History of the United States 2 MIDTERM

Who is Ulysses S. Grant?

Union general during the Civil War and 18th US President (1869-1877); led Reconstruction efforts and fought corruption in his administration

Accomplishments:

• Won key battles such as Vicksburg (1863) and Chattanooga (1863) for the Union during the Civil War

• Accepted Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 9th, 1865

• Grant’s Reconstruction

  • Defended the rights of African Americans during Reconstruction

  • Enforced the 15th Amendment (VOTE) 

  • Combatted the KKK through the Enforcement Acts (1870-71)

  • Tried to reduce government corruption

  • Created the Treaty of Washington (1871) to help settle disputes with Great Britain over Civil War maritime claims

Shortcomings:

• Grant’s Reconstruction

  • Dunning School view: Mired in corruption and scandal

    • Gold Ring (leaked insider information)

    • Whiskey Ring (corrupt army officers in St. Louis)

  • Modern view: Mixed Legacy

    • 15th Amendment

    • Anti-corruption programs

    • Battled the KKK

    • Assimilated Indians into US culture (Great Sioux War)

    • Prosecuted Mormons and Abortionists

• Economic Panic of 1873 occurred under his presidency

What was Theodore Roosevelt known for?

• 26th President (1901-1909)

• Known for his energy, reform spirit, and “Square Deal”

Accomplishments:

• Square Deal

  • Ensured fairness for workers, consumers, and businesses

  • Trust-Buster

• Labor Reforms

  • Supported the workers during the 1902 Coal Strike

• Conservation

• “Speak softly and carry a big stick” diplomacy backed by military strength

• Oversaw construction of Panama Canal

• Won Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War

Shortcomings:

• Accused of imperialism and disregard for soverignty

Front: Ulysses S. Grant

Back: 18th U.S. President and Union Civil War general; enforced Reconstruction and fought the KKK; administration plagued by corruption scandals (e.g., Whiskey Ring).

Front: Theodore Roosevelt

Back: 26th U.S. President; Progressive reformer who promoted the “Square Deal,” trust-busting, conservation, and Panama Canal construction; “Big Stick” foreign policy.

Front: FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Back: 32nd U.S. President (1933–1945); led during the Great Depression and WWII; created the New Deal programs and expanded federal government’s role in the economy.

Front: Herbert Hoover

Back: 31st U.S. President (1929–1933); blamed for the Great Depression; believed in limited government intervention; his handling of the Bonus Army protest worsened his image.

Front: William McKinley

Back: 25th U.S. President (1897–1901); led U.S. to victory in the Spanish–American War; annexed the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico; assassinated in 1901.

Front: Woodrow Wilson

Back: 28th U.S. President (1913–1921); led U.S. in WWI; proposed the Fourteen Points and League of Nations; Progressive reforms; criticized for segregationist policies.

Front: Andrew Johnson

Back: 17th U.S. President after Lincoln’s assassination; lenient toward the South during Reconstruction; impeached but acquitted by one vote.

Front: Bonus Army

Back: Group of WWI veterans who marched on Washington (1932) demanding early payment of war bonuses; forcibly removed by troops under Hoover, damaging his reputation.

Front: First Klan

Back: Ku Klux Klan founded in 1865 during Reconstruction; targeted freed Black people and Republicans through terror and violence.

Front: Second Klan

Back: Revived in 1915; expanded hate targets to immigrants, Catholics, and Jews; promoted “100% Americanism.”

Front: Third Klan

Back: Post–WWII version opposing the Civil Rights Movement; involved in bombings, murders, and voter intimidation during the 1950s–60s.

Front: Boshin War

Back: Japanese civil war (1868–69) between Tokugawa shogunate and imperial forces; ended Japan’s feudal era and led to Meiji Restoration.

Front: Black Tuesday

Back: October 29, 1929 — the stock market crash that began the Great Depression.

Front: “Iron and Blood”

Back: Phrase from Otto von Bismarck’s 1862 speech, emphasizing war and industry as means to unify Germany; symbolized militaristic nationalism.

Front: Zimmerman Telegram

Back: 1917 German message proposing an alliance with Mexico if the U.S. entered WWI; its revelation helped push the U.S. into the war.

Front: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Back: German WWI policy of sinking any ship in British waters; major cause of U.S. entry into the war after the sinking of the Lusitania.

Front: Fighter Ace (WWI)

Back: Military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during WWI; examples include the Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen).

Front: Franz Ferdinand

Back: Archduke of Austria-Hungary whose assassination in Sarajevo (1914) triggered World War I.

Front: Frei Korps

Back: Paramilitary groups of German veterans after WWI; violently suppressed communist uprisings; precursors to Nazi militias.

