HIST 2112 UGA Exam 1

America in 1865

- 30 million people

- 4 million are slaves

- predominately rural in both north and south

Proclamation of 1863

"Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction" issued by Abraham Lincoln

- would grant amnesty to Confederate officials

- restored voters could elect members to US congress

Requirements:

- defeated states accept abolition of slavery

- new governments could be formed when 10% of eligible voters swore oath of allegiance to US

Freedmen's Bureau

Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands

- created by Congress in 1865

- provided ex-slaves economic and legal resources

- primary goal: obtaining land

Andrew Johnson

- Vice president to Abraham Lincoln

- Southern democrat chosen to attract border-state voters

- Born into rural poverty, had no sympathy for southern aristocracy

- Saw emancipation as a way to break down aristocracy, did not care about freedmen or their autonomy

- Actively worked against Congressional Reconstruction

- Impeached for violating Tenure of Office Act

Radical Republicans/Reconstruction

- Congressional reconstruction

- Anti-slavery party, wanted to punish the south

- Believed that blacks were inferior to whites, but wanted the federal government to protect newly emancipated slaves

- Advocated for suffrage and land distribution for freed slaves

- Ultimately failed, most issues weren't solved

Black Codes

Kept free slaves in a system as close to slavery as possible, made it nearly impossible to leave plantations, and ensured that white landowners still had cheap black labor even after the abolition of slavery

- Prohibited blacks from bearing arms

- Outlawed racial intermarriages

- Excluded blacks from serving on juries

Fourteenth Amendment

- Constitutionally defines citizenship and protects individual civil rights

- Overturned Dred Scott case decision

Dred Scott

Missouri slave sued for his freedom, but the US Supreme court ruled that he couldn't sue in federal court because he was property, not a citizen.

Decision overturned by the 14th Amendment

Tenure of Office Act & Johnson Impeachment

- Prohibited chief executive from removing a senate-approved appointee from office without getting approval from the senate. Prevented Johnson from firing cabinet officers that supported congressional reconstruction.

- Johnson fired Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, who was appointed by Lincoln and sympathized with radical republicans, without senate approval.

- House voted 126 to 47 to impeach Johnson, Senate fell one vote short to impeach after trial, so Johnson remained in office.

Fifteenth Amendment

Granted suffrage to all male citizens, regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"

-Southern states devised different tactics to undermine this amendment

American Equal Rights Association

- Group formed by black and white men and women who wanted to promote race and gender equality in 1866

- Organization dissolved in 1869 over disagreements with the 15th amendment

- Only allowed for male voters, feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were afraid that black men getting more rights would continue to limit the rights of women

Scalawags

- Derogatory term used when describing white southerners who supported Reconstruction

- Majority of southern whites supported the democratic party and viewed scalawags as traitors, because they supported changing the south and allying themselves with Republicans

Carpetbaggers

- Derogatory term used when describing white northerners who supported Republican reconstruction, but moved south for economic opportunities or to oversee reconstruction.

- Denounced by southerners who claimed they came south, disrupted it, filled their bags and left.

Sharecropping

- Attempt at economic independence for freedmen or poor whites

- Entered tenant contracts with large landowners who provided land and supplies in exchange for labor. Laborers were compensated with the harvest.

- Intended to be beneficial for both parties, but benefited the white landowners more.

- The croppers became dependent on the landowner for housing, work and money, and sharecropping turned into a new version of slavery.

Exodusters

Southern freedmen who moved to Kansas to find land and a better way of life.

Panic of 1873

Financial crisis in Europe and the US lasting from 1873-1879, considered the first Great Depression.

Redeemers

Democrats who replaced Republicans in office, considering themselves redeemers of the white south.

This flip in power was detrimental for freedmen and white allies, and it ultimately ended Republican Reconstruction because the south regained their power.

Debt Peonage

- Employer has worker pay their debt by working it off, essentially working without pay.

- Became big problem for sharecroppers

- Eventually outlawed by Congress in 1867

Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

- Founded by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest in Pulaski, Tennessee

- Considered a confederate veteran social club that spread throughout the south, but was essentially a terrorist group that targeted blacks.

- Used as an intimidation tactic to threaten and suppress black voters

- They beat, murdered, and lynched when the threats didn't work.

- Group still prevalent in the US today.

Force Acts

- Congress' attempt to combat black hate groups in the south

- Created measures that gave power to the president to send officials into the south to oversee elections to prevent voter interference.

- Specifically targeted the KKK, which resulted in smaller hate groups forming.

Compromise of 1877

- The presidential election of 1876 had 20 disputed electoral votes, so the decision was split between Hayes (R) and Tilden (D)

- Hayes won the majority with the recount, but Democrats didn't want to ratify the count

- Southern democrats agreed to support Hayes in exchange for his promise to end reconstruction and bring military out of the south.

