US History Review: Periods 6-9 (1860s to Contemporary America)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the major historical themes, laws, and movements from US history periods 6 through 9.

Gilded Age

A period from the 1870s to 1900 where industrialization made society appear successful on the surface while masking deep-seated social and economic problems.

New Immigrants

Immigrants arriving in the 1890s primarily from Southern and Eastern European countries such as Italy, Poland, and Russia.

Chinese Exclusion Act

An 1880s law that manifested rising nativism by banning or limiting immigration from China.

Knights of Labor

A national labor union that was welcoming to a variety of different types of workers, including both unskilled and skilled workers.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A labor union headed by Samuel Gompers that focused exclusively on skilled workers and "bread and butter" issues.

Populist Party (People's Party)

An 1890s movement of farmers who wanted a stronger government role in regulating the economic system, including railroad laws and free coinage of silver.

Social Darwinism

The application of Darwin's theories of evolution to the industrial world to justify the concentration of wealth through the concept of "survival of the fittest."

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

A federal law that regulated railroad rates; it was initially weak but marked the beginning of government regulation of industry.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Legislation intended to regulate monopolies and trusts, representing the early stages of federal government regulation of business.

New South

An advocacy for switching the Southern economy to a more industrialized model, though sharecropping and tenant farming remained primary activities.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The Supreme Court decision that reinforced Jim Crow laws by deeming segregation constitutional.

Homestead Act (1862)

A federal policy that encouraged western expansion by providing free or cheap land to settlers.

Dawes Severalty Act (1887)

An act passed by Congress that ended tribal ownership of land and aimed to assimilate Native Americans by moving them onto private property.

Wounded Knee (1890)

The site of the last major Indian War battle on the American continent.

Frederick Jackson Turner

Author who wrote "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" in 1893, declaring the American frontier closed.

Spanish-American War (1898)

A four-month conflict that resulted in the US annexation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

Roosevelt Corollary

An addition to the Monroe Doctrine stating that the United States would act as the "policeman" or regulator of the Western Hemisphere.

Progressive Movement

A domestic movement from the 1890s to 1920 that used government power to regulate industry and improve society, rejecting laissez-faire ideology.

Muckrakers

Journalists and writers who exposed social and industrial problems during the Progressive Era to inspire reform.

17th Amendment

A constitutional amendment providing for the direct election of US Senators by the people.

18th Amendment

A moral reform legislation that instituted Prohibition by banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol.

19th Amendment

The constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote.

League of Nations

An international organization proposed in Wilson's 14 Points to prevent future wars, which the US Congress ultimately rejected.

The Great Migration

The mass movement of African-Americans from the rural South to Northern cities, which was accelerated by World War I.

Schenck v. US

A Supreme Court case that ruled freedom of speech can be restricted if it presents a "clear and present danger" to national security.

Red Scare

A period of intense paranoia following World War I where Americans feared a communist or Bolshevik revolution within the United States.

Quota Act of 1924

Legislation that restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe by allowing only 2% of the population from those groups present in 1890 to enter.

Harlem Renaissance

A 1920s flowering of Black culture and a celebration of Black identity in America through art and literature.

New Deal

Franklin Roosevelt's domestic program consisting of relief, recovery, and reform designed to create a modern welfare state and end the Great Depression.

FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

A New Deal program that insured individual bank deposits to restore faith in the banking system.

Wagner Act (1935)

Legislation that established federal responsibility for society by affirming the right of labor unions to exist and bargain collectively.

Lend-Lease

A policy adopted prior to US entry into World War II to help the Allies by providing weapons and supplies.

Japanese-American Internment

The forced relocation of over 100,000 people of Japanese descent to inland camps during World War II, representing a major violation of civil liberties.

Manhattan Project

The secret collaborative program between England and the US that developed the atomic bomb.

Containment

The US Cold War policy objective formulated by George Kennan to prevent the spread of communism abroad.

Truman Doctrine

A policy of providing financial aid to Greece and Turkey to ensure they did not fall to communist influence.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

The first permanent military alliance for the US, based on the concept of collective security.

McCarthyism

The practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper evidence, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare.

The Feminine Mystique

A 1960 book by Betty Friedan that condemned the expected role of women as happy Suburban housewives and sparked the modern women's movement.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

A Supreme Court ruling that overturned separate educational facilities as inherently unequal, effectively ending legal school segregation.

Great Society

Lyndon Johnson's program that expanded the federal government's role through Medicare, Medicaid, and the War on Poverty.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

A law signed by Lyndon Johnson that made segregation illegal in all public facilities.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation that banned literacy tests and other discriminatory practices used to prevent African-Americans from voting in the South.

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

An act that abolished the 1920s immigration quotas, allowing for a significant increase in immigrants from Latin America and Asia.

Stagflation

An economic period in the 1970s characterized by stagnant economic growth and high inflation.

Reaganomics

A conservative economic policy also known as trickle-down economics focusing on tax cuts for the wealthy and industrial deregulation.

Patriot Act

Legislation passed after the 9/11 attacks that expanded government power to investigate terrorism, sparking debates over civil liberties.