Download APUSH VOCAB FINAL UNIT SPANISH AMERICAN WAR 1. Cuban

APUSH VOCAB FINAL UNIT
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR
1. Cuban Crisis
Definition: The Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898) was the last of three liberation
wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and
the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months of the conflict escalated to become
the Spanish–American War.
Describe and Explain: During the years of the so-called “Rewarding Truce”, lasting for
17 years from the end of the Ten Years' War in 1878, there were fundamental social changes in
Cuban society. With the abolition of slavery in October 1886, former slaves joined the ranks of
farmers and urban working class. Many wealthy Cubans lost their property, and joined the urban
middle class. The number of sugar mills dropped and efficiency increased: only companies, and
the most powerful plantation owners, remained in business. The number of campesinos and
tenant farmers rose considerably. It was the period when US financial capital began flowing into
Cuba, mostly into the sugar and tobacco business and mining. By 1895, investments reached
US$50 million. Although Cuba remained Spanish territory politically, it started to depend on the
United States economically.
Significance: After losing the Philippines and Puerto Rico, which had also been invaded
by the United States, and with no hope of holding on to Cuba, Spain sued for peace on July 17,
1898. On August 12, the United States and Spain signed a protocol of Peace, in which Spain
agreed to relinquish all claim of sovereignty and title over Cuba. On December 10, 1898, the
United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, which recognized Cuban independence.
Cross Reference: Spanish American War, Theodore Roosevelt
2. “Butcher Weyler”
Definition: Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, Duke of Rubí,
Grandee of Spain, (September 17, 1838 – October 20, 1930) was a Spanish general,
and Governor General of the Philippines and Cuba. He was noted for his Reconcentración
policy, which was the first of the similar acts known today as internment, later used by the United
Kingdom in the Transvaal, the United States (towards Filipinos and during General William
Tecumseh Sherman's campaign), Germany (towards Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Homosexuals, the
mentally handicapped, and political opponents), and Russia (towards the Japanese).
Describe and Explain: After Arsenio Martínez Campos had failed to pacify the Cuban
rebellion, the Conservative government of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo sent Weyler out to
replace him. This selection met the approval of most Spaniards, who thought him the proper man
to crush the rebellion. While serving as a Spanish general, he was called "Butcher Weyler"
because hundreds of thousands of people died in his concentration camps.
Significance: Weyler's "reconcentration" policy had another important effect. While it
made Weyler's military objectives easier to accomplish, it had devastating political consequences.
The Spanish Conservative government supported Weyler's tactics wholeheartedly, but the
Liberals denounced them vigorously for their toll on the Cuban civilian population. In the
propaganda war waged in the United States, Cuban émigrés made much of Weyler's inhumanity
to their countrymen and won the sympathy of broad groups of the U.S. population to their cause.
He was nicknamed "the Butcher" Weyler by yellow journalists like William Randolph Hearst.
Cross Reference: Spanish American War
3. Collective Responsibility
Definition: Collective responsibility also known as "Collective Guilt" is a concept in
which individuals are responsible for other people's actions by tolerating, ignoring, or harboring
them, without actively collaborating in these actions.
Describe and Explain: Collective responsibility in the form of collective punishment is
often used as a disciplinary measure in closed institutions, e.g. boarding schools (punishing a
whole class for the actions of a single unknown pupil), military units, prisons (juvenile and adult),
psychiatric facilities, etc. The effectiveness and severeity of this measure may vary greatly, but it
often breeds distrust and isolation among their members, and is almost always a sign of
authoritarian tendencies in the institution or its home society. For example, in the Soviet Gulags,
all members of a brigada (work unit) were punished for bad performance of any of its members.
Collective punishment is also practiced in situation of war, economic sanctions, etc.,
presupposing the existence of collective guilt. Collective guilt, or guilt by association, is the
controversial collectivist idea that groups of humans can bear guilt above and beyond the guilt of
individual members, and hence an individual holds responsibility for what other members of their
group have done, even if they themselves didn't do this. Contemporary systems of criminal law
accept the principle that guilt shall only be personal. Others view groups as being entities in
themselves (an initiative group), capable of holding guilt or responsibility independent of any of
the group's members.
Significance: During the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Germans applied
collective responsibility: any kind of help given to a person of Jewish faith or origin was
punishable by death, and that not only for the rescuer but also for his/her family. This was widely
publicized by the Germans. During the occupation, for every German killed by a Pole, 100-400
Poles were shot in retribution. Communities were held collectively responsible for the purported
Polish counter-attacks against the invading German troops. Mass executions of łapanka hostages
were conducted every single day during the Wehrmacht advance across Poland in September
1939 and thereafter. Another example is when after the war, ethnic Germans in Central and
Eastern Europe were held collectively responsible for Nazi crimes, resulting in numerous
atrocities against the German population, including killings (see Expulsion of Germans after
World War II and Beneš decrees).
Cross Reference: Spanish American War, Nazi Germany
4. Yellow Journalism
Definition: Yellow journalism, or the yellow press, is a type of journalism that presents
little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more
newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering,
or sensationalism. By extension, the term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry
any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.
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Describe and Explain:
Yellow Journalism in simpler terms
scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudoscience, and a parade of false
learning from so-called experts
emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips
dramatic sympathy with the "underdog" against the system.
Significance: The term was extensively used to describe certain major New York
City newspapers about 1900 as they battled for circulation.
Cross Reference: Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst
5. Joseph Pulitzer
Definition: Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Pulitzer József, was
a Hungarian-American Jewish newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New
York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he
acquired in the 1880s. He became a leading national figure in the Democratic Party and was
elected Congressman from New York. He crusaded against big business and corruption, and
helped keep the Statue of Liberty in New York.
Describe and Explain: In the 1890s the fierce competition between
his World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal caused both to use yellow
journalism for wider appeal; it opened the way to mass-circulation newspapers that depended on
advertising revenue and appealed to readers with multiple forms of news, entertainment and
advertising.
Significance: Today, he is best known for the Pulitzer Prizes, which were established by
money he bequeathed to Columbia University, as was the Columbia School of Journalism. The
prizes are given annually to award achievements in journalism and photography, as well as
literature and history, poetry, music and drama.
Cross Reference: Yellow Journalism
6. William Randolph Hearst
Definition: William Randolph Hearst April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an
American newspaper publisher who built the nation’s largest newspaper chain and whose
methods profoundly influenced American journalism. Moving to New York City, he
acquired The New York Journal and engaged in a bitter circulation war with Joseph
Pulitzer's New York World that led to the creation of yellow journalism—sensationalized stories
of dubious veracity.
