11th Grade US History Final Exam Study

Manifest Destiny

This expression was popular in the 1840's. Many people believed that the U.S. was destined to secure territory from "sea to sea," from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This rationale drove the acquisition of territory.

Imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically.

Thomas Edison

This scientist received more than 1,300 patents for a range of items including the automatic telegraph machine, the phonograph, improvements to the light bulb, a modernized telephone and motion picture equipment.

Sitting Bull

American Indian medicine man, chief, and political leader of his tribe at the time of the Custer massacre during the Sioux War at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions

Teddy Roosevelt

The 26th President of the United States, famous for his "Big Stick Diplomacy," the construction of the Panama Canal, and several efforts to help the working man through unions and stopping trusts.

Square Deal

Economic policy by Roosevelt that favored fair relationships between companies and workers

Great Society

President Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.

Woodrow Wilson

28th president of the United States, known for World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize

Julius & Ethel Rosenberg

Arrested in the Summer of 1950 and executed in 1953, they were convicted of conspiring to commit espionage by passing plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

FDIC

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A federal guarantee of savings bank deposits initially of up to $2500, raised to $5000 in 1934, and frequently thereafter; continues today with a limit of $100,000.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy.

Adolph Hitler

german leader of Nazi Party. 1933-1945. rose to power by promoting racist and national views

rationing

a limited portion or allowance of food or goods; limitation of use

Normandy

Beach in France Allies Invaded. It was code named Operation Overlord. It was the long awaited Allied invasion of France and the opening of the Second Front during World War II. The initial invasion began on June 6, 1944.

Marshall Plan

A plan that the US came up with to revive war-torn economies of Europe. This plan offered $13 billion in aid to western and Southern Europe.

Taft-Hartley Act

a 1947 law giving the president power to halt major strikes by seeking a court injunction and permitting states to forbid requirements in labor contracts that force workers to join a union.

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1964 Congressional resolution that authorized President Johnson to commit US troops to south vietnam and fight a war against north Vietnam

Medicare/Medicaid

Great Society programs to have the government provide medical aid to the elderly (Medicare) and the poor (Medicaid).

Roe v Wade

The 1973 Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. The decision forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother's health in the second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third trimester.

Middle East Peace Talks

After the first Gulf War, in 1991, a new peace process was begun, with Israel and the Palestinians discussing a five-year period of interim self-rule leading to a final settlement

Jimmy Carter

President who stressed human rights. Because of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he enacted an embargo on grain shipments to USSR and boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow

Progressivism

The movement in the late 1800's to increase democracy in America by curbing the power of the corporation. It fought to end corruption in government and business, and worked to bring equal rights of women and other groups that had been left behind during the industrial revolution.

FDR

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States during the Depression and WWII. He instituted the New Deal. Served from 1933 to 1945, he was the only president in U.S. history to be elected to four terms

JFK

John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1961-1963, Democrat, both parties had the platform of civil rights planks and a national health program, used president to be elected and first Roman Catholic

partnership

a business organization owned by two or more persons who agree on a specific division of responsibilities and profits

Glastnost

the Soviet Union's plan to allow more political freedom in the 1980's--Gorbechev was the leader "Openness"

Gerald Ford

president 1974-77, Nixon's Vice president, only person not voted into the White House, appointed vice president by Nixon: became president after Nixon resigned

Miranda v Arizona

Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police.

Domino Theory

the political theory that if one nation comes under Communist control then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control

Tet Offensive

1968, during Tet, the Vietnam lunar new year - Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army raiding forces attacked provincial capitals throughout Vietnam, even seizing the U.S. embassy for a time. U.S. opinion began turning against the war.

Bay of Pigs

In April 1961, a group of Cuban exiles organized and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency landed on the southern coast of Cuba in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure.

