Unit 4 Key Terms

Isolationism

Popular post-World War I idea that the United States would be safest and prosperous by staying out of world affairs.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Idealist agreement in which the United States and other countries agreed to "outlaw" war.

Dawes Plan

Economic agreement after World War I in which American banks sent loans into Europe to help the Allied Powers repay debts, recover economically, and increase trade with the United States.

Consumerism

A culture that promotes spending money and buying products; this culture was popular in the 1920s.

Henry Ford

His creation of the moving assembly line made mass production of affordable cars possible.

Mass media

Widespread use of newspapers, radio, magazines, etc. that promoted consumerism and popular national culture during the 1920s.

The "Flapper"

The popular image of a "new" woman who smoked, drank, and wore makeup and revealing clothing.

Harlem Renaissance

The surge of black culture centered around literature, music, art, and racial pride that occurred in the 1920s.

Marcus Garvey

He promoted black nationalism, racial separation and independence, and the idea that blacks should go "back to Africa".

Sacco-Vanzetti Trial

Event in which Italian immigrants were convicted and executed for robbery and murder, though many people felt the verdict was a result of nativism.

Ku Klux Klan

Organization that was "refounded" to oppose groups it felt were threats to traditional American values, including blacks, immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and communists.

National Origins Act

Nativist law passed to restrict the immigration of "undesirable" groups into the United States.

The Lost Generation

Group of authors were critical of society, the events of World War I, and materialism in the 1920s.

Fundamentalism

Ideology that opposed modernism; promoted traditional views on gender roles, morality, science, and religion.

Scopes Trial

Event in which a teacher was convicted for teaching about evolution; represented the clash of modernist and fundamentalist values.

18th Amendment

This law started Prohibition, was largely unenforceable, and was repealed by the 21st Amendment.

Bootlegging

The illegal manufacturing and transportation of alcohol that led to the rise of organized crime during the Prohibition Era.

Rugged Individualism

This idea, promoted by Herbert Hoover, said that Americans could take care of themselves without government help.

Black Tuesday

Event in which the stock market "crashed" as investors panicked and stock values fell, helping cause the Great Depression.

Hoovervilles

Shantytowns (communities of shacks) that homeless Americans built during the Great Depression.

Dust Bowl

Area of the Great Plains that experienced erosion, drought, and dust storms that ruined agriculture during the Great Depression.

Bonus Army

Veterans who gathered in Washington, D.C. during the Great Depression; were violently removed.

New Deal

Term for the wide-ranging laws and programs created under President Franklin Roosevelt's leadership to fight the Great Depression.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

New Deal federal agency that insured Americans' bank accounts, preventing future bank runs.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

New Deal federal agency that regulated the stock market to prevent overspeculation and fraud.

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

New Deal federal agency that regulated businesses to create jobs and awarded participating businesses with a "blue eagle" label; later ruled unconstitutional.

Public Works Administration (PWA)

New Deal federal agency that paid Americans to work in urban public works projects, including building roads, bridges, and schools.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

New Deal federal agency that paid Americans to do rural environmental work such as planting trees and building parks.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

New Deal federal agency that paid Americans to build dams that produced electricity in the Southern Appalachian area.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

The largest New Deal federal agency; it paid millions of Americans for public works projects including public buildings, infrastructure, and controversial art and history projects.

Social Security Act

This law created financial benefits for people who were retired, unemployed, disabled, or widowed.

National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act

This law empowered unions by guaranteeing the right to organize unions and collectively bargain.

Fair Labor Standards Act

Law that established a minimum wage, maximum work hours, and abolished child labor.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Famous First Lady who worked actively to report on the New Deal and promoted the rights and equality of underprivileged Americans.

Huey Long

Critic of President Roosevelt who boldly promised guaranteed incomes for Americans but was assassinated before he could challenge Roosevelt for the presidency.

Court-Packing Plan

President Roosevelt's controversial plan to replace conservative Supreme Court justices; was negatively seen by many as an attempted abuse of power.