APUSH Period 6 (1865-1898): Final Review (Key Concepts and Events)

American Federation of Labor

Trade union federation founded in 1886. Led by its first president, Samuel Gompers, the AFL sought to organize skilled workers into trade-specific unions

Battle of the Little Bighorn

1876 battle in the Montana Territory in which Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his troops were massacred by the Lakota Sioux

Billion Dollar Congress

Republican-controlled 51st Congress (1889-1891), famous for being the first to spend a billion dollars

Buffalo soldiers

African American cavalrymen who fought in the West against American Indians in the 1870s and 1880s

Californios

Spanish and Mexican residents of California. Before the nineteenth century, Californios made up California’s economic and political elite. Their position, however, deteriorated after the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 act that banned Chinese immigration into the United States and prohibited those Chinese already in the country from becoming naturalized American citizens

Collective bargaining

Process where labor unions negotiate with employers on behalf of their members to set terms of employment

Comstock Lode

First major silver discovery in the U.S. (Nevada, 1859), triggering a massive mining boom, creating boomtowns like Virginia City

Convict lease

The system used by southern governments to furnish mainly African American prison labor to plantation owners and industrialists and to raise revenue for the states. In practice, convict labor replaced slavery as the means of providing a forced labor supply

Corporate capitalism

The U.S. economic system dominated by large, powerful, bureaucratic corporations that controlled production, wealth, and influenced politics

Corporation

A form of business ownership in which the liability of shareholders in a company is limited to their individual investments. The formation of corporations in the late nineteenth century greatly stimulated investment in industry

Coxey’s army

1894 protest movement led by Jacob Coxey. Coxey and five hundred supporters marched from Ohio to Washington D.C., to protest the lack of government response to the depression of 1893

Dawes Act

1887 act that ended federal recognition of tribal sovereignty and divided American Indian land into 160-acre parcels to be distributed to American Indian heads of household. The act dramatically reduced the amount of American Indian-controlled land and undermined American Indian social and cultural institutions

Deflation

1862 act that established procedures for distributing 160-acre lots to western settlers, on condition that they develop and farm their land, as an incentive for western migration

Depression of 1893

Severe economic downturn triggered by railroad and bank failures. The severity of the depression, combined with the failure of the federal government to offer an adequate response, led to the realignment of American politics

Eugenics

A pseudoscience that advocated for “biological engineering”

Farmers’ Alliances

Regional organizations formed in the late nineteenth century to advance the interests of farmers. The most prominent of these organizations were the Northwestern Farmers’ Alliance, the Southern Farmers’ Alliance, and the Colored Farmers’ Alliance

Frontier thesis

The argument, made by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in the 1890s, that the closing of the western frontier endangered the existence of democracy because it removed the opportunity for the pioneer spirit that built America to regenerate

Ghettos

Neighborhoods dominated by a single ethnic, racial, or class group

Ghost Dance

Religious rituals performed by the Paiute Indians in the late nineteenth century. Following a vision he received in 1888, the prophet Wovoka believed that performing the Ghost Dance would cause white people to disappear and allow American Indians to regain control of their lands

Gilded Age

Term created by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner to describe the late nineteenth century. It implies the golden appearance of the age was a shell covering the corruption and materialism of the era’s superrich under the surface

“The Gospel of Wealth”

1889 essay by Andrew Carnegie in which he argued that the rich should act as guardians of the wealth they earned, using their surplus income for the benefit of the community

Grangers

Members of an organization founded in 1867 to meet the social and cultural needs of farmers. Grangers took an active role in the promotion of the economic and political interests of farmers

Great Plains

Vast, semi-arid grassland region of central North America, stretching from the Rockies to the Mississippi River

Gross domestic product

The total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time

Haymarket riot

1866 rally in Haymarket Square that resulted in violence. In its aftermath, the union movement in the United States went into temporary decline

Holding company

Corporation that owns enough stock in other companies to control their policies and management, often without producing its own goods

Homestead Act

1862 act that established procedures for distributing 160-acre lots to western settlers, on condition that they develop and farm their land, as an incentive for western migration

Homestead strike

1892 lockout strike by steelworkers at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel factory. The strike collapsed after a failed assassination attempt on Carnegie’s plant manager, Henry Clay Frick

Horizontal integration

Business strategy where a company buys out or merges with its direct competitors at the same production level to gain market share, reduce competition, achieve economies of scale, and build monopolies

Industrial Workers of the World

Organization that grew out of the activities of the Western Federation of Miners in the 1890s and formed by Eugene V. Debs and other prominent labor leaders. Known as Wobblies, the IWW attempted to unite all skilled and unskilled workers in an effort to overthrow capitalism

Interlocking directorates

Gilded Age practice where the same person served on the boards of multiple, often competing, companies to coordinate business, reduce

Interstate Commerce Commission

Regulatory commission created by the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887. The commission investigated interstate shipping, required railroads to make their rates public, and could bring lawsuits to force shippers to reduce “unreasonable” fares

Jim Crow

Late nineteenth-century statues that established legally defined racial segregation in the South. Jim Crow legislation helped ensure the social and economic disenfranchisement of southern black people

Knights of Labor

Founded in 1869, a labor federation that aimed to unite all workers in one national union and challenge the power of corporate capitalists

Laissez-faire

French for “let things alone.” Advocates of laissez-faire believed that the marketplace should be left to regulate itself, allowing individuals to pursue their own self-interest without any government restraint or interference

Land rush

The U.S. government opened former Indian Territory for white settlement, allowing settlers to race and stake claims on free land on a first-come, first-served basis

