Review terms for EOC exam Modern US history
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| 739233597 | Freedmen's Bureau | 1865 - Agency set up to aid former slaves in adjusting themselves to freedom. It furnished food and clothing to needy blacks and helped them get jobs | |
| 739233598 | 13th Amendment | This post-Civil War amendment freed all slaves without compensation to the slaveowners. It legally forbade slavery in the United States. | |
| 739233599 | Civil rights | the rights of full citizenship and equality under the law | |
| 739233600 | tenant farming | system of farming in which a person rents land to farm from a planter | |
| 739233601 | 14th Amendment | This post-Civil War amendment declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were entitled equal rights regardless of their race, and that their rights were protected at both the state and national levels. | |
| 739233602 | carpetbagger | Northerners who went to the South during Reconstruction in hopes of profiting. They were resented by many Southerners as outsiders and opportunists profiting from their misery. Part of the radical government, they passed much needed reforms. | |
| 739233603 | black codes | laws passed in the south just after the civil war aimed at controlling freedmen and enabling plantation owners to exploit african american workers | |
| 739233604 | sharecropping | a system of farming in which landowners provided land, tools and supplies to grow crops and workers (usually freedpeople and poor whites) provided the labor in exchange for half of the crop (minus any debts incurred during the year); left sharecroppers in a state of debt and thus unable to leave | |
| 739233605 | Reconstruction | period after the Civil War (1865-1877) when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union on condition of ending slavery and recognizing former slaves' citizenship | |
| 739233606 | Ku Klux Klan | secret society created by white southerners in 1866 that used terror and violence to keep former slaves from obtaining their civil rights. | |
| 743873988 | Enforcement Acts | 1870-71 Three acts passed by Congress allowing the government to use military force to stop violence against former slaves by the KKK. One penalized anyone who restricted another's right to vote; the second Act required all elections to be monitored by Federal officials and marshals; the third Act allowed the suspension of habeas corpus for Klansmen. | |
| 743873989 | 15th Amendment | Ratified 1870. Last of the three "Reconstruction Amendments". Provided that no (state) government shall prevent a citizen from voting based on the citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Specifically omitted women. | |
| 743873990 | scalawag | a white Southerner who supported Republican Reconstruction policies after the Civil War in order to get an advantage over former Confederates | |
| 743873991 | poll tax | a tax a person is required to pay before he or she is allowed to vote. Poll taxes were used in many southern states after the Reconstruction period to restrict African-American citizens' right to vote. Outlawed by the 24th Amendment in 1964. | |
| 743873992 | grandfather clause | Law that excused a voter from a literacy test if his father or grandfather had been eligible to vote on January 1, 1867-- Allowed illiterate whites to vote. | |
| 743873993 | segregation | a system used in the South during the Jim Crow era (1880s-1960s) that separated the races in schools, public buildings, hospitals, hotels, and other public accommodations. Held to be constitutional in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. | |
| 743873994 | Jim Crow | Segregation system put into place after Reconstruction ended. Laws written to separate blacks and whites in public areas in the 1880s-1960s meant African Americans had unequal opportunities in housing, work, education, and government. | |
| 743873995 | Plessy v. Ferguson | 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal-- the doctrine was then called "separate but equal" | |
| 743894701 | National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) | Founded in 1909 to improve living conditions for inner city Blacks, evolved into a national organization dedicated to establishing equal legal rights for Blacks. W. E. B. Du Bois was a founder. | |
| 743894702 | Marcus Garvey | African American leader during the 1920s; founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and advocated mass migration of African Americans back to Africa. Was deported to Jamaica in 1927. | |
| 743894703 | Thomas Edison | (1847-1931) Inventor; holder of more than 1,300 patents for a range of items including the automatic telegraph machine, the phonograph, improvements to the light bulb, a modernized telephone and motion picture equipment. | |
| 743894704 | telegraph | Machine invented by Samuel Morse in 1837 that used a system of dots and dashes to send messages across long distances electronically through a wire | |
