U.S History Flashcards

Jacksonian Democracy

A political movement in the 1820s-1830s that promoted greater democracy for the common man, expanding suffrage and emphasizing majority rule.

Universal Manhood Suffrage

The extension of voting rights to all white men, regardless of property ownership, a key feature of Jacksonian Democracy.

The Second Party System

The rise of Democrats (led by Andrew Jackson) and Whigs (opposed to Jackson), dominating U.S. politics from the 1820s to the 1850s.

Democrats vs. Whigs

Democrats favored states' rights, agrarianism, and expansion; Whigs supported federal power, internal improvements, and industry.

The Second Bank of the United States

A national bank chartered in 1816 to regulate currency and credit, opposed by Jackson, who vetoed its recharter in 1832.

Indian Removal

The forced displacement of Native American tribes from their lands to make way for white settlers.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Law signed by Andrew Jackson authorizing the forced relocation of Native American tribes to lands west of the Mississippi.

Immigration

Large influxes of Irish, German, and other European immigrants in the 19th century, often facing nativist backlash.

Reform Movements

19th-century social movements advocating for temperance, education, women’s rights, and abolition.

Temperance

Movement to reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption, gaining momentum in the early 1800s.

Education

Reformers like Horace Mann pushed for public schooling and standardized education in the 19th century.

Women’s Rights

The push for gender equality, including suffrage, property rights, and legal reforms, gaining traction with events like the Seneca Falls Convention (1848).

Domesticity and the New Middle Class

A societal ideal emphasizing women's roles in the home as moral guardians, reinforcing gender roles.

Colonization

The idea of relocating freed African Americans to Africa rather than integrating them into U.S. society.

American Colonization Society (1816)

Organization advocating for freed African Americans to be resettled in Liberia.

William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator

Garrison was a radical abolitionist who published The Liberator, demanding the immediate end of slavery.

The Underground Railroad

A secret network of routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape to free states and Canada.

Harriet Tubman

Formerly enslaved woman and conductor on the Underground Railroad who led many to freedom.

Reactions to Abolitionism

Many in the North and South opposed abolitionists, sometimes violently, fearing economic, political, or racial upheaval.

Charleston Lynch Men

Pro-slavery mobs in Charleston, SC, who used violence to suppress abolitionist activity.

Congressional Gag Rule

A series of rules (1836-1844) that prevented Congress from discussing anti-slavery petitions, suppressing abolitionist efforts.

Pro-Slavery Ideologies

Justifications for slavery based on economic, political, religious, and racial arguments, used primarily in the South.

Historical, Political, Economic, Religious, Legal, and Cultural Defenses

Various justifications for slavery, including claims that it was economically necessary, legally sanctioned, Biblically justified, and culturally beneficial.

Black People Are Better Off as Slaves

A racist argument that enslaved people were provided care, civilization, and Christianity, ignoring the brutality of slavery.

Polygenism

A pseudoscientific theory claiming different races had separate origins, used to justify white superiority and slavery.

Northern Support of Slavery (Doughfaces)

Northern politicians who sympathized with the South and supported slavery, often for political or economic gain.

Gender in the 1800s

Strict gender roles emphasizing white men’s dominance and women’s domesticity, with racialized gender norms in slavery.

White Southern Manhood

An ideal based on honor, paternalism, and dominance over dependents, including women and enslaved people.

The Southern Belle

The idealized upper-class Southern woman, expected to be pure, submissive, and devoted to home and family.

The Jezebel

A racist stereotype portraying Black women as hypersexual and promiscuous, used to justify sexual exploitation under slavery.

The Mammy

A racist caricature of Black women as loyal, maternal, and devoted caretakers of white families, reinforcing racial hierarchies.

Black Manhood

Defined by both resistance to and survival within slavery, often challenged by racist portrayals of Black men as dangerous.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across North America, used to justify territorial expansion and displacement of Native peoples.

Texas

Formerly a Mexican territory, Texas gained independence in 1836 and was annexed by the U.S. in 1845, fueling tensions with Mexico.

Oregon Territory

A disputed region jointly occupied by Britain and the U.S. until the Oregon Treaty (1846) established U.S. control.

The Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

A war between the U.S. and Mexico over Texas and western territories, ending with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Gold Rush (1848-1855)

The mass migration of prospectors to California after gold was discovered, accelerating westward expansion.

The Filibuster

Private, unauthorized military expeditions aimed at overthrowing governments in Latin America, often to spread slavery.

Republic of Sonora

A short-lived, illegal filibuster state in northern Mexico (1853-1854) led by William Walker, who sought to establish a slave-holding colony.

Nicaragua

Targeted by filibuster William Walker, who briefly seized control (1856-1857) and attempted to Americanize and expand slavery there.

Oregon Trail

A major overland route used by settlers moving westward in the 1830s-1860s, facing harsh conditions.

The Mormon Exodus

The migration of Mormons, led by Brigham Young, to Utah in 1846-1847 after facing persecution in the eastern U.S.

The California Gold Rush (1848-1855)

A massive migration of people to California after the discovery of gold, leading to economic growth and rapid statehood.

The Missouri Compromise (1820)

A law that admitted Missouri as a slave state, Maine as a free state, and prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ line in the Louisiana Territory.

The Compromise of 1850

A series of laws aimed at easing sectional tensions, admitting California as a free state, strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act, and allowing popular sovereignty in new territories.

The Rendition of Anthony Burns (1854)

The forced return of an escaped enslaved man, Anthony Burns, from Boston to Virginia under the Fugitive Slave Act, sparking Northern outrage.

Bleeding Kansas (1854-1859)

A series of violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas over whether it would be a free or slave state.

Bleeding Sumner (1856)

A brutal attack in which pro-slavery Congressman Preston Brooks beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with a cane after Sumner denounced slavery.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

A Supreme Court case ruling that Black people were not U.S. citizens and that Congress had no power to regulate slavery in the territories, further inflaming tensions.

Harper’s Ferry (1859)

An armed abolitionist raid led by John Brown on a federal arsenal in Virginia, aiming to incite a slave rebellion; Brown was captured and executed.

The Republican Party (founded 1854)

A political party that emerged in opposition to the expansion of slavery, gaining prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

Abraham Lincoln

The 16th U.S. president (1861-1865), leader during the Civil War, and issuer of the Emancipation Proclamation, ultimately assassinated in 1865.

The Democrats Collapse (1860)

The Democratic Party split over slavery, with Northern Democrats backing Stephen Douglas and Southern Democrats supporting John C. Breckinridge, weakening their election chances.

The Election of 1860

A four-way presidential race won by Abraham Lincoln, triggering Southern secession and the Civil War.

Fort Sumter (1861)

The first battle of the Civil War, where Confederate forces fired on a Union fort in Charleston, South Carolina, leading to war.

The Union Homefront

The Northern economy and society during the Civil War, marked by industrial growth, war production, and changing roles for women.

The Confederate Homefront

The Southern economy and society during the Civil War, struggling with food shortages, inflation, and resistance to the Confederate government.

Internal Revenue Act (1862)

A law establishing the first federal income tax to fund the Civil War effort.

Legal Tender Act (1862)

A law authorizing the issuance of paper money ("greenbacks") not backed by gold or silver, helping finance the Civil War.

Greenbacks

Paper currency issued by the U.S. government during the Civil War that was not backed by gold or silver but was declared legal tender.

Homestead Act (1862)

A law that granted 160 acres of public land to settlers for free, provided they lived on and improved the land for five years.

Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)

A law that provided federal land to states to establish agricultural and technical colleges, expanding higher education.

Pacific Railroad Act (1862)

A law that authorized the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, providing federal funding and land grants to railroad companies.

The Gettysburg Address (1863)

A short but powerful speech by Abraham Lincoln emphasizing national unity, democracy, and the sacrifice of soldiers in the Civil War.

The 13th Amendment (1865)

A constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

Reconstruction (1865-1877)

The period after the Civil War focused on reintegrating Southern states, rebuilding the South, and establishing rights for formerly enslaved people.

Andrew Johnson

The 17th U.S. president (1865-1869), who succeeded Lincoln and clashed with Congress over Reconstruction policies.

