Underwood Tariff
1913 law decreasing rates of customs duties and establishing a graduated income tax for all income over $3000
Other People’s Money and How the Bankers use it
1914 novel by Louis D. Brandeis attacking the banking system, incites calls for reforms
Federal Reserve Act
1913 Law establishing 12 regional Federal Reserve banks and a presidentially-appointed Federal Reserve Board to regulate national banks, authorized federal banks to issue paper money (Federal Reserve Notes)
Federal Trade Commission Act
1914 Law establishing a presidentially-appointed Federal Trade Commission to crack down on unfair business practices in interstate commerce
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
1914 Law that banned interlocking directorates and price discriminations, exempts unions and agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution, legalizes strikes
Holding Company
Company that exists to hold shares of a competitor and exercise control, targeted by the Clayton Anti-Trust Act
Federal Farm Loan Act
1916 Law making credit available to farmers at low interest rates
Warehouse Act
1916 law authorizing loans backed by the lender’s secure crops in storage
La Follette Seaman’s Act
1915 law requiring decent treatment and livable wages for sailors on American merchant ships
Workingmen’s Compensation Act
1916 law giving assistance to temporarily disabled federal civil-service workers, restricts child
Adamson Act
1916 law establishing an 8-hour workday for workers on trains involved in interstate commerce, establishes extra overtime pay
Wilson v. New
1917 Supreme Court Case that upheld the constitutionality of the Adamson Act
Louis D. Brandeis
Progressive reformer and Woodrow Wilson’s confidant who became the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice in 1916
Jones Act
1916 law giving the Philippines territorial status, promised independence as soon as a stable government could be established
Panama Canal Tolls Act
1912 law exempting American coastwise shipping form canal tolls, angers Britain, repealed in 1914
Yankee Moat
Terms for the Caribbean Sea, referencing American territorial holding in the Caribbean and intervention in Latin American countries like Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Tampico Incident
Mexicans arrest a group of American sailors at Tampico Port in April 1914, causes Wilson to order the seizure of Veracruz port
ABC Powers
Coalition of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile that offered to mediate the situation between the United States and Mexico, helped spur the collapse of the Huerta regime
Victoriano Huerta
Mexican general who took over as president after the previous one was killed by revolutionaries, seen as a threat to America
Venustiano Carranza
Ally to the United states, rival to Pancho Villa and Huerta, installed as president of Mexico after Huerta’s government was overthrown
Pancho Villa
Rival to Huerta and Carranza, organized a private army and killed many Americans to punish them for supporting Carranza, even went into US territory
Gavrilo Princip
Serbian patriot who shot and killed Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, sparked a chain of events that led to World War I
Central Powers
Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria, see as the “bad guys” of World War I
Allies
Alliance of Great Britain, Russia, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States, seen as the “good guys” of World War I
Kaiser Wilhelm II
German emperor who invaded Belgium and planned to sabotage American factories
U-Boat
short for “Unterseeboot”, German submarines that attacked opposing warships and merchant ships, able to travel under the surface
RMS Lusitania
British passenger ship that was sunk by a U-Boat off the coast of Ireland in May of 1915 which killed 128 Americans, sinking justified by the storage of small-arms ammunition in the cargo hold
SS Arabic
British ship that was sunk in August 1915 by a U-Boat, killing 2 Americans, germans agree to not sink compliant, unarmed passenger ships without warning
SS Sussex
French passenger ship that was torpedoed by a U-Boat in March 1916 without warning, Wilson threatens to break diplomatic relations if another passenger ship is sunk without warning
1916 Election
Woodrow Wilson comes back from dismal returns on the East Coast and won votes in the Midwest and West Coast, defeats Republican Charles Evans Hughes 277-254
Charles Evans Hughes
1916 Republican nominee who opposed Democratic tariffs and attacks on the trust, Supreme Court justice and former Governor of New York
Zimmermann Telegram
Note sent to Mexico by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann which proposed a German-Mexican alliance, and promised to help Mexico regain Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico if the alliance were to be established. Intercepted by Britain in March 1917 and published, angers Americans
Jeanette Rankin
First congresswoman, a Republican from Montana, who voted against the declaration of war
Fourteen Points
Wilson’s proposal to ensure peace after World War I, which included self-determination, de-arming of nations, and a League of Nations
Committee on Public Information
Government agency led by the bold journalist George Creel which attempted to drum up public support for the war effort, employed “four-minute men” to deliver patriotic speeches
The Kaiser, The Beast of Berlin, To Hell With the Kaiser
