American History - Spring 2025 Final Exam

American History Honors

Haymarket Riot of 1886

A labor protest rally in Chicago turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. At least eight people died as a result of the violence that day. Despite a lack of evidence against them, eight radical labor activists were convicted in connection with the bombing.

Homestead Strike of 1892

A violent strike in Pittsburgh over a decision to cut wages by nearly 20%. This strike ended with the destruction of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, one of the largest unions at the time.

Pullman Strike of 1894

A nonviolent strike that brought down the railway system in most of the West over wages. President Cleveland shut it down because it was interfering with mail delivery.

Plessy v. Ferguson

U.S. Supreme Court decision supporting the legality of Jim Crow laws that permitted or required separate but equal facilities for blacks and whites.

The Jungle written

A novel by Upton Sinclair that revealed gruesome details about the meatpacking industry in Chicago.

Capitalism

A system of economic production based on the private ownership of property and the contractual exchange for profit of goods, labor, and money.

Titans of Industry

Positive name for wealthy business owners during the Gilded Age, implying that they helped the United States become strong through their business pursuits.

Robber Barons

Negative term for wealthy business owners during the Gilded Age who made fortunes by monopolizing huge industries through unethical business practices.

Social Darwinism

The idea that the wealthy and powerful were naturally superior and deserved their success.

Gospel of Wealth

The idea that extremely wealthy Americans had a responsibility to spend their money in order to benefit the greater good.

Gilded Age

The age between the Civil War and WWI when the American economy grew rapidly and individuals were able to use monopolies to amass great wealth.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

The railroad owner who built a railway connecting Chicago and New York. He popularized the use of steel rails in his railroad, which made railroads safer and more economical.

Andrew Carnegie

Known as the steel king; he integrated every phase of his steel-making operation. He pioneered "Vertical Integration" to improve efficiency by controlling the quality of the product at all stages of production and eliminating the middleman.

John D. Rockefeller

A man who started from meager beginnings and eventually created an oil empire. In Ohio in 1870, he organized the Standard Oil Company. By 1877, he controlled 95% of all of the refineries in the United States.

JP Morgan

A banker who financed the reorganization of railroads, insurance companies, and banks. He bought out Carnegie and, in 1901, started the United States Steel Corporation.

Unions

An organized group of workers that use collective bargaining to improve working conditions.

Muckraking

When writers sought to expose corruption in big business and government.

Migration

Patterns of movement across the country, including waves of new immigrants and formerly enslaved people moving toward urban centers.

Golden Spike laid

A national historic site commemorating the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, linking the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads.

Ellis Island

Place in the New York Harbor that served as the main point of entry for immigrants to the United States from 1892 to 1954.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

An industrial disaster in the city of New York, causing the death of 146 garment workers who either died from the fire or jumped to their deaths.

Isolationism

The traditional belief that the United States should refrain from involvement in overseas politics, alliances, or wars, and confine its national security interest to its own borders

Militarism

The political orientation of a people or a government to maintain a strong military force and to be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests.

Great Migration

The movement of African Americans from the South to the industrial centers of the Northeast and the Midwest.

Stocks on Margin

The practice of allowing investors to purchase a stock for only a fraction of its price and borrow the rest at high interest rates

Women’s Suffrage

The campaign to allow female voters

Nationalism

Political ideology that stresses people's membership in a nation

Treaty of Versailles

The resolution to WWI that squarely blamed Germany by demanding billions in reparations and destroying German military infrastructure

Prohibition

The prevention by law of the manufacture and sale of alcohol between 1920 and 1933

Island Hopping

American military strategy in WWII to slowly claim territory across the Pacific, leading to the eventual defeat of Japan

Alfred Thayer Mahan

A captain and admiral in the Navy who was a prominent supporter of Imperialism

Zimmerman Telegram

A message from Germany to Mexico—decoded and shared by the British—that urged Mexico to invade the US to keep the US occupied in exchange for German support for Mexico taking back parts of the Mexican Cession

3 R’s

A popular way to describe the New Deal, referring to relief, recovery, and reform

Open Door Policy

The principle that all countries should have equal access to any of the ports open to trade in China

League of Nations

International organization founded in 1919 to promote world peace and cooperation but greatly weakened by the refusal of the United States to join. Sometimes considered a precursor to the modern UN.

