US History SEM II CAP

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929; date of the worst stock-market crash in American history and beginning of the Great Depression

- main cause of GD

- stocks lost value all at once bc people wanted to sell out at the same time

Foreclosure

a legal process that allows a lender to take over the property it has helped the borrower buy

- victims of this were farmers who couldn't pay their back loans

Property values

represent a piece of real estate on the market, sunk with the economy during the stock market crash

Living wage

a wage high enough to provide an acceptable standard of living

Black blizzards

dust storms that formed black clouds with dried out topsoil, blew very thick dust

Desertification

a process which land becomes increasingly dry and desert like

Public assistance

support in the form of money, goods, or services provided to those in need

bank runs

panicked depositors lined up around the blocks of banks trying to withdraw their money

- when banks ran out of money, people lost all their savings

- no insurance at this time

Dust Bowl

A nickname for the Great Plains regions hit by drought and dust storms in the early 1930s

- included main states of Texas, Oklahoma (Okies), New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas

- region where most of the dust storms took place

the Great Crash (stock market crash)

- The Wall Street Crash of 1929 began in October 1929

- Stock prices rose too high during the 1920s because many people speculated and borrowed money to buy stocks

- "Black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929) was the worst day of the crash

- Millions of shares were sold, and stock values collapsed

- Many banks failed because they had invested heavily in stocks

- Businesses closed and unemployment increased

- The crash helped start the Great Depression

- The effects lasted through the 1930s and affected countries around the world

buying on margin

someone who gets a loan and uses those shares to buy stocks

speculation

can drive up prices of company stock, leads to stock prices being worth more than the company itself

bull market

consistent rise in stock prices

bear market

prices decrease steadily

Federal Reserve

1913, reconstruct the nations banking system

- owned by fed gov (system of banks)

- can print money, controls interest rates, can influence liquidity (flow of money)

- cant impose tax!!!!!

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

President who created the New Deal to fight the Great Depression

Causes of the Great Depression

Stock speculation, bank failures, overproduction, underconsumption, tariffs, and unequal wealth distribution

Effects of the Great Depression

Massive unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and economic collapse, lack of confidence in Americans

Herbert Hoover

President during the start of the Great Depression

- conservative, supported "mutual help through giving"

- looked to local communities to aid citizens during GD through church donations and private charities

The New Deal

Roosevelt's programs for relief, recovery, and reform during the Depression

The 100 Days

First months of Roosevelt's presidency when many New Deal laws were passed

The Second New Deal

Second wave of New Deal reforms focused on workers and social welfare

- more social welfare, union support, higher taxes on rich, strict business control

New Deal programs

Government projects and laws designed to help Americans during the Depression.

CIO

Congress of Industrial Organizations; labor union group for industrial workers

- collection of AFL unions designed to attract unskilled workers

- developed sit down strike, where workers stop working and don't leave their place of work

- very effective way of protest, as people didn't risk being arrested, killed, or tracked by others

NLRB

National Labor Relations Board; agency protecting workers' rights

- enforced the Wagner Act, allowed collective bargaining and closed shops (hire only members of a specific union)

CCC

Civilian Conservation Corps; program giving jobs to young men on environmental projects

- maintained forests, beaches, and parks

- relief program --> provided $ to their families

AAA

Agricultural Adjustment Act; program paying farmers to reduce production

- attempted to aid farmers by reducing crop production and raising prices

- gave farmers parity, or purchase power

- provided loans to farmers to pay their mortgages and stay on their land

Glass-Steagall Banking Act

Law separating commercial and investment banking; created the FDIC

SEC

Securities and Exchange Commission; agency regulating the stock market

- protected investors from dishonest trading policies

- required companies to publish stats about their business and investment activities

