APUSH 6-8

Five Things to Know about Period 6:

1. Large scale industrialization and advances in technology gave rise to capitalism

and the era of big business. Businessmen such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew

Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller amassed huge fortunes. Aggressive financial

methods caused multiple economic downturns and financial panics.

2. Due to the rise of big business, many groups such as farmers and unions called

for stronger governmental protections to regulate the economy and safeguard the

rights of workers.

3. Migration increased, both to and within the United States. Cities became areas of

economic growth that attracted African Americans and migrants from Asia and

Europe. Multiple ethnic groups vied for control of the Western frontier, and

cultural tensions continued nationwide.

4. New intellectual and cultural movements arose during this period, often dubbed

the “Gilded Age.” One view, called Social Darwinism, attempted to justify a

wealthy elite class as natural and inevitable. Another view, known as the Gospel

of Wealth, urged the wealthy and big business to help the less fortunate.

5. Debates intensified over citizens’ rights, especially in relation to gender and race.

The Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) marked a major setback for

African Americans, as it upheld racial segregation and ended some of the

progress made in the decades following the Civil War. African American

reformers continued to strive for political and social equality in the face of

escalating violence and discrimination.

● Transcontinental Railroad: The Transcontinental Railroad linked the U.S.

from Atlantic to Pacific by both rail and telegraph. This railroad accelerated the

development and eventual closure of the frontier. See: Promontory Point.

● Cornelius Vanderbilt: A business tycoon who amassed a fortune in the

steamboat business and invested this fortune in the consolidation of many

smaller rail lines under one company, the New York Central Railroad.

● New York Central Railroad: A railroad company founded by Cornelius

Vanderbilt. It consolidated many smaller rail companies, standardized gauges,

and popularized steel rails. It linked major cities on the East Coast and in the

Midwest.

● Union Pacific Railroad: One half of the Transcontinental Railroad. It began

building its portion from Omaha, Nebraska, and moved westward. See: Central

Pacific Railroad, Promontory Point.

● Central Pacific Railroad: Led by Leland Stanford, it set out to build the most

difficult stretch of the transcontinental railroad from Sacramento, California,

through the Sierra Nevada mountains and eastward. Chinese laborers built most

of the Central Pacific’s line. See: Chinese Exclusion Act, Promontory Point, Union

Pacific Railroad.

● Leland Stanford: He became a wealthy merchant during the California Gold

Rush, and later served as Governor of California (1862–183) and as its Senator

(1885–1893). Leader of the Central Pacific Railroad, Stanfold oversaw the

construction of part of the transcontinental railroad. Considered a robber baron,

he wielded tremendous wealth and influence due to his control over railroads in

the American West. Later founded Stanford University.

● Promontory Point: The point at which the rail lines of the Union Pacific

Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad finally met on May 10, 1869. This marked

the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Promontory Point, Utah, is just

north of the Great Salt Lake.

● Robber barons: A pejorative name for investors who artificially inflated the

value of their company’s stock, sold the stock to the public, and pocketed the

profits. The company would then go bankrupt, leaving stockholders with nothing.

Additionally, the fierce competition of the Gilded Age coupled with lack of federal

regulation often led to dishonest business practices.

● Alexander Graham Bell: A Scottish-born scientist. He is best known for

patenting the telephone in 1876. He also founded the Bell Telephone Company in

1879 and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.

Monopolies and Industrial Consolidation

● Bessemer process: Developed by an English inventor, this process

revolutionized steel production by making it faster and cheaper. The increased

availability and affordability of steel caused its use to increase in many industrial

applications.

● Andrew Carnegie: A Scottish immigrant who became a titan of industry. He

cornered the railroad business in the 1860s, focusing on innovation, investment

in technology, operating at full capacity, and keeping costs (including wages) low.

Authored “The Gospel of Wealth,” which asserted that wealth was a result of

God’s will and that, in turn, the wealthy had an obligation to give money away to

better society. In contrast to rival J. P. Morgan, Carnegie favored driving

competitors out of business. See: trickle down economics, vertical integration.

● Carnegie Steel Company: A company founded and owned by Andrew

Carnegie. At its height, it supplied over half the world’s steel. Sold to J. P. Morgan

to form U.S. Steel.

● Vertical integration: The process of controlling every aspect of the production

process for a product, from the acquisition of raw materials to the distribution of

the final product. A favored practice by Andrew Carnegie. See: horizontal

integration.

● J.P. Morgan: A notable investment banker who helped railroads and other

major corporations raise capital. After purchasing Carnegie’s steel business, he

consolidated the industry to form U.S. Steel, the first corporation with a

capitalization of over one billion dollars. He essentially bailed out the U.S.

economy during the Panic of 1893. In contrast to rival Andrew Carnegie, Morgan

favored buying competitors out. See: interlocking directorates.

● U.S. Steel: The first corporation in history with a capitalization of over one

billion dollars, at a time when the entire U.S. stock market was worth roughly

nine billion dollars. It was formed by J. P. Morgan, who purchased Andrew

Carnegie’s steel business and then went on to consolidate that whole industry.

● John D. Rockefeller: The richest American of all time, worth well over $300

billion when adjusted for inflation. He monopolized the oil industry with the

Standard Oil Company. While an avowed Social Darwinist, in his later years he

turned to philanthropy, such as by founding the University of Chicago among

other schools.

● Standard Oil Company: An oil refining company owned by John D.

Rockefeller. At its height, it controlled 95 percent of U.S. refineries through

consolidation. This business strategy is called horizontal integration. In 1911, the

Supreme Court ruled it an illegal monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and

split it into 34 companies. See: trust.

● Horizontal integration: The process of merging companies that all compete in

one aspect of a long production process, such as refinement in the oil industry,

thereby creating either a monopoly (total control by one company) or an

oligopoly (control by few companies). See: John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil

Company, trust, vertical integration.

● Trust: Also called a corporate trust, it was a common form of monopoly around

the turn of the twentieth century. Essentially, the stockholders of several

companies would sell their stock to the owner of a larger company in exchange

for trust certificates, which entitled them to a share of the profits as silent

partners. The several companies still technically existed but were now effectively

one entity. See: John D. Rockefeller, Square Deal, Theodore Roosevelt.

● Panic of 1893: An economic depression caused by the failure of the Reading

Railroad company and by over-speculation artificially inflating the price of

stocks. The market did not recover for almost four years. Investors began trading

in their silver for more valuable gold, depleting the already dangerously low

supply of gold. See: Grover Cleveland.

● Interlocking directorates: When the members of a company’s board of

directors also serve on the board of other companies, thus linking those

companies at the management level. This practice often leads to accusations of

corruption and conflict of interest. The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) would later

ban these by law if the companies were competing in the same industry, as such

interlocking directorates would be creating what were functionally monopolies.

● Monopolies: The total or near-total domination of an industry by one business.

Monopolies can artificially fix prices and stifle innovation, as a lack of

competition means they have little reason to reinvest their profits in improving

their products. See: Bill Gates, interlocking directorates, Gilded Age, horizontal

integration, robber barons, trusts.

● Laissez-faire: First articulated by the economist Adam Smith in his treatise

The Wealth of Nations, laissez-faire economics states that natural market forces,

not government regulations or subsidies, should control the marketplace.

However, the growth of monopolies during the Gilded Age prevented any natural

competition from occurring, leading to antitrust laws. The term derives from the

French for “let do,” or in essence “Let the economy run itself.”

Industrialization and Organized Labor

● Great Railroad Strike of 1877: A nationwide strike that took place from July

14 to September 4, 1877. More than 100,000 railroad workers were ultimately

involved, and the strike affected such cities as Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, St.

Louis, and Chicago. The state National Guardsmen were often called in, but most

militia members (and local residents) were sympathetic to the strikers.

Ultimately, President Rutherford B. Hayes authorized the use of federal troops to

break the strike. More than 100 workers were killed in the crackdown, and the

strikers gained nothing. However, it led to more organized unionizing efforts.

● Rutherford B. Hayes: Nineteenth President. Served 1877–1881. While a Civil

War veteran and a Republican, he ended Reconstruction as part of the

Compromise of 1877 to resolve the disputed 1876 election. Enacted modest civil

service reform. Ordered federal troops in to break up the Great Railroad Strike of

1877. Pledged not to run for reelection and returned to Ohio.

● Scabs: A type of strikebreaker. Specifically, someone who crosses a picket line of

striking workers in order to take up a striking worker’s job.

● Locking out: A practice where workers were locked out of their place of

employment before a strike even started, in order to avoid a sit-down strike or

work stoppage.

● Blacklisting: A method of subverting labor organizing. “Difficult” workers were

barred from being hired, or forced to knuckle under and sign a yellow-dog

contract.

● Yellow-dog contract: A document that a prospective employee was forced to

sign in order to secure a job. The worker agreed to not join a union. Compare:

closed shop, collective bargaining.

● National Labor Union: The first attempt to organize all workers nationwide.

Founded in 1866, its goals included better working conditions, higher wages, an

eight-hour workday, and equal rights for women and African Americans (but also

the exclusion of Chinese-Americans). Members included skilled and unskilled

workers as well as farmers; these groups had different, sometimes incompatible,

needs. The Panic of 1873 contributed to its decline, as did the failure of Great

Railroad Strike of 1877. See: Knights of Labor.

● Panic of 1873: A financial crisis that created an economic depression

(1873–1879). It had several interlocking causes that reflected the period’s

increasingly globalized economy. Initially referred to as the Great Depression

until the far more severe economic crisis of that name in the 1930s. See: National

Labor Union.

● Knights of Labor: Founded as a secret society in 1869, and elected Terence V.

Powderly its leader the following year 1879. Under his leadership, the union

announced itself in 1881. One of their strengths was that it was a broad industrial

union: all wage workers (skilled, unskilled, women, and minorities) were invited

to join. The Knights advocated for both economic and social reforms, such as the

development of labor cooperatives, an eight-hour workday, and federal

regulation of business. They preferred to use arbitration rather than violent

strikes. Entered terminal decline after the Haymarket Square Riot.

● Terence V. Powderly: Leader of the Knights of Labor. Elected in 1879, he

preferred use of arbitration to settle disputes between labor and management,

rather than violent strikes.

● Haymarket Square Riot: On May 4, 1886, a rally in support of the eight-hour

workday was held in Chicago’s Haymarket Square. When police began to break

up what had been a peaceful public meeting, someone in the crowd threw a bomb

at the police, and police fired into the crowd. Several dozens were killed. Rumors

circulated that alleged the Knights of Labor were tried to the anarchist bombing,

which fatally weakened the Knights. However, Haymarket Square ultimately

became a global rallying point for the eight-hour workday. May Day began, in

part, as an international commemoration for Haymarket Square.

● American Federation of Labor: Founded in 1886, the AFL was a federation

of 20 craft unions (unions of skilled workers, each representing a particular

trade). The AFL concentrated on what they considered to be basic economic

issues, such as the eight-hour workday and higher wages, rather than social

change. Because the AFL was made up of skilled rather than unskilled laborers,

their workers could not be as easily replaced by scabs if a strike were called. See:

collective bargaining, closed shops, National Labor Relations Act.

● Collective bargaining: The practice of negotiating between owners and a

designation group of employees that represent all other employees. Contrast

with: blacklisting, locking out, yellow-dog contract.

● Closed shops: Businesses in which all employees had to be members of the

union. Meant to deter exploitation of laborers by owners.

● Strikebreaking: The process of breaking a strike to avoid making concessions

to workers, either through violence or through the use of replacement workers. In

the nineteenth century, the government often sided with businesses, and would

authorize the use of the National Guard or U.S. Army troops on striking workers.

See: scabs.

