APUS FINAL TERMS
The Ohio Gang
President Harding's group of politicians and industry leaders who were considered to have been responsible for acts of corruption.
Cult of Domesticity
cult that prevailed among upper and middle class white women during the nineteenth century, in Great Britain and the United States. According to the ideals of the cult, women were supposed to embody perfect virtue in all senses. The women who abided by and promoted these standards were generally literate and lived in the northeast, particularly New York and Massachusetts. The four core values they were supposed to exude were piety, purity, submission, and domesticity. The Cult of Domesticity identified the home as the "separate, proper sphere" for women, who were seen as better suited to parenting. Also, because of the expected behaviors woman were assumed to make better teachers and thus one of the first out of home jobs for women was teaching.
Department of Commerce & Labor 1903
department concerned with promoting economic growth that was created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903. It was subsequently renamed to the Department of Commerce on March 4, 1913, and its bureaus and agencies specializing in labor were transferred to the new Department of Labor.
Pollack case 1894
landmark case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the unapportioned income taxes imposed by the Income Tax Act of 1894 were, in effect, direct taxes, and were unconstitutional because they violated the provision that direct taxes be apportioned. The decision was nullified in 1913 by Amendment XVI to the US Constitution.
Thirteenth Amendment 1865
officially abolished and slavery. It was the first of the Reconstruction Amendments..
John D. Rockefeller
oil magnate who revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company.
Brook Farm
utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s inspired by the ideals of Transcendentalism. Founded as a joint stock company, it promised its participants a portion of the profits from the farm in exchange for performing an equal share of the work.
Neal Dow
"Father of Prohibition" who sponsored the "Maine law of 1851", which prohibited the manufacture and sale of liquor.
V-E Day May 8, 1945
- Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson 1868
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Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy 1912
-dispute between Gifford Pinchot and Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger that contributed to the split of the Republican Party before the 1912 election. Pinchot had accused Ballinger of taking bribes, but Taft took his side.
"Birth of a Nation" 1915
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Alamo
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Albany Plan of Union 1754
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Alexander Graham Bell - a scientist, inventor and engineer who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone.
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Assassination of the Archduke 1914 begins WWI
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Burr/Hamilton Duel 1804
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Chesapeake-Leopard Affair 1807-the British warship HMS Leopard attacked and boarded the American frigate Chesapeake. The incident enflamed patriotic passions and spurred new calls for the protection of American sovereignty in neutral waters. Seeking to pressure England and France to respect American neutrality, President Thomas Jefferson orderd the Embargo Act in 1807.
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Cornered, outnumbered, and short of supplies, Lee finally agreed to surrender his army on April 9 at Appomattox Court House.
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Cuba
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Division of labor and mass production
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Era of Good Feelings 1816-1824
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Farming Frontier
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Federal Reserve Act 1913
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Frederick Jackson Turner
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Kansas Constitutional Crisis
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Lexington and Concord 1775
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Lincoln's assassination 1865
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Louisiana Purchase 1803
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Marbury v Madison (1803)
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March to the Sea 1864
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Monroe Doctrine 1823
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Non-Intercourse Act 1810- United States Congress under Jefferson replaced the Embargo Act of 1807 with the almost unenforceable Non-Intercourse Act of March 1809. This Act lifted all embargoes on American shipping except for those bound for British or French ports. It was mostly ineffective and seriously damaged the economy of the United States. It was followed by Macon's Bill Number 2. It did stimulate the national economy and helped industrialize America during this time period.
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Olive Branch Petition 1775
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Pan American Union
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Panamanian rebellion
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Pearl Harbor 1941
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Philippines debate
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Plains Indians
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Protective Tariffs under Hamilton
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Rush-Bagot Agreement 1817- treaty between the United States and Britain that provided for the demilitarization of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, where many British naval arrangements and forts still remained. . This agreement was indicative of improving relations between the United States and Great Britain in the period following the War of 1812.
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Sacco- Vanzetti Trial 1920-1927
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Seminole War
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Spoils System under Jackson
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Stock Market Crash 1929
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Tea Act 1773, Boston Tea Party 1773
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V-J Day August 15, 1945
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James K. Polk (1845-1849)
11th President of the United States and a Democrat, he was the surprise candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party by promising to annex Texas. He was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System. He was the last strong pre-Civil War president and is noted for his foreign policy successes. He threatened war with Britain then backed away and split the ownership of the Oregon region. When Mexico rejected American annexation of Texas, he led the nation to a sweeping victory in the Mexican-American War.
Zachary Taylor
12th President of the United States and an American military leader who ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election. He achieved fame leading American troops to victory in the Mexican-American War. As president, he angered many Southerners by taking a moderate stance on the issue of slavery. He urged settlers in New Mexico and California to bypass the territorial stage and draft constitutions for statehood, setting the stage for the Compromise of 1850. He died within 16 months.
Panama Canal 1904
14- canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is key for international trade. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route used prior. The first attempt to construct a canal began in 1880 under French leadership but was abandoned after many workers died. The US launched a second effort, incurring further deaths but succeeding in opening the canal in 1914. From 1979 to 1999 the canal was under joint U.S.-Panamanian administration.
Andrew Johnson
17th President of the United States who rose to the office of president upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. He is known for his policies concerning Reconstruction after the Civil War, which were not as equalizing to blacks as the more radical side of his party would have liked. His administration was more sympathetic with the southern whites than their formerly enslaved black counterparts. For this reason, when Radical Republicans gained control of Congress in 1866, Congress and the president were often at odds with one another. When he attempted to dismiss cabinet members who had been appointed by Lincoln without consent of the senate after Congress had passed a law forbidding this, he was impeached in 1868.
Alexis de Tocqueville- French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America, which appeared in two volumes
1835 and. In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in western societies.
J. P. Morgan
1892 he arranged the merger of two companies to form General Electric. Then he merged in 1901 the Carnegie Steel Company and several other steel and iron businesses to form the US Steel.
Ulysses S. Grant
18th president of the United States and commander for the Union during the Civil War. Under his command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America. Fighting in the Mexican American War, he was a close observer of the techniques of Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. He fought a series of major battles and captured a Confederate army, and at the bloody Battle of Shiloh earned a reputation as an aggressive general who seized control of most of Kentucky and Tennessee. He then confronted Robert E. Lee in a series of very high casualty battles and finally captured Richmond, the Confederate capital, in April 1865.The Confederacy collapsed and the Civil War ended.
Washington Conference (1921
1922)- military conference called by the administration of President Harding and held in D.C. Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations having interests in the Pacific Ocean and East Asia. Russia was not invited. It was the first international conference held in the US and the first disarmament conference in history. It resulted in the Four-Power Treaty, Five-Power Treaty and the Nine-Power Treaty. These treaties preserved peace during the 1920s but are also credited with enabling the rise of the Japanese Empire as a naval power.
Father Charles Coughlin
1930s controversial Catholic priest who was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience. He was initiallya supporter of FDR and his early New Deal, before later becoming a harsh critic saying FDR was too friendly to bankers. In 1934 he announced a new political organization called the "Nation's Union of Social Justice." He wrote a platform calling for monetary reforms, the nationalization of major industries and railroads, and protection of the rights of labor. The membership ran into the millions, resembling the Populist movement of the 1890s.
Manifest Destiny
19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent. It was used by Democrats in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs.
Henry Demarest Lloyd
19th century progressive political activist and a muckraking journalist best remembered for his exposés of the Standard Oil Company and its monopolistic abuses.
Railroad Administration 1917
20- nationalized railroad system of the United US. It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization.
Warren G. Harding
29th President of the United States (1921-1923) and Republican. His conservativism and 'make no enemies' campaign strategy made him the compromise choice at the 1920 Republican National Convention. During his presidential campaign, in the aftermath of WWI, he promised a return of the nation to "normalcy". This "America first" campaign encouraged industrialization and a strong economy independent of foreign influence. He and his running mate, Calvin Coolidge, defeated Democrat Cox in the largest presidential popular vote landslide in American history. He rewarded friends and political contributors, referred to as the Ohio Gang, with financially powerful positions. Scandals and corruption eventually pervaded his administration. He spurned the League of Nations, and signed a separate peace treaty with Germany and Austria. He also strongly promoted world Naval disarmament at the 1921-22 Washington Naval Conference, and urged US participation in a proposed International Court. He signed the first child welfare program in the US and dealt with striking workers in the mining and railroad industries. In 1923, he suddenly died. He was succeeded by Vice President Coolidge.
North Africa Campaign 1940
43- Campaign fought between the Allies and Axis powers. The US began direct military assistance in North Africa. The Axis, by fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, provided relief for the British and later US forces fighting in North Africa.
Jim Crow Laws 1876
65- state and local laws that mandated racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans.
Greenback Party 1874
84- political party with an anti-monopoly ideology. Its name referred to paper money that had been issued during and after the Civil War. The party opposed the shift from paper money back to a coin-based monetary system because it believed that privately owned banks and corporations would then reacquire the power to define the value of products and labor. It also condemned the use of militias and private police against union strikes. Yet they believed that government control of the monetary system would allow it to keep more currency in circulation, as it had in the war. This would better foster business and assist farmers by raising prices and making debts easier to pay. It was established as a political party whose members were primarily farmers financially hurt by the Panic of 1873.
Aroostook County War 1838
9- an undeclared confrontation between the US and Great Britain over the international boundary between Canada and Maine. It is called a war because not only were tensions high and rhetoric heated in Maine and New Brunswick, but troops were raised and armed on both sides and marched to the disputed border. President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott to work out a compromise. A neutral area was created and the controversy gradually died down. There was no actual confrontation between military forces, and the dispute was soon settled through negotiations between diplomats from Britain and U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster. The final border between the two countries was established with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.
"Billion Dollar" congress 1889
91- Republicans have majority and there is a huge treasury surplus. They hand out this surplus as bribes.
Oklahoma Land Rush 1889
91-previously-restricted land was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. The settlers purchased the land from the US Land Office.
Gen. Anthony Wayne
A United States Army general and statesman who adopted a military career after the American Revolutionary War. On Aug. 10, 1794, he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the following year he negotiated the Treaty of Greenville, opening the Northwest Territory to American settlers.
Stamp Act 1765
Act placed on pretty much anything that had paper in it. The money from this tax was supposed to fund both protection in the colonies as well as to repay debt. Britain didn't think there would be rejection to this act because it was the colonists' fault for the war and the debt. Also, in continental Britain everyone paid a stamp tax and it was no big deal. In order to enforce this tax, Britain enlisted wealthy colonial leaders to distribute stamps. Anyone who did not obey was sentenced to a trial without a jury or due process in front of an admiral court. The colonists were extremely upset particularly about all these infringements on their rights. This was the first time they were being taxed on something that had nothing to do with trade.
Neutrality Act of 1939
Act signed in 1939 by FDR allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations on a cash and carry basis, ending the arms embargo. The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1937 were repealed, American citizens and ships were barred from entering war zones designated by the President. This came as a result of Germany invading European nations allied with the US.
Sherman Antitrust Act 1890
Act that requires the federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies; however, for the most part, politicians were unwilling to refer to the law until Theodore Roosevelt's presidency (1901-1909).
Midway Island hopping
After the Battle of Midway, the US launched this counter-offensive strike to capture certain key islands, one after another, until Japan came within range of US bombers. Led by General MacArthur, the US led amphibious drives that bypassed strongly-held islands to strike at the enemy's weak points. In an effort to liberate the people of the Philippine Islands, MacArthur pushed along the coast in a seemingly endless, bloody battle, leading to the unconditional surrender of the Japanese.
Meat Inspection Act 1906
All animals were required to pass an inspection by the Drug Administration prior to slaughter. All carcasses were subject to inspection. Cleanliness standards were established for slaughterhouses and processing plants.
Italian Campaign 1943
Allied operations in and around Italy from 1943 to the end of the war. They planned the invasion of Sicily and the campaign on the Italian mainland until the surrender of German forces in Italy in May 1945. No campaign in Western Europe cost more than this in terms of lives lost and wounds suffered by infantry forces.
Fourteenth Amendment 1868
Amendment to the Constitution in 1868 who's Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled Dred Scott v. Sandford , which held that blacks could not be citizens of the United States. Its Due Process Clause prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken. Its Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction. This clause later became the basis for Brown v. Board of Education.
Grimke sisters
American Quakers, educators and writers who were early advocates of abolitionism and women's rights. They traveled throughout the North, lecturing about their first hand experiences with slavery on their family's plantation. Among the first women to act publicly in social reform movements, they received abuse and ridicule for their abolitionist activity.
Mexican
American War 1846-8- armed conflict between the United States and Mexico after the annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas Revolution. American forces invaded and conquered New Mexico, California, and parts of what is currently northern Mexico. Another American army captured Mexico City, forcing Mexico to agree to the sale of its northern territories to the U.S. Territorial expansion of the United States to the Pacific coast was the goal of President James K. Polk, the leader of the Democratic Party. The war was highly controversial in the U.S., with the Whig Party and anti-slavery elements strongly opposed. The major consequence of the war was the forced Mexican Cession of the territories of California and New Mexico to the US.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
American abolitionist and author whose novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) depicted life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions and energized anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South.
Abby Kelley
American abolitionist and radical social reformer active from the 1830s to 1870s. She was part of the American Anti-Slavery Society, where she worked closely with William Lloyd Garrison and other radicals.
Dorothea Dix
American activist on behalf of the insane who created the first generation of American mental asylums.
Louis Sullivan
American architect considered "father of skyscrapers."
Edward Bellamy
American author famous for his utopian novel Looking Backward. Set in Boston in the year 2000, he described the US under an ideal socialist system that featured cooperation, brotherhood, and an industry geared to human need. The novel appealed to a public still suffering the effects of the depression of 1883.
Josiah Strong
American clergyman and one of the founders of the Social Gospel movement that sought to apply Protestant principles to solve the social ills brought on by industrialization and immigration. His most well-known and influential work was Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis (1885), intended to promote domestic missionary activity in the American West. Historians suggest it may have encouraged support for imperialistic policy.
Robert Fulton
American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat. In 1800 he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design the first practical submarine in history.
Frederick Winslow Taylor
American engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. He was one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and his ideas were highly influential in the Progressive Era.
Eli Whitney
American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the antebellum South. This invention made short staple cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery.
Thomas Hutchinson
American loyalist and governor who was opposed to the Stamp Act of 1765 but attempted to enforce the tax, believing both that it was his duty and that Parliament had the legal authority to impose it. This stubbornness and refusal to publicly oppose Parliament contributed to Hutchinson's great unpopularity among Bostonians and other North American colonists. His apparent support for the Stamp Act provoked a mob of colonists opposed to the tax into destroying his mansion and its extensive library in 1765. Hutchinson became a symbol of unpopular Toryism in the American colonies.
John C. Fremont
American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of president of the U.S., and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform opposing slavery.
Horace Greeley
American newspaper editor who's New York Tribune was America's most influential newspaper from the 1840s to the 1870s. Crusading against the corruption of Ulysses S. Grant's Republican administration, he was the new Liberal Republican Party's candidate in the 1872 U.S. presidential election. Despite having the additional support of the Democratic Party, he lost in a landslide.
Gilbert Stuart
American painter best known for the unfinished portrait George Washington on the dollar bill
Nat Turner
American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 56 deaths among their victims, the largest number of white fatalities to occur in one uprising in the southern United States. For his actions, Turner was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed. In the aftermath, the state executed 56 blacks accused of being part of Turner's slave rebellion, and blacks were also beaten and killed by white militias and mobs reacting with violence. Across Virginia and other southern states, state legislators passed new laws prohibiting education of slaves and free blacks, restricting rights of assembly and other civil rights for free blacks, and requiring white ministers to be present at black worship services.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
American social activist, abolitionist, and leading figure of the early woman's movement. Her Declaration of Sentiments, presented at the first women's rights convention held in 1848 in Seneca Falls is often credited with initiating the first organized woman's rights and woman's suffrage movements in the United States.
Daniel Dulany
American statesmen who earnestly opposed the Stamp Act despite the fact that he was a loyalist.
Alice Paul
American suffragette who, along with Lucy Burns and others, led a campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
Bronson Alcott
American teacher, writer and philosopher who left a legacy of forward-thinking social ideas. He created an unconventional school and an utopian community known as "Fruitlands" and was associated with Transcendentalism.
John Humphrey Noyes
American utopian socialist who founded Oneida in 1848. He coined the term "free love".
James Fenimore Cooper
American writer of the early 19th century who is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Among his most famous works is the Last of the Mohicans.
Internment of Japanese
Americans 1942- relocation and internment by the US government in 1942 of Japanese Americans who lived along the Pacific coast in the wake of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. FDR declared that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast, except for those in internment camps. In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the exclusion orders.
John Jay
An American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, who served as the President of the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1779. He was a minister to Spain and France, helping to fashion United States foreign policy, and to secure favorable peace terms from the United Kingdom (with Jay's Treaty of 1794) and the First French Republic. Jay As a leader of the new Federalist Party, he was the Governor of New York State from 1795 to 1801 and became the state's leading opponent of slavery. His first two attempts to pass laws for the emancipation of all slaves in New York failed in 1777 and in 1785, but his third attempt succeeded in 1799. The new law that he signed into existence brought about the emancipation of all slaves there before his death in 1829.
ABC mediation
Argetina, Brazil, and Chile worked together to develop common interests and a coordinated approach to issues with relatively little influence from outside powers. They helped put Carranza in charge of Mexico.
Horace Mann
Arguing that universal public education was the best way to turn the nation's unruly children into disciplined, judicious republican citizens, he won widespread approval from modernizers, especially in his Whig Party, for building public schools. Mann has been credited by many educational historians as the "Father of the Common School Movement".
Bland Allison Act 1878
As a result of economic depression, Congress required the Treasury to buy a certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars. The bill was vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, but Congress still put it in place. Sherman Silver Purchase Act 1890-passed by Congress to supplant the Bland-Allison Act of 1878. It not only required the federal government to purchase nearly twice as much silver as before, but also added to the amount of money already in circulation. The Purchase threatened to undermine the Treasury's gold reserves. After the panic of 1893 broke, President Cleveland called a special session of Congress and secured (1893) the repeal of the act.
Webster
Ashburton Treaty 1842- treaty resolving several border issues the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border. It also established the details of the border between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods; reaffirmed the location of the border in the westward frontier up to the Rocky Mountains; called for a final end to the slave trade on the high seas; and agreed on terms for shared use of the Great Lakes. The treaty was signed by US Secretary of State Daniel Webster.
Washington Irving
Best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle". Along with Fenimore Cooper, was among the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and Irving encouraged American authors. He advocated for writing as a legitimate profession, and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement.
Black Hawk War 1832
Black Hawk led a group of Native Americans to the ceded region during the winters of both 1830 and 1831, which the Illinois governor declared an "invasion". Federal troops were brought in, and Black Hawk's band was ordered to withdraw but refused. Hostilities began on May 14, 1832 when Black Hawk's band defeated militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run. The war primarily comprised a series of minor battles and skirmishes. The war ended with a decisive victory for the militia at the Battle of Bad Axe on August 1-2, 1832. While many Native Americans stayed in the area, most of their leaders fled.
Lord Cornwallis
British Army officer and colonial administrator best remembered as one of the leading British generals in the American War of Independence. His 1781 surrender to a combined American-French force at the Siege of Yorktown ended significant hostilities in North America. Active in the advance forces of many campaigns, he notably made possible the 1776 Battle of Princeton, an embarrassing British defeat, and surrendered his army at Yorktown in October 1781 after an extended campaign.
