Apush Review

Valeriano Weyler

"Butcher," undertook to crush the rebellion by herding many civilians into barbed-wire re-concentration camps, Spanish General, turned camps into deadly pest holes, victims died like dogs

"The Theory of the Leisure Class"

"The Theory of the Leisure Class" Thorstein Veblen criticized the new rich (those who made money from the trusts) in this book

Edict of Nantes

(1598) Decree issued by the French crown granting limited toleration to French Protestants. Ended religious wars in France and inaugurated a period of French preeminence in Europe and across the Atlantic. Its repeal in 1685 prompted a fresh migration of Protestant Huguenots to North America.

New Amsterdam

(1626) The Dutch Colonization of the Americas. They settled in present-day New York along the Hudson River. It was the foundation for New York City.

Pequot War

(1636-1638) Series of clashes between English settlers and Pequot Indians in the Connecticut River valley. Ended in the slaughter of the Pequots by the Puritans and their Narragansett Indian allies

salutary neglect

(1688-1763) Unofficial policy of relaxed royal control over colonial trade and only weak enforcement of Navigation Laws. Lasted from the Glorious Revolution to the end of the French and Indian War in 1763.

War of Spanish Succession

(1702-1713) known as Queen Anne's War in America; one of the first contests among European powers for North America; pitted British colonists against the French coureurs de bois, with both sides recruiting Indians; France and Spain eventually allied.

Albany Congress

(1754) Intercolonial congress summoned by the British government to foster greater colonial unity and assure Iroquois support in the escalating war against the French.

Stamp Act

(1756)An act passed by the British Parliment that raised revenue from the American colonies by a duty in the form of a stamp required on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents, infuriated the colonies

Sugar Act

(1764) Duty on imported sugar from the West Indies. It was the first tax levied on the colonists by the crown and was lowered substantially in response to widespread protests.

nonimportation agreements

(1765 and after) Boycotts against British goods adopted in response to the Stamp Act and, later, the Townshend and Intolerable Acts. The agreements were the most effective form of protest against British policies in the colonies.

Stamp Act Congress

(1765) Assembly of delegates from nine colonies who met in New York City to draft a petition for the repeal of the Stamp Act. Helped ease sectional suspicions and promote inter-colonial unity.

Quartering Act

(1765) Required colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops. Many colonists resented the act, which they perceived as an encroachment on their rights.

Declaratory Act

(1766) Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, it reaffirmed Parliament's unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies.

Townshend Acts

(1767) External, or indirect, levies on glass, white lead, paper, pain, and tea, the proceeds of which were used to pay colonial governors, who had previously been paid directly by colonial assemblies. Sparked another round of protests in the colonies.

Boston Massacre

(1770) Clash between unruly Bostonian protesters and locally stationed British redcoats, who fired on the jeering crowd, killing or wounding eleven citizens.

committees of correspondence

(1772 and after) Local committees established across Massachusetts, and later in each of the thirteen colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters and pamphlets.

Boston Tea Party

(1773) Rowdy protest against the British East India Company's newly acquired monopoly on the tea trade. Colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor, prompting harsh sanctions from the British Parliament.

Quebec Act

(1774) Allowed the French residents of Quebec to retain their traditional political and religious institutions, and extended the boundaries of the province southward to the Ohio River. Mistakenly perceived by the colonists to be part of Parliament's response to the Boston Tea Party.

First Continental Congress

(1774) Convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that convened in Philadelphia to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods.

The Association

(1774) Non-importation agreement crafted during the First Continental Congress calling for the complete boycott of British goods.

Intolerable Acts

(1774) Series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, closing the Port of Boston, revoking a number of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, and expanding the Quartering Act to allow for the lodging of soldiers in private homes. In response, colonists convened the First Continental Congress and called for a complete boycott of British goods.

Continental Congress

(1775) It called for a complete abolish of the slave trade but no states south of Pennsylvania abolished slavery and the overall law for blacks everywhere was harsh. It asked the colonies to draft new constitutions.

Second Continental Congress

(1775-1781) Representative body of delegates from all thirteen colonies. Drafted the declaration of Independence and managed the colonial war effort.

"Common Sense"

(1776) Thomas Paine's pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution.

Articles of Confederation

(1781) First American constitution that established the United States as a loose confederation of states under a weak national Congress, which was not granted the power to regulate commerce or collect taxes. The Articles were replaced by a more efficient Constitution in 1789.

Shays's Rebellion

(1786) Armed uprising of western Massachusetts debtors seeking lower taxes and an end to property foreclosures. Though quickly put down, the insurrection inspired fears of "mob rule" among leading Revolutionaries.

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

(1786) Measure enacted by the Virginia legislature prohibiting state support for religious institutions and recognizing freedom of worship. Served as a model for the religion clause of the first amendment to the Constitution.

"three-fifths compromise"

(1787) Determined that each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of apportioning taxes and representation. The compromise granted disproportionate political power to Southern slave states.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

(1854) Proposed that the issue of slavery be decided by popular sovereignty in the Kansas and Nebraska territories, thus revoking the 1820 Missouri Compromise. Introduced by Stephen Douglass in an effort to bring Nebraska into the Union and pave the way for a northern transcontinental railroad.

Ostend Manifesto

(1854) Secret Franklin Pierce administration proposal to purchase or, that failing, to wrest militarily Cuba from Spain. Once leaked, it was quickly abandoned due to vehement opposition from the North.

"Bleeding Kansas"

(1856-1861) Civil war in Kansas over the issue of slavery in the territory, fought intermittently until 1861, when it merged with the wider nation Civil War.

"The Impending Crisis of the South"

(1857) Antislavery tract, written by white Southerner Hinton R. Helper, arguing that nonslaveholding whites actually suffered most in a slave economy.

Lecompton Constitution

(1857) Proposed Kansas constitution, whose ratification was unfairly rigged so as to guarantee slavery in the territory. Initially ratified by proslavery forces, it was later voted down when Congress required that the entire constitution be put up for a vote.

Freeport Doctrine

(1858) Declared that since slavery could not exist without laws to protect it, territorial legislatures, not the Supreme Court, would have the final say on the slavery question.First argued by Stephen Douglass in 1858 in response to Abraham Lincoln's "Freeport Question."