Describe and Explain: He was twice elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of
Representatives, and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of New York City in 1905 and 1909,
for Governor of New York in 1906, and for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1910.
Significance: Through his newspapers and magazines, he exercised enormous political
influence, and was famously blamed for pushing public opinion with his yellow journalism type
of reporting leading the United States into a war with Spain in 1898.
Cross Reference: Joseph Pulitzer
7. DeLome Letter
Definition: The De Lôme letter, a note written by Señor Don Enrique Dupuy de Lôme,
the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, to Don José Canelejas, the Foreign Minister of
Spain, reveals de Lôme’s opinion about the Spanish involvement in Cuba and US
President McKinley’s diplomacy.
Describe and Explain: Cuban revolutionaries intercepted the letter from the mail and
released it to the Hearst press, which published it on February 9, 1898, in the New York Journal,
in an article with the titled "Worst Insult to the United States in its History." Much of the press in
New York began to demand De Lôme's resignation, and Hearst's New York Journal began a "Go
Home De Lôme" campaign. These campaigns did, ultimately, lead to De Lôme's resignation.
Significance: De Lôme’s unflattering remarks about McKinley helped fuel the United
States of America's aggressive, warlike foreign policy. Two months later, on April 11, 1898,
McKinley delivered a war message to Congress asking for "forcible intervention" by the United
States to establish peace in Cuba.
Cross Reference: Spanish American War, William McKinley
8. William Mckinley
Definition: William McKinley (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901) was
the 25th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until his assassination in
September 1901, six months into his second term. McKinley led the nation to victory in
the Spanish–American War, raised protective tariffs to promote American industry, and
maintained the nation on the gold standard in a rejection of inflationary proposals.
Describe and Explain: Rapid economic growth marked McKinley’s presidency. He
promoted the 1897 Dingley Tariff to protect manufacturers and factory workers from foreign
competition, and in 1900, he secured the passage of the Gold Standard Act. McKinley hoped to
persuade Spain to grant independence to rebellious Cuba without conflict, but when negotiation
failed, he led the nation in the Spanish–American War of 1898; the U.S. victory was quick and
decisive. As part of the peace settlement, Spain turned over to the United States its main overseas
colonies of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines; Cuba was promised independence, but at that
time remained under the control of the U.S. Army. The United States annexed the
independent Republic of Hawaii in 1898 and it became a U.S. territory.
Significance: McKinley defeated Bryan again in the 1900 presidential election, in a
campaign focused on imperialism, prosperity, and free silver. President McKinley was
assassinated by Leon Czolgosz, a second-generation Polish-American with anarchist leanings, in
September 1901, and was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
Cross Reference: Spanish American War, Theodore Roosevelt
9. Assistant Secretary of The Navy Theodore Roosevelt
Definition: Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr. was an American author, naturalist, explorer,
historian, and politician who served as the 26th President of the United States. He was a leader of
the Republican Party (the "GOP") and founder of the Progressive Party.
Describe and Explain: He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and
achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona
and robust masculinity.
Significance: TR as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme.
As president he repeatedly warned American men that they were becoming too office-bound, too
complacent, and too comfortable with physical ease and moral laxity, and were failing in their
duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor.
Cross Reference: William McKinley, Spanish American War
10. Commodore Dewey
Definition: George Dewey (December 26, 1837 – January 16, 1917) was an admiral of
the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during
the Spanish-American War. He is also the only person in the history of the United States to have
attained the rank of Admiral of the Navy, the most senior rank in the United States Navy.
Describe and Explain: On April 27, 1898, he sailed out from China aboard
the USS Olympia with orders to attack the Spanish at Manila Bay. Within six hours, on May 1, he
had sunk or captured the entire Spanish Pacific fleet under Admiral Patricio Montojo y
Pasarón and silenced the shore batteries at Manila, with the loss of only one life on the American
side.
Significance: Dewey’s victory at Manila Bay was the turning point in the Spanish
American war and when he returned home was regarded as an American hero.
Cross Reference: Spanish American War, Battle of Manila Bay
11. Cuba
Definition: In 1902, the United States handed over control to a Cuban government. As a
condition of the transfer, the Cuban state had included in its constitution provisions implementing
the requirements of the Platt Amendment, which among other things gave the United States the
right to intervene militarily in Cuba.
Describe and Explain: The Second Occupation of Cuba, also known as the Cuban
Pacification, was a major US military operation that began in September 1906. After the collapse
of President Palma's regime, US President Roosevelt ordered an invasion and established an
occupation that would continue for nearly four years. The goal of the operation was to prevent
fighting between the Cubans, to protect North American economic interests, and to hold free
elections.
Significance: For three decades, the country was led by former War of Independence
leaders, who after being elected did not serve more than two constitutional terms. The Cuban
presidential succession was as follows: José Miguel Gómez (1908–1912); Mario García
Menocal (1913–1920); Alfredo Zayas (1921–25) and Gerardo Machado (1925–1933).
Cross Reference: Spanish American War
12. Platt Amendment
Definition: The Platt Amendment was an amendment to the 1901 Army Appropriations
Bill. The Platt Amendment stipulated the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops
remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish-American War and defined the terms of Cuban-U.S.
relations. Cuba amended its constitution to contain the text of the Platt Amendment on June 12,
1901.
Describe and Explain: The Treaty of Relations of 1903, signed at Havana May 22,
1903, implemented the conditions of the Platt Amendment in a treaty. The terms allowed the U.S.
to intervene unilaterally in Cuban affairs and mandated negotiation for military bases on the
island including Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in what would become the Cuban–American
Treaty of 1903.
Significance: The 1903 Treaty of Relations was used as justification for the Second
Occupation of Cuba from 1906 to 1909. On September 29, 1906, Secretary of War (and future
US president) Taft initiated the Second Occupation of Cuba when he established the Provisional
Government of Cuba under the terms of the treaty (Article three), declaring himself Provisional
Governor of Cuba. On October 23, 1906, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order518,
ratifying the order.
Cross Reference: Cuba, Spanish American War
13. Teller Amendment
Definition: The Teller Amendment was an amendment to a joint resolution of the United
States Congress, enacted on April 20, 1898, in reply to President William McKinley's War
Message.
