APUSH Test Review (2025/2026)

APUSH Test Review (2025/2026)

The West

  • Causes of Westward Expansion

    • Driven by economic opportunity in mining, ranching, and farming.

    • Supported by federal subsidies, notably the Transcontinental Railroad and Homestead Act.

    • Motivated by the ideology of Manifest Destiny.

  • Effects of Settlement

    • Devastation of buffalo populations.

    • Violent conflicts with Native Americans.

    • Confinement of Native Americans to reservations.

    • Rise of diverse boom towns.

    • Significant ecological changes.

  • Broken Treaties

    • Numerous treaties with Native Americans regarding land rights were routinely violated.

  • Assimilation Policies

    • Intended to integrate Native Americans into American society, often at the cost of their cultural identities.

    • The Dawes Severalty Act: aimed at individual land ownership rather than tribal cohesion.

The New South

  • Industrialization Efforts

    • Post-Reconstruction initiatives led by figures like Henry Grady to shift the South toward industrialization.

    • Promotion of railroads, cotton mills, and diverse economic ventures.

    • Despite industrial efforts, economy remained largely agrarian, characterized by sharecropping, tenant farming, and the crop-lien system.

    • Poverty and racial inequality persisted, with many Southern cities beginning to industrialize.

    • Southern economy became increasingly integrated into the national market.

  • Key Terms

    • Scalawag: White Southerners who supported the federal Reconstruction plan or joined the Republican Party following the Civil War; often viewed negatively.

    • Carpetbagger: Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction (1865-1877); often seen as opportunists, some genuinely worked for modernization and support of Freedmen.

    • Sharecropping: An agricultural practice where landowners provided land and supplies to tenant farmers (typically freedmen and poor whites) in exchange for a significant portion of the crops. This system often trapped farmers in cycles of poverty and debt, referred to as “slavery by another name.”

  • Landmark Cases

    • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Established the doctrine of "separate but equal," which legitimized racial segregation; upheld Louisiana's Separate Car Act. The ruling supported Jim Crow laws for nearly 60 years, eventually overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which declared segregated public schools inherently unequal.

Industrialization

  • Railroad Expansion

    • The federal government incentivized railroad construction via subsidies and land grants, particularly through the Pacific Railway Act of 1862.

    • Major labor sources included Chinese and Irish immigrants, leading to competition for jobs.

  • Economic Panic of 1873

    • Resulted from overbuilding of railroads; led to decreased railroad value and power.

  • Consolidation of Wealth

    • Factors: technological advancements, railroad expansion, pro-business government policies, aggressive business practices.

    • Key figures: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan.

    • Created a significant economic divide between the wealthy elite and the working class, who endured poor working conditions and low wages.

    • Influenced by Social Darwinism: a philosophy that justified wealth accumulation and viewed poverty as a product of individual weakness.

    • Andrew Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth": Advocated that the rich had a moral obligation to use their wealth for the public good through philanthropy, promoting funding for public institutions.

  • Labor Movements

    • Response to industrialization, poor conditions, and low wages led to the formation of labor unions.

    • Major organizations: Knights of Labor (inclusive of all workers) and AFL (American Federation of Labor, focusing on skilled labor).

    • Government often sided with large businesses, deploying troops to suppress strikes like the 1877 Railroad Strike and the 1894 Pullman Strike.

Populism

  • Core Issues

    • Key economic issues included distress, railroad monopolies, monetary policy, and political corruption.

    • Demands included: financial reforms, government ownership of key industries, tax reforms, and support for labor rights.

  • Opposition

    • Opposition primarily from urban factory workers, eastern bankers, and the Republican Party. Populist free silver policies perceived as radical and economically harmful.

    • Notable figures: Mark Hanna, who advocated for the gold standard and conservative economic policies.

  • WJB's “Cross of Gold” Speech

    • Delivered by William Jennings Bryan at the 1896 Democratic National Convention, advocating for bimetallism (free silver) to help struggling farmers and laborers.

    • Criticized the gold standard, famously stating, “you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

    • This speech helped secure Bryan’s nomination and solidified Populist ideals.

  • Populist Platform Impact

    • Influenced progressive reforms such as income tax and the direct election of senators; signified the merging of Democratic and Populist parties.

Immigration

  • Push/Pull Factors

    • Push Factors: Economic distress, agricultural issues, religious persecution, and political unrest in home countries.

    • Pull Factors: Availability of industrial jobs, freedom and opportunity in America, and chain migration factors.

  • Assimilation and Americanization Efforts

    • The large influx of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe resulted in extensive efforts to assimilate them into American society.

    • Important initiatives included: settlement houses (like Jane Addams' Hull House), public school Americanization programs, and English language classes aimed at integrating immigrants into U.S. customs.

Racial Inequality

  • Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois

    • Washington:

    • Advocated for economic self-reliance and vocational training, proposing a philosophy known as the Atlanta Compromise, which encouraged African Americans to accept segregation temporarily in exchange for economic opportunities.

    • Born into slavery, he established the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 to equip Black students with vocational skills.

    • Du Bois:

    • Stressed the need for immediate political rights, civil equality, and higher education for the "Talented Tenth" of the African American community.

    • Opposed Washington’s accommodationist views and articulated his ideas in The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Co-founded the Niagara Movement and later the NAACP (1909).

    • Introduced the concept of "double consciousness" to describe the internal conflict experienced by Black Americans.