Lincoln-Douglas debates

(1858) Series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglass during the U.S. Senate race in Illinois. Douglass won the election but Lincoln gained national prominence and emerged as the leading candidate for the 1860 Republican nomination.

Constitutional Union Party

(1860) Formed by moderate Whigs and Know-Nothings in an effort to elect a compromise candidate and avert a sectional crisis.

Pony Express

(1860-1861) Short-lived, speedy mail service between Missouri and California that relied on lightweight riders galloping between closely placed outposts.

"Molly Maguires"

(1860s-1870s) Secret organization of Irish miners that campaigned, at times violently, against poor working conditions in the Pennsylvania mines.

Trent affair

(1861) Diplomatic row that threatened to bring the British into the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy, after a Union warship stopped a British steamer and arrested two Confederate diplomats on board.

Morrill Tariff Act

(1861) Increased duties back up to 1846 levels to raise revenue for the Civil War.

Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War

(1861-1865) Established by Congress during the Civil War to oversee military affairs. Largely under the control of Radical Republicans, the committee agitated for more vigorous war effort and actively pressed Lincoln on the issue of emancipation.

Confederacy

(1861-1865) Government established after seven Southern states seceded from the Union. Later joined by four more states from the Upper South

Peninsula Campaign

(1862) Union General George B. McClellan's failed effort to seize Richmond, the Confederate Capital. Had McClellan taken Richmond and toppled the Confederacy, slavery would have most likely survived in the South for some time.

Alabama

(1862-1864) British-built and manned Confederate warship that raided Union shipping during the Civil War. One of many built by the British for the Confederacy, despite Union protests.

Gettysburg Address

(1863) Abraham Lincoln's oft-quoted speech, delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg battlefield. In the address, Lincoln framed the war as a means to uphold the values of liberty.

Emancipation Proclamation

(1863) Declared all slaves in rebelling states to be free but did not affect slavery in non-rebelling Border States. This closed the door on possible compromise with the South and encouraged thousands of Southern slaves to flee to Union lines.

"The Man Without A Country"

(1863) Edward Everett Hale's fictional account of a treasonous soldier's journeys in exile. The book was widely read in the North, inspiring greater devotion to the Union.

10 percent plan

(1863) Introduced by President Lincoln, it proposed that a state be readmitted to the Union once 10 percent of its voters had pledged loyalty to the United States and promised to honor emancipation.

Battle of Vicksburg

(1863) The Union gained control of Mississippi, the Confederacy split in two, Grant took lead of Union armies, and total war began.

Laird rams

(1863) Two well-armed ironclad warships constructed for the Confederacy by a British firm. Seeking to avoid war with the United States, the British government purchased the two ships for its Royal Navy instead.

Union Party

(1864) A coalition party of pro-war Democrats and Republicans formed during the 1864 election to defeat anti-war Northern Democrats.

Thirteenth Amendment

(1865) Constitutional amendment prohibiting all forms of slavery and involuntary servitude. Former Confederate States were required to ratify the amendment prior to gaining reentry into the Union.

Black Codes

(1865-1866) Laws passed throughout the South to restrict the rights of emancipated blacks, particularly with respect to negotiating labor contracts. Increased Northerners' criticisms of President Andrew Johnson's lenient Reconstruction policies.

Freedmen's Bureau

(1865-1872) Created to aid newly emancipated slaves by providing food, clothing, medical care, education, and legal support. Its achievements were uneven and depended largely on the quality of local administrators.

Wabash case

(1866) A Supreme Court decision that prohibited states from regulating the railroads because the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. As a result, reformers turned their attention to the federal government, which now held sole power to regulate the railroad industry.

Ex parte Milligan

(1866) Civil War Era case in which the Supreme Court ruled that military tribunals could not be used to try civilians if civil courts were open.

National Labor Union

(1866-1872) This first national labor organization in U.S. history was founded in 1866 and gained 600,000 members from many parts of the workforce, although it limited the participation of Chinese, women, and blacks. The organization devoted much of its energy to fighting for an eight-hour workday before it dissolved in 1872.

Reconstruction Act

(1867) Passed by the newly elected Republican Congress, it divided the South into five military districts, disenfranchised former confederates, and required that Southern states both ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and write state constitutions guaranteeing freedmen the franchise before gaining readmission to the Union.

"Seward's Folly"

(1867) Popular term for Secretary of State William Seward's purchase of Alaska from Russia. The derisive term reflected the anti-expansionist sentiments of most Americans immediately after the Civil War.

Tenure of Office Act

(1867) Required the President to seek approval from the Senate before removing appointees. When Andrew Johnson removed his secretary of war in violation of the act, he was impeached by the house but remained in office when the Senate fell one vote short of removing him.

Gilded Age

(1877-1896) A term given to the period 1865-1896 by Mark Twain, indicating both the fabulous wealth and the widespread corruption of the era.

Bland-Allison Act

(1878) This was a law passed over the veto of President Rutherford B. Hayes requiring the U.S. Treasury to buy a certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars. The goal was to subsidize the silver industry in the Mountain states and inflate prices.

resumption

(1879) Congress said that greenbacks were redeemable for gold, but no one wanted to redeem them for face gold value. Because paper money was much more convenient than gold, they remained in circulation; helped get America out of recession.

Chinese Exclusion Act

(1882) Federal legislation that prohibited most further Chinese immigration to the United States. This was the first major legal restriction on immigration in U.S. history.

Pendleton Act

(1883) Congressional legislation that established the Civil Service Commission, which granted federal government jobs on the basis of examinations instead of political patronage, thus reigning in the spoils system.

Haymarket riot

(1886) A May Day rally that turned violent when someone threw a bomb into the middle of the meeting, killing several dozen people. Eight anarchists were arrested for conspiracy contributing to the disorder, although evidence linking the to the bombing was thin. Four were executed, one committed suicide, and three were pardoned in 1893.

Interstate Commerce Act

(1887) Congressional legislation that established the Interstate Commerce Commission, compelled railroads to publish standard rates, and prohibited rebates and pools. Railroads quickly became adept at using the Act to achieve their own ends, but the Act gave the government an important means to regulate big business.