| 743894705 | telephone | device for transmitting sound over long distances through wires patented in 1876; invented by Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray | |
| 743920122 | transcontinental railroad | the first one was completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah; it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west; was funded by government grants of land to railroad companies Central Pacific and Union Pacific | |
| 743920123 | robber barons | a negative term for owners and managers of large industrial enterprises during the Gilded Age (1880s-1900) that implied they built their fortunes by stealing from the public and cheating their workers of wages | |
| 743920124 | Captains of Industry | complimentary term for owners and managers of large industrial enterprises during the Gilded Age who wielded extraordinary political and economic power | |
| 743920125 | Andrew Carnegie | (1835-1919) A Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Carnegie Steel Company in 1892. By 1901, when he sold out to J P Morgan, his company dominated the American steel industry. Known for vertical integration and for his Gospel of Wealth theory. | |
| 743920126 | Gospel of Wealth | Article written by Carnegie that described the responsibility of the rich to be philanthropists. This softened the harshness of Social Darwinism as well as promoted the idea of philanthropy. | |
| 743920127 | vertical integration | monopolistic practice in which a single manufacturer controls all of the steps in the manufacturing process used to change raw materials into finished products, thus minimizing costs at each step | |
| 743920128 | John D. Rockefeller | (1839-1937) an American industrialist, Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry. In 1870, Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in Cleveland to refine petroleum into kerosene, etc. Became the world's richest man and first U.S. billionaire, possibly the richest person in history | |
| 743920129 | Social Darwinism | Applied Darwin's theory of natural selection and "survival of the fittest" to human society -- the poor are poor because they are not as fit to survive. Used as an argument against social reforms to help the poor. | |
| 743920130 | Sherman Anti-Trust Act | 1890- First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions | |
| 748981863 | monopoly | the exclusive source of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control of the production of a certain product that makes possible the manipulation of prices | |
| 748981864 | cartel | a formal organization of producers that agree to coordinate prices and production | |
| 748981865 | sweatshop | factory where workers do piecework for poor pay and are prevented from forming unions | |
| 748981866 | division of labor | the breaking down of a job into separate, smaller tasks to be performed individually | |
| 748981867 | Socialism | A system in which the central government owns and controls the main means of production or major industries | |
| 748981868 | Great Railroad Strike | 1877- Baltimore & Ohio railroad workers strike to protest 20% wage cut; several governors call out militia, RR brought in replacement workers; first national strike by union members | |
| 748981869 | Homestead Strike | 1892- one of most violent strikes in U.S. history; At Homestead Steel Works, part of the Carnegie Steel Company, Manager Henry Frick cut wages for unionized employees and refused to negotiate. The strikere were brutally attacked by Pinkerton Police and the state militia, which further damaged the image of unions. | |
| 748981870 | Haymarket Square Riot | 1886- began as rally in support of striking workers in Illinois; however, someone threw a bomb at police which led to gunfire; 8 anarchists tried (4 convicted); marked decline of Knights of Labor | |
| 748981871 | referendum | vote of the people on an initiative, which is a law that itself was suggested by the people; Progressive era pro-democracy reform | |
| 748990837 | initiative | Progressive era reform allowed all citizens to introduce a bill to later be voted on by the people | |
| 748990838 | gold standard | a monetary system in which paper money and coins are equal to the value of a certain amount of gold | |
| 748990839 | The Grange | Established in 1867 and also known as the Patrons of Husbandry, this organization helped farmers form cooperatives and pressured state legislators to regulate businesses on which farmers depended such as railroads; became involved in the Populist movement | |
| 748990840 | Interstate Commerce Act | 1887- 1st national law regulating business practices--established a national Interstate Commerce Commission to investigate/regulate railroad shipping rates and regulate unfair or unethical practices | |
| 748990841 | Populism | Farm-based movement of the late 1800s that arose mainly in the area from Texas to the Dakotas and grew into a joint effort between farmer and labor groups against big business and machine-based politics. The movement became a third party in the election of 1892. | |
