APUSH

COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE

Civil War & Reconstruction · Gilded Age & Progressive Era · Interwar, WWII & Cold War
UNIT 1 — CIVIL WAR ERA & RECONSTRUCTION
(1820–1877)

KEY FIGURES
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) — 16th President
Background: Self-educated Illinois lawyer. Rose to national prominence in the 1858 Senate debates
against Stephen Douglas on slavery's expansion into new territories.
Election of 1860: Won with exclusively Northern electoral votes — his name didn't even appear on
Southern ballots. The Democratic Party had split between Northern (Douglas) and Southern
(Breckinridge) candidates, handing Lincoln the presidency. His election immediately triggered Southern
secession.
Emancipation Proclamation (Jan 1, 1863): Declared enslaved people in Confederate states "forever
free." Did NOT free enslaved people in border states (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware) —
those states stayed loyal and Lincoln couldn't afford to alienate them. Its true significance was strategic:
it reframed the war as a moral crusade against slavery, making it politically impossible for Britain or
France to recognize the Confederacy (both had abolished slavery and couldn't publicly back a slave
power).
Gettysburg Address (Nov 19, 1863): ~272 words at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.
Redefined the war's purpose: "government of the people, by the people, for the people." Connected the
Union cause directly to the Declaration of Independence's ideal that "all men are created equal" —
implying the war was about more than just preserving the Union.
Second Inaugural Address (Mar 4, 1865): "With malice toward none, with charity for all." Argued the
war was God's punishment for the sin of slavery. Called for reconciliation rather than revenge —
delivered one month before Lee's surrender. Set the tone for what Reconstruction could have been
under Lincoln.
10% Reconstruction Plan: Lenient approach: once 10% of a state's 1860 voters swore loyalty to the
Union, the state could form a new government and rejoin the Union. Radical Republicans thought this
was far too easy on the South (Wade-Davis Bill, 1864 — required 50%, Lincoln pocket-vetoed it).
Assassination (Apr 14–15, 1865): Shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Ford's
Theatre in Washington D.C.; died the next morning. His death brought Andrew Johnson to power and
fundamentally changed the course of Reconstruction — from Lincoln's moderate vision to a bitter, failed
political battle.

Jefferson Davis (1808–1889) — President of the Confederacy

Role: President of the Confederate States of America throughout the Civil War (1861–1865). Former
U.S. Secretary of War and Mississippi Senator.
Leadership: Overconfident in "King Cotton" diplomacy — wrongly assumed Britain would intervene to
protect its cotton supply. Had poor relationships with Confederate state governors, who frequently
defied central Confederate authority. Chose defensive strategies that ultimately failed to overcome the
North's overwhelming industrial and manpower advantages.
After the War: Arrested 1865, never tried for treason. Became a symbol of the "Lost Cause" movement
— the myth that the Confederacy fought for noble states' rights principles rather than slavery.
General Robert E. Lee (1807–1870)
Role: Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia — the Confederacy's most important fighting force.
Victories: Both Battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg (Dec 1862 — massive Union casualties charging
fortified positions), Chancellorsville (May 1863 — considered his tactical masterpiece, though Stonewall
Jackson was accidentally killed by his own troops here).
Turning Point Defeats: Antietam (Sept 1862 — bloodiest single day in American history, ~23,000
casualties; Lee's first Northern invasion failed); Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863 — Lee's second Northern
invasion ended in disaster, particularly Pickett's Charge on Day 3 where ~50% of 12,500 attacking
Confederate troops became casualties).
Surrender: Surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865. Grant
allowed Confederate soldiers to keep their horses and sidearms — a deliberately generous gesture to
ease the transition to peace.

William T. Sherman (1820–1891)

Strategy: Pioneer of "total war" — the idea that you don't just defeat enemy armies, you destroy the
economic infrastructure and psychological will of the entire society supporting them.
March to the Sea (Nov–Dec 1864): After capturing Atlanta, led 60,000 troops from Atlanta to
Savannah, Georgia, cutting a 60-mile-wide path of deliberate destruction: burning crops, destroying
railroads, confiscating livestock. Devastating to Confederate supply lines and morale. Demonstrated
that the Confederate home front was undefended and the Southern war effort was collapsing.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) — Union General / 18th President

Military Role: Appointed General-in-Chief of all Union armies in 1864. Strategy of attrition: relentlessly
attack Lee's forces everywhere simultaneously, knowing the Union could replace losses and the
Confederacy couldn't. The brutal Overland Campaign (Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, 1864)
ground Lee's army down to the point of collapse.
Presidency (1869–1877): Strongly supported Reconstruction and enforcement of the 14th and 15th
Amendments. Used federal troops to break the Ku Klux Klan in South Carolina (1871). However, his
administration was defined by corruption.
▸ Gilded Age Corruption under Grant: Two major scandals: the Whiskey Ring (1875) — distillers, Treasury
officials, and Grant's own secretary defrauded the government of millions in whiskey taxes; and Credit Mobilier
(1872) — a railroad construction company awarded itself fraudulent contracts from Union Pacific and bribed
congressmen with discounted stock. Both scandals exemplified the era's culture of political corruption.

Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) — 17th President

Background: Tennessee Democrat placed on Lincoln's 1864 Unity ticket to attract Southern Unionists.
A white supremacist who fundamentally opposed Black civil and political rights.
Reconstruction Approach: Issued pardons to virtually all former Confederates; quickly restored
Southern state governments with minimal conditions; allowed Southern states to pass Black Codes —
laws that severely restricted Black freedom through vagrancy laws, forced labor contracts, and curfews.
Essentially tried to restore the pre-war South without slavery but with continued white supremacy.
Clash with Radical Republicans: Repeatedly vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Freedmen's
Bureau bills. Congress overrode his vetoes. Congress then seized control of Reconstruction entirely
through the Military Reconstruction Acts (1867), dividing the South into 5 military districts.
Impeachment (1868): Fired Secretary of War Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, which
required Senate approval to remove cabinet members. House impeached him 126-47. Senate
acquitted him by exactly ONE vote — the closest the U.S. has come to removing a president. Severely
weakened the presidency and emboldened Radical Republican control of Reconstruction.

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895)

Background: Escaped enslaved person who became the most prominent Black abolitionist and orator
of the 19th century. Born in Maryland; escaped north in 1838.
Key Works: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845 autobiography — proved a Black man
could be a brilliant intellectual, undermining pro-slavery arguments). Founded The North Star
newspaper (1847) in Rochester, NY.
Civil War Role: Advised President Lincoln directly. Recruited Black soldiers for the Union Army,
including the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Argued the war must be fought explicitly against
slavery, not just for Union.
Reconstruction Stance: Demanded full and immediate political rights for Black Americans — not
gradual improvement. Supported all three Reconstruction Amendments. "Power concedes nothing
without a demand."

Dred Scott (c.1799–1858)

Who He Was: Enslaved man who sued for his freedom in Missouri courts, arguing that living with his
owner in free territories (Illinois and Wisconsin Territory) had made him legally free.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in a devastating decision authored by
Chief Justice Roger Taney: (1) Black people — enslaved or free — were not U.S. citizens and had no
right to sue in federal court; (2) Congress had no constitutional power to prohibit slavery in any territory
(making the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional); (3) enslaved people were property protected by
the 5th Amendment, and Congress could no more ban slavery in territories than it could seize any other
property without due process.
Significance: Outraged the North — the decision essentially said slavery could expand anywhere.
Energized the Republican Party. Made peaceful compromise on slavery's expansion impossible.
Directly accelerated the path to war. Lincoln cited it repeatedly in his debates with Douglas.

