Us Honors history Midterm study guide
Compromise of 1850
Allowed California to enter the Union as a free state. Banned the sale of enslaved people in Washington D.C. Enacted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and opened the rest of the Mexican Cession territory to slavery based on popular sovereignty (allowing residents to decide).
Dred Scott Decision
(1857) A Supreme Court decision that ruled Dred Scott, an enslaved man, was not a U.S. citizen and therefore could not sue for his freedom. The court also declared that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories.
Abraham Lincoln
Freeport Doctrine: Lincoln-Douglas debates, Stephen Douglas's idea that local governments could still exclude slavery despite the Dred Scott decision.
Emancipation Proclamation: Declared enslaved people in Confederate states free.
Gettysburg Address: A speech given during the Civil War, emphasizing the principles of human equality and the preservation of the Union.
Lincoln's main goal was to restore the Union.
Civil War
Some long-term causes included sectionalism (loyalty to one's own region), slavery, and states' rights.
Secession
The act of formally withdrawing from an organization, union, or political entity.
Union
Consisted of 20 free states and 5 border slave states, along with the national government. The opposing side was the Confederacy.
Confederacy
Comprised of 7 seceded slave states, primarily in the lower South. The opposing side was the Union.
Battle of Gettysburg
(July 1863) This battle was a major turning point in the Civil War, after which the South never again advanced deeply into Northern territory.
Impeachment
A formal process where a public official is accused of unlawful activity, which can lead to their removal from office.
Andrew Johnson
(17th president, 1865-1869) Favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union. He came into conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, which led to his impeachment (though he was not removed from office).
Radical Republicans
A group of Republicans who believed the South should face punishment for the Civil War and that African Americans should be granted full civil rights and freedom.
Sharecroppers
A system of agriculture used in the South, primarily by former enslaved people, where farmers worked land owned by someone else and gave a portion of their crops to the landowner in exchange for using the land.
Tenant Farmers
A farmer who rents land to cultivate.
Scalawags
A term used by white Southern Democrats to describe white Southerners who collaborated with Northern Republicans during Reconstruction, often for personal profit.
Planter Class
Wealthy white landowners in the South who owned large farms (plantations) that grew cash crops like sugar, cotton, and tobacco, typically relying on enslaved labor.
Carpetbaggers
A derogatory term for a person from the Northern states who moved to the South after the Civil War to profit from Reconstruction.
Black Codes
Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War, based on older slave codes. These laws restricted the freedom of African Americans, preventing them from voting, holding office, and serving on juries.
14th Amendment
Granted full citizenship to African Americans and guaranteed equal protection under the law for all citizens.
15th Amendment
Declared that the right to vote cannot be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Grandfather Clause
A provision that exempted certain people from laws, such as literacy tests or poll taxes, if their ancestors had the right to vote before 1866 or 1867. This effectively allowed white people to vote while disenfranchising African Americans.
Poll Taxes
A tax required to be paid before a person could vote, often used to prevent poor African Americans and white people from voting.
Literacy Tests
An examination designed to determine if a person could read and write, used to prevent many African Americans from voting.
Homestead Act
(1862) Encouraged Western migration by offering settlers 160 acres of public land. Settlers could claim it for an acre after improving it for six months, or for free if they farmed it for five years. This led to about of the U.S. being claimed and settled.
Reservation System
Land tracts set aside by the U.S. government for Native American tribes, requiring them to live on these areas. The land was often unsuitable for their traditional way of life and much smaller than their ancestral lands.
Sodbusters
A farmer or farmhand who plows the land, especially on the American prairies.
Buffalo
These animals were hunted to near extinction in the West, having been frequently used by cowboys and Native Americans for sustenance and resources.
Plains Indians
Native American tribes who traditionally lived on the vast plains and rolling hills of North America.
Exodusters
African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late 19th century (starting around 1879). This was the first major general migration of black people after the Civil War.
Railroads in the West
Essential for connecting the West to the East and for transporting goods, raw materials, and people across the country.
Barbed Wire
A type of steel fencing, invented in 1874, used to contain cattle and mark property boundaries on the open range.
Turner's Thesis
(1893) Presented by historian Frederick Jackson Turner, this argument claimed that the American frontier was crucial in shaping American democracy and character.
Vaquero
(Spanish for cowboy) A cattle driver, especially one from Mexico.
Jim Crow Laws
Laws passed in the South after Reconstruction, mandating racial segregation in public facilities and private businesses. These laws denied African Americans their rights and regulated them to second-class citizen status, lasting until the 1960s.
Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896) A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities, establishing the doctrine of "separate but equal."
Segregation
The action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things; the enforced separation of different racial groups.
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all people and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination."
Grange
(The Patrons of Husbandry) A social and educational organization formed by farmers in the late 19th century to combat the power of railroads and promote agricultural interests.
