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The Theory of Evolution
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. -
Department Stores
First opened in 1846. Goods organized into different “departments”. Fixed prices (no bartering). Money back guarantees. Free delivery. People shopped for the experience, not just deals. Five and dime stores, offered large discounts to customers. Discounts for buying in bulk, passed on to customers. -
Native Americans
Hundreds of Native tribes still roam the northwest and southwest plains. They were introduced to the horse and it changed the range of plains Indians, it increased conflict with other tribes and white settles. -
Mail-Order Catalogues
Montgomery Ward, brought department stores to rural America. Sear catalog. Another department stores follow. Most of the nation lived in rural areas until 1920. The perfect consumer culture was formed and shared across the country. -
Mining
Miners were drawn to the west because they found gold and silver, the wealth was real at this time, companies ended up buying claims from miners who couldn’t afford this expensive equipment. Since mining became an important business in the West, their working conditions worsened. Fortunes made in 1860s and 1870s. Gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc. Klondike Gold rush. -
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Transforming the West
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Homestead Act
This act assisted settlers in receiving 160 acres if the land was improved for five years. Landless farmers, former slaves, single women took advantage. The Homestead Act was only partially successful; framers often went bankrupt due to isolating and drought in harsh locations. -
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Becoming an Industrial Power
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Transcontinental Railroad
There were two corporations, the Union and Central Pacific. The Union Pacific was built the west, the Central Pacific was built the east and both met in Promontory Point. The congress grants railroad companies 10 square miles of land for every mile of track built. -
Knights of Labor
Wanted to get rid of market competition for a cooperative one. Open to all workers. Strictly secret to avoid sabotage by employers. Labor Day established as a national holiday. Boycotted business. 8-hour work day. Equal pay for men and women. -
Exploitation
Strict rules placed on employees, expected to work in silence. Foremen/mangers (new). Enforced workplace rules, non-compliance in fines or termination. Blacklist, employers circulated lists with “bad” workers so they wouldn’t be hired. -
Granges
Farmers formed societies to find solutions to Ag problems, there were hundreds to thousands of members by 1870. Parties later got politically powerful after economy tanks, railroad prices soar. The granges disappear when the economy recovers. -
Business
Business booms after the Civil War, during this period, the movement of the production of goods out of small shops and mills and into factories increased tremendously. Between 1860 and 1900 there was an increase of railroad construction that changed the United States, helping make it the industrial nation it is today. World leader in industrial capacity, raw goods and cheap labor, modern inventions of this time and today. -
Gold vs. Silver
Gold symbolized the rich and silver symbolized the workers. Democrats and Populist were more money in circulation. Would end monopolies and depression. More silver than gold and both exist in the economy. -
Red Rive War
Was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to remove the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Naïve American tribes from the southern Plains and forcibly relocate them to reservations in Indian Territory. The southern plains Indians were upset over illegal white statement and buffalo devastation. That led to white settlements. In 1875 the army wiped out native resistance on the southern plains. -
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The Gilded Age
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Nativism
Americans were weary of immigration again. They wanted to stop immigrants. Slums and strikes propel idea, they had the Chinese exclusion act, literacy test, and deportation. -
Farmers
Many farmers were struggling due to droughts and insects that would ruin their crops. The prices would decrease and farms would foreclose. -
Horizontal Integration
Companies that bought out their competition and achieved greater efficiency. Carnegie buys all supply sources and competition, undercut competition, hired best management. Cut secret deals with railroads. -
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
Former scout and buffalo hunter started his own western show in the eastern U.S. The shows dealt with Indian fights, cowboys and cattle drives, lassoing, and marksmanship. Many former cowboys, sharpshooters and even Indians (sitting Bull) participated in it. -
Pendleton Act
It’s a federal law which established that positions within the federal government should be awarded based on merit instead of political affiliation. It was important because it stopped the appointment of people to governmental offices merely because of their political affiliation or their connection to the president. -
Railroads
It opened new lands for farming, that help farmers sell products on the national market. Many towns turned into major cities like: Denver, San Francisco, Portland and Omaha. Also, time zones were created for people to know when the departures and arrivals of trains will be. -
American Federation of Labor
Takes place of KOL. Didn’t allow unskilled labor. Didn’t allow blacks, immigrants or women. Capitalism instead of cooperatives. 1.6 million members by 1904. Disunity in labor hindered change until the early 20th century. -
Settlement Houses
They were established in major cities, they had social programs and education services. The hull House which was in Chicago was started by Jane Addams, and it was a model for other settlement houses. -
Monopolies
