United States History Final Study Guide

Flashcards for vocabulary terms on the US History Final Study Guide.

The Great Depression

Economic crisis in the 1930s marked by stock market crash and agricultural issues.

Margin Buying

Buying stocks with borrowed money; contributed to the stock market crash.

Speculation

Investment in stocks, property, or other ventures in the hope of gain but with the risk of loss.

Overproduction

Producing more of a product than can be consumed or sold.

Herbert Hoover

President during the Great Depression whose response was seen as inadequate.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Government corporation that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgage associations, and other businesses.

Bonus Army

Assembly of WWI veterans demanding cash-payment redemption of their service certificates.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

President who implemented the New Deal in response to the Depression.

New Deal

Programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1939 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat the Great Depression.

Appeasement

A political policy of conceding to aggression by a warlike nation.

Empire Building

Establishing control over foreign lands to create an empire.

Invasion of Poland

The event that triggered World War II.

Lend-Lease Act

Policy of providing supplies to Allied nations during WWII without direct military involvement.

Pearl Harbor

Surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, just before 08:00 on Sunday, December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' formal entry into World War II the next day.

D-Day

Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.

Island Hopping

Military strategy used in the Pacific Theater during WWII.

Manhattan Project

Secret research and development project of the U.S. to develop the first atomic bombs during World War II.

Atomic Bombings

Controversial decision to use atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Wartime Meetings

Meetings held by Allied leaders during WWII to discuss postwar Europe.

Atlantic Charter

Declaration of principles issued by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in August 1941 that later became the basis for the United Nations.

Yalta Conference

Meeting of the Allied leaders during WWII to discuss postwar Europe.

Potsdam Conference

Meeting of the Allied leaders during WWII to discuss postwar arrangements.

Cold War

Post-World War II era of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Containment

US policy to prevent the spread of communism.

Democracy

Political system based on open elections and individual freedoms.

Collectivization

Organization of all a country's production and industry into government ownership and management.

Massive Retaliation

Military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack.

Korean War

Conflict on the Korean peninsula in the 1950s.

McCarthyism

Fear-based anti-communist movement in the US during the Cold War.

HUAC

House Un-American Activities Committee; investigated alleged disloyalty and subversive activities.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Confrontation between the US and Soviet Union over missiles in Cuba.

Domino Theory

Theory that if one country falls to communism, others will follow.

Civil Rights Violations

Segregation and discrimination against African Americans.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights leader advocating for nonviolent resistance.

Malcolm X

Civil rights leader advocating for Black nationalism.