Describe and Explain: It placed a condition on the United States military's presence
in Cuba. According to the clause, the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the
island to its people." In short, the U.S. would help Cuba gain independence and then withdraw all
its troops from the country.
Significance: The Senate passed the amendment, 42 to 35, on April 19, 1898, and the
House concurred the same day, 311 to 6. President McKinley signed the joint resolution on April
20, 1898, and the ultimatum was forwarded to Spain. The Spanish-American War lasted from
April 25 to August 12, 1898, and it ended with the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a
result, Spain lost control over the remains of its overseas empire consisting of Cuba, Puerto Rico,
the Philippine islands, Guam and other islands.
Cross Reference: Spanish American War, Cuba
14. Puerto Rico
Definition: After the ratification of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Puerto Rico came under
the military control of the United States of America.
Describe and Explain: Freedom of assembly, speech, press, and religion were decreed
and an eight-hour day for government employees was established. A public school system was
begun and the U.S. Postal service was extended to the island. The highway system was enlarged,
and bridges over the more important rivers were constructed. The government lottery was
abolished, cockfighting was forbidden, and a centralized public health service established.
Significance: The beginning of the military government also marked the creation of new
political groups. The Partido Republicano (Republican Party) and the American Federal
Party were created, led by José Celso Barbosa and Luis Muñoz Rivera, respectively. Both groups
supported annexation by the United States as a solution to the colonial situation.
Cross Reference: Treaty of Paris of 1898
15. Hawaii Annexation
Definition: The Newlands Resolution, was a joint resolution written by and named after
United States Congressman Francis G. Newlands. It was an Act of Congress to annex
the Republic of Hawaii and create the Territory of Hawaii.
Describe and Explain: It was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed on July 7 by William
McKinley. In August of the same year, a ceremony was held on the steps of Iolani Palace to
signify the official transfer of Hawaiian sovereignty to the United States.
Significance: America annexed Hawaii because it was a perfect place for a naval base
and it was a main trade station on the way to Asia.
Cross Reference: Imperialism, Puerto Rico
16. Guam
Definition: On June 21, 1898, the United States captured Guam in a bloodless landing
during the Spanish-American War. By the Treaty of Paris, Spain officially ceded the island to the
United States. Guam became part of an American telegraph line to the Philippines, also ceded by
the treaty; a way station for American ships traveling to and from there; and an important part of
the United States' War Plan Orange against Japan.
Describe and Explain: Although Alfred Thayer Mahan, Robert Coontz, and others
envisioned the island as "a kind of Gibraltar" in the Pacific, Congress repeatedly failed to fulfill
the military's requests to fortify Guam; when a German warship was interned in 1914 before
America's entry into World War I, its crew of 543 outnumbered their American custodians.
Significance: Guam along with Hawaii and the Philippines were a part of America’s
Imperialistic plans pre WW1.
Cross Reference: Hawaii Annexation, Philippines
17. Philippines
Definition: Although there was substantial domestic opposition, the United States
decided to annex the Philippines. In addition to Guam and Puerto Rico, Spain was forced in the
negotiations to hand over the Philippines to the U.S. in exchange for US$20,000,000.00. U.S.
President McKinley justified the annexation of the Philippines by saying that it was "a gift from
the gods" and that since "they were unfit for self-government, ... there was nothing left for us to
do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize
them."
Describe and Explain: Filipinos initially saw their relationship with the United States as
that of two nations joined in a common struggle against Spain. However, the United States later
distanced itself from the interests of the Filipino insurgents. Emilio Aguinaldo was unhappy that
the United States would not commit to paper a statement of support for Philippine independence.
Significance: Taking over the Philippines was a major mistake for the U.S. It cost many
American and native lives because of America’s materialistic and imperialistic views of the time.
Cross Reference: Guam, Hawaii’s Annexation
18. Emilio Aguinaldo
Definition: Emilio Famy Aguinaldo is officially considered the First President of the
Philippines (1899-1901) and led Philippine forces first against Spain in the latter part of
the Philippine Revolution (1896-1897), and then in the Spanish-American War (1898), and
finally against the United States during the Philippine-American War (1899-1901).
Describe and Explain: During the American occupation, Aguinaldo supported groups
that advocated immediate independence, and helped veterans of the struggle. He organized
the Association of Veterans of the Revolution, which worked to secure pensions for its members
and made arrangements for them to buy land on installment from the government.
Significance: Aguinaldo was 77 when the United States Government fully recognized
Philippine independence in the Treaty of Manila, in accordance with the Tydings–McDuffie
Act of 1934.
Cross Reference: Philippines
19. Insular Cases
Definition: The Insular Cases are several U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the status
of territories acquired by the United States in the Spanish–American War (1898). The name
"insular" derives from the fact that these territories are islands and they were administered by the
War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs.
Describe and Explain: The cases were in essence the court's response to a major issue of
the 1900 presidential election and the American Anti-Imperialist League, summarized by the
phrase "Does the Constitution follow the flag?" Essentially, the Supreme Court said that full
constitutional rights did not automatically extend to all areas under American control. The
"deepest ramification" of the Insular Cases is that inhabitants of unincorporated territories such as
Puerto Rico, "even if they are U.S. citizens", may have no constitutional rights, such as to remain
part of the United States if the United States chooses to engage in de-annexation.
Significance: From 1901 to 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court in a series of opinions known
as the Insular Cases held that the Constitution extended ex proprio vigore (i.e., of its own force)
to the territories. However, the Court in these cases also established the doctrine of territorial
incorporation. Under the same, the Constitution applied fully only in incorporated territories such
as Alaska and Hawaii, whereas it applied only partially in the new unincorporated territories
of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
Cross Reference: Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico
20. “White Man’s Burden”
Definition: "The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling.
Describe and Explain: Although Kipling's poem mixed exhortation to empire with
somber warnings of the costs involved, imperialists within the United States of America
understood the phrase "white man's burden" as a characterization for imperialism that justified the
policy as a noble enterprise. Because of its theme and title, it has become emblematic both
of Eurocentric racism and of Western aspirations to dominate the developing world. A century
after its publication, the poem still rouses strong emotions, and can be analyzed from a variety of
perspectives.
Significance: The term "the white man's burden" has been interpreted by some as racist,
or possibly taken as a metaphor for a condescending view of "undeveloped" national culture and
economic traditions, identified as a sense of European ascendancy which has been called "cultural
imperialism".
Cross Reference: Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii
141. Hobo’s
Definition: A hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond—especially one who is
penniless. The term originated in the Western, probably Northwestern, United States around
1890.
