U.S. History, 1920s–2017: Key Vocabulary

89 vocabulary flashcards summarizing major people, policies, and movements from U.S. history lectures covering 1920s consumerism through the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

Mass Consumer Culture

1920s shift toward nationwide advertising, installment buying, and mass-produced goods.

“Babbitt” (Sinclair Lewis, 1922)

Novel satirizing middle-class materialism and conformity in the Roaring Twenties.

Flappers

Young 1920s women who defied Victorian norms with bobbed hair, short skirts, and public drinking/smoking.

The “New Woman”

Broader 1920s ideal of independent, educated women challenging traditional gender roles.

New Negro Movement

Assertive post-WWI push for Black pride and rights; intellectual arm of the Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem Renaissance

1920s–30s flowering of African American art, music, and literature centered in Harlem, NYC.

Lost Generation

Disillusioned post-WWI writers (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein) critical of modern society.

Modernism-Fundamentalism Controversy

1920s clash between scientific modernity and literalist Protestantism over evolution and biblical authority.

Scopes Trial (1925)

Tennessee court case testing legality of teaching evolution; symbolized science vs. religion debate.

Ku Klux Klan (1920s)

Revived white-supremacist group targeting Blacks, immigrants, Catholics, and Jews; 4–5 million members.

Forgotten Recession (1920-1921)

Sharp post-WWI downturn with high unemployment and deflation, soon eclipsed by later boom.

Agricultural Overproduction

1920s farm glut and falling prices that trapped farmers in debt throughout the decade.

Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill

1922 House-passed proposal to make lynching a federal crime; filibustered in the Senate.

Scientific Taxation

Secretary Mellon’s 1920s policy of cutting upper-income taxes to spur investment and growth.

Farm Bloc

Bipartisan 1920s congressional alliance pressing for price supports and rural credit relief.

Election of 1928

Herbert Hoover defeated Al Smith amid anti-Catholic sentiment and prosperity optimism.

Great Contradiction

Phrase for tension between American abundance myths and 1930s economic misery.

Black Thursday/Black Tuesday (1929)

October stock-market crashes signaling the onset of the Great Depression.

Great Depression

Decade-long economic collapse (1929-1939) marked by mass unemployment and deflation.

Associationalism

Hoover’s belief in voluntary business cooperation, not federal intervention, to solve crises.

Bonus Army (1932)

WWI veterans who marched on Washington seeking early bonus payments; dispersed by troops.

First Hundred Days

FDR’s 1933 legislative blitz that launched the New Deal’s relief, recovery, reform programs.

Keynesian Economics

Theory advocating government deficit spending to boost demand during downturns.

Irving Fisher

Economist who emphasized monetary stability; wrongly claimed pre-crash markets were sound.

Gold Reserve Act (1934)

Devalued the dollar and ended gold redemption, expanding federal monetary power.

WPA Slave Narratives

1936-38 Federal Writers’ Project interviews preserving firsthand memories of slavery.

SCOTUS Battle (Court-Packing, 1937)

FDR’s failed effort to add justices to secure New Deal rulings.

Fascism

Militant, authoritarian nationalism exemplified by Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany.

Lebensraum

Nazi doctrine calling for German territorial expansion in Eastern Europe.

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

Allowed U.S. to supply Allies with arms before entering WWII.

U.S. War Mobilization

Mass industrial and military preparation turning America into the “Arsenal of Democracy.”

Rosie the Riveter

Iconic poster figure symbolizing women working in wartime factories.

Japanese Internment

WWII relocation of 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans to inland camps.

Employment Act of 1946

Committed federal government to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power.

Levittown

Mass-produced suburban development illustrating postwar housing boom.

Sunbelt

Fast-growing South/West region attracting industry, defense jobs, and retirees after WWII.

Liberal Consensus

Cold-War era belief in activist government, regulated capitalism, and anti-communism shared by both parties.

Federal Highway Act of 1956

Funded 41,000-mile interstate system for defense and suburban growth.

The Feminine Mystique (1963)

Betty Friedan’s book challenging suburban domesticity and launching modern feminism.

Teenage Consumer Market

Postwar emergence of youth as a distinct purchasing demographic (“Seventeen,” rock ’n’ roll).

