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33 Cards in this Set
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transcontinental railroad |
The railway line completed on May 10th, 1869, that connected the central Pacific and Inion Pacific lines, enabling goods to move by rail way from the eastern U.S. all the way to California |
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Protective tariffs |
A tax or duty on foreign producers of goods coming into or imported to the U.S.; gave U.S. manufacturers a competitive advantage in America's gigantic domestic market |
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Treaty of Kanagawa |
An 1854 treaty that, in the wake of a show of military force by the U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry, allowed American ships to refuel at two ports in Japan |
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Burlingame Treaty |
In 1868 treaty that guaranteed the rights of U.S. Missionaries in China and set official terms for the immigration of Chinese laborers to work in the U.S. |
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Munn v. Illinois |
An 1877 Supreme Court case that affirmed that states could regulate key businesses, such as railroads and grain elevators, if those businesses were "clothed in the public interest" |
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Gold standard |
The practice of backing a country's currency with its reserves in gold; in 1873 the United States began converting to the gold standard |
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Crime of 1873 |
A term used by those critical of an 1873 law directing the United States treasury to cease minting silver dollars, retire Civil War- era greenbacks, and replace them with notes backed by the gold standard from an expanded system of national banks |
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Homestead Act |
The 1862 act that gave 160 acres of free western land to any applicant who occupied and improved the property; lead to rapid development of the West |
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Morril Act |
An 1862 act that set aside 140 million federal acres that states could sell to raise money for public universities |
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Land-grant colleges |
Public universities founded to broaden educational opportunities and foster technical and scientific expertise; funded by the Morril Act |
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Comstock Lode |
Immense silver ore deposit discovered in 1859 in Nevada that touched off a mining rush, bringing a diverse population into the region and leading to the establishment of boom towns |
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Long drive |
Facilitated by the completion of the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1865, a system by which Cowboys herded cattle hundreds of miles north from Texas to Dodge City and the other cow towns of Kansas |
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"Rain follows the plow" |
An unfounded theory that settlement of the Great Plains caused an increase in rainfall |
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Exodusters |
African Americans who walked or rode out of the Deep South following the Civil War, many settling on farms in Kansas in hopes of finding peace and prosperity |
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Yellow Stone National Park |
Established in 1872 by Congress, was the United States's first national park |
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U.S. Fisheries Commission |
A federal bureau established in 1871 that made recommendations to stem the decline in wild fish; it's creation was an important step toward wildlife conservation and management |
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Sand Creek massacre |
The November 29, 1864, massacre of more than 100 peaceful Cheyennes, largely women and children, by John M. Chivingston's Colorado militia |
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Fetterman massacre |
A massacre in December 1866 in which 1,500 Sioux warriors lured Captain William Fetterman and 80 soldiers from a Wyoming fort and attacked them; by this the Sioux succeeded in closing the Bozeman Trail, the main route into Montana |
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Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock |
A 1903 Supreme Court ruling that Congress could make whatever Indian policies it chose, ignoring all existing treaties |
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Dawes Severalty Act |
The 1887 law that gave Native Americans severalty (individual ownership of land) by dividing reservations into homesteads; resulted in the loss of 66% of lands held by Indians at the time of the law's passage |
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Battle of Little Big Horn |
The 1876 battle begun when American cavalry under George Armstrong Custer attacked an encampment of Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne Indians who resisted removal to a reservation; Custer's force was annihilated, but with whites calling for United States soldiers to retaliate, The native American victory was short-lived |
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Ghost Dance movement |
Religion of the late 1880s and early 1890s that combined elements of Christianity and traditional Native American religion; fostered the hope that through sacred dances they could resurrect the great bison herds and call up a storm to drive whites back across the Atlantic |
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Wounded Knee |
The 1890 massacre of Sioux Indians by American cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota; sent to suppress the ghost dance, soldiers caught up with fleeing Lakotas and killed as many as 300 |
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William Seward |
The architect of a new model for asserting United States power in Latin America and Asia through trade; Secretary of state from 1861 to 1869 under President Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson; A New Yorker of grand ambition and ego, believed that commerce in Asia was the key to America's prosperity |
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Emmeline Wells |
Began in 1877 to write for Salt Lake City newspaper, the Woman's Exponent; served as editor for 40 years and led local women's rights groups; her candidacy in a local election was at first blocked by Utah's legislature, Based on her sex |
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John Wesley Powell |
A one-armed union veteran who predicted the catastrophe of the Homestead act acreage allowance from an early date; employed by the new U.S. Geological Survey, led a famous expedition in the West in which his team navigated the rapids of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in wooden boats; proposed massive cooperation under government control for the West |
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Chief Joseph |
The young leader of the Nez Perce; led them in their attempt to flee to Canada; their attempt was unsuccessful and they were forced to surrender just short of the border |
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Sitting Bull |
A leader of the powerful Lakota Sioux on the northern plains, openly refused to go to a reservation; his camp was attacked by Lieutenant Colonel Custer, Which started the Battle of Little Big Horn |
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George Armstrong Custer |
A brash self-promoter who had graduated last in his class at West Point, led an expedition into South Dakota's Black Hills and proclaimed the discovery of gold; Led 210 men in assault on Sitting Bull's camp during the Battle of Little Big Horn; Became a symbol of American conquest of Indian "savages" |
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Geronimo |
Leader of the Chiricahua Apache Indians; Took up arms in protest of the removal of Indians from their lands to reservations, but surrendered in September 1886 for the last time |
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Ohiyesa (Dr. Charles Eastman) |
A Santee Sioux Who became if famous doctor and advocate for native peoples; posted to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, he practiced medicine side-by-side with traditional healers, whom he respected, and wrote popular books under his Sioux name |
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Buffalo Bill Cody |
The creator of the famous "Wild West" show, which he insisted was an authentic representation of frontier experience; understood the United States had taken the west by conquest; he provided one of the few employment options for Plains Indians; His show toured both the United States and Europe |
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Frederick Jackson Turner |
Young historian, reviewed recent census data and proclaimed the end of the frontier; he wrote, a clear, westward-moving line had existed between "civilization and savagery."; he argued that the frontier experience shaped Americans' national character and left them a heritage of "coarseness and strength, combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness," and "restless, nervous energy."; acknowledged that the frontier had both good and evil elements; published "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" in 1893 |