Describe and Explain: Unlike "tramps"—who work only when they are forced to, and
"bums"—who do not work at all, "hobos" are itinerant workers.
Significance: It is unclear exactly when hobos first appeared on the American railroading
scene. With the end of the American Civil War in the 1860s, many discharged veterans returning
home began hopping freight trains. Others looking for work on the American frontier followed
the railways west aboard freight trains in the late 19th century.
Cross Reference: The Great Depression, Herbert Hoover
142. Reconstruction Refinance Corporation
Definition: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an independent agency
of the United States government, established and chartered by the US Congress in 1932, Act of
January 22, 1932, c. 8, 47 Stat. 5, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover.
Describe and Explain: When Eugene Meyer became Governor of the Federal Reserve
Board, he had suggested creating the RFC. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation of
World War I. The agency gave $2 billion in aid to state and local governments and made loans to
banks, railroads, mortgage associations and other businesses. The loans were nearly all repaid.
The goal of the RFC was to boost the country’s confidence and help banks return to performing
daily functions.
Significance: The RFC was created to solve the problem that the Federal Reserve could
not fix by itself since they had some limitations. The Federal Reserve System was created in 1913
to act as a lender of last resort during financial panics but was not able to lend to every banks or
firm. It was continued by the New Deal and played a major role in handling the Great Depression
in the United States and setting up the relief programs that were taken over by the New Deal in
1933.
Cross Reference: Herbert Hoover, The New Deal
143. Hoover Dam
Definition: Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in
the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and
Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was
dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the
result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. The
dam was controversially named after President Herbert Hoover.
Describe and Explain: Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon
had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide
irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project. The
winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium called Six Companies, Inc., which
began construction on the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never been built
before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and the lack of
facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned over the
dam to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.
Significance: The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in
Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million
people tour the dam each year.
Cross Reference: Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt
144. Election of 1932
Definition: The United States presidential election of 1932 was the 37th quadrennial
presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1932.
Describe and Explain: The election took place among the backdrop of the Great
Depression that had ruined the promises of incumbent President and Republican candidate
Herbert Hoover to bring about a new era of prosperity. The Democratic nomination went to the
well-known governor of the most populous state, New York's Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had
been reelected governor in a landslide in 1930.
Significance: Roosevelt repeatedly blamed Hoover for the Depression and worsening
economy. With unemployment above 20% in 1932 alone, Hoover was remiss to defend his
record, and Roosevelt promised recovery with a New Deal for the American people. Roosevelt
won by a landslide in both the electoral and popular vote, receiving the highest percentage of the
popular vote for a Democratic nominee. The election marked the effective end of the Fourth Party
System, dominated by Republicans.
Cross Reference: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, The Great Depression
145. Revolutions around the World
Definition: World revolution is the Marxist concept of overthrowing capitalism in all
countries through the conscious revolutionary action of the organized working class. These
revolutions would not necessarily occur simultaneously, but where local conditions allowed a
revolutionary party to successfully replace bourgeois ownership and rule, and install a workers'
state based on social ownership of the means of production.
Describe and Explain: In most Marxist schools, such as Trotskyism, the essentially
international character of the class struggle and the necessity of global scope are critical elements
and a chief explanation of the failure of socialism in one country. The end goal is to achieve
world socialism, and later, stateless communism.
Significance: The rise of very powerful nations like Germany, Italy, Russia, and Japan
were all because of major revolutions and most of these were created by Fascism or Communism.
Cross Reference: Communism, Karl Marx
146. 21st Amendment
Definition: The Twenty-first Amendment (Amendment XXI) to the United States
Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had
mandated nationwide Prohibition on alcohol on January 17, 1920.
Describe and Explain: The proposed amendment was adopted on December 5, 1933. It
is the only amendment to have been ratified by state ratifying conventions, specially selected for
the purpose. All other amendments have been ratified by state legislatures. It is also the only
amendment that was approved for the explicit purpose of repealing a previously existing
amendment to the Constitution. The Twenty-first Amendment ending national prohibition
became officially effective on December 15, though people started drinking openly before that
date.
Significance: The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution had ushered in a period
known as Prohibition, during which the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages
was illegal. Passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 was the crowning achievement of the
temperance movement, but it soon proved highly unpopular. Crime rates soared under Prohibition
as gangsters, such as Chicago's Al Capone, became rich from a profitable, often violent black
market for alcohol. Repealing the Act was needed for a safer America.
Cross Reference: The Great Depression, Temperance Movement
147. 22nd Amendment
Definition: The Twenty-second Amendment of the United States Constitution sets a term
limit for election to the office of President of the United States. Congress passed the amendment
on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by the requisite number of states on February 27, 1951.
Describe and Explain: The amendment specifically did not apply to the sitting president
(Harry S. Truman) at the time it was proposed by Congress. Truman, who had served nearly all of
Franklin D. Roosevelt's unexpired fourth term and who had been elected to a full term in 1948,
withdrew as a candidate for re-election in 1952 after losing the New Hampshire primary. Had he
won, he would have been eligible to run again in 1956.
Significance: Since the amendment's ratification, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M.
Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been elected
president twice. The only president who could have served more than eight years was Lyndon B.
Johnson. He became President in 1963 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, served the final
14 months (less than two years) of Kennedy's term, was elected president in 1964, and ran briefly
for re-election in 1968 but chose to withdraw from the race after barely winning the New
Hampshire primary and polls showed him losing Wisconsin's. Gerald Ford became president on
August 9, 1974, and served the final 29 months (more than two years) of Richard Nixon's
unexpired term. Ford, who lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976 would have been eligible to be elected in
his own right only once. Roosevelt’s four terms was coined as "Four terms, or sixteen years, is
the most dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed."
Cross Reference: Franklin D. Roosevelt
148. Keynesian Economics
Definition: Keynesian economics is the view that in the short run, especially during
recessions, economic output is strongly influenced by aggregate demand (total spending in the
economy).
Describe and Explain: In the Keynesian view, aggregate demand does not necessarily
equal the productive capacity of the economy; instead, it is influenced by a host of factors and
sometimes behaves erratically, affecting production, employment, and inflation.
Significance: Keynesian economics served as the standard economic model in the
developed nations during the latter part of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war
economic expansion (1945–1973), though it lost some influence following the oil shock and
resulting stagflation of the 1970s. The advent of the global financial crisis in 2008 has caused a
resurgence in Keynesian thought.