Gen William Howe
British army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the Revolutionary War. His record in the War of Independence was marked by the costly victorious assault in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the successful capture of both New York City and Philadelphia (the latter of which would have significant strategic implications).
Lord North
British prime minister who nearly recovered Britain from a crushing national debt following the Seven Years' War. However, the War of Independence overtook him. He resigned in March of 1782. He died as the minister who lost America.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945
By executive order of President Truman, the US dropped "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6 followed by the detonation of "Fat Man" over Nagasaki on August 9.
Prohibition 1919
By using pressure politics on legislators, the Anti-Saloon League achieved the goal of nationwide prohibition during WWI, emphasizing the need to destroy the political corruption of the saloons, the political power of the German-based brewing industry, and the need to reduce domestic violence in the home. Prohibition was instituted with ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1919, which prohibited the manufacturing, sale, or trade of alcohol. Congress passed the Volstead Act soon after to enforce the law, but most large cities did not enforce the law. Alcohol consumption did decline, but organized crime grew.
Henry Frick
Chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company who played a major role in the formation of the US Steel steel manufacturing concern. Once known by his critics as "the most hated man in America," he was named Frick one of the "Worst American CEOs of All Time" and he has long been vilified by historians for his lack of morality in business.
Ulysses S. Grant
Civil War Hero who, during Reconstruction, remained in command of the Army and implemented the Congressional plans to reoccupy the South and hold new elections in with black voters that gave Republicans control of the Southern states. Enormously popular in the North after the Union's victory, he was elected to the presidency in 1868 and again in 1872. Despite some civil rights accomplishments, his presidency was marred by economic turmoil and multiple scandals. His low standards in appointments generated corruption and bribery in government departments. In 1876, his reputation was severely damaged by the graft trials of the Whiskey Ring.
Causes of the Great Depression
Crash, people pulling out of the stock market further
Schechter v US
Declared NIRA unconstitutional due to an invalid use of commerce clause.
Election of 1844
Democrat James Knox Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on foreign policy, with Polk favoring the annexation of Texas and Clay opposed. Democratic nominee Polk ran on a platform that embraced American expansionism (Manifest Destiny). At their convention, the Democrats called for the annexation of Texas and asserted that the United States had a clear claim to Oregon. By informally tying the Oregon boundary dispute to the more controversial Texas debate, the Democrats appealed to both Northern and Southern expansionists. Polk went on to win a narrow victory over Whig candidate Clay, partly because Clay had taken a stand against expansion. Economic issues were also of great importance.
Stephen Douglas
Democrat Senator from Illinois, who argued in favor of popular sovereignty. He authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Freeport Doctrine, but failed to gain southern support in the election of 1860 and consequently lost.
Samuel J. Tilden
Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in the disputed election of 1876, one of the most controversial American elections of the 19th century. He lost, but just barely.
Al Smith
Democratic presidential candidate in 1928. He was the urban leader of the efficiency-oriented Progressive Movement, and was noted for achieving a wide range of reforms as governor in the 1920s. He was also linked to the Tammany Hall machine that controlled Manhattan politics; he was a strong opponent of prohibition. He was the first Catholic to run for President, and attracted many thousands of ethnic voters. However he was especially unpopular among Southern Baptists and German Lutherans, who feared the Catholic Church. It was a time of national prosperity, and Smith lost in a landslide to Hoover. Smith tried for the 1932 nomination, but was defeated by his former ally FDR. Smith became an opponent of FDR's New Deal.
Lincoln
Douglas Debates 1858- A series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, both running for U.S. Senate representative from Illinois. The two argued the important issues of the day like popular sovereignty, the Lecompton Constitution and the Dred Scott decision.
Dwight Eisenhower
During World War II, he served as Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45, from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
Allies
England, France, Russian, U.S (later)
Herbert Spencer
English philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist who coined "survival of the fittest"
Thomas Whately
English politician and writer who was a Member of Parliament and undersecretary of Lord North. He published a letter on the reasonableness of the Stamp Act.
Roosevelt Coalition
FDR created a coalition that included the Democratic party, big city machines, labor unions, minorities, liberal farm groups, intellectuals, and white Southerners.
Emilio Aguinaldo
Filipino politician and independence leader who played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain and the subsequent Philippine-American War that resisted American occupation.
Big Bill Haywood
Founded Industrial Workers of the World. He was involved in several important labor battles and was an advocate of industrial unionism, as opposed to the AFL. He believed that workers of all ethnicities should be united. His strong preference for direct action over political tactics alienated him from the Socialist Party, and contributed to his dismissal in 1912.
Republican Party
Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854
Citizen Genet
French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution who tried to draw the United States into war against Britian in 1793. His actions endangered American neutrality in the war between France and Britain, which Washington had pointedly declared in his Neutrality Proclamation of April 22. When Genêt met with Washington, he asked for what amounted to a suspension of American neutrality.
German U-Boat Warfare
German method of submarine warfare. Initially German submarines did attempt to comply with the Prize Rules but then went to unrestricted submarine warfare. US pressure forced the Germans to stop this for a while but in January 1917 declared a War Zone around the British Isles and sank up to a quarter of shipping entering it, until escorted convoys were introduced.
Battle of the Bulge
German offensive launched toward the end of WWII through the Ardennes Mountains in Belgium and France and Luxembourg on the Western Front. The goal was to split British and American Allied line in half and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies. Accomplished, Hitler could return his attention and the bulk of his forces to the Soviet armies in the east. The offensive was planned with the utmost secrecy, minimizing radio traffic and moving troops and equipment under cover of darkness. The Allies were completely caught by surprise. Fierce resistanceand terrain favoring the defenders threw the German timetable behind schedule. Allied reinforcements such as improving weather conditions which permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment as survivors retreated. For the US, this battle was the largest and bloodiest battle that they fought in World War
Central Powers
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
Pike's Peak 1858
Gold discovered and thousands of men rushed West. Though only a few of the 100,000 "59-ers" profited, thousands stayed in region to mine silver, or farm grain.
Smoot
Hawley Tariff 1930- raised tariffs to record levels. Contributed to the severity of the Great Depression.
Webster
Hayne Debate 1830- famous debate in the U.S. between Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina regarding protectionist tariffs. The heated speeches between Webster and Hayne themselves were unplanned, and stemmed from debate over a resolution by Connecticut Senator Samuel Foote calling for the temporary suspension of further land surveying until land already on the market was sold. Webster described the US government as "made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people."
Federal Emergency Relief Admin 1933
Headed by Harry Hopkins, its main goal was alleviating household unemployment by creating new unskilled jobs in government.
Muscle Shoals Veto 1931
Hoover vetoed the bill designed to dam the Tennessee River and sell government-produced electricity competing with private companies. Hoover refused to lower steep tariffs or support any "socialistic" relief proposals.
Nicholas Biddle
In 1823 Monroe appointed him president of the Second Bank of the United States. He developed the bank into the first effective U.S. central bank, sponsoring policies that curbed credit, regulated the money supply, and safeguarded government deposits. In 1832 the bank came under attack from Andrew Jackson, who vetoed its national charter in 1836.
William Crawford
In 1824, when the congressional caucus was fast becoming extinct, Crawford, being prepared to control it, insisted that it should be held. During the campaign Crawford was stricken with paralysis, and when the electoral vote was cast Jackson received 99, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. It remained for the House to choose from Jackson, Adams and Crawford, and through Clay's influence Adams became President. Crawford was invited by Adams to continue as Secretary of the Treasury, but declined.
Horatio Alger
In 1867 published the first of more than 100 short novels depicting rags-to-riches stories. Bearing such titles as Tattered Tom, the novels traced the rise of street people to positions of wealth and prominence. His work was intended to convey the idea that great rewards awaited those who applied themselves and followed the rules.
Pottawatomie Creek 1856
In reaction to the sacking of Lawrence by pro-slavery forces, John Brown and a band of abolitionist settlers killed five settlers north of Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas.
Rise of the Common Man
In the Jacksonian Era more men could vote, as most states switched from property requirements to taxpaying requirements for white male voters. Also, voting and politics were made more accessible to the common man.
Nominating conventions
In the early 19th century, members of Congress met within their party caucuses to select their party's nominee. Conflicts between the interests of the Eastern Congressional class and citizens in newer Western states led to the hotly contested 1824 election, in which factions of the Democratic-Republican Party rejected the caucus nominee, William H. Crawford of Georgia, and backed John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson instead. In 1831 the Anti-Masonic Party convened in Baltimore, Maryland to select a single presidential candidate agreeable to the whole party leadership in the 1832 presidential election. The National Republican Party and the Democratic Party soon followed suit.
Bison extermination
In the early days, tens of millions of Bison dotted the American prairie. Many people killed buffalo for their meat, for sport or killed them, took one small part of their bodies and just left the rest of the carcass to rot. By 1885, fewer than 1000 buffalo were left, and the species was in danger of extinction.
Wagner Act/NLRB 1935
It set up a permanent, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with the power to protect the right of most workers (with the notable exception of agricultural and domestic laborers) to organize unions of their own choosing and to encourage collective bargaining. The act prohibited employers from engaging in such unfair labor practices as setting up a company union and firing or otherwise discriminating against workers who organized or joined unions
Free Silver
Its advocates were in favor of an inflationary monetary policy using the free coinage of silver. It largely pitted the financial establishment of the Northeast, who were creditors and would be hurt by inflation, against the more rural areas of the country, who were debtors and would benefit from inflation. The debate lasted from the Coinage Act of 1873, which demonetized silver, to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which radically overhauled the US monetary system, coming to a head in the presidential election of 1896, most memorably in the Cross of Gold speech. Free Silver was consistently defeated.
Panay incident 1937
Japanese attack on the USS Panay while she was anchored in outside Nanking. The Japanese claimed that they did not see the US flags on the deck of the gunboat, apologized, and paid an indemnity.
Norris
LaGuardia Anti-injunction Act 1932- banned yellow-dog contracts, barred federal courts from issuing injunctions against nonviolent labor disputes, and creating a positive right of noninterference by employers against workers joining trade unions.
Repeal of Whiskey tax 1800
Many residents of the western frontier petitioned against passage of the whiskey excise. When that failed, some western Pennsylvanians organized extralegal conventions to advocate repeal of the law. Jefferson repealed it.
John Hancock
Massachusetts politician and Harvard graduate who became the wealthiest man in New England. In 1768, he emerged as a popular hero during the resistance to the Townshend duties. The seizure of his ship Liberty provoked a riot in Boston and admiring patriots celebrated when efforts to prosecute him failed. In 1775, Hancock was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. As the presiding officer, he was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.
General Victoriano Huerta
Mexican military officer and president of Mexico whose supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican revolution.
Barbary Pirates
Muslim pirates and privateers who operated in North Africa (the Barbary Coast). In addition to seizing ships, they engaged in raids on European coastal towns and villages. Pirates captured thousands of ships, and this became a problem for the United States because they could not afford to pay the bribes from the pirates to get their ships back.
Naval battles at Tripoli 1802
Naval battle fought on May 16, 1802 in Tripoli harbor between a combined force consisting of the American frigate USS Boston and two Swedish frigates against several Tripolitian corsairs. The Swedish-American force was enforcing the blockade when an engagement broke out between it and Tripolitian forces. The Allied fleet damaged the Tripolitian squadron as well as the harbor fortifications before withdrawing and resuming the blockade.
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Navy flag officer who's concept of sea power was based on the idea that the most powerful navy will control the globe; it was most famously presented in The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (1890).
Kansas
Nebraska Act 1854-created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries. The initial purpose was to create opportunities for a Transcontinental Railroad. It established that settlers could vote to decide whether to allow slavery, in the name of popular sovereignty. Douglas hoped that would ease relations between the North and the South, because the South could expand slavery to new territories but the North still had the right to abolish slavery in its states. Instead, opponents denounced the law as a concession to the slave power of the South. The new Republican Party, which was created in opposition to the act, aimed to stop the expansion of slavery.
Buchanan
Pakenham Treaty 1846- treaty between GB and the US that brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by both GB and the US since the Treaty of 1818
Charles Grandison Finney
Presbyterian and Congregationalist figure in the Second Great Awakening. He was known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings such as having women pray in public meetings of mixed gender, development of the "anxious seat", a place where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer, and public censure of individuals by name in sermons and prayers. He was also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching.
Square Deal
President Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program formed upon three basic ideas: conservation, control of corporations, and consumer protection. It aimed at helping middle class citizens and involved attacking bad trusts while at the same time protecting business from the extreme demands of organized labor.
Herbert Hoover
President from 1929-1933. He easily won the Republican nomination, despite having no previous elected office experience. US was prosperous and optimistic at the time, leading to a landslide victory over Democrat Al Smith. He believed in the Efficiency Movement, which held that government and the economy were riddled with inefficiency and waste, and could be improved by experts who could identify the problems and solve them. When the Wall Street Crash of 1929 struck less than 8 months after he took office, he tried to combat the depression with volunteer efforts, none of which produced economic recovery. He failed to get reelected in 1932.
Oneida
Religious commune founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848. The community believed that Jesus Christ had already returned , making it possible for them to bring about Christ's millennial kingdom themselves, and be free of sin and perfect in this world, not just Heaven. They practiced Communalism and Complex Marriage.
Matthew Lyon
Representative from Vermont. In the presidential election of 1800 that resulted in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, throwing the vote into the House, Lyon cast the deciding ballot for Jefferson. Lyon was elected to his second term in the House (1798) while serving time in jail. He had been found guilty under the Sedition Act of 1798 of maligning the government for charging that the Federalists were pro-British.
William McKinley
Republican president (1896-1901) whose signature issue was high tariffs on imports (McKinley Tariff of 1890). As the Republican candidate in the 1896 presidential election against Bryan, he upheld the gold standard and promoted pluralism among ethnic groups. His campaign introduced new advertising-style techniques that revolutionized campaign practices and beat back the crusading of his William Jennings Bryan. The 1896 election marked the beginning of the Progressive Era. He presided over a return to prosperity after the Panic of 1893, and made gold the base of the currency.
Calvin Coolidge
Republican president of the US from 1923-1929. Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative. He restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of Harding's administration. He embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class.
New Harmony
Robert Owen, a utopian thinker and social reformer bought this land in 1824. The town banned money and other commodities. For this and other reasons the communal society was doomed to failure, and it dissolved in 1829.
William Seward
Secretary of State under Abe Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. An outspoken opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years, and was widely regarded as the leading contender for the party's presidential nomination in 1860 - yet his very outspokenness may have cost him the nomination.
Cordell Hull
Secretary of State under FDR during much of World War II. He helped established the UN.
John Hay
Secretary of State under McKinley and TR. He was responsible for the Open Door policy (1899) with regard to China, which stressed freedom of commercial enterprise for American merchants; for U.S. involvement in the Boxer Uprising.
Andrew Mellon
Secretary of the Treasury who advised Herbert Hoover in the ideas of trickledown economics. Additionally, he advocated weeding out weak banks for the recovery of the banking system. This was accomplished through refusing to lend cash to banks and by refusing to put more into circulation. He advocated spending cuts to keep the Federal budget balanced, and opposed stimulus measures. These were all measures that did not help the Depression, and he was impeached in 1932.
Peggy Eaton Affair 1831
Senator John Eaton, a close friend of Jackson, had married Peggy O'Neill. The local rumor mill ground out gossip that O'Neill and Eaton had had an affair prior to her ex-husband's death. The Cabinet wives, led by Mrs. John C. Calhoun, were scandalized and refused to attend events when she was present. Jackson was not pleased with this, remembering how deeply his late wife had been hurt by scandal-mongering. He resented Calhoun's inability to control his wife and was disappointed when Martin Van Buren alone among the Cabinet officers defended the Eatons. In 1831, Eaton and Van Buren resigned their offices, putting pressure on the other members to do likewise. These resignations gave Jackson the opportunity to appoint Cabinet officers who were loyal to him rather than Calhoun.
Horizontal integration
Standard Oil and Rockefeller
Potsdam Conference 1945
Stalin, Churchill, and Truman gathered to decide how to administer punishment to the Germany. It transferred the chief authority in Germany to allied military commanders in their respective zones. Allies set up a new system of rule for Germany, aimed at outlawing socialism, disarming Germany and preventing its again becoming a military power, and at fostering democratic ideals. The German economy was to be decentralized, and monopolies were to be broken up; the development of agriculture was to be emphasized in reorganizing the German economy. A mode for German reparations payments was outlined. It also presented an ultimatum to Japan, offering that nation the choice between unconditional surrender and total destruction. The vague wording and tentative provisions of the Potsdam Agreement, allowing a wide range of interpretation, have been blamed for its failure.
Declaration of Independence
Statement adopted by the Continental Congress which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. It is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural rights, including a right of revolution.
Glass
Steagall Act 1933- established FDIC and introduced banking reforms, some of which were designed to control speculation.
Freeport Doctrine
Stephen Douglas's doctrine that, in spite of the Dred Scott decision, slavery could be excluded from territories of the United States by local legislation. Although propounded earlier and elsewhere, this solution of the apparent inconsistency between popular sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision came to be known as the Freeport Doctrine. The extensive publicity the doctrine received killed his chance of Southern support for the presidency in 1860.
Tokyo firebombing 1944
Strategic bombing and urban area bombing began in Japan. Raids lasted until the day Japan capitulated. The air raid of 9-10 March 1945 was one of the most destructive bombing raids in history.
U.S. v. E.C. Knight 1895
Supreme Court case that limited the government's power to control monopolies. The case, which was the first heard concerning the Sherman Antitrust Act, was in response to the "Sugar Trust" monopoly on sugar. The justification for the final ruling was that government could only constitutionally regulate interstate trade, but not commerce.
Wabash v. IL 1886
Supreme Court decision that narrowed the Munn v. Illinois. The court declared invalid an Illinois law prohibiting certain clauses in transportation contracts as an infringement on the exclusive powers of Congress granted by the commerce clause. The result of the case was denial of state power to regulate interstate rates for railroads, and the decision led to creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
19th Amendment 1920
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the amendment and first introduced it in 1878
Albert Gallatin
Swiss-American Congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury who was politically active against the Federalist Party program, and was elected to the House of Representatives and became the House Majority Leader. He was an important leader of the new Democratic-Republican Party, and its chief spokesman on financial matters and opposed the entire program of Alexander Hamilton.
New Nationalism
TR's Progressive political philosophy during the 1912 election. The central issue was government protection of human welfare and property rights. He insisted that only a powerful federal government could regulate the economy and guarantee social justice. TR believed that the concentration in industry was a natural part of the economy. He wanted executive agencies (not the courts) to regulate business. The federal government should be used to protect workers from exploitation. In terms of policy, the New Nationalism supported child labor laws and minimum wage laws for women.
Compromise of 1850
Texas surrendered its claim to New Mexico but received debt relief and the Texas Panhandle. The South received the possibility of slave states by popular sovereignty in the new New Mexico Territory and Utah Territory, which, however, were unsuited to plantation agriculture and populated by non-Southerners; a stronger Fugitive Slave Act, which in practice outraged Northern public opinion; and preservation of slavery in DC, although the slave trade was banned there.
Alien and Sedition Acts 1798
The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed by the Federalists under John Adams in the 5th United States Congress during an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War. Proponents claimed the acts were designed to protect the United States from alien citizens of enemy powers and to prevent seditious attacks from weakening the government.
