Final Exam Review
Laura Johnson
Important Cases & Amendments
Plessy vs. Ferguson
1896 U.S. supreme court case. African-American train passenger Homer Plessy refuses to sit in Jim Crow car. Therefore he was brought before judge John H. Ferguson and the “Separate but Equal” doctrine was created.
Brown vs. the Board of Education
"Segregation in public schools ended by court"
"This school is closed by order of the Federal Government"
''We protest school segregation"
Marbury vs. Madison
A day before Adams resigned as a president, he expanded the # of judges. But James Madison, the new secretary of state, refuses to deliver the commissions given by Adams. Marbury, one of the people Adams nominated to be a judge, petitioned for the delivery of the commissions.
New Power that was granted due to "Judicial Review"
Supreme Court to take an active role in ensuring that the other branches of government abide by the constitution.
Civil rights Amendments : 13th, 14th, 15th amendments
- Created after reconstruction.
- 13th - end of slavery
- 14th - equal protection
- 15th - right to vote (male only)
19th Amendment
Women win sufferage in 1920
18th Amendment
Bans alcohol. (ends in 1933 with 21st amendment)
Post-Reconstruction through late 1800s
Manifest Destiny
- 18th century
- whites move into Indian territory, seek gold, silver, and land
- Cattle trails (1879's - 90's)
- RR lines expand
- end frontier era
- Homestead Act : Encouraged white families to develop the west
- Exodusters
Americanization
- Assimilate immigrants to ONE dominant American culture
The Dawes Act
- Broke up reservations
- Gave small plots to Indians
- Benefited whites; whites got 2/3 of Indian land
(James) Monroe Doctrine
- America's first doctrine
- America wants to be completely independent from Europe
- Doctrine formed due to Russia's claim over the authority of NW coast of Pacific and Latin America's independence Revolution against Spanish rule
(Theodore) Roosevelt Corollary
- Addition to the Monroe doctrine
- Stated that the U.S. would intervene as a last resort to ensure that other nations in the Western Hemisphere did not violate the rights of the U.S. or invite "foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations."
Why was the U.S. interested in Latin America in the late 1800s and early 1900s?
- The desire for military strength
- thirst for new markets (desire for economic strength)
- Manifest Destiny
- Anglo-Saxon cultural superiority
Why was the Spanish-American War (1898) a turning point in US foreign policy?
- Ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas
- Resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America.
Why did the steel industry grow in the late 1800s
- Wealth of resources
- Urban population
- Government support of business
- Explosion of inventions
Interstate Commerce Act 1887
- Regulate Rail Roads
- Lower excessive rates
Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890
- Made trusts illegal
- Trusts and predatory business reduced competition
Political Bosses / Machines
- Political Machines arose, organized like a pyramid, controlled cities, played to immigrants for easy votes/ favors
- Boss Tweed - notorious NYC political "BOSS"
- Tammany Hall - Tweed's political machine in NYC, biggest fraud was NYC Courthouse
Patronage
- Politicians giving jobs to unqualified supporters/friends that helped them
Progressive Era
Muckrakers
- Journalists who wrote about the corrupt side of business
- Upton Sinclair - The Jungle
"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair
- Exposed corruption, filth in food industry
Progressive Era legislation
- 16th Amendment - creates federal income tax in 1913
- 17th Amendment (1913) - gave citizens more power, would now elect senators
- 18th Amendment(1918) - Banned the making, selling, and transporting of alcoholic beverages in U.S.
- 19th Amendment(1920) - Women win suffrage
Meat Inspection Act (FMIA)
- 1908, cleaned up meat-packing
Pure food & Drug Act
- 1906, cleaned up food and medicine, ads
- The Act arose due to public education and exposes from Muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair and President Theodore Roosevelt.
the 1920s
the Red Scare (1920s)
- Fear of Communist movement
- Innocent people were jailed for expressing their view, civil liberties were ignored, and many Americans feared that a BOlshevik-style revolution was at hand
Scopes Trial (1925)
- Scopes vs. The State of Tennessee
- High school teacher, John Scopes, taught human evolution in Tennessee's public school.
- John T. Scopes - Teacher on trial for teaching evolution which was outlawed
- Clarence Darrow/ ACLU - defended Scopes
- William Jennings Bryan - prosecutor
- Scopes found not guilty by Tennessee Supreme Court, teaching evolution still outlawed. Highlighted struggle between religion & science in schools
Fundamental Christians vs. Modernists
- Fundamentalist Christians, stressing literal biblical interpretation, opposed any scientific teaching that cast doubt on veracity of scripture, particularly Genesis
- Modernist Christians, mainly urban and better educated, attempted to adapt religion to the teachings of modern science and a changing world
the Harlem Renaissance
- Literary & artistic movement celebrating African - American culture
- Well-educated, middle class blacks sought to create pride and identity
the Trial of Sacco & Venzetti
- Anarchist Italian immigrants charged with and convicted of robbery / murder
- Many felt there was flimsy evidence
- Seen as a backlash against immigrants, political radicals
Jim Crow Laws
- Separate but equal
- Racial segregation laws enacted after the Reconstruction period in Southern United States
- The separation in practice led to conditions for African Americans that were inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.
