APUSH Key Concepts Unit 7: 1890-1945

Imperialism

The policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Economic Opportunities

The potential benefits and resources available to grow an economy, often through trade and investment.

Social Darwinism

A theory that applies the concept of natural selection to human societies, often used to justify imperialism and racial superiority.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century doctrine that the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Muckrakers

Investigative journalists in the early 20th century who exposed corruption, social injustices, and abuses of power in business and politics.

Progressives

A reform movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that aimed to address social issues and curtail the power of corporate interests.

Secret Ballot

A voting method in which a voter's choices are anonymous, preventing intimidation and bribery.

New Deal

A series of domestic programs enacted in the 1930s by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression, focusing on relief, recovery, and reform.

Great Migration

The movement of over a million African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North between 1916 and 1970.

Espionage Act of 1917

Legislation that made it a crime to interfere with the draft or encourage disloyalty among military personnel.

Red Scare

A period of intense fear of communism and radical thought in the United States, particularly after World War I.

Bracero Program

A series of laws and diplomatic agreements between the U.S. and Mexico for the importation of temporary laborers to fill agricultural jobs.

The Harlem Renaissance

A cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s, celebrating African American culture.

Atomic Bomb

A weapon that uses nuclear reactions to generate an explosion, developed during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project.

The Lend-Lease Act

A U.S. program during World War II that supplied Allied nations with material support, effectively abandoning neutrality.

Korematsu v. United States

A landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a wartime necessity.

Fair Employment Practices Committee

A government agency established during World War II to prevent discrimination in war industries and ensure fair employment for all.

Sacco and Vanzetti case

A highly publicized trial and execution of two Italian immigrants for robbery and murder in the 1920s, viewed as an example of nativism.

National Security Act of 1947

Legislation that restructured the military and intelligence services of the U.S., establishing the Department of Defense and the CIA.