Reconstruction and the Rise of Progressivism

These flashcards cover key terms and events related to Reconstruction and the following Progressive Era, providing definitions and context for each term.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War during which the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union.

Freedman's Bureau

Agency created by Congress in 1865 to help former slaves and poor whites in the South by providing food, housing, education, and employment.

13th Amendment

Passed in 1865, it abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., including former slaves.

15th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that granted African American men the right to vote.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States.

Sharecropping

A system of agriculture where a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced.

Yellow Journalism

Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers.

Muckrakers

Journalists who sought to expose corruption, inequality, and social injustices in American society.

Progressive Era

A period of social activism and political reform in the United States from the 1890s to the 1920s.

Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal

Roosevelt's domestic program that included consumer protection, conservation of natural resources, and control of corporations.

Pure Food and Drug Act

Legislation passed in 1906 aimed at ensuring the safety and labeling of food and pharmaceuticals.

Panama Canal

A man-made waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, completed in 1914.

Dawes Severalty Act

1887 law that aimed to assimilate Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land.

Battle of Wounded Knee

1890 massacre of Lakota Sioux by U.S. Army troops, effectively marking the end of Native American resistance.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Women's Suffrage Movement

The movement aimed at granting women the right to vote, leading to the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Gilded Age

A term coined by Mark Twain to describe the late 19th century as a period of rapid economic growth but also of corruption and inequality.

Populist Party

Political party formed in the late 19th century to represent the interests of farmers and laborers.

Direct Election of Senators

A reform that allowed citizens to directly elect their U.S. Senators, established by the 17th Amendment.

Reconstruction

The period after the Civil War during which the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union.

Freedman's Bureau

Agency created by Congress in 1865 to help former slaves and poor whites in the South by providing food, housing, education, and employment.

13th Amendment

Passed in 1865, it abolished slavery in the United States.

14th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., including former slaves.

15th Amendment

Constitutional amendment that granted African American men the right to vote.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States.

Sharecropping

A system of agriculture where a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced.

Yellow Journalism

Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers.

Muckrakers

Journalists who sought to expose corruption, inequality, and social injustices in American society.

Progressive Era

A period of social activism and political reform in the United States from the 1890s to the 1920s.

Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal

Roosevelt's domestic program that included consumer protection, conservation of natural resources, and control of corporations.

Pure Food and Drug Act

Legislation passed in 1906 aimed at ensuring the safety and labeling of food and pharmaceuticals.

Panama Canal

A man-made waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, completed in 1914.

Dawes Severalty Act

1887 law that aimed to assimilate Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land.

Battle of Wounded Knee

1890 massacre of Lakota Sioux by U.S. Army troops, effectively marking the end of Native American resistance.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the \"separate but equal\" doctrine.

Women's Suffrage Movement

The movement aimed at granting women the right to vote, leading to the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Gilded Age

A term coined by Mark Twain to describe the late 19th century as a period of rapid economic growth but also of corruption and inequality.

Populist Party

Political party formed in the late 19th century to represent the interests of farmers and laborers.

Direct Election of Senators

A reform that allowed citizens to directly elect their U.S. Senators, established by the 17th Amendment.

Black Codes

State laws passed in the South after the Civil War to restrict the rights and liberties of African Americans.

Radical Republicans

A faction of American politicians during Reconstruction who advocated for social and political equality for African Americans and strong federal intervention in the South.

Transcontinental Railroad

A railroad line that spanned the continental United States, completed in 1869, significantly boosting westward expansion and commerce.

Monopoly

Exclusive control by one company over an entire industry or service, common during the Gilded Age.

Andrew Carnegie

An industrialist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century through vertical integration.

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was one of the first and largest multinational corporations, Gilded Age.

Trust

A large business combination that dominated the market, often used to create monopolies during the Gilded Age.

Sherman Antitrust Act

A landmark 1890 law that was the first federal statute to prohibit trusts, monopolies, and cartels, signed into law by Benjamin Harrison.

Haymarket Affair

A bombing that occurred at a labor demonstration in Chicago's Haymarket Square in 1886, often used to discredit the labor movement.

Knights of Labor

One of the most important American labor organizations of the 19th century, advocating for an 8-hour workday and an end to child and convict labor.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A national federation of labor unions founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers, primarily focusing on skilled workers' rights and wages.

Ellis Island

An immigration station in New York Harbor that processed millions of immigrants entering the U.S. from 1892 to 1954.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur in 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers.

Upton Sinclair

An American writer whose novel \"The Jungle\" (1906) exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry, contributing to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Ida B. Wells

An African American journalist, abolitionist, and feminist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s.

Initiative

A process that allows citizens to propose new laws by collecting signatures on petitions.

Referendum

A direct vote by the electorate on a particular proposal or law, rather than through representatives.

Recall

A procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before their term has ended.

Spanish-American War

An 1898 conflict between the United States and Spain that resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and effective control over Cuba.

Open Door Policy

A U.S. foreign policy proposed in 1899 that aimed to keep Chinese markets open to all countries equally, fearing that other powers would carve up China into spheres of influence.