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Transforming the West
A period that was mainly about Western Settlement, Western Romanticism, people of the wand economy of the West. In other words, a period of how Americans settle in the West after colonization. -
Morill Land Grant College Act
This law provided a generous grant of public lands to the states for support of education. Land-grant colleges bound themselves to provided certain services, such as military training. -
Homestead Act
Was one of several United States Federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title up to 160 acres of undeveloped land outside of the original 13 colonies. The new law required three steps: file an application, improve the land, and file for deed of title. -
Bessemer Process
Allowed for the price of steel to drop dramatically because its production can now be done in a short amount of time and with large amount. The process involved blowing cold air on red-hot iron in order to ignite the carbon and eliminate impurities. -
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Becoming an Industrial Power
A period of improvement in petroleum refining, steel manufacturing, and electrical power emerging. Railroads expanded significantly, bringing even remote parts of the country into a national market economy. -
Andrew Carnegie
A steel giant that got where he was by vertical integration. He pioneered vertical integration as a way to run a corporation, and was an anti-trust advocate as well as a philanthropist. and is often identified as one of the richest people. -
Laissez Faire
An economic policy that advocates government staying out of the business sector. A theory that everything will even itself out in a completely free market. -
Cornelius Vanderbilt
A railroad owner who built a railway connecting Chicago and New York. He popularized the use of steel rails in his railroad, which made railroads safer and more economical. -
Indian Appropriations Act
Indian Appropriation Act, declaring that “no Indian nation or tribe” would be recognized “as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treat. -
Red River War
A Brief war in North Texas in 1874 to force the Indians off the land and onto Indian Territory. The Kiowa Indians and the Comanche Indians often cooperated to keep other Indian tribes off the land. -
Battle of Little Big Horn
When gold was discovered in the Black Hills Indian Reservation in South Dakota, whites invaded the Indians' lands and drove them on the warpath. The war culminated in June 1876, when Colonel George A. Custer and all his men were killed by Sioux Indians at the Battle of Little Bighorn in southern Montana. -
Great Uprising
An unsuccessful railroad strike of 1877 to protest wage cuts and the use of federal troops against strikes. It was the first nation-wide work stoppage in American History. -
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The Gilded Age
The period that was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. This was a period of greed and guile, of rapacious Robber Barons, unscrupulous speculators, of shady business practices, scandal-plagued politics, and vulgar display. -
John Rockefeller
He was the richest man who developed the trust and created Standard Oil Company. He controlled the petroleum industry and influenced other businessmen to use trusts in order to obtain wealth, and he was an example of how the new rich was taking over the place that old patricians once held. -
Knights of Labor
The first group that tried to organize unskilled workers all together. They had a great deal of people because the had open enrollment to women, men, and blacks but collapses suddenly after the Haymarket Square bombing. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
This act outlawed all further immigration from China, and made all current Chinese residents living in the U.S ineligible for citizenship. Started when people of the West Coast attributed declining wages and economic troubles to the hated Chinese workers. In order to appease them Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act -
Pendleton Act
Enacted civil service reform, it stated that the Civil Service Exam must be taken in order to receive most government jobs and banned federal employees from giving campaign money to their party -
American Federation of Labor
An alliance of skilled workers in craft unions led by Samuel Gompers. It concentrated on issues such as higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions. -
Great Upheaval of 1886
A wave of strikes about labor. It affected every part of the nation. It resulted in several police killing striking workers. This is important because it brought about the workers union and several other revolts about the quality of work. This affected the quality of work later in American history. -
Haymarket Riot
Originally intended as a rally to protest the establishment of a National Wage. Someone in the crowd threw a bomb, a riot broke out, 7 policemen died, and as a result 8 innocent German immigrants were arrested and the Knights of Labor were blamed for the riot. The riot resulted in the loss of all sympathy for laborers, and a fear anarchy in the middle class. -
Dawes Severalty Act
Dismantled American Indian tribes, set up individuals as family heads with 160 acres, tried to make rugged individualists out of the Indians, attempt to assimilate the Indian population into that of the American. -
Settlement Houses
A house where immigrants came to live upon entering the U.S. At Settlement Houses, instruction was given in English and how to get a job, among other things. The first Settlement House was the Hull House, which was opened by Jane Addams in Chicago in 1889. -
Ghost Dances
When large groups of Indians came together for multiple days of religious observances, dancing, and singing where the leaders said that there would be a day where the whites would disappear, all of the buffalo would come back, and the Indians were able to freely practice their ancestral customs. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
This act banned any formations that would restrict trade, not distinguishing between bad and good trusts. The act was a hamper on worker unions, but it showed that the government was slowly moving away from laissez faire ideals. -
