US History Since 1865 Midterm Study Guide

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved South during Reconstruction, often seeking business or political opportunities.

Sharecropping

Farming system where farmers worked someone else's land and paid the owner with a portion of their crops. Often trapped farmers in debt.

Black Codes

Southern laws passed after the Civil War that restricted the rights and freedoms of African Americans.

Great Railroad Strike (1877)

Nationwide railroad workers' strike protesting wage cuts and poor working conditions.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship to people born or naturalized in the U.S. and guaranteed equal protection under the law.

Progressive Era

Period of reforms (1890s–1920s) focused on improving working conditions, reducing corruption, and addressing social problems.

Corporate Trust / Trust-Busting

Trusts combined companies to control industries. Trust-busting involved government efforts to break up monopolies and promote competition.

Jim Crow

Laws enforcing racial segregation and discrimination, especially in the South.

Working Class

People who earned wages through manual, industrial, or other labor, often working long hours for low pay.

Gilded Age

Period (roughly 1870–1900) of rapid industrial growth, extreme wealth inequality, and political corruption.

League of Nations

International organization created after WWI to promote peace and prevent future wars. The U.S. never joined.

Mass Manufacturing

Producing large quantities of products quickly and cheaply using machines and factories.

Consumerism

A culture focused on purchasing goods and services, encouraged by advertising and mass production.

Primary Source

Firsthand evidence created during the time of an event or by someone who experienced it.

Secondary Source

Information that analyzes, explains, or interprets historical events using primary sources.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that Americans were destined to expand westward.

The Homestead Act

Offered land to settlers after the Civil War.

Transcontinental Railroad

Made traveling west easier after the Civil War.

Electricity

Powered factories, homes, and cities crucial for industrial expansion.

Monopoly

When one company controls nearly all of an industry or market.

Spanish-American War

Resulted in the U.S. acquiring Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

Monroe Doctrine

U.S. policy warning European countries against further colonization in the Americas.

Gold, Glory, God

Motivating factors behind America becoming an empire.

Industrialization

Created millions of factory jobs that absorbed immigrants from 1870–1920.

Mass-Manufactured Objects

Made products cheaper and more widely available, increasing consumerism.

Whiteness

A socially constructed racial category whose meaning and boundaries have changed over time.