KEY TERMS & CONCEPTS

Abolitionist Movement
What It Was: The organized effort to immediately and completely end slavery in the United States.
Grew from a fringe movement in the 1830s into a powerful political force by the 1850s.
Key Figures: Frederick Douglass (see above); William Lloyd Garrison (published The Liberator
newspaper, 1831 — "I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will be heard"); Harriet Beecher
Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852 — bestselling novel that made millions of Northerners viscerally feel
the brutality of slavery; Lincoln reportedly greeted her: "So you're the little woman who wrote the book
that started this great war"); Harriet Tubman (Underground Railroad — made ~13 missions, freed ~70
people, called "Moses"); John Brown (militant — raided Harper's Ferry federal arsenal, 1859, hoping to
spark a slave uprising; captured, tried, and executed; became a martyr to abolitionists and a terrorist to
the South).
Underground Railroad: Network of secret routes and safe houses from the South to free states and
Canada. Estimated 30,000–100,000 people escaped between 1810–1860. Showed enslaved people
were not passive and that Northern whites would actively defy the Fugitive Slave Act.
Causes of the Civil War
•​ Slavery's expansion — the central, non-negotiable dispute. Not slavery where it existed, but
whether it could spread to new western territories. Southerners demanded the right to bring
enslaved people into new territories; Northerners (especially Republicans) wanted free labor to
dominate the West.
•​ Economic differences — the industrial, free-labor North vs. the slave-based agricultural South
created genuinely incompatible visions of American society and government.
•​ States' rights — Southern states claimed the right to nullify federal laws they opposed and
ultimately to secede. This wasn't abstract: it was specifically about the right to maintain slavery
against a federal government they feared would abolish it.
•​ Failure of compromise — every political deal (Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850) only
postponed the conflict. The Dred Scott decision (1857) and Bleeding Kansas showed
compromise was no longer possible.

Missouri Compromise (1820) & Compromise of 1850

Missouri Compromise (1820): Admitted Missouri as a slave state, Maine as a free state (preserving
the Senate balance). Drew the 36°30' line across the Louisiana Territory — slavery prohibited north of it
except Missouri. Held the Union together for 30 years before the Dred Scott decision declared it
unconstitutional.
Compromise of 1850: Crisis triggered by territory from the Mexican-American War (1846–48). Key
deal: California admitted as free state; popular sovereignty for Utah and New Mexico territories; slave
trade (not slavery) banned in Washington D.C.; a dramatically stronger Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive
Slave Act required all Northerners — including those in free states — to assist in capturing escaped
enslaved people, denied accused Black people the right to a jury trial, and turned many previously
indifferent Northerners into active opponents of slavery.
Bleeding Kansas (1854–59): The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) repealed the Missouri Compromise
line and applied popular sovereignty to Kansas. Both pro- and anti-slavery forces flooded the territory.
Violence erupted: pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" from Missouri clashed with anti-slavery settlers. John
Brown massacred 5 pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek (1856). Kansas became a symbol that
popular sovereignty couldn't peacefully resolve the slavery question.

Election of 1860 & Southern Secession

Four-Way Race: Lincoln (Republican); Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat); John C. Breckinridge
(Southern Democrat — the party had split over slavery); John Bell (Constitutional Union). Lincoln won
with exclusively Northern electoral votes — the South's secession was their response to his victory.
Secession: South Carolina seceded first (December 20, 1860), followed by Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas before Lincoln was even inaugurated (March 4, 1861).
Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee followed after Fort Sumter. The Confederate States
of America was formed February 1861 with Jefferson Davis as president.

KEY EVENTS
Fort Sumter → American Civil War (April 1861)
Fort Sumter (Apr 12–14, 1861): Confederate forces bombarded Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston
Harbor, South Carolina. The Union garrison surrendered after 34 hours. Lincoln called for 75,000
volunteers to suppress the rebellion. The Civil War had begun.
Battle of Bull Run / First Manassas (July 21, 1861): First major land battle — Confederate victory
that shattered Northern illusions of a quick war. Union spectators who'd come to watch fled back to
Washington in panic. Lincoln realized this would be a long, brutal conflict.
Battle of Antietam (Sept 17, 1862): Lee's first invasion of the North, into Maryland. Tactical draw but
Union strategic victory — Lee retreated to Virginia. Bloodiest single day in American history (~23,000
casualties). Gave Lincoln the military success he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation five
days later (September 22, 1862). Prevented British and French recognition of the Confederacy.
Battle of Fredericksburg (Dec 11–15, 1862): Major Confederate victory — Union forces under
Burnside suffered ~12,000 casualties charging uphill into fortified Confederate positions. Showed the
devastating power of defensive firepower — a preview of WWI trench warfare.
Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863): The war's turning point. Lee's second and final invasion of the
North into Pennsylvania. Day 3: Pickett's Charge — ~12,500 Confederate infantry marched across
open ground into massed Union artillery and rifle fire. Catastrophic failure (~50% casualties). Lee never
mounted a major offensive into the North again. Combined with the simultaneous Union capture of
Vicksburg (July 4), the Confederacy permanently lost the strategic initiative.
Prison Camps: Both sides held prisoners in horrific conditions. The worst was Andersonville (Camp
Sumter) in Georgia — held up to 45,000 Union prisoners; ~13,000 died from disease, starvation, and
exposure. Confederate commandant Henry Wirz was executed after the war, the only Confederate
officer tried for war crimes.
Lincoln's Assassination (Apr 14–15, 1865): Shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at
Ford's Theatre, just days after Lee's surrender. His death ended the possibility of a moderate
Reconstruction and handed power to Andrew Johnson, whose racism and obstruction made
Reconstruction a political disaster.

RECONSTRUCTION (1865–1877)
The Reconstruction Amendments
13th Amendment (1865): Abolished slavery throughout the United States. One loophole: involuntary
servitude remained legal "as punishment for a crime" — later exploited through convict leasing and
chain gangs that effectively re-enslaved Black men through mass incarceration.
14th Amendment (1868): Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. (directly
overturning Dred Scott). Equal protection clause. Due process clause. These two clauses became the
foundation for virtually all subsequent civil rights legislation and court decisions in American history.
15th Amendment (1870): Prohibited denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous
condition of servitude. Southern states immediately found workarounds: poll taxes, literacy tests,
grandfather clauses, and outright violence. These barriers weren't effectively removed until the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 — 95 years later.

Radical Reconstruction
Military Reconstruction Acts (1867): Congress — not the president — took control of Reconstruction.
The South was divided into 5 military districts under Union generals. Southern states had to ratify the
14th Amendment and guarantee Black male suffrage before readmission.
Freedmen's Bureau: Federal agency providing food, housing, education, employment assistance, and
legal support to formerly enslaved people and poor whites. Created some of the first public schools in
the South. Johnson repeatedly vetoed bills to expand it; Congress repeatedly overrode him. Dismantled
as federal troops withdrew from the South.
Black Political Participation: During Reconstruction: 16 Black congressmen and 2 Black senators
served in Congress. Collapsed entirely when Reconstruction ended and federal protection withdrew.

