history
13th Amendment – Abolished slavery.
14th Amendment – Citizenship for all born in the U.S.
15th Amendment – Voting rights for black and white men.
Purpose – Ensured freed slaves received constitutional rights.
Reconstruction & Segregation
Sharecropping – Landowners let tenants farm for a share of crops.
Debt Cycle – Sharecroppers often owed landowners money.
Black Codes – Laws limiting Black Americans' rights.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – "Separate but equal" legalized segregation.
Plessy Dissent – Race should NOT determine equality.
Impact of Plessy – Led to Jim Crow laws and disenfranchisement.
Voting Restrictions & Disenfranchisement
Disenfranchisement – Taking away voting rights.
Tactics Used – Poll taxes, literacy tests.
Westward Expansion
Transcontinental Railroad – Boosted farming, mining, ranching, and trade.
Homestead Act – 160 acres of free land to settlers.
Sod Houses – Built due to lack of timber.
Dawes Act – Assimilated Native Americans, weakened tribal identity.
Nativism – Preference for native-born citizens, dislike of immigrants.
Chinese Exclusion Act – Banned Chinese immigration for 10 years.
Populism
Populist Movement – Helped farmers fight big business.
Populist Goals – Income tax, direct election of senators, railroad regulation, silver standard.
Impact – Pushed leaders to address farmers' struggles.
Currency Debate – Gold vs. silver standard; farmers supported silver (inflation).
Gilded Age & Industrialization
Laissez-Faire – Unregulated business led to monopolies.
Edison’s Lightbulb – Led to factory night shifts, reduced oil dependence.
Urbanization – People moved from farms to cities for jobs.
New Immigration – Southern/Eastern Europeans (Ellis Island), Chinese (Angel Island).
Bessemer Process – Carnegie's method to mass-produce steel.
Labor Movement & Unions
Knights of Labor (1869) – Early labor union, wanted broad social change.
American Federation of Labor (AFL, 1886) – Led by Samuel Gompers, focused on skilled workers, wages, and hours.
Haymarket Riot (1886) – Labor protest turned violent after a bomb exploded.
Homestead Strike (1892) – Violent steelworkers’ strike against Carnegie Steel.
Pullman Strike (1894) – National railroad strike crushed by federal troops.
Union Impact – Fought for better wages, hours, and conditions.
Corruption & Reform
Political Machines – Gave favors for votes, voter fraud (e.g., Boss Tweed).
Spoils System – Gave government jobs to supporters.
Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) – Ended the Spoils System, required exams for government jobs.
Progressivism & Social Reform
Muckrakers – Journalists who exposed corruption.
Upton Sinclair – The Jungle, exposed meat industry.
Jacob Riis – How the Other Half Lives, showed tenement conditions.
Ida Tarbell – Exposed Standard Oil’s monopoly.
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) – Regulated food and medicine.
Meat Inspection Act (1906) – Government oversight of meatpacking.
Imperialism & Spanish-American War
Imperialists – Wanted new markets, naval bases, and expansion.
Anti-Imperialists – Opposed control over other nations.
Hawaii (1898) – Overthrown Queen Liliuokalani, annexed for naval bases & plantations.
Spanish-American War (1898) – Fought to free Cuba; driven by yellow journalism.
Outcome of War – U.S. gained Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam.
Platt Amendment – Allowed U.S. intervention in Cuba.
Imperialism & Foreign Policy
Big Stick Policy – Teddy Roosevelt’s aggressive diplomacy using military force.
Dollar Diplomacy – Taft’s policy of investing in foreign economies.
Moral Diplomacy – Wilson’s foreign policy promoting democracy.
Roosevelt Corollary (1904) – Expanded Monroe Doctrine, U.S. could intervene in Latin America.
Panama Canal (Completed 1914) – U.S. built canal to connect oceans.
Causes of World War I (WWI)
Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism (MAIN) – Long-term causes of WWI.
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1914) – Sparked WWI.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare – Germany sank U.S. ships.
Zimmermann Telegram (1917) – Germany urged Mexico to attack U.S.
U.S. Declares War (1917) – Entered WWI to “make the world safe for democracy.”
Effects of WWI & 1920s Foreign Policy
Fourteen Points (1918) – Wilson’s peace plan, promoted self-determination.
Treaty of Versailles (1919) – Ended WWI, blamed Germany.
League of Nations – U.S. refused to join.
Washington Naval Conference (1921-22) – Limited navy sizes to prevent war.
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) – Outlawed war as a policy.
The Red Scare & Nativism
Red Scare (1919-1920) – Fear of communism in the U.S.
Palmer Raids (1919-1920) – Government arrested suspected communists.
Sacco & Vanzetti Trial (1921-1927) – Anti-immigrant bias against Italian anarchists.
Emergency Quota Act (1921) – First major restriction on immigration.
National Origins Act (1924) – Limited immigration based on nationality quotas.
Causes of World War II (WWII)
Treaty of Versailles (1919) – Punished Germany harshly.
Rise of Dictators (1930s) – Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin gained power.
Appeasement (Munich Agreement, 1938) – Let Hitler take land to avoid war.
U.S. Neutrality Acts (1930s) – Kept U.S. out of conflicts.
Lend-Lease Act (1941) – Supplied Allies before entering war.
Attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941) – U.S. joined WWII.