APUSH Vocabulary Flashcards: Pre-WWI to WWII (1890-1945)

Flashcards about key vocabulary from APUSH lecture notes focusing on Pre-WWI to WWII (1890-1945).

Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

White Man's Burden

The belief that white Americans had a duty to "civilize" others.

Anglo-Saxonism

The belief in white racial superiority that encouraged expansion.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the U.S. was meant to expand across the continent, which some wanted to extend beyond U.S. borders.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized (exaggerated) newspaper stories that stirred public anger, particularly leading up to the Spanish-American War.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed corruption and social issues during the Progressive Era.

Trust-Busting

Government activities aimed at breaking up monopolies and trusts.

Prohibition

The banning of alcohol, made law by the 18th Amendment.

Laissez-faire

The idea that government should stay out of the economy.

Dust Bowl

Area in the Great Plains devastated by drought and dust storms during the Great Depression, leading to migration to California.

RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corporation)

Hoover's plan to give loans to banks and businesses during the Great Depression, hoping they'd hire workers.

New Deal

A series of programs and reforms enacted by FDR to address the Great Depression, focusing on Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

Fireside Chats

FDR's friendly radio talks to reassure Americans during the Depression and WWII.

Deficit Spending

When the government spends more than it collects to stimulate the economy (Keynesian economics).

Cash and Carry

A policy where Allies could buy weapons from the U.S. if they paid cash and transported them themselves.

Lend-Lease Act

A program where the U.S. sent weapons to Allies during WWII even without immediate payment.

Executive Order 9066

Order that authorized the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Totalitarianism

A system of government with total control (like Nazi Germany).

Rosie the Riveter

Symbol of women working industrial jobs during WWII.

Isolationism

Belief U.S. should stay out of world affairs.

The Great Society

A set of domestic programs launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson aiming to eliminate poverty and racial injustice.

The New Deal

A series of programs and reforms initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression, focusing on economic recovery and relief.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation that prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and aimed to end segregation in public places.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

A comprehensive healthcare reform law enacted in 2010 aimed at increasing access to health insurance, reducing healthcare costs, and improving healthcare quality.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

An importantpiece of federal legislation prohibiting racial discrimination in voting, aiming to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Annexation of Hawaii

The process by which the United States acquired Hawaii in 1898, resulting in Hawaii becoming a U.S. territory and later a state.

Spanish American War

A conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, marked by the U.S. intervention in Cuba’s struggle for independence and resulting in the U.S. gaining territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

Platt Amendment

A provision added to the Cuban Constitution in 1901, allowing the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs and to establish a naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

Open Door Policy

diplomatic policy proposed by the United States in 1899, aimed at ensuring equal trading rights for all nations in China and preventing any single power from monopolizing Chinese trade.

Ida Tarbell

exposed stndard oil in her investigative journalism, revealing unethical practices by the company and contributing to the movement for antitrust legislation.

Upton Sincalair

The Jungle led to meat inspection act and pure food and drug act

Jacob Riis

How the Other Half Lives was a photojournalistic work published in 1890 that exposed the living conditions of the urban poor in New York City, highlighting issues of poverty, crime, and sanitation.

Clayton Antitrust Act

A federal law enacted in 1914 to strengthen antitrust laws by prohibiting anticompetitive practices and protecting the rights of workers.

Federal Reserve Act

A 1913 law that established the Federal Reserve System to regulate the U.S. monetary and financial system, provide economic stability, and control inflation.

Federal Trade Commission

A federal agency established in 1914 to protect consumers and maintain competition by preventing unfair business practices.

16th amendment

Income Tax

17th Amendment

direct election of senators

18th Amendment

prohibition

19th Amendment

Women’s suffrage

Selective Service Act (1917)

A law that established a system for drafting soldiers into the U.S. military during World War I.

War Industries Board

A federal agency created to coordinate the production of war materials and supplies for the United States during World War I.

Food Administration

A U.S. government agency established to manage the production and conservation of food during World War I, promoting increased agricultural output and rationing food consumption.

Committee on Public Information

A U.S. government organization created to influence public opinion and promote support for World War I through propaganda, advertising, and media.

Espionage Act (1917)

A law passed to prohibit interference with military operations or support of U.S. enemies during wartime, allowing for the prosecution of anyone who engaged in espionage or related activities.

Sedition Act (1918)

A law that extended the Espionage Act by prohibiting expressions of disloyalty, criticism, or opposition to the United States government during World War I, leading to the prosecution of individuals for anti-war sentiments.

