AMSCO AP US History Chapter 17

Great Plains

Region between Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains, semi-arid grasslands

Homestead Act

1862 law granting 160 acres to settlers who farmed it for 5 years

Sod Houses

Homes built from prairie sod by settlers, due to lack of timber

Dry Farming

Plowing and planting methods to conserve moisture in arid land

Bonanza Farms

Large commercial farms, often corporate-owned, specialized in single crops

Barbed Wire

Invented by Joseph Glidden, ended open-range ranching

Long Drive

Cattle drives from Texas to railroad towns in the 1860s–1880s

Cow Towns

Railroad towns like Abilene and Dodge City serving cattle industry

Vaqueros

Mexican cowboys influencing U.S. cattle ranching, gear, and techniques

Open Range

Unfenced grazing land used by cattle ranchers

Range Wars

Conflicts between ranchers, farmers, and sheep herders over land

Comstock Lode

Major silver discovery in Nevada, 1859, sparked mining boom

Boomtowns

Rapidly growing towns near mining sites, often lawless

Ghost Towns

Abandoned boomtowns after mines depleted

Chinese Immigrants

Worked on railroads and mines, faced discrimination

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law banning Chinese immigration for 10 years

Transcontinental Railroad

Union Pacific and Central Pacific completed in 1869 at Promontory Point

Time Zones

Standardized by railroads in 1883 for scheduling across U.S.

Frederick Jackson Turner

Historian who argued frontier shaped American democracy

Frontier Thesis

Claimed democracy, individualism, and American character formed on the frontier

Indian Wars

Series of conflicts between U.S. army and Plains tribes

Reservation Policy

U.S. policy confining tribes to limited lands, often poor quality

Sand Creek Massacre

1864 attack by Colorado militia killing over 100 Cheyenne

Red Cloud’s War

1866–1868 conflict where Sioux resisted U.S. forts, led to treaty

Fetterman Massacre

1866 ambush killing 81 U.S. soldiers, part of Red Cloud’s War

Battle of Little Bighorn

1876 defeat of Custer by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

Sitting Bull

Hunkpapa Sioux leader at Little Bighorn

Crazy Horse

Oglala Sioux leader who defeated Custer

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce leader who tried to flee to Canada, surrendered 1877

Helen Hunt Jackson

Author of A Century of Dishonor, exposed U.S. mistreatment of Native Americans

Assimilation

Policy promoting Native adoption of white culture, schools, and Christianity

Dawes Act

1887 law dividing tribal lands into individual plots, undermined tribal life

Ghost Dance Movement

Religious movement promising return of lands, led to Wounded Knee

Battle of Wounded Knee

1890 massacre of over 200 Sioux, ended armed Native resistance

New South

Vision of industrialized, diversified economy in postwar South

Henry Grady

Editor promoting industrial growth and New South ideology

Birmingham

Steel industry hub in New South

Memphis

Center of lumber and cotton processing

Richmond

Tobacco and textile industry center

Tenant Farming

Farmers rented land from owners, remained in debt cycle

Sharecropping

System where farmers gave part of crop as rent, kept South poor

Crop-Lien System

Farmers borrowed against future crops, trapped in debt

George Washington Carver

Promoted crop rotation and alternative crops at Tuskegee

Booker T. Washington

Founded Tuskegee, advocated vocational education for African Americans

Tuskegee Institute

School for practical skills and trades for Black students

Atlanta Compromise

Booker T. Washington’s 1895 speech urging economic self-help, avoiding political confrontation

Jim Crow Laws

Segregation laws in South enforcing racial separation

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court case upholding “separate but equal”

Literacy Tests

Voting restriction requiring reading comprehension, disenfranchised Blacks

Poll Taxes

Fee to vote, disenfranchised poor and Black voters

Grandfather Clauses

Allowed whites to vote if ancestors had before 1867, bypassing literacy tests

Disfranchisement

Systematic denial of voting rights to African Americans

Ida B. Wells

Journalist and activist fighting lynching and promoting civil rights

National Negro Business League

Founded 1900 by Washington to support Black businesses

Exodusters

African Americans migrating to Kansas to escape Southern oppression

Ocala Platform

1890 farmer demands: lower tariffs, income tax, direct election of senators, silver coinage, federal farm regulation

Granger Movement

Farmers’ groups advocating railroad regulation

Munn v. Illinois

1877 upheld state regulation of grain elevator rates

Wabash v. Illinois

1886 limited state power, led to creation of Interstate Commerce Commission

Interstate Commerce Act

1887 law regulating railroads, first federal regulatory agency

Farmers’ Alliances

Replaced Grangers, promoted cooperative buying, political action

Colored Farmers’ National Alliance

Separate Black farmers’ organization promoting similar reforms

Mechanization of Agriculture

Use of reapers, threshers, and plows increased productivity but hurt small farmers

Deflation

Falling crop prices due to overproduction and tight money supply

Mexican-American Land Loss

Southwest Hispanics lost land due to legal loopholes and Anglo settlers

Conservation Movement

Efforts to preserve forests, land, and natural resources

Forest Reserve Act

1891 law allowing federal forest reserves

Sierra Club

Founded 1892 by John Muir to protect wilderness and promote conservation

The Act of 1862 granted settlers 160 acres of land

Joseph Glidden invented wire, ending the open-range era

The Massacre of 1864 killed over 100 Cheyenne

The Thesis argued the frontier shaped American democracy

The Act of 1887 divided tribal lands into individual plots

The 1890 massacre at ended armed Native resistance

The Platform demanded income tax, silver coinage, and direct election of senators

Booker T. Washington gave the Compromise speech promoting vocational education