Berkin 15: Reconstruction: High Hopes and Shattered Dreams 1865-1877
reconstruction – term applied by historians to the years 1865-1877, when the Union was restored from the Civil War; important changes were made to the federal Constitution; and social, economic, and political relations between the races were transformed in the South
freed people – former slaves; freed people is the term used by historians to refer to former slaves, whether male or female
emancipation – the release from slavery
secede – to withdraw from membership in an organization; in this case, the attempted withdrawal of eleven southern states from the United States in 1860-1861, giving rise to the Civil War
abolitionist – an individual who condemns slavery as morally wrong and seeks to abolish (eliminate) slavery
Radical Republicans – a group within the Republican Party during the Civil War and Reconstruction who advocated abolition of slavery, citizenship for the former slaves, and sweeping alteration of the South
racial integration – equal opportunities to participate in a society or organization by people of different racial groups; the absence of race-based barriers to full and equal participation
moderates – people whose views are midway between two more-extreme positions; in this case, Republicans who favored some reforms but not all the Radicals' proposals
pardon – a governmental directive canceling punishment for a person or people who have committed a crime
amnesty – a general pardon granted by a government, especially for political offenses
suffrage – the right to vote
13th amendment – constitutional amendment ratified in 1865 that abolished slavery in the United States and its territories
chattel slavery – the situation where one person is legally defined as the personal property of another person
states' rights – a political position favoring limitation of the federal government's power and the greatest possible self-government by the individual states
empower – the increase the power or authority of some person or group
provisional – temporary
repudiate – the act of rejecting the validity or authority of something; to refuse to pay
autonomy – control of one's own affairs
patrollers – during the era of slavery, white guards who made the rounds of rural roads to make certain that slaves were not moving about the countryside without written permission from their masters
pass system – laws that forbade slaves from traveling without written authorization from their owners
Freedmen's Bureau – agency established in 1865 to aid former slaves in their transition to freedom, especially by administering relief and sponsoring education
cholera – infectious and often fatal disease associated with poor sanitation
fraternal order – an organization of men, often with a ceremonial initiation, that typically provided rudimentary life insurance; many fraternal orders also had auxiliaries for the female relatives of members
benevolent society – an organization of people dedicated to some charitable purpose
land redistribution – the division of land held by large landowners into smaller plots that are turned over to people without property
capital – money, especially the money invested in a commercial enterprise
sharecropping – a system for renting farmland in which tenant farmers give landlords a share of their crops, rather than cash, as rent
crop lien – a legal claim to a farmer's crop, similar to a mortgage, based on the use of crops as collateral for extension of credit by a merchant
coercion – use of threats or force to compel action
black codes – laws passed by the southern states after the Civil War restricting activities of freed people; in general, the black codes restricted the civil rights of the freed people and defined their status as subordinate to whites
vagrancy – the legal condition of having no fixed place of residence or means of support
Ku Klux Klan – a secret society organized in the South after the Civil War to restore white supremacy by means of violence and intimidation
white supremacy – the racist belief that whites are inherently superior to all other races and are therefore entitled to rule over them
civil rights – the rights, privileges, and protections that are a part of citizenship
14th amendment – constitutional amendment, ratified in 1868, defining American citizenship and placing restrictions on former Confederates
enfranchise – to grant the right to vote to an individual or group
Elizabeth Cady Stanton – a founder and leader of the American woman suffrage movement from 1848 (date of the Seneca Falls Conference) until her death in 1902
Susan B. Anthony – tireless campaigner for woman suffrage and close associate of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
impeach – to charge a public official with improper, usually criminal, conduct
terrorists – those who use threats and violence to achieve ideological or political goals
15th amendment – constitutional amendment, ratified in 1870, that prohibited states from denying the right to vote because of a person's race or because a person had been a slave
disfranchisement – the taking away of an individual's or group's right to vote
nativity – place of birth
discrimination – denial of equal treatment based on prejudice or bias
Civil Rights Act of 1875 – law passed by Congress in 1875 prohibiting racial discrimination in selection of juries and in transportation and other businesses open to the general public
public accommodations – hotels, bars, and restaurants, theaters, and other places set up to do business with anyone who can pay the price of admission
Black Reconstruction – the period of Reconstruction when African Americans took an active role in state and local government
carpetbagger – derogatory term for the northerners who came to the South after the Civil War to take part in Reconstruction
scalawag – derogatory term for white southerners who aligned themselves with the Republican party during Reconstruction
equal access – the right of any person to a public facility, such as streetcars, as freely as any other person
segregation – separation on account of race or class from the rest of society, such as the separation of blacks from whites in most southern school systems
underwrite – to assume financial responsibility for; in this case, to guarantee the purchase of bonds so that a project can go forward
New Departure – strategy of cooperation with some Reconstruction measures adopted by some leading southern Democrats in the hope of winning compromises favorable to their party
coalition – an alliance, especially a temporary one of different people or groups
Redeemers – Southern Democrats who hoped to bring the Democratic Party back into power and to suppress Black Reconstruction
depression – a period of economic contraction, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and high unemployment
Mississippi Plan – use of threats, violence, and lynching by Mississippi Democrats in 1875 to intimidate Republicans and bring the Democratic Party to power
Rutherford B. Hayes – Ohio governor and former Union general who won the Republican nomination in 1876 and became president of the United States in 1877
voting fraud – altering election results by illegal measures to bring about the victory of a particular candidate
Compromise of 1877 – name applied by historians to the resolution of the disputed presidential election of 1876; it gave the presidency to the Republicans and made concessions to southern Democrats
Berkin 16: An Industrial Order Emerges, 1865-1880
telegraphy – apparatus used to communicate at a distance over a wire; usually in Morse code; a telegraph or radio telegraph
entrepreneur – a person who takes on the risks of creating, organizing, and managing a business enterprise
industry – a basic unit of business activity in which the various participants do similar activities; for example, the railroad industry consists of railroad companies and the firms and factories supply their equipment
interchangeable parts – mechanical parts that are identical and can be substituted for one another
artisan – a skilled worker, whether self-employed or working for wages
stock exchange – a place where people buy and sell stocks (shares in the ownership of companies); stockholders may participate in election of the company's directors and share in the company's profits
Homestead Act – law passed by Congress in 1862 that offered ownership of 160 acres of designated public lands to any citizen who lived on and improved the land for five years
protective tariff – a tax placed on imported goods for the purpose of raising the price of imports as high or higher than the prices of the same item produced within the nation
public domain – land owned by the federal government
Land-Grant College Act – law passed by Congress in 1862 that gave states land to use to raise money to establish public universities that were to offer courses in engineering and agriculture and to train military officers
expansion – in the economic cycle, a time when the economy has ceased to grow, characterized by decreased production of goods and services and often by high rates of unemployment
recession/depression – a recession is an economic contraction of relatively short duration; a depression is an economic contraction of longer duration
gauge – in this usage, the distance between the two rails making up railroad tracks
Pacific Railway Act – law passed by Congress in 1862 that gave loans and land to the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad companies to subsidize construction of a rail line between Omaha and the Pacific Coast
bonds – a certificate of debt issued by a government or corporation guaranteeing payment of the original investment plus interest at a specific future date
fixed costs – costs that a company must pay even if it closes down all its operations – for example, interest on loans, dividends on bonds, and property taxes
mogul – an important or powerful person, especially the head of a major company
pool – an agreement among businesses in the same industry to divide up the market and charge equal prices instead of competing
rebate – the refund of part of a payment
lobby – to try to influence the thinking of public officials for or against a specific cause
mail-order sales – the business of selling goods using the mails; mail-order houses send out catalogs, customers submit orders, and the products are delivered all by mail
meatpacking – the business of slaughtering animals and preparing their meat for sale as food
Andrew Carnegie – Scottish born industrialist who made a fortune in steel and believed the rich had a duty to act for the public benefit
vertical integration – the process of bringing together into a single company several of the activities in the process of creating a manufactured product, such as the acquiring of raw materials, the manufacturing of products, and the marketing, selling, and distributing of finished goods
Social Darwinism – the philosophical argument inspired by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, that competition in human society produced “the survival of the fittest” and therefore benefited society as a whole: Social Darwinists opposed efforts to regulate competitive practices
laissez faire – the principle that the government should not interfere in the workings of the economy
Gospel of Wealth – Andrew Carnegie's idea that all possessors of great wealth have an obligation to spend or otherwise disburse their money to help people help themselves
robber baron – in medieval times, a feudal aristocrat who laid very high charges on all who crossed his territory; in the late nineteenth century, an insulting term applied to powerful industrial and financial figures, especially who disregarded the public interest in their haste to make profits
speed-up – an effort to make employees produce more goods in the same time or for the same pay
piecework – work for which the pay is based on the number of items turned out; rather than by the hour
craft union, trade union – labor union that organizes skilled workers engaged in a specific craft or trade
National Labor Union – Federation of trade unions and reform societies organized at Baltimore in 1866; it lasted only six years but helped push through a law limiting government employees to an eight-hour workday
party convention – party meeting to nominate candidates for elective offices and to adopt a political platform
caucus – a gathering of people with a common political interest, for example, to choose delegates to a party convention or to seek consensus on party positions on issues
platform – a formal statement of the principles, policies, and promises on which a political party bases its appeal to voters
patronage system – system of appointment to government jobs that lets the winners in an election distribute nearly all appointive government jobs to loyal party members; also called the spoils system
spoilsmen – derogatory term for the defenders of the patronage or spoils system
postmaster – an official appointed to oversee the operations of a post office
General Army of the Republic – organization of Union army veterans
prohibition – a legal ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages
ethnicity – having to do with common racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics; an ethnic group is one that has some shared racial, religious, linguistic, cultural, or national heritage
old-stock – people whose ancestors have lived in the United States for several generations
Credit Mobilier – company created to build the Union Pacific Railroad; in a scandalous deal uncovered in 1872-1873, it sold shares cheaply to congressmen who approved federal subsidies for railroad construction
Tweed Ring – name applied to the political organization of William Marcy Tweed
kickback – an illegal payment by a contractor to the official who awarded the contraction
William Marcy Tweed – New york City political boss who used the Tammany organization to control city and state government from the 1860s until his downfall in 1871
ring – in this context, “ring” means a group of people who act together to exercise control over something
Whiskey Ring – distillers and revenue officials in St. Louis who were revealed in 1875 to have defrauded the government of millions of dollars in whiskey taxes, with the cooperation of federal officials
Grange – organization of farmers that combined social activities with education about new methods of farming and cooperative economic efforts, formally called the Patrons of Husbandry
cooperative – a business enterprise in which workers and consumers share in ownership and take part in management
Granger laws – state laws establishing standard freight and passenger rates on railroads, passed in several states in the 1870s in response to lobbying by the Grange and other groups, including merchants
monetary policy – now, the regulation of the money supply and interest rates by the Federal Reserve. In the late 19th century, federal monetary policy was largely limited to defining the medium of the currency (gold, silver, or paper) and the relations between the types of currency
deflation – falling prices, a situation in which the purchasing power of the dollar increases; the opposite of deflation is inflation, when prices go up and the purchasing power of the dollar declines
greenbacks – paper money, not backed by gold, that the federal government issued during the Civil War
graduated income tax – percentage tax that is levied on income and varies with income, so that individuals with the lowest income pay taxes at the lowest rates
gold standard – a monetary system based on gold; under such a system, legal contracts typically called for the payment of all debts in gold, and paper money could be redeemed in gold at a bank
Bland-Allison Act – law passed by Congress in 1878 providing for federal purchase of limited amounts of silver to be coined into silver dollars
militia – a military force consisting of civilians who agree to be mobilized into service in times of emergency; organized by state governments during the 19th century but now superseded by the National Guard
general strike – a strike by members of all unions in a particular region
Great Railway Strike of 1877 – largely spontaneous strikes by railroad workers, triggered by wage cuts
William H. Seward – U.S. Secretary of state under Lincoln and Johnson, a former abolitionist who had expansionist views and arranged the purchase of Alaska from Russia
Senate Foreign Relations Committee – one of the standing (permanent) committees of the Senate; it deals with foreign affairs, and its chairman often wields considerable influence over foreign policy
arbitration – process by which parties to a dispute submit their case to the judgment of an impartial person or group (the arbiter) and agree to abide by the arbiter's decision
Monroe Doctrine – announcement by President James Monroe in 1823 that the Western Hemisphere was off-limited for future European colonial expansion
Benito Juarez – elected President of Mexico who led resistance to the French occupation of his country in 1864-1867; the first Mexican president of Indian ancestry
Maximilian – Austrian archduke appointed emperor of Mexico by Napoleon III, who was emperor of France. Maximilian was later executed by Mexican republicans
Danish West Indies – island group in the Caribbean, including St. Croix and St. Thomas, which the United States finally purchased from Denmark, in 1917; now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands
Santo Domingo – nation in the Caribbean that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti; it became independent from Spain in 1865; now known as the Dominican Republic
corollary – a proposition that follows logically and naturally from an already proven point
opium – an addictive drug made from poppies
most-favored-nation status – in a treaty between nation A and nation B; the provision that commercial privileges extended by A to other nations automatically become available to B
