History 17C IDs Midterm

potential IDs on the Midterm

Alice Paul and the National Women’s Party

Founded by Alice Paul in 1916, the National Women’s Party (NWP) advocated for women's suffrage and equal rights through protests and hunger strikes. It primarily focused on white women's rights, often sidelining Black women's issues, and stressed the need for an Equal Rights Amendment to ensure gender equality beyond voting.

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) (1933)

A core New Deal program meant to fix the economy through industrial cooperation and public spending. pulling the United States out after the Great Depression

National Recovery Administration (NRA): "codes of fair competition" (price/wage controls) symbolized by the Blue Eagle.

Guaranteed workers the right to unionize.

The PWA (Public Works Administration) funded $3.3 billion in massive public works (infrastructure).

Significance: Struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (Schechter case) for overstepping federal power but paved the way for modern labor laws.

Immigration Act of 1924 (creating a 'national' identity)

Also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, this federal law aimed to establish a racial hierarchy in immigration policy by instituting strict quotas based on nationality.

It restricted immigration from non-European countries significantly, setting a quota of 2% of the number of people from each nationality residing in the U.S. as of the 1890 census.

This system effectively favored northern and western European immigrants while severely limiting those from southern and eastern Europe and virtually excluding South and East Asian immigrants.

Overall, the act capped total immigration at 155,000 people per year, marking a significant shift towards a more exclusionary immigration policy and reinforcing nativist sentiments within American society.

1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

Not just excluded from citizenship, but excluded from entering the U.S.

The first significant federal law to restrict immigration into the U.S. based on a specific nationality or race.

Suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years and declared Chinese immigrants already in the U.S. ineligible for naturalized citizenship.

To appease concerns on the West Coast about "declining wages" and racial purity (scapegoating Chinese workers for economic distress).

It set the legal precedent for later restrictive acts (like the 1924 Act) and remained in effect (with extensions) until the Magnuson Act of 1943 during WWII.

Post-WW1 immigration policies

Context: Post-war isolationism, the First Red Scare (fear of communism), and a rise in nativism fueled a desire to "close the gates."

Immigration Act of 1917: Made literacy tests a requirement

Emergency Immingration Act of 1921: The first "quota" law limited arrivals to 3% of a group's population in the 1910 Census.
Immigration Act of 1924: Perfected the quota system by dropping it to 2% and using the 1890 Census to specifically target "New Immigrants."

These policies ended the era of mass European immigration and cemented the U.S. identity as a "closed" nation for the next 40 years.

Versailles treaty 1919

The formal peace agreement that ended World War I between the Allies and Germany. (Allies winning)

BRAT: Article 231 forced Germany to accept total responsibility for the war. Reparations: Germany was ordered to pay $33 billion in damages (crushing their economy). Army: Germany’s military was severely limited (no tanks, no air force, 100k men). Territory: Germany lost 13% of its land and all overseas colonies.

The League of Nations was attempted but failed in Congress and was criticized for undermining U.S. sovereignty. The League of Nations attempted

led to the deep German resentment and economic instability, often cited as a direct cause for the rise of Adolf Hitler and WWII

Naturalization Act of 1790

xcludes Black people and Asian people from becoming naturalized citizens

 (Removed in for Black people in 1870, in the wake of the Civil War)

Page Act of 1875

Prohibits immigration for:

sx workers

Those perceived to have intellectual disabilities

People with contagious diseases.

People who had been convicted of crimes

Selective Service Act

A law passed shortly after the U.S. entered World War I that authorized the federal government to raise a national army through the draft.

Required men aged 21 to 35 to register for one year of military training.

Significance: It signaled a major shift from isolationism to preparedness. It allowed the U.S. to begin mobilizing its military before the attack on Pearl Harbor, ensuring a trained reserve was ready when the country officially entered the war.

Espionage Act (1917)

Prohibits making “false statements” that might impede military

success

Sedition Act (1918)

Prohibits making spoken or printed statement that cast scorn on

the the government

Committee on Public Information

An independent government agency created by President Woodrow Wilson to influence public opinion regarding U.S. participation in World War I.

