Flashcards for history test

Speculative Bubbles When people buy stocks or other assets hoping prices will keep rising, even when their real value doesn't justify it. When prices crash, investors can lose huge amounts of money. Stock speculation helped contribute to the 1929 crash.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930) A law that raised taxes on many imported goods to protect American businesses. Other countries retaliated with tariffs, worsening international trade during the Great Depression.

New Deal President Franklin D. Roosevelt's programs during the 1930s to fight the Great Depression. They provided relief, promoted economic recovery, and reformed banking and other systems.

Huey Long A Louisiana politician who criticized Roosevelt's New Deal for not doing enough. Proposed the Share Our Wealth program, which aimed to reduce inequality by redistributing wealth.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933) A New Deal law that paid participating farmers to reduce crop production to raise agricultural prices. It helped some farmers but disadvantaged many tenant farmers and sharecroppers.

Glass-Steagall Act (1933) A banking law that separated commercial banking from investment banking and established the FDIC, which insured bank deposits to help restore public confidence.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 A nationwide railroad workers' strike caused by wage cuts and poor working conditions. Federal and state forces intervened, showing the tensions between workers, corporations, and the government.

Vertical vs. Horizontal Integration Vertical integration means owning different stages of making and distributing a product. Horizontal integration means buying or combining with competing businesses in the same industry. Carnegie used vertical integration; Rockefeller became famous for horizontal integration.

Laissez-Faire An economic philosophy meaning 'let it be.' It favors limited government interference in business and the economy.

Andrew Carnegie A wealthy steel industrialist during the Gilded Age who used vertical integration to expand his company. Also promoted philanthropy through his Gospel of Wealth.

Progressives Reformers in the late 1800s and early 1900s who wanted to address corruption, dangerous working conditions, corporate power, and other social problems through government action.

Teddy Roosevelt President from 1901–1909, known for trust-busting, conservation, consumer protection, and expanding U.S. influence overseas. Associated with the Square Deal.

Woodrow Wilson President from 1913–1921 who led the United States during World War I and proposed the Fourteen Points and League of Nations to promote peace after the war.

Volstead Act (1919) A law that enforced the 18th Amendment and national Prohibition by restricting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.

Alfred Thayer Mahan A naval strategist who argued that powerful countries needed strong navies, trade, and overseas naval bases. His ideas helped encourage American imperial expansion.

Frederick J. Turner A historian known for the Frontier Thesis (1893), which argued that westward expansion shaped American democracy and national identity.

Monroe Doctrine (1823) A U.S. foreign policy warning European powers against further colonization or interference in the Americas. It asserted American interests in the Western Hemisphere.

Roosevelt Corollary (1904) An addition to the Monroe Doctrine in which Theodore Roosevelt argued the United States could intervene in Latin American countries to maintain stability and prevent European intervention.

Spanish-American War (1898) A short war between the United States and Spain, involving Cuba and the Philippines. U.S. victory gave America control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, expanding its overseas empire.

Missionary Boys A term associated with American missionary descendants and businessmen in Hawaiʻi who helped undermine the Hawaiian monarchy. Some supported the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani and U.S. annexation in 1898. Confirm this interpretation with your professor's lecture.

Versailles Treaty (1919) The peace treaty ending the war between Germany and the Allied powers after World War I. It imposed territorial losses, military restrictions, and reparations on Germany and helped establish the League of Nations.

Eugene Debs An American socialist and labor leader who ran for president multiple times. He opposed U.S. participation in World War I and was imprisoned under the Espionage Act for an antiwar speech.

Espionage Act (1917) A federal law passed during World War I that punished interference with military recruitment and other activities considered harmful to the war effort. It was used against antiwar activists.

Sedition Act (1918) A World War I law expanding restrictions on speech deemed disloyal or abusive toward the government or war effort. It restricted civil liberties and was repealed in 1920.

League of Nations An international organization created after World War I to prevent future conflicts through diplomacy and collective security. Wilson supported it, but the United States never joined.

Zimmermann Telegram (1917) A secret German message proposing an alliance with Mexico against the United States and suggesting Mexico could recover lost territory. Its exposure increased American support for entering World War I.

Lusitania (1915) A British passenger ship sunk by a German submarine, killing nearly 1,200 people, including 128 Americans. The attack increased American anger toward Germany before U.S. entry into WWI.

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) A Japanese surprise attack on the American naval base in Hawaiʻi. It prompted the United States to enter World War II.

A. Philip Randolph A Black labor and civil rights leader who threatened a mass march on Washington in 1941 to protest discrimination in defense employment. His pressure helped lead Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802.

Warren Court (1953–1969) The Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren. It expanded civil rights and individual protections through decisions involving school segregation, criminal procedure, and voting.