Berkin 17: Becoming an Urban Industrial Society, 1880-1890
gild – to cover a cheaper metal with a very thin layer of gold
John D. Rockefeller – American industrialist who amassed great wealth through the Standard Oil Company and donated much of his fortune to promote learning and research
refinery – an industrial plant that transforms raw materials into finished products; a petroleum refinery processes crude oil to produce a variety of products for use by consumers
cartel – a group of separate companies within an industry that cooperate to control the production, pricing, and marketing of goods within that industry; another name for a pool
horizontal integration – merging one or more companies doing the same or similar activities as a way of limiting competition or enhancing stability and planning
monopoly – exclusive control by an individual or company of the production or sale of a product
trust – a legal arrangement in which an individual (the trustor) gives control of property to a person or institution (the trustee); in the late 19th century, a legal device to get around state laws prohibiting a company chartered in one state from operating in another state, and often synonymous in common use with monopoly; first used by John D. Rockefeller to consolidate Standard Oil
holding company – a company that exists to own other companies, usually through holding a controlling interest in their stocks
Thomas A. Edison – American inventor, especially of electrical devices, among them the microphone, the phonograph, and the light bulb
patent – a government statement that gives the creator of an invention the sole right to produce, use, or sell that invention for a set period of time
merger – the joining together of two or more organizations
patent medicine – a medical preparation that is advertised by brand name and available without a physician's prescription
trademark – a name or symbol that identifies a product and is officially registered and legally restricted for use by the owner or manufacturer
department store – type of retail establishment that developed in cities in the late 19th century and featured a wide variety of merchandise organized in separate departments
investment bank – an institution that acts as an agent for corporations issuing stocks and bonds
John Pierpont Morgan – the most prominent and powerful American investment banker in the late 19th century
return – the yield on money that has been invested in an enterprise. Today, companies typically pay a dividend (a proportionate share of the profits) to their stockholders each quarter
oligopoly – a market or industry dominated by a few firms (from Greek words meaning “few sellers”); compare monopoly (from Greek words meaning “one seller”)
cost analysis – study of the cost of producing manufactured goods in order to find ways to cut expenses
dividend – a share of a company's profits received by stockholder
New South – late 19th century term used by some southerners to promote the idea that the South should become industrialized, have a more diverse agriculture, and be thoroughly integrated into the economy of the nation
Henry Grady – prominent Atlanta newspaper published and leading proponent of the concept of a New South
Old South – term used in both the South and the North for the antebellum (pre-Civil War) South, suggesting that it was a place of gentility and gallantry
Lost Cause – term applied to the Confederate struggle in the Civil War, depicting it as a noble but doomed effort to preserve a way of life
Knights of Labor – organization founded in 1869; membership, open to all workers, peaked in 1886, members favored a cooperative alterative to capitalism
Terence V. Powderly – leader of the Knights of Labor from 1879 to 1893; three-term mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania
anarchist – a person who believes that all forms of government are oppressive and should be abolished
American Federation of Labor – National organization of trade unions founded in 1886; it used strikes and boycotts to improve the lot of craft workers
Samuel Gompers – first president of the American Federation of Labor; he sought to divorce labor organizing from politics and stressed practical demands involving wages and hours
Scandinavia – the region of northern Europe consisting of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland
manufacturing belt – a region that includes most of the nation's factories; in the late 19th century, the manufacturing belt also included most of the nation's largest cities and railroad lines and most of its mining
assimilation – a process by which a minority or immigrant group is absorbed into another group or groups among immigrants, the process of adopting some of the behaviors and values of the society in which they found themselves
ethnic group – a group that shares a racial, religious, linguistic, cultural, or national heritage
melting pot – a concept that American society is a place where immigrants set aside their distinctive cultural identities and are absorbed into a homogenous culture
nativism – the view that old-stock values and social patterns were preferable to those of immigrants
American Protective Association – an anti-Catholic organization founded in Iowa in 1887 and active during the next decade
restrictive covenant – provision in a property title designed to restrict subsequent sale or use of the property, often specifying sale only to a white Christian
walking city – term that urban historians use to describe cities before changes in urban transportation permitted cities to expand beyond the distance that a person could easily cover on foot
Louis Sullivan – American architect of the late 19th century whose designs reflected his theory that the outward form of a building should express his function
elevated rail line – a train that runs on a steel framework above a street, leaving the roadway free for other traffic
chlorination – the treatment of water with the chemical chlorine to kill germs
franchise – government authorization allowing a company to provide a public service in a certain area
Great Chicago Fire – a fire that destroyed much of Chicago in 1871 and spurred national efforts to improve fire protection
infrastructure – basic facilities that a society needs to function, such as transportation systems, water and power lines, and public institutions such as schools, post offices, and prisons
wholesaler – person engaged in the sale of goods in large quantities, usually for resale by a retailer
retail – related to the sale of goods directly to consumers
central business district – the part of a city that includes most of its commercial, financial, and manufacturing establishments
tenement – a multifamily apartment building, often unsafe, unsanitary, and overcrowded
suburb – a residential area lying outside the central city; many of the residents of suburbs work and shop in the central city even though they live outside it
consumer culture – a consumer is an individual who buys products for personal use; a consumer culture emphasizes the values and attitudes that derive from the participants' roles as consumers
kindergarten – German for “children's garden”; a pre-school program developed in the late 19th century initially as childcare for working mothers; based on programs first developed in Germany
Vassar College – the first collegiate institution for women, founded in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1861
domesticity – the notion common throughout much of the 19th century that women's activities were ideally rooted in domestic labor and the nurture of children
separate sphere – the notion that men and women should engage in different activities: women were to focus on the family, church, and school, whereas men were to support the family financially and take part in politics, activities considered too competitive and corrupt for women
Women's Christian Temperance Union – women's organization founded in 1874 that opposed alcoholic beverages and supported reforms such as woman suffrage
Masons – the Order of Free and Accepted Masons is one of the largest secret fraternal societies. The order uses allegorical rituals, open only to members, to teach moral values. It is limited to men.
Sodomy – varieties of sexual intercourse prohibited by law in the 19th century, typically including intercourse between two males
subculture – a group whose members differ from the dominant culture on the basis of some values or interests but who share most values and interests with the dominant culture
stalemate – a deadlock; in chess, a situation in which neither player can move
Stalwarts – faction of the Republican Party led by Roscoe Conkling of New York; Stalwarts claimed to be the genuine Republicans
Half-Breeds – insulting name that Roscoe Conkling gave to his opponents (especially James Blaine) within the Republican Party to suggest that they were not fully committed to Republican ideals
Pendleton Act – law passed by Congress in 1883 that created the Civil Service Commission and instituted the merit system for federal hiring and jobs
classified civil service – federal jobs filled through the merit system instead of by partonage
Mugwumps – reformers, mostly Republicans, who opposed political corruption and campaigned for reform, especially reform of the civil service, in the 1880s and 1890s, sometimes crossing party boundaries to achieve their goals
Tammany Hall – A New York City political organization that dominated city and sometimes state politics by dominating the Democratic Party in New York City
Interstate Commerce Commission – the first federal regulatory commission created in 1887 to regulate railroads
National Woman Suffrage Association – women's suffrage organization formed in 1869 and led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony; it accepted only women as members and worked for related issues such as unionizing female workers
American Woman Suffrage Association – Boston-based women's suffrage organization formed in 1869 and led by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and others; it welcomed men and worked soley to win the vote for women
franchise – as used here, the right to vote; another word for suffrage
polygamy – the practice of a man having more than one wife; Mormons referred to this practice as plural marriage
policy – a course of action adopted by a government, usually one that is pursued over a period of time and may involve several different laws and agencies
Australian ballot – a ballot printed by the government rather than by political parties, and marked privately, so called because it originated there
haole – Hawaiian word for persons not of native Hawaiian ancestry, especially whites
indigenous – original to an area
Samoa – a group of volcanic and mountainous islands in the South Pacific
Berkin 18: Conflict and Change in the West, 1865-1902
Californios – Spanish-speaking people living in California at the time California was acquired by the United States
humbug - 19th century colloquial expression for a fraud or a hoax
Great Plains – high grassland of western North America, stretching from roughly the 98th meridian to the Rocky Mountains; it is generally level, treeless, and fairly dry
tipis – conical tent made from buffalo hide and used as a portable dwelling by Indians on the Great Plains
Cheyenne – Indian people who became nomadic buffalo hunters after migrating to the Great Plains in the 18th century
horse culture – the nomadic way of life of those American Indians, mostly on the Great Plains, for whom the horse brought significant changes in their ability to hunt, travel, and make war
Lakota – a confederation of Siouan Indian peoples who lived on the northern Great Plains
confederacy – an organization of separate groups who have allied for mutual support or joint action
sedentary – living year-round in fixed villages and engaging in farming; as opposed to nomadic, or moving from camp to camp throughout the year
counting coup – among Plains Indians, to win glory in battle by touching an enemy; coup is a French word for “blow,” and the term comes from the French fur traders who were the first Europeans to describe the practice
Sitting Bull – Lakota war leader and holy management
Bozeman Trail – trail that ran from Fort Laramie, Wyoming to the gold fields of Montana
Red Cloud – Lakota chief who led a successful fight to prevent the army from keeping forts along the Bozeman Trail
tannery – an establishment where animal skins and hides are made into leather
war of attrition – a form of warfare based on deprivation of food, shelter, and other necessities; if successful, it drives opponents to surrender out of hunger or exposure
Crazy Horse – Lakota leader who resisted white encroachment in the Black Hills and fought at the Little Big Horn River in 1876; he was killed by U.S. Soldiers in 1877
Great Sioux War – war between the U.S. Army and the tribes that took part in the Battle of Little Big Horn; it ended in 1881 with the surrender of Sitting Bull
Little Big Horn River – river in Montana where in 1876 Lieutenant Colonel George Custer attacked a large Indian encampment; Custer and most of his force died in the battle
Chief Joseph – Nez Perce chief who led his people in an attempt to escape to Canada in 1877; after a grueling journey they were forced to surrender and were exiled to Indian Territory
Ghost Dance – Indian religion centered on a ritual dance it held out the promise of an Indian messiah who would banish the whites, bring back the buffalo, and restored the land to the Indians
Wounded Knee Creek – site of a conflict in 1890 between a band of Lakotas and U.S. Troops, sometimes characterized as a massacre because the Lakotas were so outnumbered and overpowered; the last major encounter between Indians and the army
Mormons – members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded in New York in 1830
polygamy – the practice of having more than one wife at a time; Mormons referred to this as “plural marriage.”
theocracy – a society governed by religious officials; the unity of religious and civic power
open range – unfenced grazing lands on which cattle ran freely and cattle ownership was established through branding
roundup – a spring event in which cowboys gathered together the cattle herds, branded newborn calves and castrated most of the new young males
branding – burning a distinctive mark into an animal's hide using a hot iron as a way to establish ownership
dime novels – a cheaply produced novel of the mid-to-19th century, often featuring the dramatized exploits of western gunfighters
James B. “Wild Bill” Hickok – western gambler and gunfighter who for a time was the town marshal (law enforcement officer) in Abilene, Kansas
Wyatt Earp – American frontier marshal and gunfighter involved in 1881 in a controversial shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona in which several men were killed
icon – a symbol, usually one with virtues considered worthy of copying
aridity – dryness; lack of enough rainfall to support trees or woody plants
meridian – one of the imaginary lines representing degrees of longitude that pass through the North and South Poles and encircle the Earth
ecosystem – a community of animals, plants, and bacteria, considered together with the environment in which they live
Bohemia – a region of central Europe now part of the Czech Republic
sod – a piece of earth on which grass is growing; if grass has grown there a long time, the grass roots, dead grass from previous growing seasons, and the growing grass will be dense, tough, and fibrous, and the soil hard-packed
water table – the level at which the ground is completely saturated with water
Russian-German – refers to people of German ancestry living in Russia; most had come to Russia in the 18th century at the invitation of the government to develop agricultural areas
placer mining – a form of gold mining that uses water to separate gold from gravel deposits; because gold is heavier, it settles to the bottom of a container filled with water when the container is agitated
hydraulic – having to do with water moved in pipes; hydraulic mining uses water under great pressure to wash away soil from underlying mineral deposits
agribusiness – a large-scale farming operation typically involving considerable land holdings, hired labor, and extensive use of machinery; may also involve processing and distribution as well as growing
combine – a large harvesting machine that both cuts and threshes grain
Sikh – follower of Sikhism, a religion founded in India in the 16th century
lumber mill – a factory or place, where logs are sawed into rough boards
metropolis – an urban center, especially one that is dominant within a region
Sierra Club – environmental organization formed in 1892; now dedicated to preserving and expanding parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas
aqueduct – a pipe or channel designed to transport water from a remote source, usually by gravity
Reclamation Act – law passed by Congress in 1902 that provided funding for irrigation of western lands and created the Reclamation Service to oversee the process
famine – a serious and widespread shortage of food
Chinatown – a section of a city inhabited chiefly by people of Chinese birth or ancestry
Chinese Exclusion Act – law passed by Congress in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States; it was extended periodically until World War II
Mamie Tape – Chinese girl in San Francisco whose parents sued the city in 1885 to end the exclusion of Chinese students from the public schools
assimilate – to absorb immigrants or members of a culturally distinct group into the prevailing culture
Dawes Severalty Act – law passed by Congress in 1887 intended to break up Indian reservations to create individual farms (holding land in severalty, that is, individually) rather than maintaining common ownership of the land; surplus lands were to be sold and the proceeds used to fund Indian education
