US History Lecture Review: Reconstruction through the 1920s

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining key historical terms, movements, concepts, and figures from Reconstruction through the 1920s.

Reconstruction

The post-Civil War period involving physical, economic, political, and social rebuilding of the South, marked by both a political revolution and counter-revolution.

Sharecropping

An agricultural system that arose in the post-Civil War South in response to freedpersons' need for land and landowners' need for labor.

Second Industrial Revolution

The era of massive late 19th-century American economic growth characterized by major transformations in production, energy, transportation, and business.

Andrew Carnegie

A prominent figure in America's late 19th-century industrial growth known for his beliefs regarding work and success.

Freedom of Contract

A legal concept during the industrial revolution that informed the Lochner v. New York decision regarding the limits of government regulation over employment.

Lochner v. New York

A legal decision shaped by the doctrine of 'freedom of contract' during America's late 19th-century industrial revolution.

Social Darwinism

A late 19th-century concept used to justify the growing inequality of wealth during America's rapid industrialization.

Wage Slavery

A term used by industrial workers to characterize the immiserating conditions and lack of independence inherent in factory employment.

Corporate Personhood

The legal status through which corporations came to be recognized as 'persons' concerning constitutional rights.

Trans-Mississippi West

The diverse region west of the Mississippi River inhabited by Native American groups who underwent significant historical change prior to the Civil War.

Assimilation (Native Americans)

Efforts made to absorb Native Americans into American society, which were destructive to Indian culture and met with resistance.

Push and Pull Factors

The conditions that drove immigrants from their home countries and attracted them to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Progressivism

An early 20th-century reform movement that addressed the consequences of industrialization through environmental, consumer, workplace, and urban reforms.

Populists

A political movement that preceded and prepared the way for the Progressive Era.

Trusts

Large corporate combinations that raised major economic and political concerns among Progressives, leading to calls for regulation and reform.

Prohibition

The nationwide ban on alcohol that was ushered in by progressive ideas and reform movements.

League of Nations

An international organization proposed by Woodrow Wilson following World War I, which encountered strong opposition against American membership.

Post-World War I Red Scare

A period of domestic political fear and anti-radical reaction in the United States following the end of World War I.

Isolationism

A foreign policy approach embraced by the United States during the 1920s and 1930s in the aftermath of World War I.

Modernity (1920s)

The transformation of 1920s American life characterized by economic expansion, demographic shifts, new technologies, and evolving social and cultural norms.

Fundamentalist Christianity

A religious movement in rural and small-town America during the 1920s that reacted against modern cultural trends and opposed the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Ku Klux Klan (1920s Rebirth)

The resurrected manifestation of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, triggered by reactions against modern social changes and differing from its Reconstruction-era form.

Culture Wars

Deep societal divisions over cultural, religious, and social changes, with modern roots reflecting the clashes of the 1920s.