RSJ Terms List

Great Awakening

A widespread religious movement questioning the authority of Old Light Preachers during the Enlightenment. Helped lay a foundation for the Revolution by changing beliefs regarding authority.

Mercantilism

Economic idea that a country should increase its wealth by exporting more than it imports. For this to happen, more colonies must be acquired. It allowed for a reliable market only to the colonial power.

Declaration of Independence

Document issued by Congress outlining the American perception of natural rights and summarizing the reasons the American colonies should have independence. It began the American Revolution.

Constitution

Document that created a system of government with power balanced between states and the branches of federal government. It followed the failure of the Articles of Confederation.

Checks & Balances

A system in which each branch of government monitors and limits the power of the other branches.

Federal Naturalization Law of 1790

Law that outlined the process of becoming a U.S. citizen and who it could be. Created the idea of reserving citizenship for white people.

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution outlining basic natural rights of all citizens.

Amendments

Changes made to the Constitution for it to stay current. Outlined in Article V.

Judicial Review

Allows the Supreme Court and federal courts to decide if laws are constitutional and allows them to uphold or overturn state or national laws. Established by Marbury v. Madison

Missouri Compromise

Compromise over the balance of free and slave states and established the 36° 30’ line above which slavery could not exist.

Trail of Tears

Despite the fact that some Cherokee assimilated to American culture, the U.S. government still ordered their removal to lands west of the Mississippi. This event proved that all Native peoples would have a difficult time coexisting with Americans.

Abolitionism

The belief that slavery was a moral wrong and were a the people that were a constant voice in calling for its immediate end.

Fugitive Slave Law

A law part of the Compromise of 1850 that strengthened previous fugitive slave laws, making it much easier for slave owners to capture and return runaway slaves (or any Black person) to slavery.

Dred Scott Decision

Supreme Court decision that upheld the right of Southerners to own slaves and take them anywhere, as they were considered property and therefore could be taken wherever.

Gettysburg Address

A speech given by Abraham Lincoln to try to give meaning to the deaths in the Civil War. It called for a new birth of freedom and later led to the 13th amendment.

Emancipation Proclamation

Part of Lincoln’s Civil War strategy that freed slaves in Confederate territory but did not free slaves in any state allied with the Union. It set the precedent that slavery could be abolished.

Sea Island Experiments

Set forth by Field Order #15. Declared that land owned by White Southerners could be seized and set aside for freed Black people. It was put into action on the islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina. The order was later rescinded.

Freedman’s Bureau

Federal organization with the job of providing assistance (food, jobs, protection) to freed Black people (and needy White people) in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Ku Klux Klan

Extremist white supremacist group that attacked African Americans and White Republicans in the South in an attempt to keep them away from voting booths to regain power for White Democrats.

Fourteenth Amendment

Attempt to provide equal civil rights for African Americans after the Civil War. The early interpretation focused on business rights and therefore didn’t really help African Americans as it was intended.

U.S. v. Reese

Stated that attempts to keep Black people from voting booths (literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clause, etc.) were legal because they didn’t violate the 15th amendment.

Sharecropping

Came from the Civil War as a way to keep former slaves as agricultural workers. Workers worked the land, kept half of the crop and gave the rest to the land’s owner. They also borrowed money and supplies from the owner of the land.

Compromise of 1877

Agreement between the North and South that allowed Rutherford Hayes to ascend to the Presidency. The most important part was the decision to remove military troops from the South.

Jim Crow

Series of laws whose purpose was to legalize the separation of the races. Appeared after the Civil War as a way to retain White dominance.

“Birth of a Nation”

DW Griffin’s film that solidified the stereotypes of African Americans as stupid, lazy, and lustful. It showed the KKK as something positive for the South and the nation.

Atlanta Compromise

A speech given by Booker T. Washington (to a White audience in Atlanta) that said that Black people should not expect social equality and should instead prove their worth. Only then would White people would treat them equally. It emphasized accommodation over segregation.

N.A.A.C.P.

An organization created in 1909 whose purpose was to fight for civil rights for African Americans by challenging segregation and other civil rights abuses in court.

Social Darwinism

A belief held by many Americans in the industrial age (especially those in power) that taught “survival of the fittest for human beings.” It was used to justify long hours, low wages, and bad conditions.

Lewis Hine

Photographer who tackled child labor by taking thousands of photos that showed the stark realities of children working. His efforts later led to the Keating-Owen Act.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

One of the United States’s early labor unions. It focused on basic issues facing workers, such as higher wages, safer working conditions, and shorter work days.

Pullman Strike

Conflict between employers and workers in Pullman, Illinois. Workers didn’t want their wages to be cut unless their rents were also cut. The U.S. government sent in troops to restore order showing that in the age of industrialism the government would always side with businesses.

Exodusters

A term given to African Americans who fled the South and settled in the West, specifically in Kansas. They did this to escape the racism of the South after the Civil War. They claimed land under the terms of the Homestead Act.

Reservations

Land which the federal government set aside for Native Americans as a way to “solve” the Indian problem (it didn’t solve it). The land didn’t resemble normal Native life or culture, and didn’t reflect U.S. society.

Dawes Act

1877 law that divided Native American land into private family plots similar to the Homestead Act. The best land was often sold to White people. It was an attempt by the Government to assimilate Native Americans into American life.

