many middle and upper-class families knew little about immigrants problems. jacob riis a danish immigrant-and a photographer and journalist-exposed the suffering experienced by many immigrants. riis's work, how the other half lives, published in 1890, helped people realize that government action was necessary to improve conditions in city slums. image
recently voted (42) - page 3
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jacob riis
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washington crossing the delaware
emanuel leutze's painting depicting general george washington leading troops across the frozen delaware river to attack the british at trenton is an idealized view of a great moment in american history. washington is shown standing, which would have been dangerous, since it would have unbalanced the boat. plus, the painting shows the wrong kind of boat and a flag that had not yet been created.
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delorean motor company
very expensive sports car manufactured only in 1981 and 1982, became a symbol of new wealth in the 1980s.
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bill clinton
was the first democratic president to win reelection since franklin roosevelt.
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mobile phone
they weighed as much as two pounds at the beginning.
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ghetto
a section of a city occupied by a minority group. ghettos are often formed because of social, economic, or legal pressure. the first ghetto was founded in venice, italy, in 1516 to forcibly restrict the movement of jews.
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cryptocurrency
onlyfans-like place to make money. but for nerds instead of models.
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thanksgiving
the first thanksgiving was a feast shared by the pilgrims in new england and the wampanoag indians native to the area. they enjoyed the harvest that the indians had taught the pilgrims to grow.
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lame duck
during the period between the election and inauguration of a new official, the current office holder becomes known as a lame duck. the origin of the expression is unknown.
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phillis wheatley
brought to boston as an eight-year-old slavery in 1761, phillis was bought by the wheatley family to serve in their house. the wheatleys saw how bright she was, and gave her an education. phillis became a writer; when she was 20, book of her poetry made her famous. the wheatleys gave her both her freedom and their name, and her achievement as the first slave to publish a book inspired free blacks for many years.
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zimmermann telegram
in january 1917, the german government sent a coded telegram to mexico's government proposing a military alliance between the two countries. germany suggested that mexico should support them if the united states entered world war 1. in return, they promised to return texas, arizona, and new mexico to mexico if germany won the war. this secret telegram was intercepted by british intelligence, who broke the code, and americans were enraged by germany's plans. in march that year, german foreign secretary arthur zimmermann finally confirmed the telegram was real, which encouraged support in america for entering the war.
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open door policy
in the late 1800s, each of the great powers of europe – great britain, germany, france, and russia — was eager to increase business opportunities in china, the world's most populous nation and a potentially huge market for trade in order to avoid conflict, the european leaders agreed to carve the country into "spheres of influence”-specific geographic regions, or spheres, of china in which each nation controlled trade.
secretary of state john hay, concerned that u.s. merchants might be shut out, sent a series of "open door notes" to the european powers in 1899 and 1900, asking them to respect china's territory and independence. the leaders agreed to america's open door policy to avoid a confrontation. china opposed the policy because the foreign influence was considered excessive. it led to the boxer rebellion of 1900, which the u.s. later helped suppress.