History Midterm Study Guide

Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan

Abraham Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction, also known as the Plan, required only 10\% of voters in a state to take an oath of loyalty to the Union.

Moderate/Radical Reconstruction

While Moderate Republicans wanted to bring the South back quickly, the Republicans wanted to punish the South and protect the rights of newly freed slaves.

Andrew Johnson

President took office after Lincoln's assassination and faced impeachment due to conflicts with Radical Republicans.

Black Codes

The were restrictive laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War to limit the freedom of African Americans.

Freedmen’s Bureau

The was established to provide food, medical care, and education to former slaves and poor whites in the South.

14th and 15th Amendments

The 14^{th} Amendment granted citizenship and equal protection to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., while the 15^{th} Amendment guaranteed that the right to vote could not be denied based on race.

Ulysses S Grant

The 18^{th} President of the United States, , led the Union Army during the Civil War and served during much of the Reconstruction era.

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

Northerners who moved south after the Civil War for economic gain were called , whereas white Southerners who supported Reconstruction were known as .

Ku Klux Klan

The was a secret society that used violence and intimidation to prevent African Americans from exercising their rights.

Election of 1876 / Compromise of 1877

The effectively ended Reconstruction when Democrats agreed to support Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South.

Voting Restrictions

Literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses were used as to prevent African Americans from participating in elections.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the South followed the era of Reconstruction and were known as laws.

Sharecropping

Under the system of , farmers worked land owned by someone else in exchange for a portion of the crops, often resulting in a cycle of debt.

Plessy vs Ferguson

The Supreme Court case established the "separate but equal" doctrine, legalizing segregation.

Assimilation

The process of aimed to absorb Native Americans into mainstream American culture, often through boarding schools or land allotment.

Exodusters

African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late 19^{th} century were known as .

Transcontinental Railroad

The was completed in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah, linking the East and West Coasts of the United States.

Homestead Act

The of 1862 encouraged Western migration by providing settlers with 160 acres of land if they farmed it for five years.

Second Industrial Revolution

The was characterized by rapid expansion in steel, chemicals, electricity, and precision machinery.

Corporations

Large became the dominant business form during the Gilded Age, allowing for the accumulation of capital through the sale of stock.

Andrew Carnegie

was a titan of the steel industry who practiced vertical integration and later became a major philanthropist.

John D Rockefeller

founded the Standard Oil Company and used horizontal integration to dominate the oil industry.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

was a "commodore" who built a massive wealth empire through his control of the railroad and shipping industries.

Monopoly

A occurs when a single company or group has exclusive control over the supply of a particular product or service.

Laissez-faire

The economic policy of suggests that government should not interfere in business affairs.

Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie's argued that the wealthy had a moral obligation to use their fortunes for the benefit of society.

Robber Barons vs Captains of Industry

Successful industrialists were often called by critics who viewed them as greedy, or by those who saw them as visionaries.

Immigration

Millions of people came to the U.S. during the late 19^{th} and early 20^{th} centuries in a massive wave of .

Urbanization

The rapid growth of cities, known as , led to overcrowding, sanitation issues, and the rise of tenements.

Gilded Age

Mark Twain coined the term to describe the late 19^{th} century as a period that looked prosperous on the surface but was corrupt underneath.

Knights of Labor

The was one of the first major labor unions, welcoming both skilled and unskilled workers.

Homestead Steel Strike

The in 1892 was a violent conflict between steelworkers and private security agents at Andrew Carnegie's steel mill.

American Federation of Labor

Samuel Gompers led the , which focused on "bread and butter" unionism for skilled workers only.

Anti-Union Practices

Employers used , such as blacklisting and yellow-dog contracts, to prevent workers from organizing.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

The of 1890 was the first federal law intended to curb the power of monopolies and trusts.

Progressivism

was a reform movement that sought to use the government to address the social and economic problems of industrialization.

Theodore Roosevelt

President was known as the "Trust Buster" and advocated for a "Square Deal" for Americans.

Conservation Efforts

Theodore Roosevelt's included the creation of the U.S. Forest Service and numerous national parks.

Political Reforms

The initiative, referendum, and recall were designed to give citizens more direct influence over their government.

Muckrakers

were investigative journalists who exposed social ills, corporate corruption, and political scandals.

Election of 1912

In the , Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate for the "Bull Moose" Party, splitting the Republican vote.

William Howard Taft

served as President after Roosevelt and later became the only person to serve as both President and Chief Justice.

16th Amendment

The Amendment authorized the federal government to collect an income tax.

Woodrow Wilson

was the Democratic president who oversaw major reforms like the Underwood Tariff and the Federal Reserve Act.

Federal Reserve Act

The created a central banking system to provide the nation with a stable monetary system.

Imperialism

is the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic, political, or military control over weaker territories.

Annexation of Hawaii

The in 1898 occurred after American planters overthrew Queen Liliuokalani.

Spanish American War

The was sparked by the sinking of the USS Maine and resulted in the U.S. gaining territories like Puerto Rico and Guam.

Panama Canal

The was built to provide a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, drastically reducing travel time for ships.