us regents 1

Imperialism

A policy by which a strong nation extends power over weaker nations through military, economic, or political control.

Spanish-American War (1898)

US defeated Spain, gaining control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines; marked America's emergence as a world power.

Monroe Doctrine

1823 US policy warning European nations not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere; extended by the Roosevelt Corollary.

Roosevelt Corollary (1904)

Addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting the US right to intervene in Latin American countries to stabilize their economic affairs.

Panama Canal (1914)

Waterway built by the US connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; cut shipping time dramatically.

World War I (1914–1918)

Global conflict triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; US entered in 1917 after German submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram.

Zimmermann Telegram (1917)

Secret message from Germany proposing an alliance with Mexico against the US; its interception pushed the US toward entering WWI.

Fourteen Points

President Wilson's plan for post-WWI peace, including freedom of the seas, self-determination for nations, and creation of a League of Nations.

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Ended WWI; blamed Germany for the war (War Guilt Clause), required massive reparations, and stripped Germany of territory.

League of Nations

International peacekeeping organization proposed by Wilson; the US Senate refused to ratify it; the US never joined.

Isolationism

Foreign policy of avoiding alliances and involvement in foreign conflicts; dominated US policy in the 1920s–30s.Reconstruction

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished slavery throughout the United States.

14th Amendment (1868)

Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US; guaranteed equal protection under the law.

15th Amendment (1870)

Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Freedmen's Bureau

Federal agency created to help formerly enslaved people with food, housing, education, and employment during Reconstruction.

Black Codes

Laws passed by Southern states to restrict the rights and freedoms of Black Americans after the Civil War; designed to maintain white supremacy.

Sharecropping

A labor system where freed Black farmers worked white-owned land in exchange for a share of the crop; kept many in a cycle of poverty and debt.

Radical Republicans

Congressional leaders who supported strong Reconstruction measures and full civil rights for Black Americans.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South from the 1870s through the 1960s.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court ruling that upheld racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine.Civil Rights Movement

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56)

Black residents boycotted Montgomery, AL buses for over a year after Rosa Parks's arrest; led to desegregation of buses; launched MLK Jr. to national prominence.

Sit-ins

Nonviolent protest tactic where Black students sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave; Greensboro sit-ins (1960) spread nationwide.

Freedom Riders

Interracial groups who rode buses into the Deep South in 1961 to challenge segregation in interstate travel; faced violent attacks.

March on Washington (1963)

250,000-person demonstration in DC where MLK Jr. delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech; helped push Congress toward civil rights legislation.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment and public accommodations.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Banned discriminatory voting practices (literacy tests, poll taxes); allowed federal oversight of elections in areas with histories of discrimination.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Leader of the Civil Rights Movement; advocated nonviolent civil disobedience inspired by Gandhi; assassinated in 1968.

Malcolm X

Black nationalist leader who initially advocated Black self-defense and separatism; later embraced broader human rights framework; assassinated in 1965.

Black Power movement

1960s–70s movement emphasizing Black pride, self-determination, and community control; associated with the Black Panther Party.

De facto vs. de jure segregation

De jure = segregation by law (South); de facto = segregation by practice/custom (North); civil rights laws ended de jure but not de facto segregation.