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Robber Barons

Wealthy business owners who were criticized for using unethical methods to get rich, like exploiting workers and destroying competition.

Captains of Industry

Same people as Robber Barons, but seen positively because they built industries, created jobs, and donated money to public causes like libraries and schools.

Gilded Age

A period in the late 1800s characterized by a massive gap between the rich and the poor, where rich industrialists lived in luxury while factory workers lived in crowded, unsafe conditions.

Social Darwinism

An idea based on Charles Darwin's 'survival of the fittest,' applied to society, where rich people believed they were wealthy because they were smarter or worked harder.

Labor Movement

A movement where workers began forming unions to demand better pay, hours, and working conditions.

Haymarket Square Riot

A workers' protest in Chicago in 1886 that turned violent when a bomb exploded, killing police and protesters.

Knights of Labor

An early union that allowed all types of workers (skilled and unskilled) but lost popularity after the Haymarket Riot.

Eugene Debs

A union leader and socialist who wanted fair treatment for workers and led strikes, including the Pullman Strike.

Plight of Native Americans

The forced removal of Native Americans, like the Sioux and Nez Perce, from their land as settlers moved west.

Sioux

A Native American tribe that faced conflicts like the Battle of Wounded Knee, where hundreds were killed.

Nez Perce

A Native American tribe led by Chief Joseph, who tried to escape to Canada but were captured by U.S. forces.

The Grange

An organization started by farmers to fight unfair treatment from railroads and middlemen who charged high prices.

Populist Party

A political party created by farmers to fight for their rights, advocating for railroad regulation and the use of silver money.

William Jennings Bryan

A politician who supported farmers and the Populist Party, famous for his 'Cross of Gold' speech advocating for silver.

William McKinley

A politician who supported big businesses and the gold standard, winning the election of 1896 due to support from wealthy industrialists.

Square Deal

President Theodore Roosevelt's policy aimed at fairness for everyone, focusing on controlling big companies and protecting consumers.

Pure Food and Drug Act

A 1906 law that required food and medicine to be safe and labeled correctly, preventing the sale of spoiled food or fake medicines.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed problems in society, like corruption, unsafe workplaces, and poor living conditions.

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Exposed the filthy conditions in meatpacking plants.

Ida Tarbell

Wrote about unfair business practices by Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

Temperance Movement

A movement to ban alcohol because people believed it caused crime, poverty, and family problems.

18th Amendment (Prohibition)

Banned alcohol in 1920.

19th Amendment

Passed in 1920, it gave women the right to vote after years of activism by suffragists.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 by activists including W.E.B. Du Bois.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court case that ruled segregation was legal as long as facilities were 'separate but equal.'

Booker T. Washington

Believed African Americans should focus on learning skills and getting jobs to improve their situation gradually.

W.E.B. Du Bois

Wanted African Americans to fight for full equality immediately.

Spanish-American War (1898)

War between the U.S. and Spain after the sinking of the USS Maine in Cuba.

Boxer Rebellion

Chinese group (Boxers) tried to kick out foreigners and stop their influence in China.

Open Door Policy

U.S. policy to keep China open for trade with all nations, instead of letting one country take control.

Anti-Imperialists

People who opposed the U.S. taking over other countries, believing imperialism violated American ideals of freedom and democracy.

Philippine Insurrection

After the U.S. took the Philippines from Spain, Filipinos fought for their independence.

Panama Canal

A canal built by the U.S. to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, making trade and military movement faster.

New Weapons of War

WWI introduced advanced weapons that made the war deadlier.

Machine Guns

Fired bullets rapidly, making open attacks very dangerous.

Tanks

Armored vehicles that could cross trenches and rough terrain.

Poison Gas

Caused blindness, burns, or death; first used in trench warfare.

Submarines (U-boats)

Used by Germany to attack ships secretly underwater.

Airplanes

Used for scouting and eventually bombing.

Lusitania

A British passenger ship sunk by a German submarine in 1915, increasing anti-German feelings in the U.S.

Zimmerman Telegram

A secret message from Germany to Mexico, asking Mexico to join the war against the U.S. in exchange for getting back land lost in the Mexican-American War (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico).

Restriction of Civil Liberties

During WWI, the U.S. government passed laws limiting freedom of speech: Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1918): Made it illegal to criticize the government, the military, or the war effort.

The Great Migration

During and after WWI, African Americans moved from the South to northern cities to work in factories, leading to better job opportunities but also racial tensions in northern cities.

Wilson's 14-Point Plan

President Woodrow Wilson's plan for peace after WWI, which included no secret treaties between nations, freedom of the seas for trade, self-determination, and creating a League of Nations.

League of Nations

An international organization formed after WWI to prevent future wars; the U.S. didn't join because Congress worried it would drag the country into other conflicts.

Red Scare

Fear of communism and anarchism spreading in the U.S. after the Russian Revolution.

Palmer Raids

Government raids led by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer to arrest suspected communists and anarchists, many of whom were arrested without evidence.

Laissez-Faire Presidents of the 1920s

Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover followed laissez-faire policies, meaning the government avoided regulating businesses.

Teapot Dome Scandal

A major political scandal during Harding's presidency where government officials secretly leased federal oil reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming, to private companies in exchange for bribes.

