20th Century American History Glossary: Terms, Events, and Figures
Great Migration
This event was the movement of six million African Americans out of the rural South to the urban North and West from the 1920s to the 1970s. It led to the growth of urban populations of African-Americans and increased racism in the North.
Mass Media
This type of culture was revolutionized twice during this period. The first time was the result of the invention and spread of commercial radio. The second was the result of the invention and spread of television.
Unemployment
This was a major contributor to the “death spiral” of the Great Depression, as when people lose their jobs, and don’t have money to spend, companies can’t sell goods, resulting in more people losing their jobs. It was also a major component of the Oil Crisis of the 1970s.
Deflation
This simply means “a decrease in prices.” It was a major contributor to the “death spiral” of the Great Depression. When this process starts, the best thing people can do with money is to save it, so nobody wanted to spend money, which causes more deflation, as prices have to keep getting lower for companies to sell their goods.
Inflation
This simply means “an increase in prices.” This was a major goal for many New Deal programs, as prices had become too low to pay workers or keep businesses from going bankrupt during the Great Depression. However, it was also a major component of the Oil Crisis of the 1970s, where similar problems only made the crisis worse.
Stagflation
This seemingly paradoxical event, where prices increase but there still aren’t available jobs, helped end the dominance of Keynesian economic thought. It was a major component of the Oil Crisis of the 1970s.
Deregulation
This major component of “Reaganomics” is the removal of rules that limit the actions of private companies. It can lead to increases in efficiency and prevent regulatory capture but may also lead to the growth of monopolies or environmental damage.
Appeasement
This British and French policy sought to give the fascist countries what they wanted, out of hope that either they would be satisfied and not start another World War, or that the strategy would “buy time” for Britain and France to engage in “rearmament” before war did break out. It ultimately failed, instead making the fascist countries stronger.
Strategic Bombing
These are direct attacks on the enemy population and industry from the air. This was first used by Japan and Germany, but later used by the UK and USA, and in all cases devastated civilians and destroyed cities.
Capitalism
This is an economic and political ideology that believes that parts of the economy should be owned by individuals for profit. During the Cold War, it is associated with the “Western Bloc” and democratic countries, like the United States, but it doesn’t require democracy to exist.
Communism
This ideology is a specific form of socialism that rejects other forms of socialism. It believes in state atheism, a one-party state, and revolutionary socialism. It is associated with the “Eastern Bloc” and nations like the USSR.
Mutually Assured Destruction
This is the likely result should any war occur between the two superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States. The various proxy wars and uses of spies and diplomacy occurred because of the fear of this. It almost occurred during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Nuclear Crisis of 1983.
Containment
The goal of this policy was to prevent the spread of Communism to new states, as a direct war with the USSR would have resulted in mutually assured destruction. It would later be replaced by the more aggressive policy of “Rollback,” which sought to use proxy wars to turn communist countries non-communist.
Regime Change
This act is the process of “intervention” in the government in charge of a country, typically because it is “soft on Communism,” resistant to American business, or pro-Communist. This typically involves a coup–the swift overthrow of a government by a small group, typically the military.
Civil Disobedience
This is a direct action strategy and form of peaceful protest that involves a refusal to comply with laws that are seen as unjust. Examples of it include the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Greensboro Sit-ins.
Lynching
This is the murder of a person being accused of a crime, occurring without the benefit of a trial for the accused. This is oftentimes racially motivated and used to suppress African-American voting in the South.
Brown v. Board of Education
This supreme court case established that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional (violating the 14th Amendment), overturning the “separate but equal” ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson.
Social Security
Also called the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, this program used payroll taxes to fund payments to the disabled and elderly, which helped stimulate the economy and boost spending during the Great Depression. Despite attempts at deregulation and privatization, the program continues to exist.
Lend-Lease Act
This was a law passed on March 11, 1941, which supplied the USSR, Britain, and China with military equipment, food, and fuel at no cost. The impact of America’s industrial might in supplying these nations with critical resources throughout World War Two is extremely significant.
Great Society
This is a series of domestic programs launched by Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, which included civil rights, education, anti-poverty, and medical care reforms.
NAACP
This interracial organization was founded in 1909 by people like W. E. B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells to try and fight for civil rights, promote opposition to lynching, and led the legal battle against segregation during the 1960s.
Soviet-Afghan War
This war involved an invasion launched by the Soviet Union, resulting in the deaths of over three million people in that nation. The eventual result of the war was the Soviet Union being unable to defeat the guerillas, supported by America as part of the “rollback” strategy, and withdrawing its forces due to the high cost of the war.
A. Philip Randolph
A union organizer and civil rights activist who organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, led the Double V Campaign, encouraged the implementation of Executive Order 9981, and was the head of the March on Washington.
Earl Warren
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969, he oversaw a change in how the Constitution was interpreted and led to a massive expansion of civil rights protections in the United States.
Herbert Hoover
This Republican president ignored his advisors and intervened in the economy to try and save it from the Depression, but his interventions didn’t solve the problem, and his name was attached to the slums that grew as a result of the economic crash. Before his presidency, he was renowned for his humanitarian efforts.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)
This Democratic president served an unprecedented four terms, introducing countless “alphabet agencies” to fix the Great Depression and revolutionizing the role of American government in society, and battling with an isolationist Congress to send aid to the Allies fighting the fascists during World War Two.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
This Republican president was also the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe. He masterminded Operation Torch in North Africa and the D-Day invasion of Normandy. As president, he was a political moderate who continued the policy of containment against the Soviets.
Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)
This Democratic president was notable for his extensive experience in the Senate, which allowed him to promote civil rights legislation (like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968), his “Great Society” program, the Apollo Program, and increased involvement in the Vietnam War. He started out popular, but unrest in the cities and the unpopularity of the Vietnam War prevented him from running for re-election.
Richard Nixon
This Republican president oversaw the creation of the EPA, normalization of relations with Communist China, the beginning of the War on Drugs, and the 1973 Oil Crisis. His presidency ended in resignation when his involvement in the Watergate scandal was revealed to the public.
Ronald Reagan
This Republican president pursued privatization and deregulation, invaded Grenada, expanded the War on Drugs, fought labor unions, survived an assassination attempt, and confronted the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War at the cost of a massive increase in America’s defense budget.
Bush v. Gore
This controversial Supreme Court case settled a recount dispute in the extremely close presidential election of 2000 in favor of George Bush. The five conservative Supreme Court justices sided with Bush, while the four liberal justices sided with the Democratic candidate. This helped lead to the greater partisanship of the modern Supreme Court.
World War Two
The largest war in human history, this conflict pitted the fascist powers of Japan, Germany, and Italy against the communist USSR, China, and the democratic USA and UK. The United States played a major part in the United Nations’ victory over fascism, at the cost of over 400,000 American dead.
Vietnam War
This long “proxy war” involved the Communist North Vietnam and Viet Cong battling against South Vietnam and American soldiers. A lack of clarity in objectives, repeated lies to the American public, and the weakness of the government of South Vietnam led to America withdrawing despite relative tactical success.
Gulf War
This brief war involved a massive military coalition of local Middle Eastern powers, the United States, and many allies from around the globe uniting to defeat Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. The war was a total success for the American military and its allies, but it left Hussein in charge of Iraq. There were several controversies involving the health impacts of the war on soldiers and local populations.
War on Terror
This twenty-year global conflict involved wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other states. Major enemies included Saddam Hussein, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. The war had some successes, including many military victories and the death of major enemy leaders, including Hussein and Osama bin Laden, but ultimately failed due to its lack of clarity in objectives and constant growth in scope of objectives.
War on Drugs
This global campaign, ongoing since the 1970s, involves both foreign military and law enforcement operations and domestic laws and law enforcement operations. While some of its health objectives have been met, much of the campaign has been regarded as an expensive failure.
Sixth Party System
This “party system,” which emerged following the formation of modern conservatism, features a strong division between the Democratic and Republican parties, with focuses on both “culture war” issues as well as economic and political issues regarding the proper role of government.
Climate Change
Also called “global warming,” this scientific phenomenon describes the ongoing increase in global average temperature and its varied and destructive effects on Earth’s environment and population. Though its existence was denied for some time as a result of propaganda efforts on behalf of corporations profiting from the use of fossil fuels, the current problem surrounding it involves how to fairly distribute the economic burden of stopping it across the world.
White Supremacy
This is the belief that people of European ancestry are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. This ideology has been resisted in the United States since the Civil War and was soundly defeated during the Civil Rights movement, but destructive policies representing and individuals acting violently in favor of it continue to be a problem in America.
Great Depression
This economic event was a worldwide severe global economic downturn that started with the crash of stocks on Wall Street in 1929, leading to a “death spiral” of deflation and unemployment. It was addressed somewhat effectively by the New Deal but was not fully ended until the inflation and “full employment” caused by World War Two.
Great Recession
This economic event was a worldwide severe global economic downturn that started with the subprime mortgage crisis, which followed the housing bubble of the early 2000s. The government intervened to solve this problem with TARP and ARRA, and the impacts of this crisis helped restore Keynesian thought following its failure in the Oil Crisis of the 1970s.
George H.W. Bush
This Republican former vice president of Ronald Reagan only served one term as president. He was president during the invasion of Panama and the Gulf War and signed the ADA, Immigration Act, and Clean Air Act into law. He lost his re-election campaign because he broke a promise to raise taxes.
Bill Clinton
This Democratic president represented a centrist position, signing NAFTA and CHIP into law while also reducing spending on public assistance programs. Following the end of the Cold War, he was able to run a budget surplus, intervene in the Bosnian and Kosovo wars, and invite many former Soviet satellite states into NATO. His second term was dominated by scandal, which ended in his impeachment and acquittal.
George W. Bush
This Republican president represented a “neoconservative” position, which advocated for social conservatism, economic conservatism, and foreign intervention. He signed No Child Left Behind, PEPFAR, and the Patriot Act into law. He was president during the 9/11 attacks and spearheaded the massive expansion of the War on Terror, including the invasion of Iraq based on false intelligence. His presidency ended in unpopularity due to his poor response to Hurricane Katrina and the beginning of the Great Recession.
Barack Obama
This Democratic president was the first African-American to hold the office and helped modernize political campaigning with the internet. He spearheaded the recovery efforts in response to the Great Recession, passed the ACA, fought climate change, normalized relations with Cuba and Iran, and transitioned the War on Terror from a counterinsurgency model to one based on precision strikes and raids.
Martin Luther King Jr.
A Christian minister and civil rights activist who was the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He used strategies of civil disobedience and nonviolent protest to achieve Civil Rights goals and was jailed several times before finally being assassinated.