Chinese Exclusion Act
1882 law that barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States. First legal restriction immigration law in US history.
Compromise of 1877
Ended Reconstruction in exchange for Rutherford Hayes to take office. He agreed to remove military from South. This returned it back to a democratic dominated electoral politics.
Credit Mobiler Scandal
1872 - Union Pacific Insiders Created Credit Mobiler construction; hired themselves and inflated the prices to build it, and they had to bribe people, all the way up to the VP
Homestead strike
1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company. Ten workers were killed in a riot when enforcement was brought in to force an end to the strike.
Panic of 1873
Four year economic depression caused by over speculation on railroads and western lands and when one of largest banks shut down
Tweed Ring
A symbol of Gilded Age corruption, "Boss" Tweed and his deputies ran the NYC Democratic party in the 1860s and swindled $200 million from the city through bribery, graft, and vote-buying. Boss Tweed was eventually jailed for his crimes and died behind bars.
American Federation of Labor
a labor unions founded by Samuel Gompers they wanted to organize all protesters into one single entity to help with protest. They wanted to reform capitalism not remove it completely
Haymarket Riot
Worker riot in Chicago. After the police fired into the crowd, the workers met and rallied in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality. A bomb exploded, killing or injuring many of the police.
Horizontal Integration
Type of monopoly where a company buys out all of its competition to create a monopoly. Ex. Rockefeller who bought out all competing oil refineries
Knights of Labor
labor union by Terence Powderly that sought to organize all workers (regardless of gender or race)
Sherman Antitrust Act
First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for monopolies with too much control
Social Darwinists
Theorists who applied Darwin's theory of natural selection to human society, arguing that poorer and weaker segments of society deserved it due to naturalization selection in society.
Vertical Integration
Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution
National Women Suffrage Association (NWSA)
Group founded in 1890 by Susan B. Anthony to promote the idea of women's suffrage (right to vote) During WWI, they supported and lauded the women's role in the allied victory. Helped to achieve the 19th amendment
New immigrants (1880s-1924)
Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe that congregated in ethnic urban neighborhoods, that worried many native-born Americans, some of whom responded with nativist anti-immigrant campaigns and others of whom introduced urban reforms to help the immigrants assimilate
Tuskegee Institute
Black educational institution founded by Booker T. Washington to provide training in agriculture and trades. He believed segregated vocational was the first step to racial equality
Yellow Journalism
Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers
Jacob Riis
A Danish immigrant, he became a reporter who pointed out the terrible conditions of the houses immigrants lived, and the education of poverty of them too
Dawes Severalty Act
1887, dismantled American Indian lands, to set up individual households. Sold the leftover land to civilize/assimilate them
Homestead Act
1862 law that gave 160 acres of land to citizens willing to live on and cultivate it for five years
George Custer
United States general in the civil war and American Indian wars. Him and his men were killed at the battle of Little Bighorn while fighting a coalition of tribes (1839-1876)
Battle of Wounded Knee
Massacred of 200 Native Americans and 29 US soldiers in 1890. This ended the Indian Wars.
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
an agreement (1901) between the US and Britain giving the United States the sole right to build a canal across Central America connecting the Atlantic and pacific oceans. But it violated the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, but when Britain revised the terms it showed the closer ties between the US and Britain
USS Maine
American ship that exploded while watching over Cuba in Havana harbor. With a loss of 260 soldiers. Many believed it was from a Spanish mine/attack. Led to Spanish-American war
McKinley Tariff
Shepherded through Congress by President William McKinley, this tariff raised duties on Hawaiian sugar and set off renewed efforts to secure the annexation of Hawaii to the United States.
Open Door Notes
message send by secretary of state John Hay in 1899 to Germany, Russia, Great Britain, France, Italy & Japan asking the countries not to interfere with US trading rights in China.
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force,
Theodore Roosevelt
26th president, known for: expanding the powers of presidency, the federal government, moderate reform, and had an active role in world politics (Asia, Europe)
Rough Riders
volunteer soldiers led by Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish American War
Initiative
A procedure by which voters can propose a law or a constitutional amendment.
Meat Inspection Act
1906 - Laid down binding rules for sanitary meat packing and government inspection of meat products crossing state lines. Which also applies to imported goods too.