peyote cult – a religion that included ceremonial use of the hallucinogenic peyote cactus, native to Mexico, and the Southwest
mestizo – a person of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry
Anglos – a term applied in the Southwest to English-speaking whites
pueblo – town created under Mexican or Spanish rules
barrio – a Spanish speaking community, often a part of a larger city
Tejanos – Spanish speaking people living in Texas at the time it was acquired by the United States
Hispanos – Spanish speaking New Mexicans
utopia – an ideally perfect place
Willa Cather – early 20th century writer, many of whose novels chronicle the lives of immigrants and others on the American frontier
Frederick Jackson Turner – American historian who argued that the frontier and cheap, abundant land were dominant factors in creating American democracy and shaping national character
Berkin 19: Economic Crash and Political Upheaval, 1890-1900
Populist – members of the People's Party, who held their first presidential nominating convention in 1892 and called for federal action to reduce the power of big business and to assist farmers and workers. The more general term populist refers to a politician who attacks the existing power structure and seeks to change it by mobilizing the people against the interests
commodity market – financial market in which brokers buy and sell agricultural products in large quantities thus determining the prices paid to farmers for their harvests
Farmers' Alliances – organizations of farm families in the 1880s and 1890s similar to the Grange
grain elevator – a facility for temporarily storing grain and loading it into railroad cars; such structures were equipped with mechanical lifting devices (elevators) to move the grain into railcars
antimonopolism – opposition to great concentration of economic power such as trusts and giant corporation as well as to actual monopolies
collateral – property pledged as security for a loan, that is, something owned by the borrower that can be taken by the lender if the borrower fails to repay the loan
initiative – procedure allowing voters to petition to have a law placed on the ballot for consideration by the general electorate
referendum – procedure whereby a bill or constitutional amendment is submitted to the voters for their approval after having been passed by a legislative body
Civil Rights case – a series of cases that came before the Supreme Court in 1883, in which the Court ruled that private companies could legally discriminate against individuals based on race
poll tax – an annual tax imposed on each citizen used in some southern states as a way to disfranchise black voters, as the only penalty for not paying the tax was the loss of the right to vote
disfranchise – to take away the right to vote; the opposite of enfranchise, which means to grant the right to vote
Booker T. Washington – former slave who became an educator and founded Tuskegee Institute, a leading black educational institution; he urged southern African Americans to accept disfranchisement and segregation for the time being
normal school – a two-year school for preparing teachers for grades 1-8. The term is a direct translation from the French ecole normale, which ecole means school and normale refers to norms or standards. Thus, an ecole normale was where future French teachers learned the standard curriculum that they were to teach to their students
Atlanta Compromise – name applied to Booker T. Washington's 1895 speech in which he urged African Americans to temporarily accept segregation and disfranchisement and to work for economic advancement as a way to recover their civil rights
grandfather clause – provision in Louisiana law that permitted a person to vote if his father or grandfather had been entitled to vote in 1867; designed to permit white men to vote who might otherwise be disfranchised by laws targeting blacks. Often applied to any law that permits some people to evade current legal provisions based on past practice
Plessy v. Ferguson – Supreme Court decision in 1896 that upheld a Louisiana law requiring the segregation of railroad facilities on the grounds that “separate but equal” facilities were constitutional under the 14th amendment
“new immigrants” - newcomers from southern and eastern Europe who began to arrive in the United States in significant numbers during the 1890s and after
“old immigrants” - newcomers from northern and western Europe who made up much of the immigration to the United States before the 1890s
House Ways and Means Committee – one of the significant standing committees (permanently organizing committees) of the House of Representatives, responsible for initiating all taxation measures
McKinley Tariff – tariff passed by Congress in 1890 that sought not only to protect established industries but by prohibitory duties to stimulate the creation of new industries
Sherman Anti-Trust Act – law passed by Congress in 1890 authorizing the federal government to prosecute any “combination” “in restraint of trade”; because of adverse court rulings, at first it was ineffective as a weapon against monopolies
Sherman Silver Purchase Act – law passed by Congress in 1890 requiring the federal government to increase its purchases of silver to be coined into silver dollars
filibuster – a long speech by a bill's opponents to delay legislative action; usually applies to extended speeches in the U.S. Senate, which has no time limit on speeches and where a minority may therefore try to “talk a bill to death” by holding up other businesses
financial panic – widespread anxiety about financial and commercial matters; in a panic, investors often sell large amounts of stock to cut their own losses, which drives prices much lower
gold reserves – the stockpile on gold with which the federal government backed up the currency
boxcars – an enclosed railroad car with sliding side doors, used to transport freight
Coxey's Army – unemployed workers led y Jacob S. Coxey, who marched on Washington to demand relief measures from Congress following the depression on 1893
Eugene V. Debs – American Railway Union leader who was jailed for his role in the Pullman strike; he later became a leading socialist and ran for president
industrial union – union that organizes all workers in a industry, whether skilled or unskilled, and regardless of occupation
Pullman car – a luxury railroad passenger car
injunction – a court order requiring an individual or a group to do something or to refrain from doing something
U.S. Marshal – a federal law-enforcement official
William Jennings Bryan – Nebraska congressman who advocated free coinage of silver, opposed imperialism, and ran for president unsuccessfully three times on the Democratic ticket
Gold Standard Act – law passed by Congress in 1900 that made gold the monetary standard for all currency issued
Alfred Thayer Mahan – Naval officer and specialist on naval history who stressed the importance of sea power in international politics and diplomacy
Lili uokalani – last reigning queen of Hawai'i, who desire to restore land to the Hawaiian people and perpetuate the monarchy prompted haole planters to remove her from power in 1893
protectorate – a country partially controlled by a stronger power and dependent on that power for protection from foreign threats
repudiate – to reject as invalid or unauthorized
insurgent – rebel or revolutionary; one who takes part in an insurrection or rebellion against constituted authority
guerrilla warfare – an irregular form of war carried on by small bodies of men acting independently
reconcentration – Spanish policy in Cuba in 1896 that ordered the civilian population into fortified caps so as to isolate and annihilate the Cuban revolutionaries who remained outside the camps
Joseph Pulitzer – Hungarian-born newspaper publisher whose New York World printed sensational stories about Cuba that helped precipitate the Spanish-American War
William Randolph Hearst – publisher and rival to Pulitzer whose newspaper, the New York Journal, sensationalized and distorted stories and actively promoted the war with Spain
yellow journalism – the use of sensational exposes, embellished reporting, and attention-grabbing headlines to sell newspapers
Enrique Dupuy de Lome – Spanish minister to the United States whose private letter criticizing President McKinley was stolen and printed in the New York Journal, increasing anti-Spanish sentiment
U.S.S. Maine – American warship that exploded in Havana Harbor in 1898, inspring the motto, “Remember the Maine!” which spurred the Spanish-American War
mediation – an attempt to bring about the peaceful settlement of a dispute through the intervention of a neutral party
armistice – an agreement to halt fighting, at least temporarily
Teller Amendment – resolution approved by the Senate in 1898, by which the United States promised not to annex Cuba; introduced by Senator Henry Teller of Colorado
Philippine Islands – a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean southeast of China that came under U.S. Control in 1898 after the Spanish-American War; they became an independent nation after World War II
Theodore Roosevelt – American politician and writer who advocated war against Spain in 1898l elected as McKinley's vice president in 1900, he became president in 1901 upon McKinley's assassination
Rough Riders – the First Volunteer Cavalry, a brigade recruited for action in the Spanish-American War by Theodore Roosevelt, who served first as the brigade's lieutenant colonel, then its colonel
Treaty of Paris – treaty ending the Spanish-American War, under which Spain granted independence to Cuba, ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States, and sold the Philippines to the United States for $20 million
imperialism – the practice by which a nation acquires and holds colonies and other possessions, denies them self-government, and usually exploits them economically
Platt Amendment – an amendment to the Army Appropriations Act of 1901, sponsored by Senator Orville Platt, which set terms for the withdrawal of the U.S. Army from Cuba
Foraker Act – law passed by Congress by 1900 that established civilan government in Puerto Rico; it provided for an elected legislature and a governor appointed by the U.S. president
Insular cases – cases concerning Puerto Rico, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1901 that people in new island territories did not automatically receive the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens
Emilio Aguinaldo – leader of unsuccessful struggles for Philippine independence, first against Spain and then against the United States
William Howard Taft – governor of the Philippines from 1901 to 1904; he was elected president of the United States in 1908 and became chief justice of the Supreme Court in 1921
balance of power – in international politics, the notion that nations may restrict one another's actions because of the relative equality of their naval or military forces, either individually or through alliance systems
spheres of influence – a territorial area where a foreign nation exerts significant authority
Open Door notes – an exchange of diplomatic letters in 1899-1900 by which Secretary of State John Hay announced American support for Chinese autonomy and opposed efforts by other powers to carve China into exclusive spheres of influence
legation – diplomatic officials representing their nation to another nation and their offices and residences
Boxer Rebellion – uprising in China in 1900 directed against foreign powers who were attempting to dominant China; it was suppressed by an international army that included American participation
indemnity – payment for damage, loss, or injury
Berkin 20: The Progressive Era, 1900-1917
interest group – a coalition of people identified with a particular cause, such as an industry or occupational group, a social group, or a policy objective
Progressive Party – Political party formed in 1912 with Theodore Roosevelt as its candidate for president; it fell apart when Roosevelt returned to the Republicans in 1916
settlement house – community center operated by resident social reformers in a slum area to help poor people in their own neighborhoods
Hull House – settlement house founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889 in Chicago
Social Gospel – a reform movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, led by Protestant clergy members who drew attention to urban problems and advocated social justice for the poor
papal encyclical – a letter from the pope to all Roman Catholic bishops, intended to guide them in their relations with the churches under their jurisdiction
feminism – the conviction that women are and should be the social, political, and economic equals of men
Margaret Sanger – birth control advocate who believed so strongly that information about birth control was essential to help women escape poverty that she disobeyed laws against its dissemination
Muller v. Oregon – Supreme Court case in 1908, upholding an Oregon law that limited the hours of employment for women
Jeannette Rankin – Montana reformer who in 1916 became the first woman elected to Congress; she worked to pass the woman suffrage amendment and to protect women in the workplace
National American Woman Suffrage Association – organization formed in 1890 that united the two major women's suffrage groups of that time
narcotic – a drug that reduces pain and induces sleep or stupor
depressive – tending to lower a person's spirits and to lessen activity
Anti-Saloon League – political interest group advocating prohibition, founded in 1895; it organized through churches
local option laws – a state law that permitted the residents of a town or city to decide, by an election, whether to ban liquor sales in their community
Mann Act – law passed by Congress in 1910, designed to suppress prostitution; it made transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes illegal
W.E.B. Du Bois – African American intellectual and civil rights leader, author of important works on black history ad sociology, who helped to form and lead the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People – racially integrated civil rights organization founded in New York City in 1910; it continues to work to end discrimination in the United States
Ida B. Wells – African American reformer and journalist who crusaded against lynching and advocated racial justice and woman suffrage; upon marrying in 1895, she became Ida Wells-Barnett
Socialist Party of America – political party formed in 1901 and committed to socialism – that is, government ownership of most industries
Marxist – a believer in the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who opposed private ownership of property and looked to a future in which workers would control the economy
sweatshop – a shop or factory in which employees work long hours at low wages under poor conditions.
migrant – traveling from one area to another
muckrackers – Progressive Era journalist who wrote articles exposing corruption in city government, business, and industry. In John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress “the man with the Muck-rake” is so preoccupied with raking through the filth at his feet that he didn't notice he was being offered a celestial crown in exchange for his rake
Lincoln Steffens – muckraking journalist and managing editor of McClure's Magazine, best known for investigating political corruption in city governments
Ida Tarbell – Progressive Era journalist whose expose revealed the ruthlessness of the Standard Oil Company
Upton Sinclair – socialist writer and reformer whose novel The Jungle exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry and advocated socialism
Pure Food and Drug Act – law passed by Congress in 1906 forbidding the sale of impure and improperly labeled food and drugs
Meat Inspection Act – law passed by Congress in 1906 requiring federal inspection of meatpacking
municipal reform – political activity intended to bring about changes in the structure or function of city government
city council – a body of representatives elected to govern a city
ward – a division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative or representative purposes
commission system – system of city government in which all executive and legislative power is vested to a small elective board, each member of which supervises some aspect of city government
city manager plan – system of city government in which a small council, chosen on a nonpartisan ballot hires a city manager who exercises broad executive authority
city planning – the policy of planning urban development by regulating land use
hookworm – a parasite, formerly common in the South, that causes loss of strength
tuberculosis – an infectious disease that attacks the lungs, causing coughing, fever, and weight loss; spread by insanitary conditions and practices, such as spitting in public, it was common and often fatal in the 19th and early 20th centuries and is reappearing today
insane asylum – in the 19th and early 20th centuries, an institution for the incarceration of people with mental disorders
school board – a board of policymakers who oversee the public schools of a local political unit
Robert M. La Follette – governor of Wisconsin who instituted reforms such as direct primaries, tax reform, and anti-corruption measures in Wisconsin
direct primary – an election in which voters who identify with a specific party choose that party's candidate to run later in the general election against the candidates of other parties
Wisconsin Idea – the program of reform sponsored by La Follette in Wisconsin, designed to decrease political corruption, foster direct democracy, regulate corporations, and increase expertise in governmental decision making.
