Turn of the Century Terms

19th Century

1800s

Imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other territories politically, socially, and economically, typically through colonialization.

Homestead

A settler's home and land

Cattle Drives

Cowboys drove herds of cattle along trails to be shipped to the East by railroad.

Industry

Economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories.

Beneficial

Having a good outcome; favorable

Why did the United States want to build the Panama Canal?

It would allow American merchant and war ships easier access between the Atlantic and Pacific, strengthening our economic and military power

Canal

Long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for irrigation

Urbanization

Movement of people from rural areas to cities

Military

Relating to soldiers, arms, or war

Homesteaders

Settlers who claimed land on the Great Plains under the Homestead Act.

What was the Panama Canal?

The Panama Canal is a canal (really a system of locks) that allows ships to pass through the narrow Isthmus of Panama instead of having to go all the way around South America.

What was the Spanish-American War?

The Spanish-American War was really Cuba's war for independence from Spain, fought in the late 1890s between Cuba and Spain. America joined in 1898.

What new territories did the United States acquire as a result of the Spanish-American War?

The U.S. gained control of Cuba as a protectorate, as well as Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam from Spain as territories. (Puerto Rico and Guam are still U.S. territories. Cuba became independent in 1902.)

Journalism

The activity or profession of writing for newspapers or magazines or of broadcasting news on radio.

Chisholm Trail

The major cattle route from San Antonio, Texas, through Oklahoma, to Kansas

Expand

To open up, make or grow larger; to develop

Transcontinental

extending across a continent