boi i hate history

Reasons why America joined World War I

Unrestricted German submarine warfare, the Zimmermann Telegram promising Mexico U.S. territory if it attacked the U.S., and economic ties/loans to the Allies.

Committee on Public Information

Government agency created in 1917 to use propaganda to build support for World War I and portray Germany as the enemy.

Selective Service Act of 1917

Law that established the draft in World War I, requiring men to register for military service.

Speakeasies

Secret, illegal bars that sold alcohol during Prohibition in the 1920s.

Great Migration

Mass movement of millions of African Americans from the rural South to Northern and Midwestern cities to escape racism and seek better jobs.

Harlem Renaissance

Cultural movement in the 1920s–1930s centered in Harlem, New York, where Black artists and writers expressed pride and identity.

Installment Buying

Buying goods on credit by paying a small amount down and the rest in monthly installments, fueling consumerism in the 1920s.

Dust Bowl

Severe drought and dust storms in the 1930s that ruined farms on the Great Plains, leading to migration to California.

New Deal and Prohibition

New Deal: FDR’s programs during the Great Depression for relief and recovery; Prohibition: 18th Amendment banning alcohol.

Court Packing

FDR’s 1937 plan to add more justices to the Supreme Court, perceived as an attempt to influence the Court.

Pearl Harbor

Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base on December 7, 1941, leading to U.S. entry into World War II.

Minorities in World War II

African Americans, Mexican Americans, and others served in segregated units and fought abroad while facing discrimination at home.

Manhattan Project

Secret U.S. program during World War II that developed the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Korematsu v. United States

1944 Supreme Court case that upheld Japanese American internment during WWII as a military necessity.

Island hopping

U.S. strategy in WWII of capturing key Japanese islands while skipping heavily defended ones. Douglas macarthyur

Navajo in World War II

Navajo Code Talkers used their language to create an unbreakable code for U.S. Marines.

Nuremberg Laws

Nazi laws that stripped German Jews of rights and laid the legal basis for the Holocaust.

D-Day

June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, marking a turning point in WWII.

Marshall Plan

U.S. economic aid program after WWII to rebuild Western Europe and prevent communism.

Joseph McCarthy

U.S. senator in the early 1950s who made unproven claims of communism in the government.

Nuclear Test Ban

1963 treaty that limited nuclear tests in atmosphere, outer space, and underwater among major powers.

White flight

Movement of white families from cities to suburbs post-civil rights era, changing demographics.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 confrontation over the Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, narrowly avoiding nuclear war.

Medicare

Federal program created in 1965 providing health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older.

Brown v. Board

1954 Supreme Court case ruling segregated public schools unconstitutional, ending 'separate but equal'.

Civil disobedience/non-violence

Peaceful strategy of breaking unjust laws to force change, used during the civil rights movement.

Segregation

Separation of races in public facilities, enforced by Jim Crow laws in the South.

Literacy tests

Tests used to disenfranchise Black voters in the South until banned by federal voting rights laws.

Vietnam

Cold War conflict where the U.S. supported South Vietnam against the North, ending in U.S. withdrawal.

Watergate

1972 scandal leading to investigations, Nixon's resignation, and loss of trust in government.

Camp David Accords

1978 peace agreements between Egypt and Israel, leading to Egypt recognizing Israel.

1980s War on Drugs

Reagan policies increasing penalties for drug crimes, leading to mass incarceration.

AIDS

Disease identified in the early 1980s that focused activism on research and awareness.

Gulf War 1991

U.S.-led coalition war driving Iraq out of Kuwait after its invasion in 1990.

NAFTA

1994 agreement reducing tariffs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to boost trade.

9-11 (September 11, 2001)

Terrorist attacks leading to the War on Terror and new security laws.

Immigration

Ongoing movement into the U.S. for opportunity and safety, with modern debates on control and impact.