Celebrity in the 1920s (Charles Lindberg)
- Charles Lindberg - 1st solo flight across Atlantic, flew in the spirit of St.Louis
Flappers and the role of women in the 20s
- Women assert themselves, fight for rights
- Flappers - signify the new fun loving, 'me-first' attitude
- Double Standard - allowed men to have sexual freedom, but not women
- Women work in greater numbers
- Birth control and household innovations gave women more time to pursue personal interests, work
the 1930s
Major causes of the Great Depression
- Many Americans were living on easy credit, getting debt
- Gov't used price-supports to try to help farmers who couldn't make money selling crops
- People rushed to buy stocks through the 1920s, as the Dow rose
- People used borrowed money to buy stocks
- Stock prices started to fall and people sold
Effects of Great Depression on economy
- Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act(1930) - to protect American business, highest tariff on foreign goods in U.S. history
- Some countries retaliated with tariffs on U.S. goods
- Made it hard for other countries to sell goods in U.S.
- Foreign countries couldn't buy our goods
- Decreased U.S. exports; hurt U.S. business
Guiding principle of New Deal economic policies
- Emergency Banking Relief Act - immediately closed all the banks
- Regulated stock market - created FDIC
- Creating markets/providing work
- social security act
What happened to the size of the federal government with the new deal?
- Size increased
Which aspects of the New Deal were a continuation of Progressive Era policies?
- Social security Act
WWI
WWI Treaty of Versailles terms
- Treaty of Versailles officially ends war
- War-guilt clause - Germany accepted all blame Germany could have no army, lost colonial possessions
American foreign policy in the years between WWI-WWII
- Isolationism
- Neutrality Acts 1935 - passed by congress, keeps U.S. from sending arms/$ to nations at war
- Lend-Lease Act 1941 - Roosevelt starts, lent arms/$ to allies
Isolationism
- Staying isolated from outside
- WWI still recent, Americans most wanted to stay out of Europe
How did U.S. geographic location make isolation easy?
- American continent was not connected to the Europe nor Asia.
- Other countries couldn't attack U.S. easily.
- U.S. didn't have to worry about the attacks
WWII
What years was the U.S. was involved in WW2?
- 1941-1945
"Yesterday Dec. 7, 1941, a date which shall live in infamy" - F.D. Roosevelt
WW2 allied leaders
- F.D. Roosevelt (U.S.)
- Joseph Stalin (USSR)
- Winston Churchill (Britain)
Soviet-German non-aggression pact and aftereffects
- 1939
- Germany & USSR signed
- Germany invades Poland Sept.1, 1939 with blitzkrieg attack
- Fall of Paris - France falls on June 2, 1940, Britain stands alone (German troops marched through Paris)
Nazi "final solution" what was it and how was it enacted?
- 1939, Hitler enacts "final solution" outright genocide of Jews
- Jews as well as political opponents, mental/physically disabled sent to concentration camps and segregated ghettos
Why did U.S. entered WW2?
- Dec.7, 1941, Pearl Harbor navy base attacked by the Japanese, U.S. enters war on 8th
D-Day invasion Impotance
- D-Day June 6, 1944
- Operation Overlord - Had the say in starting the D-Day operation
- General George Patton - General Patton & Allies free France
- Battle of the Bulge - lose German offensive
- Victory in Europe Day - May 8th, 1945, V-E day
Impact of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.
- Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people.
- Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II
Why did Truman decide to use the bombs against Japan?
- Manhattan Project - A Group of scientists gathered to build atomic bomb
- President Truman allows to drop the bombs on Japan
Why were women and minorities able to make economic gains during WW2?
- Executive order 8802 - FDR issued Executive order 8802 to encourage to hire blacks
- James Farmer - starts Congress of Racial Equality fight segregation & discrimination
- Men were fighting in the War, therefore women had to work (opportunities for women)
Cold War - Present
Truman Doctrine & Containment Policy
- The U.S. and 'west' wanted to avoid war, but contain spread of communism
- Sent $400 million to Turkey & Greece
- President promised to support freedom worldwide
- Marshall Plan - Marshall's plan for rebuilding W.Europe economically
- Berlin Airlift - US and Allies used planes for 18 months to get supplies to W. Berlin
McCarthyism
- His tactics of unsubstantiated attacks and accusations
- Senator Joseph McCarthy used the "Red Scare" to get reelected, eventually condemned by senate for improper conduct
Why did relationship between the US & USSR become strained post-WW2?
- US & USSR join United Nations
- Potsdam Conference - Truman met with Stalin to discuss splitting Germany
- mentioned US atomic bomb
- Stalin wanted more of Germany's industry, but settled, felt bullied
- Stalin's Iron Curtain - Stalin created a 'curtain' of satellite communist countries around USSR
Counter-Culture of 50's & 60's
- The Beatles - arrive '64 huge hit, boosted rock&roll
- Woodstock - Hippiefestival
Martin Luther King Jr. differed from Black Panthers in seeking civil rigts
- Martin Luther wanted peace
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
- 1964
- congress gave LBJ power to retaliated against attacks on US forces in/around Vietnam
Main reason for US involvement in the Korean War and Vietnam War
- To contain Communism
Domino Theory
- Idea that if one nation fell to Communism, all in area would
Nixon and his policy of 'detente'
- period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began tentatively in 1971
Watergate Scandal
- several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. The prowlers were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents.
Reason U.S. became involved in Persian Gulf War
- Arab powers who were afraid of Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, called U.S. and other western nations to intervene
Importance of Sandra Day O'Connor
- was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
How did US first respond militarily to the Sept. 11th attacks?
- Two fighter jets tried to tack the hijacked planes but failed.