AP US History Chapter 23

crop-lien system

in this system, Storekeepers granted credit until the farm was harvested. To protect the creditor, the storekeeper took a mortgage, or lien, on the tenant's share of the crop. The system was abused and uneducated blacks were taken advantage of. The result, for Blacks, was not unlike slavery.

soft/cheap money

paper money which is not connected to a treasury or gold supply, favored by debtors so their debts could be payed off for lose, when issued caused depreciation

Jay Gould

partner of Jim Fisk, another unprincipled financier whose plot to corner the U.S. gold market nearly succeeded in 1869

Greenback labor party

"Soft-money" third party that polled over a million votes and elected fourteen congressmen in 1878 by advocating inflation

Sharecropping

An agricultural system that emerged after the Civil War in which black and white farmers rented land and residences from a plantation owner in exchange for giving him a certain "share" of each year's crop. Sharecropping was the dominant form of southern agriculture after the Civil War, and landowners manipulated this system to keep tenants in perpetual debt and unable to leave their plantations.

Jim Fisk

Bold and unprincipled financier whose plot to corner the U.S. gold market nearly succeeded in 1869

Horace Greeley

Both the Liberal Republicans and the Democrats nominated Horace Greeley, editor of the "New York Tribune," for the presidency in 1876. He lost to President Grant.

William Jennings Bryan

Bryan, on the strength of his famous "Cross of Gold" speech, won the Democratic and Populist parties' nominations for president in 1896. He campaigned widely on a "free silver" platform for currency inflation, but was defeated by Republican William McKinley.

James G. Blaine

Charming but corrupt leader of the "Half-Breed" faction of the Republican. He was a senator and the Republican presidential nominee in 1884.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)

Civil War veterans' organization that became a potent political bulwark of the Republican party in the late nineteenth century who always reminded voters that their party had led the nation during the Civil War

Horatio Seymour

Democratic Presidential candidate in 1868 who scuttled the Democrats' faint hope for success by repudiating the Ohio Idea

Winfield S. Hancock

Democratic candidate and Civil War hero for the presidential election of 1880, lost to Garfield

J. P. Morgan

Enormously wealthy banker whose secret bailout of the federal government in 1895 aroused fierce public anger

populism

Farm-based movement of the late 1800s that arose mainly in the area from Texas to the Dakotas and grew into a joint effort between farmer and labor groups against big business and machine-based politics. The movement became a third party in the election of 1892.

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Forced the treasury to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver each month. However, the price of silver did not rise and precious gold was being drained away from the treasury while cheap silver piled up. Led to panic of 1893.

Benjamin Harrison

Harrison, a noted waver of the "bloody shirt" accusing Democrats of treason for the Civil War, was elected president in 1888. Like other late nineteenth-century presidents, he usually deferred to Congress for leadership on the issues.

Roscoe Conkling

Imperious New York senator and leader of the "Stalwart" faction of Republicans

Liberal Republicans

In 1872, Republican reformers, alarmed by the corruption and scandals in the Grant administration, organized this branch of the Republican Party and nominated Horace Greeley for president. They were laissez faire liberals who opposed legislation that benefited any particular group.

People's Party (Populists)

Insurgent political party that gained widespread support among farmers, formed in 1892; composed mostly of southern and western farmers; against government injustices; demanded -inflation through the coinage of silver -graduated income tax -government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, telephones -direct election of US senators -one term presidencies -shorter work days -ability to shape legislation directly -immigration restriction -most support from Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, and Nevada

James B. Weaver

Iowa reformer James B. Weaver was nominated for president by the Populist party in 1892. He won a million votes, but the party failed to unite black and white farmers in the South or to attract significant support from labor.

"Redeemers"

Largely former slave owners who were the bitterest opponents of the Republican program in the South. Staged a major counterrevolution to "redeem" the south by taking back southern state governments. Their foundation rested on the idea of racism and white supremacy. Redeemer governments waged and agressive assault on African Americans.

contraction

Policy which decreased the amount of money per capital in circulation between 1870 and 1880

Tom Watson

Populist Party leader who reached out to the black community, recognizing the crucial edge that black votes could give them in the South

"Ohio Idea"

Proposal by midwestern Democratic delegates to redeem federal war bonds in greenbacks instead of gold, to keep more money in circulation and interest rates low.

Thomas Reed

Republican Ultra-conservative Thomas "Czar" Reed was a long-time Speaker of the House in the late nineteenth century. He ruled the Congress with an iron hand in 1888. "Czar" Reed utterly dominated the "Billion-Dollar" Congress—the first in history to appropriate that sum, and kept democrats in line; passed McKinley Act (raised rates)

Billion-Dollar Congress

Republican congress of 1890. passed record # of significant laws that helped shape later policies and asserted authority of federal govt., gave pensions to Civil War veterans, increased government silver purchases, and passed McKinley Tariff Act of 1890

Half-Breed

Republican party faction led by Senator James G. Blaine that paid lip service to government reform while still battling for patronage and spoils

Stalwart

Republican party faction led by Senator Roscoe Conkling that opposed all attempts at civil-service reform.

Mugwumps

Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884. They switched parties because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican candidate, James Blaine.

U.S. vs. Wong Kim

Supreme Court ruled in favor of Chinese born Americans, felt that they could not strip them of citizenship because of 14th Amendment set an important legal precedent about the role of jus soli (birth in the United States) as a factor in determining a person's claim to United States citizenship

hard/sound money

The metallic or specie dollar is known as hard money. It was extremely important during the late 1860's and early 1870's, especially during the Panic of 1873. It was in opposition with "greenbacks" or "folding money." The issuing of the "greenbacks" was overdone and the value depreciated causing inflation and the Panic of 1873. "Hard-money" advocates looked for the complete disappearance of the "folding money."

Charles J. Guiteau

a mentally unbalanced Stalwart office seeker who, in frustration, assassinated president James Garfield in 1881

"Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion"

an insult made against NY Irish-Americans by a republican clergyman in the 1884 election. Blaine's failure to repudiate this statement lost him NY and contributed to his defeat by Grover Cleveland., this statement attacked the Democratic party, rebellion referred to civil war, romanism referred to catholicism(anti), rum referred to drinking, anti immigrant party

pork-barrel bills

congress votes for an unnecessary building project so that a member can get more district popularity. Congress could reduce the vexatious surplus in this way.

"Crime of 73"

through the coinage act of 1873, the US ended the minting of silver dollars and placed the country on the gold standard. this was attacked by those who supported an inflationary monetary policy, particularly farmers and believed in the unlimited coinage of silver

Adlai E. Stevenson

vice president of Grover Cleveland; took over while Cleveland was having super-secret mouth surgery; a "soft money" supporter

Jay Cooke

wealthy ownner of a private banking house that marketed the bonds of the federal government during the war; when his bank collapsed in 1873 it set off an economic depression