20th Century American History Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering major social, economic, and political concepts from early 20th-century U.S. history and World War II.

American Federation of Labor

One of the first federations of labor unions, founded by Samuel Gompers in $1886$, which focused on working conditions for craft unions rather than political goals.

assembly line

A manufacturing process where a product passes through a direct line of workers and machines from one operation to the next until it is completed.

Fordism

The social and economic consequences of Henry Ford's mass production development, where lower costs allowed ordinary people to purchase more goods.

Herbert Hoover

The $31st$ president of the United States ($1874$ - $1964$) during whose term the Great Depression began.

Teapot Dome scandal

A scandal involving Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, who was convicted of taking money for the secret leasing of oil-rich government land to certain companies.

Bolshevik Revolution

The second rebellion in Russia in $1917$, also known as the October Revolution, where Communists overthrew the government and power moved to the soviets.

Clarence Darrow

An American lawyer ($1857$ - $1938$) known for defending John Scopes in his trial for teaching the theory of evolution.

Palmer raids

A series of attempts by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and the Department of Justice to arrest and deport immigrants with extreme political opinions or suspected ties to enemies during World War I.

Red Scare

The concern and fear that Communists were gathering information about the United States in order to attack America.

Sacco and Vanzetti trial

The trial of two Italian immigrants and anarchists who were convicted of murder and executed in a process many people believed was unfair.

Scopes Trial

Known as the "Monkey trial," it involved teacher John Scopes who was convicted for teaching the theory of evolution in Tennessee, which was against the law.

theory of evolution

The theory that all living things change over time to survive, including the idea that humans evolved from monkeys and apes over hundreds of thousands of years.

xenophobia

The fear of foreigners.

The Birth of a Nation

A $1915$ silent movie that depicted members of the Ku Klux Klan as heroes, causing protests and race riots.

Red Summer

The summer of $1919$ characterized by violent conflicts in over $30$ American cities, including attacks by whites that killed over $50$ African Americans.

Black nationalism

The belief that African Americans should take pride in their African roots and culture while supporting businesses and communities managed by African Americans.

Black Star Line

A shipping line created by Marcus Garvey intended to serve African American businesses and passengers.

Harlem Renaissance

An increase in African American literature, art, and music during the $1920s$ and $1930s$, named after a New York City neighborhood.

Langston Hughes

An African American writer ($1902$ - $1967$) best known for his poetry created during the Harlem Renaissance.

NAACP

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in $1909$ to stop racial hatred and work for equal rights.

Niagara Movement

A civil rights group formed in $1905$ by W. E. B. DuBois and others that later joined the NAACP in $1910$.

Paul Robeson

An actor and singer who supported civil rights and turned to Communism to fight racial inequality in America.

UNIA

The Universal Negro Improvement Association, established by Marcus Garvey to improve conditions for people of African ancestry.

League of Women Voters

A nonpartisan organization founded to encourage voting and citizen participation at all levels of government.

Margaret Sanger

A women's rights activist ($1879$ - $1966$) who founded the American Birth Control League.

NAWSA

The National American Woman Suffrage Association, founded in $1890$ primarily to fight for the right to vote.

NWP

The National Woman's Party, established in $1913$ for suffrage and later for an equal rights amendment to ban gender discrimination.

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck's $1939$ novel about a family of farmers forced off their land during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

Bonus Army March

A protest by World War I veterans demanding payment of their promised service bonuses after the war.

capitalism

An economic system where capital and the means of production are privately owned, and products are traded for profit.

Dust Bowl

An area in the Great Plains ruined in the $1930s$ by drought, poor farming practices, and high winds that created huge dust clouds.

Eighteenth Amendment

A $1919$ amendment that illegalized the production, sale, and transport of alcohol for drinking until it was repealed in $1933$.

Great Depression

A worldwide economic crisis that occurred from late $1929$ until the start of World War II.

Hoover Dam

Originally called Boulder Dam, this structure on the Colorado River forms Lake Mead and produces electricity.

Hooverville

A name for the shack and tent towns built by homeless people during the Great Depression.

Okie

A term used in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to describe a migrant from Oklahoma.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

A government agency created in $1932$ under President Hoover to provide financial aid to states and loans to businesses.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

A $1930$ law that raised taxes on over $20,000$ imported goods, resulting in damage to the American economy.

speakeasies

Places where alcohol was sold illegally during the time drinking was against the law.

unemployed councils

Groups organized by the Communist Party of America during the Great Depression to assist jobless people in dealing with landlords and government agencies.

Black cabinet

Also known as the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, this group of African Americans advised President Franklin Roosevelt on public policy.

Father Charles Coughlin

A Catholic priest and radio speaker ($1891$ - $1979$) known for political talks and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Eleanor Roosevelt

The wife of Franklin Roosevelt ($1884$ - $1962$) who supported New Deal policies and worked on human rights in the United Nations.

FHA

The Federal Housing Administration, formed in $1934$ to insure home loans and improve housing standards.

fireside chats

Radio speeches given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt between $1933$ and $1944$ to address the public directly.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The $32nd$ U.S. president ($1882$ - $1945$), the only one elected to four terms, who led the country through the Great Depression and World War II.

Huey Long

A Louisiana senator and governor ($1893$ - $1935$) who proposed the "share the wealth" plan to tax large salaries.

Hundred Days

The initial period of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency when high volumes of New Deal programs were initiated.

Mary McLeod Bethune

An African American teacher and civil rights leader who advised President Roosevelt and founded a school in Florida.

