DCUSH Topic 3 Vocab

Reservations

public lands where Native Americans were required to live by the federal government

Sand Creek Massacre

1864 incident in which Colorado militia attacked a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, some of who were under U.S. Army protection

Sitting Bull

was a war chief and important spiritual leader who became the first-ever chief of all the Lakota Sioux bands in the 1860s. After surrendering to the Army in 1881, he lived on a reservation where he was killed by Indian police sent to arrest him.

Battle of the Little Big Horn

1876 battle in which the Sioux defeated U.S. Army troops

Chief Joseph

succeeded his father as chief of the Nez Percé in 1871. Six years later he led his followers on an unsuccessful flight to escape confinement on a reservation. First sent to Oklahoma, they were eventually returned to a new reservation in Washington state. However, he was unable to secure their return to their tribal homeland.

Wounded Knee

1890 confrontation between U.S. cavalry and Sioux that marked the end of Indian resistance

Assimilated

absorbed into the main culture of a society

Dawes General Allotment Act

1887 law that divided reservation land into private family plots

Vigilantes

self-appointed law enforcers

Transcontinental Railroad

rail link between the eastern and the western United States

Land grants

land designated by the federal government for building schools, roads, or railroads

Open-range system

method of ranching in which the rancher allowed his or her livestock to roam and graze over a vast area of grassland

Homestead Act

1862 law that gave 160 acres of land to persons willing to live on and cultivate it for five years

Exodusters

African Americans who migrated from the South to the West after the Civil War

Las Gorras Blancas

(the White Caps) group of Mexican Americans living in New Mexico who attempted to protect their land and way of life from encroachment by white landowners

Spoils system

practice of the political party in power giving jobs and appointments to its supporters, rather than to people based on their qualifications

Civil service

government departments and their non-elected employees

Pendleton Civil Service Act

1883 law that created a civil service system for the federal government in an attempt to hire employees on a merit system rather than on a spoils system

Gold standard

policy of designating monetary units in terms of their value in gold

Political Machines

a political party’s organization that wins voter loyalty and guarantees power to a small group of leaders, who often abuse it for their own gain

Fiat money

currency not backed by gold or silver

Oliver H. Kelley

was an employee in the U.S. Department of Agriculture who worked to improve the lives of farmers and the agricultural industry. He recognized the need to bring farmers together to protect their livelihoods. served as the first secretary of the Grange from 1867 until 1878.

Grange

farmers’ organization formed after the Civil War

Farmers’ Alliance

network of farmers’ organizations that worked for political and economic reforms in the late 1800s

Populist Party

People’s Party; political party formed in 1891 to advocate a larger money supply and other economic reforms

William Jennings Bryan

was a Democratic and Populist leader who ran unsuccessfully three times for the U.S. presidency. During his career as a lawyer, politician, and speaker, he fought for reforms such as the income tax, Prohibition, and women’s suffrage.

William McKinley

was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 to 1901. He led the United States during the Spanish-American War in 1898. His second term as president was cut short by an assassin in 1901.