Progressive Era & Imperialism

Theodore Roosevelt

Progressive president who believed in a strong presidency and used the presidency as a "bully pulpit." He was also associated with the Rough Riders and the Spanish-American War.

Great Migration

Large movement of Black Americans from the South to northern cities, especially during and after World War I, where jobs were available.

Great White Fleet

U.S. Navy fleet sent around the world by Theodore Roosevelt to demonstrate American naval power.

Woodrow Wilson

President during World War I who initially wanted the U.S. to remain neutral but eventually led the country into the war.

Ida B. Wells

Journalist and activist who exposed lynching and racial violence against Black Americans.

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law that stopped Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States.

Laissez-faire

Belief that the government should have little interference or regulation in businesses and the economy.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

1911 New York factory fire that killed many workers, especially women, and led to demands for better workplace safety laws.

Roosevelt Corollary

Theodore Roosevelt's addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting that the United States had the right to intervene in Latin American affairs.

Lost Cause

Romanticized view of the Old South and Confederacy that downplayed slavery and portrayed the Confederacy in a favorable way.

Social Gospel

Movement among Protestant reformers that applied Christian principles to social problems, including poverty and problems caused by industrialization.

Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

Organization that fought against alcohol consumption and supported social and political reforms, including women's suffrage.

Welfare State

Government system providing people with income assistance, healthcare, pensions, and other social services.

Grandfather Clause

Southern voting rule that allowed some illiterate white men to vote if their grandfathers had been eligible to vote before the Civil War.

Birth of a Nation

1915 film that portrayed the Ku Klux Klan positively and promoted racist stereotypes of Black Americans.