K

history

  1. 13th Amendment – Abolished slavery.

  2. 14th Amendment – Citizenship for all born in the U.S.

  3. 15th Amendment – Voting rights for black and white men.

  4. 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 SinclairThe Jungle, exposed meat industry.

  • Jacob RiisHow 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.