Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Reconstruction Act of 1867 |
The reconstruction Act of 1876 was forced upon the south and it’s residents. President Johnson fought against the act by vetoing it, but congress overrode Johnson’s veto. Congress wrote up papers of impeachment against Johnson, and charged him with “Treason, Bribery, and other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Some felt that this gave Congress too much power and it Damaged the Constitutional System, but despite those concerns, Congress showed their power. |
|
|
Share-cropping |
Sharecropping is a system of cotton agriculture, when cotton planters do not have money to pay wages or in a lieu of a wage, they offer a share of the crop to freedmen. In return freedmen worked as renters and had to pay their rent in shares of the harvest. Exchanging their labor for the use land, house implements, and sometimes seeds and fertilizer. These freedmen had to turn over half their crops to the landowners. It was an effective strategy, making laborers and landowners share risks and returns. By starting off with nothing, sharecroppers had to borrow for food and supplies in order to make it through the first growing season from storekeepers. Crop-lien laws gave lenders the right to ownership of the croppers share. This leaves sharecroppers with only what remained after the debts have been paid. As soon as these sharecroppers are indebted at a store they become a target for exorbitant prices, unfair interest rates, and crooked bookkeeping. |
|
|
Andrew Johnson vs. Radical Republicans |
Republican majorities in both houses had refused to admit southern delegations, affecting Johnson’s programs. After Congressional republicans voted to extend the bureau created and that created a conflict with Johnson’s program, which later on he vetoed them. Overall, later on the Congress was able override Johnson’s vetoes on many question, and later on Reconstruction proceeded with Congress’s approval. |
|
|
Reconstruction Amendments |
After the Civil War, several amendments were implemented into law that drastically changed the political and social landscape of the United States. One major amendment that was implemented into law was the thirteenth amendment of 1865, which prohibited slavery. A second was the fourteenth amendment of 1868 which established national citizenship for individuals born in the States, prohibited states from taking away citizens civil rights, and reduced the number of representatives in the House of Representatives in proportion to the number of citizens denied the right to vote. Once this particular law was implemented, power at the federal level increased, causing the national citizenship to be the top priority over state citizenship. It is important to note that when President Andrew Johnson, a Unionist Democrat, entered office, he opposed the ratification of this particular piece of legislation. On the other hand, voters held triumphant in their opinion over Johnson’s, when they elected a majority of Radical Republicans into Congress, who had the capability to override Johnson’s vetoes on many issues. Finally, the fifteenth amendment of 1870 prohibited any of the States to deny male citizens the right to vote based on their race, color, or indentured status. Even though this law was implemented, Radical Republicans decided to add a poll tax and literacy requirements, in order for male citizens to fulfill their right to vote. The creation of this amendment also caused tension between the abolitionists and women’s suffrage leaders over the debate of whether race or gender should be the primary issue in terms of qualifications for voting rights. To conclude, it is clear to say that the amendments described here had a significant impact on the post Civil War period. |
|
|
Counterrevolution |
Ex-Confederates orchestrated a rebellion in the South to undermine the Reconstruction governments that enforced the law in their states. They used violence as a tool to achieve their goals, under different organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, with the support of southern Democrats. White supremacists terrorized Republicans, especially African American voters. The Republicans depended on the federal government to provide protection. Eventually, state governments in the South fell to the Democrats, whether through the ballot or through violence. |
|
|
The Homestead Act |
This law was signed by president Abraham Lincoln, It basically gave anyone from freed slaves and women who had never taken up arms against the U.S.Those could now file an application to claim a federal land grant. This law gave former slaves a chance to own their own land and also it encouraged people to move west states since the east states were overpopulated. |
|
|
Grant's Peace Policy |
The policy was meant to help Indians by teaching them how to be “civilized”. This entailed teaching them to read and write, teaching them about Christianity,having them stop speaking their native languages, and having them dress in typical modern American clothing. This policy was not helpful and did not give peace to the Indians,because the white people were slowly destroying their native culture, beliefs, and lifestyles. |
|
|
Strategies Of Survival |
This term refers to the responses of Native Americans to white encroachment on their lands, cultures, and ways of life. Some tribes sought to continue their lifestyles and pass on cultural norms to future generations in secret, while others saw the need to conform to white ways of life. However, a notable example of cultural blending comes in the form of the Ghost Dance Movement of the 1880s and 1890s, in which Indians blended Christian ways of life with their own. Indians believed they could ‘resurrect the bison with sacred dances and drive whites back across the Atlantic’, though this led to further Indian deaths such as in the Battle of Wounded Knee. |
|
|
The Great West |
Americans looked westward in the wake of the civil war. Ranchers, farmers, and lumbermen casted their eyes on the remaining lands held by Native Americans. |
|
|
The Mexican Wage |