Burning of Washington DC 1814
The British Army occupied Washington, D.C. and set fire to the Whitehouse after the US had burned the Canadian capital of York.
Bolshevik Revolution 1917
The Revolution in Petrograd overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and gave the power to the local soviets dominated by Bolsheviks. The revolution was led by the Bolsheviks, who used their influence to organize the armed forces. Bolshevik forces tookover government buildings.
War Hawks
The War Hawks were Democratic-Republicans who had been imbued with the ideals of the American Revolution, and were primarily from southern and western states. The War Hawks advocated going to war against related to the interference of the Royal Navy in American shipping, which the War Hawks believed hurt the American economy and injured American prestige. War Hawks from the western states also believed that the British were instigating American Indians on the frontier to attack American settlements, and so the War Hawks called for an invasion of British Canada to punish Britain and end this threat. The leader of this group was Speaker of the House Henry Clay of Kentucky.
Election of 1848
The Whigs in 1846-47 had focused all their energies on condemning Polk's war policies. They had to quickly reverse course when, in February 1848 Polk surprised everyone with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War and gave the US vast new territories. Then in the summer the Whigs nominated the hero of the war, Zachary Taylor. They shifted their attention to the new issue of whether slavery could be banned from the new territories. The choice of Taylor was almost in desperation--he was not clearly committed to Whig principles, but he was popular for leading the war effort. Taylor's victory made him one of only two Whigs to be elected President before the party ceased to exist in the 1850s.
Pragmatism
The concept, in William James' eyes, was that the truth of an idea needed to be tested to prove its validity.
First Battle At Bull Run 1861
The initial major battle of the Civil War. Union forces charged the opposition lines several times and nearly broke through. The Confederates were bolstered by the courageous leadership of Stonewall Jackson. Northern forces fled towards D.C. The encounter ended all thought in the North that the war would be short and easily won. Southerners were elated, believing that their hopes of a quick victory might be realized.
Quebec Act 1774
The principal components of the act were: The province's territory was expanded to take over part of the Indian Reserve; oath of allegiance was replaced with one that no longer made reference to the Protestant faith. It guaranteed free practice of the Catholic faith. It restored the use of the French civil law for private matters while maintaining the use of the English common law for public administration, including criminal prosecution.
Tariff of 1816
The recently concluded War of 1812 forced Americans to confront the issue of protecting their struggling industries. The British had stashed large quantities of manufactured goods in warehouses during the war, but when peace was achieved in 1815, a flood of these goods was dumped on the American market. New England manufacturing concerns found it almost impossible to compete with the cheap foreign imports. Voices for protective legislation were found among the former War Hawks. Henry Clay argued on behalf of the domestic mill and iron industries. John C. Calhoun supported protectionism because he believed that the South's future would include industrial development. The Tariff of 1816 was a mildly protectionist measure, raising the average rates to around 20 percent. New England manufacturers actually desired higher rates. Daniel Webster, a spokesman for New England interests, opposed the tariff measure. He did not want to see the nation's industrial base broadened, fearing that New England's commercial strength would be diluted. The 1816 tariff act was the first true protectionist measure, reversing the revenue-generation emphasis of the 1789 measure.
Essex Junto
These Federalists supported Alexander Hamilton and the Massachusetts radicals. When Hamilton was offered a place in the plot to secede New England from the Union, he denied, so the Essex Junto tried to vie support from Aaron Burr, who accepted. They supported the Hartford Convention's disaffection with the War of 1812.
Annexation of Texas 1845
This act quickly led to the Mexican War (1846-48). Texas then claimed, but never actually controlled, the western part of this new territory. This created a continuing dispute between Texas, the federal government and the New Mexico Territory until the Compromise of 1850, when these lands became parts of other territories of the United States in exchange for the U.S. federal government assuming the Texas Republic's $10 million in debt. It was annexed by John Tyler.
Initiative, Referendum, Recall
To allow voters to express their dissatisfaction with elected officials, Progressives proposed the recall, which allowed voters to vote to remove them before the end of their term of office. To give voters a greater voice in law-making, Progressives proposed the initiative and the referendum. The initiative allows voters to propose a bill and legislation and the referendum permits them to vote directly on an issue.
Direct Primary most states by 1916
To make the electoral process more democratic, all but three states adopted direct primaries, which allowed voters to choose among several candidates for a party's nomination.
Henry Barnard
U.S. educator who helped create a state board of education and the first teachers' institute (1839). With Horace Mann, he undertook to reform the country's common schools. He worked to raise teachers' wages, repair buildings, and obtain higher-education appropriations. In 1855 he helped found the American Journal of Education.
Liberty Party
U.S. political party formed by a splinter group of abolitionists. It was created in opposition to William Lloyd Garrison, who scorned political action as a futile way to end slavery. At its first party convention in 1840, James Birney was nominated for U.S. president. By 1844 the party had influenced undecided legislators in many local elections to adopt antislavery stands. Dissolved into Free Soil Party.
Gadsden Purchase 1854
U.S. purchase of land in Mexico. Following the conquest of much of northern Mexico in the Mexican War , advocates of a southern transcontinental railroad endorsed the purchase of northern Mexican territory, now southern Arizona and southern New Mexico. The purchase was negotiated for $10 million.
Lodge Reservations 1920
US Senator Henry Cabot Lodge was the Republican Majority Leader and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and a member of the US Senate. In response to the Treaty of Versailles, he penned 14 reservations to the proposed agreements. Heavily influenced by the 14 Points, the Treaty called for the creation of a League of Nations in which the promise of mutual security would prevent another major war. Differing from his Democratic contemporary Wilson, Lodge held that the US should take a cautionary approach towards international arbitration after the war. As a result of Lodge's Reservations, the US Senate voted down the Treaty of Versailles after momentous debate. The US did not join the league.
Vertical integration
US Steel and Carnegie
Insular cases
US Supreme Court Cases regarding the status of the territories gained in the Spanish-American War. Essentially, the Supreme Court said that full constitutional rights did not automatically extend to all areas under American control.
Commodore Dewey
US admiral of the navy who led a victorious squadron in the Philippines against Spain. The engagement was the first major battle of the Spanish-American War.
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
US federal law signed by Chester Arthur, suspending Chinese immigration.
Embargo Act 1807
US laws restricting American ships from engaging in foreign trade. Designed to protect American interests and avoid war with Britain and/or France. They were opposed by New England which suffered greatly from them.
Maine explosion 1898
US ship that had been sent to Cuba to protect US interests during the revolt against Spain. She suddenly exploded and sank, killing three quarters of her crew. Though then the cause of her sinking was unclear, popular opinion in the blamed Spain, and was one of the precipitating events of the Spanish-American War.
Battle of Horseshoe Bend 1814
United States forces and Indian allies under General Andrew Jackson defeated a part of the Creek Indian tribe inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, effectively ending the Creek War. Significant because the power of the Upper Creek was broken and the brief Creek War came to a close. Also, extremely rich lands taken from the tribes in Georgia and Alabama were quickly opened to white settlers.
Morrill Act 1862
United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges
Fuel Administration 1917
WWI agency of the that came as a result of shortages of coal experienced in the winter of 1916-17. To address concerns about a steady supply of fuel to support military and industrial operations and for use by consumers, in 1917 this was established. The administration had broad powers to set the price of coal at various points and the cost of transportation, and in regards to end use. Daylight Savings Time was formally adopted in the United States in 1918 by this administration.
7 Years/French and Indian War 1756-63
War fought between Britain and France over control of North America. The French had colonies in Canada and Louisiana, and were attempting to link them by taking control of the Ohio Valley. This would have encircled the British colonies on the coast, and stopped any expansion on their part. The war began with conflict between the French in the Ohio Valley and the Virginians, led by George Washington, who was forced to withdraw by the French. The war started well for the French but turned in 1758, first with the capture of Louisburg and then Fort Ticonderoga. Finally the French lost Montreal, ending their interest in Canada, and removing the French threat to the American colonies. The British occupation of Canada was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris. It was part of the greater 7 Years War in Europe.
Vera Cruz
Wilson sends U.S. armies to block this port
Proclamation of Neutrality 1914
Woodrow Wilson stated that the US would not take a stand in WWI and would instead keep its ports open to free trade. This was due to the general belief that the war being fought was a result of imperialism and capitalist greed. To set the example and maintain democratic practices, US believed staying out of the war was important. Wilson's platform for the election of 1916 was the fact that he kept America at peace.
Gen John Burgoyne
a British army officer who is best known for his role in the Revolutionary American War. During the Saratoga campaign he surrendered his army to the American troops. Appointed to command a force that would capture Albany and end the rebellion, Burgoyne advanced from Canada but soon found him surrounded and outnumbered. Burgoyne faced criticism when he returned to Britain, and never held another active command.
Preston Brooks
a Democratic Congressman from South Carolina, known for severely beating Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate with a cane in response to an insult.
Tecumseh
a Native American leader of a large tribal confederacy that opposed the United States during the War of 1812. The confederacy eventually moved farther into the northwest and settled Indiana in 1808. Tecumseh confronted Governor William Henry Harrison to demand that land purchase treaties be rescinded. During the War of 1812, Tecumseh's confederacy allied with the British in Canada and helped in the capture of Fort Detroit. The Americans, led by Harrison, launched a counter assault and invaded Canada. They killed Tecumseh in the Battle of the Thames, in which they were also victorious over the British.
Franklin Pierce
a New Hampshire Democrat who became the 14th president of the United States. In 1852 he attended the Democratic national convention and won the nomination and the election over incumbent president Millard Fillmore. He tried to promote conciliation between the North and the South over slavery, an issue that dominated his 1 term presidency.
Social Gospel
a Protestant intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems. The leaders believed the Second Coming could not happen until humankind rid itself of social evils by human effort. They were predominantly associated with the liberal wing of the Progressive Movement , although they were typically conservative when it came to their views on social issues.
Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner
a Republican leaders in charge of congressional reconstruction
Sitting Bull
a Sioux holy man who led his people as a war chief during years of resistance to government policies. He is notable y for his role in the major victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn against Col Custer. Seven months after the battle, he and his group left the US to Saskatchewan, where he remained until 1881, at which time he surrendered to US forces. During an ensuing struggle between his followers and the agency police trying to arrest him, he was shot by policemen.
Plessy v Ferguson 1896
a Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of "separate but equal". The issue first arose when Homer Plessy, a bi-racial man, refused to move to the "colored" section of a train in Louisiana.
Freedmen's Bureau
a U.S. federal government agency that aided distressed refugees and freedmen, during the Reconstruction era of the United States. It was passed in 1865 to aid former slaves through food and housing, oversight, education, health care, and employment contracts with private landowners. It became a key agency during Reconstruction, assisting freed slaves in the South. It was attacked by Southern whites for organizing blacks against their former masters, and the majority of local Bureau agents were hindered in carrying out their duties by the opposition of former Confederates, the lack of a military presence to enforce their authority, and an excessive amount of paperwork.
Winfield Scott
a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852. A national hero after the Mexican-American War, he served as military governor of Mexico City. Such was his stature that, in 1852, the United States Whig Party passed over its own incumbent President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, to nominate him in the United States presidential election. He lost to Democrat Franklin Pierce in the general election, but remained a popular national figure, receiving a brevet promotion in 1856 to the rank of lieutenant general, becoming the first American since George Washington to hold that rank.
Cohens v Virginia 1821
a United States Supreme Court decision most noted for John Marshall and the Court's assertion of its power to review state supreme court decisions in criminal law matters when they claim their Constitutional rights have been violated. An act of the United States Congress authorized the operation of a lottery in the District of Columbia. The Cohen brothers proceeded to sell D.C. lottery tickets in the Commonwealth of Virginia, violating state law. State authorities tried and convicted the Cohens, and then declared themselves to be the final arbiters of disputes between the states and the national government. In this case, the Cohens were prosecuted successfully by the state of Virginia for selling lottery tickets from the District of Columbia in Virginia, thereby violating Virginia state law. The Supreme Court upheld their convictions. The larger issue the court dealt with in making their decision was that of reviewing state court cases. The Supreme Court claimed full appellate jurisdiction over any case tried before a state court. Virginia, however, decided that this was unacceptable and declared the decision the Supreme Court made null and void because Virginia felt the ruling limited states' rights.
Ida B. Wells
a black journalist, newspaper editor and early leader in the civil rights movement. She documented the extent of lynching in the United States, and was also active in the women's rights movement and the women's suffrage movement.
Battle of Wounded Knee 1890
a confrontation between the Sioux Indians and the Americans in South Dakota. On the morning of December 29, the troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle claiming he had paid a lot for it. A scuffle over Black Coyote's rifle escalated and a shot was fired which resulted in the 7th Cavalry opening firing indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow troopers. Those few Lakota warriors who still had weapons began shooting back at the attacking troopers, who quickly suppressed the Lakota fire. The surviving Lakota fled, but U.S. cavalrymen pursued and killed many who were unarmed.
Henry Cabot Lodge
a considered to be one of the first Senate Majority leaders and was the first Senate Republican Leader, while serving as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. He is best known for his positions on foreign policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles, which the US Senate never ratified.
Second Continental Congress 1775
a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met beginning in Philadelphia, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States.
First Continental Congress 1774
a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met in Philadelphia as a response to the passage of the Coercive Acts. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; publishing a list of rights and grievances; and petitioning King George for redress of those grievances. The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts. Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened the following year to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War. The delegates also urged each colony to set up and train its own militia.
Rosie the Riveter
a cultural icon representing the American women who worked in factories during WWII, many of whom worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and war supplies
Compromise of 1877
a deal that settled the disputed 1876 Presidential election and ended Congressional Reconstruction. Through it, Republican Rutherford Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Tilden on the understanding that Hayes would remove the federal troops that were propping up Republican state governments in the south. As soon as the troops left, many Republicans also left and the "Redeemer" Democrats took control.
Yorktown 1781
a decisive victory by combined assault of American forces led by George Washington and French forces over a British Army commanded by Lord Cornwallis. It was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender of Cornwallis's army prompted the British government eventually to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Suffolk Resolves 1774
a declaration made by the leaders of Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The Resolves were recognized by statesman Edmund Burke as a major development in colonial animosity leading to adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence from Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776, and he urged British conciliation with the American colonies.
Haymarket Square 1886
a demonstration and unrest that took place on began in Chicago as a rally in support of striking workers, when an unknown person threw a bomb at police. The blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of eight police officers and an some civilians. In the legal proceedings that followed, four men were convicted and executed, and one committed suicide in prison, although the prosecution conceded none of the defendants had thrown the bomb.
Scalawags
a derogatory term applied to white, republican Southerners who supported the federal reconstruction plan and cooperated with the blacks in order to achieve their ends.
XYZ Affair 1798-1800
a diplomatic incident that almost led to war between the United States and France. The scandal inflamed U.S. public opinion and led to the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Though the affair caused an unofficial naval war, the two countries were able to negotiate their differences and end their conflict in 1800. The affair took place during one of the Napoleonic wars between France and Great Britain. The French regarded the United States as a hostile nation, particularly after the signing of Jay's Treaty in 1794. This treaty settled some of the problems that continued to cause friction between the United States and Great Britain after the peace treaty of 1783 that granted the colonies independence.
William Jennings Bryan
a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States(1896, 1900 and 1908). In the intensely fought 1896 and 1900 elections, he was defeated by William McKinley but retained control of the Democratic Party. He invented the national stumping tour, in an era when other presidential candidates stayed home. He promoted Free Silver in 1896, anti-imperialism in 1900, and trust-busting in 1908, calling on Democrats to fight the trusts and big banks, and embrace anti-elitist ideals of republicanism.
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
a federal statute of the United States that established a national minimum wage, guaranteed 'time-and-a-half' for overtime in certain jobs, and prohibited most employment of minors in "oppressive child labor," a term that is defined in the statute. It applies to employees engaged in interstate commerce or employed by an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, unless the employer can claim an exemption from coverage.
Panic of 1837
a financial crisis in the United States built on a speculative fever. The bubble burst on May 10, 1837 in NYC, when every bank began to accept payment only in specie. This was based on the assumption by former president Jackson that government was selling land for state bank notes of questionable value. The Panic was followed by a five-year depression.
Caroline Affair 1837
a group of men rebelled in Upper Canada demanding a more democratic government. There was much sympathy for their cause in the US, and a small steamer, the Caroline, carried men and supplies from the U.S. side of the Niagara river to the Canadian rebels. A small group of British and Canadians loyal to the Upper Canadian government crossed the river to the U.S. side where the Caroline was and set fire to her and sent her over the falls. One American was killed in the incident. Americans on the border were aroused to intense anti-British feeling, and soldiers under Gen. Winfield Scott were rushed to the scene to prevent violent American action.
McNary Haugen Bill 1920s
a highly controversial plan to subsidize agriculture by raising the domestic prices of farm products. The plan was for the government to buy wheat, and either store it or export it at a loss. Despite attempts in to pass the bill — it was vetoed by President Coolidge. According to the bill, a federal agency would be created to support and protect domestic farm prices by attempting to maintain price levels that existed before WWI. By purchasing surpluses and selling them overseas, the government would take losses that would be paid for through fees against farm producers.
Dartmouth v Woodward 1819
a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with the application of the Contract Clause of the United States Constitution to private corporations. The case arose when the president of Dartmouth College was deposed by its trustees, leading to the New Hampshire legislature attempting to force the college to become a public institution and thereby place the ability to appoint trustees in the hands of the governor. The Supreme Court upheld the sanctity of the original charter of the college. The decision settled the nature of public versus private charters and resulted in the rise of the American business corporation
Fletcher v Peck 1810
a landmark United States Supreme Court decision and one of the first cases in which the Supreme Court ruled a state law unconstitutional. The decision helped create a growing precedent for the sanctity of legal contracts, and hinted that Native Americans did not hold title to their own lands. Following the end of American Revolution, Georgia claimed possession of the Yazoo lands, an Indian Reserve west of its own territory. 1795, the Georgia legislature divided the area into four tracts anf then sold the tracts to separate land development companies. It was revealed that the Yazoo Land Act sale to private speculators had been approved in return for bribes and after the scandal was exposed voters rejected most of the incumbents in the next election, and the next legislature, reacting to the public outcry, repealed the law and voided transactions made under it. John Peck had purchased land that had previously been sold under the 1795 act and later sold this land to Robert Fletcher who then brought this suit against Peck in 1803, claiming that he did not have clear title to the land when he sold it. The resulting case reached the Supreme Court which in a unanimous decision ruled that the state legislature's repeal of the law was void because it was unconstitutional. The opinion written by John Marshall held that the sale was a binding contract which cannot be invalidated even if illegally secured and as a result the ruling lends further protection to property rights against popular pressures and is the earliest case of the Court asserting its right to invalidate state laws which are in conflict with or are otherwise contrary to the Constitution.
McCulloch v Maryland 1819
a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. The state of Maryland had attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland. Though the law, by its language, was generally applicable to all banks not chartered in Maryland, the Second Bank of the United States was the only out-of-state bank then existing in Maryland, and the law was recognized in the court's opinion as having specifically targeted the U.S. Bank. The Court invoked the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution. This fundamental case established the following two principles: The Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government. State action may not impede valid constitutional exercises of power by the Federal government.
