Vocab List 2 - Ap Us His

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gold standard

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Economic system that bases all currency on gold, meaning that all paper currency could be exchanged at a bank for gold. Business interests of the late nineteenth century supported this; William Jennings Bryan ran for president three times opposing the Gold Standard, and supported the free coinage of silver instead.

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“Gospel of Wealth”

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The philosophy of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who stated that wealthy industrialists had an obligation to create a "trust fund" from their profits to help their local communities. By the time of his death, Carnegie had given over 90% of his wealth to various foundations and philanthropic endeavors.

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Great Society

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Aggressive program announced by LBJ in 1965 to attack the major social problems in America; Great Society programs included the War on Poverty, Medicare and Medicaid programs for elderly Americans, greater protection for and more legislation dealing with civil rights, and greater funding for education. Balancing the Great Society and the war in Vietnam would prove difficult for the Johnson administration.

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Greenback Party

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Political party of the 1870s and early 1880s that stated the government should put more money in circulation and supported an eight hour workday and female suffrage. The party received support from farmers but never built a national base. The party argued into the late 1880s that more greenbacks should be put in circulation to help farmers who were in debt and who saw the price of their products decreasing annually.

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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

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1964 Congressional resolution that gave LBJ the authority to "take all necessary measures to repel" attacks against American military forces stationed in Nam. Later, critics would charge. this resolution allowed the press to greatly expand the Vietnam War without congressional oversight.

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Harlem Renaissance

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Black literary and artistic movement centered in Harlem that lasted from the 1920s into the early 1930s that both celebrated and lamented black life in America; Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston were two famous writers of this movement.

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Hawley-Smoot Tariff

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In response to the initial effects of the Great Depression, Congress authorized this tariff in 1930; this established tariff rates on imported goods at the highest level of any point in US history. Some American companies benefited in the short term, although the effect on world trade was disastrous, as many other countries erected tariff barriers on American imports.

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Haymarket Square

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Location in Chicago of labor rally called by anarchist and other radical labor leaders on May 2, 1996. A bomb was hurled toward police officials, and police opened fire on the demonstrators; numerous policemen and demonstrators were killed and wounded. Response in the nation's press was decidedly anti-union.

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horizontal integration

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The strategy of gaining as much control over an entire single industry as possible, usually by creating trusts and holding companies. The most successful example of Horizontal Integration was John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil, who had at one point controlled over 92 percent of the oil production in the United States.

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House Un-American Activities Commission (HUAC)

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Committee of the HR that beginning in 1947 investigated possible communist infiltration of the entertainment industry and, more importantly, of the government. Most famous investigations of the committee were the investigations of the "Hollywood 10" and the investigation of Alger Hiss, a former high-ranking member of the State Dept.

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impressment

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British practice of forcing civilians and ex-sailors back into naval service; Napoleon and the British seized nearly 7500 sailors from American ships, including some that had actually become American citizens. This practice caused increased tensions between the United States and Great Britain and was one of the causes of the War of 1812.

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Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

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Established in 1905, this union attempted to unionize the unskilled workers who were usually not recruited by the American Federation of Labor. The I.W.W. included blacks, poor sharecroppers, and newly arrived immigrants from Eastern Europe. Members of the union were called “Wobblies,” and leaders of the union were inspired by Marxist principles.

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initiative

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Procedure supported by the Populist Party in 1890s where any proposed law could go on the ballot as long as a petition with an appropriate number of names is submitted beforehand supporting the proposed law.

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Iran-Contra Affair

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During the second term of the Reagan administration, government officials sold missiles to Iran (hoping that this would help free American hostages held in Lebanon.); money from this sale was used to aid anti-communist Contra forces in Nicaragua. Iran was a country that was supposed to be on the American “no trade” list because of their taking of American hostages, and congressional legislation had been enacted making it illegal to give money to the Contras. A major scandal for the Reagan administration.

