Modern U.S. History Final Exam Study Guide Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering major units of Modern U.S. History from Reconstruction to the present.

Reconstruction

The period from 1865 to 1877 focused on rebuilding the South and reintegrating former Confederate states into the Union.

13th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people.

15th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that guaranteed voting rights regardless of race.

Black Codes

Laws created in the South to limit the rights of African Americans.

Sharecropping

A system of farming in which farmers rented land and paid with crops.

Ku Klux Klan

The organization known for terrorizing African Americans and suppressing voting rights.

Compromise of 1877

The agreement that ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops from the South.

Freedmen’s Bureau

The organization that helped formerly enslaved people find education and assistance.

Radical Republicans

Members of Congress who pushed for stronger Reconstruction policies.

Industrialization

The rapid growth of factories, railroads, and big business during the late 1800s.

Robber baron

A business leader who used unfair practices to eliminate competition.

Captains of Industry

A term used by supporters to describe business leaders like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.

Andrew Carnegie

Wealthy business leader associated with the steel industry.

John D. Rockefeller

Business leader who controlled the Standard Oil Company.

Telegraph

The invention that transformed communication during the Gilded Age.

Electric light bulb

The invention created by Thomas Edison that transformed cities.

Political machines

Large political organizations that exchanged services for votes.

Tammany Hall

A famous political machine in New York City.

Sherman Antitrust Act

The law designed to limit monopolies.

Labor unions

Organizations of workers who fought for better wages and conditions.

Knights of Labor

Labor organization that accepted both skilled and unskilled workers.

American Federation of Labor

Labor organization that focused mainly on skilled workers.

Ellis Island

The processing center for immigrants arriving on the East Coast.

Angel Island

The processing center for immigrants arriving on the West Coast.

Social Darwinism

The belief that wealthy people should naturally rise to power.

Progressive Era

An era focused on reducing corruption and improving social conditions.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed corruption during the Progressive Era.

The Jungle

A book by Upton Sinclair that exposed unsafe conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Pure Food and Drug Act

Law that increased government regulation of food and medicine.

Trust buster

A nickname given to President Theodore Roosevelt for breaking up monopolies.

16th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that created a federal income tax.

17th Amendment

Constitutional amendment providing for the direct election of senators.

19th Amendment

Constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.

18th Amendment

Constitutional amendment banning alcohol.

21st Amendment

Constitutional amendment repealing Prohibition.

Temperance

The movement to ban alcohol.

Hull House

The settlement house founded by Jane Addams.

Initiative

A process where citizens propose laws directly.

Referendum

A process where citizens vote directly on laws.

Recall

A process where citizens remove elected officials before the end of their term.

American Imperialism

American expansion overseas during the late 1800s.

Spanish-American War

The conflict between the United States and Spain in 1898.

USS Maine

The ship whose explosion helped push the U.S. into war with Spain.

Roosevelt Corollary

The policy stating the United States could intervene in Latin America.

Central Powers

The WWI alliance including Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Allied Powers

The WWI alliance including Britain, France, and Russia.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

The German submarine campaign against ships during WWI.

Zimmermann Telegram

The intercepted message encouraging Mexico to attack the U.S. during WWI.

Treaty of Versailles

The treaty that officially ended World War I.

Fourteen Points

President Woodrow Wilson’s peace plan proposed after World War I.

League of Nations

The international organization formed after World War I.

Open Door Policy

The policy supporting equal trade access in China.

Panama Canal

The waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Roaring Twenties

The decade known for economic growth and cultural change.

Harlem Renaissance

The African American cultural movement centered in New York City during the 1920s.

Jazz Age

An era symbolized by musicians such as Louis Armstrong.

Charles Lindbergh

The famous pilot who completed a solo transatlantic flight.

Great Depression

The economic collapse starting in 1929.

Stock Market Crash

The event often associated with the start of the Great Depression.

Speculation

One of the major causes of the Great Depression, paired with overproduction.

New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's programs focused on Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

Social Security Act

Law that created retirement assistance for elderly Americans.

Dust Bowl

The severe drought that damaged farms during the 1930s.

Scopes Trial

The famous trial involving the teaching of evolution.

Appeasement

The agreement that attempted to avoid war by giving Hitler concessions.

Blitzkrieg

Germany’s rapid military attack strategy.

Pearl Harbor

The attack that caused the United States to enter World War II.

Manhattan Project

The secret project to develop the atomic bomb.

D-Day

The Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944.

Holocaust

The genocide carried out by Nazi Germany against six million Jews.

Internment

The policy of forcing Japanese Americans into relocation camps during WWII.

Rosie the Riveter

The symbol for women working industrial jobs during WWII.

GI Bill

Law that helped returning soldiers pay for education and purchase homes.

Lend-Lease Act

Law allowing the U.S. to provide aid to Allied nations before entering WWII.

Executive Order 9066

The order authorizing Japanese internment camps.

United Nations

The international organization formed after World War II.

Yalta Conference

The conference where Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discussed postwar Europe.

Cold War

The conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Containment

The U.S. policy designed to stop the spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

President Harry Truman’s promise to support nations resisting communism.

Marshall Plan

The plan to rebuild Europe after WWII.

NATO

The military alliance formed against Soviet aggression.

Berlin Airlift

The response to the Soviet blockade of West Berlin.

McCarthyism

Anti-communist investigations associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The event bringing the U.S. and Soviet Union closest to nuclear war.

Sputnik

The Soviet satellite launched in 1957.

Domino Theory

The belief that one communist nation would cause neighboring nations to become communist.

Détente

The period of relaxed Cold War tensions during the 1970s.

Jim Crow laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation in the South.

Brown v. Board of Education

The Supreme Court case overturning school segregation.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The protest against segregation in Alabama sparked by Rosa Parks.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The law banning discrimination in public places.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

The law protecting African American voting rights.

Great Society

President Lyndon Johnson’s reform program.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The resolution increasing presidential war powers in Vietnam.

Watergate

The scandal involving President Richard Nixon that led to his resignation.

Reaganomics

President Ronald Reagan’s policy supporting lower taxes and reduced government spending.

NAFTA

The trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

USA PATRIOT Act

The law expanding government surveillance after 9/11.