Sherman Act

(1890) A law that forbade trusts or combinations in business, this was landmark legislation because it was one of the first Congressional attempts to regulate big business for the public good. At first the law was mostly used to restrain trade unions as the courts tended to side with companies in legal cases.

McKinley Tariff

(1890) Shepherded through Congress by President William McKinley, this tariff raised duties on Hawaiian sugar and set of renewed efforts to secure the annexation of Hawaii to the United States.

"Great Compromise"

(1787) Popular term for the measure which reconciled the New Jersey and Virginia plans at the constitutional convention, giving states proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate. The compromise broke the stalemate at the convention and paved the way for subsequent compromises over slavery and the Electoral College.

"The Federalist"

(1788) Collection of essays written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton and published during the ratification debate in New York to lay out the Federalists' arguments in favor of the new Constitution. Since their publication, these influential essays have served as an important source for constitutional interpretation.

Bank of the United States

(1791) Chartered by Congress as part of Alexander Hamilton's financial program, the bank printed paper money and served as a depository for Treasury funds. It drew opposition from Jeffersonian Republicans, who argued that the bank was unconstitutional.

Bill of Rights

(1791) Popular term for the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The amendments secure key rights for individuals and reserve to the states all powers not explicitly delegated or prohibited by the Constitution.

cotton gin

(1793) Eli Whitney's invention that sped up the process of harvesting cotton. The gin made cotton cultivation more profitable revitalizing the Southern economy and increasing the importance of slavery in the South.

Battle of Fallen Timbers

(1794) Decisive battle between the Miami confederacy and the U.S. Army. British forces refused to shelter the routed Indians, forcing the latter to attain a peace settlement with the United States.

Jay's Treaty

(1794) Negotiated by Chief Justice John Jay in an effort to avoid war with Britain, the treaty included a British promise to evacuate outposts on U.S. soil and pay damages for seized American vessels, in exchange for which Jay bound the United States to repay pre-Revolutionary war debts and to abide by Britain's restrictive trading policies toward France.

Whiskey Rebellion

(1794) Popular uprising of whiskey distillers in southwestern Pennsylvania in opposition to an excise tax on whiskey. In a show of strength and resolve by the new central government, Washington put down the rebellion with militia drawn from several states.

Pinckney Treaty

(1795) Signed with Spain which, fearing an Anglo-American alliance, granted Americans free navigation of the Mississippi and the disputed territory of Florida.

Treaty of Greenville

(1795) Under the terms of the treaty, the Miami Confederacy agreed to cede territory in the Old Northwest to the United States in exchange for cash payment, hunting rights, and formal recognition of their sovereign status.

Farewell Address

(1796) George Washington's address at the end of his presidency, warning against "permanent alliances" with other nations. Washington did not oppose all alliances, but believed that the young, fledgling nation should forge alliances only on a temporary basis, in extraordinary circumstances.

XYZ affair

(1797) Diplomatic conflict between France and the United States when American envoys to France were asked to pay a hefty bribe for the privilege of meeting with the French foreign minister. Many in the U.S. called for war against France, while American sailors and privateers waged an undeclared war against French merchants in the Caribbean.

Virginia and Kentucky resolutions

(1798-1799) Statements secretly drafted by Jefferson and Madison for the legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia. Argued that states were the final arbiters of whether the federal government overstepped its boundaries and could therefore nullify, or refuse to accept, national legislation they deemed unconstitutional.

"midnight judges"

(1801) Federal justices appointed by John Adams during the last days of his presidency. Their positions were revoked when the newly elected Republican Congress repealed the Judiciary Act.

Tripolitan War

(1801-1805) Four-year conflict between the American Navy and the North-African nation of Tripoli over piracy in the Mediterranean. Jefferson, a staunch noninterventionist, reluctantly deployed American forces, eventually securing a peace treaty with Tripoli.

Orders in Council

(1806-1807) Edicts issued by the British Crown closing French-owned European ports to foreign shipping. The French responded by ordering the seizure of all vessels entering British ports, thereby cutting off American merchants from trade with both parties.

Non-Intercourse Act of 1809

(1809) Passed alongside the repeal of the Embargo Act, it reopened trade with all but the two belligerent nations, Britain and France. The Act continued Jefferson's policy of economic coercion, still with little effect.

Fletcher v. Peck

(1810) Established firmer protection for private property and asserted the right of the Supreme Court to invalidate state laws in conflict with the federal Constitution.

Tippecanoe

(1811) Resulted in the defeat of Shawnee chief Tenskwatawa, "the Prophet" at the hands William Henry Harrison in the Indiana wilderness. After the battle, the Prophet's brother, Tecumseh, forged an alliance with the British against the United States.

war hawks

(1811-1812) Democratic-Republican Congressmen who pressed James Madison to declare war on Britain. Largely drawn from the South and West, these people resented British constraints on American trade and accused the British of supporting Indian attacks against American settlements on the frontier.

Hartford Convention

(1814-1815) Convention of Federalists from five New England states who opposed the War of 1812 and resented the strength of Southern and Western interests in Congress and in the White House.

Treaty of Ghent

(1815) Ended the War of 1812 in a virtual draw, restoring prewar borders but failing to address any of the grievances that first brought America into the war.

Era if Good Feelings

(1816-1824) Popular name for the period of one party, Republican, rule during James Monroe's presidency. The term obscures bitter conflicts over internal improvements, slavery, and the national bank.

Tallmadge Amendment

(1819) Failed proposal to prohibit the importation of slaves into Missouri territory and pace the way for gradual emancipation. Southerners vehemently opposed the amendment, which they perceived as a threat to the sectional balance between North and South.

McCulloch v. Maryland

(1819) Supreme Court case that strengthened federal authority and upheld the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States by establishing that the State of Maryland did not have power to tax the bank.

Darthmouth College v. Woodward

(1819) Supreme Court case that sustained Dartmouth University's original charter against changed proposed by the New Hampshire state legislature, thereby protecting corporations from domination by state governments.

Missouri Compromise

(1820) Allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state but preserved the balance between North and South by carving free-soil Maine out of Massachusetts and prohibiting slavery from territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, north of the line of 36 degrees 30'.

American System

(1820s) Henry Clay's three-pronged system to promote American industry. Clay advocated a strong banking system, a protective tariff, and a federally funded transportation network.

