APUSH Period 7 Vocabulary

Woodrow Wilson – Wilson was the Democratic representative in the presidential elections of 1912 and 1916. He was elected into the presidency as a minority president. He was born in Virginia and was raised in a very religious family. He was widely known for his political sermons. He was an aggressive leader and believed that Congress could not function properly without good leadership provided by the president. His progressive program was known as the “New Freedom” and his foreign policy program was “Moral Diplomacy.” He was president during World War I.

Eugene Debs – Labor leader of the American Railroad Union who represented the Socialist Party in the five presidential elections between 1900 and 1920. He got a high number of votes in the 1912 election which made the Socialists think that they would win the presidency in 1916. He was later accused of espionage and sent to a federal penitentiary for ten years.

All this came about because of a speech that he made in Columbus, Ohio at an anti-war rally. Despite his imprisonment he ran for presidency in 1920. Although he didn't win, he had the most votes a candidate of the Socialist party ever had.

Warren G. Harding -- He was easygoing and kind, and therefore one of the best-liked men of his time. As a president however, he was weak and a bad judge of character. He won the 1920 election but he was unable to detect moral wrongs in his associates. He appointed "great minds" to office because he knew he lacked in intelligence, but a few of the men he

appointed were morally lacking. He is often compared to Grant because his term in office was scandalous. Many corporations could expand, antitrust laws were ignored, and he achieved disarmament with the Open Door in China. He died on August 2, 1923 of pneumonia and thrombosis while making speeches.

A. Mitchell Palmer – Palmer was the Attorney General who rounded up many suspects who were thought to be unAmerican and socialist. He helped to increase the Red Scare and was nicknamed the "Fighting Quaker" until a bomb destroyed his home. He then had a nervous breakdown, backed off, and became known as the "Quaking Fighter."

John T. Scopes – Scopes was a teacher in the “Scopes Monkey Trial.” In 1925, Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution in Tennessee. His trial was followed all over the country. This trial represented the Fundamentalists and Modernists. In the outcome, Scopes was only fined $100 dollars. While it seemed the Fundamentalists had won, the trial made them look simpleminded and old-fashioned. The trial symbolized the differences of the times.

William Jennings Bryan – Bryan joined the prosecution in the "Scopes Monkey Trial" against the teachings of evolution in schools. He was purported to be an expert on the Bible, but was made to look silly in the case and, sadly, died soon afterward.

Margaret Sanger -- Sanger organized a birth-control movement which openly championed the use of contraceptives in the 1920's.

Herbert Hoover -- He was the head of the Food Administration during World War I. He became the Secretary of Commerce and encouraged businesses to regulate themselves. Hoover was a Republican known for his integrity when he won the election of 1928. He had to deal with the Great Crash of 1929, which caused the Great Depression. He also signed the Norris-La Guardia. Eventually he was the Republican presidential candidate who ran on a campaign of

prohibition and prosperity. The early years of his presidency brought about a great deal of prosperity for the United States. However, many people blamed him for the stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression.

A. Philip Randolph -- He was the black leader of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters who used his persuasive power to demanded equal opportunities in war jobs (during FDR’s Presidency) and armed forces (during Truman’s Presidency).

Harry S Truman -- He took over the presidency during World War II upon the death of Roosevelt. He was called by many the "average man's average man" for his appearance and personality, and he was one of the only presidents without a college education. He was an artillery officer in World War One. He was responsible for the decision to drop the atomic

bomb on Japan to end World War II.

Lusitania -- The Lusitania was a British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128nAmericans died. The unrestricted submarine warfare largely caused the U.S. to enter World War I against the Germans.

Federal Reserve Act – The Federal Reserve Act might be the most important piece of economic legislation between the Civil War and the New Deal. It created a regulatory agency for banking with 12 regional reserve districts. Each bank was independent but was controlled by the Federal Reserve Board, which was controlled by the public. The Federal Reserve controls the amount of money in circulation through its reserves and interest rates.

Clayton Antitrust Act – The Clayton act helped to control monopolies by strengthening the Sherman Antitrust Act's list of

business practices that were objectionable (such as interlocking directorates). It exempted labor and agricultural

organizations from antitrust prosecution and legalized strikes and peaceful picketing.

Zimmerman Telegram -- Written by Arthur Zimmerman, a German foreign secretary. In this note he had secretly proposed a German- Mexican alliance. He tempted Mexico to go to war with America with the ideas of recovering Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The note was intercepted on March 1, 1917 by the U.S. government. This was a major factor

that led the U.S. into WWI.

Fourteen Points -- The Fourteen Points were introduced by Wilson in 1918. It was Wilson's peace plan. Each of the points were designed to prevent future wars. He compromised each point at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The only point which remained was the 14th (League of Nations). Each one was appealing to a specific group in the war and

each one held a specific purpose.

