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Freedom of Conscience
Freedom of consciences is the freedom to have opinions on a fact and have viewpoints or thought that are different than another person's. This idea is connected wih freedom of thought, which is provided in the First Amendment. -
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Headright System
Parcels of land consisting of about 50 acres which were given to colonists who brought indentured servants into America. They were used by the Virginia Company to attract more colonists. -
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Mercantilism
European government policies of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries designed to promote overseas trade between a country and its colonies. Intended to accumulate precious metals by requiring colonies to trade only with their motherland country. -
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Trade and Navigation Acts
A series of acts and laws that were implemented by England in 1651, meant to restrict foreign trade in its colonies (for the purpose of giving more advantage to England as well as cutting off rivals). The Acts were mostly obeyed except the Molasses Act of 1733 which caused smuggling, but the laws still made the colonies unhappy, eventually leading to the American Revolution. -
House of Burgesses
The first colonial assembly, which begins the idea of representative government in the New World. The first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legistlative acts. -
Mayflower Compact
The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony. -
Pilgrims
Pilgrims Separatists who broke away from the Church of England (Anglican Church) believing it was beyond reform. Initially moving to Holland, some of these separatists landed at Plymouth in 1620 in search of religious freedom and land. -
Separatists
Radical Calvinists who considered the Church of England so corrupt that they broke with it and formed their own independent churches. -
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Great Puritan Migration
The migration of English people from England to the New World. They left because King James opposed the growing Puritan population of England. -
Halfway Covenant
This Puritan doctrine responded to the declining religious fervor of second and third generation Puritans by providing partial church membership for the children and grandchildren of church members. Puritan preachers hoped that this plan would maintain some of the church's influence in society. -
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King Philip's War
A series of battles in New Hampshire between the colonists and the Wompanowogs, led by a chief known as King Philip. The war was started when the Massachusetts government tried to assert court jurisdiction over the local Indians. The colonists won with the help of the Mohawks, and this victory opened up additional Indian lands for expansion. -
Bacon's Rebellion
An uprising in the Virginia Colony led by Nathaniel Bacon. It was the first rebellion in the American colonies in which discontented frontiersmen took part; the uprising was a protest against the governor of Virginia, William Berkeley. -
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The Great Awakening
The Great Awakening was a revival of religious importance in the 17th century. It undermined older clergy, created schisms, increased compositeness of churches, and encouraged missionary work, led to the founding new schools. -
John Peter Zenger Trial
A NY publisher was arrested for spreading malicious stories about the Pennsylvania Governor; jury found him not guilty because the stories were true. Resulted in expansion of freedom of press. -
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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was a war fought by French and English on American soil over control of the Ohio River Valley. The British victory established England as number one world power and began to gradually change attitudes of the colonists toward England for the worse. -
Albany Plan
The plan called for the colonies to unify in the face of French and Native American threats. The delegates approved the plan, but the colonies rejected it for fear of losing too much power. The Crown did not support the plan either, as it was wary of too much cooperation between the colonies. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
After the French and Indian War, colonists began moving westward and settling on Indian land. This migration led to Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763, when a large number of Indian tribes banded together under the Ottawa chief Pontiac to keep the colonists from taking over their land. Pontiac's Rebellion led to Britain's Proclamation of 1763, which stated that colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. -
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Paxton Boys
A group of Scots-Irish men living in the Appalachian hills that wanted protection from Indian attacks. Who massacred a group of non-hostile Indians. They made an armed march on Philadelphia in 1764. They protested the lenient way that the Quakers treated the Indians. Their ideas started the Regulator Movement in North Carolina. -
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Virtual Representation
Virtual representation means that a representative is not elected by his constituents, but he resembles them in his political beliefs and goals. Actual representation mean that a representative is elected by his constituents. The colonies only had virtual representation in the British government. -
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Non-Importation Agreements
a widespread boycott against British goods; it showed American unity, as they spontaneously united for the first time under a common action; the practice was highly effective and some acts were repealed -
Proclamation of 1763
It was created to alleviate relations with natives after the French and Indian War. It stated that Americans were not permitted to passed the Appalachian Mountains. -
Stamp Act Congress
A meeting of delegations from many of the colonies, the congress was formed to protest the newly passed Stamp Act It adopted a declaration of rights as well as sent letters of complaints to the king and parliament, and it showed signs of colonial unity and organized resistance. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5 1770 a crowd of colonists were taunting and throwing snowballs at a British soldier guarding a customs house. While back up came there was fighting and British soldiers ended up firing killing 3 people and later killing 2 more from injuries. This was the first confrontation with the British -
Gaspee Affair
A custom ship was searched for smugglers, and some 150 colonists seized and burned the ship. Suspects were taken to Britain for trial.Thomas Jefferson suggested committees of correspondence for each colony. -
Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty, dressed as Indians, dumped hundreds of chests of tea into Boston harbor to protest the Tea Act of 1773, under which the British exported to the colonies millions of pounds of cheap-but still taxed-tea, thereby undercutting the price of smuggled tea and forcing payment of the tea duty. The Sons of Liberty did so because they were afraid that Governor Hutchinson would secretly unload the tea because he owned a share in the cargo. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
These Acts were meant to punish the American Colonists for their actions in the 1773 Boston Tea Party. The Intolerable Acts were seen by American colonists as a blueprint for a British plan to deny the Americans representative government. -
First Continental Congress
Delagates from all colonies except georgia convened on September 5, 1774, to protest the Intolerable Acts. The congress endorsed the Suffolk Resolves, voted for a boycott of British imports, and sent a petition to King George III, conceding to Parliament the power of regulation of commerce but stringently objecting to its arbitrary taxation and unfair judicial system. -
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Full Funding/Assumption
Part of Hamilton's financial plan in which the federal government took over the states' debt -
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Impressment
British practice of taking American sailors and forcing them into military service -
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Judicial Review
the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and actions of local, state, or national governments unconstitutional. -
Second Continental Congress
he chief accomplishment of the Second Continental Congress, which convened on May 10, 1775, was the drafting of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress took place in the wake of the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France (1756-1763), which left Britain deep in debt. To pay off this debt, the British Parliament passed legislation that increased tax revenues from the American colonies, including the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767. M -
Olive Branch Petition
On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parliament and viewed as an act of rebellion by the colonists, Then in December 1775 Parliament passed the American Prohibitory Act forbidding all further trade with the colonies. -
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Crisis Papers
A series of works by Thomas Paine written between 1776 and 1783 during the American Revolution. These papers were written in a language common people could understand it increase American morale. -
Declaration of Independence
the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain -
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Articles of Confederation
This document served as the United States' first constitution, and was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present day Constitution went into effect. -
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Henry Clay
Leading war hawk. Missouri Compromise. Pushes for American System; High Protective tariff, and financial government should pay for highways and canals, and the Bank of the US should be rechartered, and make National Universities and fund them. -
Battle of Saratoga
Turning point of the American Revolution. It was very important because it convinced the French to give the U.S. military support. It lifted American spirits, ended the British threat in New England by taking control of the Hudson River, and, most importantly, showed the French that the Americans had the potential to beat their enemy, Great Britain. -
Treaty of Alliance of 1778
A defensive alliance between France and the United States of America, formed in the midst of the American Revolutionary War, which promised military support in case of attack by British forces indefinitely into the future. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
The British formally recognized the independence of the US. They granted generous boundaries from the Mississippi to the Great Lakes to Florida. -
Annapolis Convention
An assembly in Maryland in 1786. 5 states were represented. It attempted to revise the Articles of Confederation. -
3/5 Compromise
The agreement by which the number of each state's representatives in Congress would be based on a count of all the free people plus three-fifths of the slaves -
Virginia Plan
Virginia delegate James Madison's plan of government, in which states got a number of representatives in Congress based on their population -
New Jersey Plan
opposite of the Virginia Plan, it proposed a single-chamber congress in which each state had one vote; this created a conflict with representation between bigger states, who wanted control befitting their population, and smaller states, who didn't want to be bullied by larger states -
Northwest Ordinance
enacted in 1787, it is considered one of the most significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation; established a system for setting up governments in the western territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing with the original 13 states -
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Second Great Awakening
Rise of Evangelical sects; focused on charity and missionary work; camp meetings; blacks welcomed. -
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Whiskey Rebellion
South Western Pennsylvania 1794. Small; 3 rebels killed. But large; George Washington's government was strengthened, and commanded a new respect. -
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Lucretia Mott
Quaker activist in both the abolitionist and women's movements; with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she was a principal organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. -
Jay's Treaty
A treaty between the US and Britain in 1794. Outraged the Jeffersonians. Signed by Chief Justice John Jay. -
XYZ Affair
XYZ Affair incident of the late 1790s in which French secret agents demanded a bribe and a loan to France in lieu of negotiating a dispute over the Jay Treaty and other issues -
Virginia-Kentucky Resolutions
Written anonymously by Jefferson and Madison in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, they declared that states could nullify federal laws that the states considered unconstitutional -
Alien and Sedition Acts
acts passed by federalists giving the government power to imprison or deport foreign citizens and prosecute critics of the government -
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Dorothea Dix
an influential american reformer that worked for the mentally ill to help create mental asylums that helped work with the ill. -
Embargo Act of 1807
Law passed by Congress stopping all US exports until British and French interference with US merchant ships stopped; the policy had little effect except to cause widespread economic hardship in America. It was repealed in 1809. -
Hartford Convention
- 26 representatives met in secrecy for three weeks. They demanded financial assistance from Washington and proposed an amendment requiring a 2/3 vote in Congress for embargo, new states, and war declarations.
