history final

freedmen’s bureau

* Purpose: assist newly freed slaves in the aftermath of the Civil War
* Established: March 3, 1865
* Headed by: Union Army General Oliver O. Howard
* Provided: food, clothing, medical care, education, and legal assistance
* Created schools and helped establish historically black colleges and universities
* Faced opposition from white Southerners and limited funding from Congress
* Disbanded in 1872, but its legacy continued through its impact on education and civil rights

black codes

* Definition: Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War to restrict the rights of newly freed African Americans
* Purpose: To maintain white supremacy and control the labor force
* Provisions: Restricted African Americans' right to vote, own property, work in certain occupations (needed to sign a year long work contract), travel without a pass
* Punishments: Harsh penalties for violating the codes, including fines, imprisonment, and forced labor
* Significance: Black codes were a precursor to Jim Crow laws and contributed to the ongoing oppression of African Americans in the United States.

sharecropping

freeman with a farming skill wants to be a farmer but can’t buy land so white plantation owner rents out a part of his land-freedman needs to give a percentage of his crop earnings by end of year & percentage of seeds & borrowed tools (they have nothing, so white farmer lends them tools) & percentage because of white farmer helping freedman get buyers= 75% of earnings goes to white farmer= freedmen makes less than what he owes to white farmer= becomes indebted and can’t leave= another form of slavery

Ku Klux Klan

* Founded in 1865 in Tennessee
* White supremacist group
* Used violence and intimidation against African Americans and other minority groups
* would pretend to be ghosts of past confederate war generals to scare African Americans at night

10% plan

* Proposed by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War


* Offered amnesty to Confederate states that pledged loyalty to the Union
* Required 10% of a state's voting population to take an oath of allegiance & the gov to recognize that slavery is illegal to be back in the union
* Criticized by Radical Republicans/North for being too lenient towards the South

President Johnson’s reconstruction plan

* Aimed to quickly restore the Union after the Civil War


* Required Southern states to ratify the 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery) and pay off Confederate debts
* Pardoned most former Confederates and returned their property
* Did not provide protection for freed slaves or address their civil rights
* Led to the rise of Black Codes and increased violence against African Americans
* Ultimately failed to achieve lasting peace and equality in the South.

14th ammendment

granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all people born or naturalized in the US, including former slaves.

15 amendment

It granted African American men the right to vote.

Tenure of office act

* Passed in 1867 by the US Congress


* Required Senate approval for the President to remove any official in the cabinet whose appointment had been approved by the Senate
* Aimed to limit the power of the President and protect civil servants from being fired for political reasons
* Was used as a basis for the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson in 1868

Johnson impeachment

He fired the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, which was not approved by congress, he was impeached but not found guilty by 1 vote

election of 1868

* Grant did a bloody shirt campaign representing how those who went south to help the freedmen (carpetbaggers) were whipped for doing so, and if you vote republican this won’t happen to you
* The votes from African Americans outnumbers the southerners that were allowed to vote= Grant wins (republican)
* grant nominated because he was the general that lead the north to victory

Era of good stealings

* Jim Fisk and Ray Gould tried to corner the gold market- bought as much gold as possible and hoarded it to increase the price (is a monopoly and is illegal)= gov sold all of its reserved gold to help lower the price

William “Boss Tweed”

* would bribe politicians to have laws made that benefited him and made him money
* pay for officials to get elected
* get gov contracts for a property for the state of NY= makes lots of money
* gave immigrants jobs and a place to live and in return they vote for whoever he told them to
* owned law and police=can’t be caught

credit mobilier scandal

The gov hired the Union Pacific Railroad company to help build the transcontinental railroad- the UPR sold the contract of the railroad to the Credit Mobilier Construction Company (both were owned by the same people but nobody knew that)- the CMCC overcharged the UPR which means the gov had to pay the UPR more so they could pay the CMCC- but the money was just being funneled to the same people= received 99% profits

