Glossary

American Passages: A History of the United States, Brief, 1st Edition
Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund

Day of Infamy: Refers to the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Used as a rallying cry throughout the war for many Americans.

Directory: The five-member revolutionary committee of France that replaced the beheaded king, Louis XVI.

Doctrine of Separate Spheres: Asserted that there existed a male sphere: work, politics, and sexual passion. The female sphere was one of domesticity, moral education, and sexual reproduction. Men and women were to remain in their own spheres, meaning that men and women spent substantial portions of their lives apart from each other.

dark horse: A candidate nominated at a political convention who had not been a serious contender before the convention. The first dark horse candidate for president was James J. Polk.

de-skill: In the post-Vietnam years, a great number of jobs were downgraded from skilled to semiskilled or unskilled. A growing number of Americans became unemployed because the jobs for which they were trained no longer existed.

deficit spending: In an effort to stimulate the economy, the government spends borrowed money rather than money raised from taxes.

deflation: A decline in consumer prices or a rise in the purchasing power of money.

deism: The belief that God created the universe but did not intervene in its affairs.

demagoguery: The act of appealing to the emotions and prejudices of people, often to get elected to office.

detente: An easing of tensions among countries; usually leads to increased economic, diplomatic, and other types of contacts between former rivals.

direct election of senators: Senators would be elected by the people rather than selected by state legislatures, requiring an amendment to the Constitution.

direct primary: This primary enabled the voters instead of party bosses to choose party candidates for office.

dirty tricks: Actions designed to destroy the reputation or credibility of political opponents.

dissenter: A person who disagrees openly with the majority opinion.

dollar diplomacy: A phrase used to describe the foreign policies of Secretary of State Philander C. Knox under President William H. Taft. This type of diplomacy focused on expanding American investments abroad, especially in Latin America and China.

domestic fiction: Books and articles that concentrated on household and domestic life. Often very sentimental, they emphasized the toil and travails of women and children. Usually they had a strong female character who overcame adversity in the end. The greatest appeal of this type of literature was to middle-class women.

domestic market: Items sold within the country (the United States).

doughboys: American soldiers during World War I. The term possibly originated with the large buttons on American military uniforms of the 1860s. The buttons resembled fried bread dough.

doughface: A northern man with southern principles or sympathies.

doves: Traditional term for those opposed to military action. In the late twentieth century, doves were people who wanted to end U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.

dower rights: The right of a widow to a portion of her deceased husband's estate (usually one third of the value of the estate). It was passed to their children upon her death.

down time: The period between production steps.

dowry: The cash or goods a woman received from her father when she married.

drawbacks: As used by the railroads, drawbacks were a form of rebate offered to very special customers. Rebates were paid even on competitors' shipments.