- This was a major loss of protection for African Americans in the south

Homestead Act of 1862

An incentive for western migration establishing procedures for distributing 160-acre lots to western settlers so long as they develop and farm their land.

Transcontinental Railroad

Completed in 1869, this allowed for migration and economic development between the east and west.

- Central Pacific Company started in Sacramento, CA and built west to east, hiring mostly Chinese immigrants.

- Union Pacific Company started in Council Bluffs, Iowa and built east to west, hiring mostly Irish immigrants.

- The two met in Promontory Point, Utah.

A trip that used to take 6-8 weeks by wagon could now be completed in seven days.

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

- The US government began dealing with the western natives as autonomous nations, recognizing the land they occupied.

- This treaty confined tribes in the northern plains to designated areas of land as an attempt to keep white settlers from encroaching on them, and the same was done for tribes in the southern plains two years later.

- The natives held up their end of the deal, but white settlers did not, and the treaties were not well enforced by the government.

- The mixture of these two groups often resulted in the murder of innocent natives in huge massacres.

- The government ultimately did nothing to keep this from happening, and consistently sided with the whites.

-In 1868, natives were given a "Great Reservation" in the northern midwest in an addition to this treaty.

Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

- Peaceful group of 700 Cheyennes and Arapahos gathered at Sand Creek, Colorado under the leadership of Chief Black Kettle, with the assumption that they were under guarantee of US protection.

- Instead, Colonel Chivington launched an attack, resulting in the death of 270 natives, mostly women and children.

- There was a considerable amount of public outcry over this incident, but the government ultimately sided with the white and did nothing besides sign another treaty that they wouldn't end up enforcing.........again

Treaty of Medicine Lodge (1867)

Treaty that provided reservation lands for natives to settle.

Even with this agreement in place, white settlers hunted this territory and destroyed the buffalo population, an important animal for natives.

Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

- Battle in Montana territory where Lieutenant Colonel Custer and his troops were massacred by the Lakota Sioux.

- This was in retaliation for the failure of peace treaty enforcement and past massacres, including Lieutenant Colonel Custer's massacre of a Cheyenne village (1868).

- Many tribes, including the Lakota Sioux, resisted relocating and insisted on staying on the lands of their ancestors, preferring to fight than to leave.

Buffalo soldiers

African American calvary men who fought against natives in the west in the 1870s-1880s.

Dawes Act (1887)

- Ended tribal rule and divided native lands into 160-acre parcels, allocating each parcel to the head of each family.

- The government held the lands in trust for them for 25 years, at which point, they would receive American citizenship.

- What land remained after allocation- and it was a significant amount- would be sold in an open market.

- In return, natives had to abandon cultural traditions.

This act resulted in natives losing almost 80 million acres of their land, and the land they were allowed to keep was inferior to the "excess" and they had difficulty cultivating it. Plus, additional legislation required native children to be sent to boarding schools, where they were given "American" names and stripped further of any native traditions.

Ghost Dance

Wovoka, a Paiute native and prophet, had a vision in 1888 that led him to believe this religious ritual would rid their lands of white people and they would be able to regain control of it.

Industrialism

"Perhaps the most important development in the United States since 1865."

New South

- Term coined by Henry Grady in 1880s

- Modernization of southern economy

- Claimed that if the south were to industrialize, that would lead to the emergence of a better south

Convict lease system

- Uses mainly African American prisoners as plantation or industrial laborers.

- Raised revenue for the states

Vertical integration

- A single firm owns and controls all of the elements in a supply chain.

Andrew Carnegie used this kind of integration in the steel industry.

Horizontal integration

- One owner owns as many firms as possible in a given industry.

John D. Rockefeller used this kind of integration in the oil industry.

Corporation

Business ownership where the liability of the shareholders is limited to their individual investments.

Trust

Business monopolies formed through mergers and consolidation that slowed competition and controlled the market.

Sherman Anti-trust Act (1890)

Outlawed monopolies that prevented free competition in interstate commerce.

Laissez-faire

French for "let things alone"

- Believe the market should be able to regulate itself

- Individuals should pursue their self-interests without interference or restraint from the government

"The Gospel of Wealth"

by Andrew Carnegie

- Argued the rich should give back to society through philanthropy

- "Stewards of wealth"

Gilded age

term coined by Mark Twain

- Describes a time period filled with materialism and political uncertainty that was decorated by the super rich

- Pretty on the outside, rotten on the inside

Jim Crow

Named for a blackface character on a minstrel show

- Legally sanctioned racial segregation

- "Separate but equal" facilities for the black and white

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

- Upheld legality of Jim Crow laws

- Court ruled that as long as "separate but equal" facilities were provided, it was constitutional and did not violate the equal protection clause from the 14th amendment

- A justice explains: "If one race can be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution cannot put them on the same plane." Civil rights laws can't change racial destiny.

