Unit 7 Vocab: Imperialism, WWI, The 20s, The Great Depression, and WWII

Imperialism

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

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History

Written by Alfred T. Mahan, it emphasized that control of the sea was the key to world dominance and that countries should build up their navy.

Hawaiian Islands

Independent island nation in Pacific Ocean annexed by U.S. in 1898.

Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst

Two newspaper publishers who achieved mass circulation through sensational news coverage.

Yellow Journalism

Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers.

USS Maine

Ship that explodes off the coast of Cuba in Havana harbor and helps contribute to the start of the Spanish-American War.

Spanish-American War (1898)

Conflict between the U.S. and Spain that began the rise of the U.S. as a world power. The U.S. gained possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines as a result.

Theodore Roosevelt

26th president, known for: conservationism, trust-busting, Hepburn Act, safe food regulations, "Square Deal," Panama Canal, Great White Fleet, Nobel Peace Prize for negotiation of peace in Russo-Japanese War

Rough Riders

Volunteer regiment of US Cavalry led by Teddy Roosevelt during the Spanish American War.

William McKinley

25th President during the Age of Imperialism. Responsible for Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and the Annexation of Hawaii. Was assassinated by an anarchist.

Treaty of Paris 1898

The treaty that ended the Spanish American War. From the treaty America got Guam, Puerto Rico and they paid 20 million dollars for the Philippines. Cuba was freed from Spain.

Platt Amendment (1901)

Following its military occupation, the US successfully pressure the Cuban government to write this amendment into its constitution. It limited Cuba's treaty-making abilities, controlled its debt, and stipulated that the US could intervene militarily to restore order when it saw fit.

Emilio Aguinaldo

Leader of the Filipino independence movement against Spain (1895-1898). He proclaimed the independence of the Philippines in 1899, but his movement was crushed and he was captured by the United States Army in 1901.

Philippine Insurrection

Guerrilla war fought by Filipino rebels against American colonial rule in the Philippines (1899-1903).

Open Door Policy

A policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China.

Progressives/Progressives

A group of reformers who worked to solve problems caused by the rapid industrial urban growth of the late 1800s.

Muckrakers

Journalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public.

Social Gospel

A movement in the late 1800s / early 1900s which emphasized charity and social responsibility as a means of salvation.

Settlement House Movement/Hull House

Social movement designed to get the rich and poor in society to live more closely together. Settlement houses were located in poorer neighborhoods and staffed by middle class workers who hoped to share their knowledge and alleviate poverty.

Jane Addams and Hull House

Social reformer who worked to improve the lives of the working class. In 1889 she founded Hull House in Chicago, the first private social welfare agency in the U.S., to assist the poor, combat juvenile delinquency and help immigrants learn to speak English.

NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association)

The major organization for suffrage for women, it was founded in 1890 by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Supported the Wilson administration during World War I and split with the more radical National Woman's Party, who in 1917 began to picket the White House because Wilson had not forcefully stated that women should get the vote.

National Women's Party

A militant feminist group led by Alice Paul that argued the Nineteenth Amendment was not adequate enough to protect women's rights. They believed they needed a more constitutional amendment that would clearly provide legal protection of their rights and prohibit sex-based discrimination.

19th Amendment (1920)

Ratified on August 18, 1920 (drafted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton), prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. The Constitution allows the states to determine the qualifications for voting, and until the 1910's most states disenfranchised women. The amendment was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement in the U.S.

Initiative, Referendum, Recall

Three powers reserved to enable the voters, by petition, to propose or repeal legislation or to remove an elected official from office.

Triangular Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Fire broke out in a New York garment factory. 146 women were trapped and died because there were not adequate fire escapes and the doors were locked.

Muller vs. Oregon

1908- Louis Brandeis. Supreme Court accepted constitutionality of laws protecting women workers by presenting evidence of the harmful effects of factory labor on women's weaker bodies.

Booker T. Washington

African American progressive who supported segregation and demanded that African American better themselves individually to achieve equality.

W.E.B. DuBois

Co-founded the NAACP to help secure legal equality for minority citizens.

NAACP

National Associate for the Advancement of Colored People. Interracial organization founded in 1909 to abolish segregation and discrimination and to achieve political and civil rights for African Americans.

