Founding Docs
Magna Carta
a fundamental document guaranteeing English political liberties
Urbanization
the process of making an area more urban.
Nativism
the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants.
Nuclear Race
an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War.
Baby Boom/G.I. Bill
GI Bill benefits promised the decent pay, access to good jobs, and affordable housing that made raising a family possible.
Mayflower Compact
a signed agreement, a social contract, by the adult male passengers on the Mayflower, the ship carrying English settlers to North America in 1620
Haymarket Riot
a violent confrontation that took place in Chicago's Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886.
Sacco and Venzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti were Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian-born anarchists who were tried and convicted in the 1920s for armed robbery and murder, and later executed in 1927.
Sputnik/Space Race
a period of intense competition between the US and USSR to achieve technological supremacy in space
Age of Affluence
economic growth, rising incomes, and mass consumerism
Locke/Hobbes/Rousseau
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were prominent social contract theorists who grappled with the question of how and why individuals enter into political societies.
Sharecropping
a system where the landlord/planter allows a tenant to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop
Buying on Margin
means using borrowed money from a broker to purchase securities (like stocks) in addition to your own funds.
Iron Curtain
Growth of the Suburbs
the expansion of residential areas on the outskirts of urban centers, particularly during the mid-20th century.
Northwest Ordinance
a law passed in 1787 that established a system for governing the Northwest Territory
Progressive Movement
was a period of widespread political and social reform in the United States, primarily from the 1890s to the 1920s.
Hoovervilles
a shantytown of temporary dwellings during the depression years in the U.S.
Berlin Wall/Airlift
Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin
Civil Disobedience
Shay’s Rebellion
an armed uprising in western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787, led by Daniel Shays, a former officer in the Revolutionary War.
Political Machines
a political organization, typically centered around a strong leader, that uses various incentives, like patronage and jobs, to control and influence voters and political outcomes
New Deal
refers to a series of programs and policies implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938 to combat the Great Depression.
Korean War
a conflict fought primarily between North and South Korea from 1950 to 1953
Voting Rights Act of 1965
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.