U.S. History Lectures 8-18 Review

A comprehensive set of question-and-answer flashcards covering major concepts from U.S. history lectures on the 1920s through the early 21st century.

What economic and cultural phenomenon did Sinclair Lewis critique in his novel “Babbitt”?

The middle-class materialism and mass consumer culture of the 1920s.

Who were the flappers and what did they symbolize in the 1920s?

Young women who challenged gender norms, symbolizing the era’s cultural shift toward modernity and freedom.

The Harlem Renaissance was also called the __ movement and represented what?

The New Negro Movement; an African American cultural and political rebirth.

What characterized the writers known as the “Lost Generation”?

Post-WWI disillusionment expressed by authors such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

Which 1925 trial embodied the modernism-fundamentalism controversy over teaching evolution?

The Scopes Trial.

Who were the primary targets of the revived Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s?

Immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and African Americans.

What nickname is given to the severe 1920-21 economic downturn?

The Forgotten Recession.

How were American farmers affected during the 1920s?

They faced agricultural overproduction and mounting debt.

What did the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill attempt to accomplish?

Make lynching a federal crime; the effort ultimately failed.

In the 1920s, what did “scientific taxation” advocate?

Cutting taxes on the wealthy to stimulate economic growth.

What was the purpose of the congressional “Farm Bloc”?

A political alliance that pushed for federal aid to farmers.

What factor helped Herbert Hoover defeat Al Smith in 1928?

Widespread anti-Catholic bias against Smith.

What is the nickname for the stock-market crash of October 29, 1929?

Black Friday (often called Black Tuesday).

What economic philosophy did President Hoover promote during the early Depression?

Associationalism—voluntary cooperation among businesses.

Who made up the Bonus Army and what did they demand?

WWI veterans seeking early payment of promised bonuses.

What phrase describes FDR’s legislative burst at the start of his presidency?

The First Hundred Days.

In economic theory, what did John Maynard Keynes advocate versus Irving Fisher?

Keynes supported demand-side deficit spending; Fisher emphasized monetary stability.

What did the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 do?

Took the U.S. off the gold standard and devalued the dollar.

What are the WPA Slave Narratives?

1930s interviews capturing oral histories of formerly enslaved people.

What was FDR’s 1937 “court-packing” plan?

An unsuccessful attempt to add Supreme Court justices to protect New Deal laws.

Define fascism as it emerged in Italy and Germany.

An authoritarian, nationalist, militaristic ideology that suppresses dissent.

What did the Nazi concept of “Lebensraum” refer to?

The need for territorial expansion for the German people.

What was the purpose of the U.S. Lend-Lease program?

Provide military aid and supplies to Allied nations during WWII.

Who did “Rosie the Riveter” represent during World War II?

Women working in U.S. defense industries on the home front.

What wartime policy led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans?

Japanese Internment under Executive Order 9066.

What commitment did the Employment Act of 1946 establish?

Federal responsibility for achieving full employment and economic stability.

Why is Levittown historically significant?

It was a mass-produced suburban housing development that epitomized postwar suburbia.

What U.S. region is nicknamed the Sunbelt and what trend occurred there after 1945?

The South and West; rapid population and economic growth.

What did the term “Liberal Consensus” describe in 1950s politics?

Broad bipartisan support for a strong federal government, Keynesian economics, and anti-communism.

Which major infrastructure law did President Eisenhower sign in 1956?

The Federal Highway Act, creating the interstate highway system.

What argument did Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” make?

It criticized the restrictive domestic roles imposed on middle-class women.

Why are magazines such as “Seventeen” historically important?

They helped create and market the 1950s teenage consumer culture.

What principle guided the Truman Doctrine?

Providing aid to nations resisting communist expansion.

How did NATO differ from the Warsaw Pact?

NATO was the Western military alliance; the Warsaw Pact was its Soviet-led Eastern counterpart.

What is McCarthyism best known for?

Anti-communist investigations and accusations lacking proper evidence.

What was debated during the 1959 Kitchen Debate?

The merits of American capitalism versus Soviet communism.

Which U.S. agency became synonymous with Cold War covert operations?

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

What competition for technological supremacy followed Sputnik?

The Space Race between the United States and the USSR.

What was LBJ’s Great Society?

A sweeping domestic program aimed at eliminating poverty and advancing civil rights.

Define “managerial liberalism.”

The belief that expert-led government planning can solve social problems.

Who were the Yellow Dog Democrats?

Southern voters who reliably supported Democratic candidates regardless of issues.

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 accomplish?

It outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Name two programs created under the War on Poverty.

Examples include Medicare, Job Corps, and Head Start.

Why was the 1954 battle of Dien Bien Phu significant for the United States?

France’s defeat spurred increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

What authority did the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution give President Johnson?

Broad power to use military force in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.

What did the Tet Offensive reveal to the American public?

That the war was far from won and eroded U.S. support for Vietnam.

Who was Senator J. William Fulbright in relation to the Vietnam War?

He shifted from initial support to becoming a leading congressional critic of the war.

What strategy of protest did the SCLC promote?

Nonviolent civil disobedience under Martin Luther King Jr.

How did SNCC’s approach differ from that of the SCLC?

It was student-led, grassroots, and increasingly militant over time.

What key point did “The Strange Career of Jim Crow” make?

Segregation was not inevitable but a relatively recent political creation.

What was the main goal of the Selma marches?

Securing Black voting rights, which led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Why did the Albany and Birmingham campaigns yield different results?

Albany lacked confrontations that drew attention; Birmingham’s violent backlash generated national sympathy.

What was the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)?

A 1960s activist organization advocating participatory democracy.

Who were the Weathermen?

A radical, violent splinter group that emerged from SDS.

Before 1964, what did Malcolm X primarily advocate?

Black nationalism and armed self-defense through the Nation of Islam.

What was the purpose of the Black Panther Party?

Militant self-defense and community programs for African Americans.

What happened at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago?

Violent clashes erupted between protesters and police/guards.

Define the 1970s economic condition of stagflation.

Simultaneous high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant growth.

What were the Pentagon Papers?

Leaked documents revealing U.S. government deception about Vietnam policy.

What did Reaganomics emphasize?

Supply-side tax cuts, deregulation, and increased defense spending.

Who founded the Moral Majority and for what purpose?

Jerry Falwell; to mobilize religious conservatives in politics.

What were the “twin deficits” during the Reagan era?

Large federal budget deficits and trade deficits.

Who was Mikhail Gorbachev and why is he important to U.S. history?

The Soviet leader whose reforms and diplomacy helped end the Cold War.

What does the term “Neoliberal synthesis” describe?

The post-Cold War blend of free-market policies with certain social liberal aims.

What is intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw?

A framework examining overlapping systems of oppression based on race, gender, class, etc.

What major U.S. response followed the 9/11 attacks?

The War on Terror, including wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What triggered the Great Recession of 2007-09?

The collapse of the housing bubble and subsequent financial crisis.

What was the primary goal of the Affordable Care Act?

To expand health-insurance coverage and reform the U.S. health-care system.

What policy trend in the Carter-Reagan era reduced government rules on industries?

Deregulation.

In the Vietnam context, what did Nixon’s phrase “Peace with Honor” mean?

Withdrawing U.S. forces while preserving American credibility.

What diplomatic philosophy is associated with Henry Kissinger in the Nixon years?

Realism—pragmatic, power-based foreign policy.

Which 1964 presidential candidate’s campaign signaled the rise of modern conservatism?

Barry Goldwater.