US History Review: 1920s to Modern Era

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical terms, legal cases, and government policies from the 1920s through the Cold War and Civil Rights Eras.

Laissez-faire

A policy during the Harding and Coolidge administrations that limits government regulation of business activities.

Scopes Trial

A 1920s event representing the conflict between science and religion.

Harlem Renaissance

A movement aimed to promote the cultural identity of African Americans through the arts.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

A New Deal program created to restore public confidence in financial institutions.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

An agency designed to protect investors from stock fraud and bank failure.

Social Security

A New Deal program providing financial assistance to individuals after retirement.

Court-packing plan

Roosevelt’s controversial plan intended to increase his influence over the Supreme Court.

Manhattan Project

A secret project authorized by Congress to develop the atomic bomb.

Korematsu v. United States

A Supreme Court case concerning the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Nuremberg Principles

The legal standard established after WWII that individuals who violate human rights can be held responsible.

Truman Doctrine

A policy of sending military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey to contain the spread of communism.

McCarthyism

A period characterized by claims that communists had infiltrated the federal government, often based on fear rather than evidence.

Berlin Airlift

A military operation that involved organizing an airlift of supplies to West Berlin.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one nation fell to communism, neighboring nations would also fall, leading to U.S. military commitment in Vietnam.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

The landmark Supreme Court case that ruled against racial segregation in public schools.

Great Society

A set of domestic programs initiated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to enact social welfare programs and end poverty.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Federal legislation that prohibits discrimination based on race or sex.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation aimed at overcoming legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote.

Bolshevik Revolution

The revolution in Russia that increased American fears of communism in the 1920s.

Palmer Raids

A series of raids ordered by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer to arrest and deport suspected radicals during the First Red Scare.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

A congressional committee that investigated suspected communists within the United States during the Second Red Scare.

Electoral College

The system used in U.S. presidential elections where the popular vote is not the sole deciding factor in winning the presidency.