End of Reconstruction & Legacy

Compromise of 1877: The disputed 1876 election (Hayes vs. Tilden) was resolved by giving
Republican Rutherford Hayes the presidency in exchange for withdrawing all remaining federal troops
from the South. This formally ended Reconstruction and left Black Southerners without federal
protection.
Sharecropping: Labor system replacing slavery: freed Black farmers rented land from white
landowners, paying with a share of their crop. In practice, inflated prices at company stores kept
sharecroppers in permanent debt — economically enslaved without the legal title.
Ku Klux Klan: Founded 1865 by Confederate veterans. Used terrorism — murder, arson, beatings —
to suppress Black political participation and intimidate white Republicans. Grant used federal troops to
break the Klan in South Carolina (1871) under the Ku Klux Klan Acts. The Klan re-emerged as a mass
movement in 1915 and again during the Civil Rights era.
▸ Railroad Boom: The Transcontinental Railroad (completed 1869) connected the continent, enabled national
markets, and drove westward expansion — but was also built through massive federal land grants and corrupt
financing (Credit Mobilier).
▸ Purchase of Alaska (1867): Secretary of State Seward bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million — mocked
as "Seward's Folly." Proved enormously valuable. Showed Reconstruction-era America still had expansionist
ambitions.
UNIT 2 — GILDED AGE & PROGRESSIVE ERA (1877–1920)

KEY CONCEPTS
The Gilded Age (Mark Twain, 1873)
Definition: The late 19th century era of explosive economic growth, industrialization, and extreme
inequality — "gilded" meaning gold-plated on the surface, concealing rot underneath: poverty, labor
exploitation, racial violence, and rampant political corruption.
Core Dynamic: A small number of industrial titans accumulated staggering wealth while workers
labored 12-hour days for poverty wages, immigrants crowded into tenements, and politicians sold their
votes to the highest bidder. The federal government largely stood aside.

Monroe Doctrine (1823) — Foundation for Later Imperialism

What It Was: President James Monroe declared in his 1823 annual message: the Western Hemisphere
is closed to new European colonization, and any European attempt to extend its political system to the
Americas would be considered a threat to U.S. peace and security. In return, the U.S. would not
interfere in existing European colonies or European affairs.
Why It Matters Here: The Monroe Doctrine sat dormant for decades but became the foundation for
American imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Theodore Roosevelt dramatically
expanded it.
Roosevelt Corollary (1904): TR extended the Monroe Doctrine: not only would the U.S. keep
Europeans out of Latin America — the U.S. itself would intervene in any Latin American nation that
couldn't manage its own debts or internal affairs. This justified repeated U.S. military occupations of
Caribbean and Central American nations (Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba). Latin American
nations deeply resented U.S. paternalism.

Robber Barons / Captains of Industry

John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil (founded 1870). Controlled ~90% of U.S. oil refining through
horizontal integration — buying out or destroying competitors — and ruthless pricing tactics. Standard
Oil was broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911 (Standard Oil Co. v. United States) into 34 smaller
companies, several of which (ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP) still exist.
Andrew Carnegie: Carnegie Steel, built through vertical integration — owning the iron mines, coal
mines, railroads, and steel mills so Carnegie controlled every step of production. Sold to J.P. Morgan in
1901 to form U.S. Steel. Wrote the Gospel of Wealth (1889): the rich have a duty to give their fortunes
back to society through philanthropy. Donated ~$350 million (the equivalent of billions today), including
~2,500 public libraries.
J.P. Morgan: The most powerful banker in America. Formed U.S. Steel (the first billion-dollar
corporation, 1901). Reorganized railroads. Twice bailed out the U.S. federal government during
financial crises (1893, 1907). Represented the power of finance capital to dwarf even the federal
government.
Cornelius Vanderbilt: Built his fortune in steamships, then dominated the New York Central Railroad.
Symbol of how railroads created the first modern corporations and the first massive personal fortunes.
Alexander Graham Bell: Invented the telephone (1876). Founded Bell Telephone Company (later
AT&T). The telephone transformed business communication as fundamentally as the internet
transformed it in our era.
Thomas Edison: Practical incandescent light bulb (1879), phonograph (1877), motion picture camera.
Invented the first industrial research laboratory at Menlo Park, NJ — the idea of organized, systematic
invention. His electric power plants (first in NYC, 1882) began the electrification of America.

Gilded Age Presidents (Minor — Key Points Only)

Rutherford Hayes (1877–81): Ended Reconstruction through the Compromise of 1877. His presidency
marked the beginning of conservative white "Redeemer" control of the South.
James Garfield (1881): Assassinated by a disappointed office-seeker (Charles Guiteau) after only 200
days. His murder directly motivated Congress to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883) —
requiring federal hiring based on merit exams rather than political patronage. The spoils system that
killed him became the motivation for reforming itself.
Chester Arthur (1881–85): Ironically, a former product of the spoils system who signed the Pendleton
Act. Shows that political assassination can produce unexpected reform.
Grover Cleveland (1885–89, 1893–97): Only president to serve non-consecutive terms. During his
second term, faced the Panic of 1893 (18% unemployment). Sent federal troops to break the Pullman
Strike (1894) — railroad workers had struck in solidarity with Pullman car factory workers. His use of
federal troops against labor outraged unions and showed whose side the government was on.
Benjamin Harrison (1889–93): Signed the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) — the first federal law against
monopolies. Largely unenforced initially, but it became the legal weapon TR and later presidents used
to break up trusts.

Manifest Destiny & The Frontier

Manifest Destiny: The belief that American westward expansion was inevitable and divinely ordained.
Used to justify: the Mexican-American War (1846–48), displacement of Native Americans, and territorial
expansion to the Pacific. By the 1890s, the continental frontier was essentially closed.
Wounded Knee Massacre (Dec 29, 1890): U.S. cavalry killed approximately 250–300 Lakota Sioux
men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. Occurred during tensions around
the Ghost Dance religious movement, which the U.S. military feared as a precursor to an uprising.
Effectively ended armed Native American resistance on the Great Plains.
Frontier Thesis (1893): Historian Frederick Jackson Turner argued the frontier experience had shaped
American democracy, individualism, and national character — and that the closing of the frontier
(declared by the Census Bureau in 1890) represented a pivotal turning point. This provided intellectual
justification for overseas imperialism: if America needed a frontier, it would have to find one abroad.

Imperialism & The Spanish-American War (1898)

Causes: (1) Cuba's rebellion against brutal Spanish colonial rule generated American sympathy. (2)
Yellow journalism — Hearst and Pulitzer newspapers exaggerated and inflamed stories of Spanish
atrocities to sell papers. (3) Explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor (Feb 15, 1898) — 266
American sailors killed. "Remember the Maine!" — the cause was never definitively determined but the
press blamed Spain. (4) American business interests in Cuban sugar plantations.
War (April–August 1898): Quick American victory. Battle of San Juan Hill (Cuba) — Roosevelt's
Rough Riders charged alongside regular army and Black Buffalo Soldiers. Battle of Manila Bay
(Philippines) — Commodore Dewey destroyed Spain's Pacific Fleet in one morning.
Treaty of Paris (1898): Spain ceded Cuba (granted independence under U.S. supervision), Puerto
Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (for $20 million) to the U.S. The United States had become a colonial
empire overnight.
Consequences: Anti-Imperialist League (Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie) argued colonies violated
American democratic ideals. Filipino-American War (1899–1902) — the Philippines fought for
independence from the U.S. after Spain handed it over. 200,000+ Filipinos died. Exposed the
contradiction between American ideals and imperial reality.

KEY FIGURES
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) — 26th President (1901–1909)
How He Got There: VP under McKinley; became president at 42 (still the youngest ever) after
McKinley's assassination in 1901.
Trust Busting: Used the Sherman Antitrust Act aggressively — 45 antitrust suits in 7 years. Broke up
Standard Oil (1906), Northern Securities railroad monopoly (1904). Distinguished between "good trusts"
(large but fair) and "bad trusts" (predatory and monopolistic).
Square Deal: His domestic program — Three C's: Conservation of natural resources, Control of
corporations, Consumer protection. Key legislation: Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), Meat Inspection
Act (1906) — both responses to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle; Hepburn Act (1906) — gave the
government real power to regulate railroad rates.
Conservation: Created 150 national forests, 5 national parks, 18 national monuments. Partnered with
Gifford Pinchot (first U.S. Forest Service chief). Transformed conservation from a fringe cause to a
federal priority.
Panama Canal: Supported Panamanian independence from Colombia to secure the Canal Zone.
Canal built 1904–1914, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific — transformed global trade and U.S. naval
power.
▸ Roosevelt Mediation: Mediated the 1905 Russo-Japanese War at Portsmouth, NH — earned the Nobel Peace
Prize. Also intervened in the 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike, forcing mine owners to accept arbitration — the first
time the federal government sided with labor in a dispute instead of automatically breaking the strike.

Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) — 28th President (1913–1921)

New Freedom Program: Progressive domestic agenda: Underwood Tariff (lowered tariffs, introduced
graduated income tax via the 16th Amendment); Federal Reserve Act (1913) — created the central
banking system that still manages U.S. monetary policy; Federal Trade Commission (1914) —
watchdog against unfair business practices; Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) — strengthened antitrust law
and explicitly protected labor unions.
WWI Neutrality (1914–17): Declared neutrality in 1914. Won reelection in 1916 on the slogan "He kept
us out of war." But U.S. banks and businesses were heavily supplying the Allies. Germany's
unrestricted submarine warfare was killing Americans.
Wilson's War Speech (Apr 2, 1917): Asked Congress to declare war on Germany: "The world must be
made safe for democracy." Framed American entry not as a matter of national interest but as a moral
crusade for liberal democratic values. Congress declared war April 6, 1917.
1916 Election: Wilson (Democrat) narrowly defeated Charles Evans Hughes (Republican). Winning
argument: he had maintained neutrality while Hughes was seen as more likely to enter the war.
Fourteen Points (Jan 1918): Wilson's vision for a just postwar peace: freedom of seas,
self-determination of peoples, arms reduction, end of secret treaties, creation of a League of Nations.
Largely ignored at the Paris Peace Conference by Britain and France, who wanted revenge.
League of Nations: Wilson's central proposal — an international body to resolve disputes peacefully
before they became wars. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles and League membership twice
(1919, 1920). Senator Henry Cabot Lodge led opposition, arguing it compromised U.S. sovereignty.
Wilson suffered a stroke while campaigning for it. The U.S. never joined. Without U.S. participation, the
League was toothless — unable to stop the aggression that led to WWII.

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963) vs. Booker T. Washington (1856–1915)

The Core Debate: One of the most important debates in American history: how should Black
Americans respond to systematic racism and oppression? Washington said accept it for now and build
economic strength; Du Bois said never accept it and demand full equality immediately.
Booker T. Washington: Former enslaved person. Founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
(1881). Atlanta Compromise (1895): Black Americans should accept social segregation for now, focus
on vocational/industrial education and economic self-improvement, and earn white acceptance through
demonstrated work ethic. Sought white philanthropic support for Black schools. Was the most politically
powerful Black leader of his era — but his influence with white politicians came at the cost of publicly
accepting second-class status.
W.E.B. Du Bois: First African American to earn a Harvard Ph.D. (1895). The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
— introduced "double consciousness" (the exhausting experience of seeing yourself through the eyes
of a racist society). Directly attacked Washington's accommodationism. Co-founded the NAACP (1909).
Demanded full political and civil rights immediately — not gradual progress. His "Talented Tenth"
concept: the most educated 10% of Black Americans must lead the community's advancement.
▸ The Split: Washington secretly funded legal challenges to segregation while publicly maintaining his
accommodationist stance — revealing even he knew his public position was a compromise. Du Bois grew
increasingly radical; he eventually joined the Communist Party and moved to Ghana, where he died in 1963, the
day before the March on Washington.

KEY TERMS
The Progressive Era (~1890–1920)
Overview: Broad reform movement responding to industrialization's problems. Progressives were
mostly middle-class, educated, and white — they believed scientific management and government
regulation could fix social problems without overturning capitalism.
Muckrakers: Investigative journalists who exposed systemic corruption and abuse: Upton Sinclair (The
Jungle, 1906 — graphic depictions of meatpacking conditions led directly to the Meat Inspection Act
and Pure Food and Drug Act); Ida Tarbell (exposed Standard Oil's predatory practices — the
investigation that eventually broke it up); Lincoln Steffens ("The Shame of the Cities" — exposed urban
political machine corruption); Ida B. Wells (documented lynching across the South).
Political Reforms: Aimed at breaking machine politics: direct election of senators (17th Amendment,
1913 — previously chosen by state legislatures, which were routinely bribed); direct primary elections;
initiative, referendum, recall; secret ballot.
Workers' Reforms: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (March 25, 1911) — 146 garment workers, mostly
young immigrant women, died because employers had locked the exits to prevent theft and
unauthorized breaks. The fire directly produced major labor safety legislation in New York and
nationally. Child labor laws. Workers' compensation.

Amendments 16–19
16th Amendment (1913): Authorized a federal income tax. Enabled the federal government to fund a
dramatically expanded role in American life — without it, the New Deal would have been impossible.
17th Amendment (1913): Direct election of U.S. Senators by popular vote. Previously, senators were
chosen by state legislatures — a system riddled with bribery. Direct election was a core Progressive
demand.
18th Amendment (1919) — Prohibition: Banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol.
Effective January 1920. Produced the opposite of its intended effect: organized crime (Al Capone,
bootlegging) flourished; corruption of police and politicians increased; alcohol consumption continued.
Repealed by the 21st Amendment (1933) — the only amendment to repeal another.
19th Amendment (1920): Granted women the right to vote — the culmination of a suffrage movement
begun at the Seneca Falls Convention (1848). Two key organizations: NAWSA (National American
Woman Suffrage Association — moderate, state-by-state approach, led by Carrie Chapman Catt) vs.
National Woman's Party (radical, Alice Paul — picketed the White House, hunger strikes, chained
themselves to fences).

Urban Poor and Immigration

Scale: ~20 million immigrants arrived 1880–1920, primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe: Italy,
Russia/Poland, Greece, Austria-Hungary. This was a fundamentally different wave from earlier
Northern/Western European immigration.
Conditions: Tenements, sweatshops, 12-hour days, dangerous conditions, child labor. Concentrated in
ethnic neighborhoods in New York, Chicago, Boston.
Nativist Backlash: Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) — first law to ban immigration based on
race/nationality. Eventually led to Immigration Act of 1924 — national-origins quota system that
essentially shut off immigration from Southern/Eastern Europe and Asia, cementing the ethnic makeup
of America until 1965.

African-Americans and the Great Migration

What It Was: Mass movement of approximately 6 million Black Americans from the rural South to
urban North and West, 1910–1970 (First Great Migration: 1910–1940; Second: 1940–1970).
Push Factors: Jim Crow laws and racial terror (lynching); boll weevil devastated cotton crops;
economic stagnation.
Pull Factors: Industrial jobs in Northern cities (Chicago, Detroit, New York) paying far higher wages;
relative (not absolute) freedom from racial terrorism.
Results: Created large Black urban communities and the conditions for the Harlem Renaissance
(1920s — cultural flourishing in Harlem, NYC: Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Zora Neale Hurston).
Race riots in Northern cities (East St. Louis 1917, Chicago's Red Summer 1919, Tulsa 1921) showed
Northern racism took different but equally violent forms.

