Social studies midterm Flashcards
1
Q
Boomtowns
A
Rapidly growing communities that
appeared at the site of mineral strikes
2
Q
Placer mining
A
Early prospectors would extract shallow deposits of ore, using simple tools like picks, shovels,
and pans.
3
Q
Sluice mining
A
Redirected the current of a river into
trenches, or drains with a screen at the end that kept minerals from escaping with the water and sediment
4
Q
Hydraulic mining
A
Spraying water at high pressure to
wash away dirt, gravel, and rock to process minerals.
5
Q
Haciendas
A
Huge ranches covering thousands of acres that developed after the Spanish mission
6
Q
Barrios
A
Spanish-speaking neighborhoods that helped keep the Hispanic culture and religious traditions alive.
7
Q
Homestead
A
A tract of public land
available for settlement
8
Q
Dry farming
A
Planting seeds deep in the ground where there was enough moisture for them to grow
9
Q
Wheat Belt
A
Productive farm area that
began at the eastern edge of Great Plains.
10
Q
Bonanza farms
A
Often brought their owners big profits.
11
Q
Nomad
A
A person who continually
moves from place to place, usually
in search of food
12
Q
Gross national product (GNP)
A
The total value of all goods and services a country produces in a year.
13
Q
Thomas Edison
A
Began the first modern research laboratory, resulting in many new inventions, including the lightbulb, the battery, the motion picture, and the record player.
14
Q
Alexander Graham Bell
A
Transmitted sound via an electric current, ultimately inventing the telephone.
15
Q
Entrepreneurs
A
People who risk their money in organizing and running a business, believed they could make money in manufacturing and transportation.
16
Q
Laissez-faire
A
The belief that the government should interfere as little as possible in the nation’s economy other than to protect private property rights and maintain peace.
17
Q
Corporation
A
An organization owned by many people but treated
by law as though it were a single person.
18
Q
Andrew Carnegie
A
Founder of a steel company in
Pittsburgh who used vertical integration to set up
his business.
19
Q
Andrew Carnegie
A
Founder of a steel company in
Pittsburgh who used vertical integration to set up
his business.
20
Q
Vertical integration
A
owns all of the different businesses on which it depends for operation.
21
Q
John D. Rockefeller
A
Operated Standard Oil; used
horizontal integration to run his business.
22
Q
Horizontal integration
A
Combining many firms
engaged in the same type of business into one
large corporation.
23
Q
Monopoly
A
When a single company achieves
control of an entire market.
24
Q
J.P. Morgan
A
Specialized in helping sell large blocks of stock to
investment bankers.
25
N.W. Ayer and Son
The first advertising company that used large illustrated ads to try to attract customers
26
Deflation
A rise in the value of money due to a decline in the amount of money
available, which caused prices to fall and increased the buying power of money.
27
Lockouts
A technique for breaking a
union through which the company
refused to allow
28
Angel Island
Location of barracks in
California to accommodate
immigrants from Asia.
29
Nativism
Extreme dislike of immigrants and/or foreigners by native-born people.
30
Tenements
Multifamily apartments, usually dark,
crowded, and barely meeting
minimum living standards.
31
Individualism
The idea that individuals could rise in society and go as far as their talents and commitment would take them.
32
Social Darwinism
The application of theory of evolution and natural
selection to human society; society progressed through competition
and only the fittest people survived.
33
Realism
A movement in art and literature
that tried to portray the world realistically; artists and writers who tried to capture the world as they saw it were known as realists.
34
Populism
A movement to increase the political power of farmers.
35
Cooperatives
Marketing organizations that worked for the benefit of their members (Example: a store where farmers buy products from each other)
36
Sharecroppers
Landless farmers who gave their landlords a large portion of their crops as rent.
37
Grandfather Clause
Allowed any man to vote is
| he had an ancestor who could vote in 1867.
38
Segregation
The separation or isolation of a race, class, or group.
39
Jim Crow Laws
Statutes enacted to enforce segregation.
40
Plessy v. Ferguson
```
Homer Plessy - Challenged a
Louisiana law that forced him to
ride in a separate railroad car
from whites.
◆ Established the legal basis for
discrimination in the South.
```
41
Imperialism
The economic and political domination of a strong nation over
weaker nations.
42
Protectorate
A country that is technically independent but is
| actually under the control of another country.
43
Anglo-Saxonism
The idea that English-speaking nations were superior to other nations
44
Pan-Americanism
The idea that Latin American and
| U.S. should work together.
45
Yellow journalism
A type of sensational, biased, and often false reporting for the sake of
attracting readers; in this case, sensationalized stories about Spanish atrocities.
46
Jingoism
Extreme nationalism marked
| by aggressive foreign policy.
47
“Rough Riders”
A U.S. volunteer cavalry unit that was a mix of cowboys, miners, and law officers.
48
Treaty of Paris of 1898:
○ Cuba gained independence.
○ U.S. received Guam and Puerto Rico.
○ U.S. paid Spain $20 million for the Philippines
49
Open Door Policy
A policy that allowed each foreign nation in China to trade freely in the other nations’ spheres of influence.
50
Progressivism
A collection of different ideas and activities with a specific set of goals that was partly a reaction against laissez-faire economics.
51
17th Amendment
Passed in 1913, provides for
| the direct election of Senators by the people.
52
18th Amendment
Passed in 1919, established
| the prohibition of alcohol in the United States.
53
19th Amendment
Passed in 1920, gave women
| the right to vote.
54
Suffrage
The right to vote
55
Socialism
The idea that the government should own and operate industry
56
Militarism
The strong buildup of
armed forces to intimidate and
threaten other nations.