Tariffs

Tax on imports

Imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically

Philippines

Spanish colony in the Pacific whom the US helped free from the Spanish, but soon after took as their own colony

Pearl Harbor

Naval base in Hawaii attacked by Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941. The sinking of much of the U.S. Pacific Fleet brought the United States into World War II.

Hiroshima

The first city to face nuclear attacks during World War II

Puerto Rico

Given to the US by Spain as a payment for the cost of the Spanish American War

Hawaii

U.S. wanted Hawaii so their sugar could be sold in the U.S. duty free, but Queen Liliuokalani opposed so Sanford B. Dole overthrew her in 1893, William McKinley convinced Congress to annex Hawaii in 1898

Okinawa

The scene of the last great U.S. amphibious campaign in World War II. It Showed that the Japanese would "fight to the death"

Normandy

Site of Allied invasion of occupied France, the turning point in WWII

Alaska

Purchased by the US from Russia in 1867 for $7.2M - significant because it removed foreign powers from the continent

USS Maine Destroyed

A U.S. battleship exploded and sank in Havana Harbor; 260 Americans died. Although it was later concluded that it was an internal explosion caused by a fire in the coal bunker, the sinking provided an excuse for those eager for war with Spain.

Spanish-American War (Apr - Dec 1898)

War over the European control of Cuba, American won and gained: Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and an alliance with Cuba

Boxer Rebellion (1899)

An uprising in China directed against foreign influence. It was suppressed by an international force of some eighteen thousand soldiers, including Americans. It paved the way for the revolution of 1911, which led to the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912.

Sinking of the Lusitania (1915)

A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat during WWI. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.

WWI

The first, modern global war, started by the shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The war is remembered for its violence and destruction, costing over 20 million lives and billions of dollars.

Roaring 20’s (1920’s)

One of the most significant decades in US History because of the great changes that came about in American society, including the rise of consumerism, technology, and social and creative expression.

Great Depression

The economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock-market crash in 1929 and approximately ending with the start of the next war.

New Deal (1933-1936)

President FDR's precursor of the modern welfare state. His programs were meant to combat economic depression and it enacted a number of social insurance measures and used government spending to stimulate the economy.

US Joins WWII (Dec 1941)

The second, modern global war, starting less than 2 decades after the last. A significant portion of the world was involved, divided into Axis and Allied powers.

Holocaust

The death and destruction of six million Jews and five million other people by the Nazis during WWII.

International Organizations

Globally centered groups that try to solve world problems.

United Nations

Successor to the League of Nations. Exists to solve the world's political problems.

Bretton Woods System

Created the World Bank and IMF to solve the world's economic problems.

NATO

Military alliance primarily between the USA and Western Europe.

Iron Curtain

Named by Winston Churchill. This is the metaphorical demarcation between communism and democracy in Europe.

Warsaw Pact

Military alliance between countries in Eastern Europe and the USSR.

Containment

Theory that communism must be prevented from spreading to other countries and that the USA must use military force to stop it if necessary.

Domino Theory

Belief that if one country becomes Communist, its neighbors would also become communist.

Mutually Assured Destruction

Theory that if one country uses nuclear weapons, other countries will use them as well, effectively ending the world as we know it.

Atomic Bomb

Significantly more powerful than past weapons. First used in Hiroshima.

Nuclear Weapons

Vastly more powerful than atomic bombs. Capable of destroying entire cities and permanently irradiating countries.

Great Society

Created by President LBJ to improve the social welfare safety net in the USA.

Brown v. Board

Supreme Court Case that ended the segregation of schools.

Cuba

Island country located about 90 miles from Florida. Positioned USSR nuclear weapons towards the USA.

