APUSH Review (APUSH Period 7 American Expansion) (1890 - 1909)

Key vocabulary for Henretta's Chapter 20 review.

American Exceptionalism

The idea that the United States has a unique destiny to foster democracy and civilization on the world stage.

Teller Amendment

And amendment to the 1898 U.S. declaration of war against Spain disclaiming any intention by the United States to occupy Canada.

Insular Cases

A series of Supreme Court cases that addressed the constitutional rights of territories acquired by the United States, determining that full constitutional rights did not automatically extend to all areas under American control.

Platt Amendment

A 1902 amendment to the Cuban constitution that blocked Cuba from making a treaty with any country except the United States and gave the United States the right to intervene in Cuban affairs. The amendment was a condition for U.S. withdrawal from the newly independent island.

“Open Door” Policy

A claim put forth by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay that all nations seeking to do business in China should have equal trade access.

Root-Takahira Agreement

A 1908 agreement between the United States and Japan that affirmed mutual respect for each nation's Pacific possessions and support for China's territorial integrity.

Panama Canal

A canal across the Isthmus of Panama connecting trade between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering and opened in 1914, the canal gave U.S. naval vessels quick access to the Pacific and provided the United States with a commanding position in the Western Hemisphere.

Roosevelt Corollary

A 1904 addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting that the United States could intervene in Latin American nations to maintain stability and prevent European intervention.

Zimmerman Telegram

A 1917 intercepted dispatch in which German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman urged Mexico to join the Central Powers and promised that if the United States were to enter the war, Germany would support Mexico in reclaiming lost territories such as Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

War Industries Board (WIB)

A U.S. government agency established in 1917 during World War I to coordinate the production and allocation of war materials and supplies. It aimed to maximize efficiency and increase the output of war-related goods.

National War Labor Board (NWLB)

A federal agency founded in 1918 that established an eight-hour day for war workers, endorsed equal pay for women, and supported workers’ right to organize.

Sedition Act of 1918

Wartime law that prohibited any words or behavior that might promote resistance to the United States or help in the cause of its enemies.

Great Migration

The migration of over 400,000 African Americans from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North during World War I.

National Woman’s Party (NWP)

A political party founded in 1916 that fought for women’s suffrage, and after helping to achieve that goal in 1920, advocated for Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Fourteen Points

Principals for a new world order proposed in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson as a basis for peace negotiations at Versailles. Amon them were open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, free trade, territorial integrity, arms reduction, national self-determination, and creation of the League of Nations.

League of Nations

An international organization of nations to prevent future hostilities, proposed by President Woodrow Wilson in the aftermath of World War I.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 treaty that ended World War I. The agreement redrew the map of the world, assigned Germany sole responsibility for the war, and saddles it with debt of $33 billion in war damages. Its long-term impact around the globe was catastrophic.