A few or one powerful individual controlling a sector of the economy. Railroads some of the first, thousands of prospectors and hopeful American Businessmen flocked to the frontier with the intent of making their fortunes in this previously untouched area. Railroad men would bride elected officials. Routinely price gauged. Manipulated stock prices. -
Holding Companies
Replaces trusts in 1890s it also bought company stock. Large corporations that bought and ran others. Shielded from Sherman Anti-trust. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), first attempt at controlling business, made pools (inter-company deals) and special deals between business illegal. Act was weak, declared unconstitutional by SCOTUS. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Is a landmark federal statue in the history of United States antitrust la. It was the first measure passed by the U.S Congress to prohibit trusts. After it was passed, the act was invoked only rarely against industrial monopolies, and then not successfully. -
New Women
“New Women” were in the middle class, they had more free time and their roles increased also they attended college. Champion temperance, suffragettes, and they had the bicycle craze which happened in the 1890s and were criticized for it. -
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Imperialism
The U.S tried to acquire more lands and expand its nation. It all began with he U.S.S Maine incident. America began trying to gain power of many things they could. Also during this time the Philippine American War began. As years go by, a new president was elected, the election will determine who will lead America for the following years. Though there was time for prosperity, still many problems continue to be unresolved.. -
Schlieffen Plan
It was an operational plan for a designated attack on France. The Chief of the Imperial Army German General Staff. The plan failed, because the German forces could not hold off Russian forces in the East while fighting towards Paris in the West. Things got worse after when Paris declared war on Germany. -
World's Columbian Exposition
Movement and exposition inspired city planners for a generation. There was technology, science, architecture, urban designs, and many 100s of exhibits. -
Anti-Saloon League
The League was a non-partisan organization that focused on the single issue of prohibition. The League had branches across the United States to work with churches in marshaling resources for the prohibition fight. -
Pullman Strike
It was a railroad strike, and a turning point for. U.S labor. It all started when Pullman railroad company laid off workers and slashed their wages, the union led a national strike that shut down the country’s railroad system. -
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Progressive Era
The progressive era is a time of prosperity, before this time there was many issues like child labor, market riot, race issues, etc. The progressive era will try to change most of the problems. Leaders will arise to represent others. Child labor also b came to an end, when people realized children needed education. -
War in Cuba
Cuba came under the domination of U.S imperialism as of a result of the Spanish-American War of 1898. The Cubans had been fighting for their independence from Spain, but the U.S seized on the situation to turn Cuba into a neo-colony. -
Territorial Acquisation
While the country is independent, the United States provides defense and some financial assistance, and in return is allowed military use of the islands. -
Siege of Santiago
Also known as the Siege of Santiago de Cuba was the last major operation of the Spanish-American War on the island of Cuba. -
Treaty of Paris
It was an agreement made in 1898 that involved Spain relinquishing nearly all the remaining Spanish Empire. The treaty also forced Spain to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. -
Leisure Walks
It was their free time, many did sports professional or semiprofessional, they took walks, went to the theater and opera, they liked to play the piano at home many homes had a piano. -
Philippine-American War
It was a war between the First Philippine Republic and the United States. After the Spanish had been almost completely defeated., the leader of the rebellion, declared the Philippines to be an independent country, which caused the Filipino war with the U.S. -
Strikers
Finding a common cause was problematic. While workers had issues with Chinese and black worked. Some employers would use black laborers as strikebreakers, make the strike futile. -
Social Gospel Movement
Begins in England, it was advocated for poor working class, religious leaders were upset. That was Social Darwinist views towards the poor. -
Election of 1900
The United States presidential election of 1900 was the 29th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1900. In a re-match of the 1896 race, Republicans President William McKinley defeated his Democratic challenger, William Jennings Bryan. -
Open Door Policy
Is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United State police established in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, as enunciated in Secretary of State John Hay’s. It was for the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China and in support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity. -
Dollar Dimplimacy
Was a form of American foreign policy to further its aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. -
New Temperance Movement
Typically criticize alcohol intoxication, promote compete abstinence, or use its political influence to press the government to enact alcohol laws to regulate the availability of alcohol of even its complete prohibition. -
Northern Securities Act
Was a short-lived American railroad trust formed in 190. The company was sued in 1902 under the Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890 by the Justice Department under President Theodore Roosevelt, one of the first anti-trust cases filed against corporate interests instead of labor. -
Child Labor