Whiskey ring

US officials & distillers bribed other gov officials to underreport how much whiskey was produced so distillers could avoid paying millions of dollars in excise tax (tax on makers of bad things like alcohol and cigarettes)- Grant’s personal secretary was involved and unpunished by Grant

Election of 1876

* marked end of reconstruction
* Hayes (rep) won more electoral and Tilden (dem) won more popular
* OK, SC, FL, & LO sent in 2 ballots each showing votes for a different candidate due to a counting error= has to decide who the 20 votes go to to determine who wins= goes to congress to decide- congress= republican, house=democrat=can’t agree who wins

Compromise of 1877

* electoral count act- 5 from house, 5 from senate, 5 from supreme court decide if Hayes or Tilden is president= 8 republicans to 7 democrats= Hayes wins
* Dems mad so make deal that for Hayes to be president then all the union soldiers need to be removed from the south= end of reconstruction
* was nondemocratic

Jim crow laws

laws that limited the rights of African Americans in the south- segregation, persecution, and denial of basic rights- replaced black codes

Plessy vs Ferguson

A court case where the supreme court ruled that segregation was constitutional as long as it was separate and equal in quality

Chinese Exclusion Act

In 1882 the US gov banned Chinese immigrants from entering the country

Rutherford Hayes & Meritocracy

* believed in people getting jobs based on own merit, not because you’re loyal to party/office
* rather than giving supporters jobs because they support you- gives jobs to the best qualified
* republicans didn’t support because didn’t want to lose office= divides the republican party

railroad standards

* steel rails
* standard track width= no matter the train, it can switch lines
* time zones

Cornelius Vanderbilt

* first to get fortune from railroads
* “the commodore”
* used money for vanderbilt university and charity
* used money to take out smaller railroad companies= was only major railroad company=gov gave them all the major contracts

Andrew Carnegie

* became rich making steel
* vertical integration= business controls every single part of the industry- from the creation of steel, refining, transportation, and selling
* revolutionized steel industry through bessemer process- made steel more cheap and pure/strong= can sell steel for very cheap & get contracts= gets rid of competitors as no one else could meet his low prices=can raise prices extremely high as he has no competition
* was #1 supplier of steal in america
* gave away $350 mil to fund libraries, colleges, and hospitals
* paid workers a very small amount of money- would fire if they complained and replace them with an immigrant
* gospel of wealth= rich people or morally obligated to give their money away for the betterment of their community- support/help the poor through schools, libraries, etc

JP Morgan

* interlocking directorates- put friends on board of directors of rival companies= no real competition
* would buy businesses- bought Carnegie’s for $490 mil= company became US Steel
* became rich by buying other companies

John D. Rockefeller

* Horizontal integration= allying with competitors to monopolize a market= a trust (group of companies that work together for same purpose)- people buying from a trust have to pay higher prices- company in trust becomes the best at 1 job (Rockefeller was only in charge of refining oil & was the best and got highly paid)
* bought out competition= monopoly (owns the whole market)= bad for consumers because they only have 1 place to go to
* made standard oil company of Ohio
* by 1877- controlled 95% of all oil refineries

Sherman Anti-Trust act

* 1890
* forbade businesses from acting like monopolies

Urbanization positives and negatives

People moved from the rural countries to cities for work and a new life

positives-

* more job opportunities
* can live closer to job
* excitement
* people move from all over
* cities are first to get new inventions- electric lights, indoor plumbing, telephones, department stores

Negatives-

* overcrowding in cities
* trash & pollution
* high crime
* unsanitary conditions
* high poverty

dumbbell tenements

small apartments that forced families to be crammed together- people have to sleep in the kitchen/dining room, and each floor shares a bathroom

impact on women and families

* new jobs- typist and telephone switchboard operator
* used to be tied to the home, but now not
* smaller families- not at home to take care of kids, kids are thought of as only a mouth to feed & not enough money for kids