Cross Reference: The Great Depression
149. The 100 Days
Definition: The first hundred days is a sample of the first 100 days of a first term
presidency of a president of the United States.
Describe and Explain: It is used to measure the successes and accomplishments of a
president during the time that their power and influence is at its greatest.
Significance: The term was coined in a July 24, 1933, radio address by U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, although he was referring to the 100 day session of the 73rd United States
Congress between March 9 and June 17, rather than the first 100 days of his administration.
Cross Reference: Franklin D. Roosevelt
150. Relief-CCC, PWA, WPA
Definition: Relief was the immediate effort to help the one-third of the population that
was hardest hit by the depression. Also, relief was aimed at providing temporary help to suffering
and unemployed Americans. (New Deal)
Describe and Explain: To prime the pump and cut unemployment, the NIRA created the
Public Works Administration (PWA), a major program of public works, which organized and
provided funds for the building of useful works such as government buildings, airports, hospitals,
schools, roads, bridges, and dams. From 1933 to 1935 PWA spent $3.3 billion with private
companies to build 34,599 projects, many of them quite large.
Significance: Under Roosevelt, many unemployed persons were put to work on a wide
range of government financed public works projects, building bridges, airports, dams, post
offices, courthouses, and thousands of miles of road. Through reforestation and flood control,
they reclaimed millions of hectares of soil from erosion and devastation. As noted by one
authority, Roosevelt's New Deal "was literally stamped on the American landscape".
Cross Reference: The Great Depression, The New Deal
151. Recovery- NIRA, CCC
Definition: Recovery was the effort in numerous programs to restore the economy to
normal health. By most economic indicators this was achieved by 1937—except for
unemployment, which remained stubbornly high until World War II began. Recovery was
designed to help the economy bounce back from depression.
Describe and Explain: From 1929 to 1933, the industrial economy had been suffering
from a vicious cycle of deflation. Since 1931, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the voice of the
nation's organized business, promoted an anti-deflationary scheme that would permit trade
associations to cooperate in government-instigated cartels to stabilize prices within their
industries. While existing antitrust laws clearly forbade such practices, organized business found
a receptive ear in the Roosevelt Administration.
Significance: Employment in private sector factories recovered to the level of the late
1920s by 1937 but did not grow much bigger until the war came and manufacturing employment
leaped from 11 million in 1940 to 18 million in 1943.
Cross Reference: Relief, The Great Depression
152. Reform FDIC, Social Security, Minimum Wage
Definition: Reform was based on the assumption that the depression was caused by the
inherent instability of the market and that government intervention was necessary to rationalize
and stabilize the economy, and to balance the interests of farmers, business and labor. Reforms
targeted the causes of the depression and sought to prevent a crisis like it from happening again.
In other words, financially rebuilding the U.S. while ensuring not to repeat history.
Describe and Explain: There is consensus amongst economic historians that
protectionist policies, culminating in the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 worsened the Depression.
Franklin D. Roosevelt already spoke against the act while campaigning for president during 1932.
In 1934 the Reciprocal Tariff Act was drafted by Cordell Hull. It gave the president power to
negotiate bilateral, reciprocal trade agreements with other countries. The act enabled Roosevelt to
liberalize American trade policy around the globe.
Significance: It is widely credited with ushering in the era of liberal trade policy that
persists to this day.
Cross Reference: Relief, Recover
153. Schecter Poultry v. US
Definition: A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935), was a
decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that invalidated regulations of the poultry
industry according to the non-delegation doctrine and as an invalid use of Congress' power under
the commerce clause.
Describe and Explain: The National Industrial Recovery Act allowed local codes for
trade to be written by private trade and industrial groups. The President could choose to give
some codes the force of law. The Supreme Court's opposition to an active federal interference in
the local economy caused Roosevelt to attempt to pack the Court with judges that were in favor
of the New Deal. Ten charges were for violating codes requiring "straight killing." Straight killing
prohibited customers from selecting the chickens they wanted; instead a customer had to place his
hand in the coop and select the first chicken that came to hand. There was laughter during oral
arguments when Justice Sutherland asked, "Well suppose however that all the chickens have gone
over to one end of the coop?"
Significance: In Hyde Park a few days after the decision, Roosevelt denounced the
decision as an antiquated interpretation of the Commerce Clause. After the decision was
announced, newspapers reported that 500 cases of NIRA code violations were going to be
dropped. Glen Asner, a descendent of the Schechters, said that the brothers probably voted for
Roosevelt in all four of his presidential campaigns. Their main political concern in the 1930s was
anti-Semitism. The Schechters felt that without the New Deal, America could have taken the
route of Nazi Germany.
Cross Reference: Franklin D. Roosevelt
154. Court Packing Scheme
Definition: The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937 (frequently called the "courtpacking plan") was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to
add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Describe and Explain: Roosevelt's purpose was to obtain favorable rulings regarding
New Deal legislation that the court had ruled unconstitutional. The central provision of the bill
would have granted the President power to appoint an additional Justice to the U.S. Supreme
Court, up to a maximum of six, for every member of the court over the age of 70 years and 6
months.
Significance: A political fight which began as a conflict between the President and the
Supreme Court turned into a battle between Roosevelt and the recalcitrant members of his own
party in the Congress. The political consequences were wide-reaching, extending beyond the
narrow question of judicial reform to implicate the political future of the New Deal itself. Not
only was bipartisan support for Roosevelt's agenda largely dissipated by the struggle, the overall
loss of political capital in the arena of public opinion was also significant.
Cross Reference: Franklin D. Roosevelt
155. 2nd New Deal-Wagner Act, TVA
Definition: In the spring of 1935, responding to the setbacks in the Court, a new
skepticism in Congress, and the growing popular clamor for more dramatic action, the
Administration proposed or endorsed several important new initiatives. Historians refer to them
as the "Second New Deal" and note that it was more liberal and more controversial than the "First
New Deal" of 1933–34.
Describe and Explain: The most important program of 1935, and perhaps the New Deal
as a whole, was the Social Security Act, drafted by Frances Perkins. It established a permanent
system of universal retirement pensions (Social Security), unemployment insurance, and welfare
benefits for the handicapped and needy children in families without father present. It established
the framework for the U.S. welfare system. Roosevelt insisted that it should be funded by payroll
taxes rather than from the general fund.