FDIC

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; insures bank deposits

- helped restore public confidence in banks

- had to reform the stock market

Tennessee Valley Authority

New Deal agency building dams and providing electricity

- introduced hydroelectric power, flood control, jobs, and cheap electricity

- battled erosion and deforestation

Recovery

programs to help get the economy stable

Relief

programs that help the public, usually money

Reform

programs to help regulate the economy and prevent future depressions

Wagner Act

Law protecting unions and collective bargaining rights

- considered bill of rights for organized labor

- another name for the National Labor Relations Act

- right to self organization and labor unions

Huey Long

Louisiana senator who proposed the "Share Our Wealth" program

Demagogues

Leaders who gain support by appealing to emotions and fears

- denounced the New Deal

Rightwing

Political views favoring limited government and traditional values

Leftwing

Political views favoring social equality and government involvement

Social Security

Government retirement and aid program created in 1935

- provided old age pensions, disability payments, and unemployed payments

California Central Valley Project

Federal irrigation and water project in California

- water management project designed to conserve water in reservoirs in the north and supply water to the San Joaquin Valley, 1933

Bonneville Dam

New Deal dam providing hydroelectric power and jobs

- built on the Columbia River, 1937

- part of WPA

NIRA

National Industrial Recovery Act; law encouraging industrial growth and fair labor standards

- designed to increase production, wages, and prices

- goal: increase availability of goods and money for consumers

- targeted needs of businesses, labor unions, and the unemployed

- created fair competition by making codes for each industry to follow

WPA

Works Progress Administration; program providing jobs building public works projects

collective bargaining

negotiations between unions and employers over wages and conditions

Manhattan Project

Secret World War II project that developed the atomic bomb

- top secret program

- Aug 6, 1945 B-29 Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima

Bracero program

Program allowing Mexican workers to work temporarily in the U.S. during WWII

Japanese internment camps

Camps where Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated during WWII

- executive order 9066, signed by FDR Feb 19, 1942

- gave army power w/o warrants, indictments, or hearings to arrest all Japanese Americans

- taken from homes, transported to camps, kept under prison conditions, approx. 110,000 Jap Americans

Korematsu v. U.S.

Supreme Court case upholding Japanese internment

- Korematsu arrested in San Leandro 1942, ACLU backed him

- supreme court case that tested whether the Ex. order 9066 was constitutional

- 6 to 3 ruled it was legal due to the state of "emergency and peril" due to Pearl Harbor

Executive Order 9066

Roosevelt order authorizing Japanese American relocation during WWII

Axis powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII

- originally just Germany & Italy

- Tripartite Act initiated Japan and an official member of the Axis powers

- put pressure on US to stay neutral, bc now they would have a fight on two fronts

The Allies

Nations fighting against the Axis powers in WWII

- US, Britain, Soviet Union, France

Neutrality Acts

Laws intended to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars in the 1930s

- 1939, included a "cash and carry" provision

- nations had to pay cash for materials before transporting them onto ships

Battle of Iwo Jima

Major Pacific battle where the U.S. captured Iwo Jima from Japan

- U.S. forces captured a strategic island to secure airfields for bombing campaigns

- Iwo Jima provided a critical emergency landing site and refueling depot for damaged B-29 bombers

Japanese militarism

Belief that military power should dominate Japanese society and government

Rape of Nanjing

Mass killing and atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in China in 1937

Battle of Britain

Air battle where Britain defended itself from Germany

- Royal Air Force (RAF) against Nazis, air battle w/ planes

Lend-Lease Act

Law allowing the U.S. to send aid and weapons to Allied nations

- 1940, US becomes the "arsenal of democracy"

- "lending" supplies to the British and Soviet Union

Zoot Suit Riots

1943 clashes in Los Angeles between the Navy and Mexican American youths

- youth wanted to be part of jazz culture that visually defied norms of segregation

- pachucos (chicanos) wore them

- Sleepy Lagoon Murder of 1942 --> "gangsterism"

- created lots of tension between servicemen / police and non Anglo youth

Dec. 7, 1941

Date Japan attacked Pearl Harbor

German Soviet Nonaggression Pact

Agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union not to attack each other before WWII

leapfrogging

U.S. strategy of bypassing heavily defended islands in the Pacific

- method used by US to bypass a heavily defended island to capture a nearby island --> not well defended

