Unit 6: Period 6: 1865–1898

Reconstruction

The turbulent post–Civil War effort to rebuild the U.S., restore the former Confederate states, and define freedom and rights for roughly four million formerly enslaved people.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolished slavery in the United States except as punishment for a crime, a loophole that helped enable coerced labor systems like convict leasing.

14th Amendment (1868)

Defined national citizenship (birth or naturalization in the U.S.) and guaranteed due process and equal protection under the law.

15th Amendment (1870)

Prohibited denying the right to vote on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Black Codes

Laws passed by ex-Confederate state governments to control Black labor and restrict Black freedom (e.g., limiting movement and punishing “vagrancy”).

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

Federal agency created to assist freedpeople with education, labor contracts, and basic legal support during Reconstruction.

Reconstruction Acts (1867)

Congressional laws that placed the former Confederacy under military districts and required new state constitutions including Black male suffrage.

Sharecropping

Postwar labor system where farmers worked land they did not own in exchange for a share of the crop; offered some autonomy but often produced long-term debt.

Crop-lien system

Credit arrangement in which merchants advanced supplies at high interest, secured by a future crop, often trapping farmers in a cycle of debt.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

White supremacist terrorist group that used violence and intimidation to suppress Black voting and attack Republican organizers during Reconstruction.

Compromise of 1877

Political settlement that resolved the disputed 1876 election and led to the withdrawal of remaining federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction.

Redeemers

Southern Democrats who regained control of Southern governments after Reconstruction and worked to restore white Democratic rule and racial hierarchy.

Jim Crow laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation and institutionalizing white supremacy in the South after Reconstruction.

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

Supreme Court decisions that struck down key parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and held that the 14th Amendment did not protect against private discrimination.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court ruling that upheld segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine, giving legal support to Jim Crow.

Homestead Act (1862)

Federal law offering land to settlers who lived on and improved it, encouraging western settlement despite major Great Plains farming challenges.

Morrill Land-Grant Act

Federal policy that supported the creation of land-grant colleges, promoting agricultural science and development.

Transcontinental Railroad (completed 1869)

Rail line connecting the nation coast-to-coast; heavily aided by public land and funding and crucial to integrating the West into national markets.

Railroad time / Time zones

Standardized timekeeping promoted by railroads to coordinate schedules, contributing to the establishment of U.S. time zones.

Barbed wire

Inexpensive fencing technology that helped end the open range by enclosing land, reshaping western ranching and farming.

Great Sioux War (1876–77)

Conflict between the U.S. and Lakota/Cheyenne forces amid westward expansion; followed by intensified U.S. efforts to confine Native peoples to reservations.

Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876)

Major battle during the Great Sioux War where Lakota and Cheyenne forces defeated Custer’s unit.

Dawes Act (1887)

Assimilation policy that broke up tribal lands into individual allotments and sold “surplus” land to non-Native settlers, undermining Native communities and sovereignty.

Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Boarding school designed to assimilate Native children by erasing Native languages and cultural practices.

Frontier Thesis (1893)

Frederick Jackson Turner’s argument that the frontier shaped American character and democracy and served as a “safety valve”; used to analyze how Americans interpreted expansion.

Age of Invention

Late-19th-century period of rapid technological change that expanded productivity and made mass production easier.

Thomas A. Edison’s Menlo Park workshop (1876)

Inventive laboratory associated with major innovations (notably the light bulb) and early development of electrical power systems.

Economies of scale

Cost advantages from producing goods in large quantities, lowering the cost per unit in industrial production.

Horizontal integration

Business strategy of combining many firms in the same industry into one large company; exemplified by Rockefeller’s Standard Oil.

Vertical integration

Business strategy of controlling multiple steps of production and distribution; exemplified by Carnegie’s approach in steel.

Trusts

Large business arrangements used to consolidate control and reduce competition, contributing to fears of monopoly power and political influence.

Social Darwinism

Ideology applying “survival of the fittest” to society, arguing that wealth reflected natural superiority and opposing government interference.

Gospel of Wealth

Idea (associated with Carnegie) that the wealthy had a duty to use their fortunes for public good (e.g., libraries, universities) rather than necessarily raising wages.

New Immigration

Immigration wave from about 1880 with many newcomers arriving from southern and eastern Europe, alongside continued Asian migration that provoked backlash.

Tenements

Overcrowded urban apartment housing common among the poor in rapidly growing cities, often associated with poor sanitation and disease.

Political machines

Urban political organizations that used patronage to provide services and assistance (jobs, housing help, legal aid) in exchange for votes, often involving corruption.

Tammany Hall / Boss Tweed

New York City political machine led by William “Boss” Tweed, notorious for massive corruption and embezzlement.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Federal law barring Chinese labor immigration; a major early example of federal immigration restriction aimed at a specific group.

Hull House (1889)

Settlement house in Chicago founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr that provided education, childcare, and community programs in poor neighborhoods.

Labor unions

Worker organizations formed to increase bargaining power and seek better wages, hours, safety, and dignity in an industrial economy.

Knights of Labor (founded 1869)

Early national labor union aiming to unite many workers (including unskilled) and advocating reforms like an 8-hour day and child labor laws; declined after backlash and failed strikes.

Haymarket Affair (1886)

Bombing at a labor rally that caused deaths and fueled anti-union sentiment, contributing to the decline of the Knights of Labor.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Union federation led by Samuel Gompers focused on “bread-and-butter” goals (higher wages, shorter hours) and emphasized skilled workers.

Homestead Strike (1892)

Steel strike at Carnegie’s plant where Frick used a lockout and Pinkertons; violence followed and the state militia helped end the strike, weakening union power.

Pullman Strike (1894)

Rail strike sparked by wage cuts amid high company-town rents; spread across 27 states and ended after court orders and federal intervention, with leader Eugene V. Debs jailed.

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

Law creating a merit-based system for many federal jobs, spurred by reform demands after President Garfield’s assassination by an office seeker.

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

First major federal regulatory law; created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to regulate railroad activities.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Federal law forbidding combinations in “restraint of trade,” but early enforcement was limited due to ambiguous wording and pro-business interpretations.

Omaha Platform (1892)

Populist Party program calling for reforms such as free silver, government ownership of railroads/telegraphs, a graduated income tax, and direct election of senators.

Treaty of Paris (1898)

Treaty ending the Spanish-American War; Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the U.S., and the U.S. took control of the Philippines (with payment to Spain).