New Deal – FDR’s series of programs to combat the Great Depression, focusing on relief, recovery, and reform.
Alphabet soup of agencies – A nickname for FDR’s numerous government programs (e.g., WPA, CCC, NRA) created during the New Deal.
Social Security Administration – Created in 1935 to provide pensions for the elderly, unemployed, and disabled.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) – A New Deal agency that built dams and provided electricity to rural areas.
Dust Bowl – Severe drought and dust storms in the 1930s that devastated agriculture in the Great Plains.
Espionage Act of 1917 – Law that penalized anti-war activities and spying during WWI.
Sedition Act of 1918 – Extended the Espionage Act, criminalizing speech against the
government or war effort.
Schenck v. US – Supreme Court case ruling that speech creating a "clear and present
danger" (e.g., anti-draft propaganda) is not protected.
Abrams v. US – Upheld the Sedition Act, ruling that speech inciting resistance to war
efforts was not protected.
Red Scare – Fear of communism in the U.S. following the Russian Revolution, leading to crackdowns on suspected radicals.
Sacco and Vanzetti case – Trial and execution of two Italian anarchists, widely believed to be unfair and influenced by anti-immigrant sentiment.
Scopes Monkey Trial – 1925 trial of teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution, highlighting tensions between science and religion.
Darrow v. Bryan – Clarence Darrow defended Scopes, while William Jennings Bryan prosecuted, arguing for biblical literalism.
National Origins Act – 1924 law restricting immigration based on quotas favoring Northern Europeans.
Emergency Quota Act – 1921 law limiting immigration to 3% of a nationality’s U.S. population in 1910.
Kellogg-Briand Pact – 1928 treaty renouncing war as a tool of national policy, largely ineffective.
Dawes Plan – U.S. economic plan to help Germany pay WWI reparations through loans.