APUSH unit 6

Transcontinental Railroad (6.2)

the first railway linking the U.S. East and West Coasts, built by Union Pacific (East) & Central Pacific (West), crucial for westward expansion, industrialization, faster trade, settlement, and unifying the nation

Great American Desert (6.2)

the Great Plains region east of the Rocky Mountains, primarily from the Missouri River to the 100th meridian

Barbed Wire (6.2)

a type of fencing with sharp points that allowed homesteaders to cheaply fence off land on the Great Plains, ending the era of the open range

Homestead Act (6.2)

a landmark US law that offered 160 acres of free public land to settlers (citizens or aspiring citizens) who agreed to live on, cultivate, and "improve" the land for five years, fueling westward expansion, agricultural development, and immigration, while also displacing Native Americans and creating new communities in the West

National Grange Movement (6.2)

a 19th-century agrarian movement that united farmers to address their social, economic, and political needs through organizations called "Grange" local chapters

Granger Laws (6.2)

a series of state laws passed in the late 1860s and 1870s, primarily in the Midwest, to regulate the monopolies of the railroad and grain elevator industries

Munn v Illinois (6.2)

Supreme Court case where the Court ruled states could regulate private industries (like grain elevators/railroads) that serve the "public interest," upholding Granger Laws and setting a precedent for state power over business, even though later cases would limit this

Frederick Jackson Turner (6.3)

historian famous for his 1893 "Frontier Thesis," arguing that the westward expansion of the American frontier was the key factor shaping American democracy, individualism, and unique national character

“The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893) (6.3)

Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 thesis arguing that the westward expansion and availability of "free land" forged America's unique democratic, individualistic, and innovative national character, shaping the "American identity" distinct from Europe, but its 1890 closure signaled a new era, leading to overseas expansion and new challenges

Little Big Horn (6.3)

a major Native American victory where Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, crushed Lt. Col. George Custer's 7th Cavalry in Montana, highlighting intense resistance to U.S. westward expansion and reservation policies after gold discovery in sacred lands

Ghost Dance movement (6.3)

a late 19th-century Native American religious revival, started by Paiute prophet Wovoka, that promised spiritual renewal, the return of ancestors, and the disappearance of white settlers through ritualistic dancing

Helen Hunt Jackson (6.3)

the late 19th-century reform effort, inspired by her book "A Century of Dishonor" (1881), which exposed the U.S. government's injustices and broken treaties with Native Americans, generating sympathy and pushing for policies of assimilation, like the Dawes Act, to "civilize" them by adopting white culture, education, and land ownership

Dawes Act of 1887 (6.3)

a U.S. law that broke up tribal reservation lands into individual plots (allotments) for Native Americans to promote farming and assimilation into white culture, aiming to destroy communal living by granting 160 acres to heads of households and making recipients U.S. citizens, but ultimately causing massive land loss (over 90 million acres sold off) and weakening tribal sovereignty

Indian Reorganization Act (6.3)

a major shift in U.S. policy reversing forced assimilation, aiming to restore tribal lands and self-governance by allowing Native American tribes to form their own constitutions, manage resources, and promote cultural preservation, marking the start of the "Indian New Deal"

Santa Fe Trail (6.3)

a crucial 19th-century trade route from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico

John Muir (6.3)

a key naturalist, author, and "Father of the National Parks"

Sierra Club (6.3)

a major environmental organization founded in 1892 by John Muir, dedicated to conserving wilderness, particularly in the Sierra Nevada mountains, advocating for national parks, and playing a significant role in the Progressive Era's conservation movement through lobbying, education, and grassroots activism to protect natural resources and expand protected lands

“New South” (6.4)

the post-Civil War vision and movement for a modernized, industrialized Southern economy, promoted by figures like Henry W. Grady

George Washington Carver (6.4)

an influential African American scientist and educator known for revolutionizing Southern agriculture by promoting crop rotation, alternative crops (peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans) to combat soil depletion

Tuskegee Institute (6.4)

a crucial Black educational institution founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881, focusing on vocational and industrial training (like agriculture, trades) for African Americans to achieve economic self-sufficiency and uplift the "New South," promoting self-reliance over immediate political agitation

Civil Rights Cases of 1883 (6.4)

Supreme Court decisions that declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional, ruling Congress couldn't prohibit racial discrimination by private businesses

Plessy v. Ferguson (6.4)

a landmark Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine

Jim Crow laws (6.4)

state & local statutes in the post-Reconstruction South (late 19th-mid 20th century) enforcing racial segregation & disenfranchisement, creating a system of legalized discrimination through "separate but equal" facilities, voting barriers (poll taxes, literacy tests), and social restrictions, fundamentally undermining Black civil rights until the Civil Rights Movement

literacy tests (6.4)

discriminatory exams used primarily in the post-Reconstruction South to prevent African Americans (and sometimes poor whites/immigrants) from voting by requiring them to read and write, often with intentionally confusing or subjective questions graded arbitrarily by white officials

poll taxes (6.4)

a fee required to vote

grandfather clauses (6.4)

a discriminatory voting law in the post-Reconstruction South that exempted white men from literacy tests and poll taxes by allowing them to vote if their ancestors (grandfathers) could vote before 1867

Ida B. Wells (6.4)

a pioneering African American journalist, educator, and activist who led a powerful anti-lynching crusade in the late 19th century, co-founding the NAACP, and advocating for suffrage, representing the intersection of Black activism, investigative journalism, and early Civil Rights/Progressive Era movements against racial injustice and for gender equality

Booker T. Washington (6.4)

a formerly enslaved African American leader, educator, and orator who advocated for Black economic uplift through vocational training (self-help)

W. E. B. Du Bois (6.4)

a leading Black intellectual, co-founder of the NAACP, and advocate for immediate civil rights

