AMH 2020 Midterm

Jim Crow

System of segregation laws (1877 - 1960s, Southern U.S.) enforcing separate but equal; institutionalized white supremacy after Reconstruction.

Convict Leasing

Post Civil War system leasing prisoners to private companies (1860 - 1900s, South); recreated forced labor and exploited African Americans.

Eugenics

Early 1900s pseudoscience promoting selective breeding (U.S./Europe); justified racism, sterilization, and restrictive immigration laws.

Civil War Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th)

1865 - 1870 constitutional amendments ending slavery, granting citizenship, and protecting voting rights; redefined freedom but poorly enforced.

Buck v. Bell

1927 Supreme Court case (Virginia) upholding compulsory sterilization; legitimized eugenics and state control over reproduction.

Square Deal

Theodore Roosevelt’s reform program (1901 - 1909, U.S.) Conservation, Control of Corporations, Consumer Protection; expanded federal power.

Turner Thesis

1893 theory by Frederick Jackson Turner (Chicago) arguing the frontier shaped U.S. democracy and identity; influenced expansionism.

Wounded Knee Massacre

1890 U.S. Army killing of 250+ Lakota (South Dakota); ended Native resistance and symbolized the closing of the frontier.

Teller Amendment

1898 U.S. resolution promising not to annex Cuba after defeating Spain; reflected anti-imperialist sentiment.

Roosevelt Corollary

1904 addition to the Monroe Doctrine (Latin America); declared U.S. right to intervene as an international police power.

Platt Amendment

1901 law making Cuba a U.S. protectorate; allowed American intervention and limited Cuban sovereignty.

Ida B. Wells

Journalist and anti-lynching activist (1890 - 1930s, South/Chicago); exposed racial violence and advanced civil rights.

Spanish-American War

1898 war between U.S. and Spain (Cuba, Philippines); made the U.S. an imperial power with overseas colonies.

New Freedom / New Nationalism

1912 Progressive visions Wilson’s small-government reform vs. Roosevelt’s strong federal regulation; defined Progressive Era politics.

Philippine-American War

1899 - 1902 conflict in the Philippines; U.S. suppressed independence movement, revealing contradictions in American democracy.

Banana Wars

U.S. military interventions (1898 - 1934, Latin America/Caribbean) to protect business interests; showed U.S. imperial reach.

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law banning Chinese immigration; first federal restriction based on race, showing rising nativism.

Geary Act

1892 extension of Chinese Exclusion Act (U.S.); required Chinese residents to carry ID papers, expanding racial control.

Fong Yue Ting v. United States

1893 Supreme Court case upholding deportation of Chinese without trial; confirmed federal supremacy over immigration.

Wilmington Insurrection

1898 white supremacist coup (North Carolina); overthrew elected biracial government only successful coup in U.S. history.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court case (Louisiana) upholding separate but equal; legalized segregation and cemented Jim Crow.

Black Codes

1865 -1866 Southern laws limiting Black freedom after emancipation; aimed to maintain prewar racial hierarchy.

Mississippi Plan

1875 Democratic strategy using violence and laws to suppress Black voters; model for Southern disenfranchisement.

Williams v. Mississippi

1898 Supreme Court case upholding poll taxes and literacy tests; legitimized voter suppression.

Jones v. United States

1899 Supreme Court case confirming U.S. sovereignty over new territories; justified imperial rule without full rights.

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

Supreme Court struck down Civil Rights Act of 1875; ruled 14th Amendment didn’t apply to private acts, enabling segregation.

Settlement Houses

Urban social centers (1880s–1910s, e.g. Hull House in Chicago) aiding immigrants; advanced women’s activism and social reform.

Populist Party

Agrarian political movement (1892–1896, South/Midwest) demanding economic reform and Free Silver; influenced Progressivism.

Radical Reconstruction

Congressional phase of Reconstruction (1867–1877, South); expanded rights for freedpeople through federal enforcement.