William Randolph Hearst
A leading newspaperman who built the largest newspaper chain (The New York Journal) and helped create and propagate yellow journalism
Allies (WWI)
Great Britain, France, and Russia, later joined by the US during WWI
Central Powers
In World War I the alliance of Germany, Ottoman, Bulgaria Austria-Hungary and other nations allied with them in opposing the Allies.
Lusitania
American boat that was sunk by the German U-boats; made America consider entering WWI
U-boats
German submarines used in World War I; they sank many Allied ships around the British Isles.
League of Nations
an international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations after WWI
Nineteenth Amendment
granted women the right to vote in 1920
Lost Generation
Either a generation that came of age during/just after World War I. Or a group of artists of writers that left the US and ejected America's post war ideals
Henry Ford
American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the developer of the assembly line technique of mass production.
Langston Hughes
African American poet who was a leading poet of the Harlem Renaissance.
Immigration act of 1924
Also known as the Johnson-Reed Act. Federal law limiting the number of immigrants (Specifically Eastern Europe and Asia)
Ku Klux Klan (1920)
1920 was the rebirth of the KKK. They expanded their targets to immigrants, Catholics, and Urban Women. They weren't confined to the South, but was country wide. With more violent acts like cross burnings, rallies, and parades and marches denouncing those groups.
Palmer Raids
Attempts by US department of Justice to raid, arrest, and deport anarchists, communists, and radicals believed to have connections to communism
Marcus Garvey
African American leader during the 1920s who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and advocated mass migration of African Americans back to Africa.
Volstead Act
Bill passed by Congress to enforce the 18th Amendment. This bill made the manufacture and distribution of alcohol illegal within the borders of the United States.
Kellogg-Briand Pact
a multinational pact that outlawed war as instrument of national policy. As well as tie the US into many protective alliances directed against a possible resurgence of German aggression
Teapot Dome Scandal
A government scandal involving the Secretary of Interior. Albert Fall leasing a former United States Navy oil reserve to a private oil company. He was convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies
Black Tuesday
October 29, 1929; date of the worst stock-market crash in American history and beginning of the Great Depression.
Bonus Army
Group of WWI vets. that marched to D.C. in 1932 to demand immediate bonus payment to alleviate economic hardships from the Great Depression
Atlantic Charter
British and American statement of their vision and goals for the world after WWII
Lend-Lease Bill
Provided U.S. military aid to foreign allies during World War II.
Quarantine Speech
Roosevelt's 1937 speech that proposed for international quarantine of aggressor nations as alternative to neutrality and nonintervention
ABC-1 Agreement
An agreement between Britain and the United States for World War II, the two nations and their allies would coordinate their military planning and protect the British Commonwealth.
Bracero Program
Wartime agreement between the United States and Mexico to import farm workers to meet a perceived manpower shortage in agriculture and railroads (Texas)
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
an interracial group founded in 1942 by James Farmer to work against segregation in Northern cities, end discriminatory policies, and endorse nonviolent direct action
Executive Order 9066
the order given by President Roosevelt to relocate and detain any area of group of people. Though used against those of Japanese ancestry, to internment camps
Manhattan Project
A secret U.S. project for the construction of the atomic bomb during WWII
Potsdam Conference
The final meeting of the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union to discuss terms and peace settlements at the end of WWII
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act
Allowed the federal government to seize and operate plants threatened by labor disputes. It also criminalized strike action against government-run companies.
Women Army Corps (WAC)
Allowed women to volunteer in noncombat positions in the army
War Production Board (WPB)
a government agency set up to oversee production of war materials during WWII by Franklin Roosevelt
Berlin Airlift
Joint effort by the US and Britian to fly food and supplies into Berlin after the Soviet blocked off all ground routes into the city because they wanted the allied forces to leave the city
Bretton Woods Conference
Meeting of Western allies to establish a postwar international economic orders. Led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank
Containment Doctrine
President Harry Truman’s foreign policy for the U.S. to isolate the Soviet Union to contain its advances by peaceful or coercive means. By creating alliances and helping weak countries against Soviet advances
Employment Act of 1946
law signed by President Truman that assigned to the federal government the responsibility for promoting full employment, control inflation, and stabilize pricing
Gl Bill
This law helped returning WWII soldiers reintegrate into civilian life by securing loans, grants, and job training to help them buy homes and farms and set up small businesses.