Hiram W. Johnson – governor of California who promoted a broad range of reforms, including regulation of railroads and measures to benefit labor
workers' compensation – payments to workers injured on the job. In some states, employers were required to carry insurance for this purpose. Other states required employers to pay into a state workers' compensation fund
Oregon system – name given to the initiative and referendum, first used widely in state politics in Oregon after 1902
recall – provision permitting voters through the petition process, to hold a special election to remove an elected official from office
direct democracy – the provisions that permit voters to make political decisions directly, including the direct primary, initiative, referendum, and recall
term limits – a limit on the number of times one person can be elected to the same political office
lobbyist – a person who tries to influence the opinion of legislators or other public officials for or against specific cause
constituents – voters in the home district of a member of a legislature
trustbusting – use of antitrust laws to prosecute and dissolve big businesses (“trust”)
Square Deal – Theodore Roosevelt's term for his efforts to deal fairly with all
Elkins Act – law passed by Congress in 1903 that supplemented the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 by penalizing railroads that paid rebates
Hepburn Act – law passed by Congress in 1906 that authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to set maximum railroad rates and to regulate other forms of transportation
preservationist – one who advocates the reserving and protecting of a portion of the natural environment against human disturbance
conservation – the careful management of natural resources so that they yield the greatest benefit to present generations while maintaing their potential to meet the needs of future generations
Gifford Pinchot – head of the Forestry Service in 1898 to 1910; he promoted conservation and urged careful planning in the use of natural resources
16th amendment – constitutional amendment ratified in 1913 that gives the federal government the authority to establish an income tax
17th amendment – constitutional amendment ratified in 1913 that requires the election of U.S. senators directly by the voters of each state, rather than by state legislatures
Payne-Aldrich Tariff – tariff passed by Congress in 1909; the original bill was an attempt to reduce tariffs, but the final version retained high tariffs on most imports
Hay-Pauncefote Treaties – two separate treaties (1900 and 1901) signed by the United States and Britain that gave the United States the exclusive right to build, control, and fortify a canal through Central America
Philippe Bunau-Varilla – Chief engineer of the French company that attempted to build a canal through the Panamanian isthmus, chief planner of the Panamanian revolt against Colombia, and later minister to the United States from the new Republic of Panama
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty – 1903 treaty with Panama that granted the United States sovereignty over the Canal Zone in return for a $10 million payment plus an annual rent
Roosevelt Corollary – extension of the Monroe Doctrine, announced by Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, in which he proclaimed the right of the United States to police the Caribbean areas
dollar diplomacy – name applied by critics to the Taft administration's policy of supporting U.S. investments abroad
customs receivership – an agreement whereby one nation takes over the collection of customs (taxes on imported goods) of another nation and exercises some control over that nation's expenditures of customs receipts, thus limiting the autonomy of the nation of receivership
Manchuria – a region of northeastern China
Treaty of Portsmouth – treaty in 1905, ending the Russo-Japanese War; negotiated at a conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, through Theodore Roosevelt's mediation
gentlemen's agreement – an agreement rather than a formal treaty; in this case, Japan agreed in 1907 to limit Japanese emigration to the United States
Hague Court – body of delegates from about fifty member nations, created in the Netherlands in 1899 for the purpose of peacefully resolving international conflicts also known as the Permanent Court of Arbitrations
New Nationalism – program of labor and social reform that Theodore Roosevelt advocated before and during his unsuccessful bid to regain the presidency in 1912
credentials committee – party convention committee that settles disputes arising when rival delegations from the same state to be seated
Bull Moose Party – popular name given to the Progressive Party in 1912
New Freedom – program of reforms that Woodrow Wilson advocated during his 1912 presidential campaign, including reducing tariffs and prosecuting trusts
Louis Brandeis – lawyer and reformer who opposed monopolies and defended individual rights; in 1916 he became the first Jewish justice on the Supreme Court
Underwood Tariff – law passed by Congress in 1913 that substantially reduced tariffs and made up for the lost revenue by providing for a graduated income tax
money supply – the amount of money in the economy, such as cash and the contents of checking accounts
Federal Reserve Act – law passed by Congress in 1913 establishing twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks to hold the cash reserves of commercial banks and a Federal Reserve Bond to regulate aspects of banking
Clayton Antitrust Act – law passed by Congress in 1914 banning monopolistic business practices such as price fixing and interlocking directorates; it also exempted farmers' organizations and unions from prosecution under antitrust laws
interlocking directorates – situation in which the same individuals sit on the boards of directors of various companies in one industry
Federal Trade Commission Act – law passed by Congress in 1914 outlawing unfair methods of competition in interstate commerce and created a commission appointed by the president to investigate illegal business practices
Mark Twain – pen name of Samuel Clemens, prominent American author of the late 19th century; Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and many other American literary classics
impressionism – a style of painting and developed in France in the 1870s and emphasized the artist's impression of a subject
Ash Can School – New York artists of varying styles who shared a focus on urban life
ragtime – a style of popular music characterized by a syncopated rhythm and a regularly accented beat; considered the immediate precursor of jazz
slapstick – a rowdy form of comedy marked by crude practical jokes and physical humor, such as falls
melodrama – a sensational or romantic stage play with exaggerated conflicts and stereotyped characters
Chautauqua – a traveling show offering educational, religious, and recreational activities part of a nation-wide movement of adult education that began in the town of Chautauqua, New York
Berkin 21: The United States in a World at War, 1913-1920
Bryan-Chamorro Treaty – treaty in 1914 in which Nicaragua received $3 million in return for granting the United States exclusive rights to a canal route and a naval base
Porfirio Diaz – Mexican soldier and politician who became president after a coup in 1876 and ruled Mexico until 1911
Victoriano Huerta – Mexican general who overthrew President Francisco Madero in 1913 and established a military dictatorship until forced to resign in 1914
Venustiano Carranza – Mexican revolutionary leader who helped to lead armed opposition to Victoriano Huerta and who succeeded to the presidency to 1914; his government has overthrown in 1920
Veracruz – Major port city; located in east-central Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico; in 1914, Wilson ordered the U.S. Navy to occupy the port
Francisco “Pancho” Villa – Mexican bandit and revolutionary who led a raid into New Mexico in 1916, which prompted the U.S. government to send troops into Mexico in unsuccessful pursuit
nationalism – intense patriotism or a movement that favors a separate nation for an ethnic group that is part of a multiethnic state
Balkan Peninsula – region of southeastern Europe; once ruled by the Ottoman Empire, it included a number of relatively new and sometimes unstable states in the early 20th century
Slavic – relating to the Slavs, a linguistic group that includes the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, and Bulgarians of Central Europe, as well as Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and other groups in eastern Europe
universal military service – a governmental policy specifying that all adult males (or, rarely, all adults) are required to serve in the military for some period of time
Triple Entente – informal alliance that linked France, Great Britain, and Russia in the years before World War I; entente is a French word that means “understanding”
Triple Alliance – alliance that linked Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary in the years before World War I
mobilize – to make ready for combat or other forms of action
Central Powers – in World War I, the coalition of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire
western front – the western line of battle between the Allies and Germany in World War I, located in French and Belgian territory; the eastern front was the line of battle between the Central Powers and Russia
no man's land – the field of battle between the lines of two opposing, entrenched armies
neutral – a neutral nation is one not aligned with either side in a war; traditionally, a neutral nation had the right to engage in certain types of trade with nations that were at war
propagandist – a person who provides information in support of a cause, especially one-sided or exaggerated information
Hun – disparaging term used to describe Germans during World War I; the name came from a warlike tribe that invaded Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries
belligerent – a nation formally at war
contraband – goods prohibited from being imported or exported; in time of war, contraband included materials of war
U-boat – a German submarine (in German, unterseeboot)
Lusitania – British passenger liner torpedoed by a German submarine in 1915; more than one thousand drowned, including 128 Americans, creating a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Germany
Sussex pledge – German promise in 1916 to stop sinking merchant ships without warning if the United States would compel the Allies to obey “international law”
creditor nation – a nation whose citizens or government have loaned more money to the citizens or governments of other nations than the total amount that they have borrowed from the citizens or governments of other nations
disarmament – the reduction or dismantling of a nation's military forces or weaponry
left-wing – not conservative; usually implies socialist or otherwise racial leanings
Arthur Zimmermann – German foreign minister who proposed in 1917 that if the United States declared war on Germany, Mexico should become a German ally and win back Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico and should try to persuade Japan to go to war with the United States
War Industries Board – federal agency that is headed by Bernard Baruch that coordinated American production during World War I
daylight saving time – setting of clocks ahead by one hour to provide more daylight at the end of the day during late spring, summer, and early fall
National War Labor Board – federal agency created in 1918 to resolve wartime labor disputes
collective bargaining – negotiation between the representatives of organized workers and their employers to determine wages, hours, and working conditions
Herbert Hoover – U.S. food administrator during World War I, known for his proficient handling of relief efforts he later served as secretary of commerce (1921-1928) and president (1929-1933)
Liberty Loan – one of four bond issues floated by the U.S. Treasury Department from 1917 to 1919 to help finance World War I
Creel Committee – the U.S. Committee on Public Information (1917-1919), headed by journalist and editor George Creel; it used films, posters, pamphlets, and news releases to mobilize American public opinion in favor of World War I
vigilante – a person who takes law enforcement into his or her own hands, usually on the grounds that normal law enforcement has broken down
Espionage Act – law passed by Congress in 1917, mandating severe penalties for anyone found guilty of interfering with the draft or encouraging disloyalty to the United States
Sedition Act – law passed by Congress in 1918 to supplement the Espionage Act by extending the penalty to anyone deemed to have abused the government in writing
Great Migration – movement of about a half-million black people from the rual South to the urban North during World War I
Harlem – a section of New York City in the northern part of Manhattan; it became one of the largest black communities in the United States
Selective Service Act – law passed by Congress in 1917 establishing compulsory military service for men ages 21 to 30
conscientious objector – people who refuses to bear arms or participate in military service because of religious beliefs or moral principles
American Expeditionary Force – American army commanded by General John J. Pershing that served in Europe during World War I
salient – on a battlefield, a salient is a part of a battle line that is surrounded by the enemy on three sides. Troops within the salient are therefore highly vulnerable
casualty – a member of the military lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, or capture
influenza – contagious viral infection characterized by fever, chills, congestion, and muscular pain, nicknamed “the flu”;an unusually deadly strain, usually called “Spanish flu,” swept across the world in 1918 and 1919
Crox de Guerre – French military decoration for bravery in combat; in English, “the Cross of War.”
tsar – the monarch of the Russian Empire; also spelled czar
Bolsheviks – Radical socialists, later called communists, who seized power in Russia in November 1917
Vladimir Lenin – leader of the Bolsheviks and of the revolution of November 1917 and head of the Soviet Union until 1924. (In the Soviet Union, the Bolshevik revolution was known as the October Revolution because Russia was still using the Julian calendar in 1917, and the revolution took place in October according to the Julian calendar.)
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – humiliating treaty with Germany that Russia signed in March 1918 in order to withdraw from World War I; it required Russia to surrender vast territories along its western boundary with Germany
Fourteen Points – President Wilson's program for maintaining peace after World War I, which called for arms reduction, national self-determination, and a league of nations
ethnology – the study of ethno-cultural groups
abdicate – to relinquish a high office; usually said only of monarchs
Red Army – the army created by the Bolsheviks to defend their communist government in their civil war and to reestablish control in parts of the Russian Empire that tried to create separate republics in 1917 and 1918, the Red Army was the army of the Soviet Union throughout its existence
self-determination – the freedom of a given people to determine their own political status
reparations – payments required as compensation for damage or injury
League of Nations – a world organization proposed by President Wilson and created by the Versailles peace conference; it worked to promote peace and international cooperation
Treaty of Versailles – treaty signed in 1919 ending World War I; it imposed harsh terms on Germany, created several territorial mandates, and set up the League of Nations
mandate – under the League of Nations, mandate referred to a territory that the League authorized a member nation to administer, with the understanding that the territory would move toward self-government
League Covenant – the constitution of the League of Nations, which was incorporated in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles
Henry Cabot Lodge – prominent Republican senator from Massachusetts and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who led congressional opposition to Article 10 of the League of Nations
subversion – efforts to undermine or overthrow an established government
J. Edgar Hoover – official appointed to head a new antiradical division in the Bureua of Investigation of the Justice Department in 1919; he served as head of the FBI from its official founding in 1924 until his death in 1972
Palmer raids – government raids on individuals and organizations in 1919 and 1920 to search for political radicals and to deport foreign-born activists
deportation – expulsion of an undesirable alien from a country
criminal syndicalism laws – state laws that made membership in organizations that advocated communism or anarchism subject to criminal penalties
Red Scare – wave of antiradicalism in the United States in 1919 and 1920
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti – Italian anarchists convicted in 1921 of the murder of a Braintree, Massachusetts, factory paymaster and theft of a $16,000 payroll; in spite of public protests on their behalf, they were electrocuted in 1927
18th amendment – constitutional amendment, ratified in 1919, that forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages
19th amendment – constitutional amendment, ratified in 1919, that prohibited federal or state governments from restricting the right to vote on account of sex
Berkin 22: Prosperity Decade, 1920-1928
flapper – in the 1920s, a young woman with short hair and short skirts who flaunted her avant-garde dress and behavior
consumer goods – products such as clothing, food, automobiles, and radios, intended for purchase and use by individuals or households, as opposed to products such as steel beams, locomotives, and electrical generators, intended for purchase and use by corporations
bobby pin – small metal hair clip with ends pressed tightly together, designed for holding short or “bobbed” hair in place
finance company – business that makes loans to clients, based on some form of collateral, such as a new car, thus allowing a form of installment buying when sellers do not extend credit
Henry Ford – inventor and manufacturer who founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and pioneered mass production in the auto industry
Model T – lightweight automobile that Ford produced from 1908 to 1927 and sold at the lowest possible price on the theory that an affordable car would be more profitable than an expensive one
A.P. Giannini – Italian American who changed the banking industry by opening multiple branches and encouraging the use of banks for small accounts and personal loans
bullish – optimistic or confident; when referring to the stock market; a bull market is when stock prices are going up, and a bear market is when stock prices come down
operating company – a company that exists to sell goods or services, as opposed to a holding company that exists to own other companies, including operating companies
overproduction – production that exceeds consumer need or demand
homogenize – to make something uniform throughout
vamp – a woman who uses her sexuality to entrap and exploit men
Charles Lindbergh – American aviator who made the first solo transatlantic flight in 1927 and became an international hero
expatriate – a person who takes up long-term residence in a foreign country
Sinclair Lewis – novelist who satirized middle-class America in works such as Babbitt (1922) and became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature
Harlem Renaissance – Literary and artistic movement in the 1920s centered in Harlem, in which black writers and artists described and celebrated African American life
jazz – style of music developed in America in the early 20th century, characterized by strong, flexible rhythms and improvisation on basic melodies
Marcus Garvey – Jamaican black nationalist active in America in the 1920s
black separation – a strategy of creating separate black institutions, based on the assumption that African American can never achieve equality within white society
speakeasy – a place that illegally sells liquor and sometimes offer entertainment
18th amendment – constitutional amendment ratified in 1919, that forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages
repeal – the act of making law or regulation no longer valid and enforceable; repeal of a constitutional amendment requires a new amendment
bootlegging – illegal production, distribution, or sales of liquor
Al Capone – Italian-born American gangster who ruthlessly ruled the Chicago underworld until he was imprisoned for tax evasion in 1931
racketeering – commission of crimes such as extortion, loansharking, and bribery, sometimes behind the front of a seemingly legitimate business or union
fundamentalism – a Christian religious movement that emphasizes the literal truth of the Bible and opposes those who seek to reconcile the Bible with scientific knowledge
evolution – the central organizing theorem of the biological sciences, which holds that organisms change over generations, mainly as a result of natural selection; it includes the concept that humans evolved from non human ancestors
Clarence Darrow – a leading trial lawyer of the early 20th century, who often defended those challenging the status quo
restrictive covenants – provision in a property title that prohibits the sale of property to specified groups of people, especially people of color and Jews