Technology
Key inventions included the telephone, typewriter, and the lightbulb, which transformed daily life and industry.
2nd Industrial Revolution
(Technological Revolution, 1860s-early 20th century) Characterized by rapid industrial growth, early factory electrification, mass production techniques, and the development of the assembly line.
Inventions
Significant inventions included the Bessemer process (for steel), the discovery of "black gold" (oil), electricity, the typewriter, and the telephone.
Social Darwinism
A sociological theory applying Charles Darwin's idea of "survival of the fittest" to human society and business. It advocated for unrestricted competition to ensure the success of the most capable individuals or corporations.
Monopolies in Big Businesses
Occurred when a single company gained complete control over its industry's production, wages, and prices, often by buying out competing companies.
Trusts
Large combines of businesses or corporations that control entire industries, often formed to reduce competition and control prices.
Trust Busting
The government's efforts to break up large trusts and monopolies to promote competition, exemplified by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
(1890) A federal law passed by Congress that made it illegal to form trusts or monopolies that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries.
Collective Bargaining
Negotiations between representatives of organized labor (unions) and management to reach written agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions.
Workers' Rights
Led to improvements in working conditions, including lower work hours and increased wages, advocated by labor movements.
Interstate Commerce Act
(1887) Regulated railroads by requiring that rates be "reasonable and just." It also mandated that railroads publicize their rates and prohibited discrimination against farmers.
Ellis Island
Located in New York Harbor, it served as a major immigration station. Approximately of immigrants were detained for inspection, and were refused entry. Immigrants underwent physical examinations and questioning by government inspectors. Those without a history of felony could usually work for money.
Angel Island
Located in San Francisco Bay, it was another major immigration station, primarily for Asian immigrants, especially Chinese. It was known for harsh questioning and long detentions.
Immigration
The process of a person or family moving from their home country to another, primarily to the U.S. during this period.
Patronage
The practice of giving government jobs to people who helped candidates get elected, often regardless of their qualifications (also known as the "spoils system").
Civil Service
A system where government jobs are awarded based on merit and qualifications, rather than political favoritism.
Pendleton Act
(1883) A federal law that established the Civil Service Commission and mandated that appointments to federal jobs be made based on merit, usually through competitive exams.
President James Garfield
(20th president, 1881) His assassination by a disgruntled office seeker (Charles Guiteau) highlighted the need for civil service reform, leading to the Pendleton Act.
Urbanization
The rapid growth of cities, driven by advancements in technology and industrialization.
Skyscrapers
Tall buildings made possible by the invention of elevators and the development of steel structural skeletons to support their weight.
Subway
Electric, underground railway systems developed to ease urban congestion.
Suspension Bridges
Advanced bridges that connected city sections more closely and facilitated transportation and recreation.
Progressivism
A reform movement (roughly 1890s-1920s) with four main goals:
Promoting Social Welfare: Addressing social problems like poverty and unsafe working conditions.
Promoting Moral Improvement: Advocating for reforms like Prohibition.
Creating Economic Reform: Regulating big business and addressing economic inequality.
Fostering Efficiency: Applying scientific principles to improve workplace efficiency and government.
Muckrakers
Journalists who exposed corruption in business and public life through their investigative reporting, often published in mass-circulation magazines.
Gentlemen's Agreement
(1907-1908) An informal agreement between the U.S. and Japan, where Japan agreed to limit the emigration of unskilled workers to the U.S. in exchange for the repeal of school segregation for Japanese children in San Francisco.
Chinese Exclusion Act
(1882) A federal law that banned the entry of all Chinese immigrants into the U.S. except for students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials.
Imperialism
A policy of strong nations extending their economic, political, or military control over weaker nations or territories.
Anti-Imperialism
The belief that it is wrong for one nation to take control of other nations without their consent.
Monroe Doctrine
(1823) A U.S. foreign policy stating that European countries should not interfere with or colonize countries in the Americas (Latin American countries).
Roosevelt Corollary
(1904) An addition to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the U.S. would use force (acting as an "international police power") to protect its economic interests in Latin American countries if their stability was threatened by European intervention or internal unrest.
Spanish-American War
(1898) A conflict triggered by American support for Cuban independence, sensationalist "yellow journalism," and the destruction of the USS Maine. The strong U.S. Navy played a crucial role.
Treaty of Paris
(1898) Ended the Spanish-American War. Key outcomes included a ceasefire, Philippine annexation by the U.S., Cuba's freedom (though under U.S. influence), and the U.S. gaining Guam and Puerto Rico.
Open Door Policy
(1899) A U.S. foreign policy proposed by Secretary of State John Hay that aimed to ensure equal trading rights for all nations in China and prevent any single power from having exclusive control.