● Homestead Strike: A major strike in 1892 at the Carnegie Steel Company’s

Homestead, Pennsylvania factory. After the workers went on strike, and the

factory’s manager hired 300 private Pinkerton detectives to protect the plant and

enable strikebreakers to enter and restart the steel operations. After an exchange

of gunfire between the Pinkerton men and the workers, nine strikers and seven

Pinkerton men were dead and many more people were wounded. Pennsylvania’s

governor sent in 8,000 state militia to assist scabs to enter the mill. It was a

major setback in unionizing the steel industry.

● Pullman Palace Car Company: A company that manufactured sleeping cars

for the railroads. Its owners constructed a “model town” for its employees outside

Chicago, where the company controlled everything, to the point of only renting

rather than selling homes to residents. When management, affected by the Panic

of 1893, terminated half the workers and announced a 25 percent wage cut,

Pullman Car workers went on strike. The protests spread nationwide. President

Cleveland eventually intervened to break the strike. The Labor Day holiday was

created as a conciliatory gesture towards U.S. labor in the aftermath of Pullman

and other strikes, as an alternative to the more radical May Day. See: Haymarket

Square Riot.

● Grover Cleveland: Twenty-second and twenty-fourth President. Only

president to serve non-consecutive terms, in 1885–1889 and 1893–1897. The

first Democratic Party president since before the Civil War. Supported the gold

standard. His second term was defined by the Panic of 1983, which caused a

severe depression. Sent federal troops in to break up the Pullman Strike. His

resolution of the Venezuelan crisis of 1895 began the reconciliation between the

United States and British Empire.

● In re Debs: A landmark 1895 Supreme Court case. It ruled that the use of court

injunctions to break strikes was justified in the support of interstate commerce.

In effect, the federal government had permitted employers to not deal with labor

unions. See: National Industrial Recovery Act.

Expansion and Conflict in the West

● Turner’s “Frontier Thesis”: An idea articulated by historian Frederick

Jackson Turner in 1893. He argued that the frontier’s existence shaped the

American character: a propensity for democracy, egalitarianism, individualism,

and violence, as well as a disinterest in high culture. However, by 1890 the U.S.

had no unsettled lands left. The Frontier Thesis partly reflects a then-budding

romanticization of the American West, leading to the preservation of wilderness

by conservationist and such things as the name for Kennedy’s “New Frontier”

agenda.

● Forty-Niners: Nickname for an influx of immigrants to California in 1849

seeking riches in the gold rush. A number of immigrants were Chinese.

● Greenback Party: A third party formed in 1874 and disbanded in 1889. It

existed alongside the Farmers’ Alliance. Its elements later merged into the

Populist Party.

● Homestead Act of 1862: A law that provided a settler with 160 acres of land if

he promised to live on it and work it for at least five years. About 500,000

families took advantage of the Homestead Act, while many more bought land

from private purveyors. Unfortunately, the parcels of land on the Great Plains

were difficult to farm, owing to lack of rain and hard-packed soil. Many

homesteaders left the land behind and returned home. See: sodbusters.

● Sodbusters: A nickname for homesteaders on the Great Plains. Life was

difficult there; drought was always a problem, and plagues of insects were a

constant nuisance. About two-thirds of the original homesteaders left the Great

Plains, draining the region of half of its population by the turn of the twentieth

century. See: Homestead Act of 1862.

The Farmer’s Plight

● National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry: Founded in 1867 by Oliver

H. Kelley, it was a kind of fraternity of farmers and their families. The Grange

sought to break the hold of railroad owners and middlemen who kept raising the

cost of farming by charging exorbitant prices for shipping and storage. The

Grangers gained cultivated significant political power, and they played an

important part in the rise of the Populist Party.

● Populist Party: Also known as the People’s Party. Their 1892 policy platform

advocated for a silver standard, a graduated income tax, direct election of U.S.

senators, and ownership of railroads, telegraph, and telephone lines. While the

Populists won five Western states in the 1892 election, the Democrats absorbed

their policies thanks to William Jennings Bryan.

● Munn v. Illinois: Supreme Court ruling (1877) that held a state had the right to

regulate the practices of a business if that business served the public interest.

Because railroad transportation was very much in the public’s interest, according

to the Court, state regulation of rates was appropriate. Despite these successes on

the state level, federal laws still protected interstate commerce and allowed

railroad companies to raise their long-haul rates in order to offset the losses on

short hauls. See: Interstate Commerce Act, Interstate Commerce Commission.

● Interstate Commerce Act: An 1887 law that which would regulate and

investigate railroad companies that participated in interstate rail trafficking. The

first example of the federal government regulating private industry in U.S.

history. See: Interstate Commerce Commission.

● Interstate Commerce Commission: Authorized under the Interstate

Commerce Act, the ICC originally investigated railroad companies in order to

ensure fair rates. However, in its early years the ICC lacked enforcement powers.

Farmers did not gain much from its formation, as they lost most of the cases

brought before it. In later decades, the ICC also regulated other sectors of

interstate commerce, such as busing, telegraphs, and telephones. Dissolved in

1996.

Impacts on American Indians in the West

● Battle of Little Bighorn: Sometimes called Custer’s Last Stand, it is the most

famous victory of American Indian forces over the U.S. military (although not the

largest in death toll). The Sioux killed over 260 troops and their leader, Lt.

Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The Sioux were hunted down and killed by

other U.S. forces. See: Northwest Indian War, Blue Turtle.

● George Custer: A Lt. Colonel who marched his column of men deep into Sioux

territory only to discover some 2,500 Sioux warriors waiting for them at the Little

Big Horn River. He and his men were then destroyed at the Battle of Little

Bighorn—also known as Custer’s Last Stand.

● Ghost Dance movement: A Dakota Sioux movement that began in 1870. It

intended to bring about a rebirth of native tradition and a repulsion of white

incursion. As part of the U.S. government’s efforts to suppress it, the respected

Sioux leader Sitting Bull, was killed.

● Battle of Wounded Knee: A massacre of over 200 American Indian men,

women, and children that took place in December 1890 in South Dakota. Over 20

soldiers involved were awarded the Medal of Honor.

● Dawes Severalty Act: An 1887 act which stripped tribes of their official federal

recognition and land rights and would only grant individual families land and

citizenship in 25 years if they properly assimilated. Former reservation land was

sold, and the proceeds funded “civilizing” ventures for natives, such as so-called

Indian Schools which were rampant with abuse and neglect. This

forced-assimilation policy remained the federal government’s way of dealing with

American Indians until 1934.

The New South

● Plessy v. Ferguson: Landmark Supreme Court case (1896) that upheld

segregation, codifying the doctrine of “separate but equal.” Partially overturned

by Brown v. Board of Education. Functionally overturned by the Civil Rights Act

of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

● Jim Crow laws: Laws that enforced segregation, primarily but not exclusively

in the South. The name references a famous nineteenth century blackface act

called Jump Jim Crow.

● Booker T. Washington: A self-educated former slave, he advocated for the

education of African Americans to allow them access to the growing economy.

His Tuskegee Institute in Alabama was founded to instruct African Americans in

the industrial arts and the ability to work within the system. Contrast with: W. E.

B. Du Bois.

Urbanization and Social Change

● Chinese Exclusion Act: Prompted by racist attitudes toward Chinese

immigrants in Los Angeles and San Francisco, this 1882 law restricted Chinese

immigration to the United States. See: Central Pacific Railroad, Emergency

Quota Act, Immigration Act of 1965, nativist.

● Nativists: Anti-immigrant activists in the nineteenth century. In this period,

many native-born Americans were Protestants of English ancestry. They disliked

the large numbers of Irish and Germans that began to arrive in the mid-1840s,

especially due to their Roman Catholic faith, which attracted paranoia about

them being a fifth column for the Pope. Many Central Europeans were also

leftists fleeing from prosecution after the failed Revolutions of 1848. On the West

Coast, Chinese immigrants prompted similar xenophobic sentiments. See:

American Party (Know-Nothing Party), Chinese Exclusion Act, Emergency Quota

Act.

● Tammany Hall: A famous political machine in New York City. Led by Boss

Tweed.

● Boss Tweed: A famous leader of the Tammany Hall political machine. He and

his fellow Irish gave aid to small business owners, immigrants, and the poor in

exchange for votes. A muckraking 1871 news story exposed his corruption. Tweed

fled the U.S., but was eventually captured by Spanish police. Died of heart failure

in 1878. See: Thomas Nast.

● Political machines: An authoritarian or oligarchical political organization that

commands political influence, voting blocs, and corporate influence in such a way

that they can decide (or strongly influence) the outcome of elections. Often

corrupt and prone to political patronage. Usually active at the city level, but

sometimes extends statewide. A target of reform during the Gilded Age. See:

direct primaries, Pendleton Civil Service Act, spoils system, Tammany Hall.

● Thomas Nast: A political cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, became Boss Tweed’s

archenemy as he drew scathing commentaries regarding the machine’s

corruption and greed. His cartoons were so famous that they led to the fugitive

Tweed’s 1876 capture in Spain. See: muckraker.

A Wave of Reform in the Gilded Age

● Social Gospel: An influential Protestant social justice movement in the late

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It stated that Christians had an

obligation to improve the lives of those less fortunate, especially the poor. Its

leaders encouraged many middle-class Protestants to join reform efforts, such as

those calling for laws banning child labor and making school compulsory for

children. Essentially, it was the religious wing of the Progressive movement.

● Settlement house movement: A social reform movement led by young female

activists, as they could not become involved in the political process. It aimed to

achieve social reform through mixed-incoming house, with people of different

classes living in one house. These houses often offered education and daycare.

The most famous of the settlement houses was Hull House in Chicago (1889).

See: Jane Addams.

● Jane Addams: A pioneer in the field of social work and winner of the 1931

Nobel Peace Prize, Addams is a major figure of the Progressive Era. She

innovated on the concept of the settlement house by having immigrants live with

college-educated people in order to ease their transition into American society.

Settlement house guests were taught courses in English, hygiene, and cooking.

Addams and others also pioneered some of the first instruction in child care.

Later, the pacifist Addams strongly opposed World War I and U.S. entry into it.

● Temperance movement: A long-running social justice movement that sought

to reduce the consumption of alcohol. The Victorian ideal of strict moral decorum

and the concern over Catholic immigration led to its revival after the Civil War.

The movement eventually hardened into a prohibition movement. Served as a

stand-in for social issues that could not be discussed openly, such as domestic

violence, and also as a soft form of nativism against German and Irish Americans.

See: Anti-Saloon League, Eighteenth Amendment, Mother Jones, Woman’s

Christian Temperance Union.

● Women’s Christian Temperance Union: Founded in 1873, the group

believed that prohibition would diminish threats to women and families that they

saw as the direct result of alcohol over-consumption: domestic violence, misspent

wages, and adultery. Later advocated for women’s suffrage under the leadership

of Frances Willard. Conducted missionary work.

● Frances Willard: A Christian socialist who advocated for women’s suffrage and

for prohibition. She became President of the Woman’s Christian Temperance

Union in 1879, giving the movement new life by adding a focus on lobbying for

laws to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages.

● Anti-Saloon League: Founded in 1893, the ASL quickly became the nation’s

leading prohibition advocacy group. It pushed aside earlier groups, like the

WCTU, by incorporating modern business management practice to better foster

its organization and goals.

● Carrie A. Nation: A Kentucky-born member of the Woman’s Christian

Temperance Union. Inspired by the death of her alcoholic husband, she traveled

the U.S. smashing up bars with her trademark hatchet. She also crusaded against

the evils of smoking tobacco, fought for women’s suffrage, and railed against the

restrictive women’s fashions of the day.

