Unit 7B Key Terms

Sacco & Vanzetti

Italian immigrants and anarchists who were convicted of murder and robbery during the 1920s, highlighting the tensions surrounding immigration, racism, and radicalism

Fundamentalism

belief in traditional American values and that every word in the Bible should be accepted as literally true

Babe Ruth

famous baseball player known for his home runs and his exuberant personality

Bonus Army

group of WWI veterans who marched on D.C. in 1932 to demand they receive their war bonuses before 1945. Hoover ordered the army to burn encampments and use tear gas.

Court Packing Scheme

a 1937 plan by FDR to add a supreme court justice for every sitting justice over 70.5 years old (court packing)

Wagner Act

1935 law that guaranteed a worker’s right to join a union, a union’s right to bargain collectively, and outlawed business practices that were unfair to labor

America First Committee

an organization of isolationists who engaged speakers such as Charles Lindbergh to travel the country and warn against engagement in Europe’s troubles

Harlem Renaisance

a cultural and artistic movement in Harlem, NY that celebrated African American culture, talents, and arts during the 1920s

Al Capone

leader of a Chicago gang during Prohibition, known for bootlegging and organized crime activities

Teapot Dome Scandal

bribery scandal involving the illegal sale of federal oil lands during the 1920s - Albert B. Falls

Hoovervilles

makeshift shantytowns made of box cars that homeless people lived in

Dr. Francis Townsend

critic of the New Deal who proposed a 2 percent federal sales tax be used to create a special fund for retired people to receive when they turn 60 (Townsend Plan)

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

New Deal agency that encouraged farmers to reduce production by offering to pay government subsidies for every acre they plowed. Declared unconstitutional in 1935 by a Supreme Court decision.

Appeasement

diplomatic policy in which other nations let Germany do as they wished in order to avoid conflict

Scopes Trial

trial of Tennessee biology teacher John T. Scopes for teaching evolution (because he was persuaded by the ACLU) involving Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. It highlighted the tensions between modernists and fundamentalists.

Volstead Act

federal law that enforced Prohibition (the 18th Amendment)

Lost Generation

the generation of young adults who came of age and died during WWI

Palmer Raids

mass arrests of anarchists, socialists, and labor agitators facilitated by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer from November 1919 to January 1920

Hundred Days

first 100 days of FDR’s presidency during which he called Congress into a 100-day-long special session, enacting more major legislation than any single Congress in history

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

hired thousands of people from the Tennessee Valley to build dams, operate electric power plants, control flooding and erosion, and manufacture fertilizer. Also sold electricity to residents of the region at rates lower than those charged by a private power company

Father Coughlin

Catholic priest who used radio broadcasts to criticize the New Deal and founded the National Union for Social Justice

Marcus Garvey

Jamaican immigrant who brought the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) to the US and advocated for a back-to-Africa movement, black separatism, economic self-sufficiency, and black nationalism. He was later deported back to Jamaica for federal charges of fraud

Charles Lindbergh

first man to fly solo across the Atlantic

Jazz Singer

people who sang in jazz clubs during the 1920s - Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday

Huey Long

Senator from Louisiana who proposed a “Share Our Wealth” program but his populist appeal ended when he was assassinated

Social Security Act

created a federal insurance program based on the automatic collection of payments from employees and employers throughout people’s working careers that helped the disabled, elderly, and unemployed

Nye Committee

U.S. Senate committee that investigated the causes of U.S. involvement in WWI and said it was the serve the greed of bankers and arms manufacturers

Lend Lease Act

ended the cash-and-carry requirement of Neutrality Act and let Britain buy U.S. arms on credit