Scopes Trial (1925)

A famous court case in Tennessee about teaching evolution in schools, where John Scopes was put on trial for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A racist group that grew during the 1920s, targeting African Americans, immigrants, Catholics, and Jews, claiming to protect 'American values' while promoting hatred and violence.

Nativism

The belief that people born in the U.S. (native-born Americans) were better than immigrants, leading to laws restricting immigration.

Immigration Act of 1924

A law that limited immigration from southern and eastern Europe and almost completely banned Asians.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural movement during the 1920s where African American art, music, and literature thrived, centered in Harlem, New York.

Louis Armstrong

Trumpet player who helped make jazz famous.

Duke Ellington

Pianist and composer known for sophisticated jazz music.

Bessie Smith

A famous blues singer.

Langston Hughes

Poet who wrote about the struggles and pride of being African American.

Zora Neale Hurston

Author of Their Eyes Were Watching God.

The Harlem Renaissance

Celebrated Black culture and brought attention to racism and inequality in America.

Henry Ford

An industrialist who revolutionized car production.

Model T

The first affordable car for average Americans.

Assembly line

A production method that sped up production and lowered costs.

Higher wages

Paid workers $5 a day so they could afford to buy the products they made.

Prohibition

The 18th Amendment (1920) banned the production, sale, and transport of alcohol in the U.S.

Temperance Movement

Believed alcohol caused social problems like crime and poverty.

Organized Crime

Prohibition created a black market for alcohol, leading to the rise of gangsters and illegal businesses.

Al Capone

A famous mob boss in Chicago, making millions through bootlegging (illegal alcohol trade).

21st Amendment

Repealed Prohibition in 1933.

Black Tuesday

The stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, marking the start of the Great Depression.

Bank Run

People rushed to withdraw their money from banks after the crash, leading to many banks closing.

Bonus Army

A group of World War I veterans who marched to Washington, D.C., to demand early payment of a bonus.

Herbert Hoover

Believed in rugged individualism: people should solve their problems without government help.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)

Believed the government should take an active role in helping people.

New Deal

A series of programs launched by FDR to create jobs, provide relief, and reform the economy.

Court Packing Plan

FDR's controversial proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court.

WPA (Works Progress Administration)

Provided millions of jobs building roads, schools, and other public projects.

CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps)

Gave young men jobs planting trees, fighting forest fires, and improving parks.

TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

Built dams to provide electricity and prevent floods in the Tennessee Valley, creating jobs and improving the region.

Social Security Act (1935)

Created a system to provide financial support for the elderly (pensions), the unemployed, and disabled people, funded by taxes on workers and employers.

Labor Rights and the Wagner Act

Protected workers' rights to form unions and bargain collectively; created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to oversee fair treatment of workers.

Criticism from the Left

Some people thought the New Deal didn't do enough to help the poor or reduce inequality; examples include Huey Long's proposed 'Share Our Wealth' program to heavily tax the rich.

Criticism from the Right

Business leaders and conservatives thought the New Deal gave the government too much power and interfered with free markets, worrying it was leading the U.S. toward socialism.

Failure of the League of Nations

The League of Nations was created after WWI to keep peace, but it was weak; it had no military to enforce its decisions and major countries like the U.S. didn't join.

Totalitarians

Refers to leaders like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hideki Tojo, and Benito Mussolini who sought to expand their nations' territories and control their populations.

Adolf Hitler

Leader of the Nazi Party, blamed Jews and other groups for Germany's problems, and wanted to expand German territory.

Joseph Stalin

Communist dictator of the Soviet Union, known for purges (killing his own people) and controlling all aspects of life.

Hideki Tojo

Military leader of Japan who pushed for Japanese expansion in Asia, leading to conflicts like the invasion of China and Pearl Harbor.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist leader of Italy who wanted to restore Italy's glory through military conquest.

Appeasement

A policy where Britain and France let Hitler take small territories (like Austria and the Sudetenland) to avoid war, which only encouraged him to demand more.

Causes of WWII

Included the Treaty of Versailles, economic problems from the Great Depression, expansionism by Germany, Japan, and Italy, and the failure of the League of Nations to stop aggression.

Battle of Stalingrad

A key battle from 1942-43 where the Soviet victory against Germany marked a turning point on the Eastern Front.

D-Day

In 1944, Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, to begin liberating Europe from Nazi control.

Battle of Midway

In 1942, the U.S. defeated Japan in a major naval battle, turning the tide in the Pacific.

African Americans during WWII

Many served in the military (e.g., the Tuskegee Airmen) and worked in war industries; the war sparked demands for civil rights (Double V Campaign: victory abroad and at home).

Japanese Americans during WWII

Faced discrimination and were forced into internment camps by Executive Order 9066, even though most were loyal citizens.

Women during WWII

Took on jobs in factories, symbolized by Rosie the Riveter, as men went to fight in the war.

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. project to develop the atomic bomb, leading to the creation of nuclear weapons used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, ending WWII in the Pacific.

The Holocaust

The Nazi-led genocide of 6 million Jews and millions of others (e.g., Romani people, disabled individuals, political prisoners), where Jews were sent to concentration camps like Auschwitz.