Knights of Labor

* welcomed skilled and unskilled men, women, and african americans to join- everybody is allowed to join
* main focus is an 8 hour work day
* stopped immigrants from working- were main competitors for jobs and would take jobs when they went on strike
* demanded no child labor and better working conditions

management vs labor tactics

management-

* fire/lock them out- stops them from coming to work
* hire a scab- a cheap replacement worker
* yellow dog contract- can’t join a union if they want to work
* blacklist- company tells other companies not to hire workers
* company town- builds a whole town around the business- all houses, banks, stores, etc are owned by company- would get paid in money specific to the company
* pinkertons- agency hired to beat workers to stop them from striking

labor tactics-

* strike- don’t go to work=business can’t operate= company loses money
* boycott- don’t buy products from a company
* closed shop- people in the union need to work at the company- if you are in the union you are automatically employed at company- you have to go on strike/boycott with union

Haymarket square

* Chicago, may 4, 1886
* Knights of Labor led a peaceful strike
* In the group were anarchists and they set off bombs- bystanders and officers were killed= the public blames the knights of labor= downfall of Knights of labor

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

* founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers
* focused on more money, shorter hours, and better working conditions
* only skilled workers allowed in- unskilled were too easily replaced= a stronger union
* made the gov give labor day in 1894
* the rose after Knights of labor fell

Homestead strike

* 1892
* a strike at carnegie’s mill by the workers
* carnegie won
* he called in pinkertons and there was a lot of violence
* no major labor union in steel industry for 40 years after

New immigration

* catholic and jewish
* from southern/east europe
* reasons- escaping poverty, religious, and political persecution
* went to cities and midwest
* were unskilled workers

James Addams and settlement house

* settlement houses were in each major city and helped immigrants settle into America- was temporary housing, childcare for while people got jobs, and basic health care
* Jane Addams ran the biggest one (Whole House) in Chicago

Nativism

* people were against immigration because they thought the immigrants would outnumber americans
* blamed immigrants for all of society’s problems- low wages, overpopulation, etc

Booker T. Washington

* argued for African American rights
* born a slave and went to an HBCU- gave him industrial and working skills and became a good speaker
* believed that African Americans shouldn’t fight for equal rights but for education rights- should be taught good trades so can be taught economical independence- if they became economically equal then all social and political issues would be resolved

WEB Dubois

* Graduated from a HBCU
* called for immediate political, social, and civil rights
* created national association for the advancement of colored people (NAACP) in 1910

Ida Tarbell

A muckraker who wrote an expose about Rockefeller and the standard oil company, her research helped bring down the company

Great Sioux reservation

The location in South Dakota where Andrew Jackson moved the Native Americans- not good for farming but found gold there

Battle of Little Big Horn

General Custer and his men heard of gold on Great Sioux Reservation so went to find it. The Sioux attacked white travelers (normal people) so Custer and his men attacked the Sioux. The Sioux then did a surprise attack on Custer in Montana led by Chief Sitting Bull. They slaughtered the American army which was one of the most tragic losses in US history.

Chief Joseph

A Native American chief that persuaded Chief Sitting Bull to stop fighting the American soldiers after the Battle of Little Big Horn

Wounded Knee

The last armed resistance of Native Americans against US army where the army defeated the Dakota Sioux. After this, the Native americans finally accepted that they lost

Daws Act

US government no longer recognizes Native American ethnic and tribal ethnicity. Stripped away their culture and history. They were now officially US citizens and needed to follow US laws and ways- assimilation into American lifestyle- went to school, kill the indian save the man, white man haircuts and clothes, taught english and how to be american

Ghost Dance

A cult belief that if you do the ghost dance you will be immune to bullets. The more this dance spread between Native American settlements, the more resistance there was. US sent troops to stop this.