The Black Codes

Laws passed in the South after the Civil War to restrict the rights of newly freed African Americans and maintain white supremacy.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson (1868)

Johnson was impeached by the House for violating the Tenure of Office Act but was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

A brutal attack by U.S. troops on a peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho village in Colorado, killing hundreds of Native Americans, mostly women and children.

Transcontinental Railroad (completed 1869)

A railroad that connected the East and West coasts, revolutionizing transportation and economic development.

Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876)

A major victory for the Lakota and Cheyenne against U.S. forces led by General Custer, also known as "Custer's Last Stand."

Plains Wars (1850s-1890s)

A series of conflicts between Native American tribes and the U.S. government over land and westward expansion.

Buffalo Soldiers

African American soldiers who served in the U.S. Army on the Western frontier after the Civil War, often fighting in the Plains Wars.

Sharecropping

A system where freed African Americans and poor whites farmed land owned by others in exchange for a share of the crops, often leading to debt and poverty.

Tenant Farming

A system similar to sharecropping in which farmers rented land and supplied their own tools, but still remained economically dependent on landowners.

The Lost Cause

A Southern ideology that romanticized the Confederacy, downplayed slavery’s role in the Civil War, and promoted white supremacy.

The Gilded Age (1870s-1900s)

A period of rapid industrialization, economic growth, and political corruption in the U.S., marked by extreme wealth inequality.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

A nationwide labor strike against wage cuts in the railroad industry, leading to violent clashes between workers and federal troops.

Knights of Labor (founded 1869)

One of the first major labor unions, advocating for workers' rights, an eight-hour workday, and social reforms, though it declined after the 1886 Haymarket Affair.

American Federation of Labor (AFL, founded 1886)

A labor union that focused on skilled workers, collective bargaining, and practical economic gains rather than broad social reforms.

Haymarket Affair (1886)

A violent labor protest in Chicago where a bomb was thrown at police, leading to deaths and the trial of anarchist leaders, worsening public opinion of labor unions.

Homestead Strike (1892)

A violent strike at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant in Pennsylvania against wage cuts, which led to a deadly confrontation between workers and private security forces.

Pullman Strike (1894)

A nationwide railroad strike led by the American Railway Union against wage cuts in the Pullman Company, ending when federal troops intervened.

Classical Liberalism

A political and economic philosophy emphasizing limited government, free markets, and individual liberty, influential in the 19th century.

Social Darwinism

The application of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to society, used to justify economic inequality, imperialism, and opposition to social welfare programs.

Social Science

The academic study of human society and social relationships, which grew significantly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Modern Universities

Higher education institutions that expanded and reformed in the late 19th century, emphasizing research, professional training, and academic specialization.

Reform Organizations

Groups advocating for social change in areas like labor rights, education, women's suffrage, and public health during the Progressive Era.

Lochner v. New York (1905)

A Supreme Court case that struck down a law limiting bakers’ working hours, citing "freedom of contract," strengthening business interests over labor protections.

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

A Supreme Court case that upheld limits on women’s working hours, using sociological data to justify labor protections, but reinforcing gender discrimination.

Eugenics

A movement aimed at "improving" human genetics through selective breeding, forced sterilizations, and immigration restrictions, often rooted in racist and ableist beliefs.

Buck v. Bell (1927)

A Supreme Court case that upheld forced sterilization of "unfit" individuals, legitimizing eugenics policies in the U.S. with the infamous ruling, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”

Jim Crow (1877-1965)

A system of racial segregation laws and customs in the South that enforced white supremacy and Black disenfranchisement.

Lynching

The extrajudicial killing of Black Americans, often by white mobs, as a tool of racial terror and social control, peaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race Riots

Violent racial conflicts, often involving white mobs attacking Black communities, such as the 1919 Red Summer and 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Convict Leasing

A system where Southern states leased prisoners, mostly Black men, to private businesses, essentially reestablishing forced labor after slavery.

The Second KKK (1915-1940s)

A resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, expanding its targets beyond Black Americans to include immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and radicals, promoting white Protestant nationalism.

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded 1909)

A civil rights organization fighting racial injustice through legal action, public advocacy, and anti-lynching campaigns.

The Crisis

The NAACP’s official magazine, founded in 1910 and edited by W.E.B. Du Bois, which highlighted racial injustice, Black culture, and civil rights activism.