Cohens v. Virginia

(1821) Case that reinforced federal supremacy by establishing the right of the Supreme Court to review decisions of state supreme courts in questions involving the powers of the federal government.

Monroe Doctrine

(1823) Statement delivered by President James Monroe, warning European powers to refrain from seeking any new territories in the Americas. The United States largely lacked the power to back up the pronouncement, which was actually enforced by the British, who sought unfettered access to Latin American markets.

Gibbons v. Ogden

(1824) Suit over whether New York State could grant a monopoly to a ferry operating on interstate waters. The ruling reasserted that Congress had the sole power to regulate interstate commerce.

Tariff of Abominations

(1828) Noteworthy for its unprecedentedly high duties on imports. Southerners vehemently opposed the Tariff, arguing that it hurt Southern farmers, who did not enjoy the protection of tariffs, but were forced to pay higher prices for manufactures.

The Liberator

(1831-1865) Antislavery newspaper published by William Lloyd Garrison, who called for the immediate emancipation of all slaves.

Force Bill

(1833) Passed by Congress alongside the Compromise Tariff, it authorized the president to use the military to collect federal tariff duties.

American Anti-Slavery Society

(1833-1870) Abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison, who advocated the immediate abolition of slavery. By 1838, the organization had more than 250,000 members across 1,350 chapters.

Specie Circular

(1836) U.S. Treasury decree requiring that all public lands be purchased with "hard," or metallic, currency. Issued after small state banks flooded the market with unreliable paper currency, fueling land speculation in the West.

Caroline

(1837) Diplomatic row between the United States and Britain. Developed after British troops set fire to an American steamer carrying supplies across the Niagara River to Canadian insurgents, during Canada's short-lived insurrection.

"Trail of Tears"

(1838-1839) Forced march of 15,000 Cherokee Indians from their Georgia and Alabama homes to Indian Territory. Some 4,000 Cherokee died on the arduous journey.

Liberty Party

(1840-1848) Antislavery party that ran candidates in the 1840 and 1844 elections before merging with the Free Soil party. Supporters of this party sought the eventual abolition of slavery, but in short term hoped to halt the expansion of slavery into the territories and abolish the domestic slave trade.

Manifest Destiny

(1840s and 1850s) Belief that the United States was destined by God to spread its "empire of liberty" across North America. Served as a justification for mid-nineteenth century expansionism.

"conscience" Whigs

(1840s and 1850s) Northern Whigs who opposed slavery on moral grounds. They sought to prevent the annexation of Texas as a slave state, fearing that the new slave territory would only serve to buttress the Southern "slave power."

clipper ships

(1840s-1850s) Small, swift vessels that gave American shippers an advantage in the carrying trade. These were made largely obsolete by the advent of sturdier, roomier, iron steamers on the eve of the Civil War.

Oregon fever

(1842) Many Eastern and Midwestern farmers and city dwellers were dissatisfied with their lives and began moving up the Oregon trail to the Willamette Valley. This free land was widely publicized.

Commonwealth v. Hunt

(1842) Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that strengthened the labor movement by upholding the legality of unions.

Treaty of Wanghia

(1844) Signed by the U.S. and China, it assured the United States the same trading concessions granted to other powers, greatly expanding America's trade with the Chinese.

Wilmot Proviso

(1846) Amendment that sought to prohibit slavery from territories acquired from Mexico. Introduced by Pennsylvania congressman David Wilmot, the failed amendment ratcheted up tensions between North and South over the issue of slavery.

"spot" resolutions

(1846) Measures introduced by Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln, questioning President James K. Polk's justification for war with Mexico. Lincoln requested that Polk clarify precisely where Mexican forces had attacked American troops.

Walker Tariff

(1846) Revenue-enhancing measure that lowered tariffs from 1842 levels thereby fueling trade and increasing Treasury receipts.

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

(1848) Ended the war with Mexico. Mexico agreed to cede territory reaching northwest from Texas to Oregon in exchange for $18.25 million in cash and assumed debts.

Free Soil Party

(1848-1854) Antislavery party in the 1848 and 1852 elections that opposed the extension of slavery into the territories, arguing that the presence of slavery would limit opportunities for free laborers.

Fugitive Slave Law

(1850) Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, it set high penalties for anyone who aided escaped slaves and compelled all law enforcement officers to participate in retrieving runaways. Strengthened the antislavery cause in the North.

Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896) A Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of segregation laws, saying that as long as blacks were provided with "separate but equal" facilities, these laws did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision provided legal justification for the Jim Crow system until the 1950s.

Florida Purchase Treaty of 1819

(Adams- Onís Treaty) Under the agreement, Spain ceded Florida to the United States, which, in exchange, abandoned its claims to Texas.

Battle of Fredericksburg

(December 1862) Decisive victory in the Virginia for Confederate Robert E. Lee, who successfully repelled a Union attack on his lines.

Battle of New Orleans

(January 1815) Resounding victory of American forces against the British, restoring American confidence and fueling an outpouring of nationalism. Final battle of the War of 1812.

Battle of Gettysburg

(July 1863) Civil War battle in Pennsylvania that ended in Union victory, spelling doom for the Confederacy, which never again managed to invade the North. Site of General George Pickett's daring but doomed charge on the Northern lines.

Declaration of Independence

(July 4, 1776) Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide.

Bunker Hill

(June 1775) Fought on the outskirts of Boston, on Breed's Hill, the battle ended in the colonial militia's retreat, though at a heavy cost to the British.

Battle of Saratoga

(October 1777) Decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary cause.

Battle of Yorktown

(October 1781) George Washington, with the aid of the French Army, besieged Cornwallis at Yorktown, while the French naval fleet prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore. Cornwallis surrendered, dealing a heavy blow to the British war effort and paving the way for an eventual peace.

Battle of Antietam

(September 1862) Landmark battle in the Civil War that essentially ended in a draw but demonstrated the prowess of the Union army, forestalling foreign intervention and giving Lincoln the "victory" he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Aroostook War

(began 1839) Series of clashes between American and Canadian lumberjacks n the disputed territory of northern Maine, resolved when a permanent boundary was agreed upon in 1842.

War of Jenkin's Ear

(began in 1739) Small-scale clash between Britain and Spain in the Caribbean and in the buffer colony, Georgia. It merged with the much larger War of Austrian Succession in 1742.