Front: The Southern Plains

Back: Region of the Great Plains including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas; hit hard by the Dust Bowl during the 1930s.

Front: The Great Plough-Up

Back: Period in the 1910s–20s when farmers over-plowed the Southern Plains, stripping native grasses and worsening Dust Bowl conditions.

Front: Rerum Novarum

Back: 1891 papal encyclical by Pope Leo XIII addressing workers’ rights, social justice, and opposing both socialism and unregulated capitalism.

Front: Free Labor Ideology

Back: 19th-century belief that Northern society offered workers opportunity to rise through hard work, contrasting with Southern slavery.

Front: Companionate Marriage

Back: 1920s ideal of marriage based on mutual affection, sexual attraction, and partnership rather than duty or family arrangement.

Front: Catholic Worker Movement

Back: Founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin (1933); combined Catholic teachings with social activism, helping the poor and promoting peace.

Front: Progressivism

Back: Reform movement (1890s–1920s) seeking to address industrialization’s problems through regulation, social justice, and government activism.

Front: Austrian School

Back: Economic school emphasizing free markets, individualism, and limited government; key figures include Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.

Front: Keynesian School

Back: Economic theory (John Maynard Keynes) advocating government spending and intervention to stabilize the economy during downturns.

Front: Spanish Flu

Back: 1918–19 global pandemic that killed about 50 million people; spread rapidly after WWI and overwhelmed health systems.

Front: League of Nations

Back: International organization formed after WWI to maintain peace; proposed by Wilson but the U.S. never joined; failed to prevent WWII.

Front: Boise City

Back: Oklahoma town devastated by Dust Bowl storms; symbol of Great Depression–era hardship in the Southern Plains.

Front: The Square Deal

Back: Theodore Roosevelt’s domestic policy; aimed for fairness in business, labor, and consumer protection.

Front: The New Deal

Back: FDR’s programs (1933–39) to combat the Great Depression through relief, recovery, and reform.

Front: TVA 

Tennessee Valley Authority

Back: New Deal agency providing flood control, electricity, and jobs in the rural South; modernized the Tennessee Valley region.

NRA

National Recovery Administration

Back: New Deal program that set fair wages and prices to stimulate recovery; declared unconstitutional in 1935.

CCC

Civilian Conservation Corps

Back: New Deal program employing young men in environmental projects like reforestation and park building.

Fireside Chats

Back: FDR’s informal radio addresses that reassured Americans and built trust during the Depression and WWII.

Front: Black Codes

Back: Post–Civil War Southern laws restricting the freedom and labor rights of freed African Americans.

Front: Radical Republicans

Back: Faction in Congress pushing for harsh Reconstruction, full rights for freedmen, and punishment for the South after the Civil War.

Front: James Longstreet

Back: Confederate general and later Reconstruction-era Republican; criticized in the South for cooperating with federal authority.

Front: Robert E. Lee

Back: Confederate general and commander of the Army of Northern Virginia; surrendered to Grant in 1865 at Appomattox Court House.

Front: Custer

Back: George Armstrong Custer; U.S. Army officer killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) by Lakota and Cheyenne forces.

Describe American expansion into the West and during the Spanish-American War. Was America an Empire? Why?

Introduction: Belief that expansion was part of the American destiny, Westward expansion and overseas expansion from the Spanish-American War, belief that it was our duty to “culture” the West, “While American leaders justified expansion as spreading democracy and civilization, both westward settlement and overseas conquest displayed imperialistic ambitions, showing that the United States functioned as an empire in practice, even if it rejected that label.”

Body Paragraph: Manifest Destiny (belief that Americans were destined to expand across the continent), Native Displacement (forced removal of Indigenous peoples), Territorial acquisitions (Louisiana Purchase, annexation of Texas, Oregon, and California), Economic motives (Expansion of agriculture, railroads, and resource extraction), “Though framed as spreading liberty and opportunity, westward expansion relied on conquest, racial hierarchy, and control of land - hallmarks of empire.”

Body/Conclusion Paragraph: “The Spanish-American War marked a new phase of American empire overseas.” Conflict origins (The US entered war to free Cuba from Spain but gained control of overseas territories), Acquisitions (Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico), Imperialist motives (Economic markets, naval bases, and national prestige), Debate (Anti-imperialist league argued expansion contradicted American ideals of freedom). “By claiming territories and extending political and economic power abroad, the US behaved as an empire - justifying its actions as benevolent but exercising dominion over other peoples. Thus, from the western frontier to the Pacific, America’s expansion was both continental and colonial, confirming its imperial character.”