● Social Darwinists: The application of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to

society, specifically the concept of “survival of the fittest.” It attempted to explain

economic and social differences by arguing that wealth belonged in the hands of

those who were most fit to manage it. Many Social Darwinists believed that giving

assistance to the poor went against the natural order. See: Gospel of Wealth,

Horatio Alger, laissez-faire.

● Trickle down economics: An economic theory that argues the economy is best

stimulated by low taxes for both businesses and the wealthy, thus allowing them

to accumulate capital to spend. Thus, society as a whole benefits. See: Andrew

Carnegie, Reagan Revolution.

● Horatio Alger: An American novelist famous in the latter-half of the nineteenth

century for his “rags-to-riches” stories, such as Ragged Dick, that were intended

to inspire the poor to become wealthy industrialists. This character arc trope

became known as the “Horatio Alger myth.” See: Andrew Carnegie, laissez-faire,

rugged individualism, Social Darwinism.

Cultural Changes

● Elizabeth Cady Stanton: American suffragist and abolitionist who co-founded

the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890 with

Susan B. Anthony. Attended the Seneca Falls conference and was the principal

author of the Declaration of Sentiments.

● Susan B. Anthony: A noted abolitionist and women’s suffragist. She

co-founded the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in

1890. Died in 1906.

● National American Woman Suffrage Association: Formed in 1890, it

combined the once rival National Woman Suffrage Association and American

Woman Suffrage Association to fight for a woman’s right to vote. The NAWSA

organized several hundred state and local chapters. See: Elizabeth Cady Stanton,

Susan B. Anthony.

● Gilded Age: A period from the 1870s to 1900. While marked by massive

economic growth due to industrialization, it also led to equally massive economic

inequality. Backlash to this period manifested in the reforms of the Progressive

Era. See: robber barons.

● Frederick Law Olmsted: A notable American landscape architect. He

established open spaces in cities by designing spacious, densely planted,

meticulously planned parks. His most famous and influential work is the

landscaping of Central Park in New York City.

● Joseph Pulitzer: A pioneer of yellow journalism in the 1880s and rival to

William Randolph Hearst. He was associated with the Democratic Party in New

York. Today best remembered for establishing the Pulitzer Prize, an award for

achievements in journalism.

● William Randolph Hearst: A pioneer of yellow journalism in the 1880s and

rival to Joseph Pulitzer. Owned a media empire. He was associated with the

progressive movement. Today, he is best remembered for helping kick off the

Spanish-American War with his news coverage, as well as for the thinly veiled

portrayal of his biography in the 1941 classic Citizen Kane.

Six Things to Know about Period 7:

1. The United States continued its transition from an agricultural economy to an

industrial economy. In the 1920s, urban areas grew and employment

opportunities were on the rise. However, the United States would soon plunge

into the Great Depression.

2. Progressives across the country responded to political and economic uncertainty;

they called for greater government action regarding social issues such as women’s

suffrage, the prohibition of alcohol, political corruption, and economic inequality.

3. With new forms of mass media, modern culture was born in an era known as the

“Roaring Twenties,” also dubbed the “Jazz Age.” Americans debated larger social

issues such science, religion, gender roles, race, and immigration.

4. Major changes in migration occurred, as Americans and migrants from Asia and

Europe increasingly moved into urban areas. Nativist campaigns succeeded in

convincing the government to pass quotas and restrictions on immigration. The

“Great Migration” saw African Americans leave the racial violence and

segregation of the South and move to the North, where they sought better

economic opportunities.

5. In an attempt to end the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt

promoted his “New Deal” plan to assist the poor, provide employment, and

revitalize a stalling, weak economy. Through the New Deal, Roosevelt helped

define modern American liberalism and left a long-lasting legacy of political,

social, and economic reform.

6. America fought in three major wars during this period. The United States’ victory

in the Spanish-American War resulted in increased overseas territory. After a

period of relative peace, America entered World War I in 1917. The U.S. then

entered a short-lived period of isolationism before World War II.

The “Forgettable” Administrations

● Rutherford B. Hayes: Nineteenth President. Served 1877–1881. While a Civil

War veteran and a Republican, he ended Reconstruction as part of the

Compromise of 1877 to resolve the disputed 1876 election. Enacted modest civil

service reform. Ordered federal troops in to break up the Great Railroad Strike of

1877. Pledged not to run for reelection and returned to Ohio.

● James Garfield: Twentieth President. Served from March 4, 1981 until his

death on September 19, 1881. He was shot on July 2, 1881, but unsanitary

medical treatment caused a fatal infection to take root. Otherwise unnotable. See:

Chester A. Arthur.

● Chester A. Arthur: Twenty-first President. Served 1881–1885, but only

assumed office after President Garfield’s assassination. Mainly remembered for

the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which encouraged a merit-based system

for the civil service. Declined to run for reelection in 1884 due to poor health. He

died in November 1886 from a cerebral hemorrhage.

● Spoils system: A form of political corruption where a political parties rewards

its supporters with favors, often posts to public office. See: political machine,

Pendleton Civil Service Act.

● Gilded Age: A period from the 1870s to 1900. While marked by massive

economic growth due to industrialization, it also led to equally massive economic

inequality. Backlash to this period manifested in the reforms of the Progressive

Era. See: robber barons.

● Political machines: An authoritarian or oligarchical political organization that

commands political influence, voting blocs, and corporate influence in such a way

that they can decide (or strongly influence) the outcome of elections. Often

corrupt and prone to political patronage. Usually active at the city level, but

sometimes extends statewide. A target of reform during the Gilded Age. See:

direct primaries, Pendleton Civil Service Act, spoils system, Tammany Hall.

● Stalwarts: A term for a faction of the Republican Party that supported the party

patronage (spoils) system during the Gilded Age.

● Halfbreeds: A term for a faction of the Republican Party opposed to the party

patronage (spoils) system during the Gilded Age.

● Mugwumps: A term for a faction of the Republican Party neutral in regards to

party patronage (spoils) system during the Gilded Age, but who still advocated

modest reform of it.

● Grover Cleveland: Twenty-second and twenty-fourth President. Only

president to serve non-consecutive terms, in 1885–1889 and 1893–1897. The

first Democratic Party president since before the Civil War. Supported the gold

standard. His second term was defined by the Panic of 1983, which caused a

severe depression. Sent federal troops in to break up the Pullman Strike. His

resolution of the Venezuelan crisis of 1895 began the reconciliation between the

United States and British Empire.

● Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1881: A reform which encouraged a

merit-based system for the civil service over the then-predominant party

patronage (spoils) system. See: Chester A. Arthur.

Agrarian Discontent

● Benjamin Harrison: Twenty-third President. Served 1889–1893, and was

bookended by Cleveland’s two non-consecutive terms. Harrison supported the

passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act but did little to enforce it. His attempt at

securing voting rights for African Americans was unsuccessful. Modernized the

U.S. Navy with new warships.

● Farmers’ Alliance: An alliance of farmers in several states. The Alliance gained

membership, successfully seated senators and governors in several midwestern

states, and eventually morphed into the Populist Party.

● Populist Party: Also known as the People’s Party. Their 1892 policy platform

advocated for a silver standard, a graduated income tax, direct election of U.S.

senators, and ownership of railroads, telegraph, and telephone lines. While the

Populists won five Western states in the 1892 election, the Democrats absorbed

their policies thanks to William Jennings Bryan.

● Panic of 1893: An economic depression caused by the failure of the Reading

Railroad company and by over-speculation artificially inflating the price of

stocks. The market did not recover for almost four years. Investors began trading

in their silver for more valuable gold, depleting the already dangerously low

supply of gold. See: Grover Cleveland.

● Jacob Coxey: Also known as General Coxey. He led “Coxey’s Army” into

Washington, D.C. in 1894 and 1914 to demand that the Congress create jobs for

the unemployed. His ideas would contribute to the development of the Social

Security Act.

● Gold Bugs: A term for pro-gold standard Democrats, such as Grover Cleveland.

See: “Cross of Gold” speech.

● William Jennings Bryan: Nicknamed “The Great Commoner.” An outspoken

Christian fundamentalist and anti-imperialist, Bryan served as the Democratic

Party’s nominee for President on three separate occasions. He saved the party

from being overtaken by the insurgent Populist Party by co-opting its progressive

policies and rhetoric. Later served as the prosecutor in the Scopes Monkey Trial.

See: ACLU, “Cross of Gold” speech.

● “Cross of Gold” speech: A famous speech delivered by William Jennings

Bryan at the Democratic National Convention in 1896. In it, Bryan savaged the

gold standard in favor of bimetallism. The speech concluded with the line “you

shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” It won Bryan, a dark horse, the

Democratic nomination for President. Considered one of the greatest works of

American rhetoric.

● William McKinley: Twenty-fifth President. Served 1897–1901. A proponent of

the gold standard and a moderate between business and labor interests,

McKinley was assassinated six months into his second term by an anarchist.

McKinley oversaw U.S. involvement in the Spanish-American War, as well as the

subsequent extension of American control over Cuba and the Philippines. See:

Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Treaty of Paris (1898).

Origins of Progressivism

● Theodore Roosevelt: Twenty-sixth President. Served 1901–1909. A reformist

New York governor, Roosevelt was kicked upstairs by party bosses to the vice

presidency, which was seen as an unimportant office. After McKinley was

assassinated, Roosevelt became president at 42, the youngest ever. He pursued a

progressive domestic agenda called the Square Deal. In terms of foreign policy,

he forced through construction of the Panama Canal. He brokered an end to the

Russo-Japanese War, which secured him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. He

unsuccessfully attempted to run for a third, non-consecutive term in 1912. See:

Bull Moose Party, Rough Riders.

● Progressive Era: An era of social and political reform that began with the

swearing in of Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 and lasted until the beginning of U.S.

involvement in World War I in 1917. Antitrust legislation and labor reform were

key aspects of this era, along with support for women’s suffrage, direct election of

U.S. senators, and prohibition of alcohol. See: Frederick W. Taylor, Gilded Age,

political machines, Social Gospel, Square Deal.

● Social Gospel: An influential Protestant social justice movement in the late

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It stated that Christians had an

obligation to improve the lives of those less fortunate, especially the poor. Its

leaders encouraged many middle-class Protestants to join reform efforts, such as

those calling for laws banning child labor and making school compulsory for

children. Essentially, it was the religious wing of the Progressive movement.

● Joseph Pulitzer: A pioneer of yellow journalism in the 1880s and rival to

William Randolph Hearst. He was associated with the Democratic Party in New

York. Today best remembered for establishing the Pulitzer Prize, an award for

achievements in journalism.

● William Randolph Hearst: A pioneer of yellow journalism in the 1880s and

rival to Joseph Pulitzer. Owned a media empire. He was associated with the

progressive movement. Today, he is best remembered for helping kick off the

Spanish-American War with his news coverage, as well as for the thinly veiled

portrayal of his biography in the 1941 classic Citizen Kane.

● Muckrakers: A nickname for investigative journalists who seek to spur reform

and expose corruption. Originated during the Progressive Era. The term comes

from Theodore Roosevelt, who said: “. . . the men with the muck rakes are often

indispensable to the well being of society; but only if they know when to stop

raking the muck.”

State, Local, and Presidential Progressivism

● Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette: Governor and later U.S. Senator of

Wisconsin. A notable Republican from his party’s progressive wing, he forced the

introduction of direct primaries in his state, campaigned for child labor laws, a

minimum wage, and women’s suffrage. He opposed U.S. entry into World War I.

Ran for president as the Progressive Party candidate in 1924, but won only his

home state and roughly 17 percent of the national vote.

● Direct primaries: A process by which state voters nominate their own slate of

candidates as opposed to selection of the party ticket by the state legislature.

While standard in the present day it was first adopted by Wisconsin in 1906. See:

Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette.