National Origins Act – law passed by Congress in 1924, establishing quotas for immigration to the United States; it limited immigration from southern and eastern Europe, permitted larger numbers of immigrants from northern and western Europe, prohibited immigration from Asia
eugenics – the eugenics movement developed in the late 19th and early 20th century in an effort to use information about genetics to improve the human race by selective breeding
American Indian Defense Association – organization founded in 1923 to defend the rights of American Indians; it pushed for an end to land allotment and a return to tribal government
American Plan – term that some employers in the 1920s used to describe their policy of refusing to negotiate with unions
welfare capitalism – program adopted by some employees to provide to their employees benefits such as lunchrooms, paid vacations, bonuses, and profit-sharing plans
Community Party of the United States – party organized in the United States in 1919, devoted to destroying capitalism and private property and replacing them with a system of socialism
Equal Rights Amendment – proposed constitutional amendment first advocated by the National Woman's Party in 1923, to give women in the United States equal rights under the law
perversion – sexual practice considered abnormal or deviant
Sigmund Freud – Austrian who played a leading role in developing the field of psychoanalysis, known for his theory that the sex drive underlies much individual behavior
Farm Bloc – bipartisan group of senators and representatives formed in 1921 to promote legislation to assist farmers
Al Smith – New York governor who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1924 and was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1928; his Catholicism and desire to repeal Prohibition were political liabilities
McNary-Haugen bill – farm relief bill that provided for government purchase of crop surpluses during years of large output; Coolidge vetoed it in 1927 and in 1928
Railway Labor Act of 1928 – federal law that guaranteed collective bargaining for railroad employees, the first peacetime federal law to extend this guarantee to any group of workers
unilateral – an action taken by a country by itself, as opposed to action taken jointly with other nations
multilateral – involving more than two nations
isolationism – the notion that the United States should avoid political, diplomatic, and military entanglements with other nations
Peace of Titiapa – agreement negotiated by Henry L. Stimson in 1927 that sought to end factional fighting in Nicaragua
Augusto Sandino – Nicaraguan guerrilla leader who resisted Nicaraguan and American troops in a rebellion from 1925 to 1933; he was murdered at the orders of Anastasio Somoza following a peace conference in 1934
Anastasio Somoza – general who established a military dictatorship in Nicaragua in 1933, deposed his uncle to become president in 1934, and ruled the country for two decades, amassing a personal fortune and suppressing all opposition
nationalize – to convert an industry or enterprise from private to government ownership and control
Fordney-McCumber Tariff – tariff passed by Congress in 1922 to protect domestic production from foreign competitors; it raised tariff rates to record levels and provoked tariff reprisals
Ruhr Valley – region surrounding the Ruhr River in northwestern Germany, which contained many major industrial cities and valuable coal mines
Dawes Plan – arrangement for collecting World War I reparations from Germany; it scheduled annual payments and stabilized German currency
Washington Naval Conference – international conference that in 1921-1922 produced a series of agreements to limit naval armaments and prevent conflict in the Far East and the Pacific
capital ships – generally, a navy's largest, most heavily armed ships; at the Washington Naval Conference, ships weighing over 10,000 tons and using guns with at least an 8-inch bore were classified as capital ships
Nine-Power Pact – agreement signed in 1922 by Britain, France, Italy, Japan, the United States, China, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Belgium to recognize China and affirm the Open Door policy
Berkin 23: The Great Depression, and the New Deal , 1929-1939
Great Depression – the years 1929 to 1941 when the economy of the United States suffered its greatest decline, millions of people were unemployed, and thousands of businesses went bankrupt; President Hoover used the term depression rather than the more traditional panic in hopes that it would reduce the public's fears
misdistribution of wealth – unequal distribution of wealth among population groups. In 1929, the richest fifth of the population controlled 52.3 percent of the nation's wealth, the middle fifth held only 14.4 percent, while the poorest fifth had access to only 5.4 percen
public works projects – highways, dams, and other construction projects financed by public funds and carried out by the government
Reconstruction Finance Corporation – organization established at Hoover's request in 1932 to promote economic recovery; it provided emergency financing for banks, life insurance companies, railroads, and farm mortgage associations
Glass-Stegall Act – law passed by Congress in 1932 that expanded credit through the Federal Reserve System in order to counteract foreign withdrawals and domestic hoarding of money
Federal Home Loan Bank Act – law passed by Congress in 1932 that established twelve banks across the nation to supplement lending resources to institutions making home loans in an effort to reduce foreclosures and to stimulate the construction industry
Farmers' Holiday Association – organization of farmers that called on members to take direct actions – such as destroying crops and resisting foreclosures – to protest the plight of agriculture and the lack of government support
Milo Reno – leader of the Farmers' Holiday Association. In 1932, he called on farmers to strike, to “stay home, buy nothing, sell nothing”; he wanted government codes to control production but rejected President Roosevelt's farm program as a threat to independence and liberty
foreclosure – confiscation of property by a bank or other institutions when mortgage payments are delinquent
Bonus Army – unemployed World War I veterans who marched to Washington in 1932 to demand early payment of a promised bonus; Congress refused, and the army evicted protesters who remained
Hooverville – crudely built camp set up by the homeless on the fringes of a town or city during the Depression; the largest Hooverville was outside Oklahoma City and covered over 100 square miles
New Deal – term applied to Roosevelt's policies to attack the problem of the Depression, which included relief for poor and unemployed efforts to stimulate economic recovery and social security
Brain Trust – group of specialists in law, economics, and social welfare who, as advisers to President Roosevelt, helped develop the social and economic principles of the New Deal
bipartisanship – in American politics, it is when the two major parties agree on a set of issues and programs
Bank Holiday – temporary shutdown of banks throughout the country by executive order of President Roosevelt in March 1933
Emergency Banking Bill – (Act) Law passed by Congress in 1933 that permitted sound banks in the Federal Reserve System to reopen and allowed the government to supply funds to support private banks
fireside chats – radio talks in which President Roosevelt promoted New Deal policies and reassured the nation; Roosevelt delivered twenty-eight fireside chats
Agricultural Adjustment Act – law passed by Congress in 1933 to reduce overproduction by paying farmers not to grow crops or raise livestock
Butler vs. the United States – Supreme Court decision (1936) declaring the Agricultural Adjustment Act invalid on the grounds that it unconstitutionally extended the powers of the federal government
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allocation Act – legislation passed by Congress in 1935 that established an agency for the prevention of soil erosion by paying farmers to cut back on soil-depleting crops to plant grasses and other crops that would help to hold the soil
Dust Bowl – name given by a reporter in 1935 to the region devastated by drought and dust storms that began in 1932; the worst years (1936-1938) saw over sixty major storms per year, seventy-two in 1937
parity – a price paid to American farmers designed to give them the same income that they had between 1910 and 1914. The AAA provided parity prices on corn, cotton, wheat, rice, tobacco, hogs, and milk, and milk products
National Industrial Recovery Act – law passed by Congress in 1933 establishing the National Recovery Administration to supervise industry and the Public Works Administration to create jobs
National Recovery Administration – agency created by the NIRA to draft national industrial codes and supervise their implementation
Public Works Administration – headed by Harold Ickes, secretary of the interior, the Public Works Administration sought to increase employment and to stimulate economic recovery by putting people to work
General Hugh Johnson – Head of the National Recovery Administration; consumer and labor advocates accused him of being too favorable to business interests
price fixing – the artificial setting of commodity prices
Schechter Poultry Corporation vs. the United States – Supreme Court decision (1935) declaring the NRA unconstitutional because it regulated companies and involved in interstate commerce
Tennessee Valley Authority – independent public corporation created by Congress in 1933 and authorized to construct dams and power plants in the Tennessee River valley region
Boulder Dam – dam on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona, begun during Hoover's administration and completed in 1935
Rural Electrification Administration – government agency established in 1935 for the purpose of loaning money to rural cooperatives to produce and distribute electricity in isolated areas
Civilian Conservation Corps – organization created by Congress in 1933 to hire young unemployed men for conservation work, such as planting trees, digging irrigation ditches, and maintaining national parks
Federal Emergency Relief Administration – agency crated in May 1933 to provide direct grants to states and municipalities to spend on relief
Civil Works Administration – emergency unemployment relief program in 1933 and 1934; it hired 4 million jobless people for federal, state, and local work projects. Critics argued that it should not have bypassed state and local authorities and that in many cases it created useless jobs, like moving direct from one place to another
Home Owners' Loan Corporation – government agency created in 1933 that refinanced home mortgage debts for non farm home owners and allowed them to borrow money from the agency to pay property taxes and make repairs
Federal Housing Administration – agency created by the National Housing Act (1934) to insure loans made by banks and other institutions for new home construction, repairs, and improvements
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – agency created by the Bank Act of 1933 to insure deposits up to a fixed sum in member banks of the Federal Reserve System and state banks that chose to participate
Securities and Exchange Commission – agency created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to license stock exchanges and supervise their activities, including the setting of margin rates
Father Charles Coughlin – Roman Catholic priest whose influential radio addresses in the 1930s at first emphasized social justice but eventually became anti-Semitic and profascist
Huey Long – Louisiana governor, then U.S. senator, who ran a powerful political machine and whose advocacy of redistribution of income was gaining him a national political following at the time of his assassination in 1935
Dr. Francis Townsend – California public health physician who proposed the Townsend Plan in 1933, under which every retired person over 60 would be paid a $200 monthly pension to be spent within the month
Share the Wealth – movement launched by Huey Long that sprang up around the nation in the 1930s urging the redistribution of wealth through government taxes or programs
Congress of Industrial Organizations – labor organization established in 1938 by a group of powerful unions that left the AFL to unionize workers by industry rather than by trade
work relief – a system of governmental monetary support that provided work for the unemployed, who were usually paid a limited hourly of daily wage
Works Progress Administration – agency established in 1935 and headed by Harry Hopkins that hired the unemployed for constructions, conservation, and arts programs
Harry Hopkins – close advisor to Roosevelt during his four administrations. He headed several New Deal agencies including the Works Progress Administration
National Youth Administration – program established by executive order in 1935 to provide employment for young people and to help needy high school and college students continue their educations
Mary McLeod Bethune – African American educator who, as director of the Division of Negro Affairs within the National Youth Administration, was a strong and vocal advocate for equality of opportunity for African Americans during the New Deal
Social Security Act – law passed by Congress in 1935 to create systems of unemployment, old-age, and disability insurance and to provide for child welfare
Wagner Act – the National Labor Relations Act, a law that was passed by Congress in 1935 that defined unfair labor practices and protected unions against coercive measures such as blacklisting
blacklisting – practice in which businesses share information to deny employment to workers known to belong to unions
Alfred Landon – Kansas governor who ran unsuccessfully for president on the Republican ticket in 1936
Judicial Revolution of 1937 – the belief that in 1937, the Supreme Court changed its course and began to accept New Deal-type legislation by using a broader interpretation of the general welfare and commerce clauses of the Constitution to approve federal intervention in the economy and society
Roosevelt's recession – economic downturn that occurred when Roosevelt, responding to improving economic figures, cut $4 billion from the federal budget, mostly by reducing and relief spending
Fair Labor Standards Act – law passed by Congress in 1938 that established a minimum wage and a maximum workweek and forbade labor by children under 16
colonias – village settlements of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, frequently constructed by or for migrant citrus workers in southern California
repatriation – the return of people to their nation of birth or citizenship; repatriation of Mexicans from the United States during the Depression was at its height from 1929 to 1931
Scottsboro Nine – nine African American convicted of raping two white women in a freight train in Alabama in 1931; their case became famous as an example of racism in the legal system
Black Cabinet – semiofficial advisory committee on racial affairs organized by Mary McLeod Bethune in 1936 and made up of African American members of the Roosevelt administration
private sector – businesses run by private citizens rather than by the government
Indian Reorganization Act – law passed by Congress in 1934 that ended Indian allotment and returned surplus land to tribal ownership; it also sought to encourage tribal self-government and to improve economic conditions on reservations
Berkin 24: America's Rise to World Leadership, 1929-1945
Kibei – Japanese Americans who returned to America after being educated in Japan
Butoku-kai – a philosophy started in 8th century Japan to instill martial prowess and chivalry among the warrior class. In 1895, it became a society to promote and standardize martial arts. Abolished in 1946, the society was rechartered in 1953
kendo – literary “war of the sword,” it was instruction in swordsmanship and was included in Butoku-kai. It became part of the Japanese physical education program and in 1939 made mandatory training for all boys
Nisei – a person born in the United States of parents who emigrated from Japan
non-recognition – a policy of not acknowledging changes in government or territory to show displeasure with the changes. Secretary of State Henry Stimson announced such a policy, sometimes called the Stimson Doctrine, in 1932, in which the United States did not accept the creation of the Japanese created nation of Manchuko
Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere – Japan's plan to create and dominate an economic and defensive union in East Asia, using force if necessary. In defending the concept, the Japanese compared it to the United States' power in Latin America and advocated the idea of Asia for Asians
Colonel Fulgencio Batista – dictator who ruled Cuba from 1934 through 1958; his corrupt, authoritarian regime was overthrown by Fidel Castro's revolutionary movement
Good Neighbor policy – an American policy toward Latin America that stressed economic ties and non-intervention; begun under Hoover but associated with Roosevelt
Neutrality Act of 1935 – seeking to ensure that the events that pushed America into World War I would not be repeated, Congress forbade the sale and shipment of war goods to all nations at war and authorized the president to warn U.S. citizens against traveling on belligerents' vessels
belligerent – used diplomatically to signify nations at war with each other
discriminatory neutrality – the ability to withhold aid and trade from one nation at war while providing it to another
embargo – a ban on trade with a country or countries, usually ordered and enforced by a government
Rhineland – region of western Germany along the Rhine River, which under the terms of the Versailles Treaty was to remain free of troops and military fortifications
Neutrality Act of 1937 – law passed by Congress requiring warring nations to pay cash for “nonwar” goods and barring Americans from sailing on their ships; known as the Third Neutrality Act
appeasement – a policy of granting concessions to potential enemies to maintain peace. Since the Munich agreement did not appease Hitler, it has become a policy that most nations avoid
German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact – agreement in which Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 pledged not to fight each other and secretly arranged to divide Poland after Germany conquered it
Neutrality Act of 1939 – law passed by Congress repealing the arms of embargo and authorizing cash-and-carry exports of arms and munitions even to belligerent nations
Axis powers – coalition of nations that opposed the Allies in World War II, first consisting of Germany and Italy and later joined by Japan
Winston Churchill – prime minister who led Britain through World War II; he was known for his eloquent speeches and his refusal to give in to the Nazi threat. He would be voted out of office in July 1945
Battle of Britain – series of battles between British and German planes fought over Britain from August to October 1940 during which English cities suffered heavy bombing
Burke-Wadsworth Act – law passed by Congress in 1940 creating the first peacetime draft in American history
Lend-Lease Act – law passed by Congress in 1941 providing that any country whose security was vital to U.S. interests could receive arms and equipment by sale, transfer, or lease from the United States
Atlantic Charter – joint statement issued by Roosevelt and Churchill in 1941 to formulate American and British postwar aims of international economic and political cooperation
Vichy – city in central France that was the capital of unoccupied France from 1940 to 1942; the Vichy government continued to govern French territories and was sympathetic to the fascists
Issei – a Japanese immigrant to the United States
Executive Order #9066 – order of President Roosevelt in 1942 authorizing the removal of “enemy aliens” from military areas; it was used to isolate Japanese Americans in internment camps
internment camps – camps to which more than 110,000 Japanese Americans living in the West were moved soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor; Japanese Americans in Hawai'i were not confined in internment camps
prefabricated – manufactured in advance in standard sections that are easy to ship and assemble when and where needed
Manhattan Project – a secret scientific research effort begun in 1942 to develop an atomic bomb
Office of War Mobilization – umbrella agency created in 1943 to coordinate the production, procurement, and the distribution of civilian and military supplies
James F. Byrnes – Supreme Court justice who left the Court to direct the nation's economy and war production; known as the “Assistant President,” he directed the Office of Economic Stabilization and the Office of War Mobilization and later became secretary of state under President Truman
closed shop – a business or factory whose workers are required to be union members
Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes Act – law passed by Congress by 1943 authorizing the government to seize plants in which labor disputes threatened war production; it was later used to take over the coal mines
war bonds – bonds sold by the government to finance the war effort
statism – the concept or practice of placing economic planning and policy under government control
G.I. Bill – law passed by Congress in 1944 to provide financial and educational benefits for American veterans after World War II; G.I. Stands for “government issue.”
