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Title IX
The act created to ban gender discrimination in higher education; today, it is mostly known in women’s sports, but it affects every aspect, from admissions to student loans.
Camp David Accords
Jimmy Carter invited the leaders of Israel and Egypt to America for the Camp David Accords, which brought peace between the two nations.
Mary Elizabeth Lease
speaker and organizer who spoke for the Populists
Florence Kelley
helped found the National Consumers’ League to help factory workers get better working conditions
Ella Baker
held the meeting that started the SNCC; was involved in the NAACP and cofounded the organization, In Friendship, to fight Jim Crow Laws
War Powers Act
Passed in 1973 by Congress, this act required the President to receive the approval of Congress before committing American troops overseas. Opposite of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
Equal Rights Amendment
The ERA called for a Constitutional Amendment that stated the equality of the sexes under the law. At first, it passed easily through Congress; however, when it reached the state level, it received strong resistance from groups who believed women belonged in the home. The Conservative backlash led to the failure of its passing and it is still not passed to this day.
Ida B. Wells
a Southern Black anti-lynching journalist who wrote scathing editorials about lynchings
Alice Paul
the leader of the National Woman’s Party, who protested and picketed, and chained themselves to the White House to publicly embarrass Wilson; was jailed many times
Betty Friedan
an early women’s rights leader who conducted research about the life of suburban housewives; wrote Feminine Mystique, which describes the dissatisfaction of women
Vietnam Syndrome
After the end of the Vietnam War, many claim that America has been more reluctant to send troops abroad. This is known as Vietnam Syndrome.
Reaganomics
President Reagan’s economic plans, which included cutting back the power of the unions, getting rid of government regulations, and drastically cutting taxes, specifically the Progressive Income one. He saw the spending of the government as a cause of the bad economy and wanted the government to stay out of business. His policies helped the economy go up again.
Frances Willard
leader of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, who advocated for both temperance and women’s suffrage
Amelia Earhart
famous female American pilot and author; first woman to cross the Atlantic in an airplane; supported the ERA; disappeared in the Pacific Ocean
Phyllis Schlafly
one of the main opponents of the ERA; STL businesswoman and homemaker who believed women belonged in the home
Watergate
President Nixon had paranoia about his enemies. He had a group of investigators, known as the Plumbers, to break in and tarnish his enemies. In June 1972, 5 of these Plumbers were arrested while breaking into the Watergate Hotel. When Nixon was asked to give tapes up, he refused and this led to many long-term impacts. Watergate seriously disrupted America’s belief in the office, and weakened the foundations of our faith in the Presidency.
Strategic Defense Initiative (AKA “Star Wars”)
Space Lasers that would shoot down nuclear missiles. He really built up our military and wanted to beat the Soviet Union, not make peace with them like previous presidents.
Ida Tarbell
a muckraker who decried Rockefeller’s oil monopoly and tried to get politicians to write laws to make monopolies illegal
Eleanor Roosevelt
FDR’s wife, who redefined the job of first lady; she advocated for causes she believed in and even publicly disagreed with her husband; spoke out for more civil rights and for women’s rights
Sandra Day O’Connor
first woman on the Supreme Court; ran Jazzercise for clerks
Stagflation
When an economy has stagnant economic growth and high inflation. Unemployment rose, and everything was more expensive.
Iran-Contra Affair
Uncovered by newspapers, this was when President Reagan authorized the sale of weapons to Iran (who was our enemy, but also was fighting Iraq) in order to release some American hostages. However, some of the Iranian money was diverted to the Contras by American Colonel Oliver North. North went to jail and Reagan denied involvement, but it undermined the belief that he was in control of his own administration.
Jane Addams
well-known female reformer who founded the Hull House in Chicago, as a place where services were offered to poor immigrants; also seen as an LGBTQ+ icon
Mary McLeod Bethune
an educator and activist, who was a part of FDR’s black cabinet, as his special advisor on minority affairs
Nancy Reagan
First Lady for President Ronald Reagan; “Just Say No” drugs campaign