Billion Dollar Congress

- Congress controlled by Republicans that spent huge amounts of money to promote businesses and other interests.

- The public held low opinions of politicians because they resented how politicians intertwined themselves with private businesses and corporate money.

Unskilled workers

- Workers with little/no specific area of expertise.

- These workers, many of them immigrants, filled most of the industrial workforce.

Skilled workers

- Workers with training and expertise.

- Harder to replace and paid higher wages

Labor unions

Worker groups that sought out benefits and rights from their employers.

Collective bargaining

Negotiations between labor unions and their employers.

Knights of Labor

National workers organization

Advocated for:

- 8 hour work day

- Abolition of child labor

- Equal pay for women

Haymarket Square (1886)

- Demonstration for 8 hour work days turned violent after someone threw a bomb at the police.

- At least eight people died as a result.

- Knights of Labor ultimately blamed, and many people left the union.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

- Grew after the downfall of the Knights of Labor

- Instead of being a union for all workers, this group was made up of skilled craftsman in trade-specific unions.

- Recruited white male skilled workers, which were the highest paid and least replaceable, which allowed them to grow to around a million members.

- Led by President Samuel Gompers

Homestead Strike (1892)

-Strike at Andrew Carnegie's Homestead steel factory

-Failed assassination attempt for Henry Clay Frick, the plant manager.

Pullman Strike (1894)

- Strike against the Pullman railcar company

- Disrupted nationwide rail service, threatening mail delivery

- President Cleveland sent federal troops to get the railroads moving again

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

- Organization that grew from the Western Federation of Miners formed by Eugene Debs

- Known as Wobblies

- Attempted to bring together all un/skilled workers in an effort to overthrow capitalism

Grangers

Members of Patrons of Husbandry that tried to meet the social/cultural needs of farmers, promoting their economic and political interests

Patrons of Husbandry

- Effort to organize farmers

- Gave them educational and social activities

- Members called "grangers"

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

- Regulatory commission established by Congress

- Investigated interstate shipping, railroad rates, and could force shippers to reduce "unreasonable" fares through lawsuits

Farmer's Alliances

- Regional organizations formed to advance the interests of farmers

Most prominent:

Northwestern, Southern and Colored Farmers Alliances

Subtreasury system

- Most farmers faced overwhelming debt. The prices of crops were unstable, and mostly falling.

- Proposal from Farmers Alliance for the federal government to extend loans to farmers and store their crops in warehouses until prices rose

- The farmers could then buy back their crops and sell them in order to repay their debts and make a profit

National Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union

Combination of the Northwestern Farmers Alliance, Southern Farmers Alliance, Colored Farmers Alliance, and the Knights of Labor.

Held convention in Ocala, Florida, resulting in the Ocala Demands

Populist party

"The People's Party of America"

- National Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union became a third political party in the electoral arena since neither democrats or republicans would support their platform

- Sought to appeal both farmers and industrial workers

Ocala Demands/Omaha Platform

Endorsed:

- Subtreasury system

- Protective tariffs for industry

- Public ownership of banks and rail roads

- Direct elections for senators

- Free coinage of silver

Jefferson Agrarianism

Social/political philosophy that values rural society superior to urban society, and the independent farmer superior to the paid worker.

Sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values.

Depression of 1893

- On "Black Friday" the stock market collapsed, triggering this

- Result of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad going bankrupt and pushing a quarter of American RRs into insolvency.

- Hundreds of banks failed, hurting businesspeople and farmers who relied on bank credit

- Unemployment hit 12%

This became the biggest political issue and caused the realignment of power between Democrats and Republicans and the end of the Populist party.

Social Darwinism

The misguided application of "survival of the fittest" to economics

Coxey's Army

- Protest movement led by Jacob Coxey

- 500 supporters marched from Ohio to Washington DC to protest the lack of government response to the Depression of 1893

Once they got to DC, Coxey was arrested for trespassing, and nobody listened to his demands for federal relief.

Coxey wasn't alone in forming protests either, there were nearly twenty other marches to Washington, and nobody did anything.

Ghettos

Neighborhoods that is dominated by one ethnic, racial or class group. Helped immigrants ease their way into American society.

Mutual aid societies

Volunteer associations that provide social welfare and economic benefits to their members, mostly immigrants from the same countries or cities.

- They established social centers, helped find members jobs, resolved disputes and sponsored cultural activities.