Harry S. Truman – Democratic senator from Missouri whom Roosevelt selected in 1944 to be his running mate for vice president; in 1945, on Roosevelt's death, Truman became president
victory garden – small plot cultivated by a patriotic citizen during World War II to supply household food and allow farm production to be used for the war effort
allotment checks – checks that a soldier's wife received from the government, amounting to a percentage of her husband's pay
A. Philip Randolph – African American labor leader who organized the 1941 march on Washington that pressured Roosevelt to issue an executive order banning racial discrimination in defense industries
Fair Employment Practices Commission – Commission established in 1941 to halt discrimination in war production and government
Congress of Racial Equality – Civil rights organization founded in 1942 and committed to using nonviolent techniques, such as sit-ins, to end segregation
James Farmer – helped to organize the Congress of Racial Equality in 1942; led the organization from 1961 to 1966. In 1969 he became Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
noncommissioned officers – enlisted member of the ramed forces who has been promoted to a rank such as corporal or sergeant conferring leadership over others
Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. - army officer who, in 1940 became the first black general in the U.S. army
braceros – Mexican nationals who worked on U.S. farms beginning in 1942 because of the labor shortage during World War II
pachucos – A Spanish term originally meaning “bandits”,” it became associated with juvenile delinquents of Mexican American/Latino heritage
zoot suit – a long jacket with wide lapels and padded shoulders, worn over pleated trousers, pegged and cuffed at the ankle
code talker – Navajos serving in the U.S. Marine Corps who communicated by radio in their native language, undecipherable by the enemy
Battle of the Cora Sea – U.S. victory in the Pacific in May 1942; it prevented the Japanese from invading New Guinea and thus isolating Australia
Midway Island – Strategically located Pacific Island that the Japanese navy tried to capture in June 1942; warned about Japanese plans by U.S. naval intelligence, American forces repulsed the attack and inflicted heavy losses on Japanese planes and carriers
General Douglas MacArthur – recalled to active duty in 1941, he was given command of American and Filipino troops in the Philippines; in 1942, he was appointed Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area; in 1945 he was appointed Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) and accepted Japan's formal surrender. As head of the allied occupation he oversaw the rebuilding of Japan
Guadalcanal Island – Pacific island secured by U.S. troops in February 1943 in the first major U.S. offensive action in the Pacific
Battle of Stalingrad – battle for the Russian city that was besieged by the German army in 1942 and recaptured by Soviet troops in 1943; regarded by many as the key battle of the European war
Grand Alliance – a term used to refer to those allied nations working to defeat Hitler; often used to refer to the Big Three: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union
Tehran Conference – meeting in Iran in 1943 at which Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the invasion of Western Europe and considered plans for a new international organization; Stalin also renwed his promise to enter the war against Japan
Operation Overlord – the Allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944 – D-Day – across the English Channel to Normandy; D-Day is short for “designated day.”
amphibious – in historical context, a military operation that coordinates air, land, and sea military forces to land on a hostile shore
popular front – an organization or government composed of a wide spectrum of political groups; popular fronts were used by the Soviet Union in forming allegedly non-Communist governments in Eastern Europe
Yalta – site in the Crimea of the last meeting, in 1945, between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin; they discussed the final defeat of the Axis powers and the problems of postwar occupation
United Nations – international organization established in 1945 to maintain peace among nations and foster cooperation in human rights, education, health, welfare, and trade
General Assembly – assembly of all members of the United Nations; it debates issues but neither creates nor executes policy
Security Council – the executive agency of the United Nations; today it includes five permanent members with veto power (China, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States) and ten members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms
Battle of the Bulge – the last major Axis counteroffensive, in December 1944 against the Allied forces in Western Europe; German troops gained territory in Belgium but were eventually driven back
General Dwight D. Eisenhower – Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War II, who planned D-Day invasion; later became president of the United States
Holocaust – mass murder of European Jews and other groups systematically carried out by Nazis during World War II
Final Solution – German plan to eliminate Jews through the use of special mobile forces or by mass executions within concentration camps; by the end of the war, the Nazis had killed 6 million Jews
War Refugee Board – created to take action to rescue as many persecuted minorities of Europe as possible form Nazi oppression
V-E Day – May 8, 1945, the day marking the official end of the war in Europe, following the unconditional surrender of the German armies
Battle of Leyte Gulf – naval battle in October 1944 in which American forces near the Philippines crushed Japanese air and sea power
Okinawa – Pacific island that U.S. troops captured in the spring of 1945 after a grueling battle in which over a quarter-million soldiers and civilians were killed
Potsdam Declaration – the demand for Japan's unconditional surrender, made near the end of the Potsdam Conference
Hiroshima – Japanese city that was the target, on August 6, 1945, of the first atomic bomb, called “Little Boy.”
Nagasaki – city in western Japan devastated on August 9, 1945, by the second atomic bomb, called, “Fat Man.”
Berkin 25: Truman and Cold War America, 1945-1952
deterrence – measures that a state takes to discourage attacks by other states, often including a military buildup
puppet governments – governments imposed, supported, and directed by an outside force, usually a foreign power
containment – the U.S. policy of checking the expansion or influence of communist nations y making strategic alliances, aiding friendly nations, and supporting weaker states in areas of conflict
iron curtain – name given to the military, political, and ideological barrier established between the Soviet bloc and Western Europe after World War II
Truman Doctrine – anti-communist foreign policy that Truman set forth in 1947; it called for military and economic aid to countries whose political stability was threatened by communism
Marshall Plan – program launched in 1948 to foster economic recovery in Western Europe in the postwar period through massive amounts of U.S. financial aid
coup – sudden overthrow of a government by a group of people, usually with military support
Berlin airlift – response to the Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948 involving tens of thousands of continuous flights by American and British planes to deliver supplies
North Atlantic Treaty Organization – mutual defense alliance formed in1949 among most of the nations of Western Europe and North America in an effort to contain communism
Rio Pact – considered the first Cold War alliance, it joined Latin American nations, Canada, and the United States in an agreement to prevent Communist inroads in Latin America and to improve political, social, and economic conditions among Latin American nations; it created the Organization of American States
Organization of American States – an international organization composed of most of the nations of the Americas, including the Caribbean, that deals with the mutual concerns of its members; Cuba is not currently a member
Palestine – region on the Mediterranean that was a British mandate after World War I; the UN partitioned the area in 1948 to allow for a Jewish state (Israel) and a Palestinian state, which was never established
partition – to divide a country into separate, autonomous nations
Ralph Bunche – an African American scholar, teacher, and diplomat. Between 1948 and 1949, as a United Nations mediator he negotiated a settlement ending the Arab-Israeli War. In 1950, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts
Nationalist Chinese government – the government of Jiang Jieshi, who fought for the Communists for control of China in the 1940s; Jiang and his supporters were defeated and retreated to Taiwan in 1949, where they set up a separate government
NSC Memorandum #68 – entitled United States Objectives and Programs for National Security; it concluded that the Soviets were seeking world domination and recommended large scale increases in military spending, increased covert operations, reduced domestic programs, and increased taxes
National Security Council – executive agency established in 1947 to coordinate the strategic policies and defense of the United States; it included the president, vice president, and four cabinet members
hydrogen bomb – nuclear weapon of much greater destructive power than the atomic bomb
38th parallel – negotiated dividing line between North and South Korea; it was the focus of much of the fighting in the Korean War
Indochina – French colony in Southeast Asia, including present-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia; it began fighting for its independence in the mid-twentieth century
fellow-traveler – individual who sympathizes with or supports the beliefs of the Communist Party without being a member
right-to-work laws – state laws that make it illegal for labor unions and employees to require that all workers be members of a union. Many state laws require that all employees must benefit from contract agreements made between the union and the employer, even if the employee is not a union member
Taft-Hartley Act – law passed by Congress in 1947 banning closed shops, permitting employers to sue unions for broken contracts, and requiring unions to observe a cooling-off period before striking
affidavit – a formal, written legal document made under oath; those signing the document state that the facts in the documents are true
poll tax – a tax imposed by many states that required a fee to be paid as a prerequisite to voting; it was used to exclude the poor, especially minorities, from voting
Thomas E. Dewey – New York governor who twice ran unsuccessfully for president as the Republican candidate, the second time against Truman in 1948
Dixiecrat Party – party organized in 1948 by southern delegates who refused to accept the civil rights plank of the Democratic platform; they nominated Strom Thurmond of South Carolina for president
Fair Deal – President Truman said that “every segment of the population” deserved a “fair deal” from the government. He hoped the Democratic majority would provide an expansion of New Deal programs, including civil rights legislation, a fair employment practices act, a system for national health insurance, and appropriates for education
espionage – usually an organized practice by government to use spies to gain economic, military, and political information from enemies and rivals
House Un-American Activities Committee – Congressional committee, created in 1938, that investigated suspected Communists during the McCarthy era that Richard Nixon used to advance his career
Hollywood Ten – ten screenwriters and producers who stated that the 5th Amendment of the Constitution gave them the right to refuse to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947. The House of Representatives disagreed and issued citations for contempt. Found guilty in 1948, they served from 6 months to a year in prison
Alger Hiss – State Department official accused in 1948 of being a Communist spy; he was convicted of perjury and sent to prison
perjury – the deliberate giving of false testimony under oath
McCarran Internal Security Act – law passed by Congress by Congress in 1950 requiring Communists to register with the U.S. attorney general and making it a crime to conspire to establish a totalitarian government in the United States
Smith Act – the Alien Registration Act, passed by Congress in 1940, which made it a crime to advocate or to belong to an organization that advocates the overthrow of the government by force or violence
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg – wife and husband who were arrested in 1950 and tried for conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951 after being accused of passing atomic bomb information to the Soviets; they were executed in 1953
Joseph McCarthy – Republican senator from Wisconsin who in 1950 began a Communist witch-hunt that lasted until his censure by the Senate in 1954; McCarthyism is a term associated with attacks on liberals and others, often based on unsupported assertions and carried out without regard for basic liberties
tract homes – one of numerous houses of similar design built on small plots of land
Cape Cod – a style of two-story house that has a steep roof and a central chimney; it originated in colonial Massachusetts and became popular in suburbs after World War II
Shelly vs. Kraemer – Supreme Court ruling (1948) that barred lower courts from enforcing restrictive agreements that prevented minorities from living in certain neighborhoods; it had little impact on actual practices
baby boom – sudden increase in the birth rate that occurred in the United States after World War II and lasted until roughly 1964
Immigration and Nationality Act – also called the McCarran-Walter Act it was passed over Truman's veto in 1952. The Act unified existing immigration laws; reaffirmed the national quota system; allowed for a token number of Asians to enter the United States; established a preference for skilled workers; and strengthened enforcement procedures. It permitted deportation and denial of entry for ideological reasons
American GI forum – organization formed in Texas in 1948 by Mexican American veterans to overcome discrimination and provide support for veterans and all Hispanics; it led the court fight to end the segregation of Hispanic children in school systems in the West and Southwest
Mendez vs. Westminster and Delgado vs. Bastorp School District – two federal court cases that overturned the establishment of separate schools for Mexican American children in California and Texas in 1946 and 1948 respectively
Berkin 26: Quest for Consensus, 1952-1960
franchise – right granted by a company to an individual or group to sell the company's goods and services. The franchisee operates his or her own business and keeps most of the profits, although the franchiser receives part of the profit and may establish rules and guidelines for the running of the business
Federal Highway Act – law passed by Congress in 1956, appropriating $32 billion for the construction of interstate highways
Sputnik I– the first artificial satellite launched into space, it weighed 184 pounds; this feat by the Soviet Union in October 1957 marked the beginning of the space race. A month later, Sputnik II, even larger, was launched, weighing 1,120 pounds and carrying a dog named Laika
National Defense Student Loans – loans established by the U.S. government in 1958 to ecourage the teaching and study of science and modern foreign languages
Army-McCarthy hearings – congressional investigations by Senator Joseph McCarthy televised in 1954; the hearings revealed McCarthy's villainous nature and ended his popularity
New Look – national security policy under Eisenhower that called for a reduction in the size of the army, development of tactical nuclear weapons, and the buildup of strategic air power employing nuclear weapons
massive retaliation – term that Secretary of State John Foster Dulles used in a 1954 speech, implying that the United States was willing to use nuclear force in response to Communist aggression anywhere
brinkmanship – practice of seeking to win disputes in international politics by creating the impression of being willing to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit
demilitarized zone – an area from which military forces, operations, and installations are prohibited
fallout shelters – underground shelter stocked with food and supplies that was intended to provide safety in case of atomic attack; fallout refers to the irradiated particles falling through the atmosphere after a nuclear attack
B movies – poorer quality, more cheaply made films that were shown in addition to the main movies
covert operation – a program or event carried out not openly but in secret
bilateral – involving two parties
multilateral – involving more than two parties
Baghdad Pact – a regional defensive alliance signed between Turkey and Iraq in 1955; Great Britain, Pakistan, and Iran soon joined; the United States supported the pact but did not join officially until mid-1957
Third World – nations in the Third World claim to be independent and not part of either the Western capitalist or Communist blocs. This Cold War neutrality was tested by both sides in the Cold War, as each used a variety of means to include them in their camps
Central Intelligence Agency – an agency created in 1947 to gather and evaluate military, political, social, and economic information on foreign nations
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi – Iranian ruler who received the hereditary title shah from his father in 1941 and with CIA support helped to oust the militant nationalist Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953
Eisenhower Doctrine – policy formulated by Eisenhower of providing military and economic aid to Arab nations in the Middle East to help defeat Communist-nationalistic rebellions
Viet Minh – Vietnamese army made up of Communist and other nationalist groups that fought from 1947 to 1954 for independence from French rule
domino theory – the idea that if one nation came under Communist control, then neighboring nations would also fall to the Communists
Geneva Agreement – truce signed at Geneva in 1954 by French and Viet Minh representatives, dividing Vietnam along the 17th parallel into the Communist North and the anti-Communist South
plebiscite – special election that allows people to either approve or reject a particular proposal
Atoms for Peace Plan – Eisenhower's proposal to the United Nations in 1953 that the United States and other nations cooperate to develop peaceful uses of atomic energy
thermonuclear – relating to the fusion of atomic nuclei at high temperatures, or to weapons based on fusion, such as the hydrogen bomb (as distinct from weapons based on fission).