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Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. -
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Era of Good Feelings
a newspaper term used to describe the two terms of President James Monroe; during this period, there was only one major political party, the democratic-republicans; it was therefore assumed that political discord had evaporated -
Missouri Compromise
the issue was that Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state, therefore unbalancing the Union so there would be more slave states then free states; the compromise set it up so that Maine joined as a free state and Missouri joined as a slave state; Congress also made a line across the southern border of Missouri saying except for the state of Missouri, all states north of that line must be free states or states without slavery -
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Boss Tweed
William Tweed, head of Tammany Hall, NYC's powerful democratic political machine in 1868. Between 1868 and 1869 he led the Tweed Reign, a group of corrupt politicians in defrauding the city. Example: Responsible for the construction of the NY court house; actual construction cost $3million. Project cost tax payers $13million. -
Monroe Doctrine
The policy of the United States that the United States would view Europe efforts to colonize the Americas as an act of aggression. -
Corrupt Bargain
John Quincy Adams bribed Clay into second place so that he would win election. -
Compact Theory
The national government got its power from the states without the states there would be no national government therefore the states have the power to nullify any bad laws issued by the national government. -
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Popular Sovereignty
the people are the source of all the political power and that states are created with the will of the people. it was a key in the argument that people should vote on the issue of slavery. -
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Transcendentalism
philosophical and literary movement that emphasized living a simple life and celebrated the truth found in nature and in personal emotion and imagination. -
Tariff of Abominations
Tariff passed by Congress in 1828 that favored manufacturing in the North and was hated by the South. -
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Trail of Tears
the relocation of native americans from their home to oklahoma. it occurred president andrew jackson and many native americans died or suffered from disease and starvation. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
1842 between the US and the Britain, settled boundry disputes in the North West, fixed most borders between US and Canada, talked about slavery. -
Wilmot Proviso
a seed of the civil war, it wanted to ban slavery in the territory of the mexican cession. it increased conflict over the issue if slavery. -
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Mexican American War
a war between the US and mexico that took place between 1846 and 1848. it was caused by the US annexation of texas and desire to purchase california. -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
a peace treaty between the US and mexico which ended the mexican american war, it gave the US the lands of the mexican cession. -
Seneca Falls Convention
an early american convention for women's rights held in senca fall, new york. the declaration of sentiments was written there. -
Compromise of 1850
a compromise between the slave states and free states in extended the missouri compromise, divided texas, slavery was allowed in new mexico and utah and a stronger fugitive slave act. -
Nashville Convention
meeting of representatives of nine southern states in the summer of 1850 to monitor the negotiations over the Compromise of 1850; it called for extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean and a stronger Fugitive Slave Law. The convention accepted the Compromise but laid the groundwork for a southern confederacy in 1860-1861. -
Fugitive Slave Law
Enacted by Congress in 1793 and 1850, these laws provided for the return of escaped slaves to their owners. The North was lax about enforcing the 1793 law, with irritated the South no end. The 1850 law was tougher and was aimed at eliminating the underground railroad. -
Gadsden Purchase
the lower region of the present day arizona and new mexico it was purchased by president pierce as part of the treaty of guadalupe-hidalgo. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by harriet beecher stowe in 1853 that highly influenced england's view on the American Deep South and slavery. a novel promoting abolition. intensified sectional conflict. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Stephen Douglas proposed this in order to get a transcontinental railroad in the north. It included: The remaining portion of the Louisiana Territory was divided into 2 territories (where slavery was to be decided by popular sovereignty). It invalidated the Missouri Compromise line of 36'30 (made abolitionists upset). -
Ostend Manifesto
A document drawn up in 1854 that instructed the buying of Cuba from Spain, then suggested the taking of Cuba by force It caused outrage among Northerners who felt it was a Southern attempt to extend slavery as states in Cuba would be southern states. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a sequence of violent events involving Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" elements that took place in Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri between roughly 1854 and 1858 attempting to influence whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state. -
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Booker T. Washington
African American progressive who supported segregation and demanded that African American better themselves individually to achieve equality. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
