ahm 2020

Thomas Nast – Famous political cartoonist who exposed corruption in New York City, especially “Boss” Tweed and Tammany Hall.

The New Immigration – The new wave of immigration (1880–1920) from Southern and Eastern Europe that changed America’s population and culture.

Nativism and Xenophobia – Anti-immigrant attitudes and fear of foreigners; many Americans worried immigrants would take jobs or change U.S. culture.

Tenement Housing – Overcrowded and unsanitary apartment buildings where poor immigrants lived in major cities.

Imperialism – A policy of extending a nation’s power and influence through colonization or economic control.

Exploitative Imperialism – Type of imperialism focused on economic profit and exploitation of native peoples and resources.

Beneficent Imperialism – The idea that imperial powers were “civilizing” less developed societies to justify expansion.

Manifest Destiny – The 19th-century belief that the U.S. was destined by God to expand across the North American continent.

William H. Seward – U.S. Secretary of State who purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, expanding U.S. influence in the Pacific.

“Seward’s Folly” – Nickname mocking the purchase of Alaska (seen as foolish), later considered wise after the discovery of gold and oil.

Alfred Thayer Mahan – Naval officer and military theorist who argued that sea power determined national greatness.

Influence of Sea Power on History – Mahan’s 1890 book that inspired nations, including the U.S., to build powerful navies.

Henry Cabot Lodge – U.S. Senator who supported American expansion and opposed joining the League of Nations.

John Hay – Secretary of State who authored the “Open Door Policy,” promoting equal trade opportunities in China.

Theodore Roosevelt – 26th U.S. President (1901–1909); Progressive reformer and imperialist advocate known for “Big Stick Diplomacy.”

Queen Liliʻuokalani – Last queen of Hawaii, overthrown by American planters before Hawaii was annexed by the U.S. (1898).

McKinley Tariff – 1890 tariff law that raised import taxes, hurting Hawaii’s sugar exports and pushing annexation efforts.

José Martí – Cuban revolutionary leader who fought for independence from Spain; killed early in the 1895 uprising.

Valeriano Weyler – Spanish general in Cuba known for brutal “reconcentration camps” that angered American public opinion.

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🇺🇸 U.S. History – Section 2: Spanish-American War & American Imperialism

William Randolph Hearst – Newspaper owner who used “Yellow Journalism” to stir public support for war with Spain.

Joseph Pulitzer – Publisher of the New York World; competed with Hearst through sensational reporting.

“Yellow Journalism” – Exaggerated or false news stories designed to provoke emotional reactions and sell newspapers.

Dupuy de Lôme – Spanish ambassador whose leaked letter insulting President McKinley angered Americans.

U.S.S. Maine – U.S. battleship that exploded in Havana Harbor (1898); its sinking led to war with Spain.

George Dewey – U.S. admiral who defeated the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay (Philippines).

Teller Amendment – U.S. pledge that it would not permanently annex Cuba after defeating Spain.

Rough Riders – Volunteer cavalry unit led by Theodore Roosevelt; famous for the charge up San Juan Hill.

Peace of Paris (1898) – Treaty ending the Spanish-American War; Spain ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the U.S.

Platt Amendment – Gave the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuba and established Guantánamo Bay naval base.

Bourbon Democrats – Conservative Democrats who opposed populism and supported limited government.

1890 Mid-term Election – Midterm election that hurt Republicans due to public backlash over the McKinley Tariff.

Jim Crow Laws – State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South.

Political/Social Segregation – Separation of races in voting, education, jobs, and public life.

Mississippi Plan – Strategy to disenfranchise Black voters through taxes and literacy tests.

Poll Tax – Fee required to vote, used to keep poor and Black citizens from voting.

“Understanding Clause” – Required voters to interpret the Constitution to vote; used to exclude Black voters.

“Grandfather Clause” – Allowed voting only if one’s grandfather could vote before 1867; excluded most Black men.

Plessy v. Ferguson – 1896 Supreme Court case that legalized segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine.

“Separate But Equal” Doctrine – Legal principle permitting segregation if facilities were “equal.”

Lynching – Execution without trial, often by mobs, targeting African Americans.

Booker T. Washington – African American leader who promoted vocational education and gradual progress.

Tuskegee Institute – School founded by Washington to teach trade skills to Black students.