Second Great Awakening

(early nineteenth century) Religious revival characterized by emotional mass "camp meetings" and widespread conversion. Brought about a democratization of religion as a multiplicity of denominations vied for members.

Society of the Cincinnati

(established 1783) Exclusive, hereditary organization of former officers in the Continental Army. Many resented the pretentiousness of the order, viewing it as a vestige of pre-Revolutionary traditions.

Tammany Hall

(established 1789) Powerful New York political machine that primarily drew support from the city's immigrants, who depended on Tammany Hall patronage, particularly social services.

Shakers

(established c. 1770s) They were called this for their lively dance worship, they emphasized simple, communal living and were all expected to practice celibacy. First transplanted to America from England by Mother Ann Lee, they counted six thousand members by 1840, though by the 1940s the movement had largely died out.

Anti-Masonic party

(established c. 1826) First founded in New York, it gained considerable influence in New England and the mid-Atlantic during the 1832 election, campaigning against the politically influenced Masonic order, a secret society. Anti-Masons opposed Andrew Jackson, a Mason, and drew much of their support from evangelical Protestants.

New England Immigrant Aid Society

(founded 1854) Organization created to facilitate the migration of free laborers to Kansas in order to prevent the establishment of slavery in the territory.

popular sovereignty

(in the context of the slavery debate) Notion that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery. Seemingly a compromise, it was largely opposed by Northern abolitionists who feared it would promote the spread of slavery to the territories.

popular sovereignty

(in the context of the slavery debate) Notion that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery. Seemingly a compromise, it was largely opposed by Northern abolitionists, who feared it would promote the spread of slavery to the territories.

Iroquois

(late 1500s) Bound together five tribes - the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas - in the Mohawk Valley of what is now New York State

Ancient Order of Hibernians

(mid-nineteenth century) Irish semi-secret society that served as a benevolent organization for downtrodden Irish immigrants in the United States.

nativist

(nativism) a belief that one's native land needs to be protected against immigrants

Fourteenth Amendment

(ratified 1868) Constitutional amendment that extended civil rights to freedmen and prohibited states from taking away such rights without due process.

Fifteenth Amendment

(ratified 1870) Prohibited states from denying citizens the franchise on account of race. IT disappointed feminists who wanted the Amendment to include guarantees for women's suffrage.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

(1850) Signed by Great Britain and the United States, it provided that the two nations would jointly protect the neutrality of Central America and that neither power would seek to fortify or exclusively control any future isthmian waterway. Later revoked by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901, which gave the United States control of the Panama Canal.

Know Nothing Party

(1850s) Nativist political party, also known as the American party, which emerged in response to an influx of immigrants, particularly Irish Catholics.

American or Know-Nothing Party

(1850s) Nativist political party, which emerged in response to an influx of immigrants, particularly Irish Catholics.

Maine Law

(1851) Prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. A dozen other states followed Maine's lead, though most statutes proved ineffective and were repealed within a decade.

"Uncle Tom's Cabin"

(1852) Harriet Beecher Stowe's widely read novel that dramatized the horrors of slavery. It heightened Northern support for abolition and escalated the sectional conflict.

Gadsen Purchase

(1853) Acquired additional land from Mexico for $10 million to facilitate the construction of a southern transcontinental railroad.

Whig Party

was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party.

independent treasury

was a system for the retaining of government funds in the United States Treasury and its subtreasuries, independently of the national banking and financial systems. In one form or another, it existed from 1846 to 1921

Thomas J. Jackson

He was a Confederate General who was known for his fearlessness in leading rapid marches, bold flanking movements, and furious assaults. He earned his nickname (Stonewall) at the Battle of First Bull Run for standing courageously against Union fire. During the Battle of Chancellorsville, his own men accidentally mortally wounded him.

Samuel de Champlain

He was a French explorer who sailed to the West Indies, Mexico, and Panama. He wrote many books telling of his trips to Mexico City and Niagara Falls. His greatest accomplishment was his exploration of the St. Lawrence River and his latter settlement of Quebec.

Zachary Taylor

He was a General that was a military leader in Mexican-American War and 12th president of the United States. He was a Whig. He was sent by President Polk to lead the American Army against Mexico at Rio Grande, but defeated.

Tariff of 1833

was 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.

James Madison

He was a US Statesman and political theorist. He is credited with the name "Father of the Constitution" for being the primary author of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Wrote the Federalist Papers in 1788. He believed in the principle of divided power, such as between federal and state governments, and checks and balances in the government.

James Russell Lowell

He was an American poet, essayist, diplomat, editor, and literary critic. He is remembered for his political satire, especially in the Billow Papers (which condemned president Polk's policy for expanding slavery). He succeeded professor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as teacher of modern languages at Harvard.

Jefferson Davis

He was an American statesman and politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history from 1861 to 1865.

Louis XIV

He was an absolute monarch that built up France's internal strength through finance and military, strengthened army and connected France through trades routes, catholic religion and the capital Versailles and foreign expansion during his reign.

Herman Melville

He was an author born in New York in 1819. He was uneducated and an orphan. He served eighteen months as a whaler. These adventuresome years served as a major part in his writing. He wrote Moby Dick in 1851 which was much less popular than his tales of the South seas.

transcendentalism

Literary and intellectual movement that emphasized individualism and self-reliance, predicated upon a belief that each person possesses an "inner-light" that can point the way to truth and direct contact with God.

agrarian

Means having to do with agriculture. The society were the farmers and plantation owners of the south. This was the society that Jefferson wanted to see become the future of America. He appreciated the many virtuous and beneficial characteristics.

Santa Anna

Mexican dictator who was in charge when war broke out between the Mexicans and Americans. He lost Texas to rebels, and was the leader of the armed forces during the war.

Francisco Villa

Mexican revolutionary who killed many Americans in Mexico. The United States sent John J Pershing to capture him but never did.

Jim Fisk

Millionaire that provided the brass and was concerned in a plot to corner the gold market that would only work if the federal treasury refrained from selling gold.

New Nationalism

New Nationalism, in U.S. history, political philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt, an espousal of active federal intervention to promote social justice and the economic welfare of the underprivileged; its precepts were strongly influenced by Herbert Croly's The Promise of American Life (1910)

Thomas Nast

New York Times cartoonist who pilloried Boss Tweed mercilessly; his cartoons were influential because Tweed's illiterate followers could understand them.

