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20 Important Congressional Acts in US History

Terms in this set (20)

Navigation Acts (1651)
laws passed to make sure that england controlled american trade according to the idea of mercantilism
Sugar Act (1764)
British deeply in debt partly to French & Indian War. English Parliament placed a tariff on sugar, coffee, wines, and molasses. colonists avoided the tax by smuggling and by bribing tax collectors.
Stamp Act (1765)
A law passed by the British Parliament requiring colonists to pay a tax on newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, and even playing cards.
Coercive Acts (1774)
called the Intolerable Acts by colonists, restricted rights of colonist in Mass. to hold town meetings, required all colonists to provide food and housing to British soldiers living in colonies
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries.
Homestead Act (1862)
gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years.
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
banned Chinese immigration in US for a total of 40 years because the United States thought of them as a threat. Caused chinese population in America to decrease.
Dawes Severalty Act (1887)
dismantled American Indian tribes, set up individuals as family heads with 160 acres, tried to make rugged individualists out of the Indians, attempt to assimilate the Indian population into that of the American
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)
the act that prohibited the manufacture, sale, or shipment of impure of falsely labeled food and drugs
Federal Reserve Act of 1913
This act created a central banking system, consisting of twelve regional banks governed by the Federal Reserve Board. It was an attempt to provide the United States with a sound yet flexible currency. The Board it created still plays a vital role in the American economy today.
National Origins Act (1924)
A law that severely restricted immigration by establishing a system of national quotas that blatantly discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and virtually excluded Asians. The policy stayed in effect until the 1960s.
National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)
Set by FDR to aide the recovery of the economy from the Great Depression. Supported and some cases enforced an alliance of industries. Called for industrial self regulation and declared codes of fair competition.
Neutrality Acts (1930's)
Originally designed to avoid American involvement in World War II by preventing loans to those countries taking part in the conflict; they were later modified in 1939 to allow aid to Great Britain and other Allied nations.
Social Security Act (1935)
guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health
Wagner Act (1935)
Established National Labor Relations Board; protected the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands.
Lend-Lease Act (1941)
A program in which the United States supplied war supplies to the U.K, Soviet Union, China, France, and other nations in exchange for military bases in Bermuda and the West Indies.
Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
outlawed "closed" shops (closed to non-union members), made unions liable for damages that resulted from jurisdictional disputes among themselves, and required that union leaders take non-communist oaths
Federal Highway Act of 1956
This act, an accomplishment of the Eisenhower administration, authorized $25 billion for a ten- year project that built over 40,000 miles of interstate highways. This was the largest public works project in American history.
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
abolished the national origins quota system, doubled the number of immigrants, and allowed admission of close relatives of the U.S. citizens outside those numerical limits.
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