SEMESTER 1 HISTORY VOCAB

Freedman’s Bureau

A federal agency created to provide aid for freed enslaved people

13th Amendment

This amendment abolishes slavery

Radical Republican

A group of republican political leaders dedicated to imposing harsh conditions on the confederate states during the reconstruction after the civil war

14th Amendment

This amendment garuntees equal protection under law for African Americans

15th Amendment

This amendment gives all adult males the right to vote

KKK

A terrorist group devoted to restricting the rights of African Americans and maintain white superiority by intimidating, abusing, and killing

Jim Crow Laws

State laws that required the separation of white and black, placed limits on access to voting through the literacy test, poll tax, and the grandfather clause

Compromise of 1877

This ended reconstruction and democrats agreed to Rutherford B. Hayes becoming president and in exchange agreed to remove all remaining federal troops from the south

Plessy vs Ferguson

A court case where Supreme Court said segregation did not violate the 14th amendment if there were separate but equal facilities for whites and blacks

Booker T. Washington

He was born into slavery and poverty following emancipation. Promoted education for black students and encouraged blacks to accept segregation and instead work on themselves through education and economic opportunities

WEB DuBois

An American educator, reformer, and champion of civil rights. He was best known for his book where he criticized the approaches of Booker T Washington.

Exoduster

Black Americans who left, primarily in 1879, the south to seek a better life in the west. Most went to Kansas and Oklahoma

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the US was destined by God‘s will to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific

Homestead Act

A law that, I almost no cost, land plots of 160 acres to anyone willing to live on it for five years, build a home, and grow crops

Transcontinental Railroad

Rail link between the eastern and western US

Reservation

Public lands were Native Americans were required to live by the federal government

Sitting Bull

War chief, an important spiritual leader, who became the first ever chief of all the Lakota Sioux bands. Lived on a reservation where he was killed by police sent to arrest him after surrendering to the army

Battle of little big horn

Battle where the Sue defeated US Army troops

Asssimilation

Absorbed into the main culture of a society

Dawes Act

Law that divided reservation land into private family plots

Wounded Knee

Confrontation between US Calvary and Sioux that marked the end of Indian resistance

Open Range System

 A method of ranching where the rancher allowed his or her livestock to roam a vast area of grassland

Las Gorras Blancas

Group of Mexican Americans, living in New Mexico, who attempted to protect their land and way of life from encroachment by white land owners

Billy the kid

Young teen, who became an elusive, icon of outlawry and was the center of the Lincoln County war in New Mexico

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason and individualism over faith tradition

Consent of the governed

The authority to rule comes from the people the government serves

Natural rights

Life, liberty, and property could never be taken away or even voluntarily given up by individuals

Social contract

A ruler had to protect his/her citizens natural rights and if they don’t the citizens had the right to establish a new government

Declaration of independence

The official breaking of the US’s ties Great Britain adopted by the second continental congress in 1776

Northwest ordinance

A plan for governing this territory, creating new states, prohibited slavery and guaranteed religious freedom and trial by jury

Articles of confederation

Adopted by continental congress November of 1777 this was a new weak government that favored state sovereignty

Successes and failures of the articles of confederation

Successes- The adoption of the northwest ordinance of 1787 and the adoption of the resolution calling for the constitutional convention of 1787. Failures- Had no power to act directly on individuals and no power over interstate commerce, States began to tax goods from other states

The Constitution

The fundamental law of the United States that establishes the structure and powers of the federal government and guarantees the rights and freedoms of the citizens also created the three branches of government

Federalism

When power is shared between state and national governments

Federalist

They supported the constitution and believed in more power with the national government and a central authority

3 branches of government

Separated powers into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to avoid misuse of power

Great compromise

Settled differences between the Virginia and New Jersey plans by creating a two house legislature, house and senate.

3/5 compromise

1787 agreement at the Constitutional Convention that counted three out of every five enslaved people for state population, which determined a state's representation in congress and its taxation

Anti federalist

They did not support the constitution because they thought it gave too much power to the national government and not enough to the state governments

Debate over ratification

The fight between federalists and anti federalists about whether or not to ratify the constitution

Bill of rights

this document protects a wide range of personal freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of press

Rights of free expression

You’re allowed to say what you want, Publish what you want, and have meetings or protest

Rights of the accused

4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments, Rights to those who are accused or incriminated that they must be given their rights to a fair and speedy trial, no double Jeopardy, no unreasonable, search and seizure, and the right to plead the 5th.

Rights of property

The government cannot take your property or belongings without due process

Visa

Official permission from a country that allows a person to from another country try to enter, live, or work there for a certain amount of time

Push factor

Anything that would drive some out of their country or home

Pull factor

Anything that would draw someone out of their country to another country

New immigrants

Southern and Eastern European immigrants who arrived in a great wave between 1880 and 1920

Old immigrants

Northern and Western European immigrants

Steerage

Third class accommodations on a steamship

Ellis island

Island in New York harbor that served as an immigration station for millions of immigrants arriving in the U.S.

