12973752208 | frontier | A wilderness at the edge of a settled area of a country; In the United States: the West. | ![]() | 0 |
12973752209 | frontiersman / pioneers / settlers | The migrants who first move into, live, and work into an undeveloped region | ![]() | 1 |
12973752210 | bison | the primary source of food, shelter, and clothing for the Plains Indians. | ![]() | 2 |
12973818806 | Great Plains | A mostly flat and grassy region of western North America | ![]() | 3 |
12973827572 | Plains Indians | A diverse group of Indian tribes and their languages that inhabited the West; Pacified and removed in the late 1800s Indian Wars. | ![]() | 4 |
12973752211 | Indian reservations | Ethnic cleansing into specified areas | 5 | |
12973752193 | Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) | (1876) Sioux victory over army troops led by George Custer; Also known as Custer's Last Stand. | ![]() | 6 |
12973752151 | Dawes Act | (1887) land given to individual Indians to discourage tribal mindset; encouraged Indians to farm for a living instead of communally owning land | ![]() | 7 |
12973752185 | Ghost Dance | A religious revitalization campaign among several Plains Indian tribes; An attempt to preserve cultures and tribal identities despite US government policies promoting assimilation; Outlawed by US. | ![]() | 8 |
12988699977 | Battle of Wounded Knee (1890) | Between US Army and Dakota Sioux; 200 Indians and 29 US soldiers died; Tensions erupted violently over the Sioux practice of Ghost Dance, which US Government outlawed, and dispute over whether Sioux reservation land would be broken up because of the Dawes Act. | ![]() | 9 |
12973752212 | Frederick Jackson Turner | United States historian who stressed the role of the western frontier in American history | 10 | |
12988794430 | The Significance of the Frontier in American History | Thesis argued by the historian Frederick Jackson Turner: the existence of cheap and unsettled land played a key role in making American society more democratic; the frontier helped create the American spirit of democracy and egalitarianism, acted as a safety valve for Americans to escape bad economic conditions, and stimulated nationalism and individualism | 11 | |
12988830444 | homesteaders | *Settlers who claimed land on the Great Plains under the Homestead Act. | ![]() | 12 |
12988845887 | Homestead Acts | *United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. | 13 | |
12973752194 | irrigation schemes | government-sponsored projects to bring water to dry western lands to make them arable | 14 | |
12988857373 | mechanized agriculture | Using machines in farming to increase farm production; displaced many farmers; farmers created organizations to resist corporate power, E.g. Grange, Farmers Alliance, Peoples Party | 15 | |
12973752170 | Grange Movement and Farmers Alliance | Grassroots movements that attempted to address the plight of farmers in the late 1800s; attempted to regulate railroads and enlarge opportunity for credit; evolved into Populist movement. | ![]() | 16 |
12973752135 | People's Party | *A.K.A. Populists; An agrarian political party; Drew support from angry farmers in the West and South; Highly critical of capitalism, especially banks and railroads. | 17 | |
12973752136 | populism | *a philosophy supporting the rights and empowerment of the masses as opposed to elites | 18 | |
12988885372 | Panic of 1893 | Serious economic depression due to rail road companies over-extending themselves, causing bank failures. Was the worst economic collapse in the history of the country until that point. Produced political upheaval that led to the realigning election of 1896 and the presidency of William McKinley. | 19 | |
12973752165 | Homestead and Pullman Strikes | Industrial lockouts and strikes that showed battle between corporations and labor unions. Ended with government intervention on the side of big business. | 20 | |
12988912551 | Election of 1896 | William McKinley wins! demonstrated a sharp division in society between urban and rural interests. William Jennings Bryan (Democrat & Populist) was able to form a coalition that answered the call of populist groups and rural interests including the indebted farmers and those arguing against the gold standard. McKinley's victory highlights the shift from America as an agrarian nature to one of urban interests. Populism defeated, but many of its goals would be achieved later in the Progressive Era. | 21 | |
12973752213 | William McKinley | 25th President 1897-1901 Republican | ![]() | 22 |
12988938997 | William Jennings Bryan | Lawyer and politician who advocated free silver in 1896 election; Wilson's Secretary of State and advocate of Moral Diplomacy; Religious fundamentalist who prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school. | ![]() | 23 |
12988953041 | Cross of Gold Speech (1896) | Given by William Jennings Bryan at the national convention of the Democratic Party; criticized the gold standard and supported the coinage of silver; The last words of his speech became famous - "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." | ![]() | 24 |
(6.3) The West - AP US History Flashcards
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