National Labor Relations Board

A U.S. government agency that investigates unfair labor practices and oversees labor union elections.

New Deal

Social and economic programs passed during Franklin Roosevelt's first term to help America recover from the Great Depression.

Second New Deal

A later series of New Deal programs that included the creation of the social security system.

WPA

The Works Progress Administration, the largest New Deal agency, founded in $1935$ to provide public works jobs.

Adolf Hitler

The dictator of Germany and leader of the Nazi Party from $1933$ to $1945$, responsible for the deaths of approximately $17$ million civilians.

appeasement

A foreign policy meant to avoid conflict, associated with Neville Chamberlain's efforts to avoid war with Germany.

Atlantic Charter

A $1941$ agreement between Roosevelt and Churchill stating their belief that the world should be more democratic after the war.

Battle of the Bulge

A major German attack in Belgium from December $1944$ to January $1945$, resulting in over $19,000$ American deaths.

Benito Mussolini

The leader of Italy during World War II and a founder of Fascism.

blitzkrieg

German for "lightning war," a policy of using fast-moving armed forces to break through enemy lines.

concentration camps

Prisons established by the Nazi government for political enemies, Jews, and other groups, which later became extermination camps.

D-Day

June $6$, $1944$, when Allied countries invaded France to combat the German army.

Dwight Eisenhower

The $34th$ U.S. president and military leader who led the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Germany.

Fascism

An authoritarian political philosophy where the state controls businesses for the good of the state, fueled by belief in violence and war.

Harry Truman

The $33rd$ U.S. president ($1884$ - $1972$) who ordered the atomic bomb use at the end of World War II.

Holocaust

The systematic murder of $6$ million Jews and millions of others by the Nazi government, totaling $11$ to $17$ million deaths.

Joseph Stalin

The dictator of the Soviet Union from $1927$ until $1953$ who led the country as an Allied power in World War II.

Kristallnacht

Meaning "crystal night," a November $9$, $1938$ attack on Jewish property and people in Germany and Austria.

Lend-Lease Act of 1941

A law that allowed the U.S. to provide war materials to Allied nations before officially joining the war.

Munich Conference

A $1938$ meeting where leaders from Britain, France, and Italy allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.

Nazi Party

The German political party led by Adolf Hitler that believed in Aryan superiority and a Fascist empire.

Neville Chamberlain

The British Prime Minister known for the unsuccessful policy of allowing Germany to take part of Czechoslovakia to avoid war.

Nuremberg trials

Post-World War II military trials by Allied forces where Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes.

Operation Barbarossa

The code name for the unsuccessful German invasion of the Soviet Union starting in June $1941$.

Operation Torch

The code name for the Allied invasion of German-held territory in French North Africa in $1942$.

Pearl Harbor

The Japanese surprise attack on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii on December $7$, $1941$, where $8$ battleships were damaged and over $3,600$ people were killed or wounded.

Potsdam Conference

A $1945$ meeting between the U.S., UK, and Soviet Union to decide the post-war punishment for Germany.

United Nations

An international organization formed after World War II to maintain peace and address social and economic issues.

Vichy Regime

The German-backed government of France during World War II.

Winston Churchill

The British politician best known for leading Great Britain throughout World War II.

Yalta Conference

A $1945$ meeting where Allied leaders FDR, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the organization of post-war Europe.

atomic bomb

A weapon of enormous destructive power from nuclear energy, used by the U.S. against Japan to end World War II.

Bataan Death March

A forced $60$-mile march of nearly $75,000$ American and Filipino prisoners in $1942$, killing over $25\,\%$ of participants.

Battle of Guadalcanal

A $1942$ Allied victory in the Pacific that was the first major battle between Allied forces and Japan.

Battle of Iwo Jima

A $1945$ battle for a Pacific island that ended in a United States victory over Japan.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

The largest naval battle of World War II, fought in October $1944$ near the Philippines, ending in an Allied victory.

Battle of Midway

A June $1942$ naval battle where the U.S. Navy decisively defeated the Japanese navy.

Doolittle Raid

A $1942$ air raid on Japan led by James Doolittle to retaliate for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Douglas MacArthur

The American military leader in the Pacific during World War II who later led UN forces in Korea.

Emperor Hirohito

The emperor of Japan from $1926$ to $1989$.

island hopping

A U.S. strategy in the Pacific to use specific islands as fueling and supply bases for planes and ships to fight Japan.

kamikazes

Japanese fighter pilots who crashed their planes into Allied ships; the term means "divine wind."

Manhattan Project

The secret United States military project that produced the first atomic bomb.

Double V campaign

A campaign representing victory over racial inequality at home and victory in the war overseas.

Korematsu v. United States

A $1944$ Supreme Court case that ruled the government did not violate the Constitution by placing Japanese Americans in internment camps.

Bracero Program

A $1942$ program that brought millions of farmworkers from Mexico into the United States.

internment camps

Guarded areas where Japanese Americans were forced to live during World War II because they were considered at danger to the U.S.

March on Washington

A planned $1941$ protest against military segregation that was canceled after FDR signed an executive order banning defense industry discrimination.

National War Labor Board

A federal agency re-established in $1942$ to negotiate labor agreements and prevent strikes in the defense industry.

Office of War Information

An agency created during World War II to release war news, gather public support, and warn against spies.

Rosie the Riveter

The symbol for women who worked in factories and took over male-dominated jobs during World War II.