| 748990842 | laissez-faire | the economic concept that government should keep its "hands off" the economy and that unregulated market forces should rule without intervention | |
| 748994174 | Pendleton Act | 1883-Federal legislation which created a system in which federal employees were chosen on the basis of competitive examinations, therefore making merit, or ability, the reason for hiring people to fill federal positions | |
| 748994175 | Bull Moose party | political party founded in 1912 by former President Theodore Roosevelt to promote his brand of Progressivism | |
| 750339291 | Pacific Railway Act | 1862- legislation to encourage the construction of a transcontinental railroad, connecting the West to industries in the Northeast (Union Pacific and Central Pacific RR) | |
| 750339292 | land speculation | investors bought western lands along potential railroad routes hoping to then sell them at inflated prices when railroad routes were built. This caused land prices to fluctuate wildly | |
| 750339293 | Homestead Act | 1862- gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years. The settler would only have to pay a registration fee of $25. Led to expanded white settlement in the Great Plains and hostilities from Plains tribes. | |
| 750339294 | Benjamin Singleton | (1809-1900) Leader of African American pioneers known as exodusters, who moved to the Great Plains (especially Kansas) after the Civil War. | |
| 750339295 | nomads | people with no permanent home; move from place to place in search of food engaging in hunter/gatherer type of activity. Many Native American Plains tribes were nomadic. | |
| 750339296 | Reservation System | allotted small, designated areas to Native American tribes in the west, beginning in the 1850s and ending with the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. The U.S. government encouraged and sometimes violently coerced Native Americans to stay on the reservations at all times in order to free more land for white settlement. | |
| 750339297 | Battle of Little Bighorn | 1876- Sioux leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated Col. George A. Custer's 7th Cavalry troops who tried to force them back on to the reservation, Custer and all his men were killed. | |
| 750339298 | Battle of Wounded Knee | 1890- the US Army slaughtered 300 unarmed Sioux women, children, and elders on the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota; the last of the so-called "Indian Wars." It was subsequently described as a "massacre" by General Nelson A. Miles in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. | |
| 750339299 | assimilation | the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture, this term was used to describe the process by which Native Americans and immigrants were supposed to adopt American language, culture and customs in place of their own | |
| 750339300 | Dawes Severalty Act | 1887- designed to break up tribal organizations, which many felt kept Native Americans from becoming assimilated; divided reservations into 160 acres plots or less depending on family size. US citizenship was granted to those who stayed on the land for 25yrs and adopted habits of civilized life | |
| 750339301 | pogroms | Government supported attacks against Jews in Russia in the 19th century onward which resulted in Russian Jewish immigration to America and other countries | |
| 750339302 | Gentlemen's Agreement | 1907- Agreement when Japan agreed to curb the number of workers coming to the US and in exchange President Teddy Roosevelt agreed to allow the wives of the Japanese men already living in the US to join them | |
| 750339303 | ghettos | city slum areas inhabited by minority groups, especially Jews, who lived there due to social or economic pressures | |
| 750339304 | Chinese Exclusion Act | 1882- banned Chinese immigration in US for a total of 40 years because the United States thought of them as a threat. Caused Chinese population in America to decrease. | |
| 750339305 | Elisha Graves Otis | (1811-1861) United States inventor who manufactured the first elevator with a safety braking device, making skyscrapers more useful | |
| 750339306 | tenements | a rundown, fire-prone apartment house barely meeting minimal standards; during the urbanization of the late 19th century, immigrants and the poor were forced to live in these | |
| 750339307 | political machine | a group that offers voters jobs or benefits in exchange for controlling their votes; most common in urban areas from the 1800s | |
| 750339308 | philanthropists | People who give large sums of money to charities; many robber barons such as Carnegie and Rockefeller later donated large sums from their fortunes for universities, libraries, etc. | |
| 750339309 | Booker T. Washington | (1856-1915) Prominent black American, born into slavery, who believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, was founder of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. Was criticized for "accomodating" segregation. | |