Many laws restricting child labor were passed as art of the progressive reform movement of this period. But the gaps that remained, particularly in the southern states, led to a decision to work for a federal child labor law. -
Meat Inspection Act
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 slaughters and processed under sanitary conditions. -
Gentleman's Agreement
It was an agreement between the United States and Japan, represented an effort by President Theodore Roosevelt to calm growing tension between the two countries over the immigration of Japanese workers. -
Muller v. Oregon
One of the most important U.S Supreme Court cases of the Progressive Era, upheld an Oregon law limiting the workday for female wage earns to ten hours. The case established a precedent in 1908 to expand the reach of state activity into the realm of protective labor legislation. -
Mexican Revolution
It ended dictatorship in Mexico and established a constitutional republic. It all started when liberals and intellectuals and to challenge the regime of dictator Porfirio Diaz. The Mexican Revolution destroyed the old government and army of the dictator Porfirio Diaz. -
Election of 1912
Democrat Woodrow Wilson defeated Bull Moose (Progressive) candidate and former Republican president Theodore Roosevelt and Republican incumbent president William Howard Taft. Some republican, unhappy with William Howard Taft, split with the Republicans Party and created the Progressive Party in 1912. Former president Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt ran as the Progressive Party candidate, but was unsuccessful in obtaining a presidential win. -
Assembly Line Process
It simplified assembly of the Ford model T’s 3000 parts by breaking into 84 distinct steps performed by groups of workers as a rope pulled the vehicle chassis down the line. -
17th Amendment
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state elected by the people thereof ix 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. -
Western Front
There was trenches between 1914 and 1917, they were never moved more than 20 miles. There was new development of war, like weapons and transportation. -
Industry
The Industry boomed, the exports to Europe rose. Industries stated selling weapons because many people bought it, so they saw an opportunity to get more money. Women even started taking factory jobs. -
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World War I
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Sussex Pledge
It was a promise made by Germany to the United States, during WWI before the latter entered the war. Germany had instituted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, allowing armed merchant ships. -
National Park System
Is an agency of the United States federal government that manages al national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designated. -
German-American Discrimination
German-American changed their last names and stopped speaking German to not be discriminated. Some were killed by lynch mobs’ others ridiculed and assaulted. -
American Expeditionary Forces
They were the fighting men of the Unites States Army during WWI. It was under the command of General John J. Pershing, it was successful which made a major turning point in the war for the Allies. -
Treaty of Versailles
It was the most important peace treaties that brought the WWI to an end. Negotiated among the Allied powers with little participation by Germany. The treaty ended the WWI but led to start WWII, less than 20 years late because of how harshly it treated Germany and how angry Germans were about this. -
Paris Peace Conference
It was a meeting of the victorious Allied Powers following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. The conference gathered 17 nations at the Palace of Versailles to shape the future after WWI. The Russian SFSR was not invited to attend, having already concluded a peace treaty with the Central Powers earlier. -
World Christian Fundamentals Association
Christian fundamentalism, movement in American Protestantism that arose in the late 19th century in reaction to theological modernism, which aimed to revise traditional Christian beliefs to accommodate new developments in the natural and social sciences, especially the theory of biological evolution. -
League of Nations
Was an intergovernmental organization because of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the WWI. It failed in its main object of maintaining peace in the world, the whole world was involved in a war, by that time the ma League of Nations had broken down. -
Volstead Act
Was enacted to carry out the intent of the 18th amendment, which established prohibition in the United States. Congress passed the Volstead Act over Presidents Woodrow Wilson’s veto. Prohibition essentially began in June of that Year, but the amendment did not officially take effect until January. -
Referendums
A direct vote of the people whether to approve or repeal a law enacted by the state legislature. Deals with a flaw in the mandate theory as voters can voice an opinion on a major issue. -
The Lost Generation
Refers specifically to ex-patriot writers who left the Unite States to take part in the literary culture of cities such as Paris and London during the 1920s. -
Separatist
Separatists groups were illegal in England, so the Pilgrims fled to America and settled in Plymouth. The Puritans were non-separatists who wished to adopt reforms to purify the church of England. They received a right to settle in the Massachusetts Bay ae from the King of England. -
American Civil Liberties Union
Is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment is a very important amendment to the constitution as it gave women the right to vote in 1920.The 19th amendment unified suffrage laws across the United States. -
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1920s
It was a decade of prosperity and dissipation, and of jazz bands, bootleggers, raccoon coats, bathtub gin, flappers, flagpole sitters, bootleggers, and marathon dancers. The 1920s was an age of dramatic social and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation's total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society.” -