Nativism

Belief that foreign immigrants are a dangerous threat to a nation's culture and society.

This sentiment grew as the immigrant population increased and the US became more diverse.

Eugenics

Pseudoscience that advocated for selective breeding in order to improve genetics in a population.

Proponents are: disgustingly racist!

Melting pot

Metaphor for immigrant assimilation in American societies.

Insinuates that Americanization produced a homogenous society.

Skyscrapers

Buildings more than ten stories high.

Built because:

- Urban crowding

- High prices for land

Tenements

Multifamily apartment buildings housing poor urban dwellers. Very uncomfortable, cramped, and unsafe.

Sweatshops

Small shops/factories that had adverse working conditions.

Many tenement buildings were turned into sweat shops, especially in the garment industry.

Triangle Shirtwaist Company

Where inadequate safety provisions caused a fire and the deaths of 146 workers in a New York City factory.

Political machine

- Urban government wasn't very centralized, and a lot of big decisions fell into the hands of private developers, so they formed ~this~

The goal:

- Giving cities centralized authority and services they needed

BUT they also fostered corruption, crime, and inefficiency.

Boss

Head of political machine

Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883)

Act requiring federal jobs to be given based on merit through competitive exams, NOT through political connections.

Settlement houses

Established by urban reformers, these community centers offered a variety of services. They wanted to Americanize immigrants, but also understood that immigrants need to hold onto parts of their original cultures.

Pragmatism

Philosophy that:

- Truth can only be discovered through experience

- The value of ideas should be measured by their practical consequences.

This philosophy significantly influenced progressives.

Social gospel

Religious movement that wanted Christian teachings to be applied to social/economic problems.

These ideals inspired many progressive reformers.

Muckrakers

Investigative journalists who heavily specialized in exposing public atrocities, like corruption, scandal and vice.

They helped build public support for progressive causes.

Examples: Ida Tarbell and the Standard Oil Company, Upton Sinclair and the meat packaging industry, etc.

Civic housekeeping

Urban reform advocating for women to use their traditional skills as domestic managers in settlement houses.

Caregivers for children, the elderly, the needy. Community builders.

Suffragists

Supported voting rights for women.

Tuskegee Institute

African American educational institute founded by Booker T. Washington in Alabama.

Focused on teaching industrious habits and practical job skills.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Organization fighting for racial equality. They focused on fighting discrimination using the court system.

Founded by WEB Dubois, Ida B. Wells, Jane Addams and others in 1909

Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

Organization that campaigned for a ban on sale/consumption of alcohol.

Bully pulpit

Term used by Teddy Roosevelt to describe the office of the presidency.

Roosevelt believed that the president should use his office as a platform to promote programs and rally public opinion.

Progressive party

- Third party formed by Theodore Roosevelt

- "Bull Moose Party"

- Split the republican vote, allowing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win

- New nationalist philosophies

New Nationalism

Philosophy supported by Theodore Roosevelt (R) and the progressive party during his campaign in 1912.

- Increased regulation of large corporations

- More active role for the president

- Extension of social justice using the power of the federal government

An alternative to Woodrow Wilson's "New Freedom"

New Freedom

Term used by Woodrow Wilson (D) to describe his limited-government, progressive agenda.

- Supported small businesses

- Limited government interference in businesses

- Open competition between businesses

An alternative to Theodore Roosevelt's "New Nationalism"

Jingoists

- Superpatriotic supporters of the expansion and use of military powers

- They longed for a war where they could demonstrate America's power and strength

- Prove their own masculinity

Cuba Libre

Vision of Cuban independence, hoping it would bring greater social and racial equality.

Yellow Journalism

Sensational news accounts meant to provoke an emotional response in readers.

- Very efficient propaganda!

- Contributed to the growth of public support for American intervention in Cuba (1898)

Teller Amendment (1898)

Amendment to the declaration of war against Spain stipulating that Cuba should be free and independent.

This amendment was largely ignored in the aftermath of America's victory.

Platt Amendment (1901)

Act limiting the sovereignty of Cuba.

American officials pressured Cuba to incorporate the amendement into the Cuban constitution.

Anti-Imperialist League (1898)

Organization opposing annexation of the Philippines.

Why?

- Cheap labor competition

- Considered Filipinos racially inferior

- Considered Philippines unsuitable as American territory

Roosevelt Corollary (1904)

Addition to the Monroe Doctrine affirming the right of the US to intervene in the internal affairs of Caribbean and Latin American countries to preserve order and protect American interests.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Proclaimed that the US would not tolerate outside intervention in the western hemisphere.

Open Door Policy (1899)

Secretary of State John Hay informed the nations occupying China that the US had the right of equal trade in China.