Truman Doctrine (1947)

U.S. pledge to aid nations resisting communism, starting with Greece and Turkey.

NATO

1949 Western military alliance for collective defense against the Soviet bloc.

Warsaw Pact

1955 Soviet-led military alliance countering NATO in Eastern Europe.

McCarthyism

Early-1950s campaign accusing Americans of communist ties, fostering fear and blacklists.

Kitchen Debate (1959)

Nixon-Khrushchev exchange contrasting U.S. consumerism with Soviet planning.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

U.S. agency conducting covert operations and psychological warfare during the Cold War.

Space Race

U.S.-USSR competition for technological supremacy in space exploration.

Great Society

LBJ’s 1960s programs for civil rights, education, and anti-poverty initiatives.

Managerial Liberalism

1960s faith in expert-led government planning to solve social problems.

Yellow Dog Democrats

Southern voters loyal to the Democratic Party regardless of candidate.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark law banning discrimination in public accommodations and employment.

War on Poverty

Great Society programs like Medicare, Job Corps, and Head Start targeting economic deprivation.

Dien Bien Phu (1954)

French defeat in Vietnam leading to U.S. involvement to contain communism.

Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

Failed U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

Congressional authorization giving LBJ broad power to escalate Vietnam War.

Tet Offensive (1968)

Mass Viet Cong attacks undermining U.S. claims of imminent victory.

J. William Fulbright

Arkansas senator who turned from Vietnam supporter to prominent critic.

Civil Disobedience

Nonviolent refusal to obey unjust laws, articulated by Thoreau and used by civil-rights activists.

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56)

Year-long protest sparked by Rosa Parks, ending bus segregation.

The Strange Career of Jim Crow

C. Vann Woodward’s book arguing segregation was a recent, not inevitable, system.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

MLK-led organization promoting nonviolent civil rights campaigns.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Student-run civil rights group known for sit-ins and Freedom Rides.

Albany Movement

1961-62 Georgia campaign where broad goals led to limited success.

Birmingham Campaign

1963 protests whose violent suppression drew national support for civil rights.

Selma Marches (1965)

Voting-rights demonstrations culminating in “Bloody Sunday” and the Voting Rights Act.

Counterculture

1960s youth movement rejecting mainstream values through music, drugs, and communal living.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

New Left organization advocating participatory democracy and protesting Vietnam.

The Weathermen

Radical SDS splinter group favoring violent tactics against the U.S. government.

Robert F. Williams

NAACP leader who promoted armed self-defense against racial violence.

Malcolm X

Nation of Islam spokesman advocating Black nationalism and self-determination.

Black Panther Party

1966 group calling for Black self-defense and community programs.

Chicago 1968

Violent clashes at Democratic Convention symbolizing national turmoil over war and race.

Barry Goldwater

1964 GOP nominee whose conservatism launched the modern rightward shift.

Peace with Honor

Nixon’s plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam while preserving American credibility.

Kissinger’s Realism

Foreign policy emphasizing power balance and negotiation (e.g., détente with USSR, China).

Stagflation

1970s combination of stagnant growth and high inflation defying Keynesian models.

Pentagon Papers (1971)

Leaked documents revealing secret U.S. decisions in Vietnam.

Deregulation

Late-1970s removal of federal controls over airlines, trucking, and other industries.

Moral Majority

Religious right political group mobilizing evangelical voters for conservative causes.

Reaganomics

1980s policy of tax cuts, deregulation, and defense buildup to spur growth.

War on Drugs

Reagan-era campaign increasing penalties and policing of narcotics, impacting minority communities.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader whose reforms (glasnost, perestroika) ended the Cold War.

Twin Deficits

Concurrent U.S. federal budget and trade deficits in the 1980s.

Neoliberal Synthesis

Post-1980s blend of free-market economics with limited social safety nets.

Kimberlé Crenshaw

Legal scholar who coined the term “intersectionality.”

Intersectionality

Framework analyzing overlapping systems of oppression (race, gender, class).

War on Terror

U.S. military and security response to 9/11, including wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Great Recession (2007-2009)

Severe global downturn triggered by the U.S. housing and financial crisis.

Affordable Care Act (2010)

Obama-era law expanding health-insurance coverage and banning pre-existing-condition denials.