Tea Pot Dome Scandal
A government scandal involving a former United States Navy oil reserve in Wyoming that was secretly leased to a private oil company in 1921. It became symbolic of the scandals of the Harding administration. -
Immigration Act of 1924
It was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country. Immigration measure was passed by Congress in 1921 for slowing the flood of immigrants entering the United States. -
The Great Depression of Germany
The economic situation in Germany briefly improved between 1924-1929. However, Germany in the 1920s remained politically and economically unstable. The Weimar democracy could not withstand the Disastrous Great Depression of 1929. The disaster began in the United States of America, the leading economy in the world. -
Spirit of St. Louis
It is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat, high wing monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20-21, 1927, on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France. -
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The Great Depression
The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1939, and was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. It began after the stock market crash in 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. -
Hoverville
The encampments of the poor and homeless that sprang up during the Great Depression. They were named with ironic intent after President Herbert Hoover, who was in office when the depression started. -
The Dust Bowl
Also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s: severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion. -
FIAT Currency
Is currency that a government has declared to be legal tender, but it is not backed by a physical commodity. The value of fiat money is derived from the relationship between supply and demand rather than the value of the material that the money is made of. -
Election of 1932
Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Pres. Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt victory would be the first of five successive Democrat presidential wins. -
The Brain Trust
A term coined by James Kieran, a New York Times reporter, refers to the group of academic advisers that FDR gathered to assist him during the 1932 presidential campaign. Initially, the term applied to three Columbia University professors. -
The New Coalition
It was the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs in the United States that supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until the late 1960s. -
Glass-Steagall Act
It describes four provisions of the U. Banking Act of 1933 separating commercial and investment banking. The article 1933 Banking Act describes the entire law, including the legislative history of the provisions covered here. -
Federal Housing AUthorty
Is a United States government agency created in part by the National Housing Act of 1934. The FHA sets standards for construction and underwriting and insures loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building. -
Works Progress Administration
Was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of people to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. -
Annexation of Austria
German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. In early 1938, Austrian Nazis conspired for the second time in four years to seize the Austrian government by force and unite their nation with Nazi Germany. -
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Hitler wanted a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union so that his armies could invade Poland virtually unopposed by ta major power, after which Germany could deal with the forces of France and Britain in the west without having to simultaneously fight the Soviet Union on a second front in the east. -
Invasion of Poland
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. To Hitler, the Conquest Poland would bring Lebensraum, or “living space,” for the German people. -
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World War II
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American-Anglo Relations
British–American relations, also referred to as Anglo-American relations, encompass many complex relations ranging from two early wars to competition for world markets. Since 1940 they have been close military allies enjoying the Special Relationship built as wartime allies, and NATO partners. -
Allied Powers
The victorious allied nations of World War I and World War II. In World War I, the Allies included Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and the United States. In World War II, the Allies included Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. -
Pearl Harbor
It became the site of a naval base after the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the base, and the United States entered World War II the following day. -
Third Reich
Both inside and outside Germany, the term “Third Reich” was often used to describe the Nazi regime in Germany from January 30, 1933, to May 8, 1945. The Nazi rise to power marked the beginning of the Third Reich. -
The United Nations
The United Nations Organization is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. -
Manhattan Project
The code name for the effort to develop atomic bombs for the United States during World War II. The first controlled nuclear reaction took place in Chicago in 1942, and by 1945, bombs had been manufactured that used this chain reaction to produce great explosive force. -
Wounded Knee
It was a battle between U.S soldiers and Sioux Indians in South Dakota, about 300 Sioux died during battle. It all started when a gun accidentally went off and they started battle. This massacre was the last major battle of the Indian Wars of the late 19th century. -
20th Amendment
The twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president from. It is a simple amendment that sets the dates at which federal government elected offices end. -
Yellow Journalism
Is a U.S term for a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering or sensationalism.