Women's Rights — First Wave

Foundation: Seneca Falls Convention (1848) — first women's rights convention in U.S. history.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Declaration of Sentiments: "All men and women are created
equal."
Path to the Vote: 72 years from Seneca Falls to the 19th Amendment (1920). Involved both moderate
(NAWSA) and radical (NWP) strategies. During WWI, Wilson finally backed the amendment —
suffragists had pointed out the hypocrisy of fighting for democracy abroad while denying it to half the
U.S. population at home.
KEY EVENTS
World War I (1914–1918) — American Involvement
U.S. Neutrality: Wilson declared neutrality in 1914 but the U.S. was economically entangled with the
Allies — $2.3 billion in loans by 1917. Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare targeted any ship
supplying Britain. Sinking of the Lusitania (May 7, 1915) — 1,198 killed including 128 Americans —
began eroding neutrality.
Causes of U.S. Entry (April 1917): Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare (February
1917) after a brief suspension. The Zimmermann Telegram — Germany proposed Mexico attack the
U.S. in exchange for help recovering Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. When the telegram was
published, American public opinion shifted decisively.
Wilson's War Speech / U.S. Military Role: American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) under General
Pershing contributed ~2 million troops to France. Fresh American manpower tipped the balance after
four years of European exhaustion. Armistice: November 11, 1918.
Fourteen Points & Aftermath: Wilson's idealistic peace plan was largely scrapped at the Paris Peace
Conference by Britain and France, who wanted revenge. Treaty of Versailles (June 1919): War Guilt
Clause blamed Germany entirely; imposed crushing reparations; stripped Germany of territory. Created
the resentment and economic devastation that Hitler exploited. Wilson returned home, suffered a stroke
campaigning for the League of Nations, and the Senate refused to ratify — the U.S. never joined.

Race Riots
Context: The Great Migration brought Black Americans North, where they competed with white
workers for jobs and housing. White resentment, combined with returning Black WWI veterans who
refused to accept second-class treatment, produced violent explosions.
Red Summer (1919): 25+ race riots across the U.S. in summer 1919. Chicago Race Riot: 38 killed,
537 injured, 1,000 Black families left homeless over 13 days. Showed that Northern racism, while
different in form from Southern Jim Crow, was equally capable of mass violence.
Tulsa Race Massacre (1921): White mobs — aided by local police and officials — destroyed the
prosperous Black "Greenwood" district of Tulsa, Oklahoma ("Black Wall Street"). 300+ killed, 35 blocks
burned. One of the worst acts of racial violence in U.S. history, suppressed and hidden from history for
decades.

1929 Stock Market Crash & Great Depression

The Crash (Oct 1929): Black Thursday (Oct 24) and Black Tuesday (Oct 29) — stock market collapsed
after years of reckless speculative buying on borrowed money (margin). The crash itself didn't cause
the Depression; it triggered a chain reaction that did.
The Depression: Bank failures (9,000+ banks closed by 1933), mass unemployment (25% by 1933),
collapse in consumer spending, Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930) destroyed international trade by triggering
retaliatory tariffs from trading partners. Worst economic catastrophe in American history.
Hoover's Response: President Herbert Hoover believed in "rugged individualism" — the federal
government should not provide direct relief. His Smoot-Hawley Tariff worsened the crisis.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932) lent money to banks, not individuals. The Bonus Army
(1932) — WWI veterans marched to Washington demanding early bonus payment; Hoover ordered
General MacArthur to disperse them with troops and tear gas — a PR catastrophe that cemented his
reputation as heartless. Hoovervilles (shantytowns) bore his name.
1936 Election: FDR vs. Alf Landon. FDR won 523-8 electoral votes — one of the greatest landslides in
U.S. history. Only Maine and Vermont went Republican. Cemented the New Deal Coalition: urban
workers, labor unions, African Americans (a historic shift — Black voters began moving from the
Republican to the Democratic Party), Catholics, and Jews. This coalition dominated U.S. politics for 30+
years.
UNIT 3 — INTERWAR, WWII & COLD WAR (1920–1989)

KEY FIGURES
1920s Presidents — Brief
Warren Harding (1921–23): "Return to Normalcy" — rejection of Wilson's internationalism; low taxes,
high tariffs, immigration restriction. His administration was corrupt: Teapot Dome Scandal — Interior
Secretary Albert Fall secretly leased federal oil reserves to private companies in exchange for bribes.
Fall became the first Cabinet member imprisoned for crimes in office. Harding died in office August
1923 before the full scandals were exposed.
Calvin Coolidge (1923–29): "Coolidge Prosperity" — presided over the economic boom of the 1920s.
Laissez-faire economics: "the chief business of the American people is business." His hands-off
approach allowed the speculative bubble that caused the 1929 crash to grow unchecked.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) — 32nd President (1933–1945)

The New Deal (1933–1939): FDR's program to fight the Depression through three Rs: Relief (for the
unemployed and poor), Recovery (of the economy), Reform (of the financial system). Fundamentally
transformed the role of the federal government from passive bystander to active manager of the
economy and provider of social welfare.
Banking Crisis Response (1933): Bank Holiday: temporarily closed all U.S. banks to stop panic
withdrawals. Fireside Chats — radio addresses that explained policies in plain language and calmed
public fear. FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) — guaranteed individual bank deposits,
ending bank runs.
Key New Deal Programs: CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps — employed young men in parks and
forests); WPA (Works Progress Administration — employed millions in construction, plus artists, writers,
teachers); SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission — regulated the stock market); Social Security
Act (1935 — created old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, the foundation of the modern
American social safety net).
Political Significance: Created the New Deal Coalition that dominated U.S. politics until the 1960s
(see 1936 Election above). Established the principle that the federal government bears responsibility for
citizens' economic welfare.
WWII Leadership: Led the U.S. through most of WWII. Managed the Grand Alliance (Churchill, Stalin).
Died April 12, 1945 — less than a month before Germany's surrender. Harry Truman completed the
war.
▸ Court-Packing Plan (1937): After the Supreme Court struck down several New Deal programs, FDR proposed
adding one justice for each sitting justice over 70 (up to 6 additional). Congress refused — widely seen as an
attack on judicial independence. Damaged FDR politically but the Court subsequently reversed course and upheld
New Deal legislation (the "switch in time that saved nine").

Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) — 33rd President (1945–1953)

Atomic Bombs (August 1945): Authorized dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima (Aug 6 —
~70,000–80,000 killed immediately) and Nagasaki (Aug 9 — ~40,000). Japan surrendered August 15,
1945. Truman argued the bombs saved lives by avoiding an invasion of Japan that military planners
estimated could cost hundreds of thousands of American casualties. The decision remains deeply
debated.
Truman Doctrine (1947): Declared the U.S. would provide political, military, and economic support to
any nation threatened by communist takeover. First applied to Greece and Turkey. This was the formal
declaration of the containment policy — the U.S. would not roll back Soviet power but would prevent its
further expansion. Foundation of U.S. Cold War policy for 40 years.
Marshall Plan (1948): $13 billion in U.S. economic aid to rebuild Western European economies
devastated by WWII. Goal: prevent economic desperation from driving nations toward communism. It
worked — Western Europe recovered rapidly and remained firmly in the democratic Western camp.
Korean War: See Korean War section below.
▸ Berlin Airlift (1948–49): Soviets blockaded all road/rail access to West Berlin. U.S. and allies supplied the city
entirely by air for nearly a year — ~200,000 flights. Soviets backed down. First major Cold War confrontation, and
the U.S. won it without firing a shot.

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) — 34th President (1953–1961)

Cold War Policy: "New Look" defense strategy: relied heavily on nuclear weapons ("massive
retaliation") and CIA covert operations rather than expensive conventional armies. More bang for the
buck. CIA overthrew governments in Iran (1953, Operation Ajax) and Guatemala (1954, Operation
PBSUCCESS) — establishing a pattern of covert regime change.
Domino Theory (1954): Articulated the idea that if one nation fell to communism, neighboring nations
would follow like a row of dominoes. Justified U.S. intervention in Vietnam and Southeast Asia — with
enormous consequences.
Interstate Highway System (1956): 41,000 miles of highways — justified partly as defense
infrastructure (rapid troop movement) but also transformed American suburban life and car culture.
Military-Industrial Complex (Jan 1961): In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned of the dangerous
political and economic influence of the alliance between the defense industry and the military
establishment. A Republican president and WWII general warning about militarism — still quoted
constantly.