Cuban Missle Crisis

The Soviet Union was secretly building nuclear missile launch sites in Cuba, which could have been used for a sneak-attack on the U.S. The U.S. blockaded Cuba until the U.S.S.R. agreed to dismantle the missile silos.

containment

a policy of creating strategic alliances in order to check the expansion of a hostile power or ideology or to force it to negotiate pecefully

Nagasaki

Japanese city in which the second atomic bomb was dropped (August 9, 1945).

genocide

systematic killing of a racial or cultural group

propaganda

information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

Francisco Franco

Spanish general whose armies took control of Spain in 1939 and who ruled as a dictator until his death (1892-1975)

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

Herbert Hoover

Republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929 promising the American people prosperity and attempted to first deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community.

Prohibition

a law forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages

Red Scare

Intense fear of communism and other politically radical ideas

New Deal

The name of President Roosevelt's program for getting the United States out of the depression

Roosevelt Corrolary

was developed in 1904 to the Monroe Doctrine, in which the U.S. declared it had the power to supervise the internal affairs of Latin American countries to ensure U.S. national security. Designed to justify activities and interventions in the region like the Monroe Doctrine.

AFL

American Federation of Labor. A union of skilled workers from one or more trades which focused on collective bargaining (negotiation between labor and management) to reach written agreements on wages hours and working conditions. The AFL used strikes as a major tactic to win higher wages and shorter work weeks.

Geronimo

Apache leader who fought U.S. soldiers to keep his land. He led a revolt of 4,000 of his people after they were forced to move to a reservation in Arizona.

John D. Rockefeller

Established the Standard Oil Company, the greatest, wisest, and meanest monopoly known in history

Andrew Carnigie

He controlled the steel industry in the late 1800s by purchasing mines, ships, railroads, and mills-the means of steel production

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.

laissez-fair capitalism

an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned and operated for profit with minimal or no government interference

monopolies

Corporations that gain complete control of the production of a single good or service.

Crazy Horse

A chief of the Sioux who resisted the invasion of the Black Hills and joined Sitting Bull in the defeat of General Custer at Little Bighorn

assimilation

the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture

Spanish American War

War fought between the US and Spain in Cuba and the Philippines. It lasted less than 3 months and resulted in Cuba's independence as well as the US annexing Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

Fair Deal

Truman's extension of the New Deal that increased min wage, expanded Social Security, and constructed low-income housing

New Frontier

The campaign program advocated by JFK in the 1960 election. He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.

Great Depression

the economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock-market crash in October, 1929, and continuing through most of the 1930's.

Sacco & Vanzetti

were two italian born american laborers and anarchists who were tired convicted and executed via electrocution on Aug 3 1927 in May for the 1920 armed robbery. it is believed they had nothing to do with the crime

18th amendment

Ban on sale, manufacture, and transport of alcoholic beverages. Repealed by 21st amendment

19th amendment

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920) extended the right to vote to women in federal or state elections.

20th amendment

Changed date president takes office from March 4th to January 20th. Changed start of Congress to January3rd. End of Lame Duck Congress

21st amendment

Amendment which ended the Prohibition of alcohol in the US, repealing the 18th amendment

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination, to oppose racism and to gain civil rights for African Americans, got Supreme Court to declare grandfather clause unconstitutional

Joseph Stalin

Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition (1879-1953)

appeasement

Satisfying the demands of dissatisfied powers in an effort to maintain peace and stability.

Pearl Harbor

United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.

Hiroshima

City in Japan, the first to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, on August 6, 1945. The bombing hastened the end of World War II. (p. 797)

Truman Doctrine

President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology

Iron Curtain

term coined by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe an imaginary line dividing Communist countries in the Soviet bloc from countries in Western Europe during the Cold War

March on Washington

held in 1963 to show support for the Civil Rights Bill in Congress. Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a dream..." speech. 250,000 people attended the rally

Social Security Act

guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health

Gloria Steinem

She and several other women founded Ms. magazine in 1972. She decided to start the feminist magazine after her previous editors continually rejected her stories about the women's movement

Watergate Affair

The break-in of the Watergate hotel, in the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington DC where 5 men were caught bugging and stealing political documents in 1972. President Richard Nixon was accused of ordering his men to do it.