Silver Act
Enacted in 1890, named after its author John Sherman, increased the amount of silver the government was required to purchase every month. The act was passed upon complaints from farmers and miners interests. -
Tenements
A new form of housing that was developed in the early 1900's that was designed as a dumbbell and had more apartments for more families and shared restrooms. The overcrowding and the lack of good waste and garbage disposal promoted deadly diseases like cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis. -
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Imperial America
The period in which the United States became a new world power by participating in land acquisition and war and getting involved in Latin American affairs. One significant war that made the United States become more of an official imperial power was the Spanish-American War. -
Wounded Knee
A group of white Christian reformist tried to bring Christian beliefs on to the Indians. Fearing the Ghost Dance American troops were called to go with the reformist. While camped outside of an Indian reservation a gun was fired and the troops stormed the reservation killing Indian men women and children. -
Populist Party
Officially known as the People's party, the Populists represented Westerners and Southerners who believed that U.S. economic policy inappropriately favored Eastern businessmen instead of the nation's farmers. Their proposals included nationalizing the railroads, creating a graduated income tax, and most significantly the unlimited coinage of silver. -
World's Columbian Exposition 1893
The world's fair that took place in Chicago that featured the progress of American civilization through the grand architecture that represented an ideal urban environment. It was to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World. -
City Beautiful Movement
Movement in environmental design that drew directly from the beaux arts school. architects from this movement strove to impart order on hectic, industrial centers by creating urban spaces that conveyed a sense of morality and civic pride. -
Depression of 1893
The worst economic downturn for the United States during the 19th Century. It was caused by overbuilding and over-speculation, labor disorders, and the ongoing agricultural depression. -
Pullman Strike
A strike by railroad workers upset by drastic wage cuts. The strike was led by socialist Eugene Debs but not supported by the American Federation of Labor. Eventually President Grover Cleveland intervened and federal troops forced an end to the strike. -
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Was founded in November 1874 in Cleveland, Ohio. After Frances Willard took over leadership in 1879, the WCTU became one of the largest and most influential women's groups of the 19th century by expanding its platform to campaign for labor laws, prison reform and suffrage. -
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The Progressive Era
The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States. The main objectives of the Progressive movement were eliminating problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and corruption in government. -
Klondike Gold Rush
A migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1896 and 1899. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. The Klondike Gold Rush ended in 1899 after gold was discovered in Nome, Alaska prompting an exodus from the Klondike -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Supreme Court decision holding that Louisiana's railroad segregation law did not violate the Constitution as long as the railroads or the state provided equal accommodations. -
U.S.S. Maine Incident
The sinking of the Maine on precipitated the Spanish-American War and also popularized the phrase Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain! In subsequent years, the cause of the sinking of the Maine became the subject of much speculation. -
Battle of San Juan Hill/San Juan Heights
This fight for the heights was the bloodiest and most famous battle of the War. It was also the location of the greatest victory for the Rough Riders as claimed by the press and its new commander, the future Vice-President and later President, Theodore Roosevelt. -
Treaty of Paris 1898
Brought a formal end to the Spanish-American war. It confirmed the terms of the armistice concerning Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam. American negotiators had startled the Spanish by demanding that they also cede the Philippines to the U.S, but an offer of 20 million for the islands softened Spain's resistance. -
Philippine-American War
A war that was fought to quell Filipino resistance to American control of the Philippine Islands. Filipino guerrilla soldiers finally gave up when their leader, Emilio Aguinaldo, was captured. -
Social Darwinism
It was the idea that there was a normal superiority of groups to others. This term reemerged and explained the success and failures in business of individuals and the different social classes. -
Open Door Policy
Statement of U.S. foreign policy toward China. Issued by U.S. secretary of state John Hay, the statement reaffirmed the principle that all countries should have equal access to any Chinese port open to trade. -
Election of 1900
The Republicans nominated William McKinley on a platform that advocated imperialism while the Democrats chose Willima J. Bryan on a platform of free silver. During the election, the Republicans professed tha free silver would end U.S. prosperity. McKinley won the election with an overwhelming victory in the urban areas. -
Teddy Roosevelt
26th president of the United States, known for conservationism, trust-busting, Hepburn Act, safe food regulations, "Square Deal," Panama Canal, Great White Fleet, Nobel Peace Prize for negotiation of peace in Russo-Japanese War -
Big Stick Policy
Diplomatic policy developed by T.R where the "big stick" symbolizes his power and readiness to use military force if necessary. It is a way of intimidating countries without actually harming them and was the basis of U.S. imperialistic foreign policy. -
Platt Amendment