Atlanta Compromise – Washington’s 1895 speech urging acceptance of segregation temporarily in exchange for education and jobs.

W.E.B. Du Bois – Civil rights activist who demanded immediate equality and co-founded the NAACP.

NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1909); fought legal battles against segregation.

Progressivism – Early 20th-century reform movement to limit corporate power, improve labor conditions, and expand democracy.

Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives – Journalist who exposed the poor living conditions of immigrants in NYC.

Lincoln Steffens – Muckraker who exposed political corruption in city governments.

McClure’s Magazine – Journal that published many muckraker investigations.

The Shame of the Cities – Steffens’s 1904 book exposing urban corruption.

Ida Tarbell – Investigative journalist who exposed the Standard Oil monopoly.

David Phillips, The Treason of the Senate – Article accusing the Senate of being controlled by big business.

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle – Novel exposing unsanitary meatpacking conditions; led to food safety laws.

Muckrakers – Journalists who investigated and exposed social and political corruption.

Direct Primary – Election reform allowing party members to choose candidates directly.

Initiative, Referendum, Recall – Democratic reforms giving citizens more direct control over laws and officials.

NCLC (National Child Labor Committee) – Organization working to end child labor.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire – 1911 factory fire in NYC killing 146 workers; led to labor safety reforms.

Jane Addams – Social reformer and founder of Hull House, helping poor immigrants.

Settlement House Movement – Movement creating community centers for social services in urban areas.

Hull House – Chicago settlement founded by Jane Addams in 1889.

Tom Johnson – Progressive mayor of Cleveland promoting public ownership and social reform.

Robert La Follette – Wisconsin governor advocating Progressive reforms (“Wisconsin Idea”).

Woodrow Wilson – 28th U.S. President; led the U.S. during WWI and promoted the “Fourteen Points.”

Charles Evans Hughes – Republican candidate who lost to Wilson in the 1916 election.

Hiram Johnson – Progressive leader from California supporting regulation of big business.

Ida B. Wells / Southern Horrors – Journalist who exposed lynching and racial violence in the South.

Temperance Crusade – Movement to reduce or ban alcohol consumption.

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) – Major women’s group promoting temperance and suffrage.

Annie Wittenmyer / Frances Willard – WCTU leaders; Willard expanded its focus to women’s rights.

Anti-Saloon League – Organization that successfully pushed for Prohibition (18th Amendment).

Carrie Nation – Temperance activist famous for attacking saloons with a hatchet.

Local Option Laws – Laws allowing local areas to vote on banning alcohol.

Red-light Abatement Laws – Laws closing brothels and red-light districts.

Mann Act – 1910 law banning the interstate transport of women for “immoral purposes.”

NAWSA – National American Woman Suffrage Association, leading suffrage organization.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Anna Howard Shaw, Carrie Chapman Catt – Key leaders in the women’s suffrage movement; helped win the 19th Amendment.

Anti-Imperialist League – Group opposing U.S. colonial expansion; included Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie.

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🇺🇸 U.S. History – Section 3: Progressive Era & Imperial Presidency

William McKinley – 25th President (1897–1901); led during the Spanish-American War; assassinated in 1901.

Leon Czolgosz – Anarchist who assassinated President McKinley.

Theodore Roosevelt – 26th President; Progressive reformer and imperialist advocate.

Imperial Presidency – Term describing presidents who expand executive power, especially in foreign policy.

“Trustbuster” – Nickname for Roosevelt for breaking up monopolies using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Northern Securities Co. – Railroad monopoly dissolved by Roosevelt in 1904.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act – 1890 law banning monopolistic business practices.

Conservation / Gifford Pinchot – Movement to protect natural resources; Pinchot was the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

Frederick Winslow Taylor / Scientific Management – Industrial reform promoting efficiency through “scientific” work methods.

William Howard Taft – 27th President (1909–1913); continued antitrust policies but less progressive than Roosevelt.

Payne-Aldrich Tariff – 1909 tariff law criticized for failing to lower rates, dividing Republicans.

Richard A. Ballinger – Taft’s Interior Secretary, accused of favoring corporate land use.

Ballinger-Pinchot Affair – Dispute over land conservation that split Progressives.

Election of 1912 – Race between Wilson, Roosevelt, and Taft; Wilson won as Roosevelt and Taft split the vote.

Bull-Moose Party – Progressive Party formed by Roosevelt after leaving the GOP.

