American Legion: American veteran lobbying & welfare organization → managed in 1924 to get a sizable bonus for veterans payable in 1945 (this of course becomes important lateR)

“Red Scare:” Heightened time of fear over Communism → Socialist parties suppressed

“Palmer Raids:” Attempts to arrest and deport leftists.

Sacco and Vanzetti: Italian anarchists, accused of a crime and convicted on the basis that they were immigrants

18th Amendment: Prohibition

Volstead Act: Act that enforced prohibition

Prohibition: Outlaw of alcohol

National Origins Quota Act (1924): Greatly limited immigration, the majority of immigrants allowed were from western Europe (aka Germanic protestants)

fundamentalism: Literal belief in/application of scripture→popular in the U.S.

Scopes Trial: Trial against Scopes who taught evolution in Tennessee which was illegal because of religious fundamentalism → Tennessee won, but Darrow made Bryan and the law look ridiculous

Clarence Darrow: Defended Scopes

William Jennings Bryan: Joined the prosecution against Scopes

Warren Harding: Republican Old Guard, mediocre president but had many scandals

Calvin Coolidge: Succeeded Harding → very conservative, chased the debts Europe owed the U.S.

Republican “Old Guard:” Shift away from progressivism, focused on big business → NOT free trade, loved tariffs

Teapot Dome: Harding-era scandal; land was leased by a cabinet secretary in return for a bribe

“wets and drys:” Anti-prohibitionists and pro-prohibitionists; this split had an awkward impact on politics → prohibition still broadly popular

Great Depression: 1929-1941 (or so) global economic crash; worst in U.S. and Germany

“Great Crash/Black Thursday:” Huge stockmarket crash → fortunes collapse into poverty→ not really the cause of the Great Depression

Herbert Hoover: Pro-business, individualistic president, had previously served as WWI Food Administration head and Secretary of Commerce→ blamed for the Great Depression, which happened during his term: “Hoovervilles, “etc

voluntarism: Idea, present during America’s WWI policies, that citizens should not be compelled to help their country; they should do it voluntarily

“rugged individualism:” Hoover’s American brand of not relying upon others

RFC: Reconstruction Finance Corporation; gave loans to big businesses to “buckle down” → trickle down solution to trying to solve the Great Depression. Funded by selling bonds.

“bonus army:” ~20,000 veterans marched on Washington to demand the bonuses the government had promised them; suppressed violently → terrible optics for Hoover

FDR: Democratic president elected in 1932 landslide over Hoover → highly charismatic, pragmatic leader

New Deal: Relief, recovery, reform → FDR’s loose set of policies for helping Americans, ending the Depression, and preventing the next depression

“New Deal coalition:” Unions, political machines, minorities, Southerners, and intellectuals

realigning election/“5th Party System:” Democrats dominate; stronger federal government

The Hundred Days Congress: F.D.R.’s first hundred days in office; famous for high number of bills passed

“fireside chats:” F.D.R.’s attempt to leverage his personal charisma to explain New Deal policies to the American public

“Dust Bowl:” Mid-depression agricultural crisis caused by dust storms that drove many out of Oklahoma and surrounding territories

“Okies:” Farmers who fled Oklahoma, mostly to California

AAA: Agricultural Adjustment Association → helped farmers pay their mortgages

Glass-Steagall Act: Created the F.D.I.C. (federal deposit insurance corporation) → insured deposits up to $5000 dollars to stop bank runs and closures

CCC: Civilian Construction Corps → provided ecological conservation jobs to 3 million workers

Harry Hopkins: Headed FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration) and CWA (Civil Works Association) → major New Deal advisor; later oversaw lend-lease

WPA: Works Progress Association → gave jobs in infrastructure/public works to 3 million

Federal Project One (Federal Theater Project, Federal Art Project, Federal Writers Project): Provided funds to artists to do all different sorts of work; raised concerns about frivolity and propaganda

“2nd New Deal:” 2nd wave of major New Deal policies

Father Coughlin: Fascistic, (yet also sort of anti-business) priest who worked as a radio broadcaster–shut down by F.D.R., originally pro New Deal and later criticized it

Francis Townsend: Demagogic retired doctor who proposed huge stipends to the wealthy as the solution to the depression

Huey Long/ “Share the Wealth:” Louisiana governor → economically left wing, sort of dictatorial, was shot, criticized the New Deal for being too conservative