Arthur and Lewis Tappan

New York abolitionists who gained legal help and acquittal for the Africans and managed to increase public support and fundraising for the organized return trip home to Africa for surviving members of the group.

"King Mob"

Nickname for all the new participants in government that came with Jackson's presidency. This nickname was negative and proposed that Jackson believed in too much democracy, perhaps leading to anarchy.

"Billy Yank"

Nickname for average Northern/Union Soldier.

James Madison

Nicknamed "the Father of the Constitution"; talented politician sent to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787; his notable contributions to the Constitution helped to convince the public to ratify it.

"separate spheres"

Nineteenth-century idea in Western societies that men and women, especially of the middle class, should have different roles in society: women as wives, mothers, and homemakers; men as breadwinners and participants in business and politics

Copperheads

Northern Democrats who obstructed the war effort attacking Abraham Lincoln, the draft and, after 1863, emancipation.

Louisa May Alcott

Novelist whose tales of family life helped economically support her own struggling transcendentalist family.

Warren G. Harding

won the presidency in 1920 (republican), his political philosophy fit in well with the times, his campaign promised "a return to normalcy" which he meant for a "normal" life after the war

Ninth Amendment

written by Madison as an Amendment to the Constitution, it declares that specifying certain rights "shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people"

Tenth Amendment

written by Madison as an amendment to the Constitution; reserves all rights not explicitly delegated or prohibited by the federal Constitution "to the States respectively, or to the people"

F. Scott Fitzgerald

wrote "The Great Gatsby, with colorful characters that chased futile dreams, his novel was critical of modern society's superficiality, belonged to the Lost Generation of Writers

George Catlin

Painter and student of Native American life who was among the first Americans to advocate the preservation of nature as a deliberate national policy. He proposed the idea of a national park after observing Sioux Indians slaughtering buffalo for tongues to trade for whiskey.

hard/sound money

Paper money backed by gold; extremely important during late 1860's and early 1870's (Panic of 1873). People wanted disappearance of greenbacks

soft/cheap money

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

Liberal Republicans

Party formed in 1872 (split from the ranks of the Republican Party) which argued that the Reconstruction task was complete and should be set aside. Significantly dampened further Reconstructionist efforts.

Force Acts

Passed by Congress following a wave of Ku Klux Klan violence, the acts banned clan membership, prohibited the use of intimidation to prevent blacks from voting, and gave the U.S. military the authority to enforce the acts.

Wade-Davis Bill

Passed by Congressional Republicans in response to Abraham Lincoln's "10 percent plan," it required that 50 percent of a state's voters pledge allegiance to the Union, and set stronger safeguards for emancipation. Reflected divisions between Congress and the President, and between radical and moderate Republicans, over the treatment of the defeated South.

Federal Farm Loan Act

Passed by president Wilson in 1916. Was originally a reform wanted by the Populist party. It gave farmers the chance to get credit at low rates of interest

Judiciary Act of 1801

Passed by the departing Federalist Congress, it created sixteen new federal judgeships ensuring a Federalist hold on the judiciary.

funding at par

Payment of debts, such as government bonds, at face value. In 1790, Alexander Hamilton proposed that the federal government pay its Revolutionary war debts in full in order to bolster the nation's credit.

Treaty of Paris of 1783

Peace treaty signed by Britain and the United States ending the Revolutionary War. The British formally recognized American independence and ceded territory east of the Mississippi while the Americans, in turn, promised to restore Loyalist property and repay debts to British creditors.

Salmon P. Chase

New England born abolitionist who, as Secretary of the Treasury, pushed Lincoln to take a tougher stance on slavery during the Civil War. In 1864, Radical Republicans unsuccessfully tried to replace Lincoln with him on the Republican ticket. Later that year, Lincoln appointed him as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, where he served until his death.

carpetbaggers

Pejorative used by Southern whites to describe Northern businessmen and politicians who came to the South after the Civil War to work on Reconstruction projects or invest in Southern infrastructure.

Mormons

Religious followers of Joseph Smith, who founded a communal, oligarchic religious order in the 1830s, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. These, facing deep hostility from their non-Mormon neighbors, eventually migrated west and established a flourishing settlement in the Utah desert.

John Quincy Adams

Secretary of State, He served as sixth president under Monroe. In 1819, he drew up the Adams-Onis Treaty in which Spain gave the United States Florida in exchange for the United States dropping its claims to Texas. The Monroe Doctrine was mostly Adams' work.

sectionalism

Sectionalism is a narrow-minded concern for a devotion to the interests of one section of the country. This began to occur in 1796. This caused the development of two political parties. Washington disagreed with sectionalism. The country split politically and the North voted for Adams and the South voted for Jefferson.

Osceola

Seminole leader who resisted the removal of his people from Florida in the 1830s. He died under suspicious circumstances after being tricked into surrendering.

George W. Norris

Senator of Nebraska had the idea of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) which brought cheap electric power, it was the most revolutionary of the New Deal schemes

Henry Clay

Senator who persuaded Congress to accept the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Maine into the Union as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state.

the Square Deal

Square Deal. A term for President Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program, formed upon three basic ideas: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.

transportation revolution

Term referring to a series of nineteenth-century transportation innovations-turnpikes, steamboats, canals, and railroads-that linked local and regional markets, creating a national economy.

Samuel F. B. Morse

The American developer of the telegraph, who in 1844, sent a message from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles.

Central Pacific Railroad

The California-based railroad company led by the Big Four, which included Leland Stanford and Collis P. Huntington, who walked away with millions in profits. Received the same government benefits as the Union Pacific. Employed Chinese laborers in building lines across the mountains. Started in Sacramento, and connected with the Union Pacific Railroad near Ogden, UT.

Woodrow Wilson

The Democratic representative in the presidential elections of 1912 and 1916. He was elected into the presidency as a minority president. He was born in Virginia and was raised in a very religious family. He was widely known for his political sermons. He was an aggressive leader and believed that Congress could not function properly without good leadership provided by the president. His progressive program was known as New Freedom and his foreign policy program was Moral Diplomacy. He was president during World War I.