Joseph McCarthy (1908–1957)

McCarthyism (~1950–1954): Senator McCarthy made sweeping, largely baseless accusations that the
U.S. government, military, and entertainment industry were riddled with communist agents. The broader
anti-communist paranoia of the era — called McCarthyism — included HUAC (House Un-American
Activities Committee) investigations, the Hollywood blacklist, and loyalty oaths for government
employees.
Context: The fear had real roots: Soviet atomic bomb (1949), China falling to Mao's communists
(1949), Korean War (1950), and the Rosenberg spy case (Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed 1953
for passing atomic secrets to the USSR — their guilt later confirmed by Soviet archives) all made
communist infiltration seem genuinely threatening.
Fall: Army-McCarthy Hearings (1954) — televised Senate hearings where McCarthy accused the U.S.
Army of communist infiltration. Army counsel Joseph Welch's response to one McCarthy smear: "Have
you no sense of decency?" The moment destroyed McCarthy on national television. Senate censured
him 67-22, December 1954. He died in 1957.
Legacy: Chilling effect on free speech, civil rights organizing, and political dissent. Many innocent
people lost careers. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover used the Red Scare to surveil civil rights leaders.

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) — 35th President

1960 Election: Narrowly defeated Nixon. First Catholic president. First televised presidential debates
— Kennedy appeared confident and telegenic while Nixon looked nervous and sweaty. Americans who
heard the debate on radio thought Nixon won; those who watched on TV overwhelmingly thought
Kennedy did. The debates changed presidential politics permanently.
Kennedy's Inauguration Speech (Jan 20, 1961): Set the idealistic tone of his presidency and the
Cold War as a generational mission: "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do
for your country." Led directly to creating the Peace Corps (1961). Frequently cited in APUSH and
history exams as a document about Cold War ideology.
Bay of Pigs (April 1961): CIA-trained Cuban exile force attempted to overthrow Castro. The invasion
failed completely — the expected popular uprising didn't materialize, and Kennedy refused to provide
U.S. air support at the last minute. Kennedy accepted public responsibility. The failure emboldened
Khrushchev and led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962): The Cold War's most dangerous moment — see separate
section below.
Civil Rights: Initially cautious on civil rights. Federalized troops to protect the Freedom Riders (1961)
and integration of the University of Mississippi (1962). Proposed the comprehensive Civil Rights Act in
June 1963. Assassinated before it passed.
Assassination (Nov 22, 1963): Shot in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald arrested; killed by Jack
Ruby two days later. Warren Commission concluded Oswald acted alone. The assassination ended the
era of Kennedy optimism and haunted American politics for decades.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) — 36th President

Great Society: The most ambitious domestic program since the New Deal: Medicare and Medicaid
(1965 — health insurance for elderly and poor); Elementary and Secondary Education Act (federal
funding for public schools); Head Start (early childhood education for poor families); Public
Broadcasting Act (NPR, PBS).
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in
employment and public accommodations. Created the EEOC. Arguably the most important domestic
legislation of the 20th century.
Equal Pay Act of 1963: Required equal pay for equal work regardless of sex — signed by Kennedy,
enforced under LBJ.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Banned discriminatory voting practices (literacy tests, etc.). Authorized
federal oversight of elections in states with histories of discrimination. Direct result of the Bloody
Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, where police brutally attacked peaceful marchers — broadcast on
national television and shocking the country.
Vietnam Escalation: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (August 1964) — Congress authorized military force in
Vietnam after alleged North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. destroyers. LBJ escalated: 16,000 troops
(1963) → 500,000 (1968). 30,000+ Americans dead by 1968.
Tet Offensive (Jan 1968): Massive Viet Cong/North Vietnamese attacks on 100+ South Vietnamese
cities — during the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) when a ceasefire was expected. Shocked the American
public; shattered the military's claims that the U.S. was winning. LBJ announced he would not seek
reelection. The credibility gap — the gap between what the government said and what was actually
happening — destroyed his presidency.

Richard Nixon (1913–1994) — 37th President

Vietnam: "Vietnamization" — gradually withdraw U.S. troops while building up South Vietnamese
forces to fight their own war. Paris Peace Accords (Jan 1973) — U.S. withdrew. South Vietnam fell to
North Vietnam April 30, 1975. ~58,000 Americans dead total.
Opening China (1972): Historic visit opened U.S.-China diplomatic relations after 23 years of hostility.
Exploited the Sino-Soviet split (China and the USSR had become rivals). Showed Nixon — a lifelong
anti-communist — was pragmatic enough to deal with communist China when it served American
interests.
Détente: Policy of reducing Cold War tensions through diplomacy. SALT I treaty (1972) — froze
numbers of nuclear warheads. Represented a tacit acknowledgment that the Cold War could not be
"won" militarily.
1972 Election: Defeated George McGovern 520-17 electoral votes — one of the greatest landslides
ever. McGovran was seen as too far left; Nixon ran as the experienced statesman who opened China
and wound down Vietnam. Watergate revealed months after this massive victory.
Watergate: See Watergate section below.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)

Strategy: Nonviolent direct action modeled on Gandhi's methods. Philosophy: unjust laws must be
broken openly, accepting the legal consequences, to expose the moral bankruptcy of the system.
Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56): Rosa Parks arrested December 1, 1955 for refusing to give up
her seat. 381-day boycott of Montgomery, Alabama city buses. MLK emerged as national leader.
Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional. Showed that organized nonviolent economic
pressure could work.
Letter from Birmingham Jail (April 1963): Written while imprisoned for protesting. Responded to
white moderate clergy who argued Black Americans should wait for gradual change: "We know through
painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by
the oppressed."
March on Washington (Aug 28, 1963): 250,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial. "I Have a Dream"
speech — the most famous speech in American history, articulating an integrated America where
people are judged by character, not skin color.
Selma to Montgomery Marches (1965): "Bloody Sunday" (March 7, 1965) — police used clubs and
tear gas against peaceful marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Broadcast on national TV. LBJ went
to Congress eight days later to propose the Voting Rights Act.
Assassination (Apr 4, 1968): Shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupted in
100+ U.S. cities. James Earl Ray convicted of the murder.

Jimmy Carter (1924–2024) — 39th President (1977–1981)

Camp David Accords (1978): Brokered peace between Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli PM
Begin. Egypt recognized Israel's right to exist; Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula. Still holds today —
Carter's greatest achievement and one of the most significant diplomatic accomplishments in Middle
East history.
Iran Hostage Crisis (1979–1981): Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4,
1979) after the Iranian Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah. 52 Americans held hostage for 444
days. Failed military rescue attempt (Operation Eagle Claw, April 1980). Hostages released January 20,
1981 — minutes after Reagan was inaugurated. Carter's inability to free them destroyed his presidency.
Energy Crisis (1979): Iranian Revolution caused a second oil shock — long gas lines, soaring inflation
(14%). Carter gave a famous "malaise" speech urging Americans to conserve energy; installed solar
panels on the White House (Reagan removed them). His honest assessment of American energy
dependence was politically fatal.
1976 / 1980 Elections: Won in 1976 against Gerald Ford — the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam
backlash against Republican government. Lost badly to Reagan in 1980: Carter was punished for the
hostage crisis, inflation, and a general sense that the U.S. was in decline.
▸ Gerald Ford (1974–77): Took office after Nixon's resignation. One month later, pardoned Nixon for all crimes he
"committed or may have committed" as president — extremely controversial, widely believed to have cost Ford
the 1976 election. Otherwise a relatively uneventful presidency focused on economic stagflation.