George Kennan An American diplomat who helped develop the policy of containment: limiting the spread of Soviet communism rather than trying to overthrow it directly.

Marshall Plan (1948) An American program providing economic aid to rebuild Western Europe after World War II. It also aimed to strengthen democratic governments and reduce communist influence.

Truman Doctrine (1947) President Truman's promise to support countries threatened by communist expansion, initially focused on aid to Greece and Turkey. An important foundation of containment.

NSC-68 Report (1950) A secret national security report arguing that the Soviet Union posed a major threat and recommending a substantial expansion of U.S. military strength during the Cold War.

McCarthyism A period of intense anti-communist accusations and investigations in the 1950s, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy. Many people suffered reputational and career damage, often without sufficient evidence.

Korean War (1950–1953) A war that began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea. The United States led a UN force defending South Korea; China later intervened. Fighting ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) A congressional resolution granting President Lyndon Johnson broad authority to use military force in Southeast Asia after reported attacks on U.S. ships. It facilitated escalation of the Vietnam War.

Tet Offensive (1968) A coordinated series of attacks by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces during the Vietnam War. Although militarily costly for the attackers, it weakened American confidence in claims that the war was being won.

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party, founded in Oakland in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. It promoted Black self-determination, armed self-defense against police brutality, and community programs such as free breakfasts.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 A landmark federal law prohibiting racial segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Boynton v. Virginia (1960) A Supreme Court decision ruling that racial segregation in bus terminal restaurants serving interstate travelers violated federal interstate commerce law. It helped inspire the Freedom Rides.

Freedom Rides (1961) Interracial groups of civil rights activists rode interstate buses through the South to challenge segregation. They faced violent attacks and pushed federal authorities to enforce desegregation rules.

SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, founded in 1960. A youth-led civil rights organization that organized sit-ins, voter registration campaigns, and grassroots activism.

NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909. It fought racial discrimination through lawsuits, advocacy, and organizing, including the legal battle against school segregation.

Rosa Parks A civil rights activist whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery in 1955 helped trigger the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Woolworths Refers to the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, when four Black college students sat at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter in North Carolina and refused to leave. Their protest helped spread the sit-in movement.

Little Rock Nine (1957) Nine Black students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, despite violent resistance. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce their right to attend.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) A landmark Supreme Court decision ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Kerner Commission (1968) A federal commission investigating racial unrest in American cities. It identified systemic racism, discrimination, and inequality as major causes of urban unrest.

Equality vs. Essentialist Feminism Equality feminism emphasizes equal rights, opportunities, and treatment regardless of gender. Essentialist feminism emphasizes supposedly distinct characteristics or experiences of women, sometimes arguing those differences deserve recognition. Interpretations vary across feminist thinkers.

Margaret Sanger An early birth control activist who promoted access to contraception and helped establish organizations that led to Planned Parenthood. Her legacy is also controversial because of connections to eugenics.

Betty Friedan An influential second-wave feminist who wrote The Feminine Mystique (1963), criticizing the expectation that women find fulfillment only through marriage, motherhood, and housework.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) A Supreme Court ruling recognizing a constitutional right to marital privacy and striking down a state law restricting contraceptive use by married couples.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) A 13-day confrontation after the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy and Soviet leader Khrushchev negotiated a resolution, avoiding possible nuclear war.

Richard Nixon President from 1969 to 1974, associated with détente, opening relations with China, and the Watergate scandal. He resigned rather than face likely impeachment and removal.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) A major student activist organization of the 1960s New Left. Advocated participatory democracy and became influential in student organizing and protests against the Vietnam War.

Counterculture A social and cultural movement especially associated with the 1960s that challenged traditional attitudes toward authority, war, sexuality, gender, lifestyles, and social conformity.

Ronald Reagan President from 1981–1989. Promoted conservative policies, tax cuts, deregulation, and a strong military. Associated with Reaganomics and an intensified early-1980s Cold War stance.

Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran's monarch until the 1979 revolution. He was supported by the United States, but his authoritarian rule and ties to Western powers contributed to opposition.

Iranian Hostage Crisis (1979–1981) Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The crisis severely damaged U.S.–Iran relations and hurt President Carter politically.

Nakba (1948) Arabic for 'catastrophe.' Refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab–Israeli war and the events surrounding Israel's establishment.

Operation Desert Storm (1991) The U.S.-led coalition military campaign during the Gulf War that expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait following Iraq's 1990 invasion.

Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003) The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that overthrew Saddam Hussein. The Bush administration cited weapons of mass destruction among its justifications, but claimed stockpiles were not found. A prolonged conflict followed.