11th Grade US History Midterm (Updated)

Monroe Doctrine

A policy of U.S. opposition to any European interference in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere announced by President Monroe in 1823.

Antietam

This was the bloodiest battle in American history. More than 26,000 American soldiers lost their lives near this creek during this Civil War battle.

Confederacy

The Confederate States of America, a confederation formed in 1861 by the Southern states after their secession from the union.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, freeing the slaves in all regions behind Confederate lines

Fifteenth Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1870, that prohibits the denial of voting rights to

people because of their race or color or because they have previously been slaves

Fourteenth Amendment

An amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1868 that makes all persons born or naturalized

in the United States including former slaves, citizens of the country and guarantees equal protection of the laws.

Battle of Gettysburg

A town in southern Pennsylvania where the most decisive battle of the war was fought.

Ulysses S. Grant

A brave and decisive military commander who was in charge of the Union troops. He was also the 18th

president of the United States.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate General-He was modest and determined to save the Confederacy. He was a brilliant military strategist and in charge of the Confederate troops. He had a talent for motivating men despite often bleak circumstances.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the United States. He was born into poverty yet had a hunger for knowledge.

He fought passionately to preserve democracy and the union

Reconstruction

The period of rebuilding that followed the Civil War, during which the defeated confederate states were

readmitted to the Union.

Popular Sovereignty

A system in which residents vote to decide an issue.

Thirteenth Amendment

An amendment of the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1865, that has abolished slavery and involuntary

servitude.

William McKinley

He became the 25th president after being nominated by the Republican Party in 1896, He was a proponent of the gold standard.

Populism

A late19th-century political movement demanding that people have a greater voice in government and seeking to advance the interest of farmers and laborers.

Sherman Antitrust Act

A law enacted in 1890 that was intended to make it illegal to have a monopoly and banning free trade.

Andrew Carnegie

One of the first industrial moguls (robber barons to make his own fortune) he had a passion for supporting charities and was the model of the american success story. He made his money off the railroad and steel production.

John D. Rockefeller

Founder and president of Standard Oil and one of the wealthiest Americans in history. He used a trust to gain control of the entire oil industry.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law, enacted in 1882, that prohibited all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and

government officials from entering the United States.

Ellis Island

Island in New York Harbor that served as an European immigrant checkpoint where European immigrants had to go through inspection before being able to go into the United States. The overwhelming majority of Americans today can trace their ancestry to Ellis Island. Location of the Statue of Liberty.

Melting Pot

metaphor for a society where people of different ethnic backgrounds live in community.

Nativism

Favoring the interests of native-born people over foreign-born people

Patronage

An officeholder's power to appoint people-usually those who have helped him or her get elected-to positions in government.

Pendelton Civil Service Act

A law, enacted in 1883, that established a bipartisan civil service commission to make

appointments to government jobs by means of the merit system.

Tenement

A multifamily urban dwelling, usually overcrowded and unsanitary

Urbanization

The growth of cities. Movement, the movement of people to a rural area to a urban area.

Plessy v. Ferguson

an 1896 case in which the supreme court ruled that separation of the races in public accommodations was legal, thus establishing the "separate but equal" doctrine.

William Randolph Hearst

the owner of several newspapers including the New York morning journal and the San Frans

examiner. much the content of these papers were sensationalized.

Jim Crow Laws

enacted by southern state and local governments to separate black and white people in public and private facilities.

Segregation

The separation of people on the basis of race

Muckracher

One of the magazine journalists who exposed the corrupt side of business and public life in the early 1900s.

Nineteenth Amendment

Gives Women the right to vote. Added to the constitution in 1920.

Progressive Movement

An early-20th-century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people,

to restore economic opportunities, and to correct injustices in American life.

Prohibition

The banning of the manufacture, sale, and possession of alcoholic beverages.

Theodore Roosevelt

26th president; he was a leader of the rough riders, received a nobel peace prize.

Square Deal

President Theodore Roosevelt's program of progressive reforms designed to protect the common people against

big businesses.

Suffrage

Fighting for the right to vote.

Woodrow Wilson

28th President, he endorsed a progressive platform called the "New Freedom" which demanded even stronger antitrust

legislation, banking freedom, and reduced tariffs. -1

Dollar Diplomacy

the US policy of using the nation's economic power to exert influence over other countries.