a supreme court case that people of african descent that were imported could hot become US citizens even if they were free. -
Lecompton Constitution
Pro-slave constitution that got voted in for Kansas after anti-slavery people boycotted the election. -
Freeport Doctrine
Lincoln tried to force Douglas to choose between the principle of popular sovereignty and the United States Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sanford, which stated that slavery could not legally be excluded from the territories. -
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Theodore Roosevelt
26th President. Increased size of Navy, "Great White Fleet". Added Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine. "Big Stick" policy. Received Nobel Peace Prize for mediation of end of Russo-Japanese war. Later arbitrated split of Morocco between Germany and France. Progressive reform, conservation efforts, Pure Food and Drug Act -
Oregon Territory
An area of land north of the mexican cession and extending into canada. it was incorporated into the US by 1859. -
Trent Affair
a diplomatic event that took place during the Civil War. a US naval ship stopped a british ship with 2 captured american diplomats, mason and slidelll. -
Emancipation Proclamation
issued by president abraham lincoln during the civil war, it stated that all slaves in confederate states that were in rebellion into 1863 would be freed. -
National Banking Act
a federal law that established a national charter for banks which supported a national currency and it also established the national treasury. -
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Henry Ford
American businessman, founder of Ford Motor Company, father of modern assembly lines, and inventor credited with 161 patents. -
13th Amendment
This amendment freed all slaves without compensation to the slaveowners. It legally forbade slavery in the United States. -
Freedmen's Bureau
Agency set up to aid former slaves in adjusting themselves to freedom. It furnished food and clothing to needy blacks and helped them get jobs -
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Social Darwinism
The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion. -
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New Immigrants
Between 1880 and 1920, over 20 million people entered the United States. These newcomers comprised an estimated fifteen percent of the total population. The arrival of these newcomers evoked a complex response from the "natives" already living there. Many Americans reacted with anxiety and hostility to the staggering numbers of new arrivals. Many newcomers stayed in the port cities where they had debarked. Still others, however, went on to other cities and regions, including southern New England -
National Labor Union
Established by William Sylvis who wanted 8hr work days, banking reform, and an end to conviction labor. It attempted to unite all laborers -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Passed by Congress on 9th April 1866 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. -
14th Amendment
This amendment declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were entitled equal rights regardless of their race, and that their rights were protected at both the state and national levels. -
15th Amendment
This amendment granted black men the right to vote. -
Force Act
An act that used military control/ force to protect African Americans' right to vote. -
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Gilded Age
A name for the late 1800s, coined by Mark Twain to describe the tremendous increase in wealth caused by the industrial age and the ostentatious lifestyles it allowed the very rich. The great industrial success of the U.S. and the fabulous lifestyles of the wealthy hid the many social problems of the time, including a high poverty rate, a high crime rate, and corruption in the government. -
Granger Laws
Grangers state legislatures in 1874 passed law fixing maximum rates for freight shipments. The railroads responded by appealing to the Supreme Court to declare these laws unconstitutional -
Battle of Little Big Horn
In 1876, Indian leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated Custer's troops who tried to force them back on to the reservation, Custer and all his men died. -
Compromise of 1877
Ended Reconstruction. Republicans promise 1) Remove military from South, 2) Appoint Democrat to cabinet (David Key postmaster general), 3) Federal money for railroad construction and levees on Mississippi river -
Jim Crow Laws
Limited rights of blacks. Literacy tests, grandfather clauses and poll taxes limited black voting rights -
Bland-Allison Act
Authorized coinage of a limited number of silver dollars and "silver certificate" paper money. First of several government subsidies to silver producers in depression periods. Required government to buy between $2 and $4 million worth of silver. Created a partial dual coinage system referred to as "limping bimetallism." Repealed in 1900. -
Knights of Labor
First effort to create National union. Open to everyone but lawyers and bankers. Vague program, no clear goals, weak leadership and organization. Failed -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Banned Chinese immigration in US for a total of 40 years because the United States thought of them as a threat. Caused chinese population in America to decrease. -
Pendleton (Civil Service) Act
A law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons -
American Federation of Labor
a federation of North American labor unions that merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955 -
Gospel of Wealth
This was a book written by Carnegie that described the responsibility of the rich to be philanthropists. This softened the harshness of Social Darwinism as well as promoted the idea of philanthropy. -
Sherman Anti Trust Act
First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions -
Populist (People's) Party