Social Security Act: Provides financial aid to elderly, unemployed, and children

Wagner Act/NLRB: Makes organizing a right; sets up the NLRB to mediate labor disputes

Fair Labor Standards Act: Sets minimum wages, establishes child labor laws and “time-and-a-half”

John Lewis: United Auto Workers boss → formed unskilled CIO → fought for consideration

CIO: Committee of Industrial Associations → first unions in previously un-unionized industrial sectors

UAW: United Auto Workers → held sit ins that threatened GM

Eleanor Roosevelt: Roosevelt’s cousin/wife, feminist, Civil Rights activist, birth control advocate, etc. → generally quite liberal

Marian Anderson: African American singer invited by Eleanor Roosevelt to the White House → caused great controversy

Francis Perkins: first woman cabinet member; Secretary of Labor

“court packing scheme:” FDR wanted to increase the size of the supreme court to make a Democrat majority. Widely unpopular as the supreme court was seen as sacred → greatly hampered the new deal

Isolationism: A want to not intervene on the world stage and to focus only on the US → historical undercurrent in American politics

Washington Naval/Disarmament Conference (1921): 5-5-3 America–England–Japan; Japan felt obligated to sign onto this humiliating treaty.

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928): Franco-American treaty signed by 50+ countries to stop war → without enforcement, “outlawed war”

Dawes Plan (1924): Private bankers loan money to the German government to help they pay off the war debt to France, and that France and others would give Germany more time

Good Neighbor policy: Policy in Latin America to make the US be seen more favorable, like relieving Cuba of the Platt amendment → non-interventionism; consultation

Axis Powers: Group of belligerent countries that began WWII, imperialistic/fascist → Germany, Italy, and Japan

“merchants of death” thesis: Conspiracy theory that the arms manufacturers got the US into WWI to benefit themselves

“House of Morgan” thesis: Conspiracy theory that the bankers got the US into WWI to recoup debts owed to American bankers by struggling European nations → antisemitic undertones

Neutrality Acts: Series of acts to ensure US neutrality, like no selling arms to nations in war

“cash and carry:” Sells items to countries, but the countries have to pay in cash and then take them back themselves → prevents issues with post-war debt reckoning and with U-boats etc.

America First Committee: Isolationist group, wanted to not be involved in the war

Charles Lindbergh: Former aviator, avid isolationist orator

“Fortress America:” Idea that America should stay out of Europe and focus on fortifying itself

White Committee/ “Aid to Britain:” Interventionist ideas, wanted to send aid to the UK to help them in WWII

Lend-Lease: Instead of granting money, the US loans weapons to later be returned (at least this was what they told the public → garden-hose analogy)

“arsenal of democracy:” Idea that America should provide arms for democracies to defend themselves

Winston Churchill: British PM during most of WWII

Atlantic Charter: FDR’s Post war vision, similar to Wilson’s 14 Points → Churchill sort of had to sign on because he needed F.D.R. → reiterated concepts of “freedom from fear” and “freedom from want” → actually quite radical

Pearl Harbor: Japanese attack on the US military base, brought the US into the war → Japan was hoping to use the time the U.S. spent recovering to dominate the pacific

“Germany First:” Attack Germany first then deal with Japan → America, Britain, and Canada agreed on this before the U.S. even joined the war

George C. Marshall: American strategic leader; Army Chief of Staff → wanted to serve as a general, wasn’t allowed to → later helped with Marshall Plan

Nationalist Chinese/Chiang Kai-shek: Government in China that the US allied with against both the Japanese and Communists

Joseph Stalin: Leader of the USSR → tense but functional relationship with F.D.R. and Churchill during WWI

Battle of the Atlantic: War fending off U-Boats in the Atlantic; began even before U.S. joined the war, as it was sending convoys to aid merchant ships → crucial factor in allied victory

Grand Alliance: The allied countries → Soviet Union, Britain, United States, and some smaller nations

“Big Three:” Russia (Stalin), Britain (Churchill), United States (FDR)

Wartime Conferences: Series of meetings between allied leaders.

Casablanca: (In Morocco) Meeting between FDR and Churchill, planned the invasion of Sicily and later Italy (preventing decisive French second front). F.D.R. introduced “unconditional surrender.”

Tehran: The Big Three met and agreed on D-Day’s date which led to the opening of the second front.

Bretton Woods: July 1944, held in New Hampshire; discussed state of global economy post–WWII

Dumbarton Oaks: August 1944; held in D.C., laid framework for U.N.

