history

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

Granted citizenship to all persons born in the U.S.

15th Amendment

Granted voting rights to black and white men.

Sharecropping

A system where landowners allowed tenants to farm land in exchange for a share of the crops.

Debt Cycle

A situation where sharecroppers often owed money to landowners.

Black Codes

Laws that restricted the rights of Black Americans.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court case that established the 'separate but equal' doctrine for legalized segregation.

Plessy Dissent

The opinion that race should not determine equality.

Disenfranchisement

The act of taking away someone's right to vote.

Transcontinental Railroad

A railroad that linked the eastern U.S. to the western U.S., boosting farming, mining, and trade.

Homestead Act

A law that provided 160 acres of free land to settlers willing to develop it.

Sod Houses

Houses built from sod due to a lack of timber in some regions.

Dawes Act

A law aimed at assimilating Native Americans and weakening tribal identity.

Nativism

A preference for native-born citizens and a dislike for immigrants.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law that banned Chinese immigration for ten years.

Populist Movement

A political movement that helped farmers address the challenges faced from big business.

Income Tax

Tax based on an individual's earnings, demanded by Populists.

Laissez-Faire

An economic system with minimal government intervention in business.

Industrialization

The development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale.

Muckrakers

Journalists who sought to expose corruption in politics and business.

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

Legislation that reformed the spoils system by requiring exams for government jobs.

Spanish-American War (1898)

A war fought to free Cuba from Spanish rule, influenced by yellow journalism.

Platt Amendment

Allowed for U.S. intervention in Cuba's affairs.

Big Stick Policy

Teddy Roosevelt's foreign policy that emphasized military intervention.

Fourteen Points (1918)

President Wilson's proposal for peace following World War I.

League of Nations

An international organization formed after WWI to promote peace; the U.S. refused to join.

Red Scare (1919-1920)

A period of intense fear of communism in the U.S.

Sacco & Vanzetti Trial (1921-1927)

A trial that showcased anti-immigrant bias against Italian anarchists.

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

The peace treaty that ended World War I and punished Germany.

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

A program under which the U.S. supplied allies with war materiel before entering WWII.

Attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941)

The event that led the U.S. to enter World War II.