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages

Eugene V. Debs, Socialist Party of America

Leader of the American Railway Union, he voted to aid workers in the Pullman strike. He was jailed for six months for disobeying a court order after the strike was over.

Trust Busting

Government activities aimed at breaking up monopolies and trusts.

The Jungle/Upton Sinclair

The author who wrote a book about the horrors of food productions in 1906, the bad quality of meat and the dangerous working conditions.

William Howard Taft

27th President of the United States; he angered progressives by moving cautiously toward reforms and by supporting the Payne-Aldrich Tariff; he lost Roosevelt's support and was defeated for a second term.

Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party)

An early 20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people, to restore economic opportunities, and to correct injustices in American life

Woodrow Wilson

28th president of the United States, known for World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize.

Federal Reserve Act

A 1913 law that set up a system of federal banks and gave government the power to control the money supply.

Big Stick Diplomacy

("Speak softly and carry a big stick")

Slogan describing TR's Roosevelt corollary. Comes from the phrase, "speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." emphasis on military preparedness; willingness to use military force to achieve foreign policy goals.

Great White Fleet

1907-1909 - Roosevelt sent the Navy on a world tour to show the world the U.S. naval power. Also to pressure Japan into the "Gentlemen's Agreement."

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.

Panama Canal

The United States built the Panama Canal to have a quicker passage to the Pacific from the Atlantic and vice versa. It cost $400,000,000 to build. Columbians would not let Americans build the canal, but then with the assistance of the United States a Panamanian Revolution occurred. The new ruling people allowed the United States to build the canal.

Dollar Diplomacy

Foreign policy created under President Taft that had the U.S. exchanging financial support ($) for the right to "help" countries make decisions about trade and other commercial ventures. Basically it was exchanging money for political influence in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Moral Diplomacy

Foreign policy proposed by President Wilson to condemn imperialism, spread democracy, and promote peace.

Pancho Villa

A popular leader during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. An outlaw in his youth, when the revolution started, he formed a cavalry army in the north of Mexico and fought for the rights of the landless in collaboration with Emiliano Zapata.

Lusitania

A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

A policy that the Germans announced on January 1917 which stated that their submarines would sink any ship in the British waters.

Zimmerman Telegram

This was sent by Germans to encourage a Mexican attack against the United States. Intercepted by the US in 1917.

Selective Service Act

Law passed by Congress in 1917 that required all men from ages 21 to 30 to register for the military draft.

American Expeditionary Force

About 2 million Americans went to France as members of this under General John J. Pershing. Included the regular army, the National Guard, and the new larger force of volunteers and draftees and they served as individuals.

Liberty Bonds

American citizens were lending money to the government to pay for the war.

War Industries Board

Agency established during WWI to increase efficiency & discourage waste in war-related industries.

Food Administration

This government agency was headed by Herbert Hoover and was established to increase the production of food and ration food for the military.

Great Migration

Movement of over 300,000 African American from the rural south into Northern cities between 1914 and 1920.

Committee on Public Information

Government organization that produced propaganda to build support for WWI.

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Two laws enacted to impose harsh penalties on anyone interfering with or speaking against U.S participation in WW1.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Allows limits to speech based on the "clear and present danger" principle.

Fourteen Points

A series of proposals in which U.S. president Woodrow Wilson outlined a plan for achieving a lasting peace after World War I.

League of Nations

A world organization established in 1920 to promote international cooperation and peace. It was first proposed in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson, although the United States never joined the League. Essentially powerless, it was officially dissolved in 1946.

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty particularly known for its harsh reparations towards the Germans after World War I.

Henry Cabot Lodge

Conservative senator who wanted to keep the united states out of the League of Nations.

Irreconcilables/Reservationists

Senators who voted against the League of Nations with or without reservations.

Race Riots

Migration of African Americans to Northern cities that lead to increased racial tensions, creating violence in many cities.

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. Was deported to Jamaica in 1927.

Red Scare

Intense fear of communism and other politically radical ideas.