Significance: Compared with the social security systems in western European countries,
the Social Security Act of 1935 was rather conservative. But for the first time the federal
government took responsibility for the economic security of the aged, the temporarily
unemployed, dependent children and the handicapped.
Cross Reference: The New Deal, FDR
156. Effectiveness of New Deal
Definition: The New Deal itself created millions of jobs and sponsored public works
projects that reached most every county in the nation. Federal protection of bank deposits ended
the dangerous trend of bank runs. Abuse of the stock market was more clearly defined and
monitored to prevent collapses in the future.
Describe and Explain: The Social Security system was modified and expanded to
remain one of the most popular government programs for the remainder of the century. For the
first time in peacetime history the federal government assumed responsibility for managing the
economy. The legacy of social welfare programs for the destitute and underprivileged would ring
through the remainder of the 1900s.
Significance: However comprehensive the New Deal seemed, it failed to achieve its
main goal: ending the Depression. In 1939, the unemployment rate was still 19 percent, and not
until 1943 did it reach its pre-Depression levels. The massive spending brought by the American
entry to the Second World War ultimately cured the nation's economic woes.
Cross Reference: Relief, Recovery, Reform
157. War Time Economic Recovery
Definition: The U.S. reached full employment after entering World War II in December
1941. Under the special circumstances of war mobilization, massive war spending doubled the
GNP (Gross National Product). Military Keynesianism brought full employment. Factories hired
everyone they could find regardless of their lack of skills; they simplified work tasks and trained
the workers, with the federal government paying all the costs. Millions of farmers left marginal
operations, students quit school, and housewives joined the labor force.\
Describe and Explain: The emphasis was for war supplies as soon as possible,
regardless of cost and inefficiencies. Industry quickly absorbed the slack in the labor force, and
the tables turned such that employers needed to actively and aggressively recruit workers. As the
military grew, new labor sources were needed to replace the 12 million men serving in the
military. Propaganda campaigns pleading for people to work in the war factories. The barriers for
married women, the old, the unskilled—and (in the North and West) the barriers for racial
minorities were lowered.
Significance: A major result of the full employment at high wages was a sharp, long
lasting decrease in the level of income inequality (Great Compression). The gap between rich and
poor narrowed dramatically in the area of nutrition, because food rationing and price controls
provided a reasonably priced diet to everyone. White collar workers did not typically receive
overtime and therefore the gap between white collar and blue collar income narrowed. Large
families that had been poor during the 1930s had four or more wage earners, and these families
shot to the top one-third income bracket. Overtime provided large paychecks in war industries,
and average living standards rose steadily, with real wages rising by 44% in the four years of war,
while the percentage of families with an annual income of less than $2,000 fell from 75% to 25%
of the population.
Cross Reference: WW2, The Great Depression
158. Washington Naval Conference
Definition: The Washington Naval Conference, also called the Washington Arms
Conference or the Washington Disarmament Conference, was a military conference called by
President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington from 12 November 1921 to 6 February
1922.
Describe and Explain: Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was
attended by nine nations the United States, Japan, China, France, Britain, Italy, Belgium,
Netherlands, and Portugal regarding interests in the Pacific Ocean and East Asia. Soviet Russia
was not invited to the conference. It was the first international conference held in the United
States and the first arms control conference in history, and as Kaufman, 1990 shows, it is studied
by political scientists as a model for a successful disarmament movement.
Significance: Held at Memorial Continental Hall in downtown Washington, it resulted in
three major treaties: Four-Power Treaty, Five-Power Treaty (more commonly known as the
Washington Naval Treaty), the Nine-Power Treaty, and a number of smaller agreements. These
treaties preserved peace during the 1920s but are also credited with enabling the rise of the
Japanese Empire as a naval power leading up to World War II.
Cross Reference: WW2, League of Nations
159. London Economic Conference
Definition: The London Economic Conference was a meeting of representatives of 66
nations from June 12 to July 27, 1933, at the Geological Museum in London.
Describe and Explain: Its purpose was to win agreement on measures to fight global
depression, revive international trade, and stabilize currency exchange rates.
Significance: The Conference was "torpedoed" by U.S. President Roosevelt in early July,
when Roosevelt denounced currency stabilization.
Cross Reference: Washington Naval Conference
160. Nye Committee Report
Definition: The Nye Committee, officially known as the Special Committee on
Investigation of the Munitions Industry, was a United States Senate committee chaired by U.S.
Senator Gerald Nye.
Describe and Explain: The committee investigated the financial and banking interests
which underlay United States' involvement in World War I, and was a significant factor in public
and political support for American neutrality in the early stages of World War II.
Significance: Nye created headlines by drawing connections between the wartime profits
of the banking and munitions industries to America's involvement in World War I. Many
Americans felt betrayed and questioned that the war had been an epic battle between the forces of
good (democracy) and evil (autocracy). This investigation of these "merchants of death" helped to
bolster sentiments for isolationism.
Cross Reference: WW1, WW2
281. Space Program
Definition: The Space Race was a 20th-century (1955–1972) competition between two
Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (US), for supremacy in
spaceflight capability. The technological superiority required for such supremacy was seen as
necessary for national security, and symbolic of ideological superiority.
Describe and Explain: The Space Race had its origins in the missile-based arms race
that occurred following the World War II, when both the Soviet Union and the United States
captured advanced German rocket technology and personnel.
Significance: The Space Race sparked increases in spending on education and pure
research, which led to beneficial spin-off technologies. An unforeseen effect was that the Space
Race contributed to the birth of the environmental movement by providing sharp color images of
the global Earth taken by astronauts in trans-lunar space.
Cross Reference: Cold War, Russia
282. Peace Corps
Definition: The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States
government. The stated mission of the Peace Corps includes providing technical assistance,
helping people outside the United States to understand American culture, and helping Americans
to understand the cultures of other countries.
Describe and Explain: The work is generally related to social and economic
development. Each program participant, a Peace Corps Volunteer, is an American citizen,
typically with a college degree, who works abroad for a period of 27 months after three months of
training.
Significance: The program was established by Executive Order 10924, issued by
President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961, announced by televised broadcast March 2, 1961,
and authorized by Congress on September 21, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act. The act
declares the program's purpose as to promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps,
which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States
qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to
help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.
Between 1961 and 2013, over 210,000 Americans joined the Peace Corps and served in 139
countries.
Cross Reference: JFK
283. VISTA
Definition: AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to fight poverty.
Describe and Explain: President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which
was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965 and incorporated into the AmeriCorps
network of programs in 1993.
