Unit 1 US HISTORY- all slides cards

American Frontier

The frontier period of westward settlement in the United States; the Homestead Act and Transcontinental Railroad helped bring it to an end.

Boomtowns

Rapidly growing towns that became lawless places filled with violence, alcohol, prostitution, and gambling.

Homestead Act

Federal law passed to encourage Americans to settle the Great Plains.

Homestead Act requirements

Settlers received 160 acres of free land if they lived on the property for at least five years, built a dwelling, and cultivated crops.

Homestead Act population effect

Between 400,000 and 600,000 families took advantage of the opportunity, causing a significant population increase in the Great Plains.

Events that ended the American frontier

The Homestead Act and the Transcontinental Railroad.

Indian Wars

A series of conflicts between American Indian tribes and the U.S. government fueled by land disputes and cultural differences.

Result of the Indian Wars

Most American Indians were forcefully relocated onto reservations by U.S. soldiers.

Buffalo slaughter

The United States encouraged hunters to slaughter buffalo, the American Indians' main source of food, to force the last American Indians onto reservations.

Custer's Last Stand

A June 1876 battle in which Cheyenne and Sioux led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull fought a U.S. Cavalry unit led by General George Custer at Little Bighorn.

Result of Custer's Last Stand

Within an hour, Custer and all his men were killed.

Sitting Bull

A Sioux leader who was hunted by the U.S. government after Custer's Last Stand and eventually surrendered in 1881 to save his people from starvation.

Crazy Horse

A leader of the Cheyenne and Sioux who fought General Custer at Little Bighorn.

Dawes Act

An 1887 law passed to encourage American Indians to assimilate into U.S. culture.

Dawes Act land policy

The government divided tribal land into 160

American Indian boarding schools

Schools where some American Indian children were enrolled to further force assimilation.

Effects of the Dawes Act

It had devastating effects on American Indian communities and culture.

Assimilation

The process of adopting another culture, especially mainstream U.S. culture.

Cattle Industry

An industry that grew as the U.S. population increased and demand for beef increased.

Cowboys

Workers who drove cattle to shipping centers located on railroad lines.

Cattle transportation

Cattle were driven to railroad shipping centers and then transported to northeastern markets.

Meatpacking industry

An industry that grew as a result of the boom in the cattle industry.

Supporting the Western Farmer

Efforts and technologies that made farming on the western plains easier.

John Deere's steel plow

A new technology that made farming on the western plains easier.

Cyrus McCormick's reaping machine

A farming innovation that made harvesting crops easier.

Barbed wire

Technology used to fence in cattle on large ranches.

Farmers in Debt

Many western farmers borrowed money to purchase expensive new equipment and fell into debt.

Railroad shipping costs

Costs that continued to rise and made many farmers feel exploited by wealthy railroad companies.

Plight of western farmers

Economic difficulties among farmers that helped give rise to a new movement and political party in the late 19th century.

Plight of Farmers

Farmers' economic problems caused by overproduction, falling crop prices, debt, and high railroad shipping rates.

Overproduction

Producing more crops than the market could sell, causing crop prices to decline and leaving farmers in a cycle of debt.

Railroad shipping rates

High rates imposed on farmers that made it difficult for them to profit from their crops.

Grange Movement

A farmers' movement that lobbied Congress to pass legislation protecting farmers' social and economic interests.

Populist Party

A political party that emerged at the beginning of the Progressive Era and fought for working

Populist Party goals

Assist farmers with debt and provide the public with more opportunities to participate in government.

Populist Party platform

Standardize silver coinage, introduce a graduated income tax, regulate railroad shipping fees, and implement direct election of senators.

Standardized coinage of silver

A Populist goal involving the use of silver in the nation's monetary system.

Graduated income tax

A tax system in which the tax rate increases as income increases.

Direct election of senators

A Populist goal to allow voters to directly elect U.S. senators.

Populist Party supporters

The Populists advocated for working

Third Party

A political party that is not one of the two major parties; third parties are often formed when voters feel their needs are not being met by the major parties.

