3. Imperialism - Roaring Twenties Vocabulary

Big Stick Diplomacy

President Teddy Roosevelt's strong-arm approach to foreign affairs, emphasizing diplomacy by force.

Bootlegging

The production, transport, and sale of illegal alchol

Committee on Public Information

A government agency created during WWI to promote war propaganda to the American people

Dawes Plan

An arrangement for Germany to pay reparations after WWI by receiving loans from the US

Demobilization

The act of discharging forces from military service or use

Dollar Diplomacy

President Taft's approach to foreign policy, focusing on encouraging and protecting the US trade and investment in Latin America and Asia

Espionage Act

A law passed by Congress in 1917 to make it illegal to spy, interfere with government foreign policy, or resist the military draft

Flappers

A young woman during the Roaring 20s who broke with traditional expectations for how women should dress and behave

Great Migration

Beginning during WWI, the mass movement of millions of African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North and Midwest in order to take jobs in industry

Harlem Renaissance

An era of heightened creativity among African American writers, artists, and musicians who gathered in New York during the 1920s

Imperialism

a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force

Installment Buying

An arrangement in which a buyer makes a down payment on a product to be purchased and the seller loans the remainder of the purchase price to the buyer; the purchaser must pay back the loan over time, in monthly installments, or the seller can reclaim the product

Internationalist

A Democratic senator who strongly supported the Treaty of Versailles at the end of WWI

Irreconcilable

A Republican senator who oppose the Treaty of Versailles after WWI

League of Nations

An international organization established by the Allied powers at the close of WWI to promote international peace and security

Liberty Bond

An effort to raise money for the Allied war effort during WWI by issuing government bonds

Lusitania

An unarmed British liner whose sinking by a German U-Boat influenced the US decision to enter WWI

Modernists

A person who embraces new ideas, styles, social trends, and focuses on science

Moral Diplomacy

President Woodrow Wilson's approach to foreign policy, focusing on promoting democratic ideals abroad

Open Door Policy

US foreign policy stating that foreign nations must allow free trade in China

Palmer Raids

A series of unauthorized raids on homes, businesses, and meeting places of suspected subversives that resulted in the arrest of 6,000 radicals, often without any evidence against them

Preparedness Movement

Beginning in 1915, before US entry into WWI, a movement that called on the government to increase US military strength and convince Americans of the need for US involvement in the war

Prohibition

A ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages

Red Scare

Lasting from 1919-1920, a period of widespread anti-communist hysteria and panic fueled by fears of anarchist bombings, labor strikes & the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution

19th Amendment

A constitutional change ratified in 1920 declaring that women have suffrage (the right to vote) in state and national elections

Reservationists

At the close of WWI, a Republican senator who agreed to approve the Treaty of Versailles only if changes were made in response to their concerns about the document

Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

A hotly protested criminal trial, held from 1920-1927, in which Italian immigrants were convicted of robbing and murdering two men and sentenced to death; many believed that the trial was unfiar and that the defendants were prosecuted because they were anarchists, not because they were guilty

Scopes Trial

A criminal trial that tested the constitutionality of a Tennessee law that banned the teaching of evolution in schools; a science teacher was found guilty for his conduct, leaving the Tennessee law in tact

Sedition Act

A law passed in 1918 to make it illegal to say anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government in the war effort

Selective Service Act

A law passed by Congress in 1917 to create a national draft

Speakeasy

A secret club that sold alcohol during the era of prohibition

Traditionalist

A person who has deep respect for long-held cultural and religious values

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

A German WWI policy of staging submarine attacks on Allied and neutral nations' unarmed ocean liners without advance warning

Yellow Journalism

The exaggerated style of newspaper reporting that is based on sensationalism and exaggeration

Zimmermann Note

A coded communication that Germany sent to Mexico proposing that if the US entered WWI, Mexico & Germany should become allies; immediate cause for US to enter WWI