John Hay

US secretary of state who in 1899 issued a series of political statements called the open door notes.

Imperialism

The policy of extending a nation's authority over other countries by economic, political, or military means.

Panama Canal

An artificial waterway cut through the isthmus of Panama to provide a shortcut between the Atlantic andpacific oceans, opened in 1914.

Platt Amendment

A series of provisions that, in 1901, the United States insisted Cuba add to its new constitution, commanding Cuba to stay out of debt and giving the United States the right to intervene in the country and the right to buy or lease Cuban land for naval and fueling stations.

Protectorate

A country whose affairs are partially controlled by a stronger power.

Queen Liliuokalani

A queen in Hawaii who realized she would have to surrender to the United States.

Rough Riders

A volunteer cavalry regiment, commanded by Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt, that served in the Spanish-American War.

Treaty of Paris 1898

The treaty ending the Spanish-American War, in which Spain freed Cuba, turned over the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and sold the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.

U.S.S. Maine

warship that mysteriously exploded and sank in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on February 15, 1898.

Yellow Journalism

The use of sensationalized and exaggerated reporting by newspapers or magazines to attract readers.

Emiliano Zapata

A rebel leader that believed that the united states had promised independence. He fought for his freedom

Allies

In World War II, the group of nations-including Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States--Allies in Europe during World War I.

Armistice

A truce, or agreement to end an armed conflict.

Central Powers

The group of nations--led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire-- that opposed the Allies in

World War I.

Espionage and Sedition Act

Two laws, enacted in 1917 and 1918, that imposed harsh penalties on anyone interfering with or

speaking against U.S. participation in World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo.

Fourteen Points

The principles making up President Woodrow Wilson's plan for world peace following World War I.

Great Migration

The large-scale movement of African Americans from the South to Northern cities in the early 20th century.

League of Nations

An association of nations established in 1920 to promote international cooperation and peace.

Lusitania

A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915.

Militarism

The policy of building up armed forces in aggressive preparedness for war and their use as a tool of diplomacy

Nationalism

A devotion to the interests and culture of one's nation.

Propaganda

A kind of biased communication designed to influence people's thoughts and actions.

Reparations

The compensation paid to a defeated nation for the damage or injury it inflicted during a war.

Selective Service Act

A law, enacted in 1917, that required men to register for military service.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 peace treaty at the end of World War I which established new nations, borders, and war reparations.

Trench Warfare

Military operations in which the opposing forces attack and counterattack from systems of fortified ditches

rather than on an open battlefield

Zimmerman Note

A message sent in 1917 by the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico, proposing a

German-Mexican alliance and promising to help Mexico regain Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if the United States entered

World War I.

Roaring Twenties

A period in American history characterized by economic prosperity, cultural dynamism, and social change, roughly from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression.

Flappers

Young women in the 1920s who embraced new fashions and attitudes, often characterized by short skirts, bobbed hair, and a disregard for traditional social norms.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. It celebrated Black identity and artistic expression.

Stock Market Crash of 1929

A severe downturn in stock prices that occurred in October 1929, signaling the beginning of the Great Depression.

Great Depression

A severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States.

Dust Bowl

A period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s, largely due to severe drought and poor farming practices.

New Deal

A series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939 in response to the Great Depression.

Fireside Chats

A series of radio addresses given by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944, during which he explained his New Deal policies and reassured the American public during the Great Depression.

Gilded Age

A period of rapid economic growth in the United States during the late 19th century, characterized by industrial expansion, significant wealth accumulation, and social problems like corruption and inequality.

Robber Barons

A term used to describe industrialists or big business owners who gained wealth by exploiting workers and natural resources, often through monopolistic practices.

Monopoly

The exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.

Trusts

A combination of companies formed to reduce competition and control prices, often by placing control of several companies in the hands of a single board of trustees.

World War II (1939-1945)

A global war that involved the vast majority of the world's countries, forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.

Allies (WWII)

The primary Allied powers included the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and France.

Axis Powers (WWII)

The primary Axis powers included Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Pearl Harbor Attack

A surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, leading to the U.S. entry into WWII.