IB History of the Americas - Vocabulary Flashcards

Key vocabulary terms and definitions from the IB History of the Americas lecture notes.

Sectionalism

The North and South had distinct economies, cultures, and political ideologies.

Abolitionist movement

Movement with leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and William Lloyd Garrison.

States’ Rights

The South argued for states' rights, claiming they had the authority to allow or prohibit slavery.

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Maintained balance by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while banning slavery north of the 36°30′ line.

Compromise of 1850

California entered as a free state, but the South received a stronger Fugitive Slave Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Allowed popular sovereignty, leading to violence in Bleeding Kansas.

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

Declared that African Americans were not citizens and Congress could not regulate slavery in the territories.

John Brown’s Raid (1859)

Radical abolitionist attempted to start a slave revolt, increasing Southern fears.

Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. 1, 1863)

Freed slaves only in rebelling states, not in border states and transformed the war into a fight against slavery, making European support for the Confederacy unlikely.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished slavery entirely.

Black Codes

Laws that restricted African American rights.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Granted citizenship to African Americans.

Freedmen’s Bureau

Helped former slaves with education, housing, and jobs.

14th Amendment (1868)

Guaranteed citizenship and equal protection.

15th Amendment (1870)

Granted African American men the right to vote.

Jim Crow Laws

Enforced racial segregation.

Sharecropping System

Kept African Americans economically dependent.

Gilded Age

A period of rapid industrialization, economic expansion, political corruption, and social inequality.

Homestead Act (1862)

Gave 160 acres of free land to settlers who farmed it for five years.

Dawes Act (1887)

Attempted to assimilate Native Americans by breaking up tribal lands and giving individual families plots.

Populist Party

Emerged, calling for railroad regulation and monetary reform (silver vs. gold debate).

Vertical integration

Controlling every stage of production, used by Andrew Carnegie.

Horizontal integration

Buying out competitors to form a monopoly, used by John D. Rockefeller.

Knights of Labor (1869)

A labor union open to all workers that sought broad social reforms.

American Federation of Labor (AFL, 1886)

A labor union led by Samuel Gompers, that focused on wages and hours.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized newspapers that exaggerated Spanish atrocities.

Big Stick Policy

Diplomacy backed by military strength.

Dollar Diplomacy

Encouraged U.S. investment in Latin America and Asia.

Moral Diplomacy

Promoted democracy and human rights abroad.

Progressive Era

A period of widespread social, political, and economic reform in response to the problems created by industrialization, urbanization, and corruption.

Anti-Imperialist League (1898)

Organization formed in response to the U.S. annexation of the Philippines.

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA, 1890)

Organization led by Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt that Focused on a state-by-state campaign for women’s voting rights.

National Woman’s Party (NWP, 1916)

Organization led by Alice Paul that Used radical tactics, such as hunger strikes and picketing the White House, to advocate for women's rights.

19th Amendment (1920)

Gave women the right to vote nationwide.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Also known as the “Wobblies,” this union wanted to unite all workers (including unskilled laborers) into one big union.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

Strengthened antitrust laws and protected unions.

Federal Reserve Act (1913)

Established a national banking system to stabilize the economy.

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Required labeling of ingredients.

Meat Inspection Act (1906)

Regulated food safety.

Espionage and Sedition Acts (1917-1918)

Criminalized anti-war speech and targeted socialists and labor leaders.

League of Nations

An international peace organization.

Red Scare (1919-1920)

Fear of communism after the Russian Revolution led to crackdowns on radicals and immigrants.

Lusitania

A British passenger liner that was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915, killing 128 Americans.

Zimmermann Telegram (1917)

A telegram in which Germany urged Mexico to attack the U.S. in exchange for Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany’s plan designed for a quick victory against France before turning to Russia

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Treaty that forced Germany to accept full blame for the war (War Guilt Clause), pay massive reparations, Lose territories (Alsace-Lorraine to France, Polish Corridor to Poland), and disarm and demilitarize the Rhineland.

Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)

Britain and France secretly divided Ottoman lands.

Balfour Declaration (1917)

Britain supported a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Interwar Period

The years between World War I and World War II (1919-1939) were marked by political upheaval, economic instability, and the rise of totalitarianism.

The Palmer Raids

Targeted suspected communists, socialists, and anarchists.

Warren G. Harding

Won the 1920 election on a platform of isolationism and economic growth.

18th Amendment (1920)

Banned alcohol, leading to illegal speakeasies and bootlegging.

21st Amendment (1933)

Repealed Prohibition due to its failure.

1924 Immigration Act

Limited arrivals from Southern and Eastern Europe.

New Deal

A group of U.S. domestic programs enacted under Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in response to the Great Depression.

Appeasement (1938)

Britain and France allowed Hitler to take Sudetenland (Munich Agreement) in order to avoid another world war.

Blitzkrieg

Germany used fast-moving tanks, aircraft, and infantry.

Nuremberg Trials, 1945-1946

Nazis put on trial for war crimes.

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, 1939

Germany and the Soviet Union secretly agreed to divide Poland.

Iron Curtain Speech (1946)

Churchill’s warning about Soviet expansion

COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance)

USSR’s response to the Marshall Plan.

U.S. refuses to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

Occurred until 1971.

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

Emergence of this concept during the arms race.

Sputnik (1957)

First Soviet satellite, leading to U.S. panic and the creation of NASA.

SALT I (1972)

First strategic arms limitation treaty.

Reagan Doctrine

U.S. supported anti-communist rebels (Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Angola).

Glasnost (Openness) & Perestroika (Restructuring)

Gorbachev’s domestic policy during the end of the Cold war that established greater political transparency and limited free-market reforms.

Truman Doctrine

Committed the U.S. to containing communism (Greece & Turkey).

Harry S. Truman

U.S. president who set the foundation for U.S. Cold War strategy and whose policies influenced all future U.S. presidents’ approach to the Cold War.

Black Codes

Laws that restricted African American rights.

The Brown v. Board of Education

Landmark 1954 Supreme Court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and declared that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Federal legislation that outlawed segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The Civil Rights Movement

Extended struggle for African American rights, spanning from Reconstruction through the late 20th century.

Double V Campaign

A movement to demand victory over fascism aboard and racism at home during WWII.

Jim Crow Laws

A system of state-enforced segregation in after the civil war.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A 381-day boycott that was spurred by the arrest of Rosa Parks, organized by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA).

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Landmark legislation that banned literacy tests, authorized federal oversight of elections, and dramatically increased Black voter registration in the South.

Vietnam War

A Cold War proxy conflict between communist North Vietnam (backed by the Soviet Union and China) and South Vietnam (backed by the U.S.).

Apartheid

A formal system of racial segregation and white minority rule implemented in South Africa from 1948 onward.

African National Congress

A political party and Black Nationalist organization in South Africa; founded in 1912 with the primary goal of ending segregation and discrimination against black Africans.

Nelson Mandela

A South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist who was imprisoned from 1964 to 1990, later becoming the first black president of South Africa serving from 1994 to 1999.

Cold War

Refers to a state of political hostility between countries characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The period brought widespread ideological conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and a host of proxy wars.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The was the most intense stando of the Cold War, bringing the U.S. and the USSR dangerously close to nuclear war and resulted from Cold War tensions, particularly U.S. containment policy, Soviet eorts to expand strategic influence, and Cuban security concerns.

Berlin Blockade

A Soviet attempt to starve out the residents of West Berlin so that they would have to depend on the Soviets for resources.