APUSH Spring Final Practice Flashcards

This set contains 349 flashcards covering various topics from the Gilded Age through World War II based on the APUSH Spring Final transcript.

Primary goal of the Homestead Act of $1862$

To encourage settlement of western lands by smal l farmers

Why the Homestead Act was difficult for many settlers

Farming conditions on the Great Plains were often harsh

What westward expansion after $1865$ illustrates

The tension between opportunity and exploitation

Reason western women were more likely to gain suffrage

Labor shortages increased their social influence

Factor distinguishing trans-Mississippi expansion from earlier movements

Greater role of federal policy and railroads

Frederick Jackson Turner's argument about the frontier

It shaped American democracy and character

Description of the 'safety-valve' theory

Western land reduced urban unemployment

Primary design of Native American boarding schools

To assimilate Native children into white culture

Cultural assumption behind the Dawes Act

Private land ownership was superior

U.S. officials' view of the Ghost Dance

A potential threat to federal authority

What Chief Joseph is best remembered for

Surrendering after a long retreat to avoid violence

Causes of the Battle of Little Bighorn

Treaty enforcement failures and gold discoveries

Primary intent of federal encouragement of bison slaughter

To undermine Native American resistance

Reason for late $19\text{th century}$ cattle industry expansion

Access to railroads and eastern markets

Economic condition that most harmed western farmers in the late $19\text{th century}$

Deflation

Contribution of the Pacific Railroad Act to expansion

Connecting western farms to eastern markets

Sought outcome of the Dawes Severalty Act

Divide reservation land into individual plots

Demonstration of the Oklahoma Land Rush of $1889$

Intense demand for western land

Description of the Sand Creek Massacre

An unprovoked attack on Native Americans

Significantly overlooked group in the cattle industry

African American cowboys

Populist demand that later became law

Direct election of senators

Demand of the $1894$ 'Army of the Unemployed' march

Create public-works jobs

Speaker's opposition in the speech 'You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold'

The gold standard

Platform reflecting the view that fruits of toil are stolen to build colossal fortunes

The Populist Party

Late $19\text{th century}$ trend reflected by farmers selling crops for less while debts remained the same

Deflation and rising real debt burdens

Why the election of $1896$ was a turning point

It showed business interests dominating national politics

Supreme Court case that initially supported regulating railroads

Munn v. Il linois

Reason the Farmers' Alliance was less successful nationally

It excluded tenant farmers and Black farmers

Direct result of increased agricultural mechanization after the Civil War

Greater dependence on cash crops and debt

Reason farmers were angered by railroad companies

Railroads charged discriminatory freight rates

Reason U.S. surpassed Great Britain in industrial production by the late $19\text{th century}$

Abundant natural resources and an expanding railroad network

Belief reflected by federal land grants to railroad companies

Railroads would Promote national unity and economic growth

Major challenge of the Central Pacific Railroad during construction

Harsh terrain and reliance on Chinese immigrant la- bor

Direct result of the adoption of standard gauge railroad track

Greater efficiency in national transportation

Innovation that most improved Gilded Age railroad safety

Westinghouse air brake

Primary design of railroad 'pools'

Divide markets and stabilize profits

Group most angered by charging more for short hauls than long hauls

Smal l farmers and local merchants

Demonstration of the Wabash v. Il linois decision ($1886$)

Interstate commerce could only be regulated by the federal government

Significance of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

Was the first federal agency to regulate corporations

Influence suggested by the limited effectiveness of the ICC

Laissez-faire principles remained influential

Primary source of Cornelius Vanderbilt's wealth

Railroads and shipping

Goal of Andrew Carnegie's vertical integration

Control every stage of steel production

Primary business strategy of John D. Rockefeller

Horizontal integration and price undercutting

Definition of a trust in the Gilded Age

A legal device to consolidate competing companies

Common use of Social Darwinism in business

To justify economic inequality

Herbert Spencer's suggestion regarding competition

Competition benefited society

Argument of Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

The wealthy had a moral obligation to aid society

Original intent of the Sherman Antitrust Act ($1890$)