Elkins Act

The Elkins Act is a 1903 United States federal law that amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The Act authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates, and upon the shippers that accepted these rebates.

economic coercion

The English navy stole American sailors from 1806 until 1811 angering Jefferson and the country. Jefferson, however, did not wish to engage in war with England because of the country's weak navy and army. So he came up with the idea of using this to force Britain to come to Jefferson, and agree to his terms. He came up with the Embargo Act which cut off all trade with England and everyone else. Jefferson hoped this would force the English to come to his terms and stop stealing American sailors. This, however, did not work and greatly hurt American trade.

Robert E. Lee

The General of the Confederate troops, he was prosperous in many battles. He was defeated at Antietam in 1862 when he retreated across the Potomac, this halt of his troops justified Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. He was defeated at Gettysburg by General Mead's Union troops and surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

Hepburn Act

The Hepburn Act is a 1906 United States federal law that gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to set maximum railroad rates and extend its jurisdiction. This led to the discontinuation of free passes to loyal shippers.

"The Jungle"

The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities

De Witt Clinton

The New York governor who pushed for the construction of the 363-mile canal in this state in 1817.

Old Guard

The Old Right was an informal designation used for a branch of the American ... The Old Right started in the Republican Party (GOP) split in 1910 and was influential

Pontiac

The Ottawa chief led several tribes in a campaign to drive the British out of the Ohio Country. Overran all but three British posts west of the Appalachians and killed two thousand soldiers and settlers. The British retaliated by distributing smallpox infested blankets and easily crushed the uprising. He was killed but fiasco convinced British of a need to stabilize relations with Indians.

Plymouth Plantation

The Pilgrims' settlement, named by Captain John Smith. It was located in the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts and they'd escaped from religious persecution in England.

Newlands Act

The Reclamation Act (also known as the Lowlands Reclamation Act or National Reclamation Act) of 1902 (Pub.L. 57-161) is a United States federal law that funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of 20 states in the American West.

Charles Sumner

The Republican idealist who pushed for black suffrage during Reconstruction as a principle of black freedom and racial equality.

Bull Moose

The Republicans were badly split in the 1912 election, so Roosevelt broke away forming his own Progressive Party (or Bull Moose Party because he was "fit as a bull moose..."). His loss led to the election of Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, but he gained more third party votes than ever before

"rule of reason"

The Rule of Reason is a doctrine developed by the United States Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Sherman Antitrust Act; The rule, stated and applied in the case of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911), is that only combinations and contracts unreasonably restraining trade are subject to actions under the anti-trust laws. Possession of monopoly power is not in itself illegal

William Faulkner

wrote "The Sound and the Fury," later won the Nobel Prize for Literature, showed what his characters were thinking and feeling before they spoke, which was a new writing technique, using that technique, he exposed hidden attitudes of Southern whites and African Americans in a fictional Mississippi county.

Henry Demarest Lloyd

wrote the book "Wealth Against Commonwealth" in 1894; part of the progressive movement and the book's purpose was to show the wrong in the monopoly of the Standard Oil Company.

annexation

The formal act of acquiring something (especially territory) by conquest or occupation

Constitution of the United States

The foundation of our country's national government; was drafted in Philadelphia in 1787; this establishes a government with direct authority over all citizens, it defines the powers of the national government, and it establishes protection for the rights of states and of every individual.

Social Security Act

The greatest victory for New Dealers; created pension and insurance for the old-aged, the blind, the physically handicapped, delinquent children, and other dependents by taxing employees and employers

consent of the governed

The idea that government derives its authority by the sanction of the people

popular consent

The idea that governments draw their power from the consent of the governed.

southern nationalism

The idea that the South would develop into its own country like, its how they became the confederates.

William Seward

U.S. Senator and Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln. An avid opponent of slavery, he was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination in both 1856 and 1860. Later, as one of Lincoln's closest advisers, he helped handle the difficult tasks of keeping European nations out of the Civil War. He is best known, however, for negotiating the purchase of Alaska, dubbed "Seward's Folly" by expansion-weary opponents of the deal.

nonintervention

This was one of the two features located in the Monroe Doctrine. Monroe declared a new policy on foreign intervention. The policy declared that the United States would not become involved in European affairs. Europe would stay out of the Western Hemisphere 1823 as well.

Ford's Theater

This was the location of Lincoln's assignation. He was shot in the head during a performance by an actor.

Treaty of 1818

This was with Britain; allowed Americas to share Newfoundland fisheries with Canada - also fixed the northern limits of Louisiana - ten year joint occupation of Oregon Country (without a surrender or right or claims to either America or Britain)

San Francisco school crisis

This would force fed gov't to become involved - all school principals (in CA) were ordered to send Chinese, Japanese, Koreans to a segregated school . When Japanese heard about this they were upset b/c they already had an agreement that they would have same education as whites - Pres invites mayor and members of school board to come up w/compromise Ja kids not segregated, Chinese/Koreans still would.... Led to exclusion order which Japanese in Hawaii could no longer come to mainland (but didn't address those coming from Japan), and would do what he could to add Japanese Exclusion

Bonus Bill of 1817

This would have parceled out $1.5 M to the states for internal improvements

federation

Thomas Jefferson wanted a tightly knit federation. This involved the yielding by the states of their sovereignty to a completely new federal government. This would give the states freedom to control their local affairs.

the "three Rs"

Three components of the New Deal. The first "R" was the effort to help the one-third of the population that was hardest hit by the depression, & included social security and unemployment insurance. The second "R" was the effort in numerous programs to restore the economy to normal health, achieved by 1937. Finally, the third "R" let government intervention stabilize the economy by balancing the interests of farmers, business and labor. There was no major anti-trust program. (Relief, Recovery, Reform)

"Crime of '73"

Through the Coinage Act of 1873, the U.S. ended the minting of silver dollars and placed the country on the gold standard. This was attacked by those who supported an inflationary monetary policy, particularly farmers and believed in the unlimited coinage of silver.