Safety Valve

Workers always had the option to leave the city and urban life for the frontier if things didn’t work out

Jacob Riis

photographer who would take pictures of the poverty in cities and what people had to live in. Made the book *How the Other Half Lives* in 1890 to show the poverty

Muckrakers

reform minded journalists that showed the negative and covered the good. They showed the truth and were disliked by many people because they showed the nasty behind the nice

Progressives goals

Give power to the people and not the rich and senators

* Initiative- when a citizen proposes a law
* referendum- when the goc puts out a bill for the people to vote on
* recall- a vote to try and fire elected officials
* improving poverty, working conditions (8 hour work day), and public health (pure food and drug act)
* stop corporations from being monopolies
* women’s rights
* environmental protection
* 17th amendment- senators are elected by the people

Triangle Shirtwaist

In 1911 a textile company caught on fire rapidly due to the large amount of linen. The owner locked all of the doors so the workers were unable to take breaks and hundreds of people died. This led to many states passing stronger laws that regulated working conditions to protect workers

TR Square Deal

* Control Corporations- stop bad working conditions
* Consumer Protection- laws that make what is sold healthy for consumer
* Conservation of natural resources- conserve land, water, and parks for future generations to use and enjoy

Meat Inspection and Pure Food and Drug Act

* 1906, inspection of meat
* 1906, foods must pass certain qualities and can’t be mixed with certain chemicals- used to have thumbs,rats, and chemicals
* to make sure all food is healthy and pure

John Muir and Preservation vs Conservation

* John Muir believed in preservation- keeping environment exactly as it is now in its natural state, making no alterations, nobody touches it
* Roosevelt believed in conservation- using the environment for recreational activities and resources but conserving it so you do not waste it, serves the betterment of the community

\

Gold Standard

* paper money value is directly linked to gold reserved in the gov
* causes deflation- lots of money with low value
* supported by rich/pro business
* made wages lower=longer to pay off debts

Populists

* supported by people in debt/owe money and were farmers/workers
* graduated income tax- the more money you make the more you pay in taxes
* free and unlimited coinage of silver- causes inflation= helps pay debts
* women’s suffrage, labor rights, equality
* increase in political power for people- people choose senators

Election of 1896

* William McKinley (Republican) vs William Jennings Bryan (democrat)
* McKinley won

Cross of Gold speech and William Jennings Bryan

* believed in inflation through unlimited coinage of silver- poor can pay off debts
* supported by populists
* cross of gold speech- argument against gold standard- relying on gold is like nailing jesus to the cross- gold favored the rich while silver supported the poor, silver would increase money supply, stimulate economic growth, and help alleviate debts

Women’s Christian Temperance

* A large anti-alcohol women’s group
* abolition/banning of alcohol
* believed that most of society’s evils came from alcohol- husbands abuse, spending all of their paychecks on alcohol, etc- all of this would stop if alcohol was gone

Upton Sinclair

* Wrote *The Jungle*
* told about the disgustiness of the meat packing industry in Chicago
* showed the unsanitary conditions and exploitation of workers
* called for reform and public outcry pushed the pure food and drug act and the meat inspection act

Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan

* Wrote the Influence of Sea Power Upon History
* Believed that the next evolution in military progress was the Navy
* To be the most powerful, you had to have a strong Navy
* This made the US set up military bases throughout the globe

Great Rapprochment

* The start of mutual peace between America and Britain
* Did this instead of going to war about the gold in Venezuela- US was protecting them and would have gone to war

Hawaii

* Was very valuable- had sugar (profitable, easy to produce in hawaii, not taxed)
* first place of US imperialism
* Due to McKinley Tariff of 1890 the sugar profits were less= american planters wanted to annex Hawaii to overcome the tariff
* Queen Liliuokalani told US to get off land and US didn’t listen= a very short war where US won- wouldn’t become state until later, but US had Hawaii now

Insurrectos

* Spanish rulers in Cuba that were terrible to the Cubans
* They put Cuban people into reconstruction camps

Imperialism

* When a country extends its power and influence over other regions/countries through the taking of resources, land, and the establishment of political dominance
* White Man’s Burden- it was US duty to imperialize other countries and spread democracy and our way of life