Ronald Reagan

first elected president in 1980 and elected again in 1984. He ran on a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. He served as governor of California from 1966-1974, and he participated in the McCarthy Communist scare. Iran released hostages on his Inauguration Day in 1980. While president, he developed Reaganomics, the trickle down effect of government incentives. He cut out many welfare and public works programs. He used the Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid conflict. His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War. He was also responsible for the Iran-Contra Affair which bought hostages with guns.

Bill Clinton

This Democrat served as president from 1993 to 2001, during a period of intense partisanship in the US government. His plan to provide universal health care to all Americans was defeated by Republican Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" movement and a well-organized opposition from the doctors' lobbying organization (the American Medical Association). His few domestic and international successes were overshadowed by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal that led to his impeachment and eventual acquittal.

corporations

groups of indviduals authorized by law to act as a single entity; a business owned by many investors

Panama Canal

Ship canal cut across the isthmus of Panama by United States Army engineers; it opened in 1915. It greatly shortened the sea voyage between the east and west coasts of North America. The United States turned the canal over to Panama on Jan 1, 2000 (746)

M.A.I.N

Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism. The main causes of World War I

Jazz Age

Name for the 1920s, because of the popularity of jazz-a new type of American music that combined African rhythms, blues, and ragtime

Manhattan Project

Code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II

Korean War

The conflict between Communist North Korea and Non-Communist South Korea. The United Nations (led by the United States) helped South Korea.

Iran Hostage Crisis

In November 1979, revolutionaries stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage. The Carter administration tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the hostages release. On January 20, 1981, the day Carter left office, Iran released the Americans, ending their 444 days in captivity.

Okalahoma City Bombing

The bombing of Oklahoma City in the United States on 19 April 1995. The bomber Timothy McVeigh, was a former American soldier, a decorated Gulf War (1991) veteran.

Woolworth

United States businessman who opened a shop in 1879 selling low-priced goods and built it into a national chain of stores (1852-1919)

Lusitania

A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.

Blitzkreig

"Lighting Wars" type of fast-moving warfare used by German forces against Poland in 1939

United Nations

An organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security; it replaced the League of Nations.

Lee Harvey Oswald

On November 22, 1963, he assassinated President Kennedy who was riding downtown Dallas, Texas. Oswald was later shot in front of television cameras by Jack Ruby.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.

Assembly Line

In a factory, an arrangement where a product is moved from worker to worker, with each person performing a single task in the making of the product.

Macy's

Department stores that attracted urban middle class shoppers and provided urban working class jobs, many of them for women; Macy's in New york, Marshall fields in Chicago; Macy's showed consumerism and class divisions.

Calvin Coolidge

became president when Harding died of pneumonia. He was known for practicing a rigid economy in money and words, and acquired the name "Silent Cal" for being so soft-spoken. He was a true republican and industrialist. Believed in the government supporting big business.

internment

the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. We did it to Japanese-Americans in WWII because we thought they might be spies or something.

McCarthyism

The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950's through his leadership in the House unAmerican Activities Committee.

Richard M. Nixon

37th President of the United States (1969-1974) and the only president to resign the office. He initially escalated the Vietnam War, overseeing secret bombing campaigns, but soon withdrew American troops and successfully negotiated a ceasefire with North Vietnam, effectively ending American involvement in the war. Watergate Scandal.

Gulf War

A War (1990-1991) that took place between Iraq and the U.S./Kuwait started by Iraq invading Kuwait; First non-containment based war since WWII; Often referred to as Operation Desert Storm; Primarily an aerial war (huge amounts of missiles and bombs) in the first stages, followed by an infantry march that pushed Iraqi forces back into Iraq

Treaty of Versailles

the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans