IDEAS AND IDEOLOGIES

Question 1

Robber Barons

Answer 1

A derogatory term applied to businessmen who used unscrupulous methods to get rich.

Question 2

Manifest Destiny

Answer 2

America’s right and duty to become a continental nation from sea to sea.

Question 3

Populism

Answer 3

• Focused on turning grievances and discontent into a political campaign for radical reform.
• Formed from the Granger movement and was based rurally/regionally.
• They demanded government ownership of the railroads, opportunity for settlers and farmers to be able to acquire land from corporations and foreigners, free silver, plus more.

Question 4

Progressivism

Answer 4

• Movement expressing discontent and demands for social and political reform.
• It had an urban/middle class/ national base.
• It attacked political corruption, demanded business regulation, female suffrage, prohibition, protection of workers against employers plus more.

Question 5

Survival of the Fittest / Social Darwinism

Answer 5

• The theory that individual and groups are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals.
• It was used to justify political conservatism, imperialism and little government interference in economic matters.

Question 6

Laissez-faire

Answer 6

It emphasised the importance of free markets and competition, and minimum regulation or state interference.

Question 7

New Freedom

Answer 7

Wilson’s programme of progressive reforms. These included the Underwood-Simmons Act (20% reduction in tariffs), banking and currency reforms (Federal Reserve Act), Clayton Antitrust Act, plus more.

Question 8

Melting Pot

Answer 8

The idea that America welcomed people from many different countries, races and religions. It was the belief that these individuals integrated into American society and culture.

Question 9

Nativism

Answer 9

The belief that it was necessary to protect American values against the ‘alien’ ways brought in by new waves of immigrants.

Question 10

Segregation

Answer 10

The separation of white society from African-Americans.

Question 11

Roosevelt Corollary

Answer 11

• Set out in 1904. It stated the principle that the US had the right to ‘exercise international police power’ in Latin America, if there were ‘flagrant cases of wrongdoing or incompetence.’
• It was an important shift in American foreign policy – virtually an amendment to the Monroe Doctrine.

Question 12

Wilsonian Idealism

Answer 12

Wilson’s ideological perspective on foreign policy. His famous 14 points were to create world peace.

Question 13

Red Scare

Answer 13

Political and social fear of a communist takeover in the US.

Question 14

Normalcy

Answer 14

A term invented by Harding during the 1920 presidential election campaign. He probably meant to say normality. The term is often used to define the inward-looking political mood of the US after 1920.

Question 15

Americanisation

Answer 15

The idea to assimilate Native-Americans into American society and culture.

Question 16

Isolationism

Answer 16

Desire to preserve America from outside interference and ‘foreign entanglements’. Desire to live apart from the ‘Old World’. Linked to anti-colonialism and geographical isolation.

Question 17

Expansionism

Answer 17

Following a policy of territorial expansion.

Question 18

Monroe Doctrine

Answer 18

This was announced in 1823 by President James Monroe. It asserted that the US would resist any interference in the New World by European powers. The Doctrine seemed to indicate a disinterest in foreign affairs.

Question 19

Rugged Individualism

Answer 19

Each individual should be able to help themselves out, and that the government should not need to involve itself in people’s everyday lives.

Question 20

Imperialism

Answer 20

Refers to a country’s desire to extend its power and control over foreign lands, either through diplomacy, economic means or outright military force.

Question 21

Conservatism

Answer 21

A general preference for the existing order of society, and an opposition to efforts to bring about sharp changes.

Question 22

Yellow Peril

Answer 22

Expressed a race-conscious fear of the rise of China and Japan

Question 23

‘Wild West’

Answer 23

The mythical idea of the West; a land of the wide spaces waiting to be tamed by tough, self-sufficient pioneers who represented the best American values.

Question 24

Turner Thesis

Answer 24

Announced that the moving frontier was now over and that American had truly become a nation from sea to sea. It also had many affinities with laissez-faire thinking; free enterprise, hard work and self-help, and minimal interference by government.