chp. 1-4

Reconstruction

Period after the Civil War when the South was rebuilt and the U.S. tried to determine the rights of formerly enslaved people.

Radical Republicans

Republicans who wanted strong protections for freedpeople and harsh requirements for Southern states to rejoin the Union.

Moderate Republicans

Republicans who wanted to protect freedpeople but were less extreme than Radical Republicans.

Southern Republicans

White and Black Southerners who supported the Republican Party during Reconstruction.

10% Plan

Lincoln's plan: a Southern state could rejoin when 10% of its voters swore loyalty to the Union.

Freedmen's Bureau

Government agency that helped formerly enslaved people with food, education, jobs, and legal assistance.

Black Codes

Southern laws that restricted the freedom and rights of African Americans after the Civil War.

Johnson's Impeachment

Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson after conflicts over Reconstruction policies; he was not removed from office.

Andrew Johnson

President after Lincoln who favored a lenient Reconstruction plan for the South.

Congressional Reconstruction

Reconstruction controlled by Congress, especially Radical Republicans, with stronger protections for Black Americans.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

White supremacist group formed after the Civil War that used violence and intimidation against Black people and their supporters.

1876 Election & Compromise

Disputed election settled by a compromise that resulted in Rutherford B. Hayes becoming president and federal troops leaving the South.

Sharecropping

Farming system where farmers worked land owned by someone else and paid with part of their crops; often kept workers in debt.

Abraham Lincoln & Assassination

Lincoln led the Union during the Civil War and was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865.

14th Amendment

Gave citizenship and equal protection under the law to people born in the U.S., including formerly enslaved people.

15th Amendment

Prohibited denying a man's right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Indian Removal / Trail of Tears

Forced removal of Native Americans from their eastern lands to lands farther west; thousands died during the Trail of Tears.

Federal Reservation System

U.S. policy that forced many Native Americans onto specific areas of land called reservations.

Dawes Act

1887 law that divided tribal lands into individual plots and encouraged Native Americans to adopt white American culture.

Plains Indian Uprising

Native American resistance against U.S. expansion and loss of their lands on the Great Plains.

Little Bighorn

1876 battle where Native Americans defeated George Custer and U.S. troops.

Wounded Knee

1890 massacre where U.S. troops killed many Lakota people; often considered the end of major armed Native resistance.

Sitting Bull

Lakota leader who resisted U.S. expansion and was associated with the victory at Little Bighorn.

Ghost Dance Movement

Native religious movement that promised the return of traditional Native life and the disappearance of white settlers.

Mining Boom Towns

Quickly growing Western towns created around discoveries of gold, silver, and other minerals.

Ranchers and Cowboys

Ranchers raised cattle; cowboys worked cattle and drove herds to markets and railroads.

Homestead Act (1862)

Law giving settlers land in the West if they lived on and improved it for a set period of time.

Family Farms on the Plains

Farms created by settlers in the West, often encouraged by the Homestead Act.

Mexican Immigrants

Mexican workers and families who moved into the American Southwest and contributed to farming, ranching, mining, and railroads.

Chinese Immigrants

Chinese workers who came mainly to the West and helped build railroads and work in mining and other industries.

Role of Women in the West

Women worked as farmers, business owners, teachers, homemakers, and helped build Western communities.

U.S. Policies Toward Indians 1800-1900

Policies increasingly took Native lands, forced people onto reservations, and attempted to assimilate Native Americans into white culture.

Wovoka

Paiute religious leader who started the Ghost Dance movement.

Washington Duke

Tobacco businessman who helped build the Duke Tobacco Company, which became a major tobacco corporation.

American Tobacco

Major tobacco company created by James B. Duke; became one of the largest tobacco companies in the U.S.

Andrew Carnegie

Steel businessman who built a huge steel company and promoted the Gospel of Wealth.

J. P. Morgan

Powerful banker and financier who helped organize and control major American businesses.

U.S. Steel

Major steel corporation created when J. P. Morgan bought and combined Carnegie's steel businesses with others.

John D. Rockefeller

Businessman who built Standard Oil and became one of the wealthiest Americans.

Standard Oil

Rockefeller's oil company that became extremely powerful by controlling much of the oil industry.

Horatio Alger

Author whose stories promoted the idea that hard work could help a poor person become successful.

Rags to Riches Tales

Stories claiming that people could become wealthy through hard work and determination.

The Forgotten Man

Term often used for ordinary workers and poor people who were overlooked while wealthy industrialists gained power.

Gospel of Wealth

Carnegie's belief that wealthy people had a responsibility to use their money to help society.