Yellow Journalism

* William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer
* Wrote exaggerated stories to get people to buy newspapers- didn’t care about who they were writing about, only wanted money
* Causes tension between Spain and US- caused the war

The Maine

* February 15, 1898
* USS Maine blew up in Havana Cuba port
* US blamed the Spanish for it and the Spanish said it malfunctioned & they did nothing
* People got very angry with the Spanish- went to war

Spanish American War

* Splendid little war
* most of the fighting was in Cuba and Philippines
* US navy was lead by commodore dewey- defeated spanish navy in Philippines
* US army caused Spanish fleet to retreat from Santiago, Cuba
* August 12, 1898- Spain signed an armistice

Teller Amendment

said that the US had to leave Cuba once the war was over- made sure the US wouldn’t imperialize Cuba

Rough Riders

* Teddy Roosevelt’s regiment of wild people who volunteered to fight- were from ivy league graduates to cowboys
* They attacked the Spanish and won in many key battles in Cuba

Treaty of Paris (1898)

* Treaty between Spain and America
* Spain gave Guam and Puerto Rico to US because US won
* US paid 20 mil for Philippines because they got it 1 day after Spain surrendered
* Cuba becomes free and independent but US must keep Guantanamo Bay

Anti-Imperialist League

* believed that US is a country of freedom and liberty and democracy, we got rid of our own colonizers but now we’re acting the same way as england did to us- why should we be hypocrites
* did not support any imperialistic actions
* against US declaration and morals

Platt Amendment

* US forced Cubans to write their own democratic constitution
* cubans hated it because it was written to benefit US
* would throw it out and make own communism like system

Foraker Act

* Gave Puerto RIcans a limited degree of popular government
* They were US citizens but didn’t have all the rights
* government was chosen by president
* made it a US territory

Open Door Policy

* Wa after Japan invaded and took Chinese land and other countries tried to take Chinese land as well


* US offered that China should keep their territory and their economics (can trade with anyone they want) and we should not bother on them

Boxer Rebellion

* China rebelled against the foreign intrusion and the puppet government (the other countries controlling their government)
* Was so successful that Japanese gov asked other countries for help
* 50,000 troops from 8 foreign countries came to remove Chinese thret
* over 100,000 Chinese were killed

Big Stick Policy

* Speak softly and carry a big stick
* Show other countries the US military to show our strength, rather than saying it
* If need be use that force to protect America and our interests

Gentlemen’s Agreement

Since the Japanese were upset about the treatment of Japanese immigrants in America, Teddy Roosevelt said that they would be treated fairly and segregation would stop if Japanese closed emigration to the US- Japanese upheld their side, but US didn’t

Great White Fleet

* A naval fleet of 16 ships that was sent around the world to show other countries how strong the US Navy was
* Japanese people loved it because they respected us

Root-Takahira Agreement

* Between Japan and America
* Both countries won’t be prejudice and also they’ll respect the territorial possessions of each country’s empire

Panama Canal

* Proposed by Roosevelt to help with faster shipping of goods and military
* Teddy Roosevelt offered Panama $40 mil to build it and they demanded more- Roosevelt then offered to fully support their revolution against Columbia (was successful)- let US have full control of land and construction started
* other countries were angry at US getting involved in other Panama’s affairs- South American countries turn on US- Roosevelt claimed innocence and blamed Panama for not accepting the first deal
* US was allowed to have from 1904-1999

Roosevelt Corollary

* Amendment to Monroe Doctrine (wants European countries to stay out of US affairs
* Added that if anything happens in US hemisphere then US had the right to intervene in any Latin American or European country to protect them
* America got to decide because it is a major power
* Latin American countries were upset because it was an invasion of their rights as an independent country- overreaching and over involvement of US, very intrusive
* US believed it had the right to be an international police force

Dollar Diplomacy

* rather than sending military to take care of business, we should send our money instead
* to make best relationships we should trade with other countries
* wanted to be economic leaders of world
* imperialism not through land but through economic trade