When congress had passed the General Mining Act of 1872, it encouraged Americans with a lot of money to invest in mining areas including a man named Phelps Dodge, who has invested in mines on both sides of the U.S and Mexican border. This gave many people jobs but they weren't really good jobs. They would work in bad and dangerous conditions with low pay. Mexicans had it the worst with what it was called to be the “Mexican wage”. Compared to other Americans (especially whites) with lots of money and great houses, the Mexican population over there and its economic condition was was horrible. |
|
|
Industrialization |
Industrialization created an entirely new economy and society. The US transformed from an agricultural powerhouse to the idea of big business and manufacturing. This switch caused immigrants from around the world to flock to America in hopes of joining in the industrial age. However many large companies began to use machines to complete tasks that were originally performed by workers, this created a loss of jobs in certain industries. The use of machines slowly transformed into what we know today as the assembly line, where the majority of the work was done by a machine which is set in motion by a worker (pushing a button or pulling a lever). This way of production became very efficient and allowed major companies to overtake smaller companies within the same market. |
|
|
Immigration |
Immigrants from all over took the worst jobs at low pay, and during economic downturns tens of thousands returned to their home countries, reducing the show of unemployment in the United States. Some immigrants brought skills. But industrialization required, most of all, increasing quantities of unskilled labor. Some immigrants were forced to leave the U.S. because of the economic depression. Some immigrants prospered quickly, especially if they came with education, money, or well-placed business contacts. Still, some met catastrophe or death. |
|
|
Interstate Commerce Act |
This Act was passed in 1887 thus forcing the railroads to make public their pricing and made it illegal for them to charge more for the smaller markets. thus Ac formed the Interstate Commerce Commission which oversaw and regulated the railways to ensure compliance against unreasonable and unjust rates.It was also the first law that regulated any privately owned industry. It was essentially formed as a way to control monopolizing business from having too much power |
|
|
Big Business |
With the rise of big business and the “immense scale of agriculture and manufacturing” came a decline of prices worldwide indicating a recession. However, in the United States, GDP rose which meant even though wages dropped for the working class, so did prices which made them able to buy the products they needed. Technological and business efficiencies grew allowing businesses to grow, even with deflation of prices, showing that “growth depended on the growing population, expansion into the West, and an integrated national marketplace.” Large complex corporations adopted an internal structure of levels of management to organize their workers, each focusing on their own expertise. Also, making industry and manufacturing more efficient, the US began to use fossil fuels such as coal, kerosene, oil, etc. to fuel machinery and replace other resources, transforming the country’s natural and built environments. In these ways, productivity grew in the country and industrialization continued to expand. |
|
|
Labor Movement |
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 started a labor movement against wage cuts due to the depression. This lead to a domino effect where industrial and rural workers protested labor laws. The Knights of Labor was formed during this movement who believed that workers needed control over the enterprises they worked in. There was a rise in trade unions that focused on the needs of workers in skilled occupations and aimed to keep lower-wage workers out. |
|
|
Consumer Space |
Businesses began marketing themselves to women and middle class families. The rise of electricity allowed the wealthy to have appliances also made technologies like the telephone viable.EX:Department stores offering tea rooms, children’s play areas and item wrapping. Railroad equipped trains with cradles, modern amenities and emulated wealthy life style NOTE: Shops and services were still segregated at this time. |
|
|
Masculinity And The Rise Of Sports |
Athletic fitness was promoted through christianity. “clean and Strong” Companies promoted sports for increased coordination with others and desired athletic men that would be able to do the strenuous labor. The rise of sports brought about fandom and new market. |
|
|
The Great Outdoors |
During the 1880s and1890s Americans began a revolt the Victorian culture by heading outdoors. Bicycle sales increased rapidly and elite women enjoyed archery and golf. Rich people spent most time outdoors at national parks of the West and the middle-class enjoyed camping. The government also decided to set aside more public lands for preservation and recreation and extended the reach of national forests. |
|
|
Family Life And Education |
There were many changes in both family life and education in the U.S. during the 19th century. In regards to family life, childbearing became limited (from an average of 7 children to 3) for many reasons. Better access to contraceptive methods, marrying at an older age, and having more distance between births were some of the many contributing factors. However, contraceptive methods were very taboo at the time, and many believed that it should be illegal to talk or distribute them. Education transformed as well; it became essential for economic success that young adults have at least a high school diploma, and for most men a college degree as well. As a result many new colleges and schools opened, but this wasn't without controversy. There was a substantial amount of sexism, and because of the still extreme amount racism prevalent at the time institutes for black Americans were founded. One of the most famous was the Booker T. Washington Tuskegee Institution, which helped young black Americans acquire better jobs in the South. |
|
|
Machine Style Government |
As cities grew in late 19th century America, local city governments could not handle the intake of people. This is where machine government’s, which were headed by a single person or small group, flourished. These small groups or single bosses did favors for the incoming citizens hence building strong voting stature with their names. |