57
Nationalism
Loyalty and devotion to a nation
58
Propaganda
The spreading of ideas about an institution or individual for the
purpose of influencing opinion.
59
Victory Gardens -
A garden planted by civilians
| during war to raise vegetables for home use, leaving more of the other foods for the troops.
60
Draft
To select a person at random for mandatory military service.
61
General Strike
A strike involving all the workers in
| a particular geographic location
62
Radicalism
The belief that society needs to be
| changed through extreme action
63
Stock Market
A system for buying and selling stocks in corporations
64
Bull market
Sometimes the stock market has a long period of rising stock prices
65
Speculation
Buyers engaged in speculation, the act of buying stocks at great risk with the anticipation that the prices will rise.
66
Margin
Many investors bought stocks on margin, buying a stock by paying only a fraction of the stock price and borrowing the rest.
67
Margin Call
To protect a loan, a broker could issue a margin call, demanding the investor repay the loan at once
68
Bank Run
Persistent and heavy demands by a bank’s depositors, creditors, or customers to withdraw money.
69
The Hawley-Smoot Tariff
Meant to protect American businesses, caused fewer American goods to be sold overseas.
70
Bailiffs
Ejected anyone and their belongings that could not pay their rent or mortgage
71
Hoovervilles
People called these shantytowns Hoovervilles, after the president they blamed for their plight
72
Hoboes
Many homeless people began walking, hitchhiking, or, most often, “riding the rails” across the country.
73
Dust Bowl
Much of the Great Plains were extensively deep-plowed making the topsoil susceptible to rapid erosion. In the 1920s, crop prices began to drop causing many farmers to leave their fields uncultivated. In the early 30s, a severe drought hit and with nothing anchoring the soil or retaining moisture, the
soil turned to dust. Winds blew the dust aloft, blackening the sky for
hundreds of miles. Humans and animals caught outside sometimes died of suffocation.
74
“Okies”
Farmers who lost their land and travelled to California to look for work.
75
Soap Operas
The sponsors were often makers of laundry soaps, so these shows were nicknamed
76
Public works
Government-financed building projects, suchas highways, parks, and libraries built with public funds for public use
77
Isolationism
A national policy of avoiding involvement in world affairs
78
Mass Production
The production of large quantities of goods using machinery and often an assembly line
79
Anarchists
A person who believes there should be no government
80
Evolution
The scientific theory that humans and other forms of life have evolved over time
81
Mass Media
A medium of communication (such as television and radio) intended to reach a wide audience
82
Jazz
American style of music that developed from ragtime and blues and that uses syncopated rhythms and improvisation
83
Blues`
Style of music evolving from African American spirituals and noted for its melancholy sound
84
The Dawes Act
Divided reservations land into allotments for farming and ranching
85
Great Plains
A large region of open grassland between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains
86
Strikebreakers
When a union called a strike, employers would often hire replacements, called strikebreakers.
87
Robber Barons
Some railroad entrepreneurs were corrupt and accusations of such people included
bribing officials, swindling taxpayers, and cheating contracts.
88
Unions
A club, society, or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose.
89
The Red Scare
The Red Scare was a nationwide panic that arose from the fear that Communists might seize power in the US.
90
World War l
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
91
Bonds
Notes issued by the government that promises to pay off a loan with interest.
92
Argonne Forest
A massive US attack near the Argonne Forest, led by French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, pushed back the Germans.
93
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.
94
Emergency Relief and Construction Act
It created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which released funds for public works projects across the country.
95
Great Depression
The worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors.
96
National Credit Corporation
An organization created in 1931 in the United States by President Herbert Hoover's administration to try to stop bank failure stemming from the Great Depression
97
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgage associations, and other businesses
98
Ellis Island
Immigrant inspection station in New York for mostly Europeans
99
Panama Canal
A constructed waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama
100
Herbert Hoover
Was president during the Great Depression and was blamed for it because the stock market was doing well before he was elected and he didn't want to get involved in the Great Depression.
101
Installment
A sum of money due as one of several equal payments for something spread over an agreed period of time.
102
Interest Rates
The proportion of a loan that is charged as interest to the borrower typically expressed as an annual percentage of the loan outstanding.
103
Bonus Army
A group gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service bonus certificates
104
Overproduction
The production of more of a product, commodity, or substance than is wanted or needed
105
Race Riots
A public outbreak of violence between two racial groups in a community over jobs
106
Quartz Mining
The mining of gold on veins or ore bodies in place as distinguished from surface digging or washing : underground mining in rock
107
Recession
A period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters.
108
Shanty Towns
A usually poor town or section of a town consisting mostly of shanties.
109
Soup Kitchens
A place where free food is served to those who are homeless or destitute.
110
Threshing Machines
Machine for separating grain from plants.
111
Why did the army encourage the killing of buffalo?
To deny Native Americans an important source of food
112
Why did the government offer each railroad company builds a transcontinental railroad along its right-of-way?
They could produce goods more cheaply and efficiently
113
In the late 1800s, why did many rural Americans move to big cities?
In search of better paying jobs
114
Economic and military competition from which location helped to convince many Americans that the United States should become a world power?
Europe
115
What event set off the first declaration of war in World War l?
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie
116
What were the main causes of world war l?
Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism
117
What new forms of warfare were introduced during world war l?
Aerial combat and gas attacks
118
What kinds of art and popular culture arose during the 1930s
Soap operas, movies, radios, Literature
119
What were the main causes of the Great Depression?
Low-interest rates, overproduction, uneven distribution of wealth, high tariffs, falling demand, stock market speculation
120
What effects did the Great Depression have on farmers and what was their response?
Farmers across the country lost their farms as banks foreclosed on mortgages