● Seventeenth Amendment: Progressive Era reform that required the direct

election of U.S. senators by the people of their home state. Passed in 1913. Beside

the pro-democratic arguments for its passage, state legislatures favored the

amendment due to the protracted gridlock that selecting and confirming U.S.

senators was increasingly causing them.

● Square Deal: A progressive policy platform advocated by President Theodore

Roosevelt. It involved breaking up trusts, increasing government regulation of

business, pro-labor laws, and promoting environmental conservation. The New

Deal took its name from it. See: Hepburn Act, Meat Inspection Act, National

Conservation Commission, Northern Securities Company.

● Northern Securities Company: An example of progressivism during

Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. The railroad monopoly fought the president by

taking its case all the way to the Supreme Court. The court, however, upheld the

president’s position. Roosevelt’s victory gave him a reputation as a champion

“trust buster.” See: Elkins Act, Hepburn Act, Square Deal.

● Elkins Act: Passed in 1903, it allowed the Interstate Commerce Commission

(ICC) to prohibit rail companies from giving rebates and kickbacks to favored

customers. See: Square Deal.

● Hepburn Act: A 1906 law that allowed the ICC to regulate what rates railroad

lines could charge, ending the long-haul/short-haul price gouging that had been

the bane of farmers. See: Square Deal.

● Pure Food and Drug Act: A 1906 piece of progressive legislation. It ensured

the safety and accurate labelling of food and drug products. Inspired in part by

Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle, a story illustrating the poor conditions at

a Chicago meatpacking plant.

● Meat Inspection Act: A law passed in 1907 to ensure that meat sold in the U.S.

is properly preserved, chemically unadulterated, and generally unspoiled. See:

Square Deal.

● National Conservation Commission: A conservation committee established

by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. See: Square Deal, Turner’s “Frontier

Thesis.”

● William Howard Taft: Twenty-seventh President. Served 1909–1913. Tenth

Chief Justice (1921–1930). While a trust-busting Republican in Theodore

Roosevelt’s mold, he also had some sympathies with the party’s conservative

wing. Split the vote with Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party in the 1912 election,

allowing Woodrow Wilson to win the White House. Later appointed to the

Supreme Court, becoming the only person to have led both the executive and

judicial branches.

● Mann-Elkins Act: A law passed in 1910 that placed the regulation of

communications directly under the ICC. See: William Howard Taft.

● Sixteenth Amendment: Ratified in 1913, it authorized the federal government

to collect an income tax. See: Populist Party.

● Bull Moose Party: A short-lived third party formed by Theodore Roosevelt to

support his 1912 run for President. Officially named the Progressive Party, its

common name stems from a quote by Roosevelt that he was still “fit as a bull

moose” following an assassination attempt. See: New Nationalism.

● Woodrow Wilson: Twenty-eighth President. Served 1913–1921, although a

series of near-fatal strokes in late 1919 incapacitated him for the rest of his life,

and the remainder of his presidency was essentially run by his wife Edith. The

first Southern president since before the Civil War. When healthy, Wilson

supported a number of progressive reforms, such as the Federal Reserve Act and

the Clayton Antitrust Act. Implemented segregation throughout the executive

branch offices, including the Navy, which had never been segregated.

Internationally, he is famous for the Fourteen Points as well as his brainchild, the

League of Nations. Died in 1924.

● New Nationalism: A policy proposal by Theodore Roosevelt in the election of

1912. In contrast to Wilson’s New Freedom agenda, it proposed a smaller federal

government with less big business influence. It also sought to support

entrepreneurs and small businesses.

● New Freedom: A policy proposal by Woodrow Wilson in the election of 1912. In

contrast to Roosevelt’s New Nationalism agenda, it proposed that the

government take a larger role in regulating business. It also sought to grant

women voting rights and to support various federal assistance programs.

● Underwood Tariff Bill: A 1913 reform that significantly reduced tariff rates

and protected consumers by keeping the price of manufactured goods low. To

offset the loss of federal revenues from the lower tariff, President Wilson used the

power of the Sixteenth Amendment to have Congress enact a graduated income

tax.

● Panic of 1907: A financial crisis triggered by a stock manipulation scheme

involving the copper market, causing a panic and run on the banks. An economic

depression was averted by the intervention of banker J. P. Morgan, who

essentially bailed out the American banking system. Led to the creation of the

Federal Reserve System.

● Federal Reserve Act: Passed in 1913 in reaction to the Panic of 1907. It created

the Federal Reserve System.

● Federal Reserve System: Created in 1913, it consists of 12 regional banks that

are publicly controlled by the Federal Reserve Board but privately owned by

member banks. The system serves as the “lender of last resort” for all private

banks, holds and sells the nation’s bonds, and issues Federal Reserve

Notes—otherwise known as dollar bills—for consumers to purchase goods and

services. See: Second Bank of the United States.

● Clayton Antitrust Act: A 1914 law which strengthened provisions for breaking

up trusts and protected labor unions from prosecution under the Sherman

Antitrust Act. Labor leader Samuel Gompers hailed the bill as labor’s “Magna

Carta.” See: interlocking directorates.

● Federal Trade Commission: Created in 1914, the FTC is a regulatory agency

that monitors interstate business activities and forces companies who break laws

to comply with government’s “cease and desist” orders.

American Business and Consumerism

● Frederick W. Taylor: Author of the 1911 book The Principles of Scientific

Management, an influential book on scientific management (Taylorism). His

ideas were adapted by Henry Ford.

● Henry Ford: He applied Taylor’s principles of scientific management to make

factory production faster and more efficient, specifically with his automobile

factory assembly lines. This led to the creation and production of the Ford Model

T, the first affordable car.

● Warren G. Harding: Twenty-ninth President. Served from 1921 until August 2,

1923. Initially popular, various scandals (such as Teapot Dome) uncovered after

his death destroyed Harding’s reputation. Oversaw the Washington Naval

Conference. See: Calvin Coolidge, Ohio Gang.

● Ohio Gang/Poker Cabinet: A nickname for President Warren Harding’s

cabinet, as it was mostly made up of old friends from the president’s home state

who were knowledgeable in the areas in which they served. Had a well-earned

reputation for corruption.

● Calvin Coolidge: Thirtieth President. Served 1923–1929. Assumed the

presidency following Warren G. Harding’s death. Elected in 1924. Nicknamed

“Silent Cal” for his tight-lipped nature. He was a small-government conservative

and supported laissez-faire economics. Unsuccessfully called on Congress to

make lynching a federal crime.

● Washington Naval Conference: A 1921–1922 arms control conference that

reflected the antiwar mood of the 1920s. It attempted to limit battleships.

Belgium, Britain, China, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the

United States all attended. The Soviet Union was not invited due to its ongoing

ostracization from the international system during this period. Unintentionally

contributed to the development and popularization of the aircraft carrier, the key

naval weapon of World War II.

● Dawes Plan: A loan program crafted by Charles Dawes that enabled Germany

to pay its war reparations, thus lessening the financial crisis in Europe. It was

successful until the program ended with the U.S. stock market crash in 1929.

● Herbert Hoover: Thirty-first President. Served 1929–1933. A Quaker and

humanitarian, he famously led famine relief efforts in Europe after World War I,

as well as oversaw the response to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. However,

his response (or lack thereof) to the Great Depression destroyed his popularity.

Homeless encampments were dubbed Hoovervilles as a mocking honor. Signed

the Smoot–Hawley Act into law and supported Prohibition.

● Rugged individualism: A belief articulated by Herbert Hoover, which stated

that anyone could become successful in life through hard work. Influenced his

response to the Great Depression. See: Horatio Alger.

● Kellogg-Briand Pact: A 1928 pact which sought to foster world peace by

making offensive wars illegal throughout the world. Unfortunately, the pact did

not have any teeth: it did not prohibit defensive warfare or provide for

punishment of countries that disobeyed the pact.

● Good Neighbor Policy: A foreign policy initiative by FDR. Centered on Latin

America, it saw the withdrawal of American forces from Nicaragua and the

establishment of normalized relations between the United States and the nations

of Latin America. Its non-interference, non-interventionist doctrine lasted until

the start of the Cold War. See: Roosevelt Corollary.

The Great Depression

● Black Tuesday: The name for the worst stock market crash in U.S. history,

which occurred on October 29, 1929. A common starting point for the Great

Depression.

● Hawley-Smoot Tariff: An ill-considered 1930 response to the Great

Depression. It raised the tariff on imported goods from 30 to 50 percent,

sparking a global trade war that worsened the economic crisis. Over a thousand

economists signed a petition opposing its passage.

● Reconstruction Finance Corporation: A 1932 response to the Great

Depression, created by Congress during the Hoover administration. The

corporation was eventually given authority to issue loans to assist railroads,

banks, and municipalities to prevent them from collapsing. However, the RFC

benefited only the wealthy instead of those truly in need.

● Bonus Army: A group of World War I veterans, who marched on Washington in

1932 to demand the early release of bonuses Congress had promised to pay in

1945. The Bonus Bill, however, was not passed by Congress. Soldiers used tear

gas and tanks on the unarmed protesters. The U.S. Army also burned the

encampment, driving away the veterans.

● Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Thirty-second President. Served 1933–1945.

Elected to four terms, and the only president to do so. FDR oversaw the response

to the Great Depression in the New Deal, led the U.S. through most of World War

II, approved the Manhattan Project, and laid the groundwork for the postwar

international system. Paralyzed after a 1921 bout with polio, FDR carefully hid his

disability with the help of the press. Died in office; succeeded by Harry Truman.

See: Atlantic Charter, Big Three, Eleanor Roosevelt, Executive Order 9066,

United Nations.

● Eighteenth Amendment: The “noble experiment” in banning alcohol in the

United States. This period was known as Prohibition. In practice, narrow

exemptions were made for medical necessity or for religious rites that required

sacramental wine. Took effect in 1920. Repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment

in December 1933. See: speakeasies.

● Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the United States (1933–1945). United States

Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly (1945–1952). First chair of the

U.N. Commission on Human Rights (1946–1952) and oversaw the drafting of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. A

vocal supporter of civil rights. Died 1962.

● Brain Trust: A group of economists, professors, and politicians that advised

FDR on matters of economic and political policy. Comparable to Andrew

Jackson’s Kitchen Cabinet.

● New Deal: A series of domestic policy initiatives and social welfare programs

proposed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It sought to alleviate the suffering of the

Great Depression with massive government spending, thus avoiding a potential

communist or fascist revolution. See: Great Society, Keynesian theory, Reagan

Revolution, Second New Deal, Square Deal.

● Emergency Banking Relief Act: Passed on March 3, 1933, it reopened

solvent banks after the nationwide Bank Holiday. Announced by FDR in the first

of his fireside chats.

● Fireside chats: Weekly radio addresses intended to inform and reassure the

American public. Started by FDR in 1933, and maintained by all presidents since

then. George W. Bush adapted the practice to podcasting. Barack Obama adapted

it to streaming-video, a practice continued by Donald Trump.

● Public Works Administration: A New Deal program established during the

FDR’s first hundred days. The PWA employed thousands of Americans to rebuild

the country’s infrastructure.

● Tennessee Valley Authority: A program of the First New Deal, the TVA

worked to electrify the impoverished Tennessee Valley with hydroelectric power.

● Second New Deal: A program of the First New Deal, the TVA worked to

electrify the impoverished Tennessee Valley with hydroelectric power.

● Works Progress Administration: A program of the Second New Deal, the

WPA encouraged more public works projects and the employment of

nontraditional workers—artists, writers, and young people—to build bridges,

refurbish parks, write plays, and paint murals.

