Unit 4 Vocab Words and Definitions PDF

deficit spending: government spending more money than it receives. credit: an arrangement in which a buyer pays later for a purchase, often on installments and with interest charges. speculation: involvement in risky business transactions in order to make a quick profit. buying on margin: the pur...

deficit spending: government spending more money than it receives. credit: an arrangement in which a buyer pays later for a purchase, often on installments and with interest charges. speculation: involvement in risky business transactions in order to make a quick profit. buying on margin: the purchasing of stocks by paying only a small amount of the price and borrowing the rest. shantytown: a neighborhood in which people live in makeshift shacks. deflation: a decrease in the price level of goods and services. nonaggression pact: an agreement in which two nations promise not to go to war with each other. totalitarianism: government system characteristic that exercises complete control over its citizens’ lives. fascism: political movement that believes in a strong national government headed by a dictator. Nazism: political movement based on extreme nationalism and racism that was supported by Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. appeasement: the granting of concessions to a hostile power in order to keep the peace. blitzkrieg: sudden, massive attack intended to achieve a quick victory. concentration camp: a prison system operated by the Nazis in which Jews and others were forced into slave labor and murdered. genocide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a group of people. ghetto: a city in which a minority group is forced to live. kamikaze: engaging in the deliberate crashing of an airplane into a military target. island hopping: the strategy of the Allies during WWII of capturing small pieces of territory in order to move closer to Japan. Dow Jones Industrial: a measure based on the prices of stocks of the 30 largest companies, used to determine the financial health of the stock market. Black Tuesday: the name given to the stock market crash of 1929. Great Depression: the worst economic period in American history, lasting throughout the 1930s. Dust Bowl: drought and dust storms that hit the middle of the country during the 1930s. New Deal: FDR’s plan to move the country out of the Great Depression. Securities Exchange Commission: a government agency that monitors the stock market and enforces laws regulating the buying and selling of stocks. Social Security Act: a law that provided aid to the elderly, unemployed, people with disabilities, and families with children. Smoot-Hawley Tariff: the highest tax ever by the U.S. on imported goods, it was designed to restrict international trade and to encourage Americans to buy American products. Hoovervilles: poor shantytowns built during Depression, named after the president at the time whom Americans blamed for the country’s problems. FDIC: an agency created to insure individuals’ bank accounts, protecting people against losses due to bank failure. Bonus Army: a group of WWI veterans who marched to Washington demanding payment for their military service. 21st Amendment: the law that overturned the 18th Amendment, allowing again for the legalized selling of alcohol. National Labor Relations Board: an agency created to prevent unfair labor practices and to mediate disputes between workers and management. Holocaust: a genocide in which over 11 million people, including Jews and others, were exterminated by Nazi Germany. Kristallnacht: the name given to an event in 1938 in which gangs of Nazis attacked Jewish homes, businesses and communities. Neutrality Act: a series of laws in 1935 and 1936 to prevent American military sales to countries at war. Lend-Lease Act: law passed in 1941 that allowed the U.S. loan or sell weapons to the Allies during WWII. Japanese internment camps: Executive Order 9066, it ordered all Americans of Japanese descent to detention centers for the duration of World War II. Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps: army unit created during WWII that allowed women to serve in noncombat positions. “Double V” Campaign: the idea that black Americans should fight both against the Nazis in Europe and racism at home at the same time. Atlantic Charter: an agreement in which the Allies set a plan of action for how it would defeat the Axis Powers. Manhattan Project: a secret U.S. program to develop an atomic bomb. Allies: World War II team consisting of England, France, U.S. and Soviet Union. Axis Powers: World War II team consisting of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Italy. War Production Board: an agency that coordinated the production of military supplies by U.S. industries. Zoot Suit Riots: an incident in Los Angeles in 1943 when armed navy sailors attacked dozens of Hispanic Americans in one of the largest racial riots of the decade. D-Day: the name given to the invasion of Nazi-occupied France by the Allies in June 1944. Korematsu v. U.S.: a Supreme Court case that allowed for the forced relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps. Nuremberg Trials: a series of trials after WWII in which many former Nazis were convicted of war crimes. United Nations: an international peacekeeping organization created after WWII. bread line/soup kitchen: charity lines that fed needy people during the Great Depression.