Founded in 1892 advocated variety of reform issues, including free coinage of silver, income tax, postal savings, regulation of railroads, and direct election of U.S. senators
supported mainly by farmers in the South and West, the People's party was the successor of the Greenback-Labor party of the 1880s. -
Pullman Strike
nonviolent strike (brought down the railway system in most of the West) at the Pullman Palace Car Co. over wages - Prez. Cleveland shut it down because it was interfering with mail delivery -
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Emilio Aguinaldo
Leader of the Filipino independence movement against Spain (1895-1898). He proclaimed the independence of the Philippines in 1899, but his movement was crushed and he was captured by the United States Army in 1901. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal -
Open Door Policy
Statement of U.S. foreign policy toward China. Issued by U.S. secretary of state John Hay (1899), the statement reaffirmed the principle that all countries should have equal access to any Chinese port open to trade. -
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Muckrakers
This term applies to newspaper reporters and other writers who pointed out the social problems of the era of big business. The term was first given to them by Theodore Roosevelt. -
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Charles and Mary Beard
The most influential historians of their day that stressed economic factors in the development of tracing modern society and emphasized the clash of economic interests as central to American history. -
Insurgent's Revolt
Cuban rebellion against Spanish rule - supported by American sugar planters - yellow press coverage of the Spanish backlash led to the Spanish-American War -
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Dollar Diplomacy
Term used to describe the efforts of the U.S. to further its foreign policy aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power. It protected American investments in Latin America and Asia and encouraged more stable governments. -
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Progressive Movement
reform effort, generally centered in urban areas and begun in the early 1900s, whose aims included returning control of the government to the people, restoring economic opportunities, and correcting injustices in American life. -
Spheres of Influence
areas in which countries have some political and economic control but do not govern directly (ex. Europe and U.S. in China) -
Platt Amendment
Allowed the United States to intervene in Cuba and gave the United States control of the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. -
Hay-Buena-Varilla Treaty
Buena Varilla compromised with Hay and T. Roosevelt to engineer a revolution in Panama against the Colombian government, therefore allowing the US to build a canal there. -
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Russo Japanese War
Russia and Japan were fighting over Korea, Manchuria, etc. Began in 1904, but neither side could gain a clear advantage and win. Both sent reps to Portsmouth, NH where TR mediated Treaty of New Hampshire in 1905. TR won the nobel peace prize for his efforts, the 1st pres. to do so. -
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South and Central America by using military force -
Gentleman's Agreement
Agreement in which the Japanese promised not to issue passports to laborers seeking to come to the US, in return for no Japanese segregation in the US. -
Muller v. Oregon
Supreme Court upheld Oregon state restrictions on the working hours of women as justified by the special state interest in protecting women's health -
Bull Moose Party
The Republicans were badly split in the 1912 election, Roosevelt broke away forming his own Progressive Party (or Bull Moose Party because he was "fit as a bull moose..."). His loss led to the election of Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, but he gained more third party votes than ever before. -
New Freedom
Woodrow Wilson's program in his campaign for the presidency in 1912, the New Freedom emphasized business competition and small government. It sought to reign in federal authority, release individual energy, and restore competition. It echoed many of the progressive social-justice objectives while pushing for a free economy rather than a planned one. -
Underwood Simmons Tariff
Tariff reduced the tariffs from the Payne-Aldrich Tariff to about 29% and included a graduated income tax. It was a milestone in tax legislation since it enacted a graduated income tax. -
Federal Reserve System
The system created by Congress in 1913 to establish banking practices and regulate currency in circulation and the amount of credit available. It consists of 12 regional banks supervised by the Board of Governors. Often called simply the Fed. -
Federal Trade Commission
A government agency established in 1914 to prevent unfair business practices and help maintain a competitive economy. -
Lusitania
a British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war. -
Zimmerman Telegram
Written by Arthur Zimmerman, a german foreign secretary. In this note he had secretly proposed a German- Mexican alliance. He tempted Mexico with the ideas of recovering Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The note was intercepted on March 1, 1917 by the U.S. government. This was a major factor that led us into WWI. -
League of Nations
International organization founded in 1919 to promote world peace and cooperation but greatly weakened by the refusal of the United States to join. It proved ineffectual in stopping aggression by Italy, Japan, and Germany in the 1930s. -
Volstead Act
The Act specified that "no person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized by this act." It did not specifically prohibit the purchase or use of intoxicating liquors. Means for enforcing the 18th Amendment. -
Article X
This part of the Versailles Treaty morally bound the US to aid any member of the League of Nations that experienced any external aggression. -