● Social Security Act: Passed in 1935, the SSA guaranteed income for retirees,

the disabled, and the unemployed. Unfortunately, the law was biased—it did not

apply to millions of agricultural and service workers, such as domestics, nannies,

and janitors, who were largely African American. A major U.S. social safety net

program.

● Keynesian theory: An economic policy that states that governments should

spend that which it does not have—in other words, resort to deficit spending. By

the government increasing spending, it would “prime the pump” by spurring an

increase in demand that would eventually increase the need for employees. See:

Great Depression, New Deal.

Organized Labor Gains

● National Industrial Recovery Act: Part of the First New Deal, the NIRA was

the most proactive legislation to date (circa 1933) in protecting the rights of

workers and organized labor. Its board set maximum work hours, minimum

wages, and price floors. It was also responsible for setting production quotas and

inventories to prevent overproduction or price gouging. Later ruled

unconstitutional in 1935. Importantly for organized labor, the NIRA guaranteed

labor the right to organize and collectively bargain. In re Debs, See: National

Labor Relations Act.

● National Labor Relations Act: Also called the Wagner Act, it strengthened

the language of the NIRA. It still stands as the foundation of U.S. labor law, and

created the National Labor Relations Board.

● American Federation of Labor: A group composed mainly of skilled workers

who did not agree that unions should protect all workers. Members of the AFL

who wished to extend union membership broke away to form the Congress of

Industrial Organizations.

● Congress of Industrial Organizations: The CIO organized laborers in

America’s heavy industrial sector such as steel, automobiles, and mines. By 1938,

the CIO was completely independent of the AFL, which it had split from. Led by

John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers.

● Fair Labor Standards Act: A law passed during the Second New Deal. It

established a federal minimum wage and set the maximum hours for workers

employed by interstate businesses. It also ensured an end to child labor.

● United Auto Workers: Under the protections provided by the Fair Labor

Standards Act, the UAW organized a sit-down strike of assembly line employees

at General Motors in 1936 and 1937. When the government refused to intervene

between labor and management, the companies reluctantly went to the

bargaining table and formally recognized the UAW as an official party with which

to negotiate worker contracts.

New Deal Support and Criticism

● American Liberty League: A group of anti-FDR Democrats who opposed the

New Deal on grounds that it was socialist. They promoted the concerns of big

business and advocated for small government. Tried unsuccessfully to unseat

FDR during the 1936 election.

● Huey P. “Kingfish” Long: Louisiana Senator and demagogue. He advocated

for a “Robin Hood” plan to take from the rich and give to the poor called Share

Our Wealth. His plan would impose heavy taxes on inheritance and estates to

fund a minimum salary of $2,000 a year for every American. Long argued that

the New Deal was not enough to aid the country’s most needy citizens.

Assassinated in September 1935.

The Great Depression’s Effects on American Society

● Great Depression: The name for a global economic depression that took place

from 1929 and lasted until the outbreak of World War II. The massive social and

political disruption it caused due to the loss of wealth and a spike in

unemployment contributed to instability throughout the world, and led to the

rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. See: Black Tuesday, Hawley-Smoot Tariff,

Keynesian theory, New Deal, Second New Deal.

● Dust Bowl: A severe drought that hit the Great Plains in the 1930s, killing most

of its crops. The topsoil turned to a fine, powdery dust that blew away with the

hot winds. Many of these farmers and their families flocked to California and

earned the pejorative nickname “Okies,” as many came from the panhandle

regions of Oklahoma or Texas.

● Indian Reorganization Act: A 1934 law that replaced the Dawes Act of 1887,

returning lands to the tribes and giving support to Americans Indians to

reestablish self-governance.

Women’s Roles and Suffrage

● Triangle Shirtwaist Factory: An infamous sweatshop fire in New York City

on March 25, 1911. 146 out of 500 women and girls, some as young as 15, either

died in the blaze or from jumping from the top floors in a desperate bid to escape.

While the factor owners were acquitted of any wrongdoing, despite knowing the

exits and fire escapes were locked, it led to massive reforms in factory conditions.

● Mother Jones: Born Mary Harris Jones. A female labor activist who traveled

the country, even after she lost her ability to write and walk unassisted.

Coordinated major strikes. Co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World. Died

in 1930 at age 93.

● National American Woman Suffrage Association: A women’s suffrage

organization founded in 1890. See: Carrie Chapman Catt, National Woman’s

Party, Susan B. Anthony.

● Carrie Chapman Catt: Became leader of the National American Woman

Suffrage Association in 1900. An outspoken advocate of women’s suffrage, she

believed that women could only guarantee protections for themselves and their

children through voting.

● Alice Paul: American suffragist and women’s rights activist. In 1920, she

founded the National Woman’s Party, a splinter group of the National American

Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), which she led for the next fifty years.

Argued for the inclusion of women as a protected category in the Civil Rights Act

of 1964. See: Equal Rights Amendment.

● National Woman’s Party: A splinter group of the National American Woman

Suffrage Association, led by Alice Paul. Founded in 1916, disbanded in 1997. It

focused on the ratification of a constitutional amendment securing women’s

suffrage nationwide. Later sought to secure equal rights for women, such as with

the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

● Nineteenth Amendment: Ratified in 1920, it granted women the right to vote.

● League of Women Voters: An organization founded by Carrie Chapman Catt

after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. It exists to assist female

voters.

African Americans at the Turn of the Century

● Booker T. Washington: An African American activist who argued that his

people needed the skills necessary to work within the white world. In essence, he

argued that blacks needed to make themselves economically successful before

they could become equal to whites. This view came to be known as

accommodation. Contrast with: W. E. B. Du Bois.

● W. E. B. Du Bois: An African American intellectual who believed that his

people should demand nothing less than social and political equality with whites;

only then would blacks gain economic success. Contrast with: Booker T.

Washington. See: Niagara Movement.

● Niagara Movement: A 1905 meeting at Niagara Falls organized by W. E. B. Du

Bois. It discussed possible forms of protest and formulated a plan of action to

advance the cause of African American equality. It is a direct precursor to the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

● National Association for the Advancement of Colored People: The

NAACP was founded on February 12, 1908. It seeks to end all racial

discrimination, segregation, and disenfranchisement. See: Niagara Movement.

● Great Migration: A period beginning around 1910 which saw millions of

African Americans move from the South to northern cities. This was to take

advantage of economic opportunities in the North, often to escape from the

exploitation system of sharecropping.

Modern American Culture

● Jazz Age/Roaring Twenties: An era from 1920 to 1929 that experienced a

cultural explosion similar to that of the antebellum period. Jazz music became

the music of choice for young people and urbanites. As leisure time increased,

radio and movies became popular. The “Lost Generation” was made up of

authors and poets, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, reacted to the impact of technology

and business by creating realist or early surrealist works that portrayed America

without the glitter of consumerism.

● Harlem Renaissance: A term for a cultural flowering in the New York City

neighborhood of Harlem during the 1920s. Harlem became the center of African

American culture during this period. It helped to change the perception of

African Americans.

● American Civil Liberties Union: Founded in 1920, the ACLU is an

organization dedicated to the absolutist protection of Constitutional liberties,

especially those of the First Amendment. In the 1920s, they appointed Clarence

Darrow as defense in the Scopes Monkey Trial.

● John Scopes: A biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, arrested and brought to

trial in 1925 for teaching the theory of evolution. While he was found guilty and

fined $100, his conviction was overturned on a legal technicality. See: ACLU,

Clarence Darrow.

● Clarence Darrow: The defense attorney in the Scopes Monkey Trial, in which

he represented teacher John Scopes. See: ACLU.

● Speakeasies: Secret clubs that served alcohol. Visitors needed to know the

password and whisper it, or “speak easy,” to gain entrance. Had the side effect of

normalizing women drinking in public establishments, which had been rare prior

to Prohibition and seen as immoral.

● Emergency Quota Act (Immigration Act): A 1921 law that set a strict limit

on individuals from each nation of origin based on the 1910 census. In practice,

this biased immigration in favor of northern and western Europeans. Repealed by

the Immigration Act of 1965. See: nativists.

● Flappers: A type of middle and upper-class woman in the 1920s. So named

because they were not unlike baby birds flapping their wings and leaving the nest.

Flappers cut their hair into short bobs, wore short skirts, rolled down their

stockings to reveal their knees, drank alcohol, and danced the Charleston. While

few in number, their behavior was very public and raised concerns among

traditionalists.

New Imperialism

● Seward’s Folly: Nickname for the 1867 purchase of Alaska from the Russian

Empire for a $7.2 million. So named because Secretary of State William H.

Seward brokered the deal for what was then popularly seen as a worthless icebox.

Later, gold and oil were discovered in great quantities in Alaska, making the deal

a steal. Russia sold Alaska to the United States to keep it out of the hands of its

geopolitical rival, Britain, which seemed poised to eventually seize the land.

● Yellow journalism: A term for journalism that produced juicy stories, both

real and wildly sensationalized, designed to drive newspaper readership,

sometimes at the expense of the truth. See: Joseph Pulitzer, muckrakers,

Spanish-American War, William Randolph Hearst.

● Teller Amendment: Added to the war declaration on Spain, it assured Cuba

and the world that the United States intended to grant Cuba its independence

once the war ended. This turned out not to be the case. See: Platt Amendment,

Spanish-American War.

● Spanish-American War: A war between the United States and Spain (April

21, 1898–August 13, 1898). Ostensibly triggered by the alleged sinking of the

Maine by Spanish forces, it involved the United States aiding independence

efforts in Cuba to protect financial investments there, as well as to safeguard the

Gulf Coast from a free Cuba potentially leasing its ports to foreign powers. The

United States took control of Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and several

other islands. Also led to the Philippine–American War and subsequent Moro

Rebellion (1899–1913). See: Fidel Castro, Platt Amendment, Rough Riders,

Treaty of Paris (1898), yellow journalism.

● Rough Riders: A volunteer force of college students, cowboys, and adventurers

led by Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War. They famously

battled for control of San Juan Hill in Cuba with the heavy assistance of the

Fourteenth Regiment Colored.

● Treaty of Paris of 1898: The peace treaty that ended the Spanish-American

War. It turned Cuba, Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico over to the United

States. The treaty also signaled the end of Spain as a world power and the

beginning of the United States as a rising one.

● Insular Cases: A 1901 court decision which ruled that a citizen in a conquered

territory did not necessarily have the protection of the Constitution. It was up to

Congress to decide the rights of the peoples in the newly conquered territories.

See: Spanish-American War.

● Platt Amendment: A 1903 policy issued by the U.S. after the

Spanish-American War. Cuba had to have all treaties approved by the United

States; the United States had the right to interfere in Cuban affairs both

politically and militarily; and the United States would be given access to naval

bases on the island.

● Open Door Policy: A policy articulated by Secretary of State John Hay, who

served in both the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations. It declared that

China would be open and free to trade equally with any nation. The policy was

wildly popular in the United States, as it kept Chinese markets open to American

business while outwardly avoided the taint of imperialism. Unsurprisingly, it was

denounced and resisted in China due to it being a thinly veiled justification for

violating their sovereignty. Contributed to the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion.

● Big stick diplomacy: A pejorative label for Teddy Roosevelt’s foreign policy,

especially in Panama, that referenced his repeated threats to use military force

while negotiating peacefully.

● Roosevelt Corollary: An amendment to the Monroe Doctrine issued by

Theodore Roosevelt. It stated that the United States would come to the aid of any

Latin American nation experiencing financial trouble. In essence, the United

States gained total control of Latin America through the corollary. See: Good

Neighbor Policy.

World War I

● U-boat: A term for German submarines, from unterseeboot (“underwater boat”).

Upon their introduction, they were seen as a ghastly weapon that violated the

gentlemanly rules of warfare. The sinking of several ocean liners, such as the

Lusitania, led to the deaths of American citizens and the entry of the United

States into World War I. See: Zimmermann Telegram.