Vietnam

War executed because of containment theory. USA's first real war loss.

Turkey

Asian NATO member. The USA withdrew its nuclear weapons from this country to end the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Inchon, South Korea

Location of the last great amphibious landing. Turning point of the war

Berlin, Germany

Split up by the allies and USSR after WWII. Was saved by the USA via air-dropped supplies.

Murder of Emmett Till

A 14-year-old African American, brutally murdered in 1955 in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman, an event that played a significant role in the civil rights movement in the United States.

Greensboro Sit Ins (1960)

A series of nonviolent protests initiated by African American college students in 1960 at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, challenging racial segregation and inspiring similar actions across the Southern United States during the civil rights movement.

March on Washington (1963)

Over 200,000 participants, including Martin Luther King Jr., gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., advocating for equal rights and economic opportunities for African Americans.

Assassination of JFK (1963)

Assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a motorcade, sparking a wave of investigations and conspiracy theories.

Assassination of MLK Jr. (1968)

Assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, an event that had a profound impact on the civil rights movement in the United States.

Civil Rights Act of 1968 (1968)

Enacted to address housing discrimination by prohibiting the refusal to sell or rent a dwelling to any person based on race, color, religion, or national origin, aiming to ensure equal housing opportunities for all.

USA withdraws from Vietnam (1973)

Marked the end of direct American involvement in the Vietnam War, following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. South Vietnam would later lose the war and Vietnam is communist to this day.

Watergate Scandal

Involving the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office complex, leading to revelations of widespread abuses of power and the subsequent resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

Moral Majority

a political movement in the 1980s, led by religious conservatives, advocating for socially conservative policies and seeking to influence American politics based on moral and religious principles.

Inflation

the general increase in the prices of goods and services over time, reducing the purchasing power of currency.

Liberal

individuals or policies advocating for social and economic equality, government intervention in the economy, and progressive social values.

Monetary Policy

actions by a central bank to control the money supply and interest rates, influencing economic activity by managing inflation, employment, and overall economic stability

Fiscal Policy

government actions related to taxation and spending to influence the economy, aiming to achieve economic goals such as full employment and stable prices.

Reganomics

refers to the economic policies of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, emphasizing tax cuts, reduced government regulation, and a belief that stimulating economic growth among the wealthy would benefit the entire economy.

Deregulation

reducing or eliminating government restrictions and regulations on industries, with the goal of fostering competition and economic efficiency.

GDP (Gross-Domestic Product)

the total value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period, serving as a key indicator of economic performance.

Conservative

individuals or policies favoring limited government intervention, traditional values, and a free-market approach to economic issues.

Globalization

the process of increased interconnectedness and interdependence among countries, economies, and cultures through international trade, communication, and cultural exchange

Terrorism

the use of violence or threats to intimidate and create fear for political, religious, or ideological purposes

Laissez-Faire

an economic philosophy advocating minimal government interference in the marketplace, allowing natural market forces to determine prices, production, and distribution.

Trickle Down Economics

an economic theory asserting that benefits provided to the wealthy and businesses will eventually "trickle down" to the rest of the population through job creation and economic growth

Montreal Protocol (Canada)

an international treaty aimed at protecting the ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of substances responsible for ozone depletion, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Kyoto Protocol (Japan)

an international agreement establishing targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the aim of mitigating climate change; it was adopted in 1997 and came into force in 2005.

9/11 (New York)

the terrorist attacks when hijacked airplanes were crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., leading to widespread loss of life and initiating the War on Terror.

Taliban

an Islamist militant group that gained control of Afghanistan in the 1990s, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law, and became a focal point in the War on Terror following their association with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

Guantanamo (Cuba)

the U.S. naval base in Cuba that gained international attention for its use as a detention facility for individuals captured in the War on Terror, particularly after the September 11 attacks.

Iran-Contra Affair (1980s)

a political scandal in the 1980s involving the covert sale of weapons to Iran by the U.S. government to fund Nicaraguan Contra rebels, leading to Congressional investigations and convictions.