It contributed to an atmosphere of intolerance and anti-German sentiment (e.g., renaming sauerkraut "liberty cabbage").

Set the stage for the legal crackdown on dissent via the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

uncle sam

Emergency Banking Act

The very first piece of New Deal legislation, passed by FDR just eight hours after Congress convened during the "First Hundred Days."

Goal: To restore public confidence in the nation’s banking system and prevent a total collapse of the economy

Significance: it worked; when banks reopened, more money was deposited than withdrawn.

Red scare

widespread fear of communism, socialism, and anarchism

sparked by the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and a surge in U.S labor strikes, socialism,

Significance: Led to increased nativism, the rise of the KKK, and the passage of restrictive immigration laws like the 1924 Act

Joseph McCarthy: Senator who led "witch hunts," making mostly false accusations of communist infiltration in the government and military (McCarthyism).

Communist Party

A far-left political party founded in 1919, inspired by the Russian Revolution, that reached its peak influence during the Great Depression.

Labor: played a major role in organizing industrial unions (CIO)

Civil rights: Championed racial equality and defended the Scottsboro Boys

Decline: Targeted during the Red Scares; Smith Act made it illegal to advocate for the violent overthrow of the government, leading to the imprisonment of party leaders.

Significance: It pushed the U.S toward more radical social and labor reforms, but also served as the primary target for McCarthyism and Cold War paranoia

“War” as a Metaphor for Survival

Workers described their struggle as “war””

not against another country, but against poverty, unemployment, and racism

Grassroots Activism

Political or social change driven by ordinary citizens at the local level rather than by government elites or established institutions

people risked violence, arrest, and retaliation

shifted public opinion on labor rights, social safety nets, and racial equality, laying the groundwork for the modern civil rights movement

Bonus March/Bonus Army (1932)

An assemblage of roughly 17,000-43,000 marchers—mostly World War I veterans and their families during the Great Depression

The goal was to demand immediate cash payment of “service certificates” bonuses promised in 1924, which weren’t scheduled to be paid until 1945.

The conflict: They set up a massive “Hooverville”; the Senate rejected their bill, and President Herbert Hoover ordered the military to clear the camp on July 28, 1932; General Douglas MacArthur used tanks, bayonets, and tear gas to forcibly evict the veterans and burn their shelters.

significance: The sight of the governement attacking its own veterans was a public relations disaster that essentially “sealed the fate” of Hoover’s presidency, leading to FDR’s landslide victory in 1932

and laid the ground work for G.I Bill of Rights 1944

The New Deal

A massive series of domestic programs and reforms launched by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) to lift the U.S out of the Great Depression (focused on the banking crises and emergency relief during the “First Hundred Days").

It was about economic relief: immediate aid for the unemployed and poor.

federal programs to get the economy and agriculture moving again

Significance: Expanded federal power and transformed the government’s role in the lives of the citizens; they have important responsibilities.

Created the “New Deal coalition” of labor unions, minorities, and working-class voters that dominated the Democratic Party for decades

question about its effectiveness; its biggest success was saving American democracy from the threat of extremism during a global crisis. democracy

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

One of the most popular and successful New Deal relief programs, active from 1933 to 1942

Employed unmarried, unemployed young men (ages 18-25) and some WWI Veterans

Sent men to rural areas to work on environmental conservation projects (build infrastructure in state and national parks) (reason we have the Santa Barbara Bowl, built by the CCC)

Significance: Dual relief (provided immediate financial aid to families while improving the nation’s natural resources) Social Impact (boosted the morale and physical health of a “lost generation” of young men)

Social Security Aid, 1935

Part of the legislation of the Second New Deal created a permanent federal responsibility for social welfare.

How: Old-Age Pensions—monthly payments for retired workers over 65, funded by a payroll tax on both employers and employees

Unemployment insurance: A federal-state system to provide temporary income for workers who lost their jobs

Categorical Aid: Direct financial assistance for those unable to work, including the disabled and “dependent children” (single mothers/families without a breadwinner)

The goal: To provide a “safety net” for the most vulnerable Americans and prevent the elderly from falling into poverty during future economic downturns. a fundamental shift toward a “welfare state.”

