History Test Topics 3-4

Las Gorras Blancas

(the White Caps) group of Mexican Americans living in New Mexico who attempted to protect their land and way of life from encroachment by white landowners. They cut peoples' barb wire

Sand Creek Massacre

1864 incident in which Colorado militia attacked a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, some of who were under U.S. Army protection

The Battle of Little Bighorn

1876 battle in which the Sioux defeated US Army troops. Killed Custer and all of his men

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law by the nativists that prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers into the US (California)

Dawes General Allotment Act

1887 law that divided reservation land into private family plots, encouraged Indians to become private property owners and farmers

Plessy v Ferguson

1896 "separate but equal" doctrine supreme court upheld the constitutionally of jim crow laws. Incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people.

17th Amendment

1913 constitutional amendment that allowed for the direct election of US senators by citizens.

16th Amendment

1913 constitutional amendment that gave Congress the authority to levy an income tax. Collect income tax with no restrictions. The revenue from income tax made up money that gov. lost from lowering tariffs on imports.

Frederic Remington

A painter and sculptor who captured the romance of the west. His paintings and sculptures portrayed the cowboy as a natural aristocrat living in a natural world in which all the normal supporting structures of "civilization" were missing. He became one of the most beloved and successful artists of the 19th century.

Assimilation

Absorbed into the main culture of a society

Exodusters

African Americans who migrated from the South to the West after the Civil War

Cross of Gold Speech

An impassioned address by William Jennings Bryan at the 1896 Democratic Convention, in which he attacked the "gold bugs" who insisted that U.S. currency be backed only with gold. He spoke for the "plain people of this country" for "our farms", and declared "we beg no longer"

Americanization

Belief that assimilating immigrants into American society would make them more loyal citizens

Tammany Hall

Democratic political organization in New York City that was supported by immigrants and run by Boss Tweed

Upton Sinclair

Famous muckraker who wrote for newspapers. His most successful novel was The Jungle

Who were the famous muckrakers?

Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, Thomas Nast, Jacob Riis

Thomas Nast

Newspaper cartoonist and famous muckraker who produced satirical cartoons, he invented "Uncle Sam" and came up with the elephant and the donkey for the political parties. He nearly brought down Boss Tweed.

Populist Party

People's Party; political party formed in 1891 to advocate a larger money supply and other economic reforms

18th Amendment

Prohibition of alcohol

21st Amendment

Repeal of Prohibition

Sod houses

Small houses that were built with dirt/sod. Very bad living conditions.

Barbed wire

Strong wire with barbs that were used to fence in cattle

19th Amendment

Women's suffrage/right to vote

William Jennings Bryan

a Democratic and Populist leader who ran unsuccessfully three times for the U.S. presidency. During his career as a lawyer, politician, and speaker, he fought for reforms such as the income tax, Prohibition, and women's suffrage.

The Jungle

a novel by Upton Sinclair that was an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry in Chicago

Charles M. Russell

a painter who created realistic scenes of the untamed west

Temperance movement

abstaining from alcohol

Progressive Era legislation

authorized an income tax (16th), provided for the direct election of senators (17th), extended the vote to women (19th), and prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. (18th)

Open range system

method of ranching in which the rancher allowed his or her livestock to roam and graze over a vast area of grassland (before barbed wire)

Temperance Movement

movement aimed at stopping alcohol abuse and the problems created by it

Progressivism

movement that responded to the pressures of industrialization and urbanization by promoting reforms

William Tweed (Boss Tweed)

political boss of New York who used corruption to steal money, boss of Tammany Hall

Recall

process by which voters can remove elected officials from office before their term ends.

Initiative

process in which citizens put a proposed new law directly on the ballot

Referendum

process that allows citizens to approve or reject a law passed by a legislature

Social Darwinism

the belief held by some in the late 19th century that certain nations and races were superior to others and therefore destined to rule over them. Survival of the fittest.

Muckrakers

writer who uncovers and exposes misconduct in government or business. Tool used to clean manure and hay out of animals' stables. Angry about Roosevelt's name for them at first, then took it as honor