| 750339310 | W. E. B Du Bois | (1868-1963) Black American civil rights leader of late 19th and early 20th century;believed that African Americans should strive for full rights immediately and that a "talented tenth" of African Americans should be given full access to the finest education; criticized Booker Washington and later founded the NAACP | |
| 750339311 | Catherine Beecher | (1800-1878) Female reformer that pushed for female employment as teachers; still embraced the role of a good homemaker for women; an example of the fact that not all women were pushing for radical reforms. | |
| 750339312 | Seneca Falls Convention | 1848- Took place in upstate New York. Women of all ages and even some men went to discuss the rights and conditions of women. There, they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which claimed full equality for women and sought women's the right to vote. | |
| 750339313 | suffrage | the right to vote; the franchise | |
| 750339314 | department stores | Retailers that sell a broad range of items and offer a good selection within each product line; first ones in the US included Macy's and Marshall Field. | |
| 750339315 | NAWSA | National American Woman Suffrage Association; founded in 1890 to help women win the right to vote | |
| 750339316 | civil disobedience | Idea from Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist writer, that one has a right to disobey a law if one believes the law is unjust or immoral. Influenced Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | |
| 750343796 | flapper | a young woman in the 1920s who flaunted her unconventional conduct and dress- short hair, short skirts, high heels, make-up, smoking and drinking | |
| 750343797 | barrio | a neighborhood in which most of the residents are Hispanic or Latino and/or speak Spanish; often low-income | |
| 750343798 | Alice Paul Amendment | another name for the Equal Rights Amendment; a proposed Constitutional Amendment that guaranteed equal rights for men as well as women; defeated in 1982 | |
| 750453355 | 16th Amendment | 1913- Progressive era amendment which created an income tax (which had previously been found unconstitutional) in order to reduce tariff rates and fund government programs. | |
| 750453356 | 17th Amendment | 1913- allowed for the voters in each state to elect their US senators directly. Previously, senators had been chosen by state legislatures. Progressive reform to expand democracy. | |
| 750453357 | 18th Amendment | 1919- Progressive amendment that made the production and sale of alcohol illegal in an attempt to improve morality and family life. | |
| 750453358 | 19th Amendment | 1920- Progressive amendment which guaranteed women the right to vote, or suffrage. Women already voted in some local and state elections, but this guaranteed the right to vote in federal elections. | |
| 750453359 | Susan B. Anthony | (1820-1906) Women's rights crusader, also active in the Temperance and Abolition movements. Author of the Declaration of Sentiments at the Seneca Falls Convention. | |
| 750453360 | Charles Lindbergh | (1902-1974) World War I hero pilot who later flew the first solo trans-Atlantic flight in his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis | |
| 750480671 | USS Maine | 1898- U.S. Battleship exploded in Havana Harbor; Spanish military was blamed by Yellow Journalism. The incident was a catalyst for the Spanish American War. | |
| 750480672 | yellow journalism | Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers. | |
| 750480673 | Spanish- American War | April 25 to August 12, 1898; originally fought to guarantee Cuban independence from Spain, it also resulted in the US acquisition of the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuban independence. Made the US a Pacific power and spelled the end of Spain as an imperial power. | |
| 750480674 | 14 Points | the only statement of war aims by any nation involved in World War I; President Wilson sought to promote free trade, self-determination for colonized people, democracy, and an end to secret alliances. Also promoted was a new world body to prevent future wars (League of Nations). | |
| 750480675 | Panama Canal | (1904-1914) American funded canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the isthmus of Panama; operated by the US until 1999. | |
| 750480676 | League of Nations | (1919-1946) international body created through the Treaty of Versailles in hopes of preventing future wars; the US was never a member due to fears that doing so would restrict American sovereignty to act independently | |
| 750490901 | war- guilt clause | in treaty of Versailles; declared Germany and Austria responsible for starting WWI; ordered Germany to pay reparation to Allied powers | |
| 750490902 | Zimmermann note | 1917- a secret document to Mexico that said Germany would help them regain lost territories in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico if they joined the war on the Central Powers side |
