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US Hot Topics
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Open Range | Vast area of grassland owned by the federal government |
Homestead Act | Land given to farmers by the federal government. Must farm for 5 years. |
Transcontinental Railroad | Railroad that connected the East Coast with the West Coast. Facilitated movement of settlers west. |
Exodusters | African-American farmers that moved to the Great Plains |
Pacific Railway Act | Signed by Lincoln. Gave railroad companies the ability to begin construction of railroads. |
13th Amendment | Abolished slavery. |
Dawes Act | Act brought up by the federal government to attempt to assimilate the Native Americans. Break up reservations into smaller plots and teach Native Americans how to farm. |
14th Amendment | Gave citizenship rights to African Americans |
Laissez-Faire | Style of government. "Hands-off". Government has little control of businesses. |
16th Amendment | Created the Federal Income Tax by President Wilson |
Robber Barons | Men who became rich through less-than-ethical means. |
Monopoly | Total control of a type of industry by one person or one company |
Social Darwinism | Human society progress and became better because only the fittest people survived. "Survival of the fittest PERSON or BUSINESS. |
Bessemer Process | Process of making iron into steel. Revolutionized American business and construction. |
15th Amendment | Gave all males in the US voting rights. |
Labor Union | Group of workers that banded together to fight for more money, less hours, and better working conditions. |
Ellis Island | Island where European immigrants were processed and admitted into the US. |
Angel Island | Island where Asian immigrants were processed and admitted into the US. More difficult than Ellis Island. |
Chinese Exclusion Act | Barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented the Chinese already in the US from becoming citizens. |
Arbitration | To come together and compromise on issues that are being disputed. |
Tenements | Horrible living conditions in large cities. Places where large families lived in single-room apartments and unsanitary conditions. |
Inflation | An increase in prices or decline in purchasing power caused by an increase in the supply of money. |
Pendleton Act | Civil Service Reform Act. To get a government job, you must now pass a test. Attempted to get rid of patronage. |
Sherman Anti-Trust Act | Declared any combination of trusts (monopolies) illegal. |
Interstate Commerce Act | Regulated the railroads |
Populist Party | Political party made of mostly farmers. Wanted direct election of senators, silver as a backing of money, and regulation of the railroads |
Jim Crow Laws | Laws of segregation |
Plessy vs Ferguson (1896) | Ruled separate but equal facilities constitutional |
Booker T Washington | African-American civil rights activist. Created Tuskegee Institute. Wanted African-Americans to receive equality through education. |
Yellow Journalism | Type of journalism that exaggerated the stories. |
Tariff | Tax on imports. |
Spanish-American War | War between Spain and US. War that is associated with US imperialism. |
Panama Canal | Built during Teddy Roosevelt's administration. Created to cut military travel time from the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. |
Roosevelt Corollary | Extension of the Monroe Doctrine. Attempted to keep Europe out of Latin America. Nickname- Big Stick Diplomacy |
Dollar Diplomacy | Created under the Taft Administration. Using the nation's economic power to exert influence over other countries. |
Muckrakers | A journalist who uncovers abuses and corruption in a society. |
Socialism | Belief that business should be publicly owned and run by the government. |
Eighteenth Amendment | Prohibited the production, sale, or transportation of alcohol in the US. |
Nineteenth Amendment | Women's right to vote |
Pure Food and Drug Act | Prohibited the manufacture, slae, or shipment of impure or falsely labeled food and drug. |
Progressivism | Popular movement during the late 1800s involving the middle class. Wanted advancements in social welfare, democracy, economic reform, and efficiency |
Conservationist | Individual who wanted to protect environment |
Federal Reserve System | Banks would have to keep a portion of their deposits in a regional reserve, which would provide a financial cushion against unanticipated losses. |
NAACP | National Association of the Advancement of Colored People. Worked for African American civil rights. Founded by WEB Dubois. |
Sussex Pledge | Pledge between Germany and the US in WWI. Germany promised to refrain from blowing up American ships in the Atlantic without first warning the vessel. |
17th Amendment | Direct Election of Senators |
League of Nations | Wilson's 14th Point. "General association of nations" that would help preserve peace and prevent future wars. |
Palmer Raids | A Mitchell Palmer's way of rounding up immigrants thought to have communist ties and deporting them. |
National Origins Act | Made immigrant restriction a permanent policy and tightened how many immigrants could come into the US. |
Scopes Trial | AKA "Monkey Trail". John Scopes of TN taken to court for teaching evolution. |
Harlem Renaissance | Period of explosion of Africa-American arts, literature and music. |
20th Amendment | Ended "lame duck" session of Congress. Shortened the length of time between the ending of one term and the beginning of another term. |
21st Amendment | Repealed prohibition. |
Hoovervilles | Shanty towns built in open fields during the Great Depression. Built from anything that could be used. Named in sarcastic honor of Hoover. |
Bonus Army | Veterans of WWI who marched on Washington demanding the advancement of a veteran's bonus. Displaced by Hoover and Douglas MacArthur. |