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iron curtain

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In a March 5, 1946, speech in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill used this term to describe the division that the Soviet Union had created between itself and its Eastern European allies and Western Europe and the United States. Churchill emphasized the need for the United States to stand up to potential Soviet aggression in the future.

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“irreconcilables”

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After World War 1, a group of US senators who were opposed to a continued US presence in Europe in any form. This group was influential in preventing the passage of the Versailles Treaty in the Senate.

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Jazz Age

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Term used to describe the image of the liberated, urbanized, 1920s, with a flapper as a dominant symbol of that era. Many rural, fundamentalist Americans deeply resented the changes in American culture that occurred in the “Roaring 20s.”

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jingoism

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American foreign policy based on a strident nationalism, a firm belief in American world superiority, and a belief that military solutions were, in almost every case, the best ones. Jingoism was most evident in America during the months leading up to and during the Spanish-American War.

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Kent State University

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Site of May 1970 anti-war protest where Ohio National Guardsmen fired on protesters, killing four. To many, this event was symbolic of the extreme political tensions that permeated American society in this era.

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Kentucky and Virginia Resolves

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Passed by the legislatures in these two states, these resolutions maintained that the Alien and Sedition Acts championed through Congress by John Adams went beyond the powers that the Constitution stated belonged to the federal government. These resolves predated the later Southern argument that individual states could “nullify” federal laws deemed unconstitutional by the states.

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Kerner Commission

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Established in 1967 to study the reason for urban riots, the commission spoke at length about the impact of poverty and racism on the lives of urban blacks in America, and emphasized that white institutions created and condoned he ghettos of America.

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kitchen cabinet

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And informal group of advisors, with no official titles, who the president relies on for advice. The most famous Kitchen Cabinet was the of Andrew Johnson , who met with several old political friends and two journalists for advice on many occasions.

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Knights of Labor

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The major labor union of the 1880s; was not a single large union, but a federation of the unions of many industries. The Knights of Labor accepted unskilled workers; publicity against the organization was intense after the Haymarket Square riot of 1886.

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laissez-faire economics

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Economic theory derived for eighteenth century economist Adam Smith, who stated that for the economy to run soundly, the government should take a hands-off role in economic matters. Those who have favored policies such as high import tariffs do not follow laissez-faire policies; a policy like NAFTA has more support among the “free market” supporters of Adam Smith.

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Lend-Lease Act

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Legislation proposed by Franklin Roosevelt and adopted by Congress in 1941, stating that the United States could either sell or lease arms and other equipment to any country whose security was vital to America’s interest. After the passage of this bill, military equipment to help the British war effort began to be shipped from the United states.

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Levittown

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After World War II, the first “suburban” neighborhood; located in Hempstead, Long Island, houses in this development were small, looked the same, but were perfect for the postwar family that wanted to escape urban life. Levittown would become a symbol of the post-World War II flight to suburbia taken by millions.

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Battle of the Little Bighorn

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1876 Montana battle where Colonel George Custer and more than 200 of his men were killed by a group of Cheyenne and Lakota warriors. This was the last major victory by Native American forces over a US army unit.

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“Lost Generation”

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Group of American intellectuals who viewed America in the 1920s as bigoted, intellectually shallow, and consumed by the quest for the dollar; many became extremely disillusioned with American life and went to Paris. Ernest Hemingway wrote of this group in The Sun Also Rises.

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Loyalty Review Boards

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These were established in 1947 in an effort to control possible communist influence in the American government. These board were created to investigate the possibility of “security risks” working for the American Government, and to determine if those “security risks” should lose their jobs. Some employees were release because of the affiliation with “unacceptable” political organizations or because of their sexual orientation.

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Marshall Plan

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Plan announced in 1947 whereby the United States would help to economically rebuild Europe after the war; 17 Western European nations became part of the plan. The United States introduced the plan so that communism would not spread across war-torn Europe and bring other European countries into the communist camp.