● Zimmerman Telegram: A diplomatic letter from German Foreign Secretary

Zimmermann to the Mexican president, promising him that if his country

assisted Germany in a possible war against the United States, Mexico would be

given back the territory lost in the Mexican-American War. A contributing factor

to U.S. entry into World War I.

● Fourteen Points speech: A speech given by President Wilson in 1918. It

outlined his vision for the war aims and peace terms of the United States in

World War I.

● War Industries Board: An agency established by the federal government

during World War I. It sought to control production, wages, and the prices of

goods.

● Selective Service Act: Commonly referred to simply as “The Draft.” It

provided for all American males between the ages of 21 to 35 to register for

compulsory military service. This was the first time a peacetime military draft

had been initiated, signaling that the president’s stance was shifting from

isolationism to interventionism.

● Espionage Act: A 1917 law aimed at German-Americans and antiwar activists.

It prohibited interfering with military recruitment and any support of enemy

nations in wartime. Although parts have been repealed over time, the Espionage

Act remains in effect, and has been used to prosecute people even in the 2010s.

Used against many dissidents, from Eugene V. Debs to Daniel Ellsberg.

● Sedition Act (1918): A law passed during World War I that limited the right to

free speech. Antiwar activists and socialists, such as Eugene V. Debs, were

targeted, arrested, and jailed.

● League of Nations: A precursor to the United Nations, proposed by Woodrow

Wilson in his Fourteen Points. Article X of the League’s charter called for

members to stand at the ready if another member nation’s sovereignty was being

threatened. This killed the charter’s chances of ratification in the U.S., as it

seemed to promise future wars. See: reservationists, irreconcilables.

● Reservationists: A group led Republican senator Henry Cabot Lodge that

agreed to ratify the League of Nations treaty only if reservations, such as the

ability to leave the League and international acceptance of the Monroe Doctrine,

were added to the League’s covenant. See: irreconcilables.

● Irreconcilables: A group led by Senators Hiram Johnson and William Borah

who refused to ratify the League of Nations treaty under any circumstances. See:

reservationists.

American Economy and Society after the Great War

● Red Scare: Ran from 1917 through the 1920s. A period of social anxiety and

paranoia concerned with communist and anarchist infiltration throughout

society. Driven by events such as the nationalism of World War I, labor unrest,

nativism, and most especially the 1917 Russian Revolution that established the

world’s first communist state in the Soviet Union. Led to a series of mass arrests

and deportations in 1919–1920 known as the Palmer Raids.

International Problems and World War II

● Adolf Hitler: Führer of Germany (1934–1945). Leader of the Nazi Party. A

decorated World War I veteran, he became dictator of Germany and started both

European fronts of World War II. A driving force behind the Holocaust, he used

Jewish people as a scapegoat for Germany’s loss in World War I. His hatred for

Bolsheviks and Slavic people led him to formulate a plan to colonize Eastern

Europe, enslaving or genociding the people already living there. Hitler committed

suicide near the end of the Battle of Berlin, to avoid capture by vengeful Soviet

troops.

● Treaty of Versailles: The peace treaty that officially ended World War I, but

not ratified by the United States, which secured a separate peace in 1921. The

treaty’s terms were extremely harsh but, as time went on, laxly enforced,

resulting in the worst of both worlds. They contributed to Germany’s postwar

economic turmoil while allowing for the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

See: Dawes Plan, Fourteen Points.

● Benito Mussolini: Also known as “Il Duce.” Following October 1922’s March

on Rome, he became Prime Minister of Italy. Formulated the core concepts of

fascism, which were embraced leaders like Adolf Hitler. Aimed to create a new

Italian Empire, although his reach usually far exceeded the grasp of his abilities.

Killed in April 1945 and famously hung on a meat hook.

● Joseph Stalin: Longtime dictator of the Soviet Union. After Lenin’s 1924 death,

Stalin consolidated power and eliminated rivals, ruling with an iron fist until his

own death on March 5, 1953. Favored centralization and collectivization. Purged

millions through man-made famine, imprisonment in gulags, and executions. He

and Hitler struck a surprise non-aggression pact and divided Poland. See: Big

Three.

● Winston Churchill: British politician and writer. Served as Prime Minister of

the United Kingdom twice (1950–1945, 1951–1955). Best remembered in the

West for his early opposition to Adolf Hitler and the policy of appeasement, as

well as for his leadership of the British Empire during World War II. See: Iron

Curtain.

● Atlantic Charter: An Anglo-American policy statement issued in August 1941.

Negotiated by Roosevelt and Churchill, it declared that free trade and the

self-determination of peoples would be the cornerstones of the post-WWII

international system. However, the idea of self-determination was not applied

evenly to the British Empire, especially India. See: International Monetary Fund,

United Nations, World Bank.

● Pearl Harbor: A lagoon harbor located on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Home to

a major U.S. Navy base. On December 7, 1941 it was the target of an infamous

surprise attack by Japan. 2,403 Americans were killed and several U.S. Navy

ships were destroyed. Inflamed a previously lukewarm American public opinion

about involvement in World War II.

World War II: A Two-Front War

● Big Three: A label for the leaders of the “Grand Alliance,” the three major Allied

powers in World War II: Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph

Stalin. See: Yalta Conference.

● Yalta Conference: A February 1945 meeting of the Big Three. It finalized their

plans for postwar Europe, with the division of Germany into four occupied

military zones and Stalin agreeing to allow free elections in Eastern Europe.

Stalin also agreed to enter the war against Japan within three months of

Germany’s surrender. Yalta also yielded the skeleton framework for the United

Nations. See: Atlantic Charter, Berlin Airlift, Berlin Wall, Cold War.

● United Nations: An intergovernmental organization chartered in October 1945

to mediate disputes between nations. Its headquarters is located in New York

City. All recognized nations are granted seats in the General Assembly. However,

veto power is reserved to the five permanent members of the Security Council,

who represent the victorious world powers of World War II: Nationalist China

(now held by the People’s Republic of China), France, the Soviet Union (now held

by Russia), the United Kingdom, and the United States. See: Atlantic Charter, Big

Three, Eleanor Roosevelt, League of Nations, Yalta Conference.

● Dwight D. Eisenhower: A five-star general, Ike acted as Supreme Commander

of the Western Allies in Europe. He oversaw the invasion of North Africa and the

Normandy landings. Anticipating the rise of Holocaust denialism, he took steps

to see Nazi death camps were extensively photographed and recorded on film.

This evidence was soon used at the Nuremberg trials. Later served as the 34th

President (1953–1961).

● D-Day: A common name for the Normandy landings, although it technically only

refers to the initial landing operation on June 6, 1944. The Western Allies

invaded along five beachheads, gaining a foothold in Nazi-occupied France. 2,499

Americans died out of 4,414 total Allied fatalities. Often dramatized in movies

and video games.

● Battle of the Bulge: The last major German offensive on the Western Front. It

took place in December 1944, and aimed to encircle the Allied armies, hold them

hostage to force a peace treaty, and thus allow Germany to focus its full attention

on the Soviets. Despite suffering heavy losses, the Allies were able to recover and

continue their push toward Germany.

● Final Solution: Formally, the Final Solution to the Jewish Question. The Nazi

plan for the extermination of the Jewish people, which resulted in the Holocaust.

● V-E Day: Shorthand for “Victory in Europe Day.” Took place on Tuesday, May 8,

1945.

● Harry S. Truman: World War I veteran who led an artillery regiment. Missouri

Senator (1935–1945) elected with aid of the Pendergast machine. He later gained

a reputation for investigating military waste. Vice President from January 20,

1945 to April 12, 1945. Ascended to the presidency upon FDR’s death. He ordered

the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan and oversaw the final phases of both

the Western and Pacific Fronts. See: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

● Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Japanese cities destroyed in 1945 by atomic

bombs. Hiroshima was struck on August 6 by the “Little Boy” bomb dropped by

the Enola Gay, killing 80,000 instantly and 135,000 in the long-term total.

Nagasaki was struck on August 9 by the “Fat Man” bomb dropped by the

Bockscar, killing another 80,000 in total.

World War II’s Impact on American Society

● Office of War Information: The OWI was organized during World War II to

produce radio shows and news reels to keep Americans apprised of events

overseas. It aimed to keep American morale high and to increase support for the

war.

● Rosie the Riveter: A piece of American propaganda during World War II that

exalted women’s war work See: Office of War Information.

● Zoot Suit Riots: A series of California race riots in summer 1943. Sailors

roamed the streets of Los Angeles and Long Beach attacking young “zooters”:

Mexican-American teens who wore long coats, flashy colors, and long hairstyles.

Due to rationing of fabric to support the war effort, the teens were considered

unpatriotic for such extravagance. A special commission appointed by Governor

Earl Warren found that the riots were not caused by the sailors and the police.

● Navajo code talkers: A group of American Indian volunteers during World

War II. They translated U.S. documents and order into their native language so

that enemy forces could not decipher their content.

● Internment camps: A series of government-run camps on the West Coast

where 100,000 Japanese-Americans were imprisoned during World War II. See:

Executive Order 9066.

● Executive Order 9066: An order issued by President Roosevelt in 1942 in

reaction to the paranoia that American citizens of Japanese ancestry might turn

against their adopted country to aid Japan in an invasion of the West Coast. The

Supreme Court upheld the decision to intern these citizens in the case Korematsu

v. United States (1944), stating that in times of war, the curbing of civil rights was

justified and that the court could not second-guess military decisions.

Post-World War II Recovery

● GI Bill: a 1944 law which provided funding for a college education, as well as

low-interest home and small business loans. For 15 million soldiers returning

from war, the GI Bill provided the opportunity to secure a career and purchase a

home. Facilitated the postwar “baby boom.”

● Taft-Hartley Act: A 1947 amendment to the National Labor Relations Act that

garnered the support of big business. While vetoed by Truman, it was enacted by

a congressional override. The act outlawed “closed-shop” workplaces, limited

boycotts, and allowed the president to obtain an 80-day injunction against any

strike deemed a danger to national health or safety. Under it, organized labor lost

much of the ground it had gained during the New Deal.

● Rust Belt: A region of the United States centered around the Great Lakes and

upper Midwest. The term references the post-World War II economic decline of the country’s former industrial heart land

Six Things to Know about Period 8:

1. The United States positioned itself as a global leader. The Cold War, an escalating

struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, defined this period.

Fearing the expansion of communism, the United States got involved in two

major military engagements in Korea and Vietnam.

2. Initially, there was major American support for an anti-communist foreign

policy. As the war in Vietnam dragged on, however, mass antiwar protests broke

out across the United States. Passionate debates over war in southeast Asia, the

proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the power of the executive branch were all

central to the politics of this period.

3. Civil rights activists energized a new nationwide movement for racial progress.

Martin Luther King Jr. used the strategies of nonviolent protests, direct action,

and legal battles. The landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of

Education (1954) was a significant achievement for civil rights activists, but

progress was slow and resistance was high.

4. Spurred by the civil rights movement, other social movements advocated their

causes. Debates raged over issues such as sexuality, gender, the environment, and

economic equality, and the counterculture of the 1960s emerged.

5. In the 1960s, President Johnson’s Great Society program attempted to use the

power of the federal government to eliminate poverty, end racial discrimination,

and promote social justice. Fearing a cultural and moral decline, conservatives

challenged such actions and sought to limit the role of the federal government.

6. In the 1970s, the public grew increasingly distrustful of the government’s ability

to solve problems. This distrust reached a peak with the Watergate scandal, the

stalemate in Vietnam, and President Nixon’s resignation from office.