A policy, proposed by the United States in 1899, under which all nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China & would respect certain Chinese rights and the ideal of fair competition. -
Square Deal
Roosevelt's policy of having the federal government promote the public interest by dealing evenhandedly with both labor and business. Three C's: Control of Corporations, Consumer Protection, Conservation of Natural Resources. -
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force -
Russo-Japanese War
Russia and Japan were fighting over Korea, Manchuria, etc. Began in 1904, but neither side could gain a clear advantage and win. Both sent reps to Portsmouth, NH where T.Roosevelt mediated Treaty of New Hampshire in 1905. -
Meat Inspection Act
An American law that makes it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
Forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in order to abolish the "patent" drug trade. -
Bull Moose Party
The Progressive Party was a third party in the United States formed in 1912 by former President Theodore Roosevelt after he lost the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. -
17th Amendment
A constitutional amendment which determined that there would be direct election of United States senators, approved in 1913 and established as a result of the dynamic voice of the progressive movement -
Federal Reserve Act
This act created a central banking system, consisting of twelve regional banks governed by the Federal Reserve Board. It was an attempt to provide the United States with a sound yet flexible currency. The Board it created still plays a vital role in the American economy today. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Heir apparent to the Austria-Hungary throne. His assassination in Sarajevo, Bosnia by the Black Hand set in motion the events that started World War I. -
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World War 1
Also known as the "Great War", this war broke out in Europe over the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, this was the first war in which "total war" was waged, and sucked the reluctant United States into it in 1917. -
Ludlow Massacre
The violent deaths of 20 people, 11 of them children, during an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado. -
Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution, a long and bloody struggle among several factions in constantly shifting alliances which resulted ultimately in the end of the 30 year dictatorship in Mexico and the establishment of a constitutional republic. -
RMS Lusitania
British passenger boat with 128 Americans on board sunk by German U-Boats. It also secretly had ammunition in the hold; one of the reasons the US joins the war -
Zimmerman Telegram
US newspapers carried news of secret offer made by Germany to Mexico, proposed Mexico ally itself with Germany in return for Germany's pledge to help Mexico recover lost territories, aroused nationalist anger of the American people and convinced Wilson that Germany fully expected a war with US -
Russian Revolution
Moral diplomacy, wanted the war to be fought for triumph of democracy, bothered Wilson Russia was an ally, autocratic czar was led, removed on March 15 when Russian revolutionaries overthrew the czar, proclaimed a republic. -
Sedition Act
Brought forth under the Wilson administration, they stated that any treacherous act or draft dodging was forbidden, outlawed disgracing the government, the Constitution, or military uniforms, and forbade aiding the enemy. -
Wilson's 14 Points
The war aims outlined by President Wilson in 1918, which he believed would promote lasting peace. Called for self-determination, freedom of the seas, free trade, end to secret agreements, reduction of arms and a league of nations -
Espionage Act
Federal law passed shortly after entrance into WWI, made it a crime for a person to mail or print information that inspired dissent against the American war effort or promoted its enemies. -
American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
Consisted of the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe under the command of General John J. Pershing in 1917 to help fight World War I -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Germany was forced to accept the treaty and was punished for starting the war. -
18th Amendment
Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages. This amendment is the midpoint of a growing drive towards women's rights as well as showing the moral attitude of the era. -
First Red Scare
A nationwide fear of communists, socialists, anarchists, and other dissidents suddenly grabbed the American psyche in 1920 following a series of anarchist bombings. The nation was gripped in fear. Innocent people were jailed for expressing their views, civil liberties were ignored, and many Americans feared that a Bolshevik-style revolution was at hand. -
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The 1920s
Also known as the “Roaring 20s" or "Jazz Age," the 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change. It was a time when many people defied Prohibition, indulged in new styles of dancing and dressing, and rejected many traditional moral standards. -
19th Amendment
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution extended the right to vote to women in federal or state elections. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
A horrible political scandal involving the private bribery of Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall in exchange for government oileries. Up to that point, it was considered the worst political scandal in American History. -
Immigration Act of 1924
Was passed to cut quotas for foreigners from 3 % to 2% of the total number of immigrants in 1890, its purpose was to freeze America's existing racial composition, prevented Japanese from immigrating, causing outrage in Japan. -
Harlem Renaissance
black artistic movement in New York City in the 1920s, when writers, poets, painters, and musicians came together to express feelings and experiences, especially about the injustices of Jim Crow. -
Jazz