Schenck v. United States
Unanimously upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 which declared that people who interfered with the war effort were subject to imprisonment; declared that the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech was not absolute;a defendant did not have a First Amendment right to express freedom of speech against the draft during World War I. free speech could be limited if its exercise presented a "clear and present danger." -
Treaty of Versailles
The treaty imposed on Germany by France, Great Britain, the United States, and other Allied Powers after World War I. It demanded that Germany dismantle its military and give up some lands to Poland. It was resented by many Germans. -
Palmer Raids
A 1920 operation coordinated by Attorney General Mitchel Palmer in which federal marshals raided the homes of suspected radicals and the headquarters of radical organizations in 32 cities -
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Harlem Renaissance
A period in the 1920s in Harlem, New York when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished -
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Lost Generation
A group of American writers that rebelled against America's lack of cosmopolitan culture in the early 20th century. Many moved to cultural centers such as London in Paris in search for literary freedom. Prominent writers included T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway among others. -
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Warren G. Harding
1920; Republican; campaign slogan was "A Return to Normalcy," appointed group known as the "Ohio gang" (his longtime allies/contibutors) to important positions in DC, where they caused much corruption (Teapot Dome Scandal), established the Veteran's Bureau and the Bureau of the Budget (now called the Office of Management and Budget); he died in office in 1923 -
Washington Naval Conference
President Harding invited delegates from Europe and Japan, and they agreed to limit production of war ships, to not attack each other's possessions, and to respect China's independence. -
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Andrew Mellon
Secretary of Treasury under President Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, who instituted a Republican policy of reduced government spending, lower taxes to the wealthy and higher tariffs -
National Origins Act
a United States federal law that limited the number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890, according to the Census of 1890. It excluded immigration of Asians, first was from 3%, signed into law by Calvin Coolidge -
Bonus March
A protest movement started by American veterans. In 1924, Congress had approved the payment of a $1000 bonus to all those who has served in WW1 the money to be paid beginning in 1945. By 1932, however, many veterans were demanding that the bonus be paid immediately. They were rejected twice and they camped in front of the White House until forced out by the Army when two veterans were nearly killed in a conflict with police. Hurt Hoover's approval ratings. -
Scopes Trial
court case argued by Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan in which the issue of teaching evolution in public schools was debated -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Agreement in which many nations agreed to outlaw war, created by Secretary of State Kellogg and French diplomat Briand -
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Hoovervilles
Shanty towns that the unemployed built in the cities during the early years of the Depression; the name given to them shows that thte people blamed Hoover directly for the Depression. -
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Martin Luther King Jr,
US Baptist minister and civil rights leader. He opposed discrimination against blacks by organizing nonviolent resistance and peaceful mass demonstrations. -
Stimson Doctrine
Hoover's Secretary of State said the US would not recognize territorial changes resulting from Japan's invasion of Manchuria -
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New Deal
A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression. -
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Franklin Roosevelt
Democrat, "forgotten man," broke two term rule, platform - prohibition, help farmers, prevent fraud, balanced budget, decrease public spending, third election - two groups: "Defend America by Aiding the Allies" and "America First" -
Indian Reorganization Act
law sometimes called the Indian New Deal, reversed the Dawes Act, reinstated tribes and self-government for Native Americans -
National Labor Relations Act
A 1935 law, also known as the Wagner Act, that guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining sets down rules to protect unions and organizers, and created the National Labor Relations Board to regulate labor-managment relations. -
Works Progress Administration
New Deal agency that helped create jobs for those that needed them. It created around 9 million jobs working on bridges, roads, and buildings. -
Tennessee Valley Authority
A New Deal agency created to generate electric power and control floods in a seven-U.S.-state region around the Tennessee River Valley . It created many dams that provided electricity as well as jobs. -
Social Security Act
Guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health -
America First Committee
A committee organized by isolationists before WWII, who wished to spare American lives. They argued that WWI had not made the US safe, so why fight in this war; that the nation was in a Great Depression; that two oceans kept us safe; that American business interests were not a good enough reason to fight, that this was not our war, so why should American boys die. -
Lend Lease Act
Approve by Congress in March 1941; The act allowed America to sell, lend or lease arms or other supplies to nations considered "vital to the defense of the United States." U.S. helped Britain through this act and eventually the Soviet Union -
