Assessment 3

Pacific Railway Act (1862)

Legislation that promoted the construction of the United States' first transcontinental railroad.

Homestead Act (1862)

Encouraged western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land in exchange for a nominal fee.

Comstock Lode

The first major U.S. discovery of silver ore located in Nevada.

Turner’s Frontier Thesis

Argument by historian Frederick Jackson Turner that the American character was shaped by the frontier experience.

Sand Creek Massacre

An attack on a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho by Colorado U.S. Volunteer Cavalry in 1864.

Wounded Knee Massacre

An 1890 confrontation between U.S. cavalry and Sioux that resulted in the death of over 250 Native Americans.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Law that suspended Chinese immigration to the United States, reflecting anti-Chinese sentiment.

Dawes Act (1887)

Legislation aimed at assimilating Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land.

Jim Crow laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States.

Plessy v. Ferguson

A landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Booker T. Washington

Civil rights activist who advocated for vocational education and economic self-reliance.

Ida B. Wells

African American journalist and activist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States.

W.E.B. Dubois

Civil rights activist who championed the need for higher education and political activism among African Americans.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, aimed at fighting for civil rights and social justice.

Progressive Movement

A social and political reform movement in the early 20th century aimed at addressing issues of inequality and corruption.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed social ills and corrupt practices, particularly during the Progressive Era.

Jingoism

Patriotic fervor that often promotes aggressive foreign policy.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized news reporting that exaggerates or misrepresents events to attract readers.

Spanish American War

A conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, resulting in U.S. acquisition of territories.

USS Maine

The U.S. battleship whose sinking in Havana Harbor sparked the Spanish-American War.

Roosevelt Corollary (1904)

Addition to the Monroe Doctrine asserting the U.S. right to intervene in Latin America.

Zimmerman Telegram

A secret diplomatic communication sent by Germany proposing a military alliance with Mexico during WWI.

Lusitania

British ocean liner sunk by a German U-boat, contributing to U.S. entry into WWI.

Espionage and Sedition Act

Laws that imposed severe penalties for anti-war activities during World War I.

18th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.

League of Nations

An international organization established after World War I to promote peace and cooperation among countries.

19th Amendment

Constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote in the United States.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York, in the 1920s.

Red Scare

The promotion of widespread fear by a society or state about a potential rise of communism.

Great Migration

The movement of over a million African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North from 1916 to 1970.

New Deal

A series of programs and reforms introduced by Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression.

Cash and Carry

Policy permitting the sale of goods to warring nations, allowing them to pay cash and transport goods themselves.

Selective Service Act

1917 law that required men to register for military service.

Korematsu v. United States

Supreme Court case that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII as a wartime necessity.

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. government project during WWII to develop atomic bombs.

D-Day

The Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, a pivotal battle in WWII.

Tuskegee Airmen

The first African American military aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Navajo Code Talkers

Native Americans who used their languages as a code during WWII to send secret communications.

Bonus Army

A group of WWI veterans who marched on Washington, D.C., in 1932 to demand early payment of a bonus.