USA Midterm 1

Eugenics

Movement promoting controlled reproduction to 'improve' genetics, advocated by scientists and policymakers in the late 19th to mid-20th century.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1902–1932) known for advocating judicial restraint and free speech; wrote the Buck v. Bell decision.

Species Replacement

Concept where one species is replaced by another due to environmental or human impact, ongoing throughout history.

Fourteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1868, it granted citizenship and equal protection under the law, aiming to protect rights of formerly enslaved people.

Conservation vs. Preservation

Conservation supports regulated resource use, while preservation seeks to keep nature untouched; key figures include Gifford Pinchot and John Muir.

Convict Leasing

System used by Southern state governments to lease prisoners for labor in brutal conditions, prevalent after the Civil War.

The Gilded Age

Period in the U.S. (1870s–1900) marked by rapid industrial growth and wealth inequality, characterized by economic expansion and corruption.

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law that banned Chinese labor immigration, representing the first major U.S. immigration restriction driven by racism.

Frederick Winslow Taylor

Mechanical engineer who developed scientific management to improve industrial efficiency in the late 19th to early 20th century.

Walter Lippmann

Journalist and political commentator known for criticizing public opinion’s role in democracy, shaping modern media.

United States v. Cruikshank

1876 Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal government’s ability to enforce civil rights, allowing racial violence.

Deskilling

Process of replacing skilled labor with machines and unskilled workers, increasing efficiency but reducing workers' bargaining power.

Sharecropping

Farming system for tenants working land for a share of the crops, trapping many in cycles of debt and poverty post-Civil War.

Gifford Pinchot

First Chief of the U.S. Forest Service and advocate for conservation and sustainable resource use.

Wakan

Sacred or spiritual power in Native American beliefs, central to Indigenous Plains tribes' cultural identity.

Vertical Integration

Business strategy where a company controls all production stages, allowing monopolies and economic dominance.

Homestead

Land granted to individuals under the Homestead Act starting in 1862, encouraging western migration.

The Pinkertons

Private security agency hired to break strikes and protect industry, symbolizing corporate power over labor movements.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group founded in 1865, known for using terror and violence against Black rights.

Treaty of Versailles

1919 treaty that ended WWI and imposed harsh penalties on Germany, contributing to economic hardship and WWII.

W.E.B. Du Bois

Civil rights activist and scholar who co-founded the NAACP and advocated for Black rights.

National Origins Act

1924 law that set strict immigration quotas based on nationality, limiting immigration from Southern/Eastern Europe and Asia.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the separate but equal doctrine.

Omaha Platform

Political platform of the Populist Party advocating for economic reforms like income tax and direct election of senators.

Boarding Schools

Schools aimed at assimilating Native American children into white culture in the late 19th to 20th century.

Ida B. Wells

African American journalist and activist known for leading anti-lynching campaigns and co-founding the NAACP.

Flappers

Young women in the 1920s challenging traditional norms, known for short hair and representing women's growing independence.

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Civil rights organization founded in 1909, fighting racial injustice, segregation, and disenfranchisement.

Emilio Aguinaldo

Filipino revolutionary leader who led independence movements against Spain and the U.S. in the 1890s–1900s.

Social Darwinism

Late 19th to early 20th-century idea that natural selection applies to human societies, used to justify economic inequality.

Jane Addams

Social reformer who founded Hull House, dedicated to helping immigrants and poor communities.

Nineteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1920, it granted women the right to vote, marking a significant victory for the women’s rights movement.

Eugene Debs

Socialist leader and labor activist who founded the American Railway Union and ran for president multiple times.

Sedition Act

1918 law criminalizing criticism of the U.S. government during WWI, restricting free speech.

Margaret Sanger

Birth control activist who advocated for contraception rights and founded Planned Parenthood.

Wounded Knee

1890 massacre of Lakota Sioux by U.S. troops, symbolizing the violent suppression of Native Americans.

Pacific Railway Act(s)

1862 legislation that funded the construction of the transcontinental railroad, promoting westward expansion.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Radical labor union founded in 1905, advocating for worker control of industries.

Capital Accumulation

Process of increasing wealth through investment and profits, a key driver of economic growth.

Gustavus Swift

Innovator in the meatpacking industry known for pioneering refrigerated railcars and vertical integration.

George Creel

Journalist who led propaganda efforts during WWI under the Committee on Public Information.

League of Nations

International organization proposed by Woodrow Wilson in 1920 to prevent future wars; failed to stop WWII.

Roscoe Conkling

Republican politician and Senator from New York, leader of the Stalwart faction during the Gilded Age.

Eighteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1919, it prohibited alcohol and led to Prohibition, which was repealed in 1933.

Mary Elizabeth Lease

Populist speaker and activist who advocated for farmers' and working-class rights.

Meat Inspection Act

1906 law regulating the meatpacking industry after The Jungle exposed abuses, improving food safety.

Self-Determination

The principle that people should govern themselves, significant in nationalist movements and post-WWI diplomacy.

Marcus Garvey

Black nationalist leader who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and promoted Black pride.