Third

party effect

Populist Party in 1892

The Populist Party was considered a third party and received about 8% of the popular vote.

Panic of 1893

A major economic crisis caused by farmers' debts, excessive railroad construction, railroad bankruptcies, a low U.S. gold supply, falling stocks, and plunging silver prices.

Cause of the Panic of 1893

Farmers were overextended with debts and loans, railroad construction had expanded faster than markets, and many railroads went bankrupt.

Gold supply in 1893

The U.S. government's gold supply had become low.

Public reaction to the Panic of 1893

People panicked and traded paper money for gold.

Effects of the Panic of 1893

Stocks fell rapidly, silver prices plunged, silver mines closed, and over 15,000 businesses closed by the end of the year.

Silver or Gold

The central economic issue over which metal should be the basis of the nation's monetary system.

Silverites

Farmers and laborers who favored bimetallism and more money in circulation.

Gold Bugs

Bankers and businessmen who favored the gold standard and less money in circulation.

Bimetallism

A monetary system based on both gold and silver.

Gold standard

A monetary system backing dollars solely with gold.

Silverites' goal

Bimetallism and more money in circulation.

Gold Bugs' goal

The gold standard and less money in circulation.

Gold Bugs' reason

They believed loans would be repaid in stable money.

Silverites' reason

They believed products would be sold at higher prices.

Deflation

Prices fall, the value of money increases, and fewer people have money.

Inflation

Prices rise, the value of money decreases, and more people have money.

Presidential Election of 1896

Election between Republican William McKinley and Democrat William Jennings Bryan.

William McKinley

Republican candidate in 1896 who supported the gold standard and was funded by wealthy industrialists of the East.

William Jennings Bryan

Democratic candidate in 1896 who supported bimetallism, free silver, and farmers and laborers.

McKinley's monetary policy

Gold standard.

Bryan's monetary policy

Bimetallism using gold and silver; he supported free silver.

Free Silver

The policy of supporting the use of silver in the monetary system.

William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech

An impassioned speech at the Democratic Convention demanding an end to the gold standard and praising farmers and laborers.

Cross of Gold Speech

William Jennings Bryan's famous speech opposing the gold standard and supporting farmers and laborers.

End of Populism

Bryan's defeat in the 1896 election spelled the end of the Populist Party but inspired a generation of reformers in the early 20th century.

Why Populism was defeated

Bryan could not match McKinley's campaign funds, and industrial workers in the East and Midwest who feared inflation voted for McKinley.

McKinley's 1896 victory

McKinley defeated Bryan by about 500,000 votes.

Gilded Age

An era in the late 1800s and early 1900s characterized by industrialization, big businesses, labor unions, political corruption, and government misconduct.

Industrialization

The large

Industrialization in America

New inventions and innovations increased industrialization, while natural resources, creative ideas, and growing markets fueled an industrial boom.

U.S. industrialization timeline

The United States went from being an agrarian nation after the Civil War to the world's leading industrial power by the 1920s.

Three factors leading to industrialization

Wealth of natural resources, government support for business, and a growing urban population that created new markets and provided cheap labor.

Crude oil

A natural resource used on small scales by American Indian tribes and early American settlers before becoming an important industrial resource.

Edwin Drake

Used a steam engine in 1859 to drill for oil and harvest it on a large scale.

Oil boom

Rapid growth in oil production following Edwin Drake's large

Oil refining

Became profitable in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Gasoline

Became the most important form of oil after the invention of automobiles.

Bessemer steel process

A revolutionary method for mass

Importance of the Bessemer steel process

Made it possible to build skyscrapers, railroads, and bridges on a much larger and more affordable scale.

Thomas Edison

Perfected the light bulb and electrical power, which changed how businesses operated.

Electrical power

Allowed factories to shift away from water or steam power because it was more efficient and easier to control.

Light bulb

Enabled employees to work longer hours and produce more goods.