8th Grade Social Studies

Reconstruction

The time of rebuilding the South after the Civil war.

13th Amendment (1865)

Banned slavery in the United States - ratified in 1865

14th Amendment (1868)

Granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States - ratified 1868

15th Amendment (1870)

Gave African Americans the right to vote in all states - ratified 1870

Freedmen

Name given to former slaves after passage of 13th Amendment

Ratify

To approve an amendment

Freedman's Bureau

Government agency that helped former slaves adapt to freedmen. Provided food, clothing and medical care. Set up schools to educate freedmen.

Radical Republicans

group of Republicans in Congress who wanted to protect the rights of freedmen and punish wealthy southern planters

Black Codes

laws that limited the rights of freedmen in the South after the Civil War

Ku Klux Klan

secret group that terrorized African Americans and other minorities. First set up in the South following the Civil War.

Sharecropping

landowners gave farm workers land, seed and tools in return for part of the crops they raised

Literacy test

Reading and writing test Southerners had to pass in order to vote

Poll Tax

Fees that needed to be paid before voting. The intention was make it difficult for Freedmen to vote.

Segregation

the separation of people based on their race

Jim Crow Laws

laws in the South that made it legal to segregate

Abolish

to end, or do away with

Urbanization

The growth of cities

Industrialization

growth of industry and factories

Immigration

the action of coming to live in a foreign country

Corporation

A business that is owned by investors.

Innovation

A new method, idea or product

Monopoly

a company that has complete control of an industry; only supplier of a product

Trust

A group of corporations run by a single board of directors; type of a monopoly

Mass production

making large quantities quickly and cheaply

Assembly line

workers manually add parts that move on a conveyor belt to create a finished product

Entrepreneur

an individual who creates a new business, taking on most of the risks and enjoying most of that rewards

Push factors

Condition that drives people to leave their homes to settle in a new area

Nativism

Discrimination towards immigrants or the belief that immigration to the U.S. should be limited

Assimilation

process of becoming part of another culture

Quota

law limiting the number of immigrants from a specific country allowed to enter the United States

Sweatshop

small factories where people work long hours in poor conditions for low pay

Gilded Age

a period of time of great wealth and political corruption

Muckraker

a person who exposes the problems of society

Labor union

an organization of workers formed to help get better pay, working conditions and benefits

Reformer

a person who fights to improve or change society

Progressive Era

time period of reform and change in society

Tenement

small, overcrowded and run-down apartment building

Pull factor

condition that attracts people to settle in a new area

Ethnic group

large groups of people who have the same customs, religion, origin, language, etc

ethnic enclaves (neighborhoods)

A large number of people from the same ethnic group within a geographic area

Expansion

A policy that calls for expanding a nation's boundaries.

Imperialism

the actions used by one nation to exercise political or economic control over a smaller or weaker nations

Isolation

A national policy of avoiding involvement in world affairs

Foreign Policy

refers to the ways a government advances its interests in world politics

Domestic Policy

refers to the ways a government addresses issues within its own nation

Isthmus

a narrow strip of land connecting two larger bodies of land

Monroe Doctrine

United States document that warned European powers to stay out of the Western hemisphere

Markets

a means by which the exchange of goods and services takes place as a result of buyers and sellers being in contact with one another

Imports

goods/resources coming into the country

Annex

to take control of a territory or place, to add a region to a country

Protectorate

a country that is technically independent but is actually under the control of another country

Territory

an area of land that belongs to or is controlled by a government

Yellow Journalism

a type of sensational, biased and often false reporting

Spheres of Influence

section of a country where one foreign nation enjoys special rights and powers

Roosvelt Corollary

The United States claimed the right to intervene in Latin American affairs to help stabilize the area

Colony

a country or area under the full or partial political control of another country.

Manifest Destiny

belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable

exports

goods/resources leaving and being traded to other countries

Militarism

a buildup of military strength within a country

Alliance System

defense agreement among nations

Imperialism

the actions used by one nation to exercise political or economic control over a smaller or weaker nation

Nationalism

intense loyalty to one's nation

Mobilization

gathering resources and preparing for war

Neutrality

not taking sides in a conflict

Stalemate

a situation during a conflict when action stops because both sides are equally powerful and neither will give in

War Bonds

a way for the government to borrow money from their population to finance the increased military spending during wartime

Reparations

Payment for war damages

Propaganda

ideas or information designed and spread to influence opinion

Ration

to give out scarce amounts on a limited basis

Fourteen Points

President Woodrow Wilson's plan for peace following World War I

Treaty of Versailles

official document that ended World War I between the Allies and Germany; dealt harshly with Germany

League of Nations

groups of nations that worked together to preserve peace and prevent future wars

Armistice

an agreement to end fighting

Trench Warfare

a type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other.

Great Migration

mass migration of African Americans from the south to northern cities

Installment buying

A system of paying for goods in which customers promise to pay for small, regular amounts over a period of time; buy now and pay later

Flapper

a young woman of the 1920s who defied conventions in her behavior and dress

Mass media

types of communication that reach large numbers of people, such as newspapers, radio, and television

Debt

owing money to a person, company, bank, stockbroker, etc.

Consumerism

A preoccupation toward the buying of consumer goods

Red Scare

fear that communists in radical view in the United States

Prohibition

the nationwide ban on the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor in the U.S. that went into effect when the 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919

Jazz Age

growth in popularity of jazz music in America during the 1920s

Harlem Renaissance

blossoming of African American culture in Harlem, increased popularity of African American writers

18th Amendment

federal law that made it illegal to manufacture, sell or transport liquor within the United States

Suffrage

the right to vote (given to woman by the passage of the 19th Amendment)

Communism

a type of government and economic system where the government owns all production

19th Amendment

Federal law that gave woman the right to vote

Great Depression

the economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries.

Stock Exchange

an organized system for buying and selling shares, or blocks of investments in corporations

On Margin

to pay only a fraction of the stock price and borrow the rest

Unemployment

the state of not having a job

Poverty

the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support

Hooverville

shanty towns made up of old boxes and other debris, named after President Hoover

Defaulted

to fail to meet an obligation, especially a financial one

Work Relief

relief of the unemployed through wages paid for jobs provided by the government on public works

Public Works

buildings and structures (such as schools, highways, and docks) that are built and owned by a government

New Deal

FDR's programs to help businesses and Americans find relief during the Great Depression

Unemployment Insurance

payment by the government for a limited period of time to people who have lost their jobs

Migrant Worker

A person who moves from place to place to find work harvesting fruits and vegetables