U.S Modern history

Panama Canal

Built during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency; vital for international trade.

Roosevelt Corollary

in December 1904 stated that the United States would intervene as a last resort to ensure that other nations in the Western Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors, and did not violate the rights of the United States or invite “foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations.”

Equal Rights Amendment

Proposed to guarantee gender equality but never ratified.

Harlem Renaissance

Cultural explosion among African Americans during the 1920s.

First Phase of the New Deal

Relief, Recovery, and Reform programs (e.g., CCC, AAA, NRA).

Huey Long

Critic of the New Deal advocating for wealth distribution.

Indian Reorganization Act

also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act, was a set of reforms passed by Congress in 1934 to improve the lives of Indigenous people: (Reversed assimilation policies, promoting Native American self-governance.)

Lusitania

A British passenger ship sunk by a German U-boat, leading to U.S. ire.

Zimmerman Telegram

A secret communication from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance.

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Limited dissent and criticism of the U.S. government during WWI.

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson’s plan for peace after WWI.

(a set of guidelines for world peace that President Woodrow Wilson outlined in a speech to Congress on January 8, 1918)

Red Scare

Fear of communism and radical political movements after WWI.

Appeasement

Policies of making concessions to avoid conflict, notably towards Germany before WWII.

Double V Campaign

An African American initiative for victory against fascism abroad and racism at home.

Executive Order 9066

Authorized the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

(Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, this order authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to "relocation centers" further inland – resulting in the incarceration of Japanese Americans.)

Scopes Trial

Legal case challenging a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in schools.

(also known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was a famous 1925 legal case in which a high school teacher named John Scopes was prosecuted for teaching the theory of evolution in a Tennessee public school, which was a violation of state law at the time.)

Teapot Dome Scandal

Major corruption scandal involving oil reserves during Harding’s presidency.

Bonus Army

Group of veterans demanding immediate payment of bonuses during the Great Depression.

Tuskegee Airmen

The first group of African American military pilots in WWII.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Cities where the atomic bombs were dropped, leading to the end of WWII.

Committee on Public Information

Government agency that promoted U.S. war efforts through propaganda.

Social Security Act

Established a system of old-age benefits and unemployment insurance during the New Deal.

Marcus Garvey

Advocated for Black pride and a return to Africa for African Americans.