Nikita Khrushchev – Soviet leader who denounced Stalin in 1956 and improved the Soviet Union's image abroad; he was deposed in 1964 after six years as premier for his failure to improve the country's economy
Keynesianism – refers to economic theories of Lord John Maynard Keynes, who in the 1920s and 1930s argued for government intervention in the economy; he believed that government expansion and contraction of the money supply and regulation of interest rates could stimulate economic growth during periods of recession and inflation
automation – a process or system designed so that equipment functions automatically; one outcome of automation is the replacement of workers with machines
Sunbelt – a region stretching from Florida in a westward arc across the South and Southwest
ranch or California-style home – a single story rectangular or L-shaped house with a low-pitched roof, simple floor plan, and an attached garage
soap opera – a daytime serial drama so nicknamed because it was sponsored by cleaning products aimed at its housewife audience
Reverend Norman Vincent Peale – minister who told his congregation that positive thinking could help them overcome all their troubles in life; his book The Power of Positive Thinking was an immediate bestseller
standard of living – level of material comfort as measured by the goods, services, and luxuries currently available
Alfred Kinsey – biologist whose studies of human sexuality attracted great attention in the 1940s and 1950s, especially for his conclusions on infidelity and homosexuality
vice squads – police unit charged with the enforcement of laws dealing with vice – that is, immoral practices such as gambling and prostitution
Beats – groups of American writers, poets, and artists in the 1950s, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, who rejected traditional middle-class values and championed nonconformity and sexual experimentation
cover records – a new version of a song already recorded by an original artist
Elvis Presley – immensely popular rock 'n' roll musician from a poor white family in Mississippi; many of his songs and concert performances were considered sexually suggestive
de facto – existing in practice though not officially established by law
de jure – according to, or brought about by, law, such as “Jim Crow” laws that separated the races throughout the South until passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Brown vs. Board of Education – case in 1954 in which the Supreme Court ruled that separate educational facilities for different races were inherently unequal
Thurgood Marshall – civil rights lawyer who argued thirty-two cases before the Supreme court and won twenty-nine; he became the first African American justice of the Supreme Court in 1967
Earl Warren – Chief justice of the Supreme Court form 1953 to 1969, under whom the Court issued decisions protecting civil rights, the rights of criminals, and First Amendment rights
Southern Manifesto – statement issued by one hundred southern congressmen in 1954 after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, pledging to oppose desegregation
Cooper vs. Aaron – Supreme Court decision (1959) that barred state authorities from interfering with desegregation either directly or through strategies or evasion
Rosa Parks – black seamstress who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, triggering a bus boycott that stirred the civil rights movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. - ordained Baptist minister, brilliant orator, and civil rights leader committed to nonviolence; he led many of the important protests of the 1950s and 1960s
Southern Christian Leadership Conference – group formed by Martin Luther King Jr. and others after the Montgomery bus boycott; it became the backbone of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s
Civil Rights Act of 1957 – created the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice; the Commission on Civil Rights primarily investigated restrictions on voting
Berkin 27: Great Promises, Bitter Disappointments, 1960-1968
New Frontier – program for social and educational reform put forward by President John F. Kennedy and largely resisted by Congress
urban renewal – effort to revitalize run-down areas of cities by providing federal funding for the construction of apartment houses, office buildings, and public facilities
new economics – planning and shaping the national economy through the use of tax policies and federal spending as recommended by Keynesian economics
fiscal policy – the use of government spending to stimulate or slow down the economy
sit-in – the act of occupying the seats or an area of a segregated establishment to protest racial discrimination
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee – organization founded in 1960 to give young blacks a greater voice in the civil rights movement; it initiated black voter registration drives, sit-ins, and freedom rides
nonviolence – the rejection of violence in favor of peaceful tactics as a means of achieving political objectives
Thurgood Marshall – African American lawyer who argued the Brown case before the Supreme Court; appointed to the federal court system by President Kennedy, he became the first African American Supreme Court Justice
freedom rides – an effort by civil rights protesters who, by riding buses throughout the South in 1961, sought to achieve the integration of bus terminals
public order laws – laws passed by many southern communities to discourage civil rights protests; the laws allowed the police to arrest anyone suspected of intending to disrupt public order
James Meredith – black student admitted to the University of Mississippi under federal court order in 1962; in spite of rioting by racist mobs, he finished the year and graduated in 1963
March on Washington – meeting of a quarter of a million civil rights supporters in Washington in 1963, at which Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream,” speech
flexible response – Kennedy's strategy of considering a variety of military and nonmilitary options when facing foreign-policy decisions
ballistic missiles – missiles without fins or wings whose path cannot be changed once launched; their range can be from a few miles to intercontinental. In 2003, an estimated 35 nations had ballistic missiles
Peace Corps – program established by President Kennedy in 1961 to send young American volunteers to other nations as educators, health workers, and technicians
Alliance for Progress – program proposed by Kennedy in 1961 through which the United States provided aid for social and economic programs in Latin American countries
Bay of Pigs – site of a 1961 invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles and mercenaries sponsored by the CIA; the invasion was crushed within three days and embarrassed the United States
Operation Mongoose- mission authorized by President Kennedy in November 1961, and funded with a $50 million budget, to create conditions over the overthrow of Castro
Strategic Air Command – U.S. military unit formed in March 1946 to conduct long-range bombing operations anywhere in the world; its first strategic plan, completed in 1949, projected nuclear attacks on seventy Soviet cities. The Strategic Air Command was abolished in 1992 as part of the reorganization of the Department of Defense. The much smaller interservice U.S. Strategic Command (StratCom) now coordinates nuclear plans for both the army and the navy
Limited Test Ban Treaty – treaty signed by the United States, the USSR, and nearly one hundred other nations in 1963; it banned nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater
Ngo Dinh Diem – president of South Vietnam (1954-1963) who jailed and tortured opponents of his rule; he was assassinated in a coup in 1963
Viet Cong – Vietnamese Communist rebels in South Vietnam
Civil Rights Act of 1964 – law that barred segregation in public facilities and forbade employers to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin
War on Poverty – Lyndon Johnson's program to help Americans escape poverty through education, job training, and community development
New Right – conservative movement within the Republican Party that opposed the political and social reforms of the 1960s, demanding less government intervention in the economy and in society, and a return to traditional values
Barry Goldwater – conservative Republican senator from Arizona who ran unsuccessfully for president in 1964
Great Society – social program that Johnson announced in 1964; it included the War on Poverty, protection of civil rights, and funding for education
Freedom Summer – effort by civil rights groups in Mississippi to register black voters and cultivate black pride during the summer of 1964
freedom march – civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in March 1965; the violent treatment of protesters by local authorities helped galvanize national opinion against segregationists
Voting Rights Act – law passed by Congress in 1965 that outlawed literacy and other voting tests and authorized federal supervision of elections in areas where black voting had been restricted
Medicaid – program of health insurance for the poor established in 1965; it provides states with money to buy healthcare for people on welfare
Medicare – program of health insurance for the elderly and disabled established in 1965; it provides government payment for health care supplied by private doctors and hospitals
Watts – predominantly black neighborhoods of Los Angeles where a race riot in August 1965 did $45 million in damage and took the lives of twenty-eight blacks
Black Power – movement begun in 1966 that rejected the nonviolent, coalition-building approach of traditional civil rights groups and advocated black control of black organizations; the self determination approach was adopted by Latinos (Brown Power) and Native Americans (Red Power).
Black Muslims – popular name for the Nation of Islam, an African American religious group founded by Elijah Muhammad, which professed Islamic religious beliefs and emphasized black separatism
Malcolm X – black activist who advocated black separatism as a member of the Nation of Islam; in 1963, he converted to orthodox Islam and two years later was assassinated
Black Panthers – black revolutionary party founded in 1966 that endorsed violence as a means of social change; many of its leaders were killed in confrontations with police or imprisoned
underclass – the lowest economic class; the term carries the implication that members of this class are so disadvantaged by poverty that they have little or chance to escape it
Betty Friedan – feminist who wrote The Feminine Mystique in 1963 and helped found the National Organization for Women in 1966
Equal Pay Act – forbids employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce to pay different wages for equal work based on sex. Some employers continued to pay lower wages to women arguing that the jobs were not exactly equal
Title VII – provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that guarantees women legal protection against discrimination
National Organization for Women – women's rights organization founded in 1966 to fight discrimination against women; to improve educational, employment, and political opportunities for women; and to fight for equal pay for equal work
consciousness-raising – achieving greater awareness of the nature of political or social issues through group interaction
Students for a Democratic Society – left-wing student organization founded in 1960 to criticize American materialism and work for social justice
Port Huron Statement – a 1962 critique of the Cold War and American materialism and complacency by Students for a Democratic Society; it called for “participatory democracy,” for universities to be centers of free speech and activism
Timothy Leary – Harvard professor and counterculture figure who advocated the expansion of consciousness through the use of drugs such as LSD
free love – popular belief among members of the counterculture in the 1960s that sexual activities should be unconstrained
hippies – members of the counterculture in the 1960s who rejected the competitiveness and materialism of American society and searched for peace, love, and autonomy
Woodstock – free rock concert in Woodstock, New York, in August 1969; it attracted 400,000 people and was remembered as the classic expression of the counterculture
Berkin 28: America Under Stress, 1967-1976
Mann Doctrine – U.S. policy outlined by Thoma Mann during the Johnson administration that called for stability in Latin America rather than economic and political reform
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – decree passed by Congress in 1964 authorizing the president to take any measures necessary to repel attacks against U.S. forces in Vietnam
William Westmoreland – commander of all American troops in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968
Ho Chi Minh Trail – main infiltration route for North Vietnamese soldiers and supplies into South Vietnam; it ran through Laos and Cambodia
COINTELPRO – acronym (CounterINTELIligencePROgram) for an FBI program begun in 1956 and continued until 1971 that sought to expose, disrupt, and discredit groups considered to be radical political organizations; it targeted various antiwar groups during the Vietnam War
Operation Chaos – CIA operation within the country from 1965 to 1973 that collected information on and disrupted anti-Vietnam War elements; although it is illegal for the CIA to operate within the United States, it collected files on over 7,000 Americans
Tet – the lunar New Year celebrated as a huge holiday in Vietnam; the Viet Cong-North Vietnamese attack on South Vietnamese cities during Tet in January 1968 was a military defeat for North Vietnam, but it seriously undermined U.S. support for the war
Eugene McCarthy – senator who opposed the Vietnam War and made an unsuccessful bid for the 1968 Democratic nomination for president
write-in campaign – an attempt to elect a candidate in which voters are urged to write the name of an unregistered candidate directly on the ballot
Robert Kennedy – attorney general during the presidency of his brother John F. Kennedy; elected to the Senate in 1964, his campaign for the presidency was gathering momentum when he was assassinated in 1968
George Wallace – conservative Alabama governor who opposed desegregation in the 1960s and ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1968 and 1972
Spiro Agnew – Vice president under Richard Nixon; he resigned in 1973 amid charges of illegal financial dealings during his governorship of Maryland
Cesar Chavez – labor organizer who in 1962 founded the National Farm Workers Association; Chavez believed in nonviolence and used marches, boycotts, and fasts to bring moral and economic pressure to bear on growers
Chicano – a variation of Mexicano, a man or boy or Mexican descent. The feminine form is Chicana. Many Mexican Americans use the term during the late 1960s to signify their ethnic identity; the name was associated with the promotion of Mexican American heritage and rights
Russell Means – Indian activist who helped organize the seizures of Alcatraz in 1969 and Wounded Knee in 1973
Alcatraz Island – rocky island, formerly a federal prison, in San Francisco Bay that was occupied in 1969 by Native American activists who demanded that it be made available to them as a cultural center
American Indian Movement – militant Indian movement founded in 1968 that was willing to use confrontation to obtain social justice and Indian treaty rights; organized the seizure of Wounded Knee
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act – law passed by Congress in 1974 giving Indian tribes control over federal programs carried out on their reservations and increasing their authority in reservation schools
Henry Kissinger – German-born American diplomat who was President Nixon's national security adviser and secretary of state; he helped negotiate the ceasefire in Vietnam
Vietnamization – U.S. policy of scaling back American involvement in Vietnam and helping Vietnamese forces fight their own war
Nixon Doctrine – Nixon's policy of requiring countries threatened by communism to shoulder most of the military burden, with the United States offering mainly political and economic support
peace talks – began in 1968 under the Johnson administration and continued by Nixon; they produced little agreement until 1972 when Kissinger and North Vietnamese foreign minister Le Doc Tho worked out a final accord that was signed in 1973
Pentagon Papers – classified government documents on policy decisions leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg and printed by the New York Times in 1971. Efforts to block the papers' publication was rejected by a Supreme Court ruling
My Lai – site of a massacre of South Vietnamese villagers by U.S. infantrymen in 1968. Of those brought to trial for the murders, only Lieutenant William Calley was found guilty of murder
fragging – an effort to kill fellow soldiers, frequently officers, by using a grenade. It may have accounted for over a thousand American deaths in Vietnam
War Powers Act – law passed by Congress in 1973 to prevent the president form involving the United States in war without authorization by Congress
detente – relaxing of tensions between the superpowers in the early 1970s, which led to increased diplomatic, commercial, and cultural contact
Leonid Brezhnev- leader of the Soviet Union (first as Communist Party secretary, and then also as president) from 1964 to his death in 1982; he worked to foster detente with the United States during the Nixon era
Strategic Arms Limitation agreement – treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1972 to limit offensive nuclear weapons and defensive antiballistic missile systems; known as SALT I
Salvador Allende – Chilean president who was considered the first democratically elected Marxist to head a government; he was killed in a coup in 1973
Environmental Protection Agency – agency created in 1970 to consolidate all major governmental programs controlling pollution and other programs to protect the environment
stagflation – persistent inflation combined with stagnant consumer demand and relatively high unemployment
Yom Kippur War – on October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria suddenly invaded Israel; after initial losses, the Israeli military defeated the Arab armies; with U.S. support, negotiations finally led to a cease-fire on October 22
southern strategy – a plan to entice southerners into the Republican Party by appointing white southerners to the Supreme Court and resisting the policy of busing to achieve integration
George McGovern – South Dakota senator who opposed the Vietnam War and was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1972
Committee to Re-elect the President – Nixon's campaign committee in 192, which enlisted G. Gordon Liddy and others to spy on the Democrats and break into the offices of the Democratic National Committee
John Mitchell – Nixon's attorney general, who eventually served four years in prison for his part in the Watergate scandal
Watergate – apartment and office complex in Washington, D.C., that housed the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee; its name became synonymous with the scandal over the Nixon administration's involvement in a break-in there and the president's part in the cover-up that followed