Scheck vs US | Supreme Court case in 1919. Stated that under wartime conditions, the words in pamphlets were not protected by the right of free speech. |
FDIC | Federal Depository Insurance Commission. Provided government insurance for bank deposits up to a certain amount. Increased public confidence in banks. |
Wagner Act | AKA- National Labor Relations Act. Guaranteed workers the right to organize unions without interference from employers and to bargain collectively. |
Huey Long | Promoted the "Share Our Wealth" program in response to FDR's Second New Deal. |
WPA | Works Progress Administration. Created in FDR's Second New Deal. Built public roads, buildings, and parks. |
United Nations | An international peacekeeping organization founded to promote world peace, security, and economic development. |
Lend-Lease Act | The US would be able to lend or lease arms to any country considered "vital to the defense of the US". |
Yalta Conference | US, Great Britain, and Russia's meeting to discuss the postwar world. |
Manhattan Project | US secret meeting to create the atomic bomb. |
"Rosie the Riveter" | Representation of woman used to encourage women to enter the workforce and show women's strength. |
Korematsu vs US | Supreme court decision that ruled that the relocation of Japanese-Americans was constitutional because it was based not on race, but on military urgency. |
"Iron Curtain" | The political and military barrier that isolated Soviet-controlled countries of Eastern Europe after WWII. |
United Nations | An international peacekeeping organization to which most nations in the world belong, founded in 1945. |
Containment | Policy of US during the Cold War. Attempted to contain communism in countries and keep communism out of other countries. |
HUAC | House Un-American Activities Committee. Formed to investigate communist activities in the US. |
McCarthyism | Tactic of damaging reputations with vague and unfounded charges. |
Brinkmanship | Policy of promising to go to the very edge of war. |
Sputnik | 1st unmanned satellite to go to outer space. USSR-made. |
GI Bill | Provided generous loans to veterans to help them establish businesses, buy homes, and attend colleges. |
Beat Generation | Mostly white artists, poets, and writers that wanted to live an unconventional life outside the style of the 1950s. |
Brown vs Board of Education | Ruled separate but equal policy unconstitutional. |
Cuban Missile Crisis | Standoff between US and Cuba. US threatened Cuba and USSR with war because Cuba had nuclear missiles pointed at US. |
Cold War | A state of hostility, without direct military conflict, that developed between the US and the Soviet Union after WWII. |
23rd Amendment | Gives the District of Columbia voting rights. |
Great Society | President Johnson's political ideology. |
Affirmative Action | A policy that seeks to correct the effect of past discrimination by favoring the groups that were previously disadvantaged. |
SNCC | Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Played a key role in desegregating public facilities between 1960-1965. |
Freedom Summer | Summer of 1964. Black and white Northerners came to the South to register African-American voters. |
Malcolm X | Early symbol of Black Power. Early life- part of the Nation of Islam and preached black and white integration was impossible. Later life- Believed integration was possible. Assassinated by Nation of Islam. |
Black Power | Belief that African-Americans should end racial oppression and control of major institutions and services in the African-American community. |
Roe vs Wade | Supreme Court ruling that said state governments could not regulate abortion during the first three months of pregnancy but could ban abortions in the final three months. |
Ceasar Chavez | Helped establish the National Farm Workers Association. Non violent association that worked to improve worker's condition. |
AIM | American Indian Movement. Wanted restoration of lands and recognition of Native American government. |
EPA | Environmental Protection Agency. Set and enforced pollution standards. |
Ho Chi Minh | Communist leader of North Vietnam |
Ngo Dinh Diem | Leader of the Republican South Vietnam |
Tonkin Gulf Resolution | US ship was fired upon in the Tonkin Gulf. Led President Johnson to send first combat troops to defend South Vietnam. |
Tet Offensive | Led by Vietcong in South Vietnam. First major victory by communists. Showed US that the war was going to last longer than anticipated. |
26th Amendment | 18 year olds given the right to vote |
Pentagon Papers | Leak showing Johnson was prepared to go to and stay in Vietnam longer than he had originally said. |
Vietnamization | The process of making South Vietnam assume more of the war effort by slowly withdrawing American troops from Vietnam. |
War Powers Act | Limited the power of the president to send troops into a war. |
Watergate | Nixon's downfall. Connected to the burglary and cover up of the break-in at the DNC. |
24th Amendment | Ended the poll tax. |
25th Amendment | Presidential Line of Succession. |
Star Wars | A proposed defense system during intended to protect the US against missile attacks |
Desert Storm | Attack launched by President George Bush to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi control (1991) |
Patriot Act | US law that allows the government the power to conduct search and surveillance of suspected terrorists. |
27th Amendment | Congressional pay raises will take effect after the representatives have been re-elected. |
Love Canal | Houses built on hazardous waste materials. |
North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement | A 1993 treaty that lowered tariffs and brought Mexico into the free-trade zone established by the US and Canada. |
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) | A program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to states for health insurance to families with children. |