IDEAS AND IDEOLOGIES Flashcards
Robber Barons
A derogatory term applied to businessmen who used unscrupulous methods to get rich.
Manifest Destiny
America’s right and duty to become a continental nation from sea to sea.
Populism
- 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.
Progressivism
- 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.
Survival of the Fittest / Social Darwinism
- 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.
Laissez-faire
It emphasised the importance of free markets and competition, and minimum regulation or state interference.
New Freedom
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.
Melting Pot
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.
Nativism
The belief that it was necessary to protect American values against the ‘alien’ ways brought in by new waves of immigrants.
Segregation
The separation of white society from African-Americans.
Roosevelt Corollary
- 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.
Wilsonian Idealism
Wilson’s ideological perspective on foreign policy. His famous 14 points were to create world peace.
Red Scare
Political and social fear of a communist takeover in the US.
Normalcy
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.
Americanisation
The idea to assimilate Native-Americans into American society and culture.
Isolationism
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.
Expansionism
Following a policy of territorial expansion.
Monroe Doctrine
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.
Rugged Individualism
Each individual should be able to help themselves out, and that the government should not need to involve itself in people’s everyday lives.
Imperialism
Refers to a country’s desire to extend its power and control over foreign lands, either through diplomacy, economic means or outright military force.
Conservatism
A general preference for the existing order of society, and an opposition to efforts to bring about sharp changes.
Yellow Peril
Expressed a race-conscious fear of the rise of China and Japan
‘Wild West’
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.
Turner Thesis
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.