Judiciary Act of 1789
a landmark statute adopted on September 24, 1789 in the first session of the First United States Congress establishing the U.S. federal judiciary. It prescribed that the "judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court." It made no provision, though, for the composition or procedures of any of the courts, leaving this to Congress to decide. The existence of a separate federal judiciary had been controversial during the debates over the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists had denounced the judicial power as a potential instrument of national tyranny. Congress, however, decided to establish a system of federal trial courts with broader jurisdiction, thereby creating an arm for enforcement of national laws within each state.
Civil Rights Act of 1866
a law regarding everyone born in the US and not subject to any foreign power is a citizen, without regard to race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude. As citizens they could make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property. Persons who denied these rights to former slaves were guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction faced a fine or imprisonment. The activities of the Ku Klux Klan undermined the workings of this act and it failed to guarantee the civil rights of blacks. It was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson, then passed over his veto by Radical Republicans in Congress.
George McClellan
a major general during the Civil War who played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union. He chronically overestimated the strength of enemy units and was reluctant to apply principles of mass, frequently leaving large portions of his army unengaged at decisive points. His performance at the bloody Battle of Antietam ended in a draw, despite outnumbering the Confederates. As a result, his leadership skills during battles were questioned by President Abraham Lincoln, who eventually removed him from command. After he was relieved of command, he became the unsuccessful Democratic nominee opposing Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. His party had an anti-war platform, promising to end the war and negotiate with the Confederacy.
American System
a mercantilist economic plan based on the "American School" ideas of Alexander Hamilton, consisting of a high tariff to support internal improvements such as road-building, and a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and form a national currency. This program was intended to allow the United States to grow and prosper, by providing a defense against the dumping of cheap foreign products, mainly at the time from the British Empire.
Hudson River School
a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism. The paintings for which the movement is named depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, including the Catskill, Adirondack, and the White Mountains; eventually works by the second generation of artists associated with the school expanded to include other locales.
Terence Powderly
a national spokesman for the working man as head of the Knights of Labor from 1879 until 1893.
American (Know Nothing) Party
a nativist American political movement of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by Catholic immigrants. Mainly active from 1854 to 1856, it strove to curb immigration and naturalization, though its efforts met with little success. The movement originated in New York in 1843 as the American Republican Party.
Chisholm Trail
a trail used in the late 1800s to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The trail stretched from the San Antonio, Texas to Kansas, where the cattle would be sold and shipped eastward.
Tammany Hall 1868
a political/social party that was headed in 1868 by William Tweed. Tweed was successful with making the organization a statewide force, but was eventually brought down due to the massive amounts of corruption he ushered.
Wade Davis Bill 1864
a program proposed for the Reconstruction of the South written by two Radical Republicans. In contrast to President Abraham Lincoln's more lenient Ten Percent Plan, the bill made re-admittance to the Union for former Confederate states contingent on a majority in each Southern state to take the Ironclad oath to the effect they had never in the past supported the Confederacy. The bill passed both houses of Congress, but was pocket vetoed by Lincoln and never took effect. Lincoln wanted to mend the Union by carrying out the Ten Percent Plan.
Samuel Gridley Howe
a prominent 19th century physician, abolitionist, and an advocate of education for the blind.'
Tariff of 1832
a protectionist tariff passed as a reduced tariff to remedy the conflict created by the tariff of 1828, but it was still deemed unsatisfactory by southerners and other groups hurt by high tariff rates. Southern opposition to this tariff and its predecessor, the Tariff of Abominations, caused the Nullification Crisis. The tariff was later lowered down to 35 percent, a reduction of 10 percent. This was still not satisfactory, and it was repealed by the Compromise Tariff of 1833.
Ghost Dance
a religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. As the movement spread from its original source, Native American tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs. The chief prophet prophesied a peaceful end to white American expansion while preaching goals of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation by Native Americans. Practice of the movement was believed to have contributed to Lakota resistance. In the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, US Army forces killed at least 153 Lakota Sioux.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
a restorationist Christian church founded by Joseph Smith
Dred Scott v. Sanford 1857
a ruling by Supreme Court that people of African descent imported into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be citizens. The court also held that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories and that, because slaves were not citizens, they could not sue in court. Lastly, the Court ruled that slaves, as private property, could not be taken away from their owners without due process. The Supreme Court's decision was written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.
Whiskey Ring 1875
a scandal involving diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among Republican politicians who were able to siphon off millions of dollars in federal taxes on liquor; It was seen by many as a sign of corruption under the Republican governments, and President Grant, although not directly involved in the ring, came to be seen as emblematic of Republican corruption. This, along with other alleged abuses of power by the Republican party, contributed to national weariness of Reconstruction, which ended after Grant's presidency with the Compromise of 1877.
Treaty of San Ildefonso (1800)
a secretly negotiated treaty between France and Spain in which Spain returned the colonial territory of Louisiana to France. The treaty was negotiated under some duress, as Spain was under pressure from Napoleon.
Pacific Railway Act 1862
a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of the transcontinental railroad through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies.
Townshend Duties 1767
a series of acts passed to raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and judges so that they would be independent of colonial control, to create a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations, to punish the province of New York for failing to comply with the Quartering Act, and to establish the precedent that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. The Townshend Acts met with resistance in the colonies, prompting the occupation of Boston by British troops in 1768, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770.
Appomattox 1865
a series of battles in Virginia that culminated in the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and the effective end of the American Civil War.
The Alabama Claims
a series of claims for damages by the US government against Britain for the assistance given to the Confederate cause during the Civil War. After international arbitration endorsed the American position in 1872, Britain settled the matter by paying the US $15.5 million for damages done by several warships built in Britain and sold to the Confederacy, thus ending the dispute and ensuring friendly relations.
1st & 2nd Sioux Wars
a series of conflicts between the United States and the Sioux people that occurred in the latter half of the 19th century. The earliest conflict came in 1854 when a fight broke out at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, when Indian warriors killed 29 U.S. soldiers after their chief was shot in the back, in what became known as the Grattan Massacre. The U.S. exacted revenge the next year by killing approximately 100 Sioux in Nebraska.
Letter from a PA Farmer 1767
a series of essays written by the Pennsylvania lawyer and legislator John Dickinson. The twelve letters were widely read and reprinted throughout the thirteen colonies, and were important in uniting the colonists against the Townshend Acts. The success of his letters earned Dickinson considerable fame. While acknowledging the power of Parliament in matters concerning the whole British Empire, Dickinson argued that the colonies were sovereign in their internal affairs. He thus argued that taxes laid upon the colonies by Parliament for the purpose of raising revenue, rather than regulating trade, were unconstitutional. In his letters, Dickinson foresees the possibility of future conflict between the colonies and Great Britain, but urges against the use of violence.
Coercive (Intolerable Acts) 1774
a series of five laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating to Britain's colonies in North America. Four of the acts were issued in direct response to the Boston Tea Party; the British Parliament hoped these punitive measures would, by making an example of Massachusetts, reverse the trend of colonial resistance to parliamentary authority that had begun with the 1765 Stamp Act. The other act enlarged the boundaries of what was then the colony of "Canada" removed references to the Protestant faith in the oath of allegiance, and guaranteed free practice of the Roman Catholic faith. Many colonists viewed the acts as a violation of their rights, and in 1774 they organized the First Continental Congress to coordinate a protest.
Vicksburg 1863
a series of maneuvers and battles in the directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.
Bleeding Kansas
a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, which took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858. At the heart of the conflict was the question of whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free state or slave state. It was a proxy war between Northerners and Southerners over the issue of slavery in the United States. There was immigration en masse to Kansas by activists from both sides. At one point, Kansas had two separate governments, each with its own constitution
Free Soil Party
a short-lived political party active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party that largely drew its greatest strength from New York. The party leadership consisted of former anti-slavery members of the Whig Party and the Democratic Party. Its main purpose was opposing the expansion of slavery into the western territories, arguing that free men on free soil comprised a morally and economically superior system to slavery.
People's (Populist) Party
a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. Based among poor, white cotton farmers in the South and hard-pressed wheat farmers in the Plains states, it represented a radical crusading form of agrarianism and hostility to banks, railroads, and elites generally. It sometimes formed coalitions with labor unions, and in 1896 endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee, William Jennings Bryan.
Burr Conspiracy
a suspected treasonous cabal of planters, politicians, and army officers led by former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr. According to the accusations against him, Burr's goal was to create an independent nation in the center of North America and/or the Southwest and parts of Mexico. Burr's explanation: To take possession of, and farm the Texas Territory leased to him by the Spanish. When the expected war with Spain broke out, he would fight with his armed farmers to seize some lands he could conquer in the war-all illegal by rules of warfare.
Whiskey Rebellion
a tax protest in Pennsylvania in the 1790s that was rooted in the conflict of dissatisfaction with the 1791 excise tax on whiskey under Hamilton. It was unpopular among small farmers on the western frontier who could get their corn to market only by distilling it into whiskey, which was easy to ship by water. They used violence and intimidation to stop federal officials from collecting the tax. The conflict came to a climax in 1794 when more than 500 armed men attacked the home of a tax inspector. Washington sent peace negotiators as well as militia to use force if necessary to quell the insurrection. This demonstrated that the new national government had the willingness and ability to suppress violent resistance and laws.
Convention of 1818
a treaty between the US and GB. It resolved standing boundary issues between the two nations and allowed for joint occupation and settlement of the Oregon Country. The treaty marked the last permanent major territorial loss of Continental United States, the northern most tip of the territory of Louisiana above the 49th parallel north. Britain ceded all land south of the 49th parallel and west to the Rocky Mountains.
Jay's Treaty 1796
a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that solved many issues left from the American Revolution and opened ten plus years of peaceful trade between the two Nations in the midst of the French Revolution. The British agreed to evacuate the Great Lakes region and to compensate American merchants for what they had stolen. In return the American government had to reimburse loyalists who had fled the country for all that they left behind. While this enabled trade between the two nations, it completely ignored the issue of impressing, which would later cause issues. The Jeffersonians strongly opposed this Treaty.
Red Cloud
a war leader and the head Chief of the Sioux, his reign was from 1868 to 1909. One of the most capable Native American opponents the United States Army faced, he led a successful conflict in 1866-1868 known as Red Cloud's War over control of the Powder River Country in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana. After the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), he led his people in the important transition to reservation life. Some of his US opponents thought of him as overall leader of the Sioux, but this was mistaken.
Upton Sinclair
achieved popularity in the first half of the 20th century, acquiring particular fame for his 1906 muckraking novel The Jungle. It exposed conditions in the US meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.
Indian Removal Act 1830
act imposed by Jackson regarding the separation of Indians and Americans that was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to their lands. While Native American removal was supposed to be voluntary, in practice great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties. The Act paved the way for the reluctant emigration of tens of thousands of American Indians to the West along the treacherous trail of tears.
Sugar Act 1764
act passed by parliament of Britain that reduced the rate of the Molasses Act by half but was actually enforced, so for the first time colonists truly had to pay the tax. The money Britain would gain from the taxes would not go to repaying debt but towards placing military protection in the colonies. Britain assumed that it would not anger the colonists since the only people it would really have an effect on were the merchants. However the colonists were peeved since it was a step on their property which according to John Locke is the source of life and liberty.
Hepburn Act 1906
act passed to clarify and increase the authority of the ICC over railroads. It authorized the ICC to determine and prescribe maximum rates, establish through routes, and enforce uniform systems of accounts. The law also strengthened the Elkins Act, dealing with personal discrimination; forbade railroads from transporting, except for their own use, many commodities in which they were financially interested; restricted the granting of free passes; and increased the number of commissioners to 7.
Basic Land Ordinance 1785
adopted to raise money through the sale of land in the largely unmapped territory west of the original states acquired at the 1783 peace treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. It provided easily recognized land descriptions, which in turn contributed enormously to the orderly and largely peaceful occupation of the land. Written by Jefferson. There would be between 4-7 territories and each area would have a school for every 36 square miles.
Nine Power Treaty 1922
affirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China as per the Open Door Policy, signed by all of the attendees to the Washington Conference. Fearing that the European powers and Japan were preparing to carve China up into colonies, Hay had added to his Open Door Policy provisions that Chinese territorial and administrative integrity should be maintained. Nonetheless, competition between the various powers for special concessions within China continued. The treaty lacked any enforcement regulations, and when violated by Japan during its invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the US could do little more than issue protests and impose economic sanctions. It was effectively nullified by WWII.
Food Administration 1917
agency responsible for the administration of the allies' food reserves. One of its important tasks was the stabilization of the price of wheat.
Missouri Compromise 1820
agreement between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30' north except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri. In addition, there was a bill in passage through the House (January 3, 1820) to admit Maine as a free state. The Senate passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was adopted, excluding slavery from the Missouri Territory north of the southern boundary of Missouri, except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri.
Munich Conference 1938
agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland was area along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated among the major powers of Europe without the presence of Czechoslovakia. It was a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of territorial demands made by Adolf Hitler.
Emergency Banking Relief Act 1933
allowed a plan that would close down bad banks and reorganize and reopen strong ones.
Teller Amendment 1898
amendment to a joint resolution of the Congress that placed a condition on the US military in Cuba. According to the clause, the US could not annex Cuba but only leave police the people.
The Liberator
an abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831.
John Dickinson
an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania and who was a militia officer during the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania and Delaware, and a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787. Among the wealthiest men in the British American colonies, he is known as the "Penman of the Revolution" for his Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania.
William Tecumseh Sherman
an American soldier who served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War, for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched earth" policies that he implemented in conducting total war against the Confederate States. He served under General Ulysses S. Grant in 1862 and 1863 during the campaigns that led to the fall of the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River and culminated with the routing of the Confederate armies in the state of Tennessee. Then he commanded the March to the sea, inflicting significant damage on industry, infrastructure, and civilian property in Atlanta.
Helen Hunt Jackson
an American writer who became an activist to improve government treatment of Native Americans. In 1881, she published A Century of Dishonor, about the adverse effects of government actions, and sent a copy to each member of the US Congress.
Northwest Ordinance 1787
an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States. The primary effect of the ordinance was the creation of the Northwest Territory as the first organized territory of the United States out of the region south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River. It established the precedent by which the United States would expand westward across North America by the admission of new states, rather than by the expansion of existing states. Further, the banning of slavery in the territory had the effect of establishing the Ohio River as the boundary between free and slave territory in the region between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. This division helped set the stage for the balancing act between free and slave states.
American Protective Association 1887
an anti-Catholic -immigrant group that briefly acquired a large membership the 1890s. It was a secret society that played upon the fears of rural Americans about the growing power of immigrant-populated cities.
Nez Perce 1877
an armed conflict between the Nez Perce and the United States government fought as part of the American Indian Wars. After a series of battles, the Nez Perce surrendered and were relocated to an Indian reservation.
Battle of the Little Bighorn 1876
an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle was the most famous action of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. It was an overwhelming victory for the Native Americans, and a major defeat for the US troops. Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. Total US deaths were 268, and 55 were wounded.
Zapatistas
an armed group formed and led by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution. They were formed in 1910 under the cause of land reform. They originally aligned with Francisco Madero in opposition to the regime of president Porfirio Diaz, who was soon after overthrown in 1911. After Madero's regime, too, proved uncommitted to the cause of land reform, they turned against him. Fighting continued against the successive leaders Victoriano Huerta and Venustiano Carranza. They were mainly poor peasants who wished to spend much of their time working their land to produce an income.
Shays' Rebellion 1786
an armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. Most of Shays' compatriots were poor farmers angered by crushing debt and taxes. Failure to repay such debts often resulted in imprisonment in debtor's prisons or the claiming of property by the government. Seeking debt relief through the issuance of paper currency and lower taxes, they attempted to prevent the courts from seizing property from indebted farmers by forcing the closure of courts in western Massachusetts. The participants in Shays' Rebellion believed they were acting in the spirit of the Revolution and modeled their tactics after it, using "liberty trees" to symbolize their cause. There was a lack of an institutional response to the uprising, which energized calls to reevaluate the Articles of Confederation and gave strong impetus to the Philadelphia Convention which began in May 17, 1787. Shays' Rebellion produced fears that the Revolution's democratic impulse had gotten out of hand.
Harper's Ferry Raid 1859
an attempt by abolitionist John Brown to start an armed slave revolt by seizing an Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. Brown's raid was defeated by Marines led by Robert E. Lee.
Dawes Plan 1924
an attempt following WWI for the Triple Entente to collect war reparations debt from Germany. When after five years the plan proved to be unsuccessful, the Young Plan was adopted in 1929 to replace it.
Seneca Falls 1848
an early and influential women's rights convention organized by local women upon the occasion of a visit by Lucretia Mott. The women, primarily members of a radical Quaker group, organized the meeting along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a skeptical non-Quaker who followed logic more than religion. A vigorous discussion sprang up regarding women's right to vote, with many including Mott urging the removal of this concept, but Frederick Douglass argued eloquently for its inclusion, and the suffrage resolution was retained.
Douglas MacArthur
an general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was called to active duty in 1941 as commander of US Army Forces Far East. A series of disasters followed, starting with the destruction of his air force, and the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese. His forces were soon compelled to withdraw to Bataan, where they held out until May 1942 when he escaped to Australia. He officially accepted Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945.
Sand Creek Massacre 1864
an incident in the Indian Wars of the United States that occurred when a force of Colorado militia attacked and destroyed a village of friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped in southeastern Colorado Territory, killing and mutilating an Indians, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.
Homestead Strike 1892
an industrial lockout and strike that culminated in a battle between strikers and private security agents. The dispute occurred at the Homestead Steel Works in Pennsylvania, between the Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. The result was a major defeat for the union of steelworkers.
"Talented tenth" 1903
an influential essay written by Du Bois that described the likelihood of one in ten black men becoming leaders of their race in the world, through methods such as continuing their education, writing books, or becoming directly involved in social change. He strongly believed that blacks needed a classical education to be able to reach their potential, rather than the industrial education promoted by such people as Booker T. Washington. He saw such an education as the basis for what, in the 20th century, would be known as public intellectuals.
Gentlemen's Agreement
an informal agreement between two or more parties. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties for its fulfillment, rather than being in any way enforceable. This was used often in international relations during the period of American Imperialism.
W.E.B. DuBois
an intellectual leader of the black community in America who graduated as Harvard's first African-American to earn a Ph.D. He became the head of the NAACP and founder of it's journal The Crisis. He rose to national attention in his opposition of Booker T. Washington's ideas of accommodation with Jim Crow separation between whites and blacks and disenfranchisement of blacks, campaigning instead for increased political representation for blacks in order to guarantee civil rights, and the formation of a Black elite that would work for the progress of the African American race.
Crittenden Compromise 1861
an unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War. Basically, it accepted the boundary between free and slave states that had been set by the Missouri Compromise, extended the line to California, and assured the continuation of slavery where it already existed. In addition, it advocated slavery in DC, upheld the fugitive slave law, and called for suppression of the African slave trade. It failed in the House of Representatives in Jan., 1861.
Election of 1856
an unusually heated election campaign that led to the election of James Buchanan. Republican candidate John C. Frémont condemned the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and crusaded against the Slave Power and the expansion of slavery, while Democrat James Buchanan warned that the Republicans were extremists whose victory would lead to civil war. The Democrats endorsed the moderate "popular sovereignty" approach to slavery expansion utilized in the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Former President Millard Fillmore represented the "Know-Nothings". The Republicans nominated John Frémont of California. The Electoral College results indicated that the Republicans could win the next election in 1860 by winning just two more states.
Creole Affair 1841
an uprising by a group of slaves who were in the process of being transported in the ship, the Creole. They killed the captain, took control of ship and sailed for Bahamas, where they became free under British.