Saturday Night Massacre – events on October 20, 1973, when Nixon ordered the firing of Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox; rather than carry out Nixon's order, both the U.S. attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned
indict – to make a formal charge of wrongdoing against a person or party
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – economic alliance of oil-producing countries, mostly Arab, formed in 1960, powerful enough to influence the world price of oil by controlling oil supplies; in 1973 its members placed an embargo on the sale of oil to countries allied with Israel
Berkin 29: Facing Limits, 1976-1992
human rights – basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled, such as the right to life and liberty, to freedom of thought and expression, and to equality before the law
Sandinista Liberation Front – leftist guerrilla movement that overthrew Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua in 1979 and established a revolutionary government under Daniel Ortega
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty – agreement, known as SALT II, between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1979 to limit the number of strategic nuclear missiles in each country; during the Cold War these weapons carried nuclear warheads and were considered weapons of mass destruction; Congress never approved the treaty
economic sanctions – trade restrictions imposed on a country that has violated international law
mujahedeen – Afghan resistance group supplied with arms by the United States to assist in its fight against the Soviets following their 1979 invasion of Afghanistan
Carter Doctrine – Carter's announced policy that the United States would use force to repel any nation that attempted to take control of the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf – arm of the Arabian Sea and location of the ports of several major oil-producing Arab countries; its security is crucial to the flow of oil from the Middle East to the rest of the world
Camp David accords – treaty, signed at Camp David in 1978, under which Israel returned territory captured from Egypt and Egypt recognized Israel as a nation
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini – religious leader of Iran's Shiite Muslims; the Shiites toppled the shah in 1979, and the ayatollah (a title of respect given to a high-ranking Shiite religious authority and leader) established a new constitution that gave him supreme power
Cyrus Vance – Carter's secretary of state, who wanted the United States to defend human rights and promote economic development of lesser-developed nations
Zbigniew Brzezinski – Carter's national security adviser, who favored confronting the Soviet Union with firmness
energy crisis – vulnerability to dwindling oil supplies, wasteful energy consumption, and potential embargoes by oil-producing companies
alternative fuels – sources of energy, other than coal, oil, and natural gas, such as solar geothermal, hydroelectric, and nuclear energy
Three Mile Island – site of a nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; an accident at the plant in 1979 led to a release of radioactive gases and almost caused a meltdown
meltdown – severe overheating of a nuclear reactor core, resulting in the melting of the core and the escape of life-threatening radiation
globalization – the process of opening national borders to the free flow of trade,capital, ideas, and information, and people
postindustrial economy – an economy whose base is no longer driven by manufacturing but by service and information industries
Rust Belt – industrialized Middle Atlantic and Great Lakes region whose old factories are barely profitable or have closed
fiscal stringency – the need because of real or perceived economic conditions to restrict, cut, or eliminate funding for programs
affirmative action – policy that seeks to redress past discrimination through active measures to ensure equal opportunity, especially in education and employment
Alan Bakke – rejected white medical school applicant who filed a lawsuit against the University of California at Davis for reverse discrimination; he claimed that he was denied admittance to medical school because of school policy that set aside admission slots for less-qualified minorities; the Supreme Court agreed in 1978
Justice Department – part of the executive branch that has responsibility to enforce the law, defend the interests of the United States according to the law, and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans
brief – a summary or statement of a legal position or argument
Equal Rights Amendment – proposed constitutional amendment giving women equal rights under the law; Congress approved it in 1972, but it failed to achieve ratification by the required thirty-eight states
Phyllis Schlafly – leader of the movement to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment; she believed that the amendment threatened the domestic role of women
Roe vs. Wade – Supreme Court ruling (1973) that women have an unrestricted right to choose an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy
Right to Life movement – anti-abortion movement that favors a constitutional amendment to prohibit abortion; some adherents grew increasingly militant during the 1980s and 1990s; also called the pro-life movement
1990 Immigrant Act – law reforming the Immigration Act of 1965; it increased the number of immigrants allowed annually into the United States to around 700,000 from the 290,000 level established in 1968 and gave preference to skilled workers and those with families already living in the country
Immigration Reform and Control Act – law passed by Congress in 1986 that prohibits the hiring of illegal aliens; it offered amnesty and legal residence to any who could prove that they had entered the country before January 1, 1982
cultural pluralism – the coexistence of many cultures in a locality, without any one culture dominating the region; it seeks to reduce racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination
bracket creep – inflation of salaries pushing individuals into higher tax brackets
Proposition 13 – measure adopted by referendum in California in 1978 cutting local property taxes by more than 50 percent
direct mail – advertising or promotional matter mailed directly to potential customers or audiences chosen because they are likely to respond favorably
televangelist – Protestant evangelist minister who conducts televised worship services; many such ministers used their broadcasts as a forum for promoting conservative values
Moral Majority – conservative religious organization led by televangelist Jerry Falwell; it had an active political lobby in the 1980s promoting such issues as opposition to abortion and to the Equal Rights Amendment
sagebrush rebellion – a 1980s political movement in western states opposing federal regulations governing land use and natural resources, seeking state jurisdiction instead
political coattails – term referring to the ability of a presidential candidate to attract voters to other office seekers from the same political party
supply-side economics – theory that reducing taxes on the wealthy and increasing the money available for investment will stimulate the economy and eventually benefit everyone
Economic Recovery Tax Act – law passed by Congress in 1981 that cut incoe taxes over three years by 25 percent across the board and lowered the rate for the highest bracket from 78 percent to 28 percent
Aid to Families with Dependent Children – a program created by the Social Security Act of 1935; it provided states with matching federal funds and became one of the states' main welfare programs
Reaganomics – economic beliefs and policies of the Reagan administration, including the belief that tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation of industry benefit for the economy
trade deficit – amount by which the value of a nation's imports exceeds the value of its exports
federal deficit – the total amount of debt owed by the national government during a fiscal year
savings and loan industry – network of financial institutions, known as S&Ls, originally founded to provide home mortgage loans; deregulation during the Reagan era allowed them to speculate in risky ventures and led to many S&L failures
yuppie – young urban professional with a high-paying job and a materialistic lifestyle
national debt – the total amount of money owed by the United States to domestic and foreign creditors
Strategic Defensive Initiative – research program to create an effective laser-based defense against nuclear missile attack
Grenada – country in the West Indies that achieved independence from Britain in 1974 and was invaded briefly by U.S. forces in 1983
Contras – Nicaraguan rebels, many of them former followers of Somoza, fighting to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government
Boland Amendment – motion, approved by Congress in 1984, that barred the CIA from using funds to give direct or indirect aid to the Nicaraguan Contras
Palestine Liberation Organization – political and military organization of Palestinians, originally dedicated to opposing the state of Israel through terrorism and other means
Muammar Qaddafi – political leader who seized power in a 1969 military coup and imposed a socialist regime and Islamic orthodoxy on Libya
Mikhail Gorbachev – as Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party he assumed power in 1985 and introduced political and economic reforms and found then himself presiding over the breakup of the Soviet Union
perestroika – organizational restructuring of the Soviet economy and bureaucracy that began in the mid-1980s
glasnost – official policy of the Soviet government under Gorbachev emphasizing freedom of thought and candid discussion of social problems
Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty – treaty (1987) that provided for the destruction of all U.S. and Soviet medium-range nuclear missiles and for verification with on-site inspections
Berlin Wall – barrier that the Communist East German government built in 1961 to divide East and West Berlin; it was torn down in November 1989 as the Cold War was ending
Commonwealth of Independent States – weak federation of the former Soviet republics; it replaced the Soviet Union in 1992 and soon gave way to total independence of the member countries
Boris Yeltsin – Russian parliamentary leader who was elected president of the new Russian Republic in 1991 and provided increased democratic and economic reforms
Contadora Plan – plan signed by the presidents of five Central American nations in 1987 calling for a cease-fire in conflicts in the region and for democratic reforms
Persian Gulf War – war in the Persian Gulf region in 1991, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; a U.S.-led coalition defeated Iraqi forces and freed Kuwait
capital gains tax – tax on profits resulting from the sale of assets such as securities and real estate
cultural war – a belief that the nation is divided over liberal and conservative values that stress moral issues as an important part of the political debate
Berkin 30: Entering a New Century, 1992-2007
Colin Powell – first African American to hold the position of secretary of state; a career army officer, Powell served as national security adviser to President Reagan and as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush
North American Free Trade Agreement – agreement approved by the Senate in 1993 that eliminated most tariffs and other trade barriers between the United States, Mexico, and Canada
cultural imperialism – the idea that around the world there is expanding acceptance, adoption, and usage of American ideals, products, values, and culture; many point to the growing use of the Internet and the continued popularity of American food, movies, and music as a major cause of its spread
G-8 Nations – term given to the leading industrial nations (Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States)), which meet periodically to deal with major economic and political problems facing their countries and the international community; the first summit, in 1975, included only six nations (the G-6), since Canada and China were not yet part of the group
World Trade Organization – Geneva-based organization that oversees world trading systems; founded in 1995 by 135 countries to replace the 1948 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT)
information technology – a broad range of businesses concerned with managing and processing information, especially with the use of computers and other forms of telecommunications
NASDAQ – a stock exchange, launched in 1971, that focuses on companies in technological fields; NASDAQ stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation
boomburbs – term used to describe suburban cities with populations of over 100,000 and double-digit growth every decade since they first exceeded a population of 2,500; other terms for this new classification of city are “fringe cities” and “technoburbs”
glass ceiling – term used to express an intangible barrier within the hierarchy of a company that prevents women or minorities from rising to upper-level positions
sexual harassment – unwanted sexual advances, sexually derogatory remarks, gender-related discrimination, or the existence of a sexually hostile work environment
gender feminists – term applied to those within the feminist movement who focus on the subordination of women and on the need for radical changes in gender-related roles and traditions
Operation Rescue – a militant anti-abortion group that advocates intimidation and physical confrontation as a means to stop abortion
flextime – allows an employee to select the hours of work. There are usually specified limits set by the employee. Employees on a flexible schedule may work a condensed workweek or may work a regular workweek. In 2001 approximately 30 percent of the national work force was using some type of flextime
flexplace – allows employees to work at the office or from an alternate work-site during part of their scheduled hours. Working at home is the most common alternative site
Columbine High School – located in Littleton, Colorado, this was the site of one of the most violent school shootings with a variety of weapons and homemade bombs. They killed one teacher and twelve students and injured twelve others before they committed suicide
H. Ross Perot – Texas billionaire who used large amounts of his own money to run as an Independent candidate for president in 1992 and who created the Reform Party for his 1996 bid for the presidency
acquired immune deficiency syndrome – gradual and eventually fatal breakdown of the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); HIV/AIDs is transmitted by the exchange of body fluids through such means as sexual intercourse or needle sharing
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade – first signed in 1947, the agreement sought to provide an international forum to encourage free trade between member states by regulating and reducing tariffs on traded goods and by providing a common mechanism for resolving trade disputes. GATT membership now includes more than 110 countries
Whitewater – a scandal involving a failed real-estate development in Arkansas in which the Clintons had invested
Contract with America – pledge taken in 1994 by some three hundred Republican candidates for the House, who promised to reduce the size and scope of the federal government and to balance the federal budget by 2002
judicial restraint – refraining from using the courts as a forum for implementing social change but instead deferring to Congress, the president, and the consensus of the people
affirmative action – policy that seeks to redress past discrimination through active measures to ensure equal opportunity, especially in education and employment
Standard and Poor's 500 – an index of five hundred widely held stocks
Monica Lewinsky – White House intern who had a two-year sexual affair with President Clinton; Clinton's misleading testimony about the affair contributed to his impeachment by the House of Representatives
International Monetary Fund – an agency of the United States established in 1945 to help promote the health of the world economy; it seeks to expand international trade by stabilizing exchange rates between international currencies; it also provides temporary loans for nations unable to maintain their balance of trade
Dayton Agreement – agreement signed in Dayton, Ohio, in November 1995 by the three rival ethnic groups in Bosnia that pledged to end the four-year-old civil war there
ethnic cleansing – an effort to eradicate an ethnic or religious group from a country or region, often through mass killings
Kyoto Protocol – drafted by the United Nations in 1997 were a set of international agreements in which participating nations agreed to reduce their emissions rates of carbon dioxide and other industrial-produced gases that are linked to global climate change; the United States was to reduce its emissions 7 percent by 2012
global warming – the gradual warning to the surface of the Earth; most sciences argue that over the past 20 years the Earth's temperature has risen at a more rapid rate because of industrial emission of gases that trap heat; the consequence of continued emissions, they argue, could be major ecological changes
Al Qaeda – established by Saudi Osama bin Laden in 1989 as a terrorist network that organizes the activities of militant Islamic groups that seek to establish a global fundamentalist Islamic order
Osama bin Laden – Muslim fundamentalist whose Islamic militant organization, Al Qaeda has organized terrorist attacks on Americans at home and abroad, including those against the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998
anthrax – an infectious disease caused by spore-forming bacteria. Usually associated with livestock, anthrax can be contracted through touching or breathing anthrax spores and can be deadly to humans
Taliban – an organization of Muslim fundamentalists that gained control over Afghanistan in 1996 after the Soviets withdrew and which established a strict Islamic government
USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) – legislation passed by Congress in 2001 that reduced constraints on the Justice Department and other law-enforcement agencies in dealing with individuals who had suspected links to terrorism
preemptive strike – policy adopted by the Bush administration allowing the United States to use force against suspected threats before the threats occurred
weapons of mass destruction – nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that have the potential to injure or kill large numbers of people – civilians as well as military personnel
saboteurs – individuals who damage property or interfere with procedures to obstruct productivity and normal functions
Defense of Marriage Act – passed in 1996, the law defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purpose of federal law, and prevents other jurisdictions (states, counties, cities) from being forced to accept any other definition of marriage
civil unions – term for a civil status similar to marriage and provides homosexual couples access to the benefits enjoyed by married heterosexuals
