AP US History - Period 7 Overview

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Black Tuesday

(1929) Over 16,410,000 shares of stock were sold on Wall Street. It was a trigger that helped bring on the Great Depression.

Stocks on Margin

Purchasing stocks with a small cash payment, then borrowing the rest of the price from the broker, a cause of the great depression because people couldn't pay off their loans

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

President who said "The business of America is business". He supported laissez-faire capitalism and isolationism.

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)

Pres.1921 laissez-faire, little regard for gov't or presidency. "return to normalcy" after Wilson + his progressive ideals. Office became corrupt: allowed drinking in prohibition, had an affair, surrounded himself w/ cronies (used office for private gain). Ex) Sec. of Interior leased gov't land w/ oil for $500,000 and took money himself. Died after 3 years in office, VP: Coolidge took over.

Teapot Dome Scandal

A government scandal during Hardings administration involving a former United States Navy oil reserve in Wyoming that was secretly leased to a private oil company in 1921.

Red Scare (1919-1920)

Brief period of mass anti-communist paranoia in the U.S., during which a number of legislatures passed anti-red statutes that often violated the right to free speech.

Volstead Act

Bill passed by Congress to enforce the language of the 18th Amendment. This bill made the manufacture and distribution of alcohol illegal within the borders of the United States.

Scopes Monkey Trial (1925)

A 1925 trial in Tennessee that threw into sharp relief the division between traditional values and modern, secular culture. A teacher in a TN public school was arrested for violating a state law that prohibited the teaching of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. His trial became a national sensation, and the proceedings were carried live on national radio. The case reflected the enduring tension between two American definitions of freedom: moral liberty, or the voluntary adherence to time-honored religious beliefs, vs. the right to independent thought and individual self-expression. While the teachers was found guilty, the trial weakened the movement for religious fundamentalism.

Clarence Darrow

Defended John Scopes during the Scopes Trial. He argued that evolution should be taught in schools. His defense rested on exposing the childlike faith and naive ignorance of religious fundamentalists like William Jennings Bryan.

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

It defends and preserves the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

NAACP

Interracial organization founded in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination and to achieve political and civil rights for African Americans.

Lost Generation

A group of American writers that rebelled against America's lack of cosmopolitan culture in the early 20th century. Many moved to cultural centers such as London in Paris in search for literary freedom. Prominent writers included T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway among others.

Jazz Age

Term used to describe the image of the liberated, urbanized 1920s, with a flapper as a dominant symbol of that era. Many rural, fundamentalist Americans deeply resented the changes in American culture that occurred in the "Roaring 20s."

Sinclair Lewis

United States novelist who satirized middle-class America in his novel Main Street (1885-1951).

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Wrote literature opposing society, wrote Great Gatsby.

Birth Control Movement

Movement launched in 1915 by Margaret Sanger in New York's Lower East Side. Advocates hoped contraception would alter social and political power relationships by reducing the numbers of the working class to induce higher wages and by limiting the supply of soldiers to end wars.

Margaret Sanger

American leader of the movement to legalize birth control during the early 1900's. As a nurse in the poor sections of New York City, she had seen the suffering caused by unwanted pregnancy. Founded the first birth control clinic in the U.S. and the American Birth Control League, which later became Planned Parenthood.

Flappers (1920s)

Women started wearing short skirts and bobbed hair, and had more sexual freedom. They began to abandon traditional female roles and take jobs usually reserved for men.

Great Migration

Movement of over 300,000 African American from the rural South into Northern cities between 1914 and 1920.

Election of 1896

Republican William McKinley defeated Democratic-Populist "Popocrat" William Jennings Bryan. 1st election in 24 years than Republicans won a majority of the popular vote. McKinley won promoting the gold standard, pluralism, and industrial growth.

Interstate Commerce Commission (1887)

Former independent agency of the U.S. government, established in 1887; it was charged with regulating the economics and services of specified carriers engaged in transportation between states. Surface transportation under the it's jurisdiction included railroads, trucking companies, bus lines, freight forwarders, water carriers, oil pipelines, transportation brokers, and express agencies. After his election in 1904, Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated support of progressive reforms by strengthening this.

Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal

A domestic program formed upon 3 basic ideas: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.

Fourteen Points (1918)

Woodrow Wilson had a series of suggestions in order to restore Europe to a prosperous economy after WWI the most important being a call to help Germany be allowed independent development ( a point that was ignored and led to the rise of Hitler) and a call for a "general association of nations" to make sure a world war would never occur again.

Woodrow Wilson

28th president of the United States, known for World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

Strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act by spelling out specific activities businesses could not do

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Allows the government to break up companies with control of a market; prevents monopolies.

16th Amendment (1913)

Congress is given the power to tax incomes

17th Amendment (1913)

Direct election of senators by the people.

18th Amendment (1919)

Banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States and its possessions.

19th Amendment (1920)

Gave women the right to vote

NWP (National Women's Party)

Founded by Alice Paul to fight for women's suffrage. Radical offshoot of NAWSA.

NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association)

The major organization for suffrage for women, it was founded in 1890 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Susan B. Anthony

An American social reformer and feminist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Founded NAWSA.

Alice Paul

Creator of NWP, she was the Head of the National Woman's party that campaigned for an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.

Spanish-American War (1898)

Conflict between the U.S. and Spain that began the rise of the U.S. as a world power. The U.S. gained possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines as a result.

Roosevelt Corollary (1904)

Roosevelt's extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force. Declared US the "police of the western hemisphere". Example of US imperialism in Latin America. Used to justify hundreds of interventions, mostly to protect US business interests, sometimes to the detriment of democratic movements in Latin America.

Panama Canal (1914)

Acquired by United States in 1903/giving America important trading power in the area between North and South America.

Isolationism

A policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Treaty that ended World War I; it was much harder on Germany than Wilson wanted but not as punitive as France and England desired. It was harsh enough, however, to set stage for Hitler's rise of power in Germany in 1930s.

League of Nations (1919)

A world organization of national governments proposed by President Woodrow Wilson and established by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It worked to facilitate peaceful international cooperation. Despite emotional appeals by Wilson, isolationists' objections to the League created the major obstacle to American signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The United States didn't join, so it wasn't powerful enough to enact real change.

White Man's Burden

A racist justification for Western conquest, viewing white imperialism and colonialism in moral terms, as a "burden" that the white race must take up in order to help the non-white races develop civilization.

Lusitania (1915)

Was a British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The unrestricted submarine warfare caused the U.S. to enter World War I against the Germans.

Zimmerman Telegram (1917)

The single most important reason the US entered WWI. Germany announced it was going to resume unrestricted submarine warfare (they planned to break the Sussex Pledge and start attacking US ships again and knew this would mean the US would declare war). Germany contacted Mexico and promised to send weapons for Mexico to use in an attack against the US. The idea behind the Zimmerman Telegram (especially the announcement about sinking US ships) really made Americans mad. Congress declared war shortly afterward.

Sussex Pledge (1916)

Wilson demanded that the US would break diplomatic relations if the Germans didn't stop sinking merchant ships without warning. In return, the US had to persuade the Allies to modify the blockade on Germany.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Legalized segregation in publicly owned facilities on the basis of "separate but equal."

Swift & Company vs. U.S. (1905)

Beef trust found to violate Sherman Antitrust Act, cemented the Federal gov's ability to check monopolies.

Lochner v. New York (1905)

A New York State law fixing maximum working hours for bakers was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court held the law exceeded the police powers of the state and interfered with the individual's right to freedom of contract under Amendment 14.

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

First time Court allows for a law limiting the hours of work, and therefore the "liberty of contract." Allowed social science as evidence, but ruled that women deserved protection because of their status as potential mothers. (Progressive victory, or a step back for women?)

Hammer vs. Dagenhart (1918)

A United States Supreme Court decision involving the power of Congress to enact child labor laws.

Schenck v. U.S. (1919)

Unanimously upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 which declared that people who interfered with the war effort were subject to imprisonment; declared that the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech was not absolute; free speech could be limited if its exercise presented a "clear and present danger."

Debs v. U.S. (1919)

Court upheld that Eugene Debs' anti-war speech was a violation of Espionage Act of 1917, which prohibited insubordination of the US military.

Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923)

Struck down the minimum wage law as unconstitutional. The Court relied on Lochner v. New York, which struck down a law limiting bakers' working hours, which they believed contained a right of "freedom to contract." In Adkins, the Court reasoned that the same reasoning extended to a minimum wage law.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930)

Passed under President Hoover, it raised tariffs up to sixty percent which became the nation's highest protective tariff during peacetime. Hoover & Republicans hoped it would help US economy, but instead it resulted in retaliatory tariff increases against the US by other countries. It deepened depression and increased international financial chaos.

Escapist Programming

Used as a distraction from the struggles of everyday life. primarily included westerns, adventure and spy stories, and soap operas. Amos and Andy, Dick Tracy, Superman, The Lone Ranger

Dust Bowl, 1935

Region of the Great Plains that experienced a drought in 1930 lasting for a decade, leaving many farmers without work or substantial wages. (Think grapes of wrath)

The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck about the horrors of the Great Depression. It follows a family along their treacherous journey from the Dust Bowl region to California.

Popular Front

At the height of the Popular Front—a period during the mid-1930s when the Communist Party sought to ally itself with socialists and New Dealers in movements for social change, urging reform of the capitalist system rather than revolution—Communists gained an unprecedented respectability.

Reform, Recovery, Relief

3 R's of the New Deal

Scottsboro Case 1931

Nine black teenagers were taken off a freight train in a small town near Scottsboro, Alabama and were arrested for vagrancy and disorder. Later, two white women accused the boys of raping them, and although there was significant evidence to suggest the women were lying, an all-white jury convicted all of the boys and eight were sentenced to death. However, with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the convictions in 1932 and with the support of an organization associated with the Communist Party, the International Labor Defense, and NAACP all of the defendants eventually gained their freedom.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Created in 1932 to make loans to banks, insurance companies, and railroads, it was intended to provide emergency funds to help businesses overcome the effects of the Depression. It was later used to finance wartime projects during WW II.

FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

A federal guarantee of savings bank deposits initially of up to $2500, raised to $5000 in 1934, and frequently thereafter; continues today with a limit of $100,000

Glass Steagall Act (1933)

This act forbade commercial banks from engaging in excessive speculation, added $1 billion in gold to economy and established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

NRA (National Recovery Administration)

Established and administered a system of industrial codes to control production, prices, labor relations, and trade practices.

Bank Holiday 1933

FDR declared that all banks were to be closed on March 6, 1933. A few days later he allowed the reopening of economically sound banks.

CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations)

proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932. a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955.

Court Packing Scheme

FDR's plan to "pack" the Supreme Court with supporters to keep his New Deal programs from being declared unconstitutional

AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration)

attempted to regulate agricultural production through farm subsidies; ruled unconstitutional in 1936; disbanded after World War II

CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)

It was Relief that provided work for young men 18-25 years old in food control, planting, flood work, etc.

WPA (Work Progress Administration)

Massive work relief program funded projects ranging from construction to acting; disbanded by FDR during WWII

TVA (1933) (Tennessee Valley Authority Act Relief)

one of the most important acts that built a hyro-electric dam for a needed area.

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

an independent agency of the government that regulates financial markets and investment companies

Sit Down Strike

Tactic adopted by labor unions in the mid- and late 1930s, whereby striking workers refused to leave factories, making production impossible; proved highly effective in the organizing drive of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Social Security (1935)

This law set up a system where every worker and employer pay into it. At retirement age of a person draws out of it based on how long you worked and what you made. It was designed to be supplemental. The problem today is that very soon more people will be drawing on it than those working and paying onto it

Huey Long

As senator in 1932 of Washington preached his "Share Our Wealth" programs. It was a 100% tax on all annual incomes over $1 million and appropriation of all fortunes in excess of $5 million. With this money Long proposed to give every American family a comfortable income, etc

FireSide Chats

The informal radio conversations Roosevelt had with the people to keep spirits up. It was a means of communicating with the people on how he would take on the depression.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Most active first lady in history. Powerfully influenced the politics of the national gov't battling for the impoverished and oppressed.

Isolationism vs. Interventionism

policy of remaining apart from the political affairs of other countries, vs. policy of intervening in the political affairs of other countries

Charles Lindbergh

United States aviator who in 1927 made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean (1902-1974)

America First Committee (AFC)

Group formed in 1940 by isolationists to block further aid to Great Britain.

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, Japan

Allied Powers

Alliance of Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States, and France during World War II.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II

Invasion of Poland 1939

military act by Germany that started WWII in Europe

Pearl Harbor, 1941

The Japanese wanted to continue their expansion within Asia in the late 1930s and early 40s but the US had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. The Japanese decided to launch a surprise attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 (a "day that will live in infamy" according to the famous words of FDR). The United States abandoned its policy of isolationism and entered WWII by declaring war on Japan the following day.

Japanese Internment Camps (Executive Order 9066)

The forcible relocation of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans to housing facilities called "War Relocation Camps", in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

Executive Order 8802

In 1941 FDR passed it which prohibited discriminatory employment practices by fed agencies and all unions and companies engaged in war related work. It established the Fair Employment Practices Commission to enforce the new policy.

D-Day

June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.

Island Hopping Campaign

US strategy to reach mainland Japan by capturing key islands, using them as new ports for planes, getting close and closer to the mainland.

Manhattan Project

Code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. Much of the early research was done in New York City by refugee physicists in the United States.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Two Japanese civilian cities on which the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs to end World War II.

Enola Gay

Airplane that dropped the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima

Dwight D. Eisenhower

American General who began in North Africa and became the Commander of Allied forces in Europe. Became prez after war.

Douglas MacArthur

(1880-1964), U.S. general. Commander of U.S. (later Allied) forces in the southwestern Pacific during World War II, he accepted Japan's surrender in 1945 and administered the ensuing Allied occupation. He was in charge of UN forces in Korea 1950-51, before being forced to relinquish command by President Truman.

Yalta Conference (February 1945)

Between Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill. Confirmed what was discussed in the Tehran Conference about setting up United Nations. Stalin promised to allow democratic elections in countries taken by Russia.

Tehran Conference (November 1943)

WWII conference between Stalin, FDR, and Churchill; its purpose was to develop a strategy for war against the Axis (open a second front)

Bretton Woods Conference ( July 1944)

Meeting of representatives of all 44 Allied nations to discuss post-war economic landscape. Currency exchange rates of particular concern. Established the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

Nuremberg trials (1945-1946)

Nazi leaders put on trial for Holocaust and "crimes against humanity". Most were convicted and executed.

United Nations

International organization founded in 1945 to promote world peace and cooperation. It replaced the League of Nations.

Idea 1

The US transitions from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial economy led by large companies.

Idea 2

In the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Progressives responded to political corruption, economic instability, and social concerns by calling for greater government action and other political and social measures.