Flashcards U.S. History Reform, Reconstruction, Nativism, and Immigration Acts

1. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire happened in New York City in 1911 and killed 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women. The factory had locked exit doors, collapsed fire escapes, and ladders that were too short. The owners were found not guilty, and 23 families received $75 per life. The tragedy led to workplace safety reforms, showing that change often happened only after people died. It demonstrates the limits of the Progressive Era and reactive reform.

2. Reconstruction Amendments

The Reconstruction Amendments were the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, passed between 1865 and 1870. The 13th Amendment ended slavery, the 14th established citizenship and equal protection, and the 15th protected voting rights regardless of race for men at the time. These amendments expanded freedom and citizenship for formerly enslaved people. However, Southern states used laws like the Black Codes and violence to limit these new rights. They demonstrate progress and regression because legal rights expanded, but racial equality was not fully achieved.

3. Black Codes

The Black Codes were laws passed across the South after the Civil War to control formerly enslaved Black people. These laws restricted activities, required proof of employment, and punished people for certain actions. People who could not pay fines could be forced into labor through the prison system. Southern states used these laws to maintain white control over Black labor despite the end of slavery. The Black Codes demonstrate resistance to Reconstruction and the limits of freedom.

4. Freedmen's Bureau

The Freedmen's Bureau was a federal agency created in 1865 to help formerly enslaved people and others in the South. It provided food, clothing, job information, and education, helping establish about 3,000 schools. These schools served around 150,000 students. However, the Bureau struggled to stop white violence and could not provide the land many formerly enslaved people wanted. It demonstrates the federal government's role and limitations during Reconstruction, as well as the importance of Black communities helping themselves.

5. Dawes Act

The Dawes Act was passed in 1887 to divide Native American reservation land into individual plots. Native Americans could receive ownership deeds after living on their land for 25 years. Any remaining land was sold, often to non-Native settlers. About 90 million acres of Native American land eventually left tribal ownership. The act demonstrates conquest and assimilation because the government took Native land while pressuring Native Americans to adopt white American culture and individual landownership.

6. Russell Conwell

Russell Conwell was a Baptist minister, lawyer, and Civil War veteran who helped found Temple University. During the Gilded Age, he delivered his Acres of Diamonds speech thousands of times across the country. He argued that making money honestly was a way of doing God's work. His message suggested that people could improve their lives through hard work and personal effort. Conwell demonstrates the defense of the status quo because his ideas supported capitalism and wealth while placing responsibility for poverty on individuals.

7. Jane Addams

Jane Addams was a social reformer who founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889. Hull House provided immigrants with healthcare, education, classes, and other community services. Addams lived in the neighborhood and worked to improve the lives of poor families. However, her work sometimes promoted Americanization and did not serve all racial groups equally. She demonstrates Progressive reform because she addressed social problems but also reflected some of the era's limitations.

8. The Jungle

The Jungle was a novel written by Upton Sinclair and published in 1906. It exposed dangerous working conditions and unsanitary practices in Chicago's meatpacking industry. Sinclair wanted readers to sympathize with exploited workers, but many readers focused more on the unsafe food. Public outrage helped lead to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. The novel demonstrates the limits of Progressive reform because the government acted to protect consumers more than workers.

9. Hiram Evans

Hiram Evans was the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1922 to 1939. He promoted "100% Americanism," white supremacy, Protestant dominance, and traditional morality. Under his leadership, the Klan grew to approximately four million members and expanded across the country. The Klan targeted Black Americans, immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. Evans demonstrates nativism, racism, and the traditionalist side of the 1920s culture war because the Klan opposed cultural and social change.

10. A. Mitchell Palmer

A. Mitchell Palmer was the U.S. Attorney General who led the Palmer Raids in 1919 and 1920. The raids targeted suspected communists, anarchists, and other political radicals during the First Red Scare. About 16,000 people were arrested, often without proper warrants or legal protections. Some people were jailed or deported because of their suspected political beliefs. Palmer demonstrates how fear can threaten civil liberties, especially during periods of political tension and anti-immigrant sentiment.

11. Morrill Act

The Morrill Act was passed in 1862 to help states establish colleges focused on agriculture and the mechanic arts. The federal government granted land to states to fund these schools. The act helped create land-grant colleges, including Colorado Agricultural College, which later became Colorado State University. It expanded practical higher education and supported economic development. The act demonstrates the federal government's role in westward expansion and education, using land to shape settlement and learning.

12. Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee was a massacre that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1890. U.S. soldiers became concerned about the Ghost Dance movement and attempted to disarm the Lakota people. The soldiers opened fire, killing approximately 300 Lakota people, including many women and children. The massacre represented the violent suppression of Native American resistance to U.S. expansion. It demonstrates the conquest of the West, and the professor emphasizes that it was a massacre rather than a battle.

13. Chinese Exclusion Act

The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882 and restricted Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States. Chinese workers had helped build western railroads but later faced racism, riots, and hostility. Western states pressured the federal government to restrict Chinese immigration. The law was repealed in 1943 and became an important example of racial discrimination in immigration policy. It demonstrates nativism and federal control over immigration because the government excluded a group based on its national and ethnic background.

14. Johnson-Reed Act

The Johnson-Reed Act was passed in 1924 to establish strict immigration quotas based on nationality. It used the 1890 census to determine quotas and favored immigrants from northern and western Europe. The law reflected racist beliefs that some European groups were superior to others, while immigration from Asia faced severe restrictions. The quota system remained in place until major immigration reforms in 1965. It demonstrates nativism and the traditionalist victory in the 1920s culture war because the government tried to control who could enter the country based on national origin.