 | Term | Definition |
| |
vertical integration |
control of all phases of an industry, from raw materials to finished product |
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corporation |
business that is owned by investors |
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stock |
share in a corporation |
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dividend |
share of a corporation's profit |
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trust |
group of corporations run by a single board of directors |
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monopoly |
company that controls all or nearly all the business of an industry |
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free enterprise system |
economic system in which businesses are owned by private citizens |
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sweatshop |
workplace where people labor long hours in poor conditions for low pay |
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strikebreaker |
worker hired as a replacement for a striking worker |
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anarchist |
person who opposes organized government |
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collective bargaining |
right of unions to negotiate with management for workers as a group |
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injunction |
court order to do or not to do something |
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push factor |
condition that encourages people to move away from their homeland |
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pull factor |
condition that attracts people to move to a new area |
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pogrom |
in Eastern Europe, an organized attack on a Jewish community |
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steerage |
on a ship, the cramped quarters for passengers paying the lowest fare |
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ethnic group |
people who share a common culture |
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assimilation |
process of becoming a part of another culture |
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nativist |
person who wanted to limit immigration and preserve the US for native-born white Protestants |
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patronage |
practice of giving jobs to supporters |
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civil service |
war between people of the same country |
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muckraker |
journalist who exposed corruption and other problems of the late 1800s and early 1900s |
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public interest |
the good of the people |
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primary |
election in which voters choose their parties candidate for the general election |
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initiative |
process by which voters can put a bill directly before the state legislature by collecting signatures on a petition |
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referendum |
process by which people vote directly on a bill |
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recall |
process by which voters can remoev an elected official from office |
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graduated income tax |
tax on earnings that charges different rates for different income levels |
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trustbuster |
person who wanted to end all trusts |
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conservation |
protection of natural resources |
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national park |
natural or historic area set aside and run by the federal government for people to visit |
| |
suffragist |
person who campaigned for women's right to vote |
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temperance movement |
campaign against the sale or drinking of alcohol |
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barrio |
neighborhood of Spanish speaking people |
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mutualista |
Mexican American mutual aid group |
| |
nationalism |
pride in one's nation |
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militarism |
policy of building up strong armed forces to prepare for war |
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mobilize |
to prepare for war |
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kaiser |
German emperor |
| |
stalemate |
deadlock in which neither side is strong enough to defeat the other |
| |
trench warfare |
type of fighting in which both sides dig trenches and attempt to overrun the enemies trenches |
| |
propaganda |
spreading of ideas that help a cause or hurt an opposing cause |
| |
U-boat |
German submarine |
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warmonger |
person who tries to stir up war |
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czar |
Russian emperor |
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draft |
law requiring certain people to serve in the military |
| |
illiterate |
unable to read ro write |
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bureaucracy |
system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials |
| |
pacifist |
person who opposes all wars |
| |
socialist |
person who supports community ownership of property and the sharing of all profits |
| |
armistice |
agreement to stop fighting |
| |
abdicate |
to give up power |
| |
epidemic |
rapid spread of a contageous disease among large numbers of people |
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self-determination |
right of national groups to their own territory and forms of government |
| |
reparation |
after a war, payments from a defeated nation to a victorious nation to pay for losses suffered during the war |
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isolationist |
policy of having little to do with the political affairs of foreign nations |
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recession |
mild depression in which business slows and some workers lose their jobs |
| |
installment buying |
method of buying on credit |
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stock |
share in a corporation |
| |
bull market |
rising stock market |
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on margin |
practice that allowed people to buy stock with a downpayment of 10 percent of the full value |
| |
communism |
economic system in which all property is ownes by the community |
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disarmament |
reduction of nation's armed forces or weapons |
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bootlegger |
person who smuggles liquor into the US during prohibition |
| |
speakeasy |
illegal bar that served liquor during the prohibition |
| |
repeal |
to cancel or undo |
| |
suburb |
community located within commuting distance of a city |
| |
company union |
labor organization that was controlled by the company owners |
| |
sabotage |
secret destruction of property or interference with production in a factory or other workplace |
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anarchist |
person who opposes organized government |
| |
deport |
to expel from a country |
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nativist |
person who wanted to limit immigration and preserve the US for native-born white Protestants |
| |
quota system |
system that limited immigration by allowing only a certain number of people from each country to immigrate to the US |
| |
capital |
money raised for a business venture |
| |
bankrupt |
unable to pay debts |
| |
relief program |
government program to help the needy |
| |
soup kitchen |
place where food is provided to the needy at little or no charge |
| |
public works |
projects built by the government for public use |
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bonus |
additional sum of money |
| |
fireside chat |
radio speeches given by President Franklin Roosevelt |
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surplus |
an extra amount, more than is needed |
| |
speculator |
person who invests in a risky venture in the hope of making a large profit |
| |
pension |
sum of money paid to people on a regular basis after they retire |
| |
collective bargaining |
right of unions to negotiate with management for workers as a group |
| |
sitdown strike |
work stoppage in which workers refuse to leave a factory |
| |
unemployment insurance |
program that gives payments to people who have lost their jobs until they find work again |
| |
laissez faire |
idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs |
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deficit spending |
government practice of spending more than it takes in from taxes |
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national debt |
total sum of money a government owes |
| |
dictator |
ruler who has complete power |
| |
totalitarian state |
country where a single party controls the government and every aspect of the lives of the people |
| |
collective farm |
a farm or group of farms run by the government, as in a communist state |
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nationalism |
pride in one's nation |
| |
aggression |
any warlike act by one country against another without just cause |
| |
concentration camp |
prison camp for persons who are considered enemies of the state |
| |
annex |
to add on |
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appeasement |
practice of giving in to an aggressor nation's demands in order to keep peace |
| |
blitzkrieg |
German word meaning lightening war; the swift attacks launched by Germany in World War II |
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island hopping |
strategy of Allies in World War II of capturing some Japanese-held islands and going around others |
| |
kamikaze |
in World War II, a Japanese pilot who carried out a suicidal attack on a target |
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atomic bomb |
powerful nuclear weapon that could destroy an entire city with one bomb |
| |
satellite nation |
country that is dominated by a more powerful nation |
| |
containment |
in the Cold War, the policy of trying to prevent the spread of Soviet or communist influence beyond where it already existed |
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censure |
to officially condemn |
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superpower |
nation with enough strength to influence events in many areas around the world |
| |
exile |
person forced to leave his or her country |
| |
guerilla |
soldier who uses hit-and-run tactics |
| |
domino theory |
in the Cold War, belief that if South Vietnam became communist, other countries in Southeast Asia would become communist, too |
| |
escalate |
to build up, increase, or expand activity |
| |
dètente |
easing of tensions between nations |
| |
martial law |
rule by the army instead of the elected government |
| |
glasnost |
Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of speaking out openly and honestly about problems in the Soviet Union |
| |
summit meeting |
conference between the highest-ranking officials of different nations |
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free market |
economic system in which individuals decide for themselves what to produce and sell |
| |
segregation |
separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences |
| |
integration |
bringing together people of different races or ethnic groups |
| |
boycott |
to refuse to buy certain goods or services |
| |
civil disobedience |
nonviolent opposition to a government policy or law by refusing to comply with it |
| |
sit-in |
protest in which people sit and refuse to leave |
| |
affirmative action |
program in areas such as employment and education to provide more opportunities for members of groups that faced discrimination in the past |
| |
migrant worker |
agricultural worker who moves with the seasons, planting or harvesting crops |
| |
bilingual |
in two languages |