Long Drive

Post-Civil War era practice where cowboys drove large herds of Texas longhorn cattle hundreds of miles north to railheads in Kansas and other Plains states to be shipped East for profit

Melting pot

Popular metaphor for immigrant assimilation into American society. According to this ideal, all immigrants underwent a process of Americanization that produced a homogenous society

Mormons

Followers of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young who migrated to Utah to escape religious persecution; also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Nativism

Neighborhoods dominated by a single ethnic, racial, or class group

New South

Term popularized in the 1880s by newspaper editor Henry Grady, a proponent of the modernization of the southern economy in order for a “New South” to emerge

Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act

1883 act that required federal jobs to be awarded on the basis of merit through competitive exams rather than through political connections

Pinkertons

A company of private investigators and security guards sometimes used by corporations to break up strikes and labor disputes, most famously at the Homestead strike of 1892

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the legality of Jim Crow legislation. The Court ruled that as long as states provided “equal but separate” facilities for white and black people, Jim Crow laws did not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

Political boss

The head of the local political machine. The boss worked to maintain authority by strengthening the machine and its loyalists

Political machine

Urban political organization that dominated many late-nineteenth-century cities. Machines provided needed services to the urban poor, but they also fostered corruption, crime, and inefficiency

Poll tax

A fee required to vote, implemented primarily by Southern states after Reconstruction

Populists

The People’s Party of America, formed in 1892. The Populists sought to appeal to both farmers and industrial workers

Pullman strike

1894 strike by workers against the Pullman railcar company. When the strike disrupted rail service nationwide, threatening mail delivery, President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to get the railroads moving again

Robber barons

A negative term applied to late nineteenth-century industrialists and capitalists who became very rich by dominating large industries

Sand Creek Massacre

November 29, 1864 massacre of 270 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians - mostly women and children - by the United States Army. This led to the continuation of the Arapaho-Cheyenne war (1863-1865)

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company

The ruling stated corporations are "persons" under the 14th Amendment, applying Equal Protection Clause rights to them, solidifying corporate personhood

Scientific management

Also known as Taylorism, a management style developed by Frederick W. Taylor that aimed to constantly improve the efficiency of employees by reducing manual labor to its simplest components—thus increasing productivity while decreasing cost

Settlement houses

Community centers in poor urban areas where middle-class volunteers lived to help immigrants and the poor by offering vital services and advocating for social reforms

Sherman Antitrust Act

1890 act outlawing monopolies that prevented free competition in interstate commerce

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

US law requiring the government to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly, aiming to inflate the money supply and help farmers by supporting silver prices, but it backfired, causing gold drains and contributing to the Panic of 1893

Social Darwinism

The belief associated with the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and popularized by Herbert Spencer that drew upon some of the ideas of Charles Darwin. Stressing individual competition and the survival of the fittest, Social Darwinism was used to justify economic inequality, racism, imperialism, and hostility to federal government regulation

Social gospel

Religious movement that advocated the application of Christian teachings to social and economic problems. The ideals of the social gospel inspired many progressive reformers

Socialist Party of America

A third party advocating for workers' rights, public ownership of key industries (like railroads, utilities), social welfare, and economic equality, drawing support from immigrants, farmers, and unionists

Subtreasury system

Proposal of the late 19th-century Farmers' Alliance and Populist Party, aiming to give farmers financial relief by having the federal government build warehouses where they could store crops and receive low-interest government loans

Sweatshops

Workplace, historically in tailoring, characterized by extremely low wages, excessively long hours, and terrible, often dangerous, working conditions

Tammany Hall

New York City’s political machine during the nineteenth century. It swindled the city out of a fortune while supervising the construction of a lavish three-story courthouse in lower Manhattan. The building remained unfinished in 1873, when Tweed was convicted on fraud charges and sent to jail

Tenements

Multifamily apartment buildings that housed many poor urban dwellers at the turn of the twentieth century. Tenements were crowded, uncomfortable, and dangerous

Transcontinental railroad

A railroad linking the East and West Coasts of North America. Completed in 1869, the transcontinental railroad facilitated the flow of migrants and the development of economic connections between the West and the East

Treaty of Fort Laramie

1851 treaty that sought to confine tribes on the northern plains to designated areas in an attempt to keep white settlers from encroaching on their land. In 1868, the second Treaty of Fort Laramie gave northern tribes control over the “Great Reservation” in parts of present-day Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota

Treaty of Medicine Lodge

Provided reservation lands for the Comanche, Kiowa-Apache, and Southern Araoho to settle. Despite this agreement, white hunters soon invaded this territory and decimated the buffalo herds

Trust

Business monopolies formed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through mergers and consolidations that inhibited competition and controlled the market

Unions

Groups of workers seeking rights and benefits from their employers through their collective efforts

United States v. E.C. Knight Company

Severely limited federal power under the Sherman Antitrust Act, ruling that manufacturing was a local activity, not interstate commerce, and thus beyond Congress's reach

Vertical integration

Business strategy where a company controls all stages of production, from raw materials to manufacturing to distribution, to boost efficiency, lower costs, and dominate an industry

Williams v. Mississippi

Upheld Mississippi's poll taxes and literacy tests, allowing states to use these tools to disenfranchise Black voters under the guise of "equal application"

Wounded Knee Massacre

Massacre committed by U.S. military in South Dakota, December 29, 1890. The Plains Indians, on the edge of starvation, began the “Ghost Dance”, which they believed would protect them from bullets and restore their old way of life. Following one of the dances, a rifle held by an American Indian misfired. In response, U.S. soldiers invaded the encampment, killing some 250 people