Massacre at Wounded Knee

An 1890 shooting in which the U.S. Army troops shot a group of unarmed Sioux who were off reservation to do the Ghost Dance. Native Americans realized the Ghost Dance didn’t work and basically gave up hope.

Bonanza Farms

Large farms that appeared as smaller homesteaders failed on the plains. The large farms were run like corporations and showed that great industrialists weren’t the only ones to create monopolies.

Buffalo Bill

Wild West show that solidified stereotypes of Whites and Native Americans in the West. It was progressive with gender roles (Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane).

Ethnic Communities

Communities that allow immigrants to have an easier time adapting to life in the U.S. They can slowly adjust to the US because of the similar food, language, and cultural conditions of their home country there.

Gentleman’s Agreement

Similar to the Chinese Exclusion Act. Disallowed unskilled Japanese workers from emigrating to the United States. In exchange, Japanese students wouldn’t be segregated in school.

Angel Island

West Coast version of Ellis Island. The difference is that many immigrants were detained here until it was determined that they were either legal immigrants or deported.

Settlement House

Community center in an ethnic community meant to provide basic necessities for immigrant populations.

Yellow Journalism

Exaggerated or false newspaper coverage meant to increase newspaper circulation.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

Court case that legalized segregation by creating the principle of separate but equal. 

Filipino War

1899-1903 undeclared conflict where the U.S. tried to keep the newly acquired Philippine Islands from becoming independent. The justification was that Filipinos were inferior.

Roosevelt Corollary

Extension of the Monroe Doctrine that said the U.S. had the right to intervene in the affairs of unstable western hemisphere nations. The intervention would stabilize them and protect them from foreign influence.

Panama Canal

Allowed the U.S. to have better access to colonies in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, making it easier to trade around the world. Helped make the U.S. a dominant world economic power.

Anti-Imperialist League

Group of well-to-do professionals who disagreed with U.S. imperialism in the lat 19th century and America’s involvement in the Philippines. They thought it impractical that a nation founded on freedom would take self gain from others.

Coal Strike of 1902

United Mine Workers called a strike to protest low wages. President Teddy Roosevelt acted as a neutral third party and decided that everyone should benefit from the government. It was the first time that the government supported labor.

John Muir

Early preservationist who called for American land to be preserved and protected as national parks

Alice Paul

Revitalized the women’s suffrage movement by focusing more on direct action and national change. Organized parades and hunger strikes for her cause.

Buchanan v. Warley

Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation in residential areas. One of the early successes of the N.A.A.C.P.

League of Nations

International organization formed after WWI, which aimed to promote security and peace for all members

Committee on Public Information

U.S. government agency during WWI responsible for propaganda meant to persuade Americans to commit to the war effort by supporting war bonds, food controls, and hatred against Germany

Daylight Savings Time

Created during WWI to save electricity

Palmer Raids

In which the Attorney General rounded up several hundred suspected communists. Done to ease the fears of Americans during the “red scare” of the 1920s, in which Americans feared communism coming to the U.S.

National Origins Act

Limited immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, which were considered “feebleminded,” so immigrants from those areas were unwanted

American Civil Liberties Union

Created in the 1920s and used courts to protect many of the freedoms listed in the Bill of Rights. It was initially created to protect freedom of speech.

Flapper

A young woman in the 1920s who danced, drank, smoke, and wore (at times) provocative clothing.

Rosewood

A town in which a Black man was accused of raping a woman. The entire town was destroyed by an enraged mob.

Lost Generation

Group of writers who focused on a post-WWI society that had lost its moral compassion and focused instead on materialistic gain.

Harlem Renaissance

Described the “cultural awakening” of African Americans in the arts: literature, art, and music.

Scopes Monkey Trial

Tennessee court case that focused on the issue of teaching evolution in school.

Marcus Garvey

African American leader who urged African Americans to return to their “motherland” of Africa. He provided early inspiration for “Black pride” movements.

Buck v. Bell

Supreme Court case that said the sterilization of the mentally disabled was constitutional. The court used the logic that “three generations of imbeciles is enough".

Hoovervilles

Shantytowns of the homeless during the Great Depression

Bonus Army

WWI veterans who wanted their bonus paid early to offset poverty from the Depression. They protested in Washington, D.C. in 1932, and Hoover ordered their camp to be dispersed.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Major activist for the poor, minorities (women, Black Americans, etc.), and children during the Depression. She was beloved by Americans.

Repatriation

Forced deportation of hundreds of Mexicans during the Great Depression, many of whom were citizens. Example of scapegoating.

Wagner Act

Gave workers the right to selective bargaining and the right to create unions without employer interference.

Southern Tenant Farmers Union

Organization of Black and White sharecroppers who fought for fair treatment after the Agricultural Adjustment Administration paid owners of land to cut production.

WPA

Gave the unemployed work in building construction and arts programs.

Demagogue

Leader who manipulated people through means such as half-truths and scare tactics.

Executive Order 8802

Declared that there would be no discrimination in government employment due to race, color, creed, or national origin. One of the first civil rights agencies was created to enforce this.

Manhattan Project

American program to build an atomic bomb, created in response to the fear that the Nazis were creating one.

“Rosie the Riveter”

Symbol used during WWII to encourage and celebrate women in the work force.