resolved the dispute surrounding the counting of votes in the 2000 presidential election. The conservative majority court ruled that the recount underway in the closely contested state of Florida be halted, thereby calling Bush the winner in Florida, and deciding the election. While Gore had won the popular vote, Bush won the election with electoral college.
490
9/11
A series of four coordinated airplane attacks on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, which prompted the beginning of the US War on Terror.
491
Iraq and Afganistan Wars
War on Terror) – President George W. Bush first used the term "War on Terror" on 20 September 2001, and it has since been used to argue for a global military, political, legal, and conceptual struggle against both terrorist organizations and against the regimes accused of supporting them. In the wake of the 9-11 attacks, the US has been involved in wars in Afghanistan (2001-present) and Iraq (2003-2001), under the pretext that both nations aided global terrorism.
492
Barack Obama
44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He is the first African American to have served as president, as well as the first born outside the contiguous United States.
