U.S. History Review: Reconstruction through World War II

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the major concepts, legislation, historical figures, and events of American history from Reconstruction through World War II.

Homestead Act

Granted 160 free acres of western land to settlers who improved it.

Pacific Railway Act

Provided government support for building the Transcontinental Railroad to connect the East and West.

Freedmen's Bureau

A federal agency that assisted formerly enslaved people with food, jobs, schools, and legal aid after slavery.

Thirteenth Amendment

The Reconstruction amendment that ended slavery.

Fourteenth Amendment

The Reconstruction amendment that granted citizenship to African Americans.

Fifteenth Amendment

The Reconstruction amendment that established voting rights for Black men.

Andrew Johnson

Abraham Lincoln's successor who favored lenient Reconstruction and clashed with Congress.

Black Codes

Laws passed after the Civil War that restricted the rights of African Americans.

Radical Republicans

Congressmen who pushed for tough Reconstruction and stronger protections for freedpeople.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

The first major civil rights law, which granted citizenship and equal legal rights to African Americans.

Sharecropping

An agricultural arrangement where farmers worked land in exchange for a share of the crop, often leading to a cycle of debt.

Crop Lien

A credit system in which farmers borrowed against future crops, contributing to a debt cycle.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

Legislation that placed Southern states under military supervision and allowed Congress to take control of Reconstruction.

Ulysses S. Grant

Former Union general who became president of the United States and supported Reconstruction.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A white supremacist group that used violence to intimidate African Americans.

Enforcement Acts

Federal laws passed and used to combat Ku Klux Klan violence.

Colfax Massacre

A violent incident in Louisiana in which white supremacists killed Black citizens.

Panic of 1873

An economic depression that weakened political and public support for Reconstruction.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

A federal law that attempted to guarantee equal access to public accommodations.

Election of 1876

A disputed presidential election that led directly to the end of Reconstruction.

Slaughterhouse Cases

A series of Supreme Court decisions that limited the protections guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.

Redeemers

Southern Democrats who regained political power in the South following Reconstruction.

Kansas Exodus (Exodusters)

The migration of African Americans leaving the South to settle in Kansas.

Compromise of 1877

An agreement that resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, marking the formal end of Reconstruction.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court ruling that established the doctrine of 'separate but equal,' thereby legalizing racial segregation.

Lynchings

Mob executions used to terrorize and intimidate African Americans.

Booker T. Washington

African American leader who advocated vocational education and gradual accommodation.

W.E.B. Du Bois

African American leader who demanded immediate civil rights and full equality.

Great Railroad Strike (1877)

The first major national labor strike in the United States.

Pendleton Civil Service Act

Established merit-based federal government jobs to replace political favoritism.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Federal legislation that banned most Chinese immigration to the United States.

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy of expanding by buying out competitors in the same industry.

Vertical Integration

A business strategy of controlling all phases of production, from raw materials to final sales.

Trusts

Combinations of business entities that controlled entire industries.

Haymarket Square

A labor protest associated with violence that fueled public fears of radicalism.

Andrew Carnegie

A prominent industrial leader who dominated the American steel industry.

John D. Rockefeller

Industrialist and founder of the Standard Oil company.

How the Other Half Lives

A book by Jacob Riis that exposed urban poverty and living conditions in city slums.

Bureau of Indian Affairs

A government agency responsible for managing Native American policy.

Assimilation

The policy and process of forcing Native Americans to adopt white American culture.

Dawes Act (1887)

Legislation that broke up tribal lands into individual plots for Native Americans.

Ghost Dance

A Native religious movement that promised the restoration of traditional Native American life.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

The first federal regulatory agency, created to regulate railroads.

Sherman Antitrust Act

The first federal law aimed at curbing monopolies and trade restrictions.

Knights of Labor

A broad labor organization open to many types of workers.

AFL (American Federation of Labor)

A labor organization that focused specifically on skilled workers and securing better wages.

Homestead Strike

A violent strike by steelworkers at a Carnegie plant in Pennsylvania.

Social Darwinism

The belief that wealth and social success result from 'survival of the fittest.'

Ellis Island

A major immigration processing center located in New York Harbor.

