LUSITANIA
The Lusitania was a British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The unrestricted submarine warfare caused the U.S. to enter World War I against the Germans.
Sussex
Germany agreed not to sink unarmed passenger ships with out warning. They violated this in 1916 when they torpedoed this French passenger ship. Wilson threatened to break diplomatic relations because of this.
Federal Trade Commission
A committee formed to investigate industries engaging in interstate commerce. It was created to stop unfair trade practices and to regulate and crush monopolies.
Clayton Act
This helped to control monopolies by lengthening the Sherman Act's list of business practices that were objectionable (interlocking directorates). It exempted labor and agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution; legalized strikes and peaceful picketing.
Federal Farm Loan Act
Passed by president Wilson in 1916. Was originally a reform wanted by the Populist party. It gave farmers the chance to get credit at low rates of interest.
Jones Act
Jones Act (1916): signed by President Wilson, it granted territorial status to the Philippines and promised to grant independence as soon as a stable government was established.
Allies
Composed of France, Britain, and Russia, and later Japan and Italy, the Allies fought the Central Powers in World War I. The United States joined the Allies in 1917, and after major economic and military blows, World War I ended with the Treaty of Versailles.
Federal Reserve Act
The most important piece of economic legislation between the Civil War and the New Deal. It created a regulatory agency for banking with 12 regional reserve districts. Each bank was independent but was controlled by the Federal Reserve Board, which was controlled by the public. The Federal Reserve controls the amount of money in circulation through reserves and interest rates.
Charles Evans Hughes
He was a Republican governor of New York who was a reformer. He was later a supreme court justice who ran for President against Woodrow Wilson in 1916. The Democrats said that if Hughes won then the country would end up going to war. Hughes lost a very close race for the position to Wilson.
New Nationalism
Progressive policy of Theodore Roosevelt--1912 Progressive party platform--favored a more active government role in economic and social affairs--favored continued consolidation of trusts and labor unions and the growth of powerful regulatory agencies in Washington--favored women's suffrage and social welfare programs (including minimum-wage laws and "socialistic" social insurance).
New Freedom
Wilson's policy that favored the small business, entrepreneurship, and the free functioning of unregulated and unmonopolized markets.
Underwood Tariff (1913)
The Underwood Tariff, substantially reduced import fees. Lost tax revenue would be replaced with an income tax that was implemented with the 16th amendment.
Sixteenth Amendment
It was adopted in 1913 and stated that Congress shall have the power to lay and collect income taxes. This amendment was passed because earlier the Supreme Court had declared that an income tax was unconstitutional. It was part of the progressive movement. It was created to shift the burden of taxes to the wealthy.
Louis D. Brandeis
A prominent reformer and Attorney in "Muller vs. Oregon" (1908) that persuaded Supreme Court to accept constitutionality of laws protecting women workers saying conditions are harder on women's weaker bodies. Wrote book "Other People's Money and How Bankers use it" (1914) that pushed reform within the banks. Nominated in 1916 by Woodrow Wilson for Supreme Court.
Venustiano Carranza
He became president of Mexico in 1914. He succeeded the harsh President Huerta. President Carranza at first supported Wilson's sending General Pershing into Mexico to look for the criminal Pancho Villa, but when he saw the number of troops he became outraged and opposed Wilson.
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa was a combination of a bandit and a Robin Hood. He was a rival of President Carranza of Mexico. He alluded Pershing and was never caught because Pershing was forced to go fight in WWI.
John J. Pershing
Pershing was an American general who led troops against "Pancho" Villa in 1916. He took on the Meuse-Argonne offensive in 1918 which was one of the longest lasting battles- 47 days in World War I. He was the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Ruler of Germany; congratulated the Boers of South Africa for capturing a British raiding party; this turned British anger toward Germany and prevented a war between the US and Britain over the Venezuelan Crisis
Central Powers
During WWI, the powers opposing the Allies. These countries included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
Woodrow Wilson
The Democratic representative in the presidential elections of 1912 and 1916. He was elected into the presidency as a minority president. He was born in Virginia and was raised in a very religious family. He was widely known for his political sermons. He was an aggressive leader and believed that Congress could not function properly without good leadership provided by the president. His progressive program was known as New Freedom and his foreign policy program was Moral Diplomacy. He was president during World War I.
Herbert Croly
He favored the regulation of trusts and labor unions with a strong national government and inspired the book The Promise of American Life
Eugene Debs
Represented the Socialist Party in the 1908 and 1912 elections; high number of votes in the 1912 election made Socialists think that they would win the presidency in 1916