WWI spark

* Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was killed by someone who believed that all serbs should be united (they were living all throughout many countries and he didn’t like that austria hungary was controlling their land)
* Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia=start of war

American Isolationism

* Wilson proclaimed a neutrality proclamation- stay neutral and not get involved
* did not believe the war involved America- America should not get involved as it didn’t threaten US

Causes of WWI

* Militarism- countries wanted to prove their military was the strongest and show it off- they build up a strong military so now they want to use it
* Alliances- too many alliances between countries- countries would support their friends and eventually a bunch of countries were declaring war on each other- many countries forced to fight
* Imperialism- All countries wanted to have as much land as possible, from chaos of war they would be able to take land from other countries
* Nationalism- people supported their leaders no matter what and without question joined WWI

Lusitania

* 1915
* USS Lusitania sank due to a German submarine
* 1200 people dead, 128 of them Americans
* made people put pressure on Wilson to join the ally side but he says no
* Germans made the sussex pledge to no longer blow up civilian boats

Zimmerman Note

* Germany proposed a secret alliance with Mexico
* if Mexico would declare war on the US the Germany would give financial and military support
* Germany would help Mexico regain the land they lost to the US

Committee on Public Information

* Sole purpose is to gain public support for the war by using propaganda
* lead by George Creel
* Made posters and radio advertisements
* Uncle Sam
* Would say if you didn’t join military you were a girl
* Got people excited about fighting Germans

Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points & League of Nations

* 14 points about the US being the moral leaders of the world & our job should be preventing future wars from happening
* 1= no secret treaties
* 2= freedom of seas
* 3=removal of economic barriers among nations
* 14= creation of league of nations- its only role is to prevent future wars from happening- disliked by Republicans because Washington said we shouldn’t make alliances with other nations so we aren’t forced to help when we don’t want to- other countries join but America doesn’t because senate doesn’t let it pass

Espionage Act

* 1917
* prevents insubordination in military and prevents the prevention of military recruitment

Sedition Act

* 1918
* it is illegal to speak out against the government- against first amendment

Schenck vs United States

In 1919 the supreme court upheld the espionage and sedition act as constitutional

18th amendment

* 1919
* Prohibition of alcohol because alcohol leads to all bad things- husbands spending checks, abuse, etc
* wasn’t necessarily banded- could still easily get it, just made people secretive (speakeasies)
* bank savings increase and people show up at jobs/work more
* everyone who drinks alcohol is a criminal- people want it even more
* crime rates increased as mastermind criminals fought over controlling the illegal alcohol trade

19th amendment

* 1920
* women get the right to vote
* wilson supported them after pickett sign protests outside of whitehouse

draft act (1917)

* allowed the government to raise an army through the draft- to make sure US had enough soldiers to fight
* men between certain ages, and with certain health, and features were required to sign up for the draft

Trench warfare

* caused war to stall for 3 years
* area between trenches was no man’s land
* a sniper was always waiting for an enemy head to pop up
* soldiers would be chosen to run against open fire for 100 yds into open territory while the enemy sat in protection of the trench
* English and French- terrible conditions, trench foot, covered in water, didn’t want to get comfortable and stuck- be uncomfortable and want to leave
* Germans- very nice, new technology, boarded walls and ceilings, kitchens, electricity, knew that they would be there for a while so wanted to be comfortable

New Weapons of WWI

* Gas- chlorine gas- puts water into lungs- defeated by wind as it has to be going in the right direction- leads to creation of gas masks
* Airplanes- 1908, for reconnaissance first then at the end there were plane vs plane fights in air
* Tanks- designed to defeat trench warfare, a boat on land, could travel over trenches but the track could come off and they could get stuck, they moved slowly so troops could hide behind
* Submarines
* Machine guns
* blimps
* artillery
* grenades
* flamethrowers

Meusse-Argonne Forest

* America asked for their own front here- lead by General John J. pershing
* in the battle here, we defeated the Germans and started to push them back to Germany, almost Berlin- start of their end of power