Term
| Espionage and Sedition Acts |
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Definition
-Authorized the postmaster general o censor the mails and made it a crime to obstruct the draft or encourage “disloyalty”
-Amended in 1918 to outlaw disloyal speech, including criticism of the us gov, flag, or uniforms of the armed services
-Used to repress political dissent of any type-not just anti-war statements, but any criticism of the us gov. or policies
-Upheld by the supreme court in 1919 on the grounds that socialist pamphlets represented a clear and present danger to the war effort |
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Term
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-Represents the origins of the welfare state, a system of social services that provides for the general welfare of citizens.
-The final bill included old age, pensions, unemployment insurance & welfare, but omitted national health insurance.
-The act contained several flaws—payments were too small, it was funded by a regressive tax, & it excluded domestic & agricultural workers.
-Despite its limitations, it represented a new “social contract” between American citizens & the federal gov. |
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Term
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-A cultural movement centered in the 1920s Harlem that produced an impressive group of young writers, artists, and musicians
-expressed a new self-confidence and race pride that celebrated the unique cultural heritage of blacks
-also expressed discontent with disparity between America’s promise of freedom and realities of blacks experience
-significance: source of social criticism at a time when most voices of protest had been silenced by the intense patriotism and political repression of WWII |
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Term
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Definition
-the peace agreement that ended WWI and set the stage for future conflicts by allowing Britain and France to divide up the “spoils of war”
-gave valuable portions of Germany to France and crippled the German economy w heavy reparation payments
-created an unstable eastern Europe and denied independence to Europeans colonies in Africa, Asia, & the middle east
-was not ratified by congress, showing the strength of postwar disillusionment with interventionism |
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Term
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Definition
-A 1935 Senate report on the role of banks & arms manufacturers in WWII that increased public opposition to US involvement in WWII.
-Revealed that arms manufacturers had:
Pressured Wilson to enter the war
Bribed politicians to get contracts
Lobbied against arms embargos
Encouraged an international arms race
-Strengthened support for isolationism & pushed congress into passing the Neutrality Act, which banned the sale of weapons to any nation at war. |
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Term
| Fair Employment Practices Commission |
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Definition
-Created by Pres. Roosevelt in 1941 to enforce executive order 8802, which banned discrimination in defense industries & federal gov.
-Represents Roosevelt’s response to the double-V campaign & A. Phillip Randolph’s threat of a march on Washington.
-Was successful in combating discrimination against blacks & Hispanics in shipyards & the aircraft industry.
-Also set an important precedent in eliminating discriminatory hiring practices in gov. agencies. |
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-Emerged among rural and small-town Americans in the 1920’s in response to greater religious diversity and rapid social change. –influence of movie stars and decline of sexual roles
-rejected modernism of liberal Protestants in favor of a literal interpretation of the bible
-regarded sciences as a threat to Christian beliefs, and so opposed teaching evolution in public schools- evolution only allowed in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi
-after the 1925 scopes trial, fundamentalists retreated to their own schools and colleges until the 1980s |
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Term
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Definition
-(1947) President Truman’s version of containment policy intended to win congressional & public support for intervention in Greece.
-Presented the civil war in Greece as part of a larger struggle between freedom (the domestic US) & tyranny (the communist Soviet Union).
-Drew upon American’s sense of their nation as the leader of the “free world” in arguing that the US had a duty to help all “freedom-loving peoples” resist communism.
-In justifying support for many anti-communist regime, no matter how undemocratic, the doctrine obscured the true origins & consequences of US in foreign conflicts. |
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Term
| Reconstruction Finance Corporation |
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Definition
- created by president Hoover in 1932 in an attempt to reverse the effects of the Great Depression.
-Provided $500 million in capital & another $1.5 billion in credit for loans to failing banks, railroads & insurance companies.
-Although bank failures had begun to decline after only 3 months, Hoover resisted congress’s requests to expand the program.
-It’s “top down” approach to relief was criticized by democrats who accused Hoover of rescuing banks rather than people. |
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Term
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Definition
-A 2nd wave on anti-communism that included repression of political dissent on a much larger scale that the 1st Red Scare in WWI.
-Led by Joseph R. McCarthy, a republican senator who claimed to have a list of 205 “known communists” working in the state department.
-used by the Republican Party to depict Truman & New Deal Democrats as being soft on communism. |
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-A group of WWI vets. Who organized a march on Washington in 1932 to demand early payment of military bonuses.
-led by ex-army sergeant Walter Waters, by June there were almost 20,000 vets. Camped out in Washington.
-Hoover ordered General Douglas MacArthur to clear Pennsylvania Ave, but instead he cleared the entire area & burned the vets’ encampment.
-Images of the event were a public relations disaster for Hoover, making him appear cold & heartless. |
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Term
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Definition
-A Long Island, NY, development that illustrates the population shift to the suburbs that drained capital from inner cities in the 1950s.
-Famous for its assembly-line production & for the uniformity (& conformity) of the homes
-The residents were somewhat uniform as well—mostly white, middle-class couples, & their young children
-Illustrates both the conformity & the family-centered nature of American culture in the 1950s. |
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Term
| Works Progress Administration |
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Definition
-Federal jobs program created in 1935 to combat high employment
-Represented a new federal strategy to stimulate the economy by putting many directly into the hands of consumers.
-Differed from previous work relief programs by employing both white-collar & blue-collar workers.
-The persistence of the Depression eventually drove Roosevelt to adopt Keynesian economics to fund federal jobs. |
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Term
| Modern Woman: The Lost Sex |
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Definition
-a 1950s bestseller that illustrates the pressure put on women to make marriage & stay at home motherhood their main purpose in life
-warned that higher edu. & careers would “masculinize” women, making them sexually frigid & unable to nurture their children.
-Reflected concerns that if men were no longer “on top” or dominant in the work place, there would be confusion about who was “on top” or dominant in the home & bedroom.
-The impact on women is clear- in the 1950s more women right out of highschool, & of those who attdended college 2/3 dropped out to marry or increase their chances of marriage. |
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