A form of music that combined African rhythms with western-style instruments and mixed improvisation with a structured band format that was introduced to the greater American public by black musicians from New Orleans in the early 20th century. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
A highly publicized trial in 1925 in which a teacher violated a Tennessee state law by teaching evolution in high school. In the trial, William Jennings Bryan argued on the side of fundamentalism, while Clarence Darrow argued for evolution. -
Spirit of St. Louis
The plane that Charles Lindbergh piloted on the first-ever nonstop solo flight from New York to Paris on May 21, 1927 -
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The Great Depression
The Great Depression was one of the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. -
Valentine’s Day Massacre
The murder of seven people as part of a Prohibition Era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago, Illinois, in 1929: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran -
Black Tuesday
This is the nickname for the day the stock market crashed. People who had unwisely borrowed money to buy high-priced stocks went bankrupt. Black Tuesday marked the beginning of the Great Depression. -
The Dust Bowl
A horrible natural disaster in which Midwestern dust from millions of acres of dry, arid land was blown up into the air and carried as far as Boston. Caused much suffering. -
The New Deal
President Franklin Roosevelt's precursor of the modern welfare state. Programs to combat economic depression enacted a number of social insurance measures and used government spending to stimulate the economy; increased power of the state and the state's intervention in U.S. social and economic life. -
20th Amendment
Shortened "lame duck" period following election day in November: inaugurations for President, Vice President, Senators, and Representatives will now be in January instead of March. -
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)
Democratic candidate who won the 1932 election by a landslide. He refused to uphold any of Hoover's policies with the intent on enacting his own. He pledged a present a "New Deal" to the American public. -
21th Amendment
Repealed the 18th Amendment. Alcoholic beverages are once again legal in the United States. -
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
United States government agency that insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying. The goals of this organization were to improve housing standards and conditions, to provide an adequate home financing system through insurance of mortgage loans, and to stabilize the mortgage market. -
Share Our Wealth Plan
A program advocated by Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long that appealed to desperate lower middle class Americans during the Great Depression. One version proposed confiscating large personal fortunes, guaranteeing every family a cash grant of $5,000 and every worker an annual income of $2,5000, providing pensions to the aged, reducing work hours, paying veterans' bonuses and ensuring college education for every qualified student. -
Wagner Act
A New Deal legislation that was supported by R. F. Wagner. It established defined unjust labor practices, secured workers the right to bargain collectively, and established the National Labor Relations Board. -
Social Security Act
Drafted by President Roosevelt's committee on economic security, under Edwin Witte. The Act provided benefits to retirees and the unemployed, and a lump-sum benefit at death. Payments to retirees were financed by a payroll tax on current workers' wages, half directly as a payroll tax and half paid by the employer. -
Manhattan Project
Code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. Much of the early research was done in New York City by refugee physicists in the United States. -
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World War II
Global military conflict from 1939 to 1945, which was fought between the Allied powers of the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan, with their respective allies. -
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
The non-aggression pact was an agreement between Hitler and Stalin which gave Germany the permission to wage war on Poland, meaning an agreement of neutrality between the Soviet Union and Germany. This allowed for German victories in the west without worries of the east. -
Battle of the Atlantic
Conflict between British and American ships and German U-Boats. Germany suffered heavy losses, due to the innovations of radar and codebreaking within Allied ranks. -
Pearl Harbor
United States naval base in Hawaii that was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, with serious U.S. losses: 19 ships sunk or destroyed and over 2,000 deaths. The attack brought the United States into World War II. -
Executive Order 9066
Authorized the Secretary of War and the U.S. Armed Forces to declare military areas from which any or all persons may be excluded. Did not specify nationality or ethnic group but led to the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps -
Bataan Death March
After the Japanese landed in the Philippines in May 1942, nearly 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners were forced to endure a 60-mile forced march. During the ordeal, 10,000 prisoners died or were killed. -
U.S. Office of War Information (OWI)
Established by the government to promote patriotism and help keep americans united behind the war effort -
Yalta Conference
Meeting of Roosevelt, Stalin, and Winston Churchill to discuss postwar plans and Soviet entry into the war against Japan near the end of World War II; disagreements over the future of Poland surfaced. -
Death of FDR
After returning from the Yalta conference, FDR experienced increasingly poor health until he died on April 12, 1945, during his fourth term, weeks before the end of World War II. -
The United Nations
An international body agreed upon at the Yalta conference and counted at a conference in San Francisco in 1945, consisting of a general assembly, in which all nations are represented, and a security council of the five major Allied Powers- the United States, Britain, France, China and the Soviet Union- and seven other nations elected on a rotating basis.
