Final exam
Teapot Dome Scandal
Considered the worst political scandal until Watergate under Nixon.
Bribery incidents that took place in the United States from 1921 to 1922
Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and two other locations in California to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding.
Fall was later convicted of accepting bribes (385,000) from the oil companies
Became the first cabinet member to go to prison.
Automobiles
the automobile industry in the United began in 1890’s
Ford Motor Company was located in Detroit Michigan-all needed materials were made nearby.
Changed where Americans lived, what work they did, how they spent their leisure and family time.
Many small towns disappeared in favor of distant cities and towns
began the migration to the suburbs
Nothing shaped modern Americans more than the automobile
Welfare Capitalism
Business owners found a way to meet workers’ demands without them turning to unions
they improved safety and sanitation inside factories
instituted paid vacations, health plans, English classes, pension plans, and other benefits
Encouraged loyalty to the company and discouraged memberships in labor unions.
told workers that trade unions were unnecessary for workers’ welfare
“mass production requires mass consumption” - Henry Ford
Believed workers needed money to consume goods
wanted his workers to be able to buy the cars they made
in 1914 Henry ford raised wages in factories to $5 a day- more than twice the going rate.
Charles Lindbergh
“The Lone Eagle”
American aviator, author, inventor, military officer, explorer, and social activist
in 1927, at the age of 25, Lindbergh became the first person to fly nonstop across the Atlantic from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France
Awarded medal honor
The Flapper
short bobbed hair
lipstick and rouge
spent freely on clothing
often smoked cigarettes
danced all night to wild jazz
Johnson-Reed act of 1924
passed by congress
limits the number of immigrants to no more than 161,000 a year
establishes quotas for each European nation
squeezed some quotas for each European nation
quotas reflected fear and bigotry
those who backed it claimed immigration had to be stopped because “America had become the garbage can and the dumping ground of the world”
only wanted “good immigrants” from Western Europe
The Scopes Trial- 1925
The states of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes (dayton, Tennessee)
commonly referred to as the scopes monkey trial
science vs, religion
Tennessee and other states banned the teaching of evolution
John Scopes challenged the law by teaching evolution
Clarence Darrow was a defense lawyer
William Jennings Bryan was a prosecutor
Darrow got Bryan on the stand and humiliated him- he died one week later
Scopes was convicted- 100 fine
Alfred smith
Four-time governor of New York
Denounced immigrant quotas, opposed prohibition and signed Ny’s Anti-Klan bill
first Catholic to run for president
He lost by a big margin
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
democrat
vice president candidate in 1920
energetic candidate and campaigner
“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
Promised “direct, vigorous action”
Termed the first month in office: “the hundred days”
A whirlwind of government initiatives that launched the New Deal
The new deal had three goals: the three R’s
relief
recovery
reform A balance between production and consumption needs
Role of consumption
FDR thought the greatest of the flaws was underconsumption
could choke the economy
a balance between production and consumption needed to be restored.
wealth in the hands of just a few reduced consumption by most Americans
Fireside chats
Sunday, March 12th with banks still closed FDR gave his first radio fireside chat
explained the new banking legislation- “safe to keep money in banks now”
plain talk, in a friendly manner
restore confidence in banks
the first fireside chat and subsequent ones tied Roosevelt to millions of Americans
Huey Long
Democrat of Louisiana
the “kingfish”
governor and then senator
championed the poor- wanted more reform
proposed program to “share the wealth”- an equitable distribution of wealth
proposed outlawing high incomes and high inheritance with a tax bill
challenged the New Deal after1932
assassinated in 1935
Wagner act
also known as the National Labor Relations Act
new dealers supported labor unions
a marked departure from organized unions in the Gilded Age
bill sponsored by Senator Robert Wagner of New York
authorized the federal government to intervene in labor disputes
authorized government to supervise the organization of unions
guaranteed industrial workers the right to organize
if the majority of workers at a company voted for a union, the union became the sole bargaining agent for the entire workplace, and the employer was required to negotiate with elected union leaders
Courts packing
attempt to remove a remaining obstacle to his new deal reforms after 1936
decided to target the Supreme Court
conservative justices had invalidated 11 New Deal measures as unconstitutional
Social Security, Wagner Act, SEC were now going in front of the court
FDR proposed adding new justices to the Supreme Court
Appeasement
The diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an enemy power in order to avoid conflict
in 1938 British Prime Minister Chamberlain offered to allow Germany to reclaim Sudetenland if Hitler agreed to leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone
Hitler accepted but did not keep his promise
By 1939 Hitler had annexed all of Czechoslovakia
appeasement failed miserably
Lend-leaser act
cash and carry for arms and supplies did not work as Britain ran low on money
