11 - Unit 5: Rise of American Power (Imperial Expansion, Industrial Revolution, and Progressive Era)

Manifest Destiny

a notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the US had a God-given right to rule and spread their civilization across the continent

Homestead Act (1862)

law that allowed settlers to buy cheap western land if they lived on and worked it for five years

Reservation System (1870-)

forced indigenous nations to live on crowded regions of barren land, depriving them of traditional lands, resources, and cultural practices

Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

combined force of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors crushed US soldiers led by George Cluster; defeat increased American demands to send more troops and eliminate tribal resistance

Dawes Act (1887)

broke reservation land into sections for private purchase; eliminated tribal system of land ownership and sold most land to American settlers

Cultural Assimilation

process of a minority group adopting the values/practices of the dominant culture

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

US army killed 200ish Native American in order to suppress the Ghost Dance movement; final major encounter between Native American and US forces

Factors of Production

four resources necessary for industrialization and economic growth: land, labor, capital, entrepreneurship

Laissez-faire

policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy; let businesses do what they want

Monopoly

single company with total control of an industry

Robber Barons/Captains of Industry

entrepreneurs that built and owned powerful companies (Railroads, Factories, etc)

Labor Unions

organizations of workers who, together, put pressure on the employers in an industry to improve working conditions and wages

Strikes

event when members of a union refuse to work until employers meet their demands (usually higher pay, better safety conditions, or lower work hours)

Haymarket Affair (1886)

incident that made unions and labor activists look violent because a bomb exploded, killing police, during a protest of striking workers

Urbanization

Movement of people from rural/country areas to cities

Second Wave of Immigration

Immigration from 1880-1920; most were poor, non-protestant christians from southern and eastern Europe, or from Asia

Nativism

belief in favoring the interests and rights of native-born Americans over foreign-born immigrants

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

limited the number of Chinese immigrants who were allowed to enter the USA

Quota Act of 1921

limited the amount of Immigrants from each region: equal to 3% of total number of people from a particular region already living in the US as of 1910

Imperialism

policy of expanding a nation by claiming foreign lands; territories taken in this way are exploited to the political and economic benefit of the nation

Open Door Policy

Policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China

Yellow Journalism

exaggerating or creating false news stories to sell more papers

Roosevelt Corollary

Addition to the Monroe Doctrine; US will be "policeman" in Western Hemisphere and use military force to maintain control in Latin America

Big Stick Diplomacy

foreign policy of Teddy Roosevelt; begin diplomacy with fair negotiations, but use force (navy) if necessary to get what you want

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

First federal action against monopolies; however, it was initially misused against labor unions until Theodore Roosevelt used it to fight monopolies (trust-busting)

Progressivism

political movement to reform the injustices in American life caused by corruption and exploitation during the Gilded Age

Muckrakers

journalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public (Upton Sinclair, Jacob Riis, Ida Tarbell, etc.)

Political Machines

groups that controlled city politics through corrupt practices such as providing aid to immigrants for voter loyalty and bribing government officials

17th Amendment (1913)

Direct election of senators

18th Amendment (1919)

prohibition; banned the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages

19th Amendment (1920)

women's suffrage (right to vote)

Settlement Houses

community homes devoted to improving the lives and opportunities of poor immigrants (Jane Addams and the Chicago Hull House)

Upton Sinclair

muckraker who shocked the nation when he published The Jungle which revealed gruesome details about the meat packing industry in Chicago

Theodore Roosevelt

President (1901-1909); known for: conservationism, "square deal" trust-busting, safe food regulations, building the Panama Canal and Great White Fleet, "big stick" diplomacy

Boss Tweed

Corrupt boss of the Tammany Hall political machine who dominated politics in New York City; called out in the cartoons published by Thomas Nast in NYC newspapers

John Rockefeller

Captain of Industry who built a fortune by monopolizing the oil industry; did so primarily by buying out competitors to either add refineries to his empire or shut them down

Booker T. Washington

African American progressive who supported segregation (Atlanta Compromise) and demanded that African American better themselves economically through job training (Tuskegee Institute) to achieve equality.