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) — 40th President (1981–1989)

Reaganomics: Supply-side economics: massive tax cuts (top marginal rate: 70% → 28%),
deregulation of industries, reduced domestic spending, dramatically increased military spending.
Theory: cutting taxes on high earners would stimulate investment that "trickled down" to everyone.
Results: national debt tripled; income inequality grew sharply; but the economy did recover strongly
from the early 1980s recession (1983–1989 expansion).
Cold War Strategy: "Evil Empire" speech (1983) — abandoned détente's careful neutrality, explicitly
framing the Cold War as a moral struggle. Massive military buildup designed partly to economically
exhaust the Soviet Union. Reagan Doctrine: funded anti-communist insurgents globally — Afghan
Mujahideen against Soviet invasion, Nicaraguan Contras against the Sandinista government. Strategic
Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") — proposed missile defense system that the Soviets couldn't afford to
match.
Iran-Contra Affair (revealed 1986): Administration secretly sold weapons to Iran (hoping to free
American hostages held in Lebanon by Iranian-backed groups) and diverted the profits to the
Nicaraguan Contras — directly violating the Boland Amendment, which Congress had passed to ban
Contra aid. National Security Council staffer Oliver North ran the operation and shredded evidence.
Reagan claimed no knowledge of the diversion. Major constitutional crisis — the executive branch had
secretly defied and circumvented Congress.
1980 Election: Reagan defeated Carter 489-49 electoral votes. Built a new coalition: conservative
working-class white "Reagan Democrats" who felt abandoned by a Democratic Party focused on civil
rights and social programs; evangelical Christians (Moral Majority, Jerry Falwell); traditional fiscal
conservatives; business community. Realigned U.S. politics rightward for a generation.
Legacy: The debate about Reaganomics continues: conservatives credit Reagan with ending the Cold
War and reviving the economy; critics point to exploding inequality and debt. Either way, he
fundamentally shifted the center of American politics — even Democrats after Reagan accepted much
of his framework.

George H.W. Bush (1924–2018) — 41st President (1989–1993)

End of Cold War: Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989) — Germans tore it down spontaneously
after the East German government announced travel restrictions were lifted. German reunification
(1990). Soviet Union formally dissolved December 25, 1991. The Cold War was over. Bush managed
the transition with notable diplomatic restraint — no triumphalism that might have provoked a Soviet
military response.
Gulf War (1991): Iraq invaded Kuwait (August 1990). Bush assembled a 34-nation coalition and
secured UN authorization — a model of multilateral action. Operation Desert Storm liberated Kuwait in
100 hours with minimal U.S. casualties. Bush chose not to march on Baghdad and topple Saddam
Hussein — he would have had to occupy Iraq, and the coalition had only authorized liberating Kuwait.

KEY TERMS & CONCEPTS

Amendments 20–27
20th (1933) — "Lame Duck": Moved presidential inauguration from March 4 to January 20; shortened
the post-election "lame duck" period when a defeated president still held full power.
21st (1933): Repealed Prohibition. Only amendment to repeal another.
22nd (1951): Limited presidents to two terms, passed in reaction to FDR's four terms. Eisenhower was
the first president constitutionally barred from a third term.
24th (1964): Abolished the poll tax in federal elections — a key civil rights victory. Poll taxes had been
used specifically to disenfranchise poor Black voters in the South.
25th (1967): Established clear presidential succession: VP becomes president upon death/resignation;
president can nominate a new VP if that office is vacant (both houses confirm). Also provides a
mechanism for removing a president unable to discharge duties. Used immediately: Ford nominated as
VP after Agnew resigned (1973); Ford became president after Nixon resigned (1974); Rockefeller
nominated as Ford's VP.
26th (1971): Lowered the voting age to 18. Driven by the argument: if men are old enough to be drafted
and die in Vietnam, they're old enough to vote. Passed with remarkable speed — ratified in 100 days.
▸ 23rd & 27th: 23rd (1961): gave Washington D.C. 3 electoral votes in presidential elections. 27th (1992):
congressional pay raises can't take effect until after the next House election — originally proposed by James
Madison in 1789, took 203 years to ratify. Neither will be on your exam.

World War II (1939–1945)

U.S. Entry: Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941 — "a date which will live in
infamy" (FDR). Congress declared war on Japan December 8; Germany and Italy declared war on the
U.S. December 11.
European Theater: D-Day (June 6, 1944) — Normandy invasion: largest amphibious assault in history
(~156,000 Allied troops in the first 24 hours). Liberated France; Germany surrendered May 8, 1945
(V-E Day).
Pacific Theater: Island-hopping campaign (Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa — each bloodier than the
last). Atomic bombs on Hiroshima (Aug 6) and Nagasaki (Aug 9, 1945). Japan surrendered August 15
(V-J Day).
Home Front: "Rosie the Riveter" — women entered industrial workforce in massive numbers. War
production ended the Great Depression. Japanese-American Internment (Executive Order 9066, 1942)
— 110,000+ Japanese Americans forced into camps; two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Korematsu v.
United States (1944) — Supreme Court upheld internment, now considered one of the worst decisions
in Court history.
Yalta Conference (Feb 1945): FDR, Churchill, Stalin agreed on German occupation zones, Soviet
entry into the Pacific War, UN creation, and free elections in Eastern Europe. Stalin violated the last
provision — installing puppet communist governments across Eastern Europe instead. This betrayal
launched the Cold War.
▸ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): Drafted by a UN commission led by Eleanor Roosevelt. 30
articles asserting basic rights for all people. Not legally binding but profoundly influential on international law and
subsequent human rights movements.

The Cold War

Definition: Ideological, political, and military competition between the U.S. (capitalism/liberal
democracy) and the USSR (communism) from ~1947–1991. No direct military conflict between
superpowers — both had nuclear weapons, making direct war suicidal (MAD: Mutually Assured
Destruction).
Containment: George Kennan's strategy ("Long Telegram," 1946; "X Article," 1947): the U.S. must
patiently but firmly prevent Soviet expansion wherever it occurs — not try to roll back existing Soviet
power, but contain it. This became the foundation of U.S. foreign policy for 40 years.
Iron Curtain: Churchill's phrase (Fulton, Missouri, 1946): "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the
Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe —
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany — was sealed off from the West.
NATO (1949): North Atlantic Treaty Organization — mutual defense pact: an attack on one member is
treated as an attack on all. First U.S. peacetime military alliance in history. Soviet response: Warsaw
Pact (1955).
Arms Race / Space Race: Both superpowers built vast nuclear arsenals. MAD kept the peace — the
logic that nuclear war would destroy both sides made it unthinkable. Space Race: USSR launched
Sputnik (first satellite, October 4, 1957) — shocked America. U.S. created NASA (1958). Apollo 11
moon landing (July 20, 1969) — Neil Armstrong's "one giant leap for mankind" — U.S. won the race.

The Korean War (1950–1953)

Context: Korea divided at the 38th parallel after WWII: communist North (Soviet-backed) and
democratic South (U.S.-backed). North Korea invaded South June 25, 1950 with Soviet and Chinese
backing.
U.S. Response: Truman committed troops under UN authority — technically a "police action," not a
declared war. General MacArthur commanded.
Inchon Landing (Sept 1950): Brilliant amphibious assault behind North Korean lines. Pushed North
Koreans back to the Chinese border — at which point China entered the war with 300,000 troops
(November 1950). The war bogged down near the original 38th parallel.
MacArthur Firing (April 1951): MacArthur publicly demanded authority to bomb China and potentially
use nuclear weapons — directly defying Truman's limited-war strategy. Truman fired him. Established
the crucial constitutional principle of civilian control over the military. MacArthur returned home to a
hero's welcome; the controversy raged but Truman's authority prevailed.
Armistice (July 27, 1953): Signed roughly along the original 38th parallel. No formal peace treaty has
ever been signed. Korea remains divided today. ~36,000 Americans dead. Called "The Forgotten War"
— sandwiched between WWII and Vietnam.

Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962)

Discovery: U.S. U-2 spy plane photographs showed Soviet nuclear missiles under construction in
Cuba — capable of striking most major U.S. cities with almost no warning time.
Kennedy's Response: 13-day standoff. ExComm (Executive Committee) debated options: airstrike,
invasion, blockade. Kennedy chose a naval "quarantine" (blockade), avoiding the more aggressive
options that could immediately start nuclear war.
Resolution: Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles; Kennedy pledged the U.S. would not invade Cuba
and secretly agreed to later remove American Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Both sides stepped back
from the brink.
Significance: Closest the Cold War came to nuclear war. Demonstrated both sides' willingness to
ultimately compromise to avoid catastrophe. Led directly to: the Moscow-Washington Hotline ("red
phone"), the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963), and eventually SALT negotiations.

Civil Rights Movement

Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court unanimously ruled racial segregation in public
schools unconstitutional — overturning Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) "separate but equal." Chief Justice
Warren: "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Southern states responded with
"massive resistance" — some governors closed public schools entirely rather than integrate.
Montgomery to Selma: Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) — see MLK section. Little Rock Crisis
(1957) — Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to escort nine Black students into Central High School
after Arkansas's governor used the National Guard to block integration. Greensboro Sit-Ins (1960) —
Black college students refused to leave a "whites only" Woolworth's lunch counter; movement spread to
50+ cities within weeks. All built toward the legislative victories of 1964–65.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: Banned discrimination in public accommodations and employment based on
race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Created the EEOC. The most significant domestic legislation
since Reconstruction. LBJ used his congressional expertise and Kennedy's martyrdom to push it
through despite massive Southern Democratic opposition.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Banned discriminatory voting practices; authorized federal oversight of
elections in states with discrimination histories. Direct result of Bloody Sunday at Selma (March 7,
1965). Immediately transformed Southern politics — millions of Black voters registered for the first time.
Southern states began their long transition from solidly Democratic to solidly Republican as white
conservatives left the Democratic Party.
Brown v. Board in Practice: The decision was handed down in 1954 but meaningful integration in the
South didn't occur until the late 1960s and 1970s — nearly two decades later — showing the gap
between legal rights and lived reality.

Vietnam War & Protest

Escalation: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (August 1964) — Congress authorized military force. U.S. troop
levels: 16,000 (1963) → 500,000 (1968). The government consistently claimed the U.S. was winning.
Tet Offensive (Jan 1968): Massive coordinated attacks on 100+ South Vietnamese cities during the
Tet (New Year) holiday ceasefire. Militarily repelled by the U.S. and South Vietnam — but politically
catastrophic. Americans had been told the war was nearly won; Tet showed it wasn't. The "credibility
gap" destroyed public trust in the government. Walter Cronkite — America's most trusted TV journalist
— declared the war a "stalemate." LBJ didn't seek reelection.
Kent State (May 4, 1970): National Guard killed 4 students and wounded 9 at Kent State University,
Ohio, during protests against Nixon's invasion of Cambodia. The shootings — of Americans by their
own government on a college campus — galvanized the anti-war movement. 450+ universities shut
down in protest.
End of War: Paris Peace Accords (January 1973) — U.S. withdrew all forces. South Vietnam fell to
North Vietnam April 30, 1975. ~58,000 Americans dead; ~2 million Vietnamese dead. The war
profoundly damaged American confidence in government and military, the military's confidence in itself,
and cost the U.S. its aura of invincibility.

Watergate Scandal (1972–1974)

The Break-In: June 17, 1972: five men arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee
headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. They were connected to CREEP — the
Committee to Re-Elect the President — and had already bugged phones and stolen documents.
The Cover-Up: Nixon used the CIA, FBI, hush money, and obstruction to hide White House
involvement. The cover-up was worse than the crime. Saturday Night Massacre (October 1973): Nixon
fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox rather than turn over subpoenaed White House tape recordings;
Attorney General and Deputy AG resigned rather than carry out the order.
The Fall: The White House tape recordings (Nixon had secretly recorded all Oval Office conversations)
revealed Nixon himself ordering obstruction of justice six days after the break-in. Facing certain Senate
conviction, Nixon resigned August 9, 1974 — the only president in U.S. history to resign. Gerald Ford
pardoned him one month later.
Legacy: Deepened American cynicism about government that Vietnam had already begun. "-gate"
suffix (Irangate, Deflategate) entered the language permanently. Campaign finance reform. FISA
courts. Inspector General Act. The word "Watergate" became shorthand for government corruption and
cover-up.

Postwar World — Yalta, UN, Iron Curtain

Yalta (Feb 1945): FDR, Churchill, Stalin met in Crimea. Agreed on: German occupation zones; Soviet
entry into Pacific War; UN creation; free elections in Eastern Europe. The free elections provision was
immediately violated by Stalin, setting up the Cold War.
United Nations (1945): Founded in San Francisco; charter signed June 26, 1945. Replaced the failed
League of Nations. Security Council structure: U.S., USSR, UK, France, China hold permanent seats
with veto power — meaning no major power can be overruled.
Iron Curtain (1946): Churchill's Fulton, Missouri speech: Soviet domination of Eastern Europe
represented a new division of the continent. Marked the public beginning of the Cold War in Western
consciousness.

Environmentalism
Rachel Carson — Silent Spring (1962): Documented the devastating ecological effects of pesticides
(especially DDT) on wildlife and food chains. Launched the modern environmental movement. Led
directly to the ban on DDT (1972) and fundamentally changed how Americans thought about
humanity's relationship to nature.
Earth Day & EPA (1970): First Earth Day (April 22, 1970) — 20 million Americans participated. Nixon
created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December 1970. Clean Air Act (1970), Clean
Water Act (1972). Nixon was no environmentalist — he created the EPA because the political pressure
was overwhelming.

Women's Rights — Second Wave (1960s–70s)

The Feminine Mystique (1963): Betty Friedan's book challenged the ideal of women as housewives.
Argued women were systematically denied meaningful work and public lives. Became the founding text
of second-wave feminism.
Key Legislation: Equal Pay Act (1963): equal pay for equal work regardless of sex. Title VII of Civil
Rights Act (1964): banned sex discrimination in employment — ironically added by opponents who
thought it would make the bill too radical to pass. Roe v. Wade (1973): Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that
the Constitution (14th Amendment) protected a woman's right to abortion. One of the most contested
decisions in U.S. history — overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged on
account of sex." Passed Congress 1972; never ratified by 3/4 of states. Deadline expired 1982.
Opposition led by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, who argued it would eliminate legal protections
women already had.

Reaganomics & Foreign Policies 1980s

Supply-Side Theory: Tax cuts at the top stimulate investment → growth → jobs → tax revenue that
makes up for the cuts ("Laffer Curve"). In practice: national debt tripled, income inequality grew
substantially. Economy did recover strongly 1983–1989 after a deep early recession.
Iran-Contra: See Reagan section above. Core constitutional issue: the executive branch secretly
funded a war Congress had explicitly forbidden. The Boland Amendment (1982) banned Contra aid; the
NSC (National Security Council) under Oliver North found a workaround using Iranian arms sale profits.
Reagan avoided impeachment; North's conviction was overturned on a technicality.
Cold War End: Reagan's military buildup, combined with Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms (glasnost —
openness; perestroika — restructuring), destabilized and ultimately dissolved the Soviet Union. The
debate: did Reagan's pressure cause the collapse, or did Gorbachev's reforms? Both played a role.