Key Topics-- Period 8 (1945-1980 C.E.)

Remember that the AP US History exam tests you on the depth of your knowledge, not

just your ability to recall facts. While we have provided brief definitions here, you will

need to know these terms in even more depth for the AP US History exam, including

how terms connect to broader historical themes and understandings.

The Origins of the Cold War

● Joseph Stalin: Longtime dictator of the Soviet Union. After Lenin’s 1924 death,

Stalin consolidated power and eliminated rivals, ruling with an iron fist until his

own death on March 5, 1953. Favored centralization and collectivization. Purged

millions through man-made famine, imprisonment in gulags, and executions.

After his death, Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin’s actions and cult of

personality, and he undertook steps to reform the Soviet system.

● Iron curtain: A metaphor for the dividing line between the West and the Soviet

Union. Coined by Winston Churchill in a March 1946 speech delivered in Fulton,

Missouri.

The Truman Administration

● Harry S. Truman: Thirty-third President. Served 1945–1953. Desegregated the

U.S. military. Help found the United Nations and pushed for the Marshall Plan.

Reformed U.S. foreign policy toward internationalism, with a focus on

containment of communism. Oversaw early Cold War conflicts, like the Berlin

Airlift and the Korean War. Ordered the use of atomic weapons on the cities of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Narrowly won reelection in a 1952 upset.

● George Marshall: Former Army Chief of Staff (1939–1945). Secretary of State

(1947–1949) and Secretary of Defense (1950–1951) under Truman. A five-star

general, he is credited with the Marshall Plan, a foreign aid package that helped

Western Europe rebuild after World War II.

● Marshall Plan: A program proposed by George Marshall in 1947. Supplied $13

billion to Western Europe, enabling its postwar economic boom and ending the

threat of mass starvation.

● Berlin Airlift: A major crisis in the early Cold War. From June 1948 to May

1949, the Soviet Union blockaded the West’s land access to Berlin. President

Truman responded by airlifting in supplies around the clock, putting the onus for

starting WWIII on the Soviets.

● North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): A military alliance formed by

the Western Allies of World War II to deter Soviet aggression. It guarantees

collective defense under the rule that an attack on one member is an attack on all

members.

● Warsaw Pact: A collective defense arrangement similar to NATO, to protect the

Eastern bloc from Western aggression. It also served to solidify Soviet control

over Eastern Europe. Dissolved in 1991.

● National Security Act: A landmark 1947 act that restructured the U.S.

government’s military and national security agencies. Established the National

Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense,

and an independent U.S. Air Force.

● Department of Defense: Formerly known as the War Department, it was

reorganized by the National Security Act of 1947 into the DoD. A cabinet-level

office. Military officers are forbidden from serving as the Secretary of Defense

until seven years after their retirement, barring a waiver from Congress, in order

to ensure civilian control over the military.

● National Security Council: It coordinates national security and foreign policy

among multiple agencies and departments. It also advises the President. Its

membership includes the Secretaries of Defense, Energy, and State; the Joint

Chiefs of Staff; and other advisors.

● Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): The CIA is a foreign intelligence service

founded in 1947. It is the successor of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). In

the mid 1970s, the Church Committee investigated the CIA for a string of abuses;

as a result, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was formed to oversee

the CIA.

Cold War Policy in Asia

● Mao Tse-Tung: Chinese communist revolutionary. Founding father of the

People’s Republic of China, which he ruled until his death in 1976. Defeated the

Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War. His rapid industrialization program, the

Great Leap Forward, killed millions from famine. From 1966 to 1976, the Cultural

Revolution, which sought to reimpose Maoist ideology on China and purge

dissident thought, killed between five and ten million people, causing major

social disruption in the process. Achieved détente with Nixon following the

Sino-Soviet split.

● Korean War: Nicknamed “the Forgotten War.” De facto ran from June 1950 to

July 1953, but the lack of a formal peace treaty means it is still technically

ongoing. Principally a war fought between North and South Korea, with the

North backed by the People’s Republic of China and the South backed by a U.N.

coalition. Despite wild swings in fortune by both sides throughout the war, it

ultimately ended in a stalemate. Borders were fixed at the prewar status quo.

● Douglas MacArthur: An American five-star general. He played a major role in

the Pacific front of World War II. Oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to

1951. Led the United Nation forces in the Korean War, most famously at the

Inchon Landing. Removed from command by President Truman for

insubordination.

The Second Red Scare

● Second Red Scare: Lasted from 1947 to 1956. A period of social anxiety and

paranoia concerned with communist infiltration throughout society. Driven by

events such as the Rosenbergs’ trial, the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe,

and the victory of Mao’s Communists in the Chinese Civil War. See: House

Un-American Activities Committee, McCarthyism, Smith Act.

● House Un-American Activities Committee: A House committee founded in

1938 to root out alleged subversives. Associated with the Hollywood blacklist of

the Second Red Scare, as well as Alger Hiss. Disbanded in 1975; its duties are

handled by the House Judiciary Committee.

● Richard M. Nixon: Thirty-seventh President. Served 1969–1974. Vice

President under Eisenhower. A noted anticommunist, he narrowly lost the 1960

election to JFK. Domestically, Nixon accepted the Great Society programs.

Internationally, he pursued a policy of détente and realpolitik, most famously

establishing relations with the People’s Republic of China in order to

counterbalance the Soviet Union. He also escalated the Vietnam War, secretly

bombed Cambodia, and sponsored a coup in Chile. Only U.S. president to resign,

doing so over the Watergate scandal.

● Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: A couple executed for espionage. Their 1951

trial was a press spectacle. Declassified Soviet archives later proved the couple

had, in fact, been spies.

● Joseph McCarthy: Senator from Wisconsin (1947–1957). The face of the

Second Red Scare, his baseless accusations and dramatic flare attracted major

media attention. After the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings exposed him doctoring

evidence, public opinion swung against him. The Senate censured him. Died in

1957, age 48, from hepatitis exacerbated by alcoholism.

The Eisenhower Administration

● Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower: Thirty-fourth President. Served 1953–1961. A

former five-star general, Ike acted as Supreme Commander of the Western Allies

in Europe. He oversaw the invasion of North Africa and the Normandy landings.

A moderate conservative, Ike preserved the New Deal programs and established

NASA. His signature achievement is the Interstate Highway System. In terms of

foreign policy, he ended the Korean War, began American involvement in

Vietnam, and directed the overthrow of democratic governments in Iran and

Guatemala.

● Brinksmanship: The practice of achieving a goal by escalating events to one

step shy of open conflict in order to force a rival party to knuckle under for fear of

catastrophe. A common tactic in the Cold War period. Contrast with détente.

● Massive retaliation: A defense strategy pursued by President Eisenhower for

budgetary reasons, due to the financial burden of maintaining conventional

forces alongside nuclear arms. Rather than fight a conventional war, the U.S.

pledged to use nuclear weapons against any nation that attacked it. Criticized as

too aggressive. Abandoned by the Kennedy administration for the policy of

flexible response, which resumed investment in conventional forces.

● Suez Canal: A waterway linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas. A vital

economic and military choke point. The British Empire gained control of it in

1882. Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized it in 1956. In retaliation,

Britain, France, and Israel invaded. However, Eisenhower did not support them,

so the alliance was forced to return the canal to Egypt.

● Nikita Khrushchev: Leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964.

Domestically, his tenure was marked by an easing of Stalin era political and

cultural restrictions. Internationally, his efforts at warming relations with the

West often ran afoul of his own flare for drama and a tendency to gamble on long

odds. Following his loss of face in the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was removed by

conservative elements in the Kremlin and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev.

● U-2 Incident: A May 1960 incident where the Soviet Union shot down a U.S.

U-2 spy plane and captured its pilot alive. Resulted in Eisenhower’s public

humiliation, ending a tentative thaw between the two superpowers that had been

underway.

● Fidel Castro: Cuban revolutionary and First Secretary of Cuba from 1961–2011.

He overthrew the Batista regime in 1959 and established a communist state in

Cuba. Famously survived hundreds of assassination attempts by the CIA. Died in

2016 at age 90. See: Bay of Pigs.

U.S. Attitudes in the Cold War

● National Highway Act: Passed in 1956. Established the Interstate Highway

System. Advocated by President Eisenhower due to his experiences in the 1919

Transcontinental Motor Convoy and with the German autobahn.

● Sputnik: The first manmade satellite. Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.

Sparked the Space Race, as well as a massive investment in the American

education system. See: NASA.

● National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): A federal

agency under the Executive Branch that handles the civilian space program.

Founded in 1958. See: Sputnik.

● Cold War: A geopolitical struggle between rival blocs led by the United States

and the Soviet Union. Lasted from 1946 to 1991. While it primarily featured an

ongoing arms race and proxy wars, direct nuclear conflict between the two blocs

almost occurred on several occasions.

● Military-industrial complex: A term coined by President Eisenhower in his

farewell address. It refers to the vested interest the American military and arms

industry have in influencing public policy, especially as it relates to defense

spending and military conflicts. In the original draft of his speech, Eisenhower

referred to it as the “military–industrial–congressional complex” but dropped the

third term for fear of offending his political contemporaries.

The Kennedy Administration

● John F. Kennedy: Thirty-fifth President. Served 1961–1963. First Roman

Catholic president. Narrowly elected over Richard Nixon, his term in office was

dominated by the rising civil rights movement, such as the Freedom Riders, and

escalating Cold War tensions. The early months of his presidency were

dominated by the Bay of the Pigs and the building of the Berlin Wall. In October

1962, he dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Assassinated on November 22, 1963

in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald.

● Berlin Wall: A militarized concrete barrier separating East and West Berlin.

Existed from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the Soviets to halt a brain drain of East

Germans. Its fall heralded German reunification and the twilight of the Cold War.

● Cuban Missile Crisis: A confrontation between the United States and the

Soviet Union over the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Occurred

October 16–28, 1962. Considered one of the Cold War’s tensest events. Resolved

diplomatically, it bolstered President Kennedy’s then-shaky reputation but led to

the overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev.

● Leonid Brezhnev: Ruler of the Soviet Union, 1964–1982. He favored

consensus and rule by committee. Brezhnev reversed the cultural liberalization of

the Khrushchev era. Crucially, he attempted no reforms of the Soviet economy.

His 18 years in power saw the Soviet Union undergo economic stagnation and

national decline. Internationally, he favored détente. He ordered the invasion of

Afghanistan to support its communist government.

The Vietnam War

● Geneva Convention: A series of international treaties and protocols negotiated

in the aftermath of World War II which established humanitarian standards for

wartime, updating protocols originally agreed to in 1929. Contested in the 2000s

with the rise of non-state actors.

● Ho Chi Minh: Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader. Stepped down from

office in 1965 due to health problems. Died in 1969. After the fall of Saigon, it was

renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

● Domino theory: The idea that political revolutions in one country will cause

similar revolutions in neighboring countries, akin to only one domino being

necessary to topple over a whole chain of dominos. Typically associated with the

spread of communism, although a variant associated with spreading democracy

gained currency during the 2003 Iraq War.

● Lyndon B. Johnson: Thirty-sixth President. Senate Majority Leader

1955–1961. Vice President 1961–1963. Assumed the presidency upon the

assassination of John F. Kennedy. Oversaw the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and

Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as a series of landmark domestic legislation

known as the Great Society. Escalated the Vietnam War. Declined to run for

reelection in 1968. A domestic policy maestro but a foreign policy.

● Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: An August 1964 Congressional resolution

authorizing the president to wage war in Vietnam without a formal declaration of

war.

● Vietnam War: Also called the Second Indochina War. Direct American

involvement in Vietnam began in 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975, with the Fall

of Saigon. The war polarized American society. It killed more than 58,000

Americans and over 2 million Vietnamese. See: domino theory, Gulf of Tonkin

Resolution, Tet Offensive, War Powers Act.

