APUSH UNIT 6 CHP 15 Vocab PT 1

Transcontinental railroad

The railway line that connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines, enabling goods to move by railway from the eastern United States all the way to California

Protective tariff

A tax or duty on foreign producers of goods imported into the United States. It gave US manufacturers a competitive advantage in America’s domestic market.

Burlingame Treaty

An 1868 treaty that guaranteed the rights of US missionaries in China and set official terms for the emigration of Chinese laborers to work in the US.

Munn v. Illinois

The Supreme Court case that affirmed that states could regulate key businesses, such as railroads and grain elevators, if those businesses were “clothed in the public interest”

Gold standard

The practice of backing a country’s currency with its reserves of gold.

Homestead Act

The 1862 act that gave 160 acres of free western land to any applicant who occupied and improved the property. It led to the rapid development of the American West.

Land-grant college

Authorized by the Morrill Act of 1862, land-grant colleges were public universities founded to broaden educational opportunities and foster technical and scientific expertise.

Comstock Lode

A vein of silver ore discovered in Nevada, leading to one of the West’s most important mining booms.

Exodusters

African Americans who walked or rode out of the Deep South following the Civil War, many settling on farms in Kansas in hopes of finding peace and prosperity.

Yellowstone National Park

Established in 1872, Yellowstone was the first national park in the United States.

US Fish and Wildlife Service

A federal bureau established in 1871 that made recommendations to stem the decline in wild fish. It was an important step toward wildlife conservation and management.