Woodrow Wilson – 28th President; leader during WWI and author of the Fourteen Points.

Underwood Act – 1913 law lowering tariffs and creating income tax.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act – Established the FTC to regulate business practices.

Clayton Anti-Trust Act – Strengthened antitrust laws by banning unfair corporate practices.

Tying Contracts / Interlocking Directorates – Illegal business arrangements that restricted competition.

Federal Reserve Act / Board – 1913 act creating the Federal Reserve system to regulate the economy.

16th Amendment – Authorized federal income tax.

17th Amendment – Allowed direct election of U.S. senators.

18th Amendment – Established Prohibition (banned alcohol).

19th Amendment – Granted women the right to vote (1920).

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🇺🇸 U.S. History – Section 4: Imperialism & World War I

Treaty of Paris (1898) – Ended the Spanish-American War; U.S. gained Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and control over Cuba.

Anti-Imperialist League – Opposed U.S. colonization, arguing it contradicted democratic ideals.

Emilio Aguinaldo – Filipino independence leader who first fought Spain, then resisted U.S. rule.

Taft Commission – U.S. governing body in the Philippines led by William H. Taft.

John Hay / Open Door Policy – 1899 policy promoting equal trade rights in China.

Big Stick Diplomacy – Roosevelt’s foreign policy: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

Panama Canal – Canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific; built by the U.S. (1904–1914).

Roosevelt Corollary – Addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting U.S. right to intervene in Latin America.

Taft and Dollar Diplomacy – Encouraged U.S. economic investment abroad instead of using military force.

Woodrow Wilson / Missionary Diplomacy – Promoted democracy and moral diplomacy abroad.

Francisco Madero / Victoriano Huerta / Venustiano Carranza – Key figures in the Mexican Revolution; Wilson opposed Huerta’s dictatorship.

Pancho Villa – Mexican revolutionary who attacked New Mexico; U.S. troops failed to capture him.

John J. Pershing / Punitive Expedition – U.S. military mission sent to capture Pancho Villa (1916).

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🪖 World War I (1914–1918)

Triple Alliance / Triple Entente – Prewar alliances: Germany-Austria-Hungary-Italy vs. Britain-France-Russia.

Central Powers / Allied Powers – Wartime alliances: Central (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman) vs. Allies (Britain, France, Russia, U.S.).

Archduke Franz Ferdinand – His assassination in Sarajevo (1914) sparked World War I.

Contraband – Goods banned from trade in wartime, especially military supplies.

“Strict Accountability” – Wilson’s warning to Germany about attacks on U.S. ships and citizens.

H.M.S. Lusitania – British ship sunk by German U-boat (1915); 128 Americans died.

Arthur Zimmermann / Zimmermann Telegram – German proposal for a Mexican alliance; led U.S. to declare war.

Collectivism – Belief that group or national interests outweigh individual ones, especially in war.

Selective Service Act – 1917 law requiring men to register for the draft.

Food Administration / Herbert Hoover – Agency encouraging food conservation (“Meatless Mondays”).

Fuel Administration – Regulated coal and oil use during the war.

Railroad Administration – Took control of railroads to improve wartime shipping.

War Industries Board – Directed industrial production for the war effort.

National War Labor Board – Settled labor disputes to prevent strikes.

Committee on Public Information / George Creel – Propaganda agency promoting war support.

Espionage and Sedition Acts – Laws punishing antiwar speech or criticism of the government.

Eugene V. Debs – Socialist leader imprisoned for opposing the war.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – 1918 treaty ending Russia’s involvement in WWI.

Fourteen Points – Wilson’s postwar peace plan emphasizing self-determination and collective security.

Collective Security – Principle that nations cooperate to prevent aggression.

League of Nations – International organization founded to maintain peace; precursor to the UN.

David Lloyd George / Georges Clemenceau / Vittorio Orlando / Big Four – Main Allied leaders at the Versailles Conference.

War-guilt Clause / Reparations – Treaty terms forcing Germany to accept blame and pay damages.

Treaty of Versailles – 1919 treaty ending WWI; rejected by the U.S. Senate.

“Irreconcilables” – Senators who completely opposed joining the League of Nations.

“Reservationists” – Senators (led by Henry Cabot Lodge) who wanted changes before ratifying the treaty.

Henry Cabot Lodge – Republican Senator who led opposition to Wilson’s League of Nations.