Palmer Raids

A 1920 operation coordinated by Attorney General Mitchel Palmer in which federal marshals raided the homes of suspected radicals and the headquarters of radical organization in 32 cities.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Italian radicals who became symbols of the Red Scare of the 1920s; arrested (1920), tried and executed (1927) for a robbery/murder, they were believed by many to have been innocent but convicted because of their immigrant status and radical political beliefs.

Normalcy

Harding wanted a return to "normalcy" - the way life was before WW I.

Welfare Capitalism

An approach to labor relations in which companies meet some of their workers' needs without prompting by unions, thus preventing strikes and keeping productivity high.

Margaret Sanger

United States nurse who campaigned for birth control and planned parenthood.

Flappers

Young women of the 1920s that behaved and dressed in a radical fashion.

Lost Generation

Group of writers in 1920s who shared the belief that they were lost in a greedy, materialistic world that lacked moral values and often choose to flee to Europe.

Ernest Hemingway

Lost Generation writer, spent much of his life in France, Spain, and Cuba during WWI, notable works include A Farewell to Arms.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

A novelist and chronicler of the jazz age. He wrote The Great Gatsby that is considered a masterpiece about a gangster's pursuit of an unattainable rich girl.

Harlem Renaissance

A period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished.

Al Capone

A mob king in Chicago who controlled a large network of speakeasies with enormous profits. His illegal activities convey the failure of prohibition in the twenties and the problems with gangs.

Speakeasies

An illegal bar where drinks were sold, during the time of prohibition. It was called a Speakeasy because people literally had to speak easy so they were not caught drinking alcohol by the police.

Immigration Quota Act 1924

This was passed in 1924 replaced the Quota Act of 1921, cutting quotas for foreigners from 3% to 2%. Different countries were only allowed to send an allotted number of its citizens to America every year.

Religious Fundamentalism

A religious movement whose objectives are to return to the foundations of the faith and to influence state policy.

Scopes Trial

1925 court case in which Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan debated the issue of teaching evolution in public schools

Warren G. Harding

U.S. President who called for a return to normalcy following WWI.

Teapot Dome Scandal

Scandal during the Harding administration involving the granting of oil-drilling rights on government land in return for money.

"The Business of America is Business"

A statement made by president Calvin Coolidge which showed his overconfidence in the American economy before the Great Depression.

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929; date of the worst stock-market crash in American history and beginning of the Great Depression.

Buying on Margin

Purchasing stock with a little money down with the promise of paying the balance at sometime in the future.

Dust Bowl

Region of the Great Plains that experienced a drought in 1930 lasting for a decade, leaving many farmers without work or substantial wages.

Okies

Displaced farm families from the Oklahoma dust bowl who migrated to California during the 1930s in search of jobs.

Herbert Hoover

Republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929 promising the American people prosperity and attempted to first deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act/Tariff Act of 1930

A law, enacted in 1930, that established the highest protective tariff in U.S. history, worsening the depression in America and abroad.

Hoovervilles

Depression shantytowns, named after the president whom many blamed for their financial distress.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

Created in 1932 to make loans to banks, insurance companies, and railroads, it was intended to provide emergency funds to help businesses overcome the effects of the Depression. It was later used to finance wartime projects during WW II.

Bonus Army (1932)

Officially known as the Bonus Expeditionary Force (BEF), this rag-tag group of 20,000 veterans marched on Washington to demand immediate payment of bonuses earned during World War I. General Douglas MacArthur dispersed them with tear gas and bayonets.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

32nd US President - He began New Deal programs to help the nation out of the Great Depression, and he was the nation's leader during most of WWII.

New Deal

A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression.

Fireside Chats

The informal radio conversations Roosevelt had with the people to keep spirits up. It was a means of communicating with the people on how he would take on the depression.

Emergency Banking Relief Act

This act gave the president power over the banking system and set up a system by which banks would be reorganized or reopened. (The start of the first Hundred Days.)

21st Amendment

Amendment which ended the Prohibition of alcohol in the US, repealing the 18th amendment

AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act)

Sought to end overproduction and raise crop prices to assist farmers.

NRA (National Recovery Administration)

New Deal agency that promoted economic recovery by regulating production, prices, and wages.

TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

New Deal program which gave electricity and jobs to the Tennessee Valley.