- Japanese islands cut off from reinforcements and supplies

- many invasions killed thousands of allied soldiers in jungles

Battle of Midway

Major U.S. victory against Japan in 1942

- stopped Japanese expansion

D-Day

Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944

Spanish Civil War

Conflict in Spain from 1936-1939 seen as a preview of WWII

Pre-WWII tensions

Aggression, economic problems, and appeasement leading to WWII

Nuremberg Trials

Trials of Nazi leaders for war crimes after WWII

Double V Campaign

African American campaign for victory against fascism abroad and racism at home

- forced many white Americans to rethink their attitudes towards black americans

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Japanese cities where atomic bombs were dropped in 1945

Bataan Death March

Forced march of American and Filipino POWs by Japanese troops

- Japanese beat and batoned US and Philippines under General Douglas MacArthur

- killed around 7,000

McCarthyism

Fear-driven campaign accusing people of communism in the 1950s

Joseph Stalin

Soviet dictator during WWII and the early Cold War

Benito Mussolini

Fascist leader of Italy during WWII

Mobilization

Preparing troops and resources for war

Lebensraum

Nazi belief that Germany needed more living space

Vichy France

French government that was conquered by Nazi Germany

- June 22, France surrendered, armistice declared Germany occupy 3/5 of the country

- became a puppet government

- French forced to manage affairs and policies as dictated by the conquerer

General Hideki Tojo

Japanese prime minister and military leader during WWII

Blacklisting

Denying jobs to people suspected of communist ties

The Hollywood Ten

Filmmakers jailed for refusing to testify about communism

Alger Hiss

Government official accused of spying for the Soviet Union

- led to 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act

- state department official involved in creating the United Nations

- convicted of perjury (lying under oath)

- spy master: for soviets, recruited other spies

Korean War

1950-1953 war between North Korea (communist) and South Korea (U.S.-backed), part of Cold War conflicts

- conflicts between US and Soviets along the Korean peninsula

- started when North Korean and Soviet troops invaded South Korea

Mao Zedong

Leader who founded the People's Republic of China in 1949

- led Chinese communists

- Chiang Kai-shek led nationalists

- both started a civil war for control of China

- China fell to communism

General Douglas MacArthur

U.S. commander in the Pacific and early Korean War leader

- leader of all UN troops from all 15 nations

- got fired due to questioning the president's orders

Harry S. Truman

President during WWII's end and early Cold War

Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy giving support to countries resisting communism

- support of rebels fighting against communism

- eg. US sent aid to Greece and Turkey

- felt communist takeovers where an effort to suppress democracy

Containment

U.S. strategy to stop the spread of communism

Domino Theory

Idea that if one country falls to communism, nearby countries will follow

Vietnam War

Conflict between communist North Vietnam and U.S.-backed South Vietnam (1955-1975)

First Indochina War

War between France and Vietnamese independence forces led by Ho Chi Minh

Viet Minh

Communist-led independence group fighting foreign rule in Vietnam

- led and formed by Ho Chi Minh

- Northern army

Ho Chi Minh Trail

A network of paths used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to the Vietcong in South Vietnam

NVA

North Vietnamese Army; communist military forces of North Vietnam

- extremely skilled soldiers that were advanced in camouflage

- knew how to use the geography to their advantage

ARVN

Army of the Republic of Vietnam; South Vietnamese military forces

- lacked leadership, skills, and dedication to effectively protect civilians and villages

- US forces didn't care about villagers, due to lack of trust and focus on winning the war

Tet Offensive

1968 surprise attack by North Vietnam and Viet Cong across South Vietnam & US bases

- occurred on Tet, or the Vietnamese New Year

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam and Vietnamese independence movement

- opposed foreign occupation

Viet Cong

Communist guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam

- slang for Viet communist

insurgency

rebellion

- used guerilla warfare

Ngo Dinh Diem

Anti-communist leader of South Vietnam supported by the U.S.

- Viet Minh launched guerilla warfare against Ngo due to his brutal leadership

- catholic

Escalate

To increase military involvement or intensity in a conflict

Robert McNamara

Defense Secretary during much of the Vietnam War