Angel Island

Immigrant processing station that opened in San Francisco Bay in 1910, often held immigrants for a weeks, months, or sometimes years

Melting pot

Society where different nationalities assimilate to form one culture

Nativism

Inclination to favor native inhabitants over immigrants

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law that prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers

1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement

An agreement with Japan to regulate and protect Japanese immigrants, Japan only sent the rich and educated, unskilled and laborers were held back

Urbanization

Movement of people from rural to urban areas; expansion of cities and/or an increase in the number of people living in them

Rural-to-Urban Migrant

People who move from an agricultural area to a city

Skyscraper

Very tall buildings to expand upward

Elisha Otis

American who invented the safety elevator in 1852, first designed for freight but was adapted for passengers. Also made a steam powered one

Mass transit

Public transportation systems that carry large numbers of people

Suburb

Residential area on the edge of a city or a large town

Frederick Law Olmsted

An influential American landscape architect who designed Central Park in NYC. Also contributed to the preservation of the Yosemite in California, the park spaces around Niagara Falls, and system of public parks in Boston

Tenement

Multistory buildings divided into apartments to house as many as possible, typically for the poor

Cholera

A severe bacterial infection of the small intestine that causes dehydration, usually caused by drinking contaminated water

Industrial Revolution

period of major technological, and social change that transformed economies from agrarian and handcraft based to industrial and machine based.

Laissez Faire

The absence of government control over personal and economic life

Horizontal Integration

System of consolidating many firms in the same business

Vertical Integration

System of consolidating firms involved in all steps of a product manufacturing

Corporation

Company recognized as a legal unit that has rights and liabilities separate from each of its members

Mass production

Production of goods in large numbers through the use of machinery and assembly lines

Monopoly

Exclusive control by one company over an entire industry

John D. Rockefeller

An American industrialist and philanthropist who started the standard oil company and dominated the oil industry with innovative, aggressive business practices. Also contributed money to many causes like the Rockefeller foundation.

Trust

group of separate companies that are placed under the control of a single managing board in order to form a monopoly

Andrew Carnegie

American industrialist and philanthropist began Carnegie steel corporation that dominated the American steel industry, created charitable, trust foundations, and provided money for cultural and educational institutions

Sherman antitrust act

1890 law banning any trust that restrained interstate trade or commerce

Sweatshop

Small factories where employees have to work long hours under poor conditions for little pay

Collective bargaining

Process in which employees negotiate with labor unions about our wages another working conditions

Socialism

System or theory which the means of production are publicly controlled and regulated, rather than owned by individuals

Haymarket riot

1886 labor related protest in Chicago, which ended in deadly violence and the public blamed all on the labor movement, anarchists, and socialists

Homestead strike

1892 strike against Carnegie steel workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, workers were forced to accept longer days and lower wages by National Guard

Pullman strike

violent 1894 railway workers strike, which began outside of Chicago and spread nation wide, led to rising public awareness of America’s labor movement

Pattern of outcomes for labor strikes

labor unions became associated with radical ideas and violence, workers lose, business owners get support from the government, union survived, but membership declined in most cases.

Jacob Riis

Danish immigrant and who took photos on night life in the slums as the crime reporter for the New York Evening Sun. But then published the photos in his book, How the Other Half Lives. The photos moved Roosevelt to take up the cause for urban reform.

John Muir

Scotland immigrant who urged the federal government to adopt a forest conservation policy and was later instrumental in the establishment of Californias Yosemite and Sequoia national parks. In 1892, he founded the sierra club, one of today’s leading conservation organizations

National Park Service

Manages all the federal national parks, preserving the land as well as protect them making them available for public use. US forest service is designed to manage forests

Settlement House

Community center organized at the turn of the 20th century to provide social services to the urban poor

Jane Addams

Cofounded Hull House in 1889 and lived and worked out of it for the rest of her life. She was a pacifist and determined advocate for women’s suffrage, she wrote many books and lectured widely. In 1931, she shared the Nobel peace prize.

Social Gospel

Reform movement that emerged in the late 19th century that sought to improve society by applying Christian principles

Progressive

Movement that responded to the pressures of industrialization and urbanization by promoting reforms

Direct Primary

An election in which voters, not party leaders, choose a political party’s candidates the general election

Secret Ballot

Reformed voting method in which a voters choices in an election are anonymous, preventing attempts to influence the voter by intimidation and potential vote buying

Muckraker

Writer who uncovers and exposes misconduct in government or business

Upton Sinclair

American muckraker writer and journalist who wrote The Jungle after investigating the meat packing plants in Chicago

Meat Inspection Act

1906 law hat empowered the federal government to inspect meat sold across state lines and required federal inspection

Pure Food and Drug Act

1906 law that allowed federal inspection of food and medicine and banned the interstate shipment and sale of impure food and mislabeling of food and drugs

16th Amendment

1913 constitutional amendments that gave congress the authority to levy on income tax

17th Amendment

1983 constitutional amendment that allowed for the direct election of US senators by citizens

Initiative

Process in which citizens put a proposed new law directly on the ballot

Refenderum

Process that allows citizens to approve or reject a law passed by a legislature