Significance: VISTA’s legislative purpose, as defined under the Domestic Volunteer
Service Act (DVSA) of 1973, is to supplement efforts to fight poverty in low-income
communities by engaging Americans from all walks of life in a year of full-time service. VISTA
members support the program’s purpose through three primary objectives: 1) encouraging
volunteer service at the local level, 2) generating the commitment of private sector resources, and
3) strengthening local agencies and organizations that serve low-income communities. There are
currently over 5,000 VISTA members serving in over 1,000 projects throughout the nation.
Cross Reference: JFK, Peace Corps
284. Berlin Crisis
Definition: The Berlin Crisis of 1961 (4 June – 9 November 1961) was the last major
politico-military European incident of the Cold War about the occupational status of the German
capital city, Berlin, and of post–World War II Germany.
Describe and Explain: The U.S.S.R. provoked the Berlin Crisis with an ultimatum
demanding the withdrawal of Western armed forces from West Berlin—culminating with the
city's de facto partition with the East German erection of the Berlin Wall.
Significance: Meeting with US President John F. Kennedy in the Vienna summit on June
4, 1961, Premier Khrushchev caused a new crisis when he reissued his threat to sign a separate
peace treaty with East Germany, which he said would end existing four-power agreements
guaranteeing American, British, and French access rights to West Berlin. However, this time he
did so by issuing an ultimatum, with a deadline of December 31, 1961. The three powers replied
that no unilateral treaty could abrogate their responsibilities and rights in West Berlin, including
the right of unobstructed access to the city.
Cross Reference: JFK, Russia
285. Bay of Pigs
Definition: The Bay of Pigs is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones located on the southern
coast of Cuba.
Describe and Explain: By 1910, it was included in Santa Clara Province, and then
instead to Las Villas Province by 1961, but in 1976, it was re-assigned to Matanzas Province,
when the original six provinces of Cuba were re-organized into 14 new Provinces of Cuba.
Significance: Playa Girón and Playa Larga were the landing sites for seaborne forces of
armed Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, an American CIA-sponsored attempt to
overthrow the new government of Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro in April 1961.
Cross Reference: Cuba, Fidel Castro
286. Cuban Missile Crisis
Definition: The Cuban missile crisis known as the October Crisis or The Missile Scare in
Cuba and the Caribbean Crisis in the former USSR, was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962
between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side.
Describe and Explain: After the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy,
aimed at Moscow, and the failed US attempt to overthrow the Cuban regime, in May 1962 Nikita
Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future
invasion attempt. During a meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro that July, a secret
agreement was reached and construction of several missile sites began in the late summer. The
crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a
nuclear conflict and is also the first documented instance of mutual assured destruction (MAD)
being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement.
Significance: The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962, when Kennedy and United
Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached an agreement with Khrushchev. Publicly, the Soviets
would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to
United Nations verification, in exchange for a US public declaration and agreement never to
invade Cuba. Secretly, the US also agreed that it would dismantle all US-built Jupiter IRBMs,
armed with nuclear warheads, which were deployed in Turkey and Italy against the Soviet Union.
Cross Reference: Fidel Castro, Nikita Khrushchev
287. The Warren Supreme Court
Definition: The Warren Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States between
1953 and 1969, when Earl Warren served as Chief Justice.
Describe and Explain: Warren led a liberal majority that used judicial power in dramatic
fashion, to the consternation of conservative opponents. The Warren Court expanded civil rights,
civil liberties, judicial power, and the federal power in dramatic ways.
Significance: The court was both applauded and criticized for bringing an end to racial
segregation in the United States, incorporating the Bill of Rights (i.e. including it in the 14th
Amendment Due Process clause), and ending officially sanctioned voluntary prayer in public
schools. The period is recognized as a high point in judicial power that has receded ever since,
but with a substantial continuing impact.
Cross Reference: Racial Segregation, Supreme Court
288. The Other America by Michael Harrington
Definition: The Other America, a book by Michael Harrington, was an influential study
of poverty in the United States, published in 1962 by Macmillan.
Describe and Explain: A widely read review, "Our Invisible Poor," in The New Yorker
by Dwight Macdonald brought the book to the attention of President John F. Kennedy. The Other
America argued that up to 25% of the nation was living in poverty. Many (such as historian
Maurice Isserman) believe that this book is responsible for President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War
on Poverty."
Significance: The Penguin Books paperback editions have sold over one million copies.
The Boston Globe editorialized that Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps and expanded social
security benefits were traceable to Harrington’s ideas. Harrington became the pre-eminent
spokesman for democratic socialism in America.
Cross Reference: Socialism in the US, Slums, Poverty
289. Medicare
Definition: In the United States, Medicare is a national social insurance program,
administered by the U.S. federal government since 1966, that guarantees access to health
insurance for Americans aged 65 and older who have worked and paid into the system, and
younger people with disabilities as well as people with end stage renal disease and persons with
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Describe and Explain: As a social insurance program, Medicare spreads the financial
risk associated with illness across society to protect everyone, and thus has a somewhat different
social role from for-profit private insurers, which manage their risk portfolio by adjusting their
pricing according to perceived risk.
Significance: In 2010, Medicare provided health insurance to 48 million Americans—40
million people age 65 and older and eight million younger people with disabilities. It was the
primary payer for an estimated 15.3 million inpatient stays in 2011, representing 47.2 percent of
total aggregate inpatient hospital costs in the United States. Medicare serves a large population of
elderly and disabled individuals. On average, Medicare covers about half (48 percent) of health
care costs for enrollees. Medicare enrollees must cover the rest of the cost. These out-of-pocket
costs vary depending on the amount of health care a Medicare enrollee needs. They might include
uncovered services such as long-term, dental, hearing, and vision care and supplemental
insurance.
Cross Reference: Medicaid
290. Medicaid
Definition: Medicaid in the United States is a social health care program for families and
individuals with low income and resources.
Describe and Explain: The Health Insurance Association of America describes
Medicaid as a "government insurance program for persons of all ages whose income and
resources are insufficient to pay for health care." America's Health Insurance Plans Medicaid is
the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income
in the United States. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal
governments and managed by the states, with each state currently having broad leeway to
determine who is eligible for its implementation of the program. States are not required to
participate in the program, although all currently do. Medicaid recipients must be U.S. citizens or
legal permanent residents, and may include low-income adults, their children, and people with
certain disabilities. Poverty alone does not necessarily qualify someone for Medicaid.
