AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

AP US Vocab 1918-1941

Terms : Hide Images
6855762Harlem ReaissanceAn African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.
6855763National Origins ActA law that severely restricted immigration by establishing a system of national quotas that blatantly discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and virtually excluded Asians.
685576418th AmendmentEstablished prohibition in the United States
685576519th AmendmentGave women the right to vote
685576620th AmendmentAdvanced Presidential inaugurations from March 4 to January 20, shortening the "lame duck" period
685576721st AmendmentRepealed the 18th amendment, prohibition
6860072Andrew MellonOne of the wealthiest bankers of his day who, along with other business tycoons, controlled Congress.
6860073Neutrality ActsA series of laws that placed an embargo on exports of war materials to belligerents. It also warned U.S. citizens not to travel on belligerent vessels, prohibited loans to belligerent nations, and instituted the cash and carry policy which meant that nations that were seeking to trade with the U.S. had to purchase the goods they wanted as well as provide their own vessels in which they could be shipped out to their country.
6860074Albert FallSecretary of the Interior under President Harding, was involved in the Teapot Dome scandal
6860075John L. LewisThe militant founder of the United Mine Workers union
6860076HoovervillesName given to any shanty town that manifested itself during the period when Herbert Hoover was president
6860077Back To Africa MovementMobilized thousands of African-American's who wished to leave the state for the Republic of Liberia in the late 1800s
6860078Spirit of St. LouisThe plane Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic in 1927
6860079Palmer RaidsA series of controversial raids by the U.S. Justice and Immigration Departments from 1919 to 1921 on suspected radical leftists in the United States.
6860080Lost GenerationThis term refers to a group of American writers who lived primarily in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s. Bitter about their World War I experiences and disillusioned with different aspects of American society, these writers were seen to be ex-patriots and included Earnest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald
6860081Keynesian EconomicsThe economic philosophy that when the demand doesn't meet expectations there is unemployment and depression while if demand surpasses production inflation occurs. The solution to the great depression then was to have the government spend while maintaining low taxes and when there is demand that a tight budget should be created.
6860082Warren G. HardingThe 29th President of the United States
6860083F. Scott FitzgeraldAuthor of "The Great Gatsby", a classic novel of wit and style that captured the "Roaring Twenties" with unsurpassed verbal genius
6860084National Labor Relations ActThis 1935 act established defined unjust labor practices, secured workers the right to bargain collectively, and established the National Labor Relations Board
6860085National Industrial Recovery Act1933 act that focused on the employment of the unemployed and the regulation of unfair business ethics.
6860086Huey (Kingfish) LongPopular governor who called for the confiscation of all fortunes over $5 million and a 100% tax on annual incomes over $1 million in his "Share The Wealth" plan. He was assassinated in 1935
6860087Georgia O'KeeffeAmerican painter chiefly known for paintings in which she synthesized abstraction and representation in paintings of flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones and landscapes.
6860088John (Grapes of Wrath) SteinbeckAmerican author whose 1939 book "The Grapes of Wrath" illustrated the plight of a dust bowl family.
6860089Lend-Lease ActProgram under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, France and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material between 1941 and 1945 in return for, in the case of Britain, military bases in Newfoundland, Bermudas, and the British West Indies.
6860090Court Packing SchemeProposal by Franklin D. Roosevelt that would allow the president to appoint new Supreme Court members for each one over 70 years of age, totaling six in all
6860091Indian Reorganization Act1934 - Act that restored tribal ownership of lands, recognized tribal constitutions and government, and provided loans for economic development.
6860092Works Progress Administration (WPA)Started in May 1935 and headed by Harold Hopkins this organization employed people for 30 hours a week (so it could hire all the unemployed)
6860093Securities and Exchange CommissionEstablished in 1934 this commission protected investors, listened to complaints, issued licenses and penalized fraud.
6860094Langston HughesAn American writer known for the use of jazz and black folk rhythms in his poetry. He used musical rhythms and the traditions of African American culture in his poetry
6860095NAACPGroup founded in 1909 to improve living conditions for inner city Blacks, evolved into a national organization dedicated to establishing equal legal rights for Blacks.
6860096Bonus MarchGroup of WWI veterans who were supposed to be given economic relief from the government due to their involvement in the war. However, in 1932 the deadline for the veterans was pushed back by the government to a latter date thus causing the group to march onto Washington to demand their money. Excessive force was used to disband these protesters, and because they were veterans and heroes of this country, Hoover's popularity plummeted because of it.
6860097Schenck V. U.S.Supreme Court Case that established the precedent that free speech could be suspended in times of clear and present danger
6860098Sacco and VanzettiTwo robbers who killed a clerk and stole money from a shoe factory in South Briantree, Massachusetts. They were arrested and both were charged with the robbery and the murder. The jury found them guilty.
6860099Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)1933 - A governmental agency which ruled several federal programs of building dams, the construction of hydroelectric dams, and controlling floods
6860100Henry FordFounder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production
6860101Universal Negro Improvement AssociationAn international self-help organization founded by Marcus Garvey.
6860102America First Committe1940 organization formed by die-hard isolationists who feared the U.S. going to war.
