American Expansion, World War I, and African American Experiences

Vocabulary flashcards covering late 19th- and early 20th-century U.S. industrialization, overseas imperialism, World War I mobilization, and the domestic experiences of African Americans.

Imperialism

The policy or practice of extending a country's power, authority, and control over other territories and peoples.

Spanish-American War (1898)

A conflict in 1898 resulting in U.S. victory over Spain, through which the United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and established substantial influence over Cuba.

Annexation of Hawaii (1898)

The incorporation of Hawaii into the United States in 1898, driven by powerful American sugar interests following the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and valued for trade and Pacific military strategy.

"The March of the Flag" (1898)

A speech delivered by Senator Albert Beveridge defending and advocating for American overseas imperialist expansion.

Lusitania

A British passenger ship sunk by a German submarine in May 1915, resulting in the deaths of American citizens and significantly escalating U.S. tensions with Germany.

Zimmerman Telegram (1917)

A intercepted secret message from Germany proposing a military alliance with Mexico if the United States entered the war, which galvanized American public support for entering World War I.

Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1918)

Federal wartime statutes that restricted activities and speech deemed harmful to the war effort or government, expanding federal power while limiting the civil liberties of critics and antiwar activists.

League of Nations

An international organization proposed by President Woodrow Wilson following World War I to prevent future wars, which the United States never joined because the Senate refused to approve the treaty.

Jim Crow laws

State and local statutes enacted across the American South after Reconstruction ended in 1877 that enforced racial segregation, disenfranchised Black voters, and restricted African Americans' civil rights.

Reconstruction Amendments

The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, guaranteed citizenship and equal protection, and protected voting rights, though they failed to secure equal treatment in practice.

The Great Migration

The mass movement of African Americans out of the rural South to Northern and urban centers starting before World War I and accelerating during the war to seek industrial employment and escape racial violence and Jim Crow laws.

Wartime industrial employment (World War I)

Manufacturing job opportunities that opened to African American workers due to wartime labor demand and reduced immigration from Europe, despite persistent discrimination in hiring, wages, working conditions, and housing.

Ida B. Wells

An African American journalist and anti-lynching activist who challenged racial violence and exposed systemic injustice in works such as "The Lynch Law in America" (1900).

"The Lynch Law in America" (1900)

A text by Ida B. Wells that documented and publicly challenged racial violence, highlighting the contradictions between American ideals of freedom and the realities of racial injustice.