Railroad Strike of 1877
as a result of economic depression, the railroad workers received massive pay cuts and consequently went on strike. Violence erupted and President Hayes dispatched federal forces to protect the railroad—the first use of such soldiers in a labor matter. Demonstrations, general strikes and violence occurred in cities across the nation. Massive intervention by the federal government sank the strikers' spirits and buoyed those of management.
Second AAA 1938
as an alternative and replacement for the farm subsidy policies, in previous AAA which was found unconstitutional. It was different in that the financing of the programs would be provided by the Federal Government and not a processor's tax.
1919 Labor strikes
attempt by the weakened Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers to organize the steel industry in the wake of WWI.
Palmer raids 1919
attempts to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the US. Though more than 500 foreign citizens were deported, the efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the Department of Labor which had responsibility for deportations and who objected to Palmer's methods that disrespected the legal process.
NIRA 1933
authorized the President to regulate industry and permit monopolies to stimulate recovery, also established a national public works program. It authorized fair competition, guaranteed trade union rights, permitted the regulation of working standards, and regulated the price of certain refined petroleum products and their transportation. It also established the PWA. It promoted economically harmful monopolies, lacked critical support from the business community, and was poorly administered. It encouraged union organizing, which led to labor unrest. It was declared unconstitutional in Schechter v. US.
18th Amendment (1919)
banned the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages
California Gold Rush 1848
began when gold was found at Sutter's Mill, California. News of the discovery brought some 300,000 people to California. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush attracted many immigrants. Technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. A state constitution was written and California became a state in 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850.
Black lists
big businesses would have lists of people in unions who were not to be hired
McKinley Tariff 1890
bill sponsored by Republican Senator McKinley. The measure gained support from unlikely sources: Western and Southern Democrats. This was thanks to a bargain between these regional forces to support protectionism in return for cooperation on the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. The result was the highest protective tariff in American history to that point with an average rate of 48 percent. President Harrison successfully persuaded his fellow Republicans to support provisions in the law in order to establish reciprocity. This led to a sharp rise in the prices of many products.
Military Reconstruction Act 1867
bill that divided secessionist states into five military districts, each governed by a Union general. Congress declared martial law in the territories, dispatching troops to keep the peace and protect former slaves.
Committee of Correspondence
bodies organized by the local governments of the Thirteen Colonies for the purposes of coordinating written communication outside of the colonies. These served an important role in the Revolution, by disseminating the colonial interpretation of British actions between the colonies and to foreign governments. They were also responsible for ensuring that news accurately reflected the views of their parent governmental body on a particular issue and was dispatched to the proper groups. Many correspondents were also members of the colonial legislative assemblies, and were active in the secret Sons of Liberty and Stamp Act Congress organizations.
Teapot Dome Scandal 1922
bribery scandal and investigation during the administration of President Harding. The scandal was a key factor in destroying his reputationn, who was extremely popular at the time of his death. In 1922, Albert B. Fall, Secretary of the Interior, leased without competitive bidding . Fall was jailed for leasing the government lands and accepting bribes.
Andrew Carnegie
businessman and philanthropist born in poverty in Scotland. He migrated to the US and got his first job as a factory worker. Eventually he progressed up the ranks of a telegraph company. He created US Steel. With the fortune he made from business among others he built Carnegie Hall, later he turned to philanthropy and interests in education.
Declaration of War 1917
came from Wilson after submarines sank seven US merchant ships and the publication of the Zimmerman telegram
General "Butcher" Weyler
captain of US army in Cuba who began herding native farm people into concentration camps. Around 200,000 Cubans died from starvation and disease in these camps.
Thomas Nast
cartoonist whose negative depictions of the corruption of city machines, in particular Boss Tweed, helped lead to the publication of numerous accounts that persecuted Tweed. Was bribed many times by Tweed to stop creating the political cartoons but refused.
Gibbons v Ogden 1824
case in which the Supreme Court held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The case was argued by some of America's most admired and capable attorneys at the time. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gibbons. In the end Gibbons won because it is argued that navigation is commerce because it moves goods in between places and government can't control commerce.
Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge1837
case regarding the Charles River Bridge and the Warren Bridge of Boston. The case settled a dispute over the constitutional clause regarding obligation of contract. The Charles River Bridge Company had been granted a charter to construct a bridge over the Charles River connecting Boston and Charlestown. When Massachusetts sanctioned another company to build the Warren Bridge, chartered 1828, that would be very close in proximity to the first bridge and would connect the same two cities, the proprietors of the Charles River Bridge claimed that the Massachusetts legislature had broken its contract with the Charles River Bridge Company, and thus the contract had been violated. The owners of the first bridge claimed that the charter had implied exclusive rights to the Charles River Bridge Company. The Court ultimately sided with Warren Bridge.
Downes v Bidwell 1901
case which debated "does the Constitution follow the flag?". The decision narrowly held that the US Constitution did not necessarily apply to territories. Instead, Congress had jurisdiction to create law within territories in certain circumstances, particularly dealing with revenue, that would not be allowed by the Constitution for states within the union.
Second Bank of the United States 1816
chartered in 1816 by many of the same congressmen who in 1811 had refused to renew the charter of the original Bank of the United States. The predominant reason that the Second Bank of the United States was chartered was that in the War of 1812, the U.S. experienced severe inflation and had difficulty in financing military operations. Subsequently, the credit and borrowing status of the United States were at their lowest levels since its founding. Like the First Bank, the Second Bank was also chartered for 20 years, and also failed to get its charter renewed.
Susan B. Anthony
civil rights leader who played a role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States.
Andrew Jackson
commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815)
Pullman strike 1894
conflict between labor unions and railroads that began in Pullman, Illinois 11 when 3,000 employees of the Pullman Car Company began a strike in response to recent reductions in wages, bringing to a halt. The American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, became embroiled in a struggle between the most important labor union and the entire railroad capital. President Cleveland ordered federal troops to end the strike, causing debate within his own cabinet about whether the President had the constitutional authority to do so. The conflict peaked shortly after their arrival and ended several days later.
Spanish American War 1898
conflict in between Spain and the US that the US won. American public opinion grew angry at reports of Spanish atrocities in Cuba, magnified by yellow journalism. After the sinking of the Maine in Havana harbor, political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the government headed by McKinley into war. The outcome was the 1898 Treaty of Paris — which was favorable to the US — followed by temporary US control of Cuba and colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
Venezuela boundary dispute 1898
conflict that occurred between Venezuela and GB about a territory which Britain claimed and Venezuela saw as its own territory. As the dispute became a crisis, the key issue became Britain's refusal to include in the proposed international arbitration the territory east of the "Schomburgk Line", which a surveyor had drawn half a century earlier. The crisis ultimately saw Britain accept US intervention in the dispute to force arbitration of the entire disputed territory, and accept the US right to intervene under the Monroe Doctrine.
Bank War
controversy over the Second Bank of the United States and the attempts to destroy it by then-president Andrew Jackson. At that time, it was the only nationwide bank and, along with its president Nicholas Biddle, exerted tremendous influence over the nation's financial system. Jackson viewed the Second Bank of the United States as a monopoly since it was a private institution managed by a board of directors, and in 1832 he vetoed the renewal of its charter.
San Francisco Conference 1945
convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations who reviewed and rewrote the Dumbarton Oaks agreements. It resulted in the creation of the UN Charter, which was opened for signature on 26 June.
FDIC 1933
created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, it provides deposit insurance.
CWA 1933
created manual labor jobs for millions of unemployed. The jobs were merely temporary, for the duration of the hard winter. Harry Hopkins was put in charge of the organization. It was a project created under the FERA.
Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire 1911
deadliest industrial disaster in the history of NYC. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, most of them women. Most could not escape the building because the managers locked the doors to the stairwells and exits to keep them from leaving early. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards.
Declaratory Act 1766
declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. It stated that Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to make laws binding on the American colonies.
Hammer v Dagenhart (1918)
declared Keating-Owen unconstitutional, reasoning that the law had been designed to regulate manufacturing conditions, not interstate commerce.
SC Ordinance of Nullification 1832
declared the Tariff of 1828 and 1832 null and void within the state borders of South Carolina, beginning the Nullification Crisis. It led to President Andrew Jackson's proclamation against South Carolina, the Nullification Proclamation of 1832, which sent a naval flotilla and a threat of sending government ground troops to enforce the tariffs. In the face of the military threat, and following a Congressional revision of the tariff, South Carolina repealed the ordinance.
Jefferson Day dinner
dinner in which Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" (UNION UPHOLDS THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE)- a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear! (LIBERTY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE UNION)
Trent Affair 1861
diplomatic incident that occurred during the when the USS San Jacinto intercepted the British mail packet Trent and removed as contraband of war two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell. The envoys were bound for Great Britain and France to press the Confederacy's case for diplomatic recognition by Europe. The initial reaction in the US was to rally against Britain, threatening war; but Lincoln did not want to risk war. In Britain, the public expressed outrage at this violation of neutral rights. The British government demanded an apology and the release of the prisoners while it took steps to strengthen its military forces in Canada and the Atlantic. The crisis was resolved when the Lincoln administration released the envoys and disavowed Captain Wilkes's actions. Mason and Slidell went to Britain but did not achieve their goal.
Zimmerman Telegram 1917
diplomatic proposal from the German Empire to Mexico to make war against the US. The proposal was declined by Mexico, but angered Americans and led in part to a US declaration of war in April. The telegram was sent in anticipation of the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany, an act which would draw the neutral US into war on the side of the Allies. The telegram said that if the US appeared likely to enter the war, Germany would approach the Mexican Government with a proposal for military alliance and offer it material aid in the reclamation of territory lost during the Mexican-American War. The telegram was intercepted and decoded, and the revelation of its contents in the US press caused public outrage that contributed to the US declaration of war against Germany and its allies on April 6.
Naturalization Act of 1802
directed the clerk of the court to record the entry of all aliens into the United States. Certain doubts had arisen as to whether State and local courts were included within the description of U.S. district or circuit courts. The act of 1802 reaffirmed that every State and Territorial court was considered a district court within the meaning of the laws pertaining to naturalization, and that any persons naturalized in such courts were accorded the same rights and privileges as if they had been naturalized in a district or circuit court of the United States.
Conscription
draft instituted by Wilson during WWI for the first time since the Civil War. A person could not buy his way out
Depression of 1893
economic depression in the United States that, similar to the Panic of 1873, was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding which set off a series of bank failures. Compounding market overbuilding and the railroad bubble, was a run on the gold supply, because of the long-established American policy of Bimetalism, which used both silver and gold metals at a fixed 16:1 rate for pegging the value of the US Dollar.
William Lloyd Garrison
editor of the radical abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United States and was also a voice for the women's suffrage movement.
John Dewey
educational reformer who was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology. He was a major representative of the progressive and populist philosophies of schooling during the first half of the 20th century. In his advocacy of democracy, he considered two fundamental elements—schools and civil society—as being major topics needing attention and reconstruction to encourage experimental intelligence. He asserted that complete democracy was to be obtained not just by extending voting rights but also by ensuring that there exists a fully formed public opinion, accomplished by effective communication among citizens, experts, and politicians.
Martin Van Buren
eighth Vice President (1833-1837) and the 10th Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson (1829-1831). He was the third president to serve only one term, and was one of the central figures in developing modern political organizations. As Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and Vice President, he was a key figure in building the organizational structure for Jacksonian democracy. As president, his administration was largely characterized by the economic hardship of the Panic of 1837. He was therefore was voted out of office after four years, and in 1848 he ran for president on with the Free Soil Party.
Election of 1892
election between former president Cleveland and incumbent President Harrison. Cleveland defeated Harrison, thus becoming the only person in US history to be elected to a second, non-consecutive presidential term. He won both the popular and electoral vote in the rematch election. The campaign centered mainly on the issue of a sound currency. The new Populist Party polled more than a million votes. But Cleveland won easily.
Election of 1852
election that in many ways a replay of the election of 1844 when the incumbent President was a Whig who had succeeded to the presidency upon the death of his war hero predecessor; in this case, it was Millard Fillmore who followed General Zachary Taylor. The Whig party passed over the incumbent for nomination — casting aside Fillmore in favor of General Winfield Scott. The Democrats nominated a "dark horse" candidate, this time Franklin Pierce. The Whigs again campaigned on the obscurity of the Democratic candidate, and once again this strategy failed. Pierce and running mate William King went on to win what was at the time one of the nation's largest electoral victories. After the 1852 election the Whig Party quickly collapsed, and it was soon replaced by the new Republican Party.
Election of 1860
election that set the stage for the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout most of the 1850s on questions of states' rights and slavery in the territories. In 1860, this issue finally came to a head, fracturing the formerly dominant Democratic Party into Southern and Northern factions and bringing Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party to power without the support of a single Southern state.
Election of 1932
election that took place as the effects of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression were being felt intensely across the country. President Herbert Hoover's popularity was falling as voters felt he was unable to reverse the economic collapse, or deal with prohibition. Franklin D. Roosevelt used what he called Hoover's failure to deal with these problems as a platform for his own election, promising reform in his policy called the New Deal. Roosevelt won by a landslide, and this "critical election" marked the collapse of the Fourth Party System or Progressive Era. The voters soon were realigned into the Fifth Party System, dominated by Roosevelt's New Deal Coalition.
Election of 1864
election when incumbent Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as president. Lincoln ran under the National Union banner against his former top Civil War general, the Democratic candidate, George B. McClellan. McClellan was the "peace candidate" but did not personally believe in his party's platform. The election occurred during the Civil War; none of the states loyal to the Confederate States of America participated. This was the first election since the re-election of Andrew Jackson in 1832 in which an incumbent president won re-election. Lincoln's second term was ended just 6 weeks after inauguration by his assassination.
Dawes Act 1887
enacted by Congress regarding the distribution of land to Native Americans in Oklahoma. The act provided for the division of tribally held lands into individually-owned parcels and opening "surplus" lands to settlement by non-Indians and development by railroads.
Keating-Owen Child Labor Act 1916
enacted by Congress seeking to address the evils of child labor by prohibiting the sale in interstate commerce of goods manufactured by children, thus giving an expanded importance to the constitutional clause giving Congress the task of regulating interstate commerce. In 1918 Hammer v. Dagenhart ruled it unconstitutional.
Tenure of Office Act 1867
enacted over the veto of President Johnson, denied the President power to remove anyone who had been appointed by a past President without the consent of the Senate. Johnson violated this act, leading to his impeachment.
Clayton Anti-Trust Act 1914
enacted to prevent anticompetitive trusts and protect strikers and unions.
Elkins Act 1903
ended the common practice of the railroads granting rebates to their most valued customers. The great oil and livestock companies of the day paid the rates stated by the railroads, but demanded rebates on those payments. The railroads had long resented being extorted by the trusts and welcomed the legislation. The law provided further that rates had to be published and that violations of the law would find both the railroad and the shipper liable for prosecution.
Hartford Convention 1815
ends Federalist Party
Federal Farm Loan Act 1916
established 12 regional Farm Loan Banks to serve members of Farm Loan Associations. Under the act, farmers could borrow up to 50% of the value of their land and 20% of the value of their improvements. The biggest benefit of the act was to allow small farmers to be more competitive with larger businesses. Banks were to provide loans at a competitive rate to small businessmen.
Workingmen's Compensation Act 1916
established an protection program for Federal employees and their dependents in the event of injury or death. This act became the precedent for "Disability Insurance" across the country.
Bureau of Corporations 1903
established to find violations under the existing antitrust legislation. The Bureau began investigations into the activities of the meatpacking, oil, steel and tobacco industries, among others.
Emancipation Proclamation 1863
executive order issued by President Lincoln that proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as Union armies advanced. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln announced that he would issue a formal emancipation of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union. The actual order was signed and issued January 1, 1863; it named the locations under Confederate control where it would apply.
Mann-Elkins Act 1910
extended the authority of the ICC to include communications. Supported by President Taft, it also made the long-short haul clause of the original act more effective in that it strengthened government regulation of the railroads.
Roosevelt Corollary 1904
extension of the Monroe Doctrine by TR that asserted a right of US to intervene to stabilize the economic affairs of small states in the Caribbean and Central America if they were unable to pay their international debts. The alternative, according to the U.S. assumptions, was intervention by European powers, which had lent money to countries that were unable to repay. This was part of a broader campaign to gain economic control of nations with unstable economies.
CIO 1935
federation of unions that organized workers in industrial union. It supported FDR and the New Deal Coalition, and was open to African Americans. The program said it had formed to encourage the AFL to organize workers in mass production industries along industrial union lines. Yet it failed to change AFL policy from within, and later merged.
Lowell mill girls
female textile workers in Lowell, Massachusetts in the 19th century. The Lowell textile mills employed a workforce which was about three quarters female; this caused two social effects: a close examination of the women's moral behavior, and a form of labor agitation. The Lowell female textile workers wrote and published several literary magazines which featured essays, poetry and fiction written by female textile workers. They also actively participated in early labor reform through legislative petitions, forming labor organizations, contributing essays and articles to a pro-labor newspaper the Voice of Industry and protesting through "turn-outs" or strikes
Panic of 1907
financial crisis that occurred when the New York Stock Exchange fell close to 50% from its peak the previous year. There were numerous runs on banks and trust companies. The panic eventually spread throughout the nation when many banks and businesses entered into bankruptcy. The collapse of the Knickerbocker trust had spread fear throughout the city's trusts as banks withdrew reserves from NYC banks. The panic may have deepened if not for the intervention of JP Morgan, who pledged large sums of his own money and convinced other New York bankers to do the same to shore up the banking system.
Gifford Pinchot
first Chief of Forestry Service, he was a Republican and Progressive known for reforming the management and development of forests and advocating the conservation of the nation's reserves by planned use and renewal.
Antietam 1862
first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties. Although the battle was inconclusive, it had unique significance as enough of a victory to give President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to announce his Emancipation Proclamation, which discouraged the British and French governments from potential plans for recognition of the Confederacy.
Panic of 1819
first major financial crisis in the United States, which occurred during the end of the Era of Good Feelings. There were three key causes of the Panic of 1819, inflation, public debt from the War of 1812 and the Louisiana Purchase. The Panic had a lasting effect on the American banking system and directed attention to the crucial 1819-1821 session of Congress. Prices throughout the United States had been rising dramatically since shortly after the end of the War of 1812, mostly caused by the United States government's attempt to pay off the war debt. Since the war debt was mostly held by Americans, payment in currency, now deflated in value, was legal. In 1816 the Second Bank of the United States was formed, but it continued to feed the expansion by having significantly more money in circulation than it did gold reserves. The panic marked the end of the economic expansion that had followed the War of 1812 and ushered in new financial policies that would shape economic development.
Thomas Paine & Common Sense 1776
first published anonymously during the American Revolution and signed "Written by an Englishman" it became an immediate success. In relation to the population of the Colonies at that time, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history. It presented the American colonists with a powerful argument for independence from British rule. Paine wrote and reasoned in a style that common people understood; forgoing the philosophy and Latin references used by Enlightenment era writers, he structured it like a sermon and relied on Biblical references to make his case.
Erie Canal 1825
first transportation system between the eastern seaboard (NYC) and the western interior (Great Lakes). First proposed in 1807, it was under construction from 1817 to 1825. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York state, opened regions farther west to settlement, and helped New York City become the chief U.S. port.