Yalta: They discussed post-war Europe (the division of Germany, etc.), Stalin pledges to declare war on Japan, agree on the U.N..

Potsdam: They meet to finalize the end of the war, Stalin reaffirms that he will declare war on Japan and Truman reveals the atomic bomb

“Unconditional Surrender:” No compromises, fight until they surrender completely → policy F.D.R. surprisingly unrolled at Casablanca

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Leader of allied forces in Europe who organized D-Day

“second front:” Idea to open another front to ease pressure on the USSR → Britain kept stalling fearing casualties

Operation OVERLORD/D-Day (6 June 1944)/Normandy: Opening of the second front. Aimed to liberate France and take the heat off the U.S.S.R.

MacArthur: Leader of American forces in the Pacific (specifically South-West); lead unsuccessful defense of Philippines, fled to Australia, slowly made his way back to retake the Philippines

Battle of Midway (June 1942): Decisive US victory over Japan, turning point of the war in the Pacific → Japan’s advance finally halted

Kamikazes: Suicide bombers → reflected Japanese approach to war

Manhattan Project: Secret project that worked on the atomic bomb, initially fearing that Germany would create one

Harry S. Truman: FDR’s VP, became president when he suddenly died mid-way through 1945

Hiroshima: First city bombed by the atomic bomb; Aug. 6th 1945

Nagasaki: Second city bombed by the atomic bomb; Aug 9th 1945; (Soviets had joined the war on the 8th.)

“Rosie the Riveter:” Cultural icon that represented the women in the workforce during WWII → despite this, fewer American women joined the workforce than in other countries.

A. Philip Randolph: Protested racial discrimination in the workforce and the military (and threatened a march on Washington, inflaming racial tensions and looking bad for the U.S.), which led FDR to sign Executive Order 8802 (forbidding discrimination), but he did not integrate the military, began the Civil Rights movement

Fair Employment Practices Commission: Part of Executive Order 8802. Sought to ensure equal employment opportunities and practices for all races during WWII.

Japanese-American internment: Americans of Japanese descent were forcibly moved to internment camps because the U.S. government was paranoid that they would assist the Japanese in the case of an invasion

GI Bill: Provided benefits to WWII veterans. This included education benefits, loan guarantees, and unemployment benefits, led to the democratization of higher education.

“Military Keynesianism:” Idea that the government should raise military spending to boost the economy → or just that military spending does boost the economy

"zoot suit riots:” Riots (mostly in LA) between white marines and Mexican Americans. The marines believed that the Mexican Americans’ “zoot suits” were unpatriotic → one of many race riots

Bracero Program: Agreement between the United States and Mexico that allowed Mexican workers to work in American farms to fill labor gaps

“Baby Boom:” Surge in birth rates post-WWII

2. Think about the following to prepare for the test, including the long essay.

a. Describe and account for the rise in nativism in the US between 1900-1930.

b. What divisions existed in the US in the 1920s?

Rural conservatives vs urban liberals (generally)

Prohibition: Urban areas were wets, rurals were dry

Scopes Trial: The rural fundamentalism was against evolution

c. What was the economic, political, and social impact of the New Deal?

Mostly economic impacts → ushered in an era of bigger government. Politically, meant that Democrats continued to dominate throughout the wartime period. Socially, the Dixiecrats blocked the New Deal from really including Black people.

d. How successful was the New Deal in addressing the problems of the Great Depression?

Helped the people impacted (Relief) and set up future safeguards (Reform), but did not end the depression (Recovery) → recovery to F.D.R. was mostly secondary

e. Be able to identify and explain the various New Deal programs.

f. Understand the dispute between those who, before we entered WWII, favored support to the Allies and those who opposed it.

g. Analyze the experiences of the following groups on the American home front during WWII:

Women: Slight increase in Women’s rights, but largely the same, Cult of Domesticity continued, despite Rosie the Riveter way less mobilization of women then in other nations

African-Americans: Beginning of modern Civil Rights movement (Double V), achieved some improvements through Randolph → FEPC, Fair Employment Practices Commission. Many moved North during the wartime relocation. GI Bill was systematically denied to Black people, though, which widened the wealth gap.

Japanese-Americans: Internment camps → faced highly racist U.S. propaganda

Mexican-Americans: Had been scapegoated during Great Depression in “Mexican Repatriation” starting with Hoover → Introduction into agriculture via Bracero program, faced opposition in zoot suit riots

Note