Significance: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act significantly expanded
both eligibility for and federal funding of Medicaid. Under the law as written, all U.S. citizens
and legal residents with income up to 133% of the poverty line, including adults without
dependent children, would qualify for coverage in any state that participated in the Medicaid
program. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled in National Federation of Independent
Business v. Sebelius that states do not have to agree to this expansion in order to continue to
receive previously established levels of Medicaid funding, and many states have chosen to
continue with pre-ACA funding levels and eligibility standards.
Cross Reference: Medicare
291. Aid to Dependent Families
Definition: Welfare culture refers to the behavioral consequences of providing poverty
relief (i.e., welfare) to low-income individuals.
Describe and Explain: Welfare is considered a type of social protection, which may
come in the form of remittances, such as 'welfare checks', or subsidized services, such as
free/reduced healthcare, affordable housing, and more.
Significance: This New Deal reform enacted a wide expanse of services for the poor and
financially stressed, including: unemployment benefits, Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(later replaced in by the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program under the Clinton
Administration), retirement income stipends, subsidized housing, and many others.
Cross Reference: LBJ, Medicare, Medicaid
292. Public Housing
Definition: Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by
a government authority, which may be central or local.
Describe and Explain: In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, government
involvement in housing for the poor was chiefly in the introduction of buildings standards. New
York City's First Houses, dedicated in 1935, were the nation's first public housing project. Most
housing communities were developed from the 1930s onward and initial public housing was
largely slum clearance, with the requirement insisted upon by private builders that for every unit
of public housing constructed, a unit of private housing would be demolished.
Significance: Public housing was only built with the blessing of the local government,
and projects were almost never built on suburban greenfields, but through regeneration of older
neighborhoods. The destruction of tenements and eviction of their low-income residents
consistently created problems in nearby neighborhoods with "soft" real estate markets. Houses,
apartments or other residential units are usually subsidized on a rent-geared-to-income (RGI)
basis. Some communities have now embraced a mixed income, with both assisted and market
rents, when allocating homes as they become available.
Cross Reference: Aid to Dependent Families
293. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Definition: The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is
a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government.
Describe and Explain: Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing
Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program
of President Lyndon Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.
Significance: HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and
quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the
economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize
housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities
free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business.
Cross Reference: LBJ, Public Housing
294. Extension of Social Security Benefits
Definition: In the United States, Social Security is primarily the Old-Age, Survivors, and
Disability Insurance (OASDI) federal program. The original Social Security Act (1935) and the
current version of the Act, as amended, encompass several social welfare and social insurance
programs. Social Security is funded through payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions
Act tax (FICA) and/or Self Employed Contributions Act Tax (SECA).
Describe and Explain: Tax deposits are collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
and are formally entrusted to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the
Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, or the
Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund which comprise the Social Security Trust
Funds.[4] With a few exceptions, all salaried income, up to a specifically determined amount by
law (see tax rate table below) has an FICA and/or SECA tax collected on it. All income over said
amount is not taxed, for 2014 the maximum amount of taxable earnings is $117,000.
Significance: In 2013, the total Social Security expenditures were $1.3 trillion, 8.4% of
the $16.3 trillion GNP (2013) and 37% of the Federal expenditures of $3.684 trillion. Income
derived from Social Security is currently estimated to keep roughly 20% of all Americans, age 65
or older, above the Federally defined poverty level. The Social Security Administration is
headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just west of Baltimore.
Cross Reference: LBJ, Public Housing, Aid to Dependent Families
295. Equal Educational Opportunity Council
Definition: The Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) of 1974 is a federal law of
the United States of America.
Describe and Explain: It prohibits discrimination against faculty, staff, and students,
including racial segregation of students, and requires school districts to take action to overcome
barriers to students' equal participation. It is one of a number of laws affecting educational
institutions including the Rehabilitation Act (1973), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Significance: The civil rights movement brought about controversies on busing,
language rights, desegregation, and the idea of “equal education." The groundwork for the
creation of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act first came about with the passage of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination and racial segregation against African
Americans and women. In 1968 the U.S. Department of Education, formerly the Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare, issued a statement saying that school officials are responsible for
providing equal educational opportunities for all, regardless of one’s nationality, race, or color. A
1970 memorandum was then passed, clarifying the responsibilities of school officials. In addition
to requiring separate classes to be created for students less than proficient in the English
language, communication between students’ parents and the school was to be required to be
conducted in a language understood by the parents.
Cross Reference: Richard Nixon, US Department of Education
296. Affirmative Action
Definition: In the United States, affirmative action refers to equal opportunity
employment measures that Federal contractors and subcontractors are legally required to adopt.
These measures are intended to prevent discrimination against employees or applicants for
employment on the basis of "color, religion, sex, or national origin."
Describe and Explain: Examples of affirmative action offered by the United States
Department of Labor include outreach campaigns, targeted recruitment, employee and
management development, and employee support programs.
Significance: The impetus toward affirmative action is to redress the disadvantages
associated with overt historical discrimination. Further impetus is a desire to ensure public
institutions, such as universities, hospitals, and police forces, are more representative of the
populations they serve. Affirmative action is a subject of controversy. Some policies adopted as
affirmative action, such as racial quotas or gender quotas for collegiate admission, have been
criticized as a form of reverse discrimination, and such implementation of affirmative action has
been ruled unconstitutional by the majority opinion of Gratz v. Bollinger. Affirmative action as a
practice was upheld by the court's decision in Grutter v. Bollinger.
Cross Reference: Equal Educational Opportunity Council
297 VISTA
(Number 283)
298. Job Corps
Definition: Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of
Labor that offers free-of-charge education and vocational training to youth ages 16 to 24.
Describe and Explain: Job Corps' mission is to "help young people ages 16 through 24
improve the quality of their lives through vocational and academic training."
Significance: Job Corps was initiated as the central program of the Johnson
Administration's War on Poverty, part of his domestic agenda known as the Great Society.
Sargent Shriver, the first Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, modeled the program
on the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Established in the 1930s as an
emergency relief program, the CCC provided room, board, and employment to thousands of
unemployed young people. Though the CCC was discontinued after World War II, Job Corps
built on many of its methods and strategies. Since its inception in 1964 under the Economic
Opportunity Act, Job Corps has served more than two million young people. Job Corps serves
approximately 60,000 youths annually at Job Corps Centers throughout the country.
Cross Reference: Equal Educational Opportunity Council