Sedition Act of 1918
forbade the use of "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about government or its military during WWI. The act also allowed the Postmaster General to refuse to deliver mail that met those same standards. It applied only to times when the US was in war. It was repealed on December 13, 1920.
Good Neighbor Policy
foreign policy of of FDR towards Latin America. Its main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in domestic affairs. It also reinforced the idea that the US would be a "good neighbor" and engage in reciprocal exchanges with Latin American countries. Overall, the FDR administration expected that this new policy would create new economic opportunities in the form of reciprocal trade agreements and reassert the influence of America in Latin America.
Sit Down Strikes
form of civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers, usually employed at a factory or other centralized location, take possession of the workplace by "sitting down" at their stations, effectively preventing their employers from replacing them with strikebreakers or, in some cases, moving production to other locations. A number of these occurred in the 1930s, but they were diminished by the end of the decade as the courts and the National Labor Relations Board held that they were illegal and sit-down strikers could be fired.
Neutrality Proclamation 1793
formal announcement issued by United States President George Washington on April 22, 1793, declaring the nation neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain.
American Woman Suffrage Association 1869
formed in response to a split in the American Equal Rights Association over the 15 Amendment, its founders included Lucy Stone, and Henry Blackwell. They were abolitionists and supported securing the right to vote for blacks. They believed that the 15th Amendment would be in danger of failing to pass in Congress if it included the vote for women. They believed success and women's suffrage could be more easily achieved through state-by-state campaigns.
National Woman Suffrage Association 1869
formed in response to a split in the American Equal Rights Association over whether the woman's movement should support the Fifteenth Amendment. Its founders, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed the 15 Amendment unless it included the vote for women. Men were able to join the organization as members; however, women solely controlled the leadership of the group. The group worked to secure women's enfranchisement through a federal constitutional amendment.
Tippecanoe 1811
fought between United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and forces of Tecumseh's growing American Indian. In response to rising tensions with the tribes and threats of war, a United States force of militia and regulars set out to launch a preemptive strike on the headquarters of the confederacy. The battle took place outside. Although the United States was victorious, the win was costly. The tribes attacked with fewer men and sustained fewer casualties. The battle was the culmination of rising tensions which continued until Tecumseh's death in 1813. In addition to serving as an important political and symbolic victory for the American forces, the Tippecanoe defeat dealt a devastating blow to Tecumseh's confederacy, which never regained its former strength. It was a major catalyst for the War of 1812, because the Americans thought that the British had sided with the Native Americans.
Joseph Smith
founded Church of Latter Day Saints and published Book of Mormons, viewed as a prophet by followers
The Grange 1867
founded as an organization for farmers that encouraged families to band together for their common economic and political well-being. In addition to serving as a center for many farming communities, it was an effective advocacy group for farmers and their agendas, including fighting railroad monopolies and advocating rural mail deliveries.
Fifty
four Forty or Fight
Election of 1912
four-way contest election. President Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President TR failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called his own convention and created the Progressive Party. It nominated TR and ran candidates for other offices in major states. Democrat Woodrow Wilson was nominated thanks to the support of William Jennings Bryan. Wilson defeated both Taft and TR in the election.
16th Amendment (1913)
gave Congress the power to impose an income tax
Reciprocal Trade Agreement 1934
gave the president power to negotiate reciprocal trade agreements with other countries, enabling FDR to liberalize trade policy around the globe. The RTAA marked a sharp departure from the era of protectionism.
Robert E. Lee
general of the Confederate army who gained national attention when his command led troops to squelch the Raid on Harper's Ferry. He personally disliked the institution of slavery, opposed secession by Virginia, loved the army, and revered the Union, but was a Southerner at heart. Refusing to participate in an invasion of the seceded states, he declined to accept a military command offered by Abraham Lincoln. When Virginia seceded, he resigned from the northern army and, In 1862, was recalled to Virginia to check George McClellan's move toward Richmond. The experienced early success, but his fortunes were reversed at the Battle of Antietam. The disaster at Gettysburg (1863) defeated his hopes for Southern victory.
Four Freedoms Speech 1941
goals articulated by FDR proposing four fundamental freedoms that all people ought to enjoy: speech, worship, from want, from fear. He endorsed a right to economic security and an internationalist view of foreign policy.
Niagara Group
group organized by W.E.B. Debois that was opposed to segregation and wanted rights for blacks immediately.
Boston Massacre 1770
heavy British military presence in Boston led to a tense situation that boiled over into incitement of brawls between soldiers and civilians and eventually led to troops discharging their muskets after being attacked by a rioting crowd. Three civilians were killed at the scene of the shooting, eleven were injured, and two died after the incident.
Adkins v Children's Hospital 1923
held that federal minimum wage legislation for women was an unconstitutional infringement of liberty of contract, as protected by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Casablanca Conference 1943
held to plan the European strategy during WWII between Churchill, FDR, and the French. Stalin had been invited but declined in light of the ongoing conflict at Stalingrad.
Emma Goldman
helped develop anarchist political philosophy in US. Attracted to anarchism after Haymarket, she became a writer and a renowned lecturer on anarchist philosophy, women's rights, and social issues. She and Alexander Berkman planned to assassinate Henry Frick as an act of propaganda. Although Frick survived the attempt on his life, Berkman was sentenced to twenty-two years in prison. She was imprisoned several times in the years that followed, for rioting and illegally distributing information about birth control. In 1917, Goldman and Berkman were sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring to "induce persons not to register" for the newly instated draft. After their release from prison, they were arrested and deported to Russia.
Scopes Trial 1925
high school biology teacher Scopes was accused of violating state law that made it illegal to teach evolution. William Jennings Bryan argued for the prosecution, while Clarence Darrow spoke for Scopes. The trial saw modernists, who said religion was consistent with evolution, against fundamentalists who said the word of God as revealed in the Bible trumped all human knowledge. Although Darrow backed Bryan into a corner, the trial was rigged and Bryan won. The teaching of evolution expanded, as fundamentalist efforts to use state laws to reverse the trend had failed in the court of public opinion.
William McKinley
his signature issue was high tariffs on imports as a formula for prosperity, as typified by his McKinley Tariff of 1890. As the Republican candidate in the 1896 presidential election against Democrat Jennings Bryan, he upheld the gold standard, and promoted pluralism among ethnic groups. His campaign introduced new advertising-style campaign techniques that revolutionized campaign practices and beat back the crusading of his arch-rival, William Jennings Bryan. The 1896 election is often considered a election that marked the beginning of the Progressive Era. He presided over a return to prosperity after the Panic of 1893, and made gold the base of the currency.
SEC 1934
holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets. Made people comfortable in investing again.
Lucretia Mott
i initiator of women's political rights.
Underwood Simmons Tariff 1913
imposed federal income tax after the ratification of the 16th Amendment and lowered tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.
Cherokee Nation v Georgia 1829
in 1828 the state of Georgia enacted a series of laws which stripped the Cherokee of their rights under the laws of the state, with the intention to force the Cherokee to leave the state. John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, led a delegation to Washington in January 1829 to resolve disputes over the non-payment of annuities to the Cherokee, and to seek Federal sustainment of the boundary between the territory of the state of Georgia and the Cherokee Nation's historic tribal lands within that state. Despite support than the republicans, in April 1829, it was announced that President Jackson would support the right of Georgia to extend its laws over the Cherokee Nation. This led to Jackson's passing of the Indian Removal Act.
Hearst vs. Pulitzer
in 1890s circulation war erupted between Pulitzer's and Hearst's . In a contest of yellow journalism, the newspapers y to attract readers. Pulitzer introduced the first comic strip. Both played leading roles in molding public opinion about the conflict between Spain and its Cuban colony. The papers reported Spanish atrocities in exaggerated detail, but neglected to mention Cuban misdeeds. Both repeatedly called for armed intervention, then later, all-out war.
Whiskey Excise Tax 1791
in order to address the federal debt, Hamilton proposed an excise tax on domestically distilled spirits. This was the first tax levied by the national government on domestic products. Although the taxes were politically unpopular, Hamilton believed this was a luxury tax and would not be that objectionable.
Christiana Massacre 1850
in response to the Compromise of 1850, a gunfight broke out in Pennsylvania
Federal Trade Commission 1914
independent agency established to promote consumer protection and the prevention of anti-competitive business practices, such as coercive monopoly. One of Wilson's major acts against trusts.
Committee on Public Information 1919
independent agency of the government created to influence public opinion regarding participation in WWI. It tried to create enthusiasm for the war and enlist support against foreign attempts to undercut US war aims.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) 1933
independent established under President Hoover. The agency gave money to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgage associations and other businesses. The loans were nearly all repaid. It was continued by the New Deal and played a major role in handling the Great Depression.
Force Bill 1833
initially enacted to authorize President Andrew Jackson's use of whatever force necessary to enforce Federal tariffs. It was intended to suppress South Carolina's refusal to collect tariffs during the Nullification Crisis. The bill was a work of political mastery on Jackson's part as it gave the President the authority to close ports or harbors at his will. This in turn would require opponents to the tariff to travel a distance to carry out any threats or insurrection against federal facilities. Hostile acts against government facilities or personnel would then be considered pre-meditated and blatant. It is the first piece of legislation to publicly deny the right of secession to individual states.
Court Packing Plan
initiative proposed by FDR to add more justices to the Supreme Court to obtain favorable rulings regarding New Deal legislation that had been previously ruled unconstitutional. The most controversial provision of the bill would have granted the President power to appoint an additional Justice to the Court for every member over the age of 70½. FDR's initiative failed.
Lecompton Constitution
instrument framed in Lecompton, Kan., by Southern pro-slavery advocates of Kansas statehood. It contained clauses protecting slaveholding and a bill of rights excluding free blacks, and it added to the frictions leading up to the Civil War. Though it was rejected in a territorial election, Pres. James Buchanan subsequently recommended statehood for Kansas under its provisions. A compromise was offered calling for resubmission of the constitution to the territory's voters. Kansas again rejected it the following August and was admitted to the Union as a free state on Jan. 29, 1861.
US Steel
integrated steel producer that was founded by J.P Morgan in 1901 and merged with Carnegie's steel company.
Roosevelt takes US OFF Gold Standard 1933
intentionally inflating the currency. Backed by NOTHING
Dumbarton Oaks Conference
international conference at which the UN was formulated and negotiated among international leaders. The discussions regarding the make-up of the UN included the formation of the UN Security Council.
Thomas Edison
inventor and scientist who developed many devices that contributed to mass Stelecommunications.
Oliver Evans
inventor who's most important invention was an automated grist mill which operated continuously through the use of bulk material handling devices. He also produced an improved high-pressure steam engine. He also designed a refrigeration machine which ran on vapor in 1805.
Samuel Slater
known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" he brought British textile technology to America
Samuel Gompers
labor union leader who founded the AFL who promoted organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages. During World War I, he and the AFL worked with the government to avoid strikes and boost morale, while raising wage rates and expanding membership.
Muller v. Oregon 1908
landmark decision in that justified both sex discrimination and use of labor laws. The case upheld Oregon state restrictions on the working hours of women n protect women's health. Muller, the owner of a laundry business, was convicted of violating Oregon labor laws by making a female employee work more than ten hours in a single day. Muller appealed to the courts which upheld the constitutionality of the labor law and affirmed his conviction.
James Buchanan
last American president before the civil war. In the 1856 elections he ran as the democratic nominee and defeated both former president Millard Fillmore and frontier hero John C. Fremont. He was considered a northern man with southern principles, and was opposed to slavery. But as president he couldn't handle the bad blood between North and South; his attempts to find a legalistic solution were never effective. By the election of 1860 he was tired of the presidency and did not seek re-election. He was succeeded by Republican Abraham Lincoln.
Foraker Act 1900
law that established civilian government in Puerto Rico, which had been newly acquired by the US as a result of the Spanish-American War. All federal laws of the United States were to be in effect on the island.
Newlands Act 1902
law that funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of states in the West. The act set aside money from sales of public lands for the construction and maintenance of irrigation projects. This led to the eventual damming of nearly every major western river. Under the act, the Secretary of the Interior created the United States Reclamation Service to administer the program.
Macon' Bill No. 2 1810
law that lifted all embargoes with Britain or France. If either one of the two countries stopped attacks upon American shipping, the United States would cease trade with the other, unless that country agreed to recognize the rights of the neutral American ships as well. Napoleon immediately saw a chance to exploit this bill in order to further his Continental Plan. British were highly offended by the agreement and threatened force, thus motivating Napoleon to withdraw altogether. Still, the damage had been done and soon the U.S. and Britain were entangled in the War of 1812.
Pure Food and Drug Act 1906
law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous medicines. The Act arose due to public education and exposés from Muckrakers such as Upton Sinclair.
Interstate Commerce Act 1887
law that was designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices. The Act required that railroad rates be "reasonable and just," but did not empower the government to fix specific rates. It also required that railroads publicize shipping rates and prohibited short haul/long haul fare discrimination, a form of price discrimination against particularly farmers. The Act created the Interstate Commerce Commission, which it charged with monitoring railroads. The Act was the first federal law to regulate private industry in the United States.
Brigham Young
leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, founder of Salt Lake City and the first governor of Utah Territory
Venustiano Carranza
leader of the Mexican Revolution who became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in 1914. He was assassinated near the end of his term of office at the behest of a cabal of army generals resentful at his insistence that his successor be a civilian.
Charles W. Sheldon
leader of the Social Gospel movement. Credited with WWJD
Sam Houston
leader of the Texas Revolution
John C. Calhoun
leading Southern politician from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century who began his political career as a nationalist and proponent of protective tariffs. Later, he became a proponent of free trade, states' rights, limited government, and nullification. He built his reputation as a political theorist by his redefinition of republicanism to include approval of slavery and minority rights. He served as Vice President under John Quincy Adams and under Andrew Jackson, was the first Vice President to resign from office. Calhoun briefly served in the South Carolina legislature. There he wrote legislation making South Carolina the first state to adopt universal suffrage for white men. As a "war hawk" he agitated in Congress for the War of 1812. Calhoun supported states' rights and nullification, under which states could declare null and void federal laws which they deemed to be unconstitutional.
Emiliano Zappata
leading figure in the Mexican Revolution. He formed and commanded an the Liberation Army of the South. His followers were known as Zapatistas.
Black Codes
legislation passed by Southern states at the end of the Civil War to control the labor, migration and other activities of newly-freed slaves. The intent of the legislation was to reaffirm the inferior position that slaves and free blacks had held in antebellum south and to regulate black labor. The codes reflected the unwillingness of whites to accept blacks as equals. Thus the codes continued legal discrimination between whites and blacks. These codes were all intended to secure a steady supply of cheap labor and all continued to assume the inferiority of the freed slaves.
National Origins Act of 1924
limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the US in 1890. The law was aimed at restricting Europeans who were immigrating in large numbers starting in the 1890s, as well as prohibiting the immigration of Asians.
Five Power Treaty (US, UK, Japan, France, Italy)
limited the naval armaments of the US, Britain, Japan, France, and the Kingdom Italy. The treaty was agreed at the Washington Naval Conference as an attempt to prevent a naval arms race that began after WWI
John Tyler (1841-1845
longtime Democratic-Republican, he was nonetheless elected Vice President on the Whig ticket. Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison on April 4, 1841he became President. Once he was president, he stood against his party's platform and vetoed several of their proposals. In result, most of his cabinet resigned and the Whigs expelled him from their party. Arguably the most famous and significant achievement of his administration was the annexation of the Republic of Texas in 1845.
Payne-Aldrich Tariff 1910
lowered tariffs on imports. Taft called Congress into a special session in 1909 shortly after his inauguration to discuss the issue. It provided for the creation of a tariff board to study the problem of tariff modification. It also allowed for free trade with the Philippines.
John Lewis
major player in the history of coal mining who was the driving force behind the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which established the United Steel Workers of America and helped organize industrial workers in the 1930s. After resigning as head of the CIO in 1941, he took the Mine Workers out of the CIO in 1942 and in 1944 took the union into the American Federation of Labor (AFL). A leading liberal, he played a major role in helping FDR win a landslide in 1936, but as an isolationist broke with Roosevelt in 1940 on foreign policy. Coal miners for 40 years hailed him as the benevolent dictator who brought high wages, pensions and medical benefits, and damn the critics.
Bonus Army 1932
marchers gathered in DC demand immediate cash-payment of their service certificates. Many of the war veterans had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of certificates they could not redeem until 1945. The veterans demanded the immediate cash payment of their certificates. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died. President Hoover then ordered the army to clear the veterans' campsite.
Stamp Act Congress 1765
meeting with representatives from the colonies discussing the Stamp Act. They put together a 14-point declaration of rights formulated by John Dickinson.
Carrie Nation
member of the temperance movement, particularly noteworthy for promoting her viewpoint through vandalism. On many occasions she would enter an alcohol-serving establishments and attack the bar.
Gettysburg 1862
military battle in which Lee was defeated by the Union army, under General Meade. This was the bloodiest overall battle of the war, with 24,000 casualties suffered by the North and 28,000 by the South. Lee's army was forced to retreat to Virginia and would never again be able to mount an attack into Northern territory. Some military historians claim that the fate of the Confederate army was sealed by their defeat at Gettysburg.
Field Order #15 1865
military orders issued during the American Civil by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, to give blacks 40 acres and a mule. They were intended to address the immediate problem of dealing with the tens of thousands of black refugees who had joined Sherman's March to the Sea in search of protection and sustenance.
Mining Frontier
miners flocked to Idaho and Montana in the 1860s and followed the lure of gold into the Black Hills in the Dakota territory in. The last gold rush of the century brought miners to the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory in 1897. The mining boom also brought government to the Mountain West, first through vigilante committees that provided swift justice to those who broke the law. Several areas became territories and states sooner than they would have without the mining rush.
Lincoln Steffens
muckracking journalist
Jacob Riis
muckraking journalist known for his dedication to using his talents to help the impoverished NYC. He helped with the implementation of "model tenements" in New York. While living in New York, he faced poverty and became a police reporter that covered quality of life in the slums.
Elijah Lovejoy
murdered in 1837
Bank of the United States
needed largely in part since the government had debt from the Revolutionary War, Hamilton proposed the solution of a national bank that was built in Philadelphia. Also, each state had its own currency, which did not correlate with a strong national government, so the national bank helped eliminate this.
Huey Long
noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of FDR originally, he split 1933 and created the Share Our Wealth program in 1934 with the motto "Every Man a King", proposing new wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb poverty during the Depression. He advocated federal spending on public works, schools and colleges, and old age pensions. He was an critic of the Federal Reserve System's policies. He was accused by his opponents of dictatorial tendencies for his near-total control of the state government. He was assassinated in 1935.
Uncle Tom's Cabin 1852
novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe which helped to crystallize the rift between the North and South. It has been called the greatest American propaganda novel ever written, and helped to bring about the Civil War.
Maysville Road Veto1830
occurred on May 27, 1830 when President Jackson vetoed a bill which would allow the Federal government to purchase stock in the Maysville Turnpike Road Company, which had been organized to construct a road linking Lexington and the Ohio River, the entirety of which would be in the state of Kentucky. Its advocates regarded it as a part of the national Cumberland Road system. Congress passed a bill in 1830 providing federal funds to complete the project. Jackson vetoed the bill on the grounds that federal funding of intrastate projects of this nature was unconstitutional. He declared that such bills violated the principle that the government shouldn't be an economic affair. Jackson also pointed out that funding for these kinds of projects interfered with the paying off of the national debt.