Roosevelt proposed an end lease policy which allowed the British to obtain arms from the US without paying cash but with a promise to reimburse the United States after the war ended
congresses approved the lend-lease Act in 1941
was a policy intended to defend democracy and human rights
by the time the war ended lend-lease support to Britain totaled more than $50 billion- more than all federal expenditures combined since Roosevelt took office
Pearl Harbor
Militarists seized control of the Japanese government in October 1941
angered by the embargo they convinced Emperor Hirohito that the American naval base in the Pacific needed to be destroyed to allow Japan to control Asia
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
sank all battleships and killed 2,400 Americans
failed to destroy aircraft or oil storage facilities
Japanese internment camps
especially true of the Japanese
Americans of Japanese descent became targets
Pearl Harbor and racial prejudice contributed to this
Campaign to round up all mainland Japanese Americans
most were US citizens
February 1942, Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066
sent all Americans of Japanese descent to 10 internment camps in remote areas
they lost homes and businesses and lived out the war in these camps
several thousand Japanese Americans served with distinction in the war
no case of subversion by a Japanese American was ever uncovered
supreme court up here the executive order as justified by “military necessity”
although blatantly unconstitutional
Manhattan Project
top secret Stettin
find a way to convey nuclear energy into a bomb
more than 100,000 American scientists, engineers, and military worked on it
at Los alamos, new Mexico
The Iron Curtain
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent” - Churchill
Marshall plan
Officially the European Recovery Program
created by the State Department and begun in April 1948
Europe needed large-scale assistance
humanitarian mission
America wanted to prevent Europe from turning to communism or socialism
Joseph McCarthy
Republican senator from Wisconsin
Elected to the Senate in 1946
in 1950, he asserted in a speech that he had a list of members of the communist party who worked in the State Department in his pocket
Held senate hearings of suspected communist
propagated the red scare of the 1950’s
major driving force of anti-communism
McCarthyism accused many of being communists including George Marshals the, the former secretary of state
claims of McCarthy were often reckless and ludicrous
Became synonymous with the “red scare: and anti-communist crusade
Many accused had done nothing wrong except perhaps support radical causes or attend a Communist Party meeting a year earlier.
Interstate Highway and Defense system
authorized the construction of a national highway system
was prompted as essential to defense-why
an impetus to economic growth
federal government foots the bill
through increased fuel and vehicle taxes
accelerated mobility of people and goods
spurred suburban expansion
benefited trucking, construction, and auto industries
Brinkmanship
go to the brink of war to block soviet expansion
deter enemy attacks by the threat of massive retaliation
The Cold War is an example of brinkmanship
Endless Frontier
a report to the President of the united states
called for an expansion of government support for science and research
advocated university science research
it led to the creation of the National Science Foundation in 1950
written by Vannevar Bush
Eisenhower and military Industrial Complex
before leaving office Eisenhower gave his farewell speech (January 17, 1961) on TV
He warned against the influence of the military-industrial complex in the United States
saw a “danger that public policy could itself become captive of a scientific technological elite.”
that unchecked the military and defense industry would dictate public policy for the country in the future
The Great Society
Lyndon B Johnsons domestic policy
Bay of pigs
april 17th, 1961
1400 anti-Castro exiles (living in the us) that had been trained and armed by the CIA
landed at the Bay of pigs, Cuba
no popular uprising, on island, materialized to support the exile’s invasion- it did not happen
Kennedy refused to provide direct military support for the invasion
invaders quickly fell to Castro’s forces
Detente
term used for easing conflict/strained relations with soviet union
policy of containment continued
focused on issues of common concern - arms control and trade
creating a stable world order
Stagflation
persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and slow economic growth
an economic conundrum raises a dilemma for economic policy formulation
actions designed to lower inflation may exacerbate unemployment and vice versa
usually rising prices (inflation) accompany a humming economy with a strong demand for labor
it created a substantial federal budget deficit
Camp David Accord
The crowning Achievement of the carter presidency
promoting peace in the Middle East
in 1979, Carter invited Anwar Sadat of onomics and Menachem begin of Israel to Camp David
met for 13 days
meetings led to the Camp David Accords
Egypt became first Arab state to recognize the existence of Israel
Supply-side economics
also known as trickle-down economics
a theory that lowering taxes and reducing government regulations will increase the supply of goods and services, which will lead to economic growth. The theory is based on the idea that people will work, save, and invest more if they keep more of their income.
Defense of Marriage act in 1996
passed by a republican congress and Clinton signed it
prohibited the federal government from recognizing marriage between same-sex couples
2013 Supreme Court overturned DOMA under equal protection clause of the constitution