Atlanta Compromise (6.4)

Booker T. Washington's proposal for African Americans to temporarily accept segregation and focus on vocational training and economic self-sufficiency in exchange for white support for Black education, job opportunities, and basic legal rights, rather than demanding immediate social equality, promoting gradual progress through hard work and accommodation

transatlantic cable (6.5)

the undersea telegraph cable laid across the Atlantic Ocean, primarily by entrepreneur Cyrus Field, connecting North America and Europe

Alexander Graham Bell (6.5)

inventor of the practical telephone (1876) who revolutionized communication, creating a massive new industry (later AT&T) and connecting homes/businesses

Henry Bessemer (6.5)

British inventor who developed the revolutionary Bessemer Process, enabling mass, cheap production of high-quality steel by blowing air through molten iron to remove impurities

Thomas Edison (6.5)

a inventor and businessman known for establishing the first industrial research lab (Menlo Park) and developing the practical incandescent light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera

George Westinghouse (6.5)

a pivotal inventor and industrialist known for developing the air brake for railroads, revolutionizing safety, and championing the alternating current (AC) electrical system

mail-order companies (6.5)

used catalogs and the improved railroad system to sell a wide variety of goods directly to consumers, especially in rural areas

Cornelius Vanderbilt (6.6)

a ruthless railroad magnate who built a massive rail empire by consolidating smaller lines, popularizing steel rails, standardizing gauges, and creating efficient networks like the New York Central Railroad

Jay Gould (6.6)

a notorious Gilded Age financier and railroad magnate known for ruthless speculation, "watering stock", manipulating markets, and acquiring vast railroad lines, embodying the era's corrupt "robber barons" and contributing to financial panics like the one in 1873

J. Pierpont Morgan (6.6)

a dominant Gilded Age financier who consolidated industries, formed huge corporations (like U.S. Steel), stabilized financial crises, and used trusts and interlocking directorates to control finance

Andrew Carnegie (6.6)

industrialist who built a steel empire using vertical integration, becoming a "captain of industry" or "robber baron" known for immense wealth, his advocacy for the "Gospel of Wealth", and significant philanthropy, especially funding libraries, after selling his company to J.P. Morgan to form U.S. Steel. 

United States Steel (6.6)

the first billion-dollar corporation, formed by J.P. Morgan in 1901 by buying Andrew Carnegie's Carnegie Steel and merging it with other companies

John D. Rockefeller (6.6)

a ruthless industrialist who founded the Standard Oil Company, creating a near-monopoly through horizontal integration

Standard Oil (6.6)

John D. Rockefeller's vast oil monopoly

horizontal integration (6.6)

a business strategy where a company grows by acquiring or merging with competitors in the same industry at the same production level, consolidating market share, reducing competition, and creating monopolies

vertical integration (6.6)

a business strategy where a single company gains control over multiple stages of its production process, from raw materials (like iron ore for steel) through manufacturing (refining) to distribution (shipping)

holding company (6.6)

a corporation that owns controlling stock in other companies, allowing it to manage them without producing goods itself

laissez-faire (6.6)

the economic doctrine of minimal government intervention in the free market, promoting unregulated business, supply/demand, and private ownership

Social Darwinism (6.6)

the misapplication of Charles Darwin's "survival of the fittest" to human society, arguing that the wealthy and powerful succeeded because they were inherently "fitter," while the poor and weak failed

survival of the fittest (6.6)

the idea that the wealthy and successful in society are naturally superior or more "fit" to survive, while the poor are poor due to their own failings or "natural inferiority"

Protestant work ethic (6.6)

The idea that material success and prosperity are signs of divine favor and an indication of one's salvation. This meant that people were not working to earn salvation, but rather displaying evidence that they were already saved.

collective bargaining (6.7)

the process where labor unions negotiate with employers as a unified group to secure better wages, hours, and working conditions, giving them a stronger voice than individual action

railroad strike of 1877 (6.7)

the nation's first major nationwide labor uprising, sparked by railroad wage cuts during an economic depression, leading to widespread strikes and violence across the country that were violently suppressed by federal troops under President Hayes

National Labor Union (6.7)

the first major U.S. labor federation, uniting skilled and unskilled workers for legislative reform, notably an 8-hour workday, but declined after the Panic of 1873

Knights of Labor (6.7)

a labor union, founded 1869, that uniquely welcomed all workers into one union, advocating for broad social reforms like an 8-hour day, ending child labor, and worker cooperatives

Haymarket bombing (6.7)

a violent labor protest in Chicago on May 4, 1886, where a bomb was thrown at police during a rally for an eight-hour workday, leading to deaths and arrests of anarchists

American Federation of Labor (AFL) (6.7)

a national federation of skilled craft unions, led by Samuel Gompers, that focused on practical economic goals for its members: better wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions through collective bargaining and strategic strikes, distinguishing itself from broader labor movements by excluding unskilled workers and prioritizing craft autonomy for immediate material gains in the Gilded Age

Samuel Gompers (6.7)

the influential founder and longtime leader of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Homestead strike (6.7)

a violent labor conflict at Carnegie Steel in Pennsylvania, where workers struck against a 20% wage cut, leading to armed clashes with Pinkerton guards and strikebreakers, ultimately broken by the state militia, demonstrating management's power and the weakening of unions during the Gilded Age

Pullman strike (6.7)

a major railroad strike against the Pullman Company in Chicago

Eugene v. Debs (6.7)

a pivotal labor leader and socialist who led the American Railway Union (ARU) in the Pullman Strike (1894), defying a federal injunction, getting jailed, and later becoming a prominent socialist candidate, embodying worker resistance to corporate power and government intervention in labor disputes, with his imprisonment leading to In re Debs and strengthening federal power against strikes