Anti-German propaganda films which portrayed Germans soldiers as brutes who killed civilians
Espionage Act
1917 law banning draft interference and other acts of national disloyalty, used to prosecute Eugene V. Debs
Sedition Act
1918 law establishing penalties for abusing of criticizing the government in writing
Eugene V. Debs
Influential Socialist and longtime candidate of the Socialist Party who was convicted of Espionage Act violations in 1918, sentenced to 10 years in prison, pardoned by Warren G. Harding in 1921
William Haywood
Industrial Workers of the World boss who was arrested and convicted for Espionage Act violations along with 99 associates
Schenck v. United States
1919 Supreme Court case that ruled that the 1st Amendment could be suspended if free speech represented a “clear and present danger” to the nation and its interests
War Industries Board
Federal agency established in March 1918 to set production quotas, allocate raw materials, and push factories to increase efficiency, helps production increase 20% during the war
Bernard Baruch
Stock speculator who was appointed as the head of the War Industries Board
Herbert Hoover
Head of the Food Administration who used propaganda and urged Americans to voluntarily go without meat on Tuesdays and without wheat on Wednesdays to save food for exporting
18th Amendment
Constitutional amendment passed in 1917 and ratified in 1919 that banned the production, sale, and distribution of alcohol
American Federation of Labor
Samuel Gompers led labor union that supported the war effort and doubled in membership by the end of the war, secured 20% real wage increase in mining and manufacturing
Industrial Workers of the World
Radical antiwar labor union that engaged in industrial sabotage and advocated for better conditions for migrant workers, farmers, and miners
General Strike
Strike in Seattle in early 1919 in which 35k shipbuilders went on strike, 25k sympathetic workers join and halt city to a standstill for 5 days, organizers branded as Communists
Great Steel Strike
Steelworker strike in late 1919 organized by the AFL to organize the steel industry in Pittsburgh, strikers are arrested, outdoor gatherings are banned, 30k black strikebreakers brought in, over 20 workers killed, strike is abandoned by the union
Great Migration
Large scale movement of African Americans from the rural south to the urban west and north, controversial among white urbanite workers
East St. Louis Race Riot
July 1917 race riot in East St. Louis, Illinois that killed 9 whites and 40 blacks
Chicago Race Riot
July 1919 race riot in Chicago, Illinois that stemmed from an incident at a beach, followed tensions between white union workers and black meatpacking strikebreakers, killed 15 whites and 23 blacks
National Woman’s Party
Group of feminist women led by Alice Paul who opposed American involvement in the war and the participation of women in the war effort
National American Woman Suffrage Association
Pro-war group of women who believed that women helping secure global peace and democracy was essential to gaining women’s suffrage domestically
19th Amendment
Constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote in federal elections, ratified in 1920, over 70 years after the Seneca Falls convention
Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act
1921 law providing federally financed maternal and infant health education, expands the responsibility of the government for family welfare
American Expeditionary Forces
US Army forces sent to Europe in 1918 commanded by John J. Pershing, made up mostly of draftees
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
John J. Pershing’s effort to cut German railroads that acted as supply lines to the western front, engages 1.2 million troops, lasts 47 days, ended only by the 11/11 Armistice, represents the largest battle in American history up to that point, kills or injures 120k Americans
Chateau-Thierry
1st major American engagement of World War I, singing American soldiers represented hope and youth for the shell-shocked French army
1918 Midterms
Republicans win a narrow congressional majority, detrimental to international policy heading into Paris negotiations with the belligerents of the war
Henry Cabot Lodge
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations who had a mutual hatred of Woodrow Wilson
League of Nations
Coalition of countries created by the Treaty of Versailles (1919), helps members receive former Central Powers colonies as trustees
Treaty of Versailles
Established the League of Nations, place blame for World War I on Germany, includes seizure of territory, forced disarmament, and heavy sanctions, rejected by the US Senate wince it would force the US to join the League of Nations
Irreconcilables
Group of military isolationists who opposed alliances and refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, led by senators William Borah (R-ID) and Hiram Johnson (R-CA)
Lodge Reservations
Amendments to the Treaty of Paris proposed by Henry Lodge that would empower Americans to remain rights from Monroe’s Doctrine and the Constitution, rejected by the Senate Democrats at the urging of the frail Wilson
1920 Election
Republicans select Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as presidential nominee, defeats pro-league Governor James Cox, also of Ohio, 404-127, Harding dominates popular vote, Debs of Socialist Party receives over 900k votes in prison