Statue of Liberty

A monument serving as an iconic symbol of freedom and immigration.

U.S.S. Maine

An American battleship whose explosion was blamed on Spain, helping to spark the Spanish-American War.

Spanish-American War

An 1898 war that resulted in the expansion of American influence overseas.

Platt Amendment

A provision that allowed the United States to intervene militarily in Cuban affairs.

Open Door Policy

A policy advocating for equal international trading rights in China.

Philippine Insurrection

An armed resistance by Filipinos against United States territorial rule.

White Man's Burden

The concept that Western nations held a responsibility to 'civilize' non-Western peoples.

Theodore Roosevelt

A Progressive president recognized for his trust-busting policies and the construction of the Panama Canal.

Anti-Imperialist League

An organization that opposed American overseas territorial expansion.

Panama Canal

A human-made waterway constructed to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The Grange

An organization formed to help and support farmers.

Farmers' Alliance

A broad coalition formed to advocate for agricultural reforms.

Subtreasury Plan

A proposed policy to provide government loans and crop storage facilities for farmers.

People's Party (Populists)

A political party formed to represent the interests of farmers and laborers.

Omaha Platform

The reform program and statement of principles adopted by the Populist Party.

Coxey's Army

A march of unemployed workers demanding government economic relief during the Panic of 1893.

William McKinley

The U.S. president in office during the Spanish-American War.

Muckraking

A form of journalism focused on exposing corporate corruption and pressing social problems.

Jane Addams

A Progressive reformer who founded settlement houses to assist immigrants.

Temperance

A reform movement dedicated to reducing or banning the consumption of alcohol.

Eugene V. Debs

A prominent socialist political figure and labor union leader.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

An author and Progressive thinker who advocated for women's equality.

Coal Strike of 1902

A major labor dispute in which President Theodore Roosevelt directly intervened to negotiate a settlement.

The Jungle

A novel written by Upton Sinclair that exposed unsanitary and dangerous conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Pure Food and Drug Act

A consumer protection law requiring truth in labeling and safety standards for food and medicines.

Meat Inspection Act

A law mandating federal inspection of livestock and meatpacking plants.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

A devastating workplace factory fire that prompted widespread legislative reforms for workplace safety.

Suffrage

The civil right to vote in political elections.

Nineteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote.

Alice Paul

A militant suffrage leader who campaigned aggressively for women's voting rights.

Ida B. Wells

A prominent journalist and activist known for leading an anti-lynching crusade.

Margaret Sanger

A public advocate and reformer who campaigned for access to birth control.

Eugenics

The belief in attempting to improve the genetic quality of the human population through controlled reproduction.

Woodrow Wilson

The President of the United States who led the nation during World War I.

Dollar Diplomacy

President Taft's foreign policy focused on using American economic power and investments to exert influence abroad.

Mexican Revolution

A major period of political upheaval and armed conflict in Mexico that began in 1910.

Punitive Expedition

A U.S. military expedition sent into Mexico to pursue Pancho Villa.

Peace Without Victory

Woodrow Wilson's appeal for a fair and lasting peace settlement without punishing the losers.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

The German military strategy of sinking all merchant and passenger vessels without warning.

Zimmerman Note

A secret German telegram proposing a military alliance with Mexico against the United States.

Selective Service Act

Legislation establishing a federal military draft to raise armed forces for World War I.

Committee on Public Information

A federal government propaganda agency created to build public support for the war effort.

Espionage Act / Sedition Act

Wartime laws passed to penalize disloyalty and limit antiwar speech during World War I.

Harlem Hellfighters

A famous and highly decorated African American combat unit that served during World War I.

Emma Goldman

A well-known anarchist and political activist who campaigned against the war and military draft.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace treaty that officially brought World War I to an end.

Great Migration

The large-scale movement of African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North.

Red Scare

A period of widespread public hysteria and fear concerning the spread of communism following World War I.

Palmer Raids

A series of federal raids and mass arrests targeting suspected political radicals and anarchists.

Harlem Renaissance

A flourishing African American cultural, artistic, and literary movement centered in Harlem during the 1920s.

Marcus Garvey

A prominent Black nationalist leader who promoted racial pride and economic self-sufficiency.