APUSH Unit 5 Chapter 16 Vocabulary

Ocala Platform

• A political agenda adopted by the Farmers' Alliance in 1890, advocating for various reforms including direct election of senators, a graduated income tax, and regulation of railroads.

National Alliance

• A coalition of farmers' organizations that aimed to address the economic challenges faced by rural communities and promote agricultural interests through political action.

Farmers’ Alliance

• A movement that sought to unify farmers across the United States to combat the influence of monopolies and promote cooperative farming practices.

Interstate Commerce Act (ICC)

• Established in 1887 to regulate railroads and ensure fair rates for farmers, addressing issues of price discrimination and monopolistic practices.

Granger Laws

• Series of state laws enacted in the late 19th century that aimed to regulate the rates charged by railroads and grain elevator companies, reflecting the growing power of the Grange movement and its efforts to protect farmers' interests.

Cooperatives

• Organizations formed by farmers to collectively market their products and purchase supplies, allowing them to gain bargaining power and reduce costs associated with agricultural production.

National Grange Movement

• Established in 1867 as a social and educational organization for farmers, promoting cooperative practices and advocating for agricultural reforms to address the challenges faced by rural communities.

Commercial Farming

• Refers to the large-scale production of crops and livestock for sale in the market, relying heavily on mechanization and the use of chemical inputs to maximize yields and profitability.

Literacy Test

• Implemented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a means to restrict voting rights, particularly targeting African American voters and poor white voters, by requiring individuals to demonstrate reading and writing proficiency before being allowed to register to vote.

Poll Tax

• Fees imposed on individuals as a prerequisite for voting, effectively disenfranchising low-income citizens, particularly African Americans and poor whites, by making it financially burdensome to participate in elections.

Grandfather Clause

• A legal mechanism that allowed individuals to bypass literacy tests and poll taxes if their grandfathers had been eligible to vote before the Civil War, thus perpetuating racial discrimination and ensuring that many white voters could avoid the barriers imposed on African Americans.

Jim Crow Laws

• State and local statutes enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States, institutionalizing a system of discrimination and inequality that affected almost every aspect of public life, from education to transportation.

Plessy V. Ferguson

• A landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1896 that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine, effectively legitimizing Jim Crow laws and further entrenching systemic racism in American society.

Crop Lien System

• An economic arrangement that emerged in the post-Civil War South, which allowed farmers to obtain credit based on the value of their future crops; however, this system often led to cycles of debt and poverty for sharecroppers, many of whom were African American, as they were frequently exploited by landowners.

New South

• Refers to the economic and social changes that occurred in the Southern United States after the Civil War, characterized by a shift from an agrarian economy to one that embraced industrialization and diversification, aiming to integrate more fully into the national economy while often perpetuating racial inequalities.

Ghost Dance Movement

• Spiritual and social movement among Native American tribes in the late 19th century, which sought to restore their traditional ways of life and bring about a renewal of their culture, while also expressing a desire for peace and coexistence with settlers; it was notably associated with the tragic Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.

Dawes Severalty Act

• Enacted in 1887, aimed to assimilate Native Americans into American society by allotting them individual plots of land, thereby breaking up tribal landholdings; this legislation significantly undermined tribal sovereignty and resulted in the loss of millions of acres of Native American land.

Assimilationists

• Believed that the best way for Native Americans to survive and thrive in American society was to adopt Euro-American customs and lifestyles, often advocating for the abandonment of traditional practices and languages in favor of integration into mainstream culture.

Indian Wars

• Refer to a series of conflicts between Native American tribes and U.S. settlers and government forces from the late 19th century, often sparked by westward expansion, broken treaties, and the encroachment on Native lands, leading to significant loss of life and further displacement of Indigenous peoples.

Frederick Jackson Turner

• A historian known for his "Frontier Thesis," which argued that the American frontier was a key factor in shaping American democracy and character, emphasizing the importance of westward expansion in the development of the United States.