The Second New Deal 1935-1938

A more radical and aggressive phase of FDR’s New Deal was shifted by pressure from the "left." Moved from emergency “recovery” to long-term “reform” and social justice. All about security after the economic relief. public investment

Included the Social Security Act, the Wagner Act, and the WPA (Works Progress Administration)

Significance: created the modern “welfare state” and cemented the new deal coalition (unions, black voters, and the working class).

Strike Wave of 1933-1934

A massive eruption of labor unrest followed the passage of the NIRA (which had promised workers the right to unionize).

City-wide general strikes in 1934, such as the Minneapolis Teamsters strike and the San Francisco Longshoremen’s strike

The cause: workers felt betrayed by employers who refused to follow NIRA “codes” and recognize unions.

Significance: The chaos of these strikes forced FDR and Congress to realize that the NIRA was failing and that stronger, permanent labor laws (like the Wagner Act) were needed. Significance: The

National Labor Relations Act/”Wagner Act”

replaced the labor provisions of the unconstitutional NIRA

legally protected the right of workers to unionize and engage in collective bargaining

Created the national labor relations board (NLRB) to enforce the law and punish “unfair labor practices.”

Significance: led to a massive explosion in union membership (especially the rise of the CIO) and established the federal government as the ultimate arbiter in labor-management disputes.

6 features of the Wagner Act: 1. Industrial peace, collective bargaining, bargaining power, free choice of representation, underconsumption and purchasing power, and industrial democracy

The Four Freedoms 1941

Four fundamental human rights outlined by FDR in his state of the union address as the world approached WWII

1. the freedom of speech

2. freedom of worship

3. freedom from want (economic security) (FDR was arguing that the economic security he fought for at home should be a right for everyone in the world)

4. freedom from fear (reduction of global armaments)

Significance: FDR used these to move the U.S. away from isolationism by framing the fight against Fascism as a moral crusade for universal human rights. They served as the foundation for the United States Declaration of Human Rights.

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

A federation of unions that broke away from the American Federation of Labor in 1935 to organize workers by industry rather than by craft

organized all workers within mass-production industries—including unskilled, black, and female workers

famously used the sit-down strikes to paralyze production and force recognition from giants like General Motors and U.S. Steel.

Japanese Interment (Executive Order 9066)

The forced relocation and incarceration of ~ 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry (2/3 were U.S citizens) into inland camps during WWII

This was triggered by Pearl Harbor. for hysteria ; FDR signed EO 9066 citing “military necessity,” through no evidence of subversion was ever found.

Double V Campaign

A slogan and drive promoted by Black Americans during WWII

The goal: Stood for “Victory over fascism aborad” AND “Victory over racism at home.”

The significance was it highlighted the hypocrisy of fighting for “freedom” while Jim Crow was in the U.S.; it laid the organizational and ideological groundwork for the modern Civil Rights Movement.

G.I Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944)

A massive social welfare program for returning WWII veterans

Provided low-interest mortgages, business laons, and paid college tuition/vocational training

prevented a post-war depression and built the American middle class. However, it was often denied to Black Veterans through local discriminatory practices, widening the racial wealth gap

Containment

George Kennan first proposed the core of the U.S. foreign policy strategy during the Cold War

To prevent the further spread of Communism beyond its existing borders (the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe), rather than trying to destroy it where it already existed

led to the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and the U.S military involvement in Korea and Vietnam

Economic Bill of Rights 1944

Proposed by FDR in his 1944 State of the Union, arguing that the “old” bill of rights was no longer enough to ensure pursuit of happiness

included the right to a useful job, a living wage, adequate medical care, and a good education

it represented the ultimate goal of the New Deal—thecitizen. idea that the government is responsible for the economic security of every citizen

Full Employment Bill (1945/46)

An ambitous piece of legislation intended to make the econimic bill of rights a reality after the war

to require the federal government to spend enough money to ensure a job for everyone willing and able to work.

• Conservative opposition stripped the "guaranteed job" language, turning it into the Employment Act of 1946, which only tasked the government with "promoting" employment. It marked the limit of how far the New Deal could expand post-war.