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Stagflation
An economic situation in which inflation and economic stagnation occur simultaneously and remain unchecked for a significant period of time. Occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. -
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John F. Kennedy
35th president of the US. President during the Cold War, Bay of Pigs, and Cuban Missile Crisis. He passed the Civil Rights Act. -
Bay of Pigs
An unsuccessful attempted by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. When the invasion ended in disaster, President Kennedy took full responsibility for the failure. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis
In October 1962, the US and USSR came close to nuclear war when JFK insisted that Khrushchev remove the 42 missiles he had in Cuba. The USSR eventually did so, nuclear war was averted. -
Warren Commission
established by LBJ to investigate the assassination of JFK. Found that Oswald was a lone assassin but some questions were left unanswered. -
Gideon v. Wainwright
US Supreme Court case that unanimously ruled that state courts are required to provide an attorney in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own. -
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Lyndon B. Johnson
36th president of the US, who wanted to stay out of Vietnam but sent soldiers because his goal was to stop the spread of Communism. -
Economic Opportunity Act
Several social programs to promote the health, education and general welfare of the poor. -
War on Poverty
President LBJ's program in the 1960s to provide greater social services for the poor and elderly. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
A joint resolution of the US Congress in response to two alleged minor naval skirmishes on the coast of North Vietnam. It allowed the president to take all necessary measures to repel armed attacks or prevent further aggression. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Extended voting rights and outlawed racial segregation in schools, workplaces, and facilities serving the general public. -
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Great Society
President LBJ's version of the Democratic reform, included Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education. -
Voting Rights Act 1965
a federal law that increased government supervision of local election practices, suspended the use of literacy tests to prevent people (usually African Americans) from voting, and expanded government efforts to register voters. -
Miranda v. Arizona
Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police. -
Vietnamization
President Nixon's strategy for ending US involvement in Vietnam, involving a gradual withdrawl of US troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces. -
SALT I Treaty
a 5 year agreement between the US and the USSR, signed in 1972, that limited the nations' numbers of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles. -
Equal Rights Amendment
constitutional amendment passed by Congress but never ratified that would have banned discrimination on the basis of gender. -
War Powers Act
President can send US armed forces into action aboard only by authorization of Congress. -
Roe v. Wade
US supreme court case that state that a woman's right to abortion is determined by her current trimester in pregnancy. -
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Gerald Ford
The 38th president of the US and the first president to be solely elected by a vote from Congress. He entered the office in August of 1974 when Nixon resigned. He pardoned Nixon of all crimes that he may have committed. The Vietnam War ended in 1975, in which Ford evacuated nearly 500,000 US and South Vietnamese from Vietnam. -
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Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter 39th president of the US, who stressed human rights. Because of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he enacted an embargo on grain shipments to USSR and boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. -
Bakke v. Board of Regents
US court case in which Bakke was denied to University of California Medical School twice to people less qualified based on race. Case determined that affirmative action is legal as long as filling quotas is not used. -
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Reaganomics
Ronald Reagan's economic beliefs that a captitalist system free from taxation and government involvement would be most productive. "Trickle Down Effect." -
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Supply Side Economics
An economic philosophy that holds that sharply cutting taxes will increase the incentive people have to work, save, and invest. Greater investments will lead to more jobs, a more productive economy, and more tax revenues for the government. -
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Ronald Reagan
40th president of the US. He ran on a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. He developed the "trickle down effect" of government incentives. His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War. -
National Recovery Administration
Government agency that was part of the New Deal and dealt with the industrial sector of the economy. It allowed industries to create fair competition which were intended to reduce destructive competition and to help workers by setting minimum wages and maximum weekly hours. -
Schechter v. US
sometimes called the "sick chicken case." Unanimously declared the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) unconstitutional on three grounds: that the act delegated legislative power to the executive; that there was a lack of constitutional authority for delegated legislative power to the executive; that it sought to regulate businesses that were wholly intrastate in character