Lusitania 1915
ocean liner that was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank. The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, contributed to the US entry into World War I and became an iconic symbol in recruiting campaigns of why the war was being fought. At the time she was sunk she was carrying a large quantity of rifle ammunition and other supplies necessary for a war economy, as well as civilian passengers.
John B. Gough
one day after being touched by a waiter who was a part of the temperance movement, he change his life. He took a pledge of abstinence from alcohol and dedicated the rest of his life to the temperance movement.
Thomas R. Dew
one of the earliest defenders of slavery, he denied that it was unchristian, immoral, or undemocratic. In the years to follow his arguments were supplemented by almost everyone of importance in the South.
American Federation of Labor 1886
one of the first federations of labor unions in the US, it was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor. As the Knights of Labor faded away, the coalition gradually gained strength with Samuel Gompers as its president. They were important in industrial cities, where they formed a central labor office to coordinate the actions of different unions. Focused on higher wages and job security, the federation fought against socialism and the Socialist party.
National (Cumberland) Road 1811-24
one of the first major improved highways in the United States to be built by the federal government. Construction began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River. It crossed southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching Virginia on the Ohio River in 1818. A chain of turnpikes connecting Baltimore, Maryland, to the National Road at Cumberland was completed in 1824, forming what is referred to as an eastern extension of the National Road. The road provided a connection between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and a gateway to the West for thousands of settlers.
54th Massachusetts Regiment
one of the first official black units in the United States during the Civil War.
Eugene Debs
one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. He was instrumental in the founding of the American Railway Union , the nation's first industrial union. When the ARU struck the Pullman Palace Car Company over pay cuts, he was imprisoned for failing to obey an injunction against the strike. In prison he educated himself about socialism and emerged to launch his career as the nation's most prominent socialist in the first decades of the 20th century.
Ida Tarbell
one of the leading "muckrakers" of the progressive era. She is best-known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company, in which she totally trashes it.
Pancho Villa
one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals, who seized hacienda land for distribution to peasants and soldiers. He robbed and commandeered trains and printed fiat money to pay for his cause. His men and supporters became known as Villistas during the revolution from 1910 to roughly 1920. His dominance in northern Mexico was broken in 1915 through a series of defeats he at the hands of Obregón and Calles. After his famous raid on Columbus in 1916, the US Army GeneralJohn J. Pershing tried unsuccessfully to capture him in a nine-month pursuit that ended when Gen. Pershing was called back as the United States entry into World War I was assured.
NAACP 1909
one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States, was founded by a group of bi-racial activists. United in its opposition to the preaching of Booker T. Washington, who urged blacks to accept segregation, the group first sought to make whites aware of the need for racial equality. The organization launched a program of speechmaking, lobbying, and publicizing the issue of racial discrimination and inequality in housing, education, employment, voting, and transportation. It also launched the Crisis, a magazine edited for 25 years by the black intellectual and leader, W.E.B. DuBois.
Homestead Act 1862
one of two United States federal laws that gave an applicant title to up to 160 acres of federal land in the west. Anyone who had never taken up arms against thse government could file an application and evidence of improvements to a federal land area. The occupant also had to be 21 or older and had to live on the land for five years.
William Henry Harrison
originally gained national fame for leading U.S. forces against American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. As a general in the subsequent War of 1812, his most notable contribution was a victory at the Battle of the Thames in 1813, which brought an end to hostilities in his region. He became ninth President of the United States and the first president to die in office. After he died on his thirty-second day in office of complications from a cold - the shortest tenure in United States presidential history.
Charles Wilson Peale
painter known for his portraits of famous American revolutionaries founder of America's first museum.
PWA 1933
part of the New Deal this was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression. It concentrated on the construction of large-scale public works such as dams and bridges, with the goal of providing employment, stabilizing purchasing power, and contributing to a revival of American industry. This Administration was focused on saving natural resources. The dams that were built from the funding of this were created to save money and that created cheaper electricity for those who needed it. It lowered unemployment and created an infrastructure that generated local pride in the 1930s and remains vital seven decades later, along with the help of other plans to help rebuild our nation after the depression hit. However the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional and shuts it down.
Fugitive Slave Law 1850
passed by Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 declaring that all runaway slaves could be claimed by their masters. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise.
Quartering Act 1765
passed to address the practical concerns of such a troop deployment. Under the terms of this legislation, each colonial assembly was directed to provide for the basic needs of soldiers stationed within its borders.
Treaty of Versailles 1918
peace treaty that ended the state of war between Germany and Allied Powers. It took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the treaty. One of the most controversial provisions required Germany to accept responsibility for causing the war and to disarm and make territorial concessions and pay heavy reparations. The Treaty was undermined by subsequent events starting as early as 1932 and was widely flouted by the mid-1930s. The compromise left none contented: Germany was not pacified or conciliated, nor permanently weakened.
Dr. Francis Townsend
physician who encouraged and influenced the establishment of the FDR's social security system.
Atlantic Charter 1941
pivotal policy statement that defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it; free access to raw materials; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; freedom of the seas; and abandonment of the use of force, as well as disarmament of aggressor nations. It set goals rather than a blueprint for the postwar world. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the post-war independence of European colonies are derived from the Atlantic Charter.
Star Spangled Banner 1812
poem written on the back of an envelope after Francis Scott Key was so inspired and fully of nationalism after America's triumph in the War of 1812
Open Door Policy 1899
policy allowing multiple Imperial powers access to China, with none of them in control of that country. In 1898, the US had become an East Asian power through the acquisition of the Philippines, and when the partition of China by the European powers and Japan seemed imminent, the US felt its commercial interests in China threatened. John Hay sent notes to the major powers, asking them to declare that they would not interfere with the free use of the treaty ports within their spheres of influence in China. It that all European nations and the US could trade with China. In reply, each nation tried to evade Hay's request. However Hay announced that each of the powers had granted consent in principle. Competition among the various powers for special concessions within China for railroad rights, mining rights, loans, foreign trade ports, and so forth, continued unabated.
Stimson Doctrine 1932
policy enunciated from the US to Japan and China of non-recognition of international territorial changes that were executed by force after Japan's seizure of Manchuria in China in 1931. The doctrine stated that the US would not recognize any changes made in China that would curtail American treaty rights in the area and that the "open door" must be maintained. The declaration had few material effects on the Western world. The doctrine was criticized on the grounds that it did no more than alienate the Japanese
Moral Diplomacy
policy put under Woodrow Wilson. He hoped to influence and control other countries through economic pressure, only supporting Latin American governments that were democratic. By refusing to support non-democratic countries, he hoped to hurt them economically and thus force them into submission. This increased America's approval from other countries who saw the United States as a strong but benevolent world power. The policy advanced American economic interests in foreign countries, resulting in economic growth. It also helped with the advancement of human rights in Latin America. However, this policy implied an eventual use of force, negating the progress previously made through peaceful negotiation. Other cons included the taking and assimilating of foreign governments and the overprotecting of business interests.
Redeemers
political coalition in the South during Reconstruction who sought to oust the Republican coalition of freedmen, carpetbaggers and scalawags. They were the conservative, pro-business Democrats..
Whigs
political party during the era of Jacksonian democracy that was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson. In particular, they supported the supremacy of Congress over the presidency, and favored a program of modernization and economic protectionism. The group counted among its members such national political luminaries as Daniel Webster, William Henry Harrison, and their preeminent leader, Henry Clay of Kentucky. The party was ultimately destroyed by the question of whether to allow the expansion of slavery to the territories.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolves 1798-9
political statements in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures resolved to not abide by Alien and Sedition Acts. They argued that the Acts were unconstitutional and therefore void, and in doing so, they argued for states' rights and strict constructionism of the Constitution. They were written secretly by Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The principles behind the resolutions became known as the "Principles of '98". Adherents argue that the individual states can judge the constitutionality of central government laws and decrees, and can refuse to enforce laws deemed unconstitutional. Such refusal was called nullification in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, while the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 refer to "interposition" to express the idea of the states' right to "interpose" between the federal government and the people of the state.
James B. Weaver
politician and member of the House of Representatives, representing Iowa as a member of the Greenback Party. An opponent of the gold standard and national banks, he was presidential nominee of the Populist Party in the 1892.
Andrew Oliver
politician in colonial Massachusetts who was commissioned to administer the Stamp Act in 1765. He was hanged in effigy from Boston's Liberty Tree in a protest. His house was ransacked by an angry crowd and he was forced to publicly resign from his commission.
Boss Tweed
politician most notable for being the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century NYC. His greatest influence came from being an appointed member of a number of boards and commissions, his control over political patronage in NYC through Tammany, and his ability to ensure the loyalty of voters through jobs he could create and dispense on city-related projects. He was convicted for stealing an money from New York City taxpayers through political corruption, and died in jail.
Henry George
politician who was the most influential proponent of the land tax. He believed that everyone owns what he or she creates, but that everything found in nature, most importantly land, belongs equally to all humanity.
Standard Oil
predominant American integrated oil company. Established in 1870, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust. Rockefeller was a founder. As it grew and engaged in business strategies, tactics and practices that were lawful but drove many smaller businesses under, it became widely criticized in the public eye.
Young Plan 1929
program for settlement of German reparations debts after WWI. After the Dawes Plan was put into operation, it became apparent that Germany could not meet the huge annual payments, especially over an indefinite period of time. The Young Plan reduced further payments.
Lend- Lease Act 1941-45
program under which US supplied GB, Soviet Union, China, France and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material. Although it did not formally establish the US as a combatant in the war, this act ended its neutrality. Hitler in response ordered German submarines to attack US vessels. The the US did not ask for reimbursement.
Espionage Act 1917
prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations, to support US enemies during wartime, to promote insubordination in the military, or to interfere with military recruitment. In 1919, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Schenck v. United States that the act did not violate the freedom of speech of those convicted under its provisions.
Pendleton Act 1883
prohibited, at least on paper, financial assessments on jobholders. It created a merit system of making appointments to government jobs on the basis of aptitude rather than the spoils system. It set up a Civil Service Commission, chaired with administering open competitive examinations to applicants for posts in the classified service. The people were forced, under this law, to take an exam before being hired to a governmental job position.
Sussex Pledge 1916
promise made in during WWI by Germany to the US prior to its entry into the war. Early in 1916, Germany had instituted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, allowing armed merchant ships - but not passenger ships - to be torpedoed without warning. Despite this avowed restriction, a French cross-channel passenger ferry, the Sussex, was torpedoed without warning. Although no US citizens were killed, it prompted Wilson to declare that if Germany were to continue this practice, the US would break diplomatic relations with Germany. Fearing the entry of the US into WWI, Germany attempted to appease the US by issuing the Sussex pledge, which promised a change in Germany's naval warfare policy.
Marcus Garvey
proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements. He was unique in advancing a Pan-African philosophy to inspire a global mass movement and economic empowerment focusing on Africa. The intent of the movement was for those of African ancestry to "redeem" Africa and for the European colonial powers to leave it.
Compromise Tariff of 1833
proposed by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun as a resolution to the Nullification Crisis. It was adopted to gradually reduce the rates after southerners objected to the protectionism found in the Tariff of 1832 and the 1828 Tariff of Abominations, which had prompted South Carolina to threaten secession from the Union. This Act stipulated that import taxes would gradually be cut over the next decade until, by 1842, they matched the levels set in the Tariff of 1816—an average of 20%.
Tariff of Abomination 1928
protective tariff passed by Congress designed to protect industry in the northern United States. It was labeled the Tariff of Abominations by its southern detractors because of the effects it had on the Southern economy and led to the Nullification Crisis. The goal of the tariff was to protect industries in the northern United States which were being driven out of business by low-priced imported goods by putting a tax on them. The South, however, was harmed firstly by having to pay higher prices on goods the region did not produce, and secondly because reducing the importation of British goods made it difficult for the British to pay for the cotton they imported from the South. New England wasn't so happy either because it was industrial and needed raw materials from Britain. The only people who liked it were those in the west and middle states because they wanted to expand and use their own goods.
TVA 1933
provided navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression. It was envisioned as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to rapidly modernize the region's economy and society. This was one of the first times electricity was given to a rural place.
William James
psychologist and philosopher who wrote influential books on the psychology and the philosophy of pragmatism.
Hoover Dam 1931
public works project to create jobs. The Great Depression led to massive migration of the unemployed to Vegas in hopes of landing these jobs. Living conditions were difficult and became substantially worse when construction began, creating the shantytowns. It was not completed until 1936, and by this time FDR was president.
Northern Securities Co. 1901
railroad trust between JP Morgan two others. Noting that traffic between Chicago and the Northwest was monopolized, Roosevelt in 1902 ordered a suit, alleging restraint of trade. In court, Northern Securities attorneys argued that the company did not engage in interstate commerce, but simply was a stockholder. By the narrowest of margins, the Supreme Court in 1904 sided with the government and ordered the NSC's breakup. This decision revered the position taken previously in the E.C. Knight Case and increased Roosevelt's popularity greatly.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff 1922
raised tariff rates in order to protect factories and farms. Congress displayed a pro-business attitude in passing the tariff and in promoting foreign trade through providing loans to Europe, which in turn bought more US goods. As a result of the war, Americans wanted to ensure economic self-sufficiency so that no future enemy could manipulate the economy and preserve the benefits of the increased wartime demand.
Robert M. LaFollette
ran for for his own Progressive Party in 1924, carrying Wisconsin and 17% of the national popular vote. Was as a proponent of progressivism and a vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, WWI, and the League of Nations.
12th Amendment
ratified in 1804, provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are elected. Says each elector must cast distinct votes for President and Vice President, instead of two votes for President.
Critical Period 1883-9
refers to the period of time following the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 to the inauguration of George Washington. During this time, the newly independent former colonies were beset with a wide array of foreign and domestic problems. Some historians believe it was a bleak, terrible time for Americans, while others believe the term "Critical Period" is exaggerated, and that, while the 1780's were a time of dispute and change, they were also a time of economic growth and political maturation.
Florence Kelley
reformer who worked against sweatshops, for a minimum wage, eight-hour workdays, and children's rights.
Saratoga 1777
regarded as a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Burgoyne's army was surrounded by the much larger American force at Saratoga, forcing him to surrender on October 17. News of Burgoyne's surrender was instrumental in formally bringing France into the war as an American ally, having previously given supplies, ammunition and guns. French formal participation changed the war to a global conflict. This battle also resulted in Spain contributing to the war on the American side.
CCC 1933
relief program for unemployed, unmarried men that provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation of natural resources in lands owned the government. It was designed to provide employment for young men in relief families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Depression while at the same time implementing conservation.
Shakers
religious sect known for its emphasis on social equality and rejection of sexual relations, which led to a decline in numbers.
Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928
renounced aggressive war, prohibiting the use of war as "an instrument of national policy" except in matters of self-defense. It made no provisions for sanctions. The pact was the result of a US effort to avoid involvement in the European alliance system. The pact originally was a renunciation of war between only France and the United States. However, Frank B. Kellogg wanted to retain American freedom of action; he thus responded with a proposal for a multilateral pact against war open for all nations to become signatories.
Platt Amendment 1901
replaced the Teller Amendment and stipulated the conditions for the withdrawal of US troops remaining in Cuba after the Spanish-American War. It ensured US involvement in Cuban affairs and gave legal standing to US claims to certain economic and military territories on the island including Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
Judiciary Act of 1801
represented an effort to solve an issue in the U.S. Supreme Court during the early 19th century. There was concern, beginning in 1789, about the system that required the justices of the Supreme Court to "ride circuit" and reiterate decisions made in the appellate level courts. The Supreme Court justices often took advantage of opportunities to voice concern and to suggest that the judges of the Supreme and circuit courts be divided.
Rutherford B. Hayes
republican reformer who began the efforts that would lead to civil service reform and attempted, unsuccessfully, to reconcile the divisions that had led to the Civil War fifteen years earlier. In 1876, he was elected president in one of the most contentious and hotly disputed elections in American history. Although he lost the popular vote to Democrat Tilden, he won the presidency after a congressional commission awarded him disputed votes. The result was the Compromise of 1877, in which the Democrats acquiesced to his election and he accepted the end of military occupation of the South. He believed in meritocratic government, equal treatment without regard to race, and improvement through education. He ordered federal troops to suppress the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and ordered them out of Southern capitals as Reconstruction ended. He battled with Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress to begin gradual civil service reforms, laying the groundwork for the greater reforms of the 1880s and 1890s.
17th Amendment (1913)
required the direct election of Senators
AAA 1933
restricted agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant part of their land and to kill off excess livestock. Its purpose was to reduce crop surplus so as to effectively raise the value of crops, thereby a portion of their fields lie fallow. In 1936, United States v. Butler declared the act unconstitutional. Regulation of agriculture was deemed a state power. However, the AAA of 1938 remedied these issues. It caused a lot of controversy, as people were impoverished and hungry while the government was deliberately destroying food.
Emergency Quota Act of 1921
restricted immigration. Although intended as temporary legislation, the Act was long term because it added the use of a quota system for establishing new limits. The Act restricted the number of immigrants admitted from any country annually to 3% of the number of residents from that same country living in the US 1910.
1836 Gag Rule
rule in the south that prohibited the consideration of an anti-slavery movement. These measures effectively tabled antislavery petitions without submitting them to usual House procedures.
Hawaii
ruled by natives under Queen Liluokalani until a revolution led by American businessmen overthrew the monarchy in 1893 and established a new government. Officially annexed to the US when McKinley passed a joint-resolution in 1900.
Volstead Act 1919
said that people were not only prohibited from trading and manufacturing alcohol, but from drinking also.
Credit Mobilier 1872
scandal that involved the Union Pacific Railroad and the Crédit Mobilier of America construction company in the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The distribution of Crédit Mobilier shares of stock by Congressman Oakes Ames along with cash bribes to congressmen took place during the Andrew Johnson presidency in 1868. The revelation of the congressmen who received cash bribes or shares in Crédit Mobilier took place during the Grant administration in 1872.
Corrupt Bargain
secret agreement between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay in which Clay offered his support to Adams in return for being appointed as secretary of state. Adams agreed to this and with Clay's support won the favor of the senate, therefore being chosen as president. This outraged many Americans, in particular Jackson who never let Adams live it down.
New Deal 1933
series of economic programs implemented in by FDR and lasted from 1933 to 1937. It made the Democratic Party the majority, with its base in liberal ideas, big city machines, and newly empowered labor unions, ethnic minorities, and the white South. Republicans were split, either opposing the entire system as an enemy of business and growth, or accepting some of it and promising to make it more efficient. Many of the acts that took place under this regime were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, as almost all increased the power of the president.
Navigation Acts
series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between and its colonies, which started in 1651. They were one of several sources of resentment in the American colonies against Great Britain. These laws said that colonies could only use British ships for trading, certain American goods can only be sold to England, and that any foreign goods imported into the colonies had to stop in England first, where tariffs would be charged. At first these laws were not enforced during a stage of Salutary Neglect.
John Slidell
served as agent to Mexico in the months preceding the outbreak of war between that nation and the United States. His connection with Polk landed him the official task of negotiating a deal with Mexico. He was instructed to offer a settlement of all US claims against Mexico, in exchange for recognition of the Rio Grande as the boundary between the two nations. In addition, Polk instructed Slidell to try and buy California for $25 million. The Mexicans rejected Slidell. He responded to President Polk by hinting that the Mexican reluctance to negotiate might require a show of military force by the United States. Nueces River vs. Rio Grande- While the United States claimed that Texas's border stretched to the Rio Grande, Mexico claimed it was the Nueces River. While the former Republic of Texas could not enforce its border claims, the United States had the military strength and the political will to do so. After a series of United States victories in the Mexican War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war, and the Compromise of 1850 set Texas's boundaries at the Rio Grande.
