Civil War, Reconstruction & Gilded Age Review

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, events, and policies from the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Gilded Age periods, based on lecture notes for exam preparation.

Sherman's March to the Sea

A campaign led by William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War, characterized as 'total war,' where he marched through the South (from Atlanta to the Atlantic Ocean) to cripple the Confederacy economically by destroying public buildings, machines, and industry.

Total War

A military strategy involving the destruction of an enemy's capacity to wage war, including its economic infrastructure, public buildings, and industry, to prevent recovery.

Emancipation Proclamation

Issued in 1862 during the Civil War, this political move by Abraham Lincoln declared enslaved people in the rebellious (Confederate) states to be free.

Democrats (Civil War/Reconstruction Era)

During this period, largely the party of the South, the Confederacy, slaveholders, plantation owners, and enslavers, who pushed for white supremacy and sought to restore pre-Civil War conditions.

Republicans (Civil War/Reconstruction Era)

Primarily the party of the North (and parts of the West) during this time, advocating for a strong federal government, the abolition of slavery, and various degrees of Reconstruction.

Reconstruction

The post-Civil War project aimed at establishing an interracial democracy in the United States following the destruction and abolition of slavery.

Black Codes

Laws designed to systematically restrict the new freedoms and economic opportunities of formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Legislated to declare that all people born in the United States were citizens with inalienable rights, including the right to make contracts, own property, sue in court, and enjoy full protection of the law.

Fourteenth Amendment

A post-Civil War amendment that actualized American citizenship for all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system where former plantation owners subdivided land, allowing formerly enslaved people (and poor whites) to farm sections in exchange for a share of the crop, often trapping them in a cycle of debt and limited freedom.

President Johnson's Reconstruction Policy

A lenient approach to Reconstruction that prioritized restoring the Union over reconstructing the South, allowing many former Confederates to regain political office.

Redeemers

Opponents of Reconstruction, primarily white Southerners, who sought to 'redeem' the old South by restoring white supremacy and a society based on pro-slavery ideologies.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

A white supremacist terrorist organization that emerged post-Civil War, targeting newly freed individuals, Reconstruction governments, and Republicans to dismantle efforts towards racial equality.

Radical Republicans

A strong faction within the Republican Party (including leaders like Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner) who advocated for harsh penalties on the South, land redistribution, and reparations for formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction.

Home Rule (Reconstruction Era)

A concept emphasized by Redeemers, advocating for local white control over Southern states rather than federal intervention, often drawing parallels to colonized peoples' struggles.

Poll Tax

A regressive flat fee required for voting, primarily used in the post-Reconstruction South to disenfranchise poor people, especially formerly enslaved African Americans.

Department of Justice (DOJ)

Created in 1870, this federal body oversaw federal laws and prosecution, notably targeting and prosecuting the KKK and other domestic terrorist organizations during Reconstruction.

Ulysses S. Grant's Acquisition of Dominican Republic

President Grant sought to acquire the Dominican Republic to provide a safe haven (or exile) for freed people of color, establish a naval base, and extend American control and resource extraction.

Empire

The extension of a nation's power and influence over foreign territory, typically achieved through military force or economic means, for the purpose of establishing control and extracting resources.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

A post-Civil War act prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations, though it did not extend to school desegregation, a loophole that contributed to the rise of Jim Crow laws.

Compromise of 1877

An unofficial agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election. Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the Southern states (formally ending Reconstruction) in exchange for Democratic support for Rutherford B. Hayes's presidency.

Homestead Act

A federal law allowing any citizen or immigrant to claim 160 acres of public land for $10; if they lived on and cultivated the land for five years, it became theirs for free, incentivizing westward migration and settlement.

Central Pacific Railroad

The railroad company that built eastward from Sacramento, California, primarily employing Chinese immigrants as its labor force for the transcontinental railroad.

Union Pacific Railroad

The railroad company that built westward from Omaha, Nebraska, for the transcontinental railroad, largely utilizing formerly enslaved people and Irish immigrants as its labor force.

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

An agreement that established the Department of Indian Affairs and divided Native American lands into smaller tribal reservations in the Northern and Southern Plains.

Sioux (Lakota)

A dominant Native American tribe inhabiting the Great Plains region during the period of westward expansion and conflicts.

Sand Creek Massacre

A tragic event where 98 peaceful Cheyenne people, under the leadership of Black Kettle and believing they had safe passage, were massacred by Colorado troops in 1864.

Sitting Bull

A prominent Sioux leader who played a key role in organizing resistance at the Battle of Little Bighorn and was a leader in the Ghost Dance movement.

Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand)

A major engagement in 1876 where combined forces of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, decisively defeated Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and the 7th Cavalry, marking one of the greatest Native American victories in the Indian Wars.

Ghost Dance Movement

A spiritual and tribal movement among Native Americans in the late 19th century that hoped to bring about a new era, including the disappearance of white people and the return of their ancestors.

Battle of Wounded Knee

The site of a tragic massacre in 1890, where federal troops surrounded Ghost Dancers on their reservation, killing approximately 300 fleeing women and children, including the shooting of Sitting Bull, effectively signaling the end of Reconstruction in the West.

Second Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid industrial growth and technological innovation, primarily occurring in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with significant origins in Germany and the United States.