League of Nations -- In 1919, after the war, Wilson proposed the League in the 14th point of his peace plan. He envisioned it as an Assembly with seats for all nations and a special council for the great powers. The US voted not to join the League because in doing so, it would have taken away our self-determination, and Congress could not decide whether to go to war or not.

Committee on Public Information -- It was headed by George Creel. The purpose of this committee was to mobilize people's minds for war, both in America and abroad. Tried to get the entire U.S. public to support U.S. involvement in WWI. Creel's organization, employed some 150,000 workers at home and oversees. He proved that words were indeed

Weapons.

Espionage and Sedition Acts -- Espionage Act of 1917; Sedition Act of 1918; reflected current fear about Germans and antiwar Americans; Among the 1,900 prosecuted under these laws were antiwar Socialists and members of the radical

union Industrial Workers of the World; were enacted during WWI to keep Americans united in favor of the war effort.

Nineteenth Amendment -- This amendment gave women the right to vote (suffrage) in 1920. Women were guaranteed the right to vote after a century of conflicts.

Food Administration -- An administration created to feed wartime America and its allies. Herbert Hoover, a Quaker humanitarian, was chosen as the leader, mostly because of his already existent title of "hero" that he acquired leading a massive charitable drive to feed the starving people of war-racked Belgium.

Treaty of Versailles -- This treaty was created to solve problems made by World War I. Germany was forced to accept the treaty. It was composed of only four of the original points made by President Woodrow Wilson. The treaty punished Germany and did nothing to stop the threat of future wars. It maintained the pre-war power structure.

Buying on Margin -- This technique of buying stocks that was very risky and was usually only used by poor and middle class people. They would buy the stock, but only pay for part of it and borrow money from the stockbrokers to pay the rest. Then when they sold the stock for a higher price, they would pay the broker off and keep the rest of the profit. Of course, the stock could just as easily go down. This practice helped lead to the Stock Crash of ’29.

Red Scare -- The Red Scare erupted in the early 1920's. The American public was scared that communism would come into the U.S. Left-winged supporters were suspected. This fear of communism helped businessmen who used it to stop labor strikes.

Sacco and Vanzetti Case -- Nicola Sacco was a shoe-factory worker and Bartholomew Vanzetti was a fish peddler. They were both convicted of murdering a Massachusetts paymaster and his guard in 1921. They were supported by Liberals and Radicals. The case lasted 6 years and resulted in execution based on weak evidence, mainly because Americans were xenophobic (afraid of foreigners). This exemplifies the “nativism” of the day.

Ku Klux Klan -- In the 1920s, this group was very anti-foreign. It was against all groups which did not have an AngloSaxon, Protestant background. They were most prevalent in the midwest and the south. They eventually became less popular when Klan officials were caught embezzling money.

Emergency Quota Act 1921 -- This law restricted immigration to 3% of each nationality that was in the United States in 1910.

Immigration Quota Act 1924 – This act was passed in 1924 and cut quotas for foreigners from 3 % to 2% of the total number of immigrants in 1890. The purpose of the year change was to freeze America's existing racial composition (which was largely Northern European). It also prevented the Japanese from immigrating, causing outrage in Japan.

Teapot Dome Scandal – This was one of many scandals under Harding. It involved priceless naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming. Albert B. Fall got Secretary of Navy Denby to transfer valuable goods to the Interior Department secretly. Harry Sinclair and Edward L Doheny were leased the lands after paying a large bribe. The scandal polluted the government’s prestige and made the public wonder about the sufficiency of government and undermined people’s faith in the courts.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff – This tariff began as a protective measure to assist farmers, but turned out to be the highest protective tariff in the nation's peacetime history. It raised the duty on goods from 38.5 percent to 60 percent in 1930.

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) -- This corporation became a government lending bank in 1932. It was designed to provide indirect assistance to insurance companies, banks, agricultural organizations, railroads, and even hard-pressed state and local governments. Passed under President Hoover, this marked a changed in his normal laissez

faire outlook.

Bonus Army – This was a group of almost 20,000 World War I veterans who were hard-hit victims of the depression. They wanted what the government owed them for their services and "saving" democracy. They marched to Washington and set up public camps and erected shacks on vacant lots. They tried to intimidate Congress into paying them, but Hoover had them removed by the army, which shed a negative light on Hoover.

New Deal -- After Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated in 1933, he decided the U.S. must improve economically to recover from the Great Depression. His plan, the New Deal, focused on relief, recovery, and reform. Short term goals were relief and immediate recovery. Permanent recovery and reform were done by long-range goals. Programs were established to

improve unemployment, regulate minimum wage, and reform many other social issues.

Glass-Steagall Act -- In 1933, this act allowed the banks to reopen and it gave the president the power to regulate banking transactions and foreign exchange.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) -- The CCC was created by the Unemployment Relief Act of 1933. It provided employment in government camps for 3 million uniformed single, young men during the Great Depression. The work they were involved with included reforestation, fire fighting, flood control, and swamp drainage.