|
|
Public Health Movement |
The public health movement sought to make a difference in the community. Reformers mobilized to demand safe water and better garbage disposal Hygiene reformers taught hand washing and other techniques to fight the spread of diseases. Americans also worked to make a healthier and beautiful industrial cities by adapting smoke-abatement laws. Also recreation also received attention, which meant more attention to park place because it was a way for resident to healthy and safe. |
|
|
Industrial Cities |
Industrial cities had both a positive and negative impact on society when first built up. The positive side was it encouraged experiments that ranged from the amusement park to the art museum, the skyscraper to the subway. The negative part was Brothels flourished as did slums, pollution, disease, and corrupt political machines. Over all industrial cities became important sites of political innovation and reform. |
|
|
Jane Addams And Social Settlements |
After the civil war period, millions of Europeans immigrants came to the US because the US was growing up and they had a need for cheap labor. Due to the low wages, the immigrants lived in poverty, usually where they were exposed to diseases and a bad neighborhood. That's where the social settlements came into play. These community centers had a goal of getting the rich and poor in society to live in one single community. Jane Addams founded a settlement house called "Hull House" where they would offer a bathhouse, playground, kindergarten, and day care center. The reason why they wanted the rich and poor to live together was that the rich could share their knowledge and culture with their poor neighbors and the same time alleviate their poverty. |
|
|
New York's Tenement House Law 1901 |
This was a housing code that required interior courts, indoor toilets, and fire safeguards for new structures. Safe to say it wasn’t helpful due to the fact that there were supposedly 44000 other tenements built before the law was put into effect and they knew it did not pertain to them. This generally meant that pricing of the homes would go up, which in turn meant that people could not afford to live there. The homes that were “cheaply built” were the ones people chose to live in which meant their landlords made a good profit. Also, the location had a lot to do with the pricing, because many could not afford transportation so they had to find homes near their jobs. |
|
|
Populist Party |
“Farmers’ alliance”; A revolt against Republican and Democrats for ignoring interests and difficulties. Populist party called for a stronger government. They wanted public ownership of railroads, protection of land from monopoly, and federal income tax on the rich. They were supported by steelworkers and miners, however industrial works stuck with major political parties. |
|
|
Progressive Era |
Progressive Era describes a period of agitation and innovation between the end of Reconstruction and the start of WW1 that consists of 4 main goals: Cleaning up politics, limiting the power of big businesses, reducing poverty, promoting social justice. Reform laid the foundation for the American state by working through existing political parties, creating new political parties, and generating pressure from the outside. |
|
|
Guilded Age Of Politics/Presidents |
The Guilded Age (1880-1892) has been characterized due to the politics being corrupt and not gaining any progress. As Mark Twain (the original user of this phrase) said that “America had achieved a glittery outer coating of prosperity...but underneath suffered from moral decay.” This description of America in this era was seen through the constant changing of powers between the parties, which made chances for presidents to make a change become very limited. |
|
|
Coxey's Army/The Depression of The 1890's |
In 1893 an economic crisis hit the United States causing upwards of five hundred banks and thousands of businesses within the US to go bankrupt before the year’s end. Angry and jobless Americans began to protest against the unemployment. Jacob Coxey organized hundreds of jobless men (Coxey’s Army) to march peacefully to Washington and urge the government for assistance, which gained nationwide attention and inspired protests in other cities throughout the country. However, when Coxey arrived at Capitol Hill, he was arrested for trespassing on the grass and President Cleveland was unresponsive. |
|
|
Imperialism |
“The exercise of military, political, and economic power overseas.” Imperialism helped the United States gain control over places such as Hawaii and the Caribbean. |
|
|
Neutrality |
At the start of WWI, the United States hoped to remain neutral and continue trading with all of the warring nations, but their hand was forced by Britain, who held commanding power over the sea. When Britain imposed a naval blockade, the US was only able to continue trading with the Allied forced. The Allies ended up borrowing so much money from the US that is would have been an economic disaster if they had lost the war and defaulted on this debt. America officially declared war on Germany as a result of submarine warfare and promises Germany made Mexico to help try to take over a handful of southern states. |
|
|
National Unity/Dissent |
Once the United States entered WWI, Woodrow Wilson was determined to convert the American people to a pro-war, pro-democracy mindset and not allow them to think differently. One method of conversion Wilson created was the Committee on Public Information, which used propoganda and charismatic speeches to convince the American public to support the war. They also pressured immigrants to assimilate and become “one hundred percent American.” Those that could not be convinced of the war’s benefits and spoke out against it were punished to the fullest extent with the Sedition Act and the Espionage Act, which kept the definition of treason loose enough to convict as many people as possible. |
|
|
League Of Nations |
The League of Nations guaranteed each country’s “independence and territorial integrity.” It would mediate disputes, supervise arms reduction, and curb aggressor nations through collective military action. It was created by Wilson and he hoped this league would “end all wars.” |
