Summer Vocab

Bureau of Indian Affairs

A U.S. government agency that manages relations with Native American tribes.

Treaty of Medicine Lodge

A series of treaties in 1867 aimed at moving Native American tribes onto reservations.

Sitting Bull

A famous Lakota Sioux chief known for resisting U.S. government policies and leading his people at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Crazy Horse

A Lakota war leader who played a key role in the resistance against U.S. military forces, including at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

George Custer

A U.S. Army officer famous for his defeat and death at the Battle of Little Big Horn, also known as "Custer's Last Stand."

Chief Joseph

A leader of the Nez Perce tribe who led his people on a famous retreat to avoid being placed on a reservation.

Wounded Knee

The site of a massacre in 1890 where U.S. troops killed hundreds of Lakota Sioux, marking the end of the Indian Wars.

Little Big Horn

A battle in 1876 where the Sioux and Cheyenne defeated General Custer's forces, a major victory for Native Americans.

Helen Hunt Jackson

An American writer and activist who advocated for Native American rights, best known for her book "A Century of Dishonor."

Frederick Jackson Turner

A historian who proposed the Frontier Hypothesis, arguing that the American frontier shaped the nation's character.

Frontier Hypothesis

The idea that the existence of the frontier helped shape American democracy and culture, proposed by Frederick Jackson Turner.

Dawes General Allotment Act

A law in 1887 aimed to assimilate Native Americans by dividing tribal lands into individual plots.

The Long Walk

The forced march of the Navajo people to a reservation in 1864, resulting in many deaths.

Great American Desert

A term used in the 19th century to describe the arid and treeless Great Plains region.

Dry Farming

An agricultural technique used in arid regions that relies on moisture conservation to grow crops without irrigation.

Sod Houses

Homes built from sod by settlers on the Great Plains due to the lack of trees for wood.

Barbed Wire

Helped farmers fence in their land, ending the open range and changing land use on the Plains.

Long Drives

Cattle drives where cowboys herded cattle from Texas to railheads in Kansas for shipment to the East.

Seward’s Folly

The nickname for the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, initially seen as a foolish move.

Comstock Lode

A rich deposit of silver discovered in Nevada in 1859, leading to a mining boom.

Klondike Gold Rush

A gold rush that began in 1896 in the Klondike region of Canada, drawing thousands of prospectors.

Thomas Nast

A political cartoonist known for exposing corruption, including his cartoons about Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall.

Political Machines

Organizations that control political parties in cities, often through corruption and patronage.

Boss Tweed

The leader of Tammany Hall, a political machine in New York City, known for corrupt practices.

Graft

The illegal use of political influence for personal gain, often through bribery or embezzlement.

Tammany Hall

A powerful political machine in New York City associated with corruption and led by Boss Tweed.

Roscoe Conkling

A powerful Republican senator and leader of the Stalwarts, a faction opposing civil service reform.

James Blaine

A leading Republican politician associated with the Half-Breeds, a faction supporting civil service reform.

Stalwarts

A faction of the Republican Party that opposed civil service reform and supported the patronage system.

Half-Breeds

A faction of the Republican Party that supported civil service reform and opposed the Stalwarts.

Mugwumps

Republicans who broke with their party in the 1884 election to support Democrat Grover Cleveland due to corruption concerns.

Farm Alliance

A network of farmers' organizations in the late 19th century that sought to improve economic conditions for farmers.

Populist Party

A political party in the late 19th century that represented farmers and laborers, advocating for reforms like bimetallism.

Bimetallism

A monetary system where the value of currency is based on both gold and silver.

Referendum

A process allowing citizens to vote directly on laws or policies rather than through elected representatives.

Recall

A procedure allowing voters to remove an elected official from office before the end of their term.

Gold Standard

A monetary system where a country's currency is directly tied to a specific amount