"mobocracy"

To be ruled by a mob. An example of people who used this method would be the American colonists. When England would impose taxes and acts, such as the Stamp Act, the colonists would become angered and protest it by forming mobs and doing such things as ransacking houses and stealing the money of stamp agents. The Stamp Act was eventually nullified because all the stamp agents had been forced to resign leaving no one to uphold it.

assumption

Transfer of debt from one party to another. In order to strengthen the union, the federal government assumed states' Revolutionary War debts in 1790, thereby tying the interests of wealthy lenders with those of the national government.

coureurs de bois

Translated as "runners of the woods," they were French fur-trappers, also known as "voyageurs" (travelers), who established trading posts throughout North America. The fur trade wreaked havoc on the health and folkways of their Native American trading partners.

"Blue Light" Federalists

Treacherous New Englanders who supposedly flashed lanterns on the shore so that blockading British cruisers would be alerted to the attempted escape of American ships.

Wampanoags

Tribe whose chief, Metacomet, known to the colonies as King Phillip, united many tribes in southern New England against the English settlers.

Ulysses S. Grant

U.S. President 1873-1877. Military hero of the Civil War, he led a corrupt administration, consisting of friends and relatives. Although he was personally a very honest and moral man, his administration was considered the most corrupt the U.S. had had at that time.

George Pickett

U.S. army officer who became a general in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. He is best remembered for his participation in the futile and bloody assault at the Battle of Gettysburg that bears his name, Pickett's charge.

Virgin Islands

U.S. bought them from Denmark and built a naval base to protect the Panama Canal and to prevent Germany's seizure of islands during WWI

National Banking Act

U.S. federal law that established a system of national charters for banks. It encouraged development of a national currency based on bank holdings of U.S. Treasury securities.

Richard Henry Lee

U.S. statesman. As a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1758 - 75), he opposed the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. He helped initiate the Committees of Correspondence and was active in the First and Second Continental Congress. On June 7, 1776, he introduced a resolution calling for independence from Britain. Its adoption led to the Declaration of Independence, which he signed, as he did the Articles of Confederation. He again served in Congress from 1784 to 1787, acting as its president in 1784. He opposed ratification of the Constitution of the United States because it lacked a bill of rights. He later served in the first U.S. Senate (1789 - 92).

Patrick Henry

Virginian who vocally led the Patriot cause. Anti-federalist. Republican exponent.

Women's Christian Temperance Union

WCTU was originally organized on December 23, 1873, in Hillsboro, Ohio, and officially declared at a national convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874.[2] It operated at an international level and in the context of religion and reform, including missionary work and woman's suffrage. Two years after its founding, the American WCTU sponsored an international conference at which the International Women's Christian Temperance Union was formed.[3] The World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1883 and became the international arm of the organization.

admiralty courts

Used to try offenders for violating the various Navigation Acts passed by the crown after the French and Indian War. Colonists argued that the courts encroached on their rights as Englishmen since they lacked juries and placed the burden of proof on the accused.

Kentucky bluegrass

Valuable meadow and pasture grass in Europe and especially central United States having tall stalks and slender bright green leaves.

Harry Hopkins

a formal social worker chosen by Roosevelt to run the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Civil Works Administration, He helped grant over 3 billion dollars to the states wages for work projects, and granted thousands of jobs for jobless Americans.

trustbusting

a goal of the progressives designed to break up the large and very powerful trusts that had formed during the Gilded Age that were designed to make more money for the capitalists and not to help out the people

speculation

a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing, usually with little hard evidence

George Creel

a journalist who headed the CPI by recruiting advertising executives, artists, authors, songwriters, entertainers, public speakers, and motion picture companies to help sway public opinion in favor of the war

Washington Conference

a military conference called by the administration of President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington, D.C. 1921-1922, Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations having interests in the Pacific Ocean and East Asia, Soviet Russia was not invited to the conference, It was the first international conference held in the United States.

Ida Tarbell

a muckraker who published a series of articles critical of the Standard Oil Company in "McClure's"

"The Great Gastby"

a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald; The novel takes place following the First World War. American society enjoyed having prosperity during the "roaring" 1920s as the economy soared. At the same time, Prohibition, the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol as mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment, made millionaires out of bootleggers

McNary-Haugen Bill

a plan in which the government would boost farm prices by buying up surpluses and selling them, at a loss, overseas, Congress passed the bill twice, but President Coolidge vetoed it both times

imperialism

a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force

dollar diplomacy

a policy of joining the business interest of a country with its diplomatic interest abroad

insurrectos

a rebel, especially in Cuba or the Philippines during American military involvement

boycott

a refusal of goods or services as a form of protest. Colonists boycotted completely certain goods under The Association after the First Continental Congress.

nullification

a refusal of the states to accept a federal law, part of Jefferson's interpretation of compact theory; in terms of Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in response to Alien and Sedition Acts

nationalism

a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

compact theory

a theory popular among English political philosophers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; as applied to America by Jeffersonians, it meant that the thirteen sovereign states, in creating the federal government, had entered into a "compact" or contract, regarding its jurisdiciton; the national government was a creation of the states; the individual states were therefore the final judges of whether their agent had broken the "compact" by overstepping the authority originally granted; used in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions

Emilio Aguinaldo

a well educated, part Chinese leader, brought to assist the American invasion, a year later he led the Filipino insurrection against the new American rulers, captured in 1901 and declared loyalty to the USA

Fordney-McCumber Tariff

act raised tariffs dramatically in an effort to protect American industry from foreign goods, farmers could no longer sell as much of their crops overseas, and prices tumbled

nonimportation agreement

agreement to not import certain goods. These were formed in response to the strengthening grip of Britain on the colonies.

Teller Amendment

amendment to the declaration of war with Spain that stated the U.S. would grant Cubans their independence after the war

Thorstein Veblen

an American economist and sociologist, and a leader of the so-called institutional economics movement, besides his technical work he was a popular and witty critic of capitalism, as shown by his best known book The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)

Frances Willard

an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist; her influence was instrumental in the passage of the Eighteenth (Prohibition) and Nineteenth (Women Suffrage) Amendments to the United States Constitution, became the national president of the World Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1879, and remained president for 19 years she developed the slogan "Do everything" for the women of the WCTU to incite lobbying, petitioning, preaching, publication, and education

Florence Kelley

an American social and political reformer; she worked againstsweatshops and for the minimum wage, eight-hour workdays, and children's rights

natural aristocracy

an aristocracy which comes out of work and competition rather than birth, education, or special privelