chapter 26 apush vocab

Reservation System

created to keep Native Americans off of lands that European Americans wished to settle. The reservation system allowed indigenous people to govern themselves and to maintain some of their cultural and social traditions.

Dawes Act (1887)

ended Native American communal holding of property by which they had ensured that everyone had a home and a place in the tribe.

Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

a conflict where Sioux and Cheyenne warriors fought against the U.S. military in June of 1876, with the Native Americans wiping out the U.S. soldiers.

Wounded Knee Massacre

soldiers of the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment indiscriminately slaughtered hundreds of Sioux men, women, and children, marked the definitive end of Indian resistance to the encroachments of white settlers.

Helen Hunt Jackson

American poet and writer who became an activist for improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government.

Homestead Act of 1862

provided 160 acres of federal land to anyone who agreed to farm the land.

Exodusters

African-Americans who moved west, specifically to Kansas, to form their own independent communities

Reconstruction

the historic period in which the United States grappled with the question of how to integrate millions of newly freed African Americans into social, political, and labor systems, was a time of significant transformation within the United States.

Dry Farming

a way of farming dry land in which seeds are planted deep in ground where there is some moisture

Barbed wire

providing an efficient way for farmers to enclose their land. It allowed them to protect their crops from roaming livestock, which was essential as more settlers moved into the region.

Bonanza Farms

large, commercial farming enterprises that grew thousands of acres of wheat—flourished in northwestern Minnesota and the Dakotas

Mechanization

Use of machines, either wholly or in part, to replace human or animal labour.

Railroads in the West

helped open the west and contribute to the rise of big buisness for people and goods to be transported easily

Granger Laws

to regulate rapidly rising crop transport and storage fees railroads and grain elevator companies charged farmers.

The Grange

an association formed by farmers in the last 1800s to make life better for farmers by sharing information about crops, prices, and supplies

Farmers' Alliance

network of farmers' organizations that worked for political and economic reforms in the late 1800s

Populist Party (people's party)

U.S. political party formed in 1892 representing mainly farmers, favoring free coinage of silver and government control of railroads and other monopolies

Omaha Platform (1892)

Political agenda adopted by the Populist Party in 1892.

Provisions:

Called for unlimited coinage of silver (bimetallism), government regulation of railroads and industry, graduated income tax, and a number of election reforms.

Frederick Jackson Turner

American historian who said that humanity would continue to progress as long as there was new land to move into. The frontier provided a place for homeless and solved social problems. "Frontier thesis"

Frontier Thesis

The argument by Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American socity more democratic; emphasized cheap, unsettled land and the absence of a landed aristocracy.

Closing of the Frontier (1890)

symbolizing the end of westward expansion and the complex interactions between settlers and Native American populations.

Indian Wars

1850 to 1890; series of conflicts between the US Army / settlers and different Native American tribes

Subtreasury Plan

sought to revolutionize credit and marketing arrangements for staple crops, particularly cotton. Constructed warehouses, or subtreasuries, in counties that marketed crops

Bimetallism/Free Silver

A monetary system in which the government would give citizens either gold or silver in exchange for paper currency or checks

Pullman Strike

widespread railroad strike and boycott that severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest of the United States in June-July 1894.

Jacob S. Coxey

led "Coxey's Army", a group of unemployed men who marched to Washington, D.C., to present a "Petition in Boots" demanding that the United States Congress allocate funds to create jobs for the unemployed.

Gold Standard Act

Signed by McKinley in 1900 and stated that all paper money must be backed only by gold. This meant that the government had to hold large gold reserves in case people wanted to trade in their money. Also eliminated silver coins in circulation.