8th Grade Social Studies: Legislation and People

Flashcards of key terms and definitions from lecture notes.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890

Banned trusts and monopolies; was too weak to be effective

International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU)

Fought for safety laws following the Triangle Fire - led to better working conditions

Chinese Exclusion Act

Stopped Chinese workers from coming to the United States for 10 years

Salvation Army and YMCA

Provided assistance to urban poor

Morrill Act 1862

Gave land to states to sell to make money for colleges

Oregon System

Initiative (allowed citizens to place an issue on the ballot), referendum (gave voters ability to accept or reject laws), Recall (voters could remove incompetent officials from office)

Wisconsin Idea

Developed by Rober LaFollette, began the direct primary where voters could choose candidates from their political party to run for office

16th Amendment

Started the federal income tax; Taft hoped this would make this more fair for the poor because high tariffs would be lowered

Interstate Commerce Act

Required railroads to charge reasonable rates; the ICC oversaw railroads

17th Amendment

Voters could directly elect the senators who would represent them in Congress

Keating Owens Act

Under Wilson banned goods produced by child labor

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

under Wilson investigated businesses for unfair trade practices

18th Amendment

Started prohibition by banning the selling and making of alcohol

19th Amendment

gave women the right to vote

Pure Food and Drug Act

Required food manufacturers to label ingredients

Meat Inspection Act

Required meat factories to allow government inspectors into factory

Pendleton Act

Set up the Civil Service Commission to give tests in order to get federal job

Treaty of Kanagawa

America began trading with Japan after Commodore Matthew Perry helped open trade in 1854

Treaty of Portsmouth

Helped Japan and Russia reach an agreement

Open Door Policy

Secretary of State John Hay suggested this where nations could trade freely in each other’s Spheres of Influence

Platt Amendment

US gains a naval base at Guantanamo Bay

Jones Act

Puerto Rico becomes a territory of the US and gave Puerto Ricans US citizenship

Foraker Act

Gave Puerto Ricans a limited say in their own affairs

Monroe Doctrine

said Europe should not get involved in the affairs of the West Hemisphere and the US would not get involved in the affairs of the Eastern Hemisphere

Big Stick Policy

“Speak softly and carry a big stick”

Sussex Pledge

Germany says they will warn neutral ships before attacking

Selective Service Act

Required men between 21-30 to register for service

Espionage Act

Provided stiff penalties for spying

Sedition Act

Made it a crime to say, print, or write anything negative about the government

Food Administration

Led by Herbert Hoover - encouraged farmers to grow certain crops and families to not waste food

War Industries Board

Supervised industry and the shift to produce war-related goods

War Labor Board

Helped stop work stoppages due to labor disputes

Committee on Public Information

Worked to publish propaganda to influence American opinions to support the war

Fourteen Points

Wilson’s peace plan that called for an end to secret alliances, a League of Nations, countries to have self-determination, free trade, and a limit on armaments

Treaty of Versailles

Officially ended World War I - Germany was punished severely as they lost land and had to pay reparations

Treaty of Brest-Listosk

Russia leaves WWI by signing this treaty

Five Power Treaty 1922

Agreement to limit the size of a nation’s navy - signed by USA, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy

Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928

Signed by USA and 14 other nations- outlawed war and treaty was unenforceable

Emergency Quota System

Limited number of people able to immigrate into the US

21st Amendment

Repealed prohibition 1933

NAACP

WEB Dubois fought for equal rights and integration

Indian Reorganization Act (part of Indian New Deal)

Restored tribal governments and provided money

Emergency Banking Relief Act

Helped banks reorganize

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

Controlled food production and farm prices

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Flood control and electricity to Tennessee Valley

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Hired young men to plant trees and improve parks

Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA)

Money to states for food and assistance to needy

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)

Government was able to regulate wages and prices - declared unconstitutional

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Protected people’s bank deposits if a bank failed

Social Security Act (SSA)

gave pensions for the elderly, unemployment insurance, and dependent children and disability benefits

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Hired artists and musicians as well as people to build airports, public buildings, bridges, and roads

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, later Wagner Act)

Allowed American workers to unionize and participate in collective bargaining

Potsdam Declaration

Warns Japan of “prompt and utter destruction”

Nazi-Soviet Pact

Hitler promises not to invade the Soviet Union if the Soviet Union does not attack Germany. They will split Poland/ Hitler breaks the agreement and invades Russia.

Atlantic Charter

in 1940, FDR and Winston Churchill met. They discuss an Allied victory and set goals for the post-war world

War Production Board

Supervised the shift from peacetime to wartime factory production

Civil Defense Programs

volunteers (east and west coasts) watched the skies for enemy aircrafts trying to hit the USA

Nuremberg Trials

The trials of Nazi leaders for their role in the Holocaust

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Outlawed discrimination in hiring and ended segregation in public facilities

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Forced officials to allow African Americans to register to vote

Fair Housing Act of 1968

made it illegal to discriminate based on race, religion, gender, or national origin for housing

24th Amendment

Ended the practice of poll taxes

Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan

Attempts to contain communism economically

The United Nations 1945

With 51 original member nations

North Atlantic Treaty Organization 1949

US and Western Allies

Warsaw Pact 1955

USSR and Eastern Allies

George Westinghouse

transformers

Henry Ford

Model T aka assembly line

Wright Brothers

airplane

Alexander Bell

telephone

Cyrus Field

transatlantic telegraph cable

Thomas Edison

lightbulb, phonograph, etc.

Lewis Latimer

better wire for lightbulbs

Granville Woods

Better brakes for railroads

Elijah McCroy

Device for oiling machines

Jan Matzeliger

Shoe-making machine

James Hill

gave seeds to farmers and helped them buy equipment in order to get them to use his Great Northern Railway

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Controlled most of the rail and shipping from NYC to Great Lakes - used consolidation and low rates to drive out competition

J.P. Morgan

monopoly in banking industry; bought Carnegie’s Steel Co.

Andrew Carnegie

Owned Carnegie Steel, monopoly in the steel industry based in Pittsburgh - used Vertical Integration

John D. Rockefeller

Monopoly in the oil industry, owned Standard Oil

Mary Harris “Mother Jones”

Fought for workers’ rights, especially children and mine workers

Samuel Gompers

Formed American Federation of Labor (AFL), which accepted only skilled laborers and used strikes

Terrance Powderly

Formed Knights of Labor (KOL), which opened to unskilled laborers and did not use strike

Emma Lazarus

The New Colossus poem engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty

Jane Addams

Created Chicago’s Hull House, which provided help to immigrants like English classes, health classes, and day care

Scott Joplin

popular ragtime performer

James Naismith

Invented basketball

Winslow Homer, Henry Tanner, and Mary Cassat

Artists who used realism

William R. Hearst

The New York Journal

Joseph Pulitzer

The New York World

Horatio Alger

Wrote Rags to Riches stories

Paul Laurence Dunbar

One of the first African American writers to receive wide fame

William “Boss” Tweed

Used bribery, the spoils system, voter frauds, and took kickbacks

Thomas Nast

Exposed Boss Tweed’s corruption with his political cartoons

Reobert LaFollette

Developed Wisconsin Idea

President Garfield

Assassinated in 1881 for not giving someone a government job under the Spoils System

Carrie Chapman Catt

Leader of the women' s suffrage movement

Alice Paul

Leader of the women’s suffrage movement

Cary Nation

Leader in the temperance movement