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massive retaliation

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Foreign policy officials in the Eisenhower administration believed the best way to stop communism was to convince the communists that every time they advanced, there would be massive retaliation against them. This policy explains the desire in this era to increase the nuclear arsenal of the United States.

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Medicare

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Part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society program, this program acted as a form of health insurance for retired Americans (and disabled ones as well). Through Medicare, the federal government would pay for services received by elderly patients at doctor's offices and hospitals.

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muckrakers

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Journalists of the Progressive era who attempted to expose the evils of government and big business. Many muckrakers wrote of the corruption of city and state political machines. Factory conditions and the living and working condition of workers were other topics that some muckrakers wrote about.

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NAFTA

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(North American Free Trade Agreement) Ratified in 1994 by the U.S. Senate, this agreement established a tree trade zone between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Critics of the agreement claim that many jobs have been lost in the United States because of it.

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national culture

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national culture When a general unity of tastes and commonality of cultural experience exist in a nation; in a general sense, when a country starts to "think the same." This occurred in America for the first time in the 1920s; as many people saw the same movies, read the same magazines, and heard the same things on the radio, a national culture was born.

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National Origins Act

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Very restrictive immigration legislation passed in 1924, which lowered immigration to 2 percent of each nationality as found in the 1890 census. This lowered immigration dramatically and, quite intentionally, almost eliminated immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe.

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New Federalism

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A series of policies during the administration of Richard Nixon that began to give some power back to the states that had always been held by the federal government. Some tax dollars were returned to state and local governments in the form of "block grants"; the state and local government could then spend this money as they thought best.

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New Frontier

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The program of President John Kennedy to revitalize America at home and to re energize America for continued battles against the Soviet Union. Kennedy asked young Americans to volunteer for programs such as the Peace Corps; as he said in his inaugural speech: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."

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New Nationalism

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The series of progressive reforms supported by Theodore Roosevelt as he ran for president on the Progressive of "Bull Moose" ticket in 1912. Roosevelt said that more had to be done to regulate big business and that neither of his opponents were committed to conservation.

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New Right

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The conservative movement that began in the 1960s and triumphed with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. The New Right was able to attract many middle-class and Southern voters to the Republican party by emphasizing the themes of patriotism, a smaller government, and a return to "traditional values."

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nuclear proliferation

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The massive buildup of nuclear weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and into the 1960s; in the United States this was fostered in the belief that the threat of "massive retaliation" was the best way to keep the Soviet Union under control. The psychological effects of the atomic bomb on populations of the Soviet Union and the United States were also profound

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Ocala Platform

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Platform of the Farmer's Alliance, formulated at an 1890 convention held in Ocala, Florida. This farmer's organization favored the graduated income tax, government control of the railroad, the unlimited coinage of silver, and the direct election of United States senators. Candidates supporting the farmers called themselves Populists and ran or public offices in the 1890s.

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on the margin

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The practice in the late 1920s of buying stock and only paying in cash 10 percent of the value of that stock; the buyer could easily borrow the rest from his or her stockbroker or investment banker. This system worked well as long as investors could sell their stocks at a profit and repay their loans; after the 1929 stock market crash, investors had to pay these loans back in cash.

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OPEC

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Acronym for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, this organization sets the price for crude oil and determines how much of it will be produced. The decision of OPEC to raise oil prices in 1973 had a dramatic economic impact in both the United States and the Rest of the world.

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Palmer raids

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Part of the Red Scare, these were measures to hunt out political radicals and immigrants who were potential threats to American security. Organized by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer in 1919 and 1920 (and carried out by J. Edgar Hoover), these raids led to the arrest of nearly 5500 people and the reportation of nearly four hundred.

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Pendleton Civil Service Act

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Service Act 1883 act that established a civil service system; there were a number of government jobs that were filled by civil service examinations and not by the president appointing one of his political cronies. Some states also started to develop professional civil service systems in the 1880s.