Robber Barons

A term used to describe powerful 19th-century American industrialists and financiers who amassed vast fortunes, often through cutthroat business practices and monopolistic control.

Nativism

A political policy or belief system that favors the interests of native-born (or established) inhabitants over those of immigrants.

Haymarket Bombing

An 1886 incident in Chicago during a labor rally where a bomb was thrown at police, who then opened fire on the crowd. This event significantly damaged the labor and union movements' public image by associating them with anarchism.

Scientific Management

A management theory developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, aiming to improve economic efficiency and labor productivity in factories by studying and optimizing workflows and task completion.

Reconstruction in the North

During the post-Civil War era, Reconstruction in the North was largely characterized by a 'triumph of industrial capitalism,' focusing on economic growth and industrial expansion rather than social restructuring.

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy where a company acquires or merges with competitors producing similar products or services, aiming to limit or eliminate competition (e.g., John D. Rockefeller and oil).

Vertical Integration

A business strategy where a company gains control over multiple stages of its production process, from raw materials to distribution, owning the entire supply chain (e.g., Andrew Carnegie and steel).

Boss Tweed (William M. Tweed)

A powerful Democratic political boss in New York City during the Gilded Age, notorious for heading the Tammany Hall political machine and employing corrupt tactics like 'vote early, vote often'.

Tammany Hall Political Machine

A powerful and corrupt Democratic political organization in New York City, led by figures like Boss Tweed, which controlled city politics through patronage and graft.

Patronage / Spoil System

A political practice where elected officials reward their supporters with government jobs, positions, or contracts, often regardless of their qualifications.

Gilded Age Political Issues

Three dominant issues facing politicians during the Gilded Age were tariffs, patronage (the spoil system), and monetary policy (e.g., gold standard vs. greenbacks).

Tariffs

Taxes or duties imposed on imported goods, often used to protect domestic industries.

Wave the Bloody Shirt

A political tactic used in the post-Civil War era where politicians, many of whom were veterans, appealed to voters' patriotism and shared wartime camaraderie to win elections, often by reminding them of the sacrifices made during the war.

Greenbacks

Paper currency issued by the U.S. government during the Civil War that was not backed by gold or silver, leading to debates over monetary policy in the following decades.

Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883

Legislation that established a merit-based system for federal employment through competitive exams and created a Civil Service Commission, significantly reducing the practice of political patronage.

Black Wednesday (1884 Election)

A pivotal moment in the 1884 presidential election when Republican James G. Blaine failed to condemn an anti-Catholic remark made by a supporter, which was widely publicized and contributed to his narrow defeat, particularly in New York.

Billion Dollar Congress (1890)

The 51st United States Congress, known for passing record-setting appropriations in 1890, most notably the Dependent Pension Act, which significantly increased payments to Civil War veterans and their families.

Front Porch Campaign

A low-key campaign strategy used by William McKinley in the 1896 presidential election, where he remained at his home in Canton, Ohio, and delivered speeches to visiting delegations, considered the first modern, managed presidential campaign.

Muckrakers

Journalists and writers during the Progressive Era who investigated and exposed corruption, social injustices, and corporate abuses to raise public awareness.

Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism

A progressive political platform advocating that industrial concentration was a natural economic development, but the federal government should intervene to protect laborers from exploitation.

Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom

A political platform that aimed to use governmental power to break up large monopolies, promote small businesses, and restore competition, helping Wilson win the 1912 presidential election.

William Seward

As Secretary of State (1860s), he was a proponent of American expansionism, noted for negotiating the purchase of Alaska ('Seward's Folly') in 1867, annexing Midway Island, and pursuing land in Nicaragua for a canal.

American Expansionism Factors

Motivations for U.S. expansion in the late 19th century included seeking new economic markets, naval expansion (sea power), the belief in spreading democracy, Social Darwinism ('survival of the fittest'), and the psychological desire for a new frontier.

Alfred Thayer Mahan (Sea Power)

An influential naval strategist in the 1890s who argued that a nation's strategic advantage came from controlling the seas, necessitating a large fleet, numerous naval bases, and the protection of merchant vessels.

USS Maine

An American battleship that exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba, in 1898. Although likely an accident, yellow journalism blamed Spain, sparking the slogan 'Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain!' and contributing to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War.

Roosevelt Corollary

An addition to the Monroe Doctrine issued by Theodore Roosevelt, asserting that the U.S. had the right to intervene militarily in Latin American affairs if those nations demonstrated 'chronic wrongdoing' or instability, to protect American interests and maintain regional order.

Great White Fleet

A squadron of 16 U.S. Navy battleships that embarked on a circumnavigation of the world (1907-1909) under President Theodore Roosevelt, primarily to showcase American naval power and global reach ('gunboat diplomacy').

Spanish-American War (1898)

A brief conflict sparked by the explosion of the USS Maine, fought in Spanish territories like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. It established the United States as a global power with new overseas territories.

Monroe Doctrine

An early U.S. foreign policy (1823) that declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to further European colonization and asserted that the U.S. would not intervene in European affairs, emphasizing non-intervention.

Good Neighbor Policy

A foreign policy adopted by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s that repudiated the interventionist policies of the Roosevelt Corollary, promoting non-intervention and cooperation with Latin American nations.