US History 2

Total War

A strategy where war destroys homes and civilian infrastructure rather than just focusing on battlefield engagements.

Freedmen's Bureau

Established in 1865 to assist freed slaves by providing food, education, and medical care.

Reconstruction Plans

Various approaches to reintegrate Southern states into the Union, with differing views among Republicans on the treatment of former Confederates.

Ten Percent Plan

Lincoln's proposal allowing Southern states to rejoin the Union once 10% of voters pledged loyalty and accepted the abolition of slavery.

Wade-Davis Bill

A radical Republican proposal requiring 50% of eligible voters in Southern states to declare loyalty to the Union for readmission.

Black Codes

Laws enacted in the South to restrict the rights of freed African Americans and maintain white supremacy.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist organization formed in 1865 that used violence and intimidation against African Americans.

Enforcement Acts

Legislation passed in 1870 and 1871 aimed at curbing KKK violence and protecting African American rights.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election, leading to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation and disenfranchising African Americans in the South.

Atlanta Compromise

Booker T. Washington's proposal advocating for African Americans to focus on self-improvement rather than fighting for political rights.

Plessy v

A landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the "separate but equal" doctrine, legitimizing racial segregation.

Convict Leasing

A system where states leased out convicts to private businesses, often leading to brutal working conditions.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system where freedmen and poor whites worked land owned by others in exchange for a share of the crops.

The Dawes Act

An 1887 law aimed at assimilating Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land and promoting individual land ownership.

The Rise of Industrialization

The growth of industries such as textiles and steel in the South, often at the expense of African American labor rights.

The Homestead Act

A 1862 law that encouraged Western migration by providing settlers with 160 acres of public land.

The Turner Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner's argument that the American frontier was crucial in shaping democracy and individualism in the U.S.

Labor Unions

Organizations formed by workers to advocate for better wages and working conditions, facing significant challenges and opposition.

The American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A national federation of labor unions founded in 1886, focusing on skilled workers' rights and labor issues.