● Operation Rolling Thunder: A bombing campaign conducted by the U.S. Air

Force against North Vietnam. Run from March 1965 to November 1968, and

dropped more bombs on North Vietnam than had been used by the United States

throughout World War II. Failed to achieve its aims.

● Viet Cong: Also known as ‘V-C’ or ‘Charlie.’ The Viet Cong were the military

wing of the National Liberation Front, a communist nationalist group in South

Vietnam.

● Ho Chi Minh Trail: U.S. name for a logistical network that connected North

and South Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia. Supported the Viet Cong and

the North Vietnamese Army.

● Tet Offensive: A surprise January 1968 offensive by the Viet Cong. While U.S.

and South Vietnamese forces prevailed, it permanently undermined American

public opinion in the war. Contributed to Johnson’s decision to not run for

reelection in 1968.

● Hard Hat Riot: A spontaneous counter-protest in New York City in 1970. About

200 construction workers attacked 1,000 students protesting the Vietnam War

and the Kent State shootings. Embodied a growing social backlash to the 1960s

youth culture.

● Pentagon Papers: Secret documents regarding the Vietnam War leaked to The

New York Times by analyst Daniel Ellsberg. They revealed that Congress had

been lied to for many years about the war, and that the United States had acted

contrary to its publicly stated goals.

● Henry Kissinger: National Security Advisor 1969–1975. Secretary of State

1973–1977. A foreign policy advisor for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Advocated détenteand realpolitik, or international relations, based on

self-interest rather than ideology or morality.

● War Powers Act: Passed by Congress after learning of Nixon’s secret bombings

of Cambodia, it severely limited the president’s ability to wage war without

Congressional approval. However, despite violations over the years, Congress has

never taken legal action over the issue, and executive authority to wage war has

grown substantially since 2001.

The Civil Rights Movement

● Earl Warren: Fourteenth Chief Justice. Served 1953–1969. Threw his support

behind Eisenhower at the 1952 GOP convention in exchange for the first open

Supreme Court seat. The Warren Court is noted for its liberal rulings, which

include outlawing segregation in education, ending school prayer, establishing

“one man-one vote” apportionment for election districts, and creating the

Miranda warning. Warren was replaced in 1969 by Warren Burger. See: Warren

Commission.

● Thurgood Marshall: The first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court.

Appointed by Lyndon Johnson in 1967, he was regarded as a liberal judicial

activist, favoring rulings that protected individual rights. Retired in 1991 and was

replaced by Clarence Thomas.

● Brown v. Board of Education: A landmark Supreme Court case that held

segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy v.

Ferguson in the context of education.

● Little Rock Nine: A group of nine African American students who had gained

entry into the previously segregated public high school of Little Rock, Arkansas in

1957.

● Rosa Parks: Activist in the Civil Rights Movement. Famous for refusing to give

up her seat to a white person in defiance of segregation; her arrest sparked the

Montgomery Bus Boycott.

● Jim Crow laws: Laws that enforced segregation, primarily but not exclusively

in the South. The name references a famous nineteenth century blackface act

called Jump Jim Crow.

● Martin Luther King Jr.: Noted leader in the Civil Rights Movement. A Baptist

minister, he advocated for non-violent resistance to racism. Leader of the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace

Prize. Initially allied with President Johnson, he fell out with him over Vietnam.

Assassinated in April 1963 in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Movement Expands

● Freedom Riders: A 1961 effort by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and

the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register

African-American voters throughout the South. The violent backlash the activists

encountered forced President Kennedy to take a stronger public stance on civil

rights.

● Letter from Birmingham Jail: An open letter written by Martin Luther King

Jr. in 1963, defending the strategy of nonviolent resistance.

● “I Have a Dream” speech: Often considered the greatest American speech of

the twentieth century, it was given by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963

at the Lincoln Memorial.

● Civil Rights Act of 1964: A landmark civil rights law that outlawed

discrimination on the basis of race, color, nationality, religion, and sex. It

prohibited racial segregation.

● Voting Rights Act of 1965: Made literacy tests illegal and prohibited states

from denying any U.S. citizen the right to vote on the basis of race. The Selma to

Montgomery marches contributed to its passage.

● Malcolm X: Born Malcolm Little, he converted to Islam and took the name

Malcolm X. Initially associated with the Nation of Islam, he broke with it in 1964.

Assassinated in 1965 by three members of the Nation of Islam. Best remembered

for his emphasis on black self-determination and self-defense.

● “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech: A 1964 speech given by Malcolm X. It

stated that whites must either allow African Americans freedom at the ballot box

or face an armed revolution later.

● Black Panthers: A socialist, black nationalist organization founded in 1966.

Famous for their uniforms and for openly carrying firearms. They organized a

social safety net for impoverished African-Americans in Oakland. Succumbed to

ideological schisms, government harassment, as well as the arrests and deaths of

their major leaders by the mid-1970s.

● Kerner Commission: A commission established by President Johnson to

study the 1967 race riots. Concluded the riots had been caused by frustration

among African-Americans due to lack of economic opportunity. Their report was

ignored by Johnson.

The “Affluent Society”

● Beatniks: A counterculture movement in the 1950s and early 1960s

emphasizing art, philosophy, and social criticism. Jack Kerouac and Allen

Ginsberg were notable members.

● Port Huron Statement: A 1962 political manifesto by the Students for a

Democratic Society (SDS); called for an expansion of democratic participation.

Noted as the start of the New Left, a liberal movement concerned with civil rights,

gender roles, and other issues of identity rather than the “Old Left” Marxist focus

on class struggle.

● Free Speech Movement: A large-scale student protest that took place during

the 1964–1965 academic year at the University of California, Berkeley. The

students demanded that the administration acknowledge the students’ free

speech rights. Backlash to the Free Speech Movement aided in Ronald Reagan’s

victory in the 1966 California gubernatorial election.

● Woodstock: A three-day concert in rural New York during 1969. Typified 1960s

youth culture.

● National Organization for Women: Founded in 1966, NOW is an American

feminist advocacy group. Among its co-founders was Betty Friedan. Supported

the Equal Rights Amendment.

● Equal Rights Amendment: Also known as the ERA. A proposed amendment

to the U.S. Constitution that would have guaranteed equal rights regardless of

sex. By 1977, it had been ratified by 35 of the 38 states necessary, but faced a

backlash from the growing conservative movement. It failed to be ratified by a

sufficient number of states by its 1982 deadline.

Changing Ideologies between Kennedy and Johnson

● New Frontier: A slate of liberal policy proposals by John F. Kennedy. Few were

adopted in his lifetime due to obstructionism by Republicans and conservative

Democrats. Reworked and expanded under President Johnson into the Great

Society.

● Warren Commission: A special commission appointed by Lyndon Johnson to

investigate the assassination of President Kennedy. Headed by Chief Justice Earl

Warren, it concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone.

● Great Society: A series of domestic programs proposed by Lyndon Johnson,

expanding on Kennedy’s stalled New Frontier proposals. Aimed to expand civil

rights and eliminate poverty. See: Medicare, Medicaid, and the Immigration Act

of 1965.

● Medicare: A federal health insurance for Americans 65 or older, along with

some younger people with disabilities. See: Great Society.

● Medicaid: A social safety net program that provides healthcare for low-income

Americans. See: Great Society.

● Immigration Act of 1965: Repealed the discriminatory practices of the Quota

Acts of the 1920s and allowed millions of previously excluded peoples to

immigrate to the United States.

● Office of Equal Opportunity: Oversaw the creation of the Job Corps, a

program that provided career training to inner-city and rural citizens. Part of the

Great Society.

● Department of Housing and Urban Development: Commonly known as

HUD, it is a cabinet-level office created in 1965 as part of Lyndon Johnson’s

Great Society program. Oversees the housing market, with an emphasis on

creating and sustaining affordable housing.

The Election of 1968

● American Independent Party: In the 1968 election, the AIP functioned as a

pro-segregationist breakaway from the Democratic Party. Its nominees were

George Wallace and Curtis LeMay. Wallace aimed to throw the election into the

House of Representatives and play kingmaker.

The Nixon Administration

● Drug Enforcement Administration: Created in 1973, the DEA is a federal

law enforcement agency operating under the Department of Justice. It enforces

the Controlled Substances Act.

● Detente: The act of easing hostility between two or more parties through

diplomacy. Advocated during the Cold War by Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Contrast with brinksmanship.

● Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I): The first round of arms control

talks. Negotiations took place under the Johnson and Nixon administrations. The

treaty was ratified in 1972. See: détente, SALT II.

● Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): An

organization of oil-producing states, especially ones in the Middle East. In

retaliation for U.S. support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War, OPEC targeted the

United States and some of its Western allies for an oil embargo. This led to the

1973 oil crisis. See: Department of Energy.

● Yom Kippur War: A 1973 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led

by Syria and Egypt, after the latter attacked Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom

Kippur. Richard Nixon supplied Israel with vital military aid. See: Organization

of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

● Watergate: A political scandal sparked by Nixon operatives burglarizing the

Democratic Party National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel on June 17,

1972. The burglars were arrested, and an ensuing investigation by Washington

Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed a vast web of crimes

and political corruption. With impeachment over the Watergate scandal certain,

President Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. See: Gerald Ford.

● Gerald R. Ford: Thirty-ninth President. Served from August 8, 1974 to January

20, 1977. The only person to serve as president not elected as president or vice

president. He ended American involvement in Vietnam by allowing the conquest

of South Vietnam by the North. Continued the policy of détente. Initially popular,

his approval ratings sank after issuing an unconditional pardon of Richard Nixon.

Narrowly lost “reelection” to Jimmy Carter.

The Carter Administration

● Jimmy Carter: Thirty-ninth President. Served 1977–1981. The former governor

of Georgia, he ran as an outsider in the 1976 presidential election. Served one

term. Carter pardoned Vietnam War draft dodgers, established the Departments

of Energy and Education, and returned the Panama Canal to Panama.

Internationally, he oversaw the Camp David Accords, ended détente in response

to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and was dogged by the Iranian Hostage

Crisis.

● Anwar Sadat: Third President of Egypt. Ruled 1970–1981. Alongside Israeli

Prime Minister Begin he signed the Camp David Accords, for which both men

shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated in 1981 by the group

Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

● Menachem Begin: Sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Signed the Camp David

Accords with Anwar Sadat in 1979, for which both men won the Nobel Peace

Prize. As part of that agreement, he withdrew Israeli forces from the Sinai

Peninsula.

● Camp David Accords: A 1979 peace agreement reached between Egyptian

President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, following 12

days of secret negotiations at Camp David. Settled several outstanding

Israeli-Egyptian disputes. Widely considered Jimmy Carter’s crowning foreign

policy achievement.

● Ayatollah Khomeini: Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its leader

from 1979 to 1989. Gained infamy in the United States for supporting the taking

of American diplomats as hostages. Dubbed the United States the “Great Satan.”

Died in June 1989.

● SALT II: The second round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Negotiations

took place under the Nixon and Ford administrations. In response to the Soviet

invasion of Afghanistan, the final 1979 agreement was not ratified by the Senate.

See: détente.

● Department of Education: A cabinet-level office created in 1979 by Jimmy

Carter. As the U.S. education system is decentralized, it has historically had little

influence over curricula. It mainly collects data, coordinates federal assistance to

schools, and helps enforce civil rights laws. See: No Child Left Behind Act.

● Department of Energy: A cabinet-level office created in 1977 by Jimmy Carter

largely in response to the 1973 Oil Crisis. Oversees energy-related research and

domestic energy production. It also safeguards nuclear material, including

nuclear weapons.