Works Progress Administration -- Congress created the WPA in 1935 as an agency that gave jobs to people who needed them. They worked on bridges, roads, and government buildings. They spent 11 billion dollars and gave almost 9 million people jobs.

National Recovery Act -- During the Great Depression, this act was created in 1933 as a helping hand for industry, labor, and the unemployed. It granted labor additional benefits and guaranteed the right to organize through representatives of their own choosing. It was a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal plan, but was later declared unconstitutional. It’s

symbol was the "Blue Eagle" and its slogan was “We Do Our Part” since it encouraged cooperation between businesses rather than competition.

Tennessee Valley Authority – The TVA was the first government-owned corporation. It was started to create jobs and build dams in the Tennessee River Valley to supply electricity to poor areas.

Social Security Act of 1935 – This law created a federal insurance program based on the automatic collection of taxes from employees and employers throughout people's working careers. They would receive this money in a monthly pension when they reached the age of 65. The unemployed, disabled, and mothers with dependent children would also

receive this money.

Wagner Act – The Wagner Act was the same as the National Labor Relations Act (1935) and set up the National Labor Relations Board. It reasserted the right of labor to engage in self-organization and to bargain collectively.

National Labor Relation Board -- Created by the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act, it was created in the 1930's by Congressman Wagner who was sympathetic to labor unions. The National Labor Relation Board was an administrative board that gave laborers the rights of self-organization and collective bargaining.

Congress of Industrial Organizations -- Also known as the CIO, this labor union formed in the ranks of the AF of L. It

consisted of unskilled workers. The AF of L got scared of their influence on workers and suspended all members of the

CIO. In 1938 it broke with the AF of L. By 1940 it had 4 million members.

Twentieth and Twenty-first Amendments -- The Twentieth Amendment changed the calendar of Congressional sessions and the date of the presidential inauguration to January 20th. In short, it shortened the length of lame duck presidents. The Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution ended Prohibition and allowed the distribution and drinking of alcoholic beverages to commence once again.

Court-packing scheme -- Roosevelt tried to put 6 extra justices on the Supreme Court. These justices would be supporters of Roosevelt and there would be a maximum of 15 judges. The plan failed. Congress would not accept it as it would give FDR too much power.

Nuremberg Trials -- After WWII, the Allied forces agreed that Nazism had to be cut out of Germany. They tried twentytwo Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany in 1945-1946. Twelve of the tried were hanged, and seven sent to jail.

Good Neighbor Policy -- This was established by Herbert Hoover to create good relations with Latin America. It took much of the American military out of these countries. It also nullified the Roosevelt Corollary.

Nye Committee -- The Nye Committee investigated arms manufacturers and bankers of World War I. It claimed they had caused America's entry into WWI. Public opinion pushed Congress to pass the Neutrality Acts to keep us out of WWII.

Neutrality Acts -- Congress made an effort to legislate the nation out of war. The Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937 stipulated that when the president proclaimed the existence of a foreign war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect. No American could legally sail on a belligerent ship, or sell or transport munitions to a belligerent nation, or make loans to a belligerent.

"cash and carry" – This was the only way that Europe could buy American war materials in World War II. They would have to transport the munitions in their own ships and they could only purchase the munitions with cash.

America First Committee – This was a committee organized by isolationists before WWII, who wished to spare American lives. They wanted to protect America before we went to war in another country. Charles A. Lindbergh was its most effective speaker.

Lend-Lease Act – This was a law passed in March of 1941 by sweeping majorities in both houses of Congress. This law said that the U.S. would lend or lease weapons to overseas countries and victims of aggression who would in turn finish the job of the fighting, and keep the war overseas and thus the U.S. would not have to enter.

Atlantic Charter -- This was created by Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a secret conference. It outlined the hopes of the democracies and their intentions for improvements after World War II. It reflected the ideals of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points of WWI.

War Production Board (WWII) -- This board halted the manufacture of nonessential items such as passenger cars. It assigned priorities for transportation and access to raw materials. It imposed a national speed limit and gasoline rationing because, due to the Dutch East Indies ending their exports of natural rubber to the U.S., they wanted to conserve rubber.

Fair Employment Practice Commission -- Roosevelt established this initially to give fair employment to blacks. Eventually, and to this day, its purpose is to ensure equality for all races, sexes, ages, and ethnicities involving employment.

D-Day -- D-Day was the first day of the Normandy landing which started the invasion of western Europe and liberated France from the Germans.

V-E Day -- Victory in Europe Day. The German government surrendered unconditionally during WWII on May 7, 1945.

Potsdam Conference – This meeting was held near Berlin in 1945 with Truman, Stalin and Clement Atlee who issued an ultimatum to Japan to surrender or be destroyed. This is where Truman learned about the atomic bomb.

V-J Day -- "Victory in Japan" Day was celebrated on August 15, 1945 after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. The celebrations continued through the official end of World War II on September 2, 1945 when Japan officially surrendered.