Republican Party, Reconstruction, and Immigration

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms, people, events, and policies from the lecture notes on the Republican Party, Reconstruction, New South, and immigration, designed to reinforce essential concepts for exam prep.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 law that allowed territories to decide slavery by popular sovereignty, helping to fracture the national party system and contribute to the rise of the Republican Party.

Republican Party

Youngest major U.S. party (founded 1854 in Illinois) formed from anti-slavery Whigs, Free-Soilers, and Know Nothings; initially strong in the North.

Whig Party

One of the pre–Civil War parties that fractured in the 1850s, contributing to realignment and the rise of the Republicans.

Free Soil Party

Antislavery party that merged into broader Republican opposition to slavery’s expansion.

Know Nothing Party (American Party)

Nativist party that opposed immigration and Catholic influence in the mid-19th century.

Thirteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment that abolished slavery in the United States.

Fourteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment granting birthright citizenship and ensuring equal protection under the law.

Fifteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment prohibiting voting rights denial based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude (for men).

Morrill Act

1862 legislation funding land-grant colleges to promote practical education in agriculture and the sciences.

Homestead Act

1862 act granting 160 acres to settlers who farmed the land for a set period, encouraging westward expansion.

Land-grant university

Universities funded by federal land grants to promote higher education in practical fields; example: University of Arkansas.

University of Arkansas

State university funded through the Morrill Act’s land-grant system; an example of public higher education expansion.

Federal land broker

The government’s role in transferring land to railroads and settlers to support expansion.

New South

Post–Reconstruction push in the South toward industrialization and modernization, accompanied by continued racial disenfranchisement and Jim Crow policies.

Jim Crow

Laws and practices enforcing racial segregation in the South after Reconstruction.

Lost Cause

Mythic narrative portraying the Confederacy in a noble light and Reconstruction as chaotic, used to justify segregation and white supremacy.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

Terrorist organization formed to suppress Black political power and intimidate voters during Reconstruction.

White League

White supremacist paramilitary group in the Reconstruction era that used violence to oppose Black political participation.

Freedmen's Bureau

U.S. government agency created to aid formerly enslaved people with shelter, work, and education; helped reduce illiteracy among African Americans.

Emancipation Proclamation

Proclamation issued in 1863 that began the process of emancipation and set the stage for Reconstruction policies.

Compromise of 1877

Political agreement that ended Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South and resolving the Hayes-Tilden dispute.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

1876 clash where Custer was defeated by Native American forces; a notable Native victory during the Indian Wars.

Indian Wars

Series of conflicts between the U.S. government and Native American tribes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Sioux land

Land dispossession and disputes tied to U.S. expansion; often tied to gold discoveries and treaty violations.

Osage oil wealth

Oil wealth of the Osage Nation that later illustrated indigenous resource exploitation concerns.

Reservation system

Federal policy designating specific lands for Native Americans, often resulting in displacement and restricted sovereignty.

Ghost Dance

Indigenous spiritual movement that spread across reservations as a form of cultural revival.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

Federal agency overseeing Native American affairs and cross-reservation communication.

Dunning School

Historiographical view (led by William Dunning) that framed Reconstruction as a failure and white supremacy as necessary for social order.

W. E. B. Du Bois

Scholarly critic of the Dunning School who rewrote Reconstruction and highlighted Black agency and rights.

Mississippi Constitution of 1890s

State constitution mechanisms (literacy tests, poll taxes, and other devices) used to disenfranchise Black voters.

Literacy test

Test used (often arbitrarily) to assess voters’ literacy to deny suffrage, especially to Black citizens.

Poll tax

Tax required to vote; used to disenfranchise poor voters, particularly Black citizens and poor whites in the South.

Sharecropping

Labor system after slavery where tenants farm land owned by others and share the crop; prone to debt and coercive control.

Boll weevil

Asian-origin insect that devastated cotton crops in the South, accelerating economic diversification.

Coca-Cola

Atlanta-born beverage (1881) by John Pemberton; originally a non-carbonated syrup, later transformed into a global brand linked to the New South.

Fulbright Program

Jay William Fulbright’s program funding study abroad and cultural exchange to promote U.S. influence during the Cold War.

Chinese Exclusion Acts

Series of federal laws restricting Chinese immigration, reflecting pervasive nativism and labor-market concerns.

Thomas Nast

19th-century cartoonist whose work popularized the elephant symbol for the Republicans and depicted anti-immigrant attitudes.

Riis, Jacob

Photographer and reformer known for How the Other Half Lives, documenting urban immigrant poverty.

Ovarian Lottery

Warren Buffett’s phrase describing how luck of birth shapes opportunities and life outcomes.

Calvin Coolidge

U.S. president known for a staunch pro-business stance; motto: The business of America is business.

Birth of a Nation

1915 film by D. W. Griffith that romanticized the Lost Cause and portrayed Reconstruction in racist terms; sparked controversy and protests.

Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand)

Alternate name for the Little Bighorn battle; iconic Native American victory in 1876.

Osage murders

Series of murders targeting Osage people in the early 20th century tied to wealth and exploitation of Indigenous lands.