Oliver Hazard Perry
served in the War of 1812 against Britain, and at the age of 27 earned the title "Hero of Lake Erie" for leading American forces in a decisive naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie.
John Quincy Adams
sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829 who was a member of Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. He lost his 1828 bid for re-election to Andrew Jackson. As president, he presented a vision of national greatness resting on economic growth and a strong federal government, but his presidency was not a success as he lacked popularity. Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped America's foreign policy in line with his deeply conservative and ardently nationalist commitment to America's republican values.
Border States
slave states which did not declare their secession from the United States before April 1861. Four slave states never declared secession: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, and four others did not declare secession until after the 1861 Battle of Fort Sumter: Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia — after which, they were less frequently called "border states". Also included as a border state during the war is West Virginia, which broke away from Confederate Virginia and became a new state in the Union. Though every slave state contributed some troops to the Union as well as the Confederate side, the split was most severe in these border states, with men from the same family often fighting on opposite sides.
American Anti
slavery Society- abolitionist society that called for an immediate end to slavery. From 1840 to 1870 it it sponsored meetings, adopted resolutions, signed antislavery petitions to be sent to Congress, published journals and enlisted subscriptions, printed and distributed propaganda in vast quantities, and sent out agents and lecturers to carry the antislavery message to Northern audiences.
Wilson Gorman Tariff 1894
slightly reduced tariff rates from the numbers set in the 1890 McKinley tariff and imposed a 2% income tax. Supported by the Democrats, this attempt at tariff reform was important because it imposed the first peacetime income tax. The purpose of the income tax was to make up for revenue that would be lost by tariff reductions. The bill introduced by Wilson and lowered tariff rates, in accord with Democratic platform promises, and dropped the tariff to zero on iron ore, coal, lumber and wool, which angered American producers. Protectionists in the Senate added more than 600 amendments that nullified most of the reforms and raised rates again.
Jacob Coxey
socialist politician who led Coxey's Army in 1894 and 1914, consisting of a group of unemployed men that he led on marches, from Ohio to D.C. to demand that Congress allocate enough money to create jobs for the unemployed.
Fourteen Points 1918
speech delivered by Wilson intended to assure the country that the war was being fought for a moral cause and for peace in Europe. People in Europe generally welcomed Wilson's intervention, but his Allied colleagues were skeptical. The Treaty of Versailles had little to do with the 14 Points and so was never ratified by the US senate. The report was accepted by France and Italy. England later signed off on all of the points except the freedom of the seas. England also wanted Germany to make reparation payments for the war, and thought that that should be added to the 14 Points. Wilson's speech took many of the principles of progressivism that had produced domestic reform in the US and translated them into foreign policy (free trade, open agreements, democracy self-determination).
Quarantine speech 1937
speech given by FDR calling for an international "quarantine of the aggressor nations" as an alternative to the political climate of neutrality and non-intervention that was prevalent at the time. The speech intensified US isolationism, causing protest by foes to intervention. It was interpreted as referring to Japan, Italy, and Germany. FDR suggested the use of economic pressure, a forceful response, but less direct than outright aggression.
Neutrality Acts (1935, 36, 37)
spurred by the growth in isolationism following costly US involvement in WWI, sought to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts. Regarded as having been generally negative: they made no distinction between aggressor and victim, treating both equally as "belligerents"; and they limited the government's ability to aid Britain against Nazi Germany. The acts were repealed in 1941, in the face of WWII.
Pet banks
state banks selected by the Treasury to receive surplus government funds in 1833. They were made among the big U.S. bank when President Andrew Jackson vetoed the recharter for the Second Bank of the United States, proposed by Daniel Webster and Henry Clay four years in advance in 1832. These state banks were controlled by Jackson. Most of the banks were chosen not because of monetary fitness but on the basis of the spoils system, which rewarded political allies of Andrew Jackson. Most of them eventually lost money and failed as they flooded the country with paper currency. Because this money became so unreliable, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, which required all public lands to be purchased with metallic money. This contributed to the Panic of 1837 where there was a major dip in the economy due to the increased debt created by this system.
William Graham Sumner
staunch defender of laissez faire, saying it was justified by the laws of evolution and Social Darwinism.
Anthracite coal strike 1902
strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania that threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to all major cities. TR became involved and set up a commission that suspended the strike. The strike never resumed, as the miners received more pay for fewer hours; the owners got a higher price for coal. It was the first labor episode in which the federal government intervened as a neutral arbitrator.
Philadelphia Transit Strike 1944
strike by white transit workers in Philadelphia triggered by the decision of the Philadelphia Transportation Company under pressure from the federal government to allow black employees to hold non-menial jobs, such as motormen and conductors, that were previously reserved for white workers only. The strike paralyzed the public transport system in Philadelphia for several days, bringing the city to a standstill and crippling its war production. After several days of unsuccessful negotiations with the strike leaders, an order was issued that the striking workers return to work and that those refusing to comply be fired, stripped of their military draft deferment, and denied job availability certificates .This ultimatum proved effective.
Tallmadge Amendment 1819
submitted during the debate regarding the admission of Missouri as a state. Tallmadge, an opponent of slavery, sought to impose conditions on Missouri that would extinguish slavery within a generation. Although the Tallmadge Amendment passed in the House, the Senate passed a version of the Missouri statehood bill without the amendment. If adopted, the amendment would have led to the gradual elimination of slavery in the Missouri territory.
Fifteenth Amendment 1870
suffrage to all male citizens
Cattle Frontier
supplanted the miners after the Civil War. At first, cattle-ranchers settled in Texas to pursue range ranching, an activity requiring ranchers to drive huge herds of cattle hundreds of miles over open grasslands to designated slaughter depots.
Social Darwinism
survival of the fittest used as a justification for big business. The idea was that the strongest and most qualified citizens would get rich and those who were uneducated and unqualified would stay poor.
Independent Treasury System
system for the retaining of government funds in the Treasury and its subtreasuries independently of the national banking and financial systems. In one form or another, it existed from the 1840s to 1921.
Dumbbell tenement
tenements built in New York City after the Tenement House Act of 1879 which required that every room have a window opening to air. They were built in great numbers to accommodate waves of immigrating Europeans.
Robber Baron
term is used to describe unscrupulous industrialists.
Carpetbaggers
term that applied to Northerners who went South during Reconstruction, motivated by either profit or idealism. Despite the negative connotation of the name, many carpetbaggers were sincerely interested in helping blacks.
Rough Riders
the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War. Despite being a cavalry unit they ended up fighting on foot as infantry. Second in command was TR, a man who had pushed for US involvement in Cuban independence.
Fort Sumter 1861
the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War. South Carolina demanded that the US Army abandon Fort Sumter since the fort was located in South Carolina territory and South Carolina no longer considered itself part of the Union. The Union refused to relinquish the fort. When the ultimatum deadline passed, an artillery barrage ensued, lasting until the fort was surrendered. There was no loss of life on either side as a direct result of this engagement.
Judicial Review
the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review, and possible invalidation, by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority, such as the terms of a written constitution. Judicial review is an example of the functioning of separation of powers in a modern government.
SC Ordinance of Secession
the document drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861 by the states officially seceding from the United States of America. Each state ratified its own ordinance of secession, typically by means of a specially elected convention or general referendum. South Carolina was the first to secede.
Dollar Diplomacy
the effort of the United States under Taft o further its aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. It pretty much failed.
Battle of Fallen Timbers 1794
the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory. The battle, which was a decisive victory for the United States, ended major hostilities in the region until Tecumseh's War and the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
Battle of New Orleans 1815
the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase. The Treaty of Ghent had already been signed.
Hiram Revels
the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. He represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during Reconstruction.
Teheran Conference 1943
the first WWII conference amongst the Big in which Stalin was present. The central aim of the conference was to plan the final strategy for the war against Germany and its allies, and the chief discussion was centered on the opening of a second front in Western Europe. At the same time, the conference discussed relations with Turkey and Iran, operations in Yugoslavia and against Japan, and the post-war settlement. A separate protocol pledged the three countries to recognize Iran's independence.
Articles of Confederation
the first constitution of the United States of America that' specified how the national government was to operate. The ratification process was completed in March 1781. Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national government. The Articles said the government was capable of making war, negotiating diplomatic agreements, and resolving issues regarding the western territories. They were created by the representatives of the states in the Second Continental Congress. Nationalists led by George Washington and Alexander Hamilton felt that the Articles lacked the necessary provisions for a sufficiently effective government. There was no president or executive agencies or judiciary. There was no way to pay off state and national debts from the war years. In 1788 the Articles were replaced by the United States Constitution and the new government began operations in 1789.
Tuskegee Institute 1881
the first formal school for blacks, founded by Booker T. Washinton in Alabama, idea was self-help
Comstock Lode 1859
the first major US discovery of silver ore, located under what is now Virginia City, Nevada.. After the discovery was made public, prospectors rushed to the area and scrambled to stake their claims. Mining camps soon thrived in the vicinity, which became bustling centers of fabulous wealth.
National Labor Union 1866 on
the first national labor federation in the US tht sought to bring together all of the national labor organizations in existence. The organization favored arbitration over strikes. It achieved an early success, but one that proved less significant in practice. In 1868, Congress passed the statute for which the Union had campaigned so hard, providing the eight-hour day for government workers. Many government agencies, however, reduced wages at the same time that they reduced hours. It collapsed when it adopted the policy that electoral politics, with a particular emphasis on monetary reform, was the only means for advancing its agenda. Many of its supporters moved to the Knights of Labor.
Report on Public Credit 1790
the first of three major reports on economic policy issued by Hamilton on the request of Congress. The report analyzed the financial standing of the United States of America and made recommendations for the retirement of nation debt. Commissioned by the House of Representatives, the document proposed federal assumption of debt .
Bill of Rights 1789
the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution introduced in 1789 by James Madison to the Constitutional Congress. The adding of the Bill of Rights to the US Constitution helped secure its ratification, with now the support of both federalists and Jeffersonians who had proposed it.
Continental System (Berlin & Milan Decrees)
the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France that was a large-scale embargo against British trade, inaugurated on November 21, 1806. This embargo ended in 1814 after Napoleon's first abdication.
George Creel
the head of the US CPI, a propaganda organization created by President Wilson during WWI. He directed the flow of government propaganda on the war and faced issues of censorship, news manipulation, and the public's "right to know." His task was to convince a divided country of the wisdom of Wilson's decision to join the war. He established a system of voluntary press censorship. He refused to distribute information on most of the Allied atrocity stories; instead he blanketed the nation with official information which portrayed the US as crusading for freedom and democracy.
New Freedom
the ideals of Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential campaign first term as president. His position stood in opposition to Progressive candidate TR's ideas of New Nationalism, particularly on the issue of antitrust modification. Wilson warned that New Nationalism represented collectivism, while New Freedom stood for political and economic liberty from such things as trusts. Once elected, Wilson seemed to abandon his "New Freedom" and adopted policies that were more similar to those of New Nationalism. However, he was always tried to break up monopolies and followed a rigorous anti-trust policy. He believed that the government should encourage competition instead of allowing corporations to dominate the economy.
WPA 1935
the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions to carry out public works projects. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing, and housing. Almost every community had a park, bridge or school constructed by the agency, which especially benefited rural and Western populations. Headed by Harry Hopkins, it provided jobs and income to the unemployed during the Depression.
Monitor v. Merrimack 1862
the most noted naval battle of the Civil War. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities from international trade. The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships. The battle received worldwide attention, and it had immediate effects on navies around the world.
Specie Circular 1836
the order issued by President Jackson requiring that payment for the purchase of public lands be made in gold or silver. In an effort to curb excessive land speculation and to quash the enormous growth of paper money in circulation, Jackson directed the Treasury Department, "pet" banks, and other receivers of public money to accept only specie as payment for government-owned land. The Specie Circular, by seriously curtailing the use of paper money, was highly deflationary and led to the economic crisis called the Panic of 1837. In 1838, a joint resolution of Congress repealed the Specie Circular.
Treaty of Ghent 1815
the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and Great Britain. The treaty largely restored relations between the two nations to status quo ante bellum.
Gospel of Wealth 1889 written by Carnegie
the peril of allowing large sums of money to be passed into the hands of persons or organizations ill-equipped mentally or emotionally to cope with them. As a result, the wealthy entrepreneur must assume the responsibility of distributing his fortune in a way that it will be put to good use, and not wasted on frivolous expenditure.
American Colonization Society
the primary vehicle for proposals to return free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821-22 as a place for freedmen. The ACS was made up mostly of Quakers, who supported abolition, and slaveholders, who wanted to remove the threat of free blacks. They disagreed on the issue of slavery but found common ground in support of so-called "repatriation". The Friends believed blacks would face better chances for fully free lives in Africa than in the U.S. From 1821, thousands of free black Americans moved to Liberia from the United States. Over 20 years, the colony continued to grow and establish economic stability. In 1847, the legislature of Liberia declared the nation an independent state. The society was also supported by Southerners fearful of organized revolt by free blacks, by Northerners concerned that an influx of black workers would hurt the economic opportunities of indigent white, by some who opposed slavery but did not favor integration, and by many blacks who saw a return to Africa as the best solution to their troubles.
Natty Bumpo
the protagonist of James Fenimore Cooper's novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Although the child of white parents, he grew up with Native Americans, becoming a warrior skilled in many weapons, one of which is the long rifle. He respects his forest home and all its inhabitants, hunting only what he needs to survive. And when it comes time to fire his trusty flintlock, he lives by the rule, "One shot, one kill." He and his Mohican "brother" Chingachgook champion goodness by trying to stop the incessant conflict between the Mohicans and the Hurons.
Peace of Paris 1783
the set of treaties which ended the American Revolutionary War.
Report on Manufacturers 1791
the third report of Hamilton that recommended economic policies to stimulate the new republic's economy and ensure the independence won in the Revolution. Mercantilism.
Frontier Thesis
the west is closed
Aaron Burr
third Vice President of the United States (1801-1805) under President Thomas Jefferson who was a member of the Democratic-Republican party. Was often criticized in published articles written by Alexander Hamilton, a longtime political rival. Taking umbrage at Hamilton's failure to account for remarks he allegedly made about Burr at a dinner party, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel and shot him dead in July 1804.
Bataan Death March 1942
took place in the Philippines and was later accounted as a Japanese war crime. The march occurred after the three-month Battle of Bataan during WWII. The forcible transfer of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war was characterized by physical abuse and murder, and resulted in very high fatalities inflicted upon prisoners and civilians alike by the armed forces of the Empire of Japan. The treatment of the American prisoners was characterized by its dehumanization, as the Imperial soldiery "felt they were dealing with subhumans and animals." The death toll was massive.
Pinckney's Treaty 1796
treaty between Spanish and Americans that established good relations between the two. The Americans ceded more of Florida to Spain, while the Spanish opened up their trade to Americans.
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty 1903
treaty between US and Panama that established the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848
treaty between the US and Mexico that ended the war. It confirmed US claims to Texas and set its boundary at the Rio Grande. Mexico also agreed to cede to the United States California and New Mexico in exchange for $15 million and assumption by the United States of claims against Mexico by U.S. citizens.
Treaty of Greenville 1795
treaty signed with a coalition of Native Americans known as the Western Confederacy following the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It put an end to the Northwest Indian War. The US was represented by General Wayne. In exchange for goods, the Native Americans turned over a large amount of land to the United States, establishing the Greenville Treaty Line.
Treaty of Portsmouth 1905
treaty that formally ended the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. TR demanded that Japan follow the Open Door policy in Manchuria and return the region to Chinese administration.
Hay-Pauncefort Treaty 1901
treaty that nullified the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 and gave the US the right to create and control a canal across Panama.
Adams-Onis Treaty 1819
treaty that settled a border dispute in North America between the United States and Spain. The treaty was the result of increasing tensions between the U.S. and Spain regarding territorial rights at a time of weakened Spanish power in the New World. In addition to ceding Florida to the United States, the treaty settled a boundary dispute along the Sabine River in Texas and firmly established the boundary of U.S. territory and claims through the Rocky Mountains and west to the Pacific Ocean in exchange for the U.S. paying residents' claims against the Spanish government and relinquishing its own claims on parts of Texas west of the Sabine River and other Spanish areas under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase.
Social Security Act 1935
under Frances Perkins, it was an attempt to limit old age, poverty, unemployment, and the burdens of widows and fatherless children. By signing this act, FDR became the first president to advocate federal assistance for the elderly.
Kitchen cabinet
unofficial official group of people Jackson met with since he didn't like his own cabinet post Peggy Eaton Affair
Schenck v United States 1919
upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 and concluded that a defendant did not have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech against the draft during WWII. The case established the "clear and present danger" test.
NY City Draft Riot 1863
violent disturbances in New York City that were the culmination of discontent with new laws passed by Congress to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln sent several regiments of militia and volunteer troops to control the city. The rioters were overwhelmingly working class men, resentful, among other reasons, because the draft unfairly affected them while sparing wealthier men, who could afford to pay a $300.00 fee to exclude themselves from its reach. Initially The military suppressed the mob using artillery and fixed bayonets, but not before numerous buildings were ransacked or destroyed, including many homes and an orphanage for black children.
Liberty Loans
war bonds sold to support the allies in WWI. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the US and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time.
Jefferson Davis
war hero from the Mexican war and Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce, he became a provisional president of the Confederates in 1861.
Yalta Conference 1945wartime meeting of the heads of government of the US, GB, and the Soviet for the purpose of discussing Europe's post
war reorganization. It was intended to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of Europe.
Samuel Chase
was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and earlier was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland. Early in life, Chase was a "firebrand" states-righter and revolutionary. His political views changed over his lifetime and in the last decades of his career he became well-known as a staunch Federalist, and was impeached for allegedly letting his partisan leanings affect his court decisions. Chase was acquitted.
Lockout
when an employer prevents the employees from working. That is, during a strike, instead of giving in to the demands of the union, a company can continue on without those workers, holding out longer and eventually winning and either hiring new people or ending the strike.
D- Day June 6, 1944
when the Allies launched an assault conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and French troops and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armored divisions on the coast of France. There were also decoy operations mounted to distract the German forces from the real landing areas. The operation was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and material from the UK by aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support.
"Crime of '73"
when the government adopted the gold standard in 1873 and stop coining silver, people were extremely upset. Panic soon ensued, as speculation was rapid and banks collapsed.
Mann Act 1910
which prohibited white slavery and the interstate transport of prostitutes
Wilmot Proviso 1848
would have banned slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed lands in south Texas and New Mexico east of the Rio Grande. In 1848, an attempt to make it part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo failed.
SC Exposition and Protest 1828
written by John Calhoun, the Vice President of the United States under Andrew Jackson, in protest against the Tariff of 1828. It stated that if the tariff was not repealed, South Carolina would secede. It stated also Calhoun's Doctrine of nullification, i.e., the idea that a state has the right to reject federal law, first introduced by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in their Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.
De Lome Letter 1898
written by Spanish Minister calling McKinley weak. The letter was published in the NY Journal, firing up President McKinley and helping stir public sentiment in favor of the Cuba against the Spanish. Seen as one of the principal triggers of the Spanish-American War of 1898.