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Investigatory body established to expose communist influence in American government and society
Truman Doctrine
1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey (open declaration for the Cold War)
Yalta Conference
strategy meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to plan the final defeat of nazi Germany
Beat Generation
generation of artists and writers who rejected traditional and social norms and we're influenced by psychedelic drugs, zen Buddhism, and free sexuality
Checkers Speech
Speech by Nixon that defended himself about accepting illegal donations
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
A battle of Indochina War between French Vietnamese Viet Minh communist forces. victory of Vietnamese forces over the French, causing French to leave Vietnam and all Indochina (ended the war)
Operation Wetback
U.S. immigration law enforcement campaign that resulted in the mass deportation of illegal Mexican workers
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Multinational organization between Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Venezuela to coordinate petroleum policies and provide aid to each other
Sputnik
The world's first space satellite that was from the Soviet Union and began the race for space between the Russians and Americans
Suez Crisis
Nasser (leader of Egypt) nationalized the Suez Canal. And British, French and Israeli forces attacked Egypt. Marked rising importance of oil
Feminine mystique
popular feminist book byBetty Friedan that discussed the frustration of many women who felt they were restricted to their roles of mother and homemaker.
Black Panther Party
A group formed by Huey Newton and Bobby Scale. They provided aid to black neighborhoods from police brutality; often thought of as radical or violent.
Freedom Summer
A effort to register more African American voters and to fight voter intimidation and discrimination at the pools
Great Society
Political slogan by president Lyndon Johnson to name his legislative program of national reform
Six Day War
Short conflict between Egypt and their allies against Israel won by Israel; Israel won and gaining 4x the territory
Detente (Cold War)
French word for the release of tension. It was a period of lowering of tensions between the Soviet Union and the US with increased trades, improved relations, and dishing of nuclear arms treaties
My Lai Massacre
a massacre of unarmed women and children in by American troops in a Vietnamese village this deepened American people's anti-war sentiment
Pentagon Papers
Government documents that had been showed to the public by The NY Times about how they have been lied to about the status of the war in Vietnam
Vietnamization
President Richard Nixons strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces
"smoking gun" tape
Recordings of Nixon's acknowledgment of the Watergate break-in and endeavored to cover it up. Led to a complete breakdown in congressional support for Nixon after the Supreme Court ordered he hand the tape to the House Judiciary Committee
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
A proposed Amendment, calling for equal rights for both sexes. But despite public supported was defeated in the House
SALT II
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty agreement between Soviet leader and President Jimmy Carter to curtail the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons
Iranian Hostage Crisis
1979 kidnapping of American Embassy hostages by Muslim militants. Poisoned US and Iranian relations
Black Monday
largest single-day drop in stock market history, occurred
Iran-Contra Affair
secret U.S. arms deal of selling arms to Iran to gain release of U.S. hostages. The money was then sent to the Contras, who were fighting communism, in Nicaragua. Reagan denied involvement but threatened his presidency
Glasnost and Perestroika
Two reform movements in Russia. Glasnost was meant to provide opportunities to share new ideas. Perestroika was intended to give businesses more freedom for innovation and competition. The sudden change to the stagnant economy led to collapse of the USSR
Reganomics
the economic policies of Ronald Regan; also called supply-side economics. Regan hoped to promote growth and investment by deregulating business, reducing corporate tax rates, and lowering federal tax rates for upper and middle income Americans
SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative)
Reagan's proposed missile-defense system; deploying lasers in space that would destroy enemy missiles before they could reach their targets (Soviet Union). It was funded but roused up debate over implications
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
Allows open trade between the US, Mexico, and Canada. Eliminated traded barriers and tariffs between them
Whitewater
Series of controversies of dealings with Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, that launched a campaign that arrested their partners but no evidence incriminating them was found
Al Qaeda
Islamist terrorist organization. Eventually disbanding but continuing to oppose foreign presences in Islamic lands
Guantanamo Detention Camp
Controversial prison facility that held suspected terrorists but allegedly violated legal rights under Geneva convention, along with torture and abuse allegations
WMD
weapons of mass destruction. Mostly used to refer to nuclear weapons during the Cold War.