History Standard 4 Vocabulary (first 40)

Question 1

Imperialism

Answer 1

The expansion of American political, economic, cultural, media, and military influence beyond the boundaries of the United States

Question 2

Isolationism

Answer 2

National policy of avoiding political or economic entanglements with other countries

Question 3

Seward’s Folly

Answer 3

Refers to Secretary of State William Seward’s purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, because the land was so far north it was considered virtually unusable and uninhabitable

Question 4

Theodore Roosevelt

Answer 4

The 26th president of the United States who was the main constructor of the Panama Canal

Question 5

Spanish-American War

Answer 5

1898 conflict between the United States and Spain, ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in the U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America

Question 6

Teller Amendment

Answer 6

Stated that when the United States rid Cuba of Spanish misrule, Cuba would be granted its freedom

Question 7

Platt Amendment

Answer 7

Set of conditions under which Cuba was granted independence in 1902, including restrictions on the rights of Cubans and granting to the U.S. the right to intervene to preserve order in Cuba

Question 8

Open Door Policy

Answer 8

American statement that the government did not want colonies in China, but favored free trade there

Question 9

Panama Canal

Answer 9

Human-made waterway linking the Atlantic to the Pacific across the Isthmus of Panama

Question 10

Big Stick Policy

Answer 10

Theodore Roosevelt’s policy of creating and using, when necessary, a strong military to achieve America’s goals

Question 11

Dollar Diplomacy

Answer 11

President Taft’s policy of expanding American investments abroad

Question 12

Woodrow Wilson

Answer 12

The 28th president of the United States who led America through World War I

Question 13

Missionary/Moral Diplomacy

Answer 13

Woodrow Wilson’s statement that the U.S. would not use force to assert influence in the world, but would instead work to promote human rights

Question 14

World War I

Answer 14

Began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Question 15

Militarism

Answer 15

Glorification of the military

Question 16

U-boats

Answer 16

German submarines

Question 17

Lusitania

Answer 17

British passenger liner sunk by a German U-boat during World War I

Question 18

Zimmerman Telegram

Answer 18

Telegram written by German Foreign Minister Zimmerman proposing an alliance between Germany and Mexico against the United States during World War I

Question 19

Trench Warfare

Answer 19

Warfare in which opposing armed forces attack, counterattack, and defend from relatively permanent systems of trenches dug into the ground

Question 20

Selective Service Act

Answer 20

Act passed by Congress in 1917 authorizing a draft of men for military service

Question 21

Armistice

Answer 21

A temporary suspension of hostilities by agreement of the warring parties; a truce

Question 22

Fourteen Points

Answer 22

List of terms for resolving World War I and future wars authorized by American president Woodrow Wilson

Question 23

League of Nations

Answer 23

World organization established after World War I to promote peaceful cooperation between countries

Question 24

Treaty of Versailles

Answer 24

Formally ended World War I and established the League of Nations, required that Germany pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory, and give up all of its overseas colonies

Question 25

War Industries Board

Answer 25

A United States government agency established during World War I to coordinate and channel production in the U.S.

Question 26

Committee on Public Information

Answer 26

Government agency created during World War I to encourage Americans to support the war

Question 27

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Answer 27

Passed by Congress in 1917 enacting severe penalities for anyone engaged in disloyal or treasonable activities

Question 28

Warren G. Harding

Answer 28

The 29th president of the United States who promised Americans restoration and a return to “normalcy”

Question 29

Roosevelt Corollary

Answer 29

A speech in which Roosevelt stated the European intervention in the Western hemisphere had ended and the U.S. would intervene to maintain peace and stability in Latin American countries

Question 30

Inflation

Answer 30

Rising prices

Question 31

Evolution

Answer 31

Change in the genetic composition of a population over successive generations

Question 32

Fundamentalism

Answer 32

Movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles

Question 33

Scopes Monkey Trial

Answer 33

1925 trial of a Tennessee schoolteacher for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution

Question 34

Henry Ford

Answer 34

American inventor and businessman who introduced the moving assembly line to car production

Question 35

Mass Production

Answer 35

Production of goods in large numbers through the use of machinery and assembly lines

Question 36

Assembly Line

Answer 36

Arrangement of equipment and workers in which work passes from operation to operation in direct line until the product is assembled

Question 37

Mass Media

Answer 37

Primary means of communication used to reach the vast majority of the general public

Question 38

Installment Plan

Answer 38

An arrangement in which a consumer pays over an extended time, without having to put down much money at the time of purchase

Question 39

Consumer Society

Answer 39

A society in which people often buy new goods, especially goods that they do not need, and in which a high value is placed on owning many things

Question 40

Flappers

Answer 40

Young women from the 1920s who defied traditional rules of conduct and dress