Wilsons 14 points

A statement of principles for peace proposed by President Woodrow Wilson at the end of World War I to guide negotiations and establish a framework for international relations, emphasizing self-determination, free trade, and the establishment of the League of Nations.

Red Scare

A period of intense fear of communism and radical leftism in the United States during the early 20th century, marked by widespread paranoia, government crackdowns on dissent, and the persecution of suspected subversives.

Roaring 20’s

A decade of significant cultural, social, and economic change in the United States characterized by a booming economy, cultural blossoming in arts and jazz music, the rise of flapper culture, and a general rejection of traditional norms after World War I.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural movement in the 1920s centered in Harlem, New York, where African American writers, artists, and musicians celebrated their heritage and explored social issues. Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington

Flappers

were young women in the 1920s who defied conventional norms of behavior and dress, embracing a lifestyle of independence, jazz music, and modern fashion.

Scopes Trial

legal case in 1925 that debated the teaching of evolution in schools, highlighting the conflict between science and religious beliefs, (modernists v fundamentalists)

Emergency Quota Act

legislation passed in 1921 that set limits on the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States, aiming to reduce immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

Immigration Act of 1924

legislation that further restricted immigration by establishing a quota system based on national origins, significantly limiting the number of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, aswell as excluding asians

Teapot Dome Scandal

a bribery scandal involving the secret leasing of federal oil reserves in the early 1920s, leading to major political corruption charges against Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall.

Great Depression Causes

included stock market crash, bank failures, and high unemployment rates that resulted in widespread economic hardship.

Great Depression

bank failures, overproduction, low wages, high tariffs

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

a government agency created in 1932 to provide financial support to banks, businesses, and state and local governments during the Great Depression.

Bonus Army

a group of World War I veterans who marched to Washington, D.C. in 1932 to demand early payment of a bonus.

FDR’s First New Deal

Relief: immediate aid (jobs, housing), Recovery: economic recovery (banks, industry), Reform: prevent future crisis (regulation

Emergency Bank Relief Act

of 1933 that allowed the government to inspect and close failing banks, ensuring stability in the banking system.

Second New Deal

a series of programs and reforms introduced by FDR in 1935 to promote social welfare, economic security, and help those affected by the Great Depression.

Social Security Act (1936)

a law creating a system of old-age benefits, unemployment insurance, and aid for families with dependents, significantly shaping the American welfare system.

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)

a federal law establishing minimum wage, overtime pay eligibility, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards, 40 hour week

Court Packing Plan

legislative proposal by FDR in 1937 to increase the number of Supreme Court justices in order to secure favorable rulings for New Deal policies, ultimately seen as an overreach of executive power.

WWll

The global conflict from 1939 to 1945 involving most of the world's nations, primarily divided into the Allies and the Axis powers, resulting in significant geopolitical changes.

Neutrality Acts (1935-1937)

laws passed that aimed at preventing American involvement in foreign conflicts by restricting arms sales and financial aid to nations at war.

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

program where the U.S. supplied Allied nations with war material and supplies during World War II, gradual support to allies

Atlantic Charter (1941)

A joint declaration made by FDR and Churchill that outlined the goals of the Allies for the post-war world: self-determination and economic cooperation.

Pearl Harbor (Dec 7. 1941)

A surprise military attack by the Japanese Navy on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii, which led to the United States' entry into World War II.

War Production Board

A U.S. government agency established during World War II to coordinate the production of military supplies and ensure the armed forces received the necessary resources.

Office of Price Administration

A U.S. government agency created during World War II to control prices and rents, prevent inflation, and manage the supply of consumer goods.

WAAC

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, a U.S. military unit created during World War II to allow women to serve in non-combat roles while supporting the war effort.

WAVES

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, a naval reserve organization established during World War II, allowing women to serve in various roles within the Navy.

March on Washington

A large gathering in 1963 where civil rights activists gathered to advocate for jobs and freedom, famously known for Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

Executive Order 9066

1942 that authorized the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, citing national security concerns.

Korematsu v. US

Supreme Court case in 1944 that upheld the government's decision to intern Japanese Americans during World War II, asserting that the need to protect against espionage outweighed individual rights.

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. government research initiative during World War II aimed at developing atomic bombs.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Japanese cities targeted with atomic bombs in 1945, leading to Japan's surrender.

V-E Day (May 8, 1945)

the formal acceptance of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender by the Allies in World War II

V-J Day (Sept. 2, 1945)

the day when Japan formally surrendered, marking the end of World War II.