Limit monopolistic practices

Reason the Sherman Antitrust Act was often ineffective

Lacked enforcement mechanisms

Frequent ironic use of the Sherman Antitrust Act

To prosecute labor unions

Direct contribution of industrialization to urbanization

Encouraging immigration and factory employment

Description of Gilded Age factory work

Regimented and impersonal

New employment opportunities for women during industrialization

Clerical and communication jobs

Reason labor unions struggled to organize workers

Divisions among workers

Purpose of 'Yellow-dog contracts'

Prevent workers from joining unions

Demonstration of the Great Railroad Strike of $1877$

The military could be used to suppress strikes

Difference between the Knights of Labor and the AFL

Including both skil led and unskil led workers

Samuel Gompers' focus for unions

"Bread and butter" economic issues

Labor organization composed primarily of skil led workers

American Federation of Labor

Reflection of labor unrest during the Gilded Age

Tensions created by rapid economic change

Mark Twain's reference to the Gilded Age as 'glittering but corrupt'

Rapid economic growth paired with political corruption

Development supporting Twain's characterization of the era

The Credit Mobilier and Whiskey Ring scandals

Primary reason Ulysses S. Grant was appealing in $1868$

He symbolized Union victory and national unity

Revelation of the Credit Mobilier scandal

Railroad executives bribed government officials

Reason political machines like Tammany Hall thrived

Provided services to immigrants in exchange for votes

Causes of the Panic of $1873$

Overproduction and risky speculation

Major consequence of the Panic of $1873$

The Great Railroad Strike of $1877$

Reason debtor farmers supported the minting of silver

They believed it would increase the money supply

Result of the Compromise of $1877$

The withdrawal of federal troops from the South

Significance of the Compromise of $1877$

Marked the end of Reconstruction

Ruling of the Supreme Court in the Civil Rights Cases ($1883$)

The Civil Rights Act of $1875$ was unconstitutional

Direct result of the $1883$ Civil Rights Cases rulings

The establishment of Jim Crow segregation

Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson ($1896$)

Endorsed racial segregation

Historical significance of Justice John Marshall Harlan's dissent

Anticipated later civil rights arguments

Primary intent of poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses

To Disfranchise African Americans

Group most protected by the grandfather clause

Poor white voters

Reflection of the Chinese Exclusion Act of $1882$

Nativist and racial anxieties

Significance of the Chinese Exclusion Act

Was the first law to ban a specific ethnic group

Reflected fact of the 'Era of Forgotten Presidents' ($1877$-$1896$)

Presidents had limited impact on reform

Direct result of James Garfield's assassination

Passage of the Pendleton Act

Intended reduction target of the Pendleton Act

Patronage

Faction opposing civil service reform

Stalwarts

Republican goal of supporting the McKinley Tariff ($1890$)

Protected American industries

Reason farmers opposed high tariffs

Increased prices for manufactured goods

Cause of political paralysis during the Gilded Age

Close elections and evenly divided parties

Federal government's involvement in Southern affairs after $1877$ vs Reconstruction

Less involved in Southern affairs

Group benefiting most from Gilded Age political paralysis

Industrialists

Reconstruction goal contradicted by Jim Crow laws

Racial equality

Development illustrating continuity from Reconstruction into the Gilded Age

Southern resistance to racial equality

Overall description of the Gilded Age period

Economic growth and political corruption

Global cause for the shift in immigration patterns after $1880$

Industrialization and political instability in southern/eastern Europe

Factor pulling immigrants to American cities ($1865$-$1914$)

Expanding industrial job opportunities

Reason 'new immigrants' faced suspicion compared to earlier groups

Cultural and religious differences

Direct cause of tenement conditions (lack of water, disease, fire hazards)

Rapid urban growth outpacing infrastructure

Common efforts to address tenement problems

Settlement houses and charitable reform

Evidence that urbanization worsened inequality

Working-class families lived in crowded tenements while elites moved to suburbs

Primary reason political machines developed

Immigrants lacked access to formal social services

Difference between political machines and Progressive reformers

Machines relied on patronage rather than civil service systems

Best evaluation of political machines

They combined social services with graft and fraud

Direct cause of the Chinese Exclusion Act ($1882$)

Labor unions blaming Chinese workers for depressed wages