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17th Amendment
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. -
16th Amendment
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy that opposed European colonialism in the Americas. It began in 1823, however the term "Monroe Doctrine" itself was not coined until 1850. ... President James Monroe first stated the doctrine during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to the Congress. -
Spheres of Influence
a country or area in which another country has power to affect developments although it has no formal authority. -
Yellow Journalism
journalism that is based upon sensationalism and crude exaggeration. -
“Influence of Sea Power Upon History”
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: 1660–1783 is a history of naval warfare published in 1890 by Alfred Thayer Mahan. ... Its policies were quickly adopted by most major navies, ultimately leading to the World War I naval arms race. -
Jingoism
extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy. -
Cuban Revolt
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt in the mid 20th century. It was led by Fidel Castro against the government of Cuba's elected President Fulgencio Batista. ... It ended on December 31st, 1958, when Batista was forced to leave the country and Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba were taken by rebels. -
De Lome Letter
This letter, written by the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, criticized American President William McKinley by calling him weak and concerned only with gaining the favor of the crowd. -
Hawaiian Annexation
Dole declared Hawaii an independent republic. Spurred by the nationalism aroused by the Spanish-American War, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 at the urging of President William McKinley. Hawaii was made a territory in 1900, and Dole became its first governor. -
Sinking of the Maine
USS Maine entering Havana harbour, January 1898At 9.40pm on the night of 15 February 1898 the United States battleship Maine, riding quietly at anchor in Havana harbour, was suddenly blown up, apparently by a mine, in an explosion which tore her bottom out and sank her, killing 260 officers and men on board. -
Teller Amendment
The Teller Amendment was an amendment to a joint resolution of the United States Congress, enacted on April 20, 1898, in reply to President William McKinley's War Message. It placed a condition on the United States military's presence in Cuba. -
The American Anti-Imperialist League
The American Anti-Imperialist League was an organization established on June 15, 1898, to battle the American annexation of the Philippines as an insular area. -
The Open Door Policy
The Open Door Policy is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy established in the late 19th century and the early 20th century that would allow for a system of trade in China open to all countries equally. -
Insular Cases
The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1901, about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War, and the periods shortly thereafter. -
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America (SPUSA), is a democratic socialist multi-tendency socialist party in the United States. ... The SPUSA advocates for complete independence from the Democratic Party. -
Initiative, referendum & Recall
Through these processes, voters can adopt a change in law (an initiative), disapprove a law passed by the Legislature (a referendum), or remove an elected official from office (a recall). -
Newlands Reclamation Act
The Newlands Reclamation Act, also called the U.S. Reclamation Act, authorized the federal government to commission water diversion, retention and transmission projects in arid lands, particularly in the far west. -
Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment stipulated the conditions for U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs and permitted the United States to lease or buy lands for the purpose of the establishing naval bases (the main one was Guantánamo Bay) and coaling stations in Cuba. -
support of Panamanian Revolt
With the support of the U.S. government, Panama issues a declaration of independence from Colombia. The revolution was engineered by a Panamanian faction backed by the Panama Canal Company, a French-U.S. corporation that hoped to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with a waterway across the Isthmus of Panama. -
Roosevelt Corollary
To preclude European intervention, in December the Roosevelt Corollary asserted a right of the United States to intervene in order to "stabilize" the economic affairs of small states in the Caribbean and Central America if they were unable to pay their international debts. -
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was a war between the Japanese Empire and the Russian Empire. It started in 1904 and ended in 1905. ... The war happened because the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire disagreed over who should get parts of Manchuria and Korea. -
Square Deal
The Square Deal refers to Theodore Roosevelt's domestic policies that focused on the “Three C's”: Control of corporations, Consumer protection. Conservation of natural resources. -
Pure Food & Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce and laid a foundation for the nation's first consumer protection agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ... The Pure Food and Drug Act regulated such items shipped through interstate commerce. -
Meat Inspection Act
The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA) is an American law that makes it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under strictly regulated sanitary conditions. -
Lusitania
The Lusitania was a British passenger ship that was owned by the Cunard Line and was first launched in 1906. Built for the transatlantic passenger trade, it was luxurious and noted for its speed. During World War I the Lusitania was sunk by a German torpedo, resulting in great loss of life. -
Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the powerful United States Navy battleships which completed a journey around the globe from 16 December 1907, to 22 February 1909, by order of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. -
NAACP
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. -
Triangle Shirtwaist fire
On Saturday, March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the top floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. ... Trapped inside because the owners had locked the fire escape exit doors, workers jumped to their deaths. In a half an hour, the fire was over, and 146 of the 500 workers—mostly young women—were dead. -
Bull Moose Party
The Progressive Party was popularly nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party" since Roosevelt often said that he felt "strong as a bull moose" both before and after an assassination attempt on the campaign trail. ... The party's platform built on Roosevelt's Square Deal domestic program and called for several progressive reforms. -
The Jungle
The Jungle, a novel that revealed gruesome details about the meat packing industry in Chicago. The book was fiction but based on the things Sinclair had seen. Amendment to the United States Constitution (1913) gave Congress the power to tax income. -
Federal Reserve Act
The 1913 Federal Reserve Act, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, gave the 12 Federal Reserve banks the ability to print money to ensure economic stability. The Federal Reserve System created the dual mandate to maximize employment and keep inflation low. -
Panama Canal
President Theodore Roosevelt oversaw the realization of a long-term United States goal—a trans-isthmian canal. Throughout the 1800s, American and British leaders and businessmen wanted to ship goods quickly and cheaply between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. -
Clayton Antitrust Act
The Clayton Antitrust Act is a piece of legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in 1914. The act defines unethical business practices, such as price-fixing and monopolies, and upholds various rights of labor. -
Federal Trade Commission
The purpose of the FTC is to enforce the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce." The Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) also granted the FTC the authority to act against specific and unfair monopolistic practices. -
Submarine warfare
Submarine warfare consists primarily of diesel and nuclear submarines using torpedoes, missiles or nuclear weapons, as well as advanced sensing equipment, to attack other submarines, ships, or land targets. Submarines may also be used for reconnaissance and landing of special forces as well as deterrence. -
NWP
The National Woman's Party (NWP) is an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. ... The most prominent leader of the National Woman's Party was Alice Paul, and its most notable event was the 1917–1919 Silent Sentinels vigil outside the gates of the White House. -
The Sussex Pledge
The Sussex Pledge was a promise made by Germany to the United States in 1916, during World War I before the latter entered the war. Early in 1915, Germany had instituted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, allowing armed merchant ships, but not passenger ships, to be torpedoed without warning. -
Zimmerman telegram
The Zimmermann Telegram (or Zimmermann Note or Zimmerman Cable) was a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico. -
War Industry Board
Formed in the summer of 1917, the WIB was the most important of these federal agencies because it was tasked with overseeing and promoting industrial production during the First World War. ... Sometimes the WIB demanded the creation of new factories. It also directed and allocated raw materials to certain factories. -
Selective Service Act
To that end, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which Wilson signed into law on May 18, 1917. The act required all men in the U.S. between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for military service. Within a few months, some 10 million men across the country had registered in response to the military draft. -
Committee on Public Info
The Committee on Public Information (1917–1919), also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence public opinion to support US participation in World War I. -
Espionage Act
Enforced largely by A. Mitchell Palmer, the United States attorney general under President Woodrow Wilson, the Espionage Act essentially made it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country's enemies. -
National War Labor Board
The National War Labor Board was a body formed to resolve disputes in labor during wartime production, specifically during WWI and WWII. Learn about its important role and accomplishments in this lesson. -
Sedition Act
The Sedition Act of 1918, enacted during World War I, made it a crime to "willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of the Government of the United States" or to "willfully urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of the production" of the things " -
WWI Armistice
The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Allies and their opponent, Germany. -
Fourteen Points
The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918, speech on war aims and peace terms to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson. -
Schenck v U.S.
Schenck v. United States, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on March 3, 1919, that the freedom of speech protection afforded in the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment could be restricted if the words spoken or printed represented to society a “clear and present danger.” -
Jones Act
Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act is known as the Jones Act and deals with cabotage (coastwise trade) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried on U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. -
NCLC
The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) works at the national and state levels to protect these families' pocketbooks and rebuild their wealth so that they can survive and thrive in the U.S. financial marketplace.