6860103Kellogg-Briand PactThis treaty of 1928 denounced war between countries when it was used for the purpose of handling relations between countries.
6860104Hundred DaysTerm for the measures taken during Roosevelt's first days in office, from Mar 9 to Jun 16, enabled FDR to pass acts critical to stabilizing the economy.
6860105New DealIn light of the Great Depression a proposed a series of relief and emergency measures through which FDR intended to revive the lost prosperity of the economy by reforming other institutions and programs, by relieving the plight of the people, and thus recover the nation's wealth.
6871483Calvin CoolidgeBecame president after Harding's death - was against progressive movement and government regulation - said government had no obligation to protect its citizens
6871484Social Security Act1935 - Old age pension funded by pay roll tax on employees and employeers
6871485Fair Labor Standards ActJune 1938 - Set maximum hours at 40 hours a week and minimum wage at 20 cents an hour (gradually rose to 40 cents).
6871486Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC)A federal agency which insures bank deposits, created by the Glass-Strengall Banking Reform Act of 1933.
6871487"Share the Wealth"Plan by Huey Long - radical agitator - painted a picture where everyman was king
6871488Thomas Hart BentonA zealous supporter of western interests, he staunchly advocated government support of frontier exploration during his term in the Senate from 1820 - 1850. A senator from Missouri, but he opposed slavery.
6871489H.L. Mencken924, founded The American Mercury, which featured works by new writers - was very critical of American work - attacked the shallowness and conceit of the American middle class
6871490NormalcyHarding's desired state - state before WWI
6871491Cash and CarryStated the warring nations wishing to trade with the U.S. would have to pay cash and carry the goods away in their own ships. Benefitted the Allies, since German ships could not reach the U.S. due to the Allied blockades.
6871492Congress of Industrial Organization (CLO)group welcomed all autoworkers, steelworkers, and electrical workers
6871493Washington Naval Conference1921-1922 - setting a standard on the desired tonnage that each nation should have, and the desired amount of battleships that each nation should have - attempt to prevent WWII - stop battleship arms race
6871494Ku Klux KlanWhite-supremacist group formed by six former Conferedate officers after the Civil War. Name is essentially Greek for "Circle of Friends". Group eventually turned to terrorist attacks on blacks. The original Klan was disbanded in 1869, but was later resurrected by white supremacists in 1915. - Nativists
6871495Scottsboro Boys1930s - nine black boys in Scottsboro were wrongly accused of raping two white girls
6871496Scopes Trial1925 - Prosecution of Dayton, Tennessee school teacher, John Scopes, for violation of the Butler Act, a Tennessee law forbidding public schools from teaching about evolution. Former Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, prosecuted the case, and the famous criminal attorney, Clarence Darrow, defended Scopes. Scopes was convicted and fined $100, but the trial started a shift of public opinion away from Fundamentalism.
6871497Schechter v U.S. (sick chicken)1935 - New York company was charged with violation of NRA (Nat'l recovery assciation) regulations - supreme court declared the NRA illegal because it regulated interstate commerce, a violation of federal law
6871498Margaret SangerEarly 1900's fought to leagilize birthcontrol
6871499Herbert HooverPresident - during his term the US market crash and the great depression started
6871500DoleEnglish term for subsidized living wages - simlar to US welfare
6871501Marcus Garveyblack nationalist leader who created the "Back to Africa" movement in the U.S. In 1907, he led a printers' strike for higher wages at a printing company in Kingston. In 1914 he founded the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) and in 1916, he started a weekly newspaper called the Negro World.
6871502Charles LindberghFamous aviator and pro-isolationist pre-WWII
6871503Elijah Mohammad1950s - led Black Muslims and the Nation of Islam
6871504Stimson Doctrine1932 - Japan's seizure of Manchuria brought this pronouncement by Hoover's Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, that the U.S. would not recognize any changes to China's territory, nor any impairment of China's sovereignty.
6871505Brain Trustany of the advisers who helped Roosevelt during his presidential candidacy continued to aid him after he entered the White House.
6871506Franklin RooseveltPresident that took power from Hoover - formed the New Deal - led the US through WWII
6871507Sinclair Lewisfirst American to win the Nobel Prize for literature, Main Street (1920) was a satire on the dullness and lack of culture in a typical American town
6871508Wagner ActMay 1935 - Replaced Section 7A of the NIRA. It reaffirmed labor's right to unionize, prohibited unfair labor practices, and created the National Labor Relations Board.
6871509Sit-down StrikeThese strikes were characterized by employees occupying the work place yet doing nothing. This type of passive resistance allowed the employees to halt production, thus paralyzing the business. This tactic was utilized in the strike by the United Automobile Workers against General Motors in 1937.
6871510Frank Lloyd WrightConsidered America's greatest architect. Pioneered the concept that a building should blend into and harmonize with its surroundings rather than following classical designs.
6871511Teapot Dome / Elk Hills Scandals1929 - The Naval strategic oil reserve at Elk Hills was taken out of the Navy's control and placed in the hands of the Department of the Interior, which leased the land to oil companies. Several Cabinet members received huge payments as bribes. Due to the investigation, Daugherty, Denky, and Fall were forced to resign.
6871512Edward HopperAmerican painter and printmaker - most famous painting = nighthawks
6871513Ernest HemingwayAmerican author - part of the Lost Generation (group of American authors who moved to Paris after WWII)
6871514Destroyer Deal1940 - U.S. agreed to "lend" its older destroyers to Great Britain. Signaled the end of U.S. neutrality in the war.
6871515National Recovery Administrationestablished production limits, set wages and working conditions, and disallowed price cutting and unfair competitive practices

Need Help?

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!