Big Stick Diplomacy
President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy approach, which emphasized negotiating peacefully while simultaneously threatening with the "big stick" (the military) if negotiations failed.
Good Neighbor Policy
(1930s) A foreign policy of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt toward Latin America, emphasizing non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin American countries, moving away from past military interventions.
WW1
(1914-1918) Long-term causes included Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism (MAIN). The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary triggered the start of the war.
Neutrality
The policy of not choosing sides in a conflict.
Selective Service Act
(1917) Required men between the ages of 21 and 30 (later 18-45) to register with the government for a random selection for military service. Many draftees were high schoolers, and about one-fifth were foreign-born.
Women's Suffrage
Women gained increased respect during WW1 by making war bonds and taking on various "male" jobs while men were at war, strengthening the argument for their right to vote.
Temperance
(Late 19th/early 20th century) A social movement, largely led by women, advocating for the Prohibition of alcohol. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was a large and influential organization.
The Great Migration
(Early 20th century) The large-scale movement of thousands of African Americans from the rural South to growing cities in the North and Midwest in search of better economic opportunities and to escape racial discrimination.
Treaty of Versailles
(1919) The peace treaty that ended WW1. It redrew national boundaries, created nine new nations, severely limited Germany's military, and required Germany to pay heavy war reparations (damages).
Wilson's 14 Points
(1918) President Woodrow Wilson's plan for postwar peace, designed to prevent another global conflict. It proposed ideas like boundary changes, no secret treaties, lowered tariffs, and the right for countries to form their own nation-states.
League of Nations
An international organization proposed by President Wilson in his 14 points, intended for nations to discuss and settle disputes peacefully. However, the U.S. ultimately did not join due to concerns about isolationism and losing congressional power to declare war.
Article X
A key provision of the League of Nations' covenant, which called for member nations to assist any other member state that experienced external aggression, raising concerns about potential U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.
Henry Cabot Lodge
A U.S. Senator who was suspicious of the League of Nations, particularly Article X. He wanted Congress to retain its constitutional right to declare war and feared the League would draw the U.S. into international conflicts without congressional approval.
Red Scare
(1919-1920) A period of intense anti-communism in the U.S., sparked by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia (which overthrew the czar and established communism, abolishing capitalism) and a series of domestic anarchist bombings. There was widespread fear of a communist uprising in the U.S.
A. Mitchell Palmer
U.S. Attorney General during the Red Scare who vowed to stop the spread of communism in the U.S.
Palmer Raids
A series of aggressive raids led by A. Mitchell Palmer and the Justice Department, targeting suspected communists, socialists, and anarchists. These raids often trampled on civil rights, invaded homes without warrants, and led to the jailing and deportation of hundreds of immigrants without due process.
Communists
Individuals who believe in or support communism, an economic and social system in which all property and resources are collectively owned by a classless society, rather than by individual citizens.
Urban Sprawl
The outward expansion of cities in all directions, often facilitated by the automobile, which allowed people to live further from their workplaces.
Automobile
Transformed American society by leading to the construction of paved roads, connecting rural areas to cities, impacting agriculture (e.g., mail delivery), enabling smaller yards (suburbs), accelerating home construction, and liberating rural families by providing easier transportation and access to goods and services.
Ford Model T
(Introduced by Henry Ford in 1908) The first affordable automobile, which popularized car travel for the American public. Its mass production on the assembly line revolutionized manufacturing.
Kellogg-Briand Pact
(1928) An international agreement signed by 15 nations (eventually 62) that pledged not to use war as an instrument of national policy. However, it permitted nations to engage in defensive war and lacked any real means of enforcement.
Prohibition
(1920-1933) The legal act of prohibiting the manufacture, storage, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the U.S.
18th Amendment
(Ratified 1919) Established Prohibition. It was later repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.
Organized Crime
Flourished during Prohibition as illegal alcohol sales created a booming black market. Figures like Al Capone became notorious for bloody gang violence (e.g., 522 gang-related crimes in Chicago).
Bootlegging
The illegal smuggling and sale of alcoholic beverages, often hidden in the legs of boots.
Harlem Renaissance
A significant literary and artistic movement in the 1920s that celebrated and explored African American culture, centered in Harlem, New York.
Jazz
A new genre of music that became highly popular during the Harlem Renaissance. Key figures included Louis Armstrong, an influential trumpeter, and Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, a renowned composer and bandleader, who often performed at places like the Harlem Cotton Club.
Blues
A genre of music, often emotionally expressive, that emerged from African American communities. Bessie Smith was a prominent blues singer who became one of the highest-paid black performers of her time. Blues music was often featured on black-oriented record labels.
Eras We Have Covered (1850-1925)
Western Expansion
Civil War
Reconstruction
The Gilded Age and Immigration
Imperialism
Progressivism
World War I
Roaring 20s
Great Depression
The New