Unit 1 Key Terms- American History II

eminent domain

the right of government to take private property for public use

Cornstock Lode

this was the rockform where the 1st major discovery of silver ore was discovered in the U.S.

Munn v. Illinois (1877)

A United States Supreme Court case dealing with corporate rates and agriculture. allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their borders, including railroads

The Granger movement

A movement that for monopolistic game transport practice during a decade found the civil American Civil War

Open Range

A vast area of grassland owned by the government where ranchers could graze their herds for free

John Deere

American blacksmith that was responsible for inventing the steel plow. This new plow was much stronger than the old iron version; therefore, it made plowing farmland in the west easier, making expansion faster.

Bimetallism

Definition- A monetary system in which the government would give citizens either gold or silver in exchange for paper currency or checks HS- the "silverites" favored this idea in the campaign

Battle of Wounded Knee

Definition- Last major battle on the plains in South Dakota HS- They performed the ghost dance, which was when the dead buffalo/ancestors would come and reincarnate the Earth peacefully

William Jennings Bryan

Definition- Nebraska congressman who delivered an impassioned speech to assemble other delegates HS- he was a populist who won the democratic nomination; he gave the "Cross of Gold" speech, he was against the gold standard and for the working class

Homestead Act

Definition- One had to work the land for a period of 5 years, build a well, and a road in order for it to be free HS- encouraged Western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land

George A. Custer

Definition- a U.S Army commander and Cavalry commander in the Civil War and Indian War HS- led and was killed at the Cape of Little Bighorn

Exoduster

Definition- a name given to African Americans who migrated from states along the Mississippi River to Kansas in the late nineteenth century, as part of the Exoduster Movement or Exodus of 1879 HS- the first general migration of blacks following the Civil War

William McKinley

Definition- a republican party candidate in 1896 HS- he was the republican nominee for president

Morrill Land Act 1862

Definition- an act of Congress (1862) granting each state 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of land for each member it had in Congress HS- it allowed for Western expansion

Populism

Definition- beliefs of those mainly made up of farmers and middle class- formed "working class" HS- a movement of alliance leaders to build a political base power

Long Drive

Definition- large herds of longhorn cattle roamed freely throughout Texas. HS- High meat prices in eastern cities attracted a variety of entrepreneurs and prompted cattlemen to search for a way to bring them to market

Dawes Act

Definition- passed to to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. HS- Natives could get 160 acres of land

Great Plains

Definition- the grassland extending through the west-central portion of the United States HS- They are where distinctive and highly developed Native Americans existed

Gold Standard

Defintion- The practice of backing dollars solely with gold HS- it made money worth more and made it more difficult to illegally produce it.

Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

Event at which *Colonel John Chivington* and his troops attacked and destroyed a village of friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped in southeastern Colorado Territory; killed over 150 inhabitants, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.

Joseph Glidden

Invented barbed wire

Battle of Little Big Horn, 1876

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custer's Last Stand, was an engagement between the combined forces of the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne tribes against the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army. The most famous of all of the Indian Wars, the remarkable victory for the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne occurred over two days on June 25-26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory. The U.S. cavalry detachment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, lost every soldier in his unit.

Col

The lowest point of a saddle between two peaks

A Century of Dishonor

Written by Helen Hunt Jackson, it detailed the injustices made to Native Americans during US expansion

Cyrus McCormick

an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.

Nomadic

people who move from one place to another rather than settling permanently in one location