Zimmermann telegram
Germany solicited Mexico to become an ally of theirs, and in return they would help Mexico regain the land that they had lost in the Mexican-American war.
A Republican president was elected. He promised to reduce the government's involvement in people's lives and return to normalcy.
Sinking of the Lusitania
A German U-Boat sank a passenger ship with 128 Americans on board
New deal
Public works administration: employed people to work on infrastructure projects
Tennessee Valley Authority: Hired people to control power plants and control flooding
Spanish-American War
1920's economic boom
The standard of living for most Americans increased during the 1920s.
Secret ballot
Big stick diplomacy
Muckrakers
Sedition act of 1918
Mass culture
The growing popularity of technologies like movies and the radio meant that everyone was listening to the same things, which helped create a more unified culture and distinct identity
Believed the president should set the legislative agenda for Congress. He led congress to pass a series of laws on consumer protection and enviornmental conservation
Crisis in American values
Embraced the changing culture with respect to gender roles and scientific discoveries
Lived in urban areas
American imperialism
Ideas about expansion and manifest destiny were engrained into the American identity. America purchased Alaska in 1867.
The great migration
Over 1.5 million African Americans moved north in search of economic opportunities created by the war effort and an escape from southern discrimination
Booker T. Washington
He argued that to achieve political equality, African Americans had to engage themselves in education and economic endavors
Flappers
Women who rejected stereotypical gender roles by drinking and smoking and having short hair
Banned the sale of alcohol. They thought it would right the moral wrongs of society, but it had the opposite effect
Direct election of senators
Gave citizens the right to vote for their senators. Progressives argued this helped take senators out of the pockets of millionaires and big business
Niagra movement
President McKinley was assassinated and Teddy Roosevelt became president
Palmer raids
The AG tasked FBI Director Hoover to gather information on suspected communists and led to mass arrests and deportations
W.E.B. Dubois
Argued that for african americans to have any shot at economic equality, they needed to be recognized as politically equal first.
Germany resumed sinking passenger ships two years later
Meat inspection act
Sought to abolish all forms of segregation and expand educational opportunities for black children (and others)
Ida Tarbell
Published a devastating investigation of standard oil in 1902
Upton Sinclair
In Tennessee it was illegal to teach Darwin's theory of evolution to children. A teacher was arrested for teaching it to his class. In the end, the conviction was thrown out on a technicality.
Assembly line
A new and more efficient way to manufacture products like cars
