APUSH Period 6 Test Topics

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

First major federal law restricting immigration based on race/nationality.
Banned Chinese laborers; renewed and made permanent until 1943.
Reflected nativism and West Coast labor competition fears.
Set precedent for future restrictive immigration policies.

African Americans in the “New South”

Henry Grady promoted the “New South” vision: industrial growth, diversified agriculture.
Reality: sharecropping, tenant farming, and debt peonage trapped Black Southerners.
Rise of Jim Crow laws and disenfranchisement (poll taxes, literacy tests).
Violence and intimidation (KKK, lynching) maintained white supremacy.

Establishment of Yellowstone Park / Conservation

Yellowstone (1872) = first national park in the world.
Reflected early conservation movement and concerns about overuse of natural resources.
Supported by artists, scientists, and some politicians.
Later expanded by conservationists like John Muir and Gifford Pinchot

U.S. Government & Native American Policy

Policies
Reservation system (1850s–1880s).
Dawes Act (1887): broke tribal lands into individual allotments to force assimilation.
Boarding schools (e.g., Carlisle): “Kill the Indian, save the man.”

Railroads & Cornelius Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt consolidated rail lines → created more efficient networks.
Railroads = America’s first big business; drove industrialization.
Enabled national markets, time zones, and westward expansion.
Often corrupt (rebates, pools, stock watering).

The People’s Party (Populists) & Bimetallism

Formed by farmers frustrated with debt, railroad rates, and deflation.
Omaha Platform (1892):
Free coinage of silver (bimetallism) to increase money supply.
Government ownership of railroads.
Graduated income tax.
Direct election of senators.
Major moment: Election of 1896 (Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech).

Rockefeller & Standard Oil

Used horizontal integration to dominate oil refining.
Created a monopoly/trust controlling ~90% of U.S. oil.
Symbol of Gilded Age corporate power.
Led to Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) and later breakup (1911).

Samuel Gompers & the AFL

Founded American Federation of Labor (1886).
Focused on skilled workers only.
Goals: higher wages, shorter hours, better conditions (“bread and butter unionism”).
Avoided radical politics; more conservative than Knights of Labor.

WCTU & Temperance

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (1874).
Largest women’s organization of the era.
Pushed for prohibition, moral reform, and women’s roles in public life.
Frances Willard = key leader.

Political Machines

Urban organizations controlling local politics (e.g., Tammany Hall).
Traded services (jobs, housing, food) for immigrant votes.
Corrupt but provided social services cities lacked.
Boss Tweed = most famous example.

Jane Addams

Founder of Hull House (1889) in Chicago.
Leader in the settlement house movement.
Provided education, childcare, job training for immigrants.
Early advocate for social work and women’s activism.

Susan B. Anthony & NAWSA

Anthony = major suffrage leader.
NAWSA (1890) pushed for women’s voting rights through state campaigns.
More moderate than later suffragists.
Laid groundwork for 19th Amendment.

Booker T. Washington & the Atlanta Compromise (1895)

Washington argued African Americans should pursue vocational education and economic self‑help.
Accepted segregation temporarily in exchange for economic opportunities.
Criticized by W.E.B. Du Bois for being too accommodating.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court upheld “separate but equal.”
Legalized segregation nationwide.
Basis for Jim Crow until Brown v. Board (1954).
Haymarket Square Riot (1886)

Labor rally in Chicago turned violent after a bomb exploded.
Knights of Labor were blamed (unfairly) → membership collapsed.
Increased fear of radicals/anarchists.
Henry Grady

Journalist who promoted the “New South” vision.
Advocated industrialization and reconciliation with the North.
Downplayed racial issues and justified segregation.

Knights of Labor

Inclusive labor union (skilled + unskilled workers, women, African Americans).
Wanted broad reforms: end child labor, cooperative economy.
Declined after Haymarket Riot.

Josiah Strong’s Our Country (1885)

Protestant minister who argued Anglo‑Saxons had a duty to civilize “inferior” peoples.
Justified imperialism, missionary work, and expansion.
Reflected Social Gospel + Social Darwinism influences.

Andrew Carnegie

• Industry: Steel (Carnegie Steel → later U.S. Steel)

• Strategy: Vertical integration — controlled every step of production (mines → rail → mills).

• Philosophy: Gospel of Wealth — the rich have a duty to use their wealth to improve society.

• Legacy: Philanthropy (libraries, universities).

• Reputation: “Captain of industry” to some, “robber baron” to others.

J.P. Morgan

• Industry: Banking, corporate consolidation.

• Strategy: Bought struggling companies, reorganized them, and created giant trusts.

• Famous Moves:

  • Bought Carnegie Steel → created U.S. Steel, the first billion‑dollar corporation.

  • Stabilized the economy during the Panic of 1907.

• Power: Had more financial influence than the federal government at times.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

• Industry: Railroads (and earlier, steamboats).

• Strategy: Ruthless consolidation — bought up smaller lines to create efficient networks.

• Impact:

  • Helped standardize rail travel.

  • Contributed to the creation of time zones.

• Reputation: Aggressive businessman; known for saying “The public be damned.”

Jay Gould

• Industry: Railroads, stock manipulation.

• Strategy: Speculation, bribery, and corruption.

• Famous Scandal: Tried to corner the gold market in 1869 (“Black Friday”).

• Reputation: One of the most notorious “robber barons.”

John D. Rockefeller

• Industry: Oil refining (Standard Oil).

• Strategy: Horizontal integration — bought out competitors to dominate refining.

• Tactics: Rebates from railroads, predatory pricing.

• Outcome: Controlled ~90% of U.S. oil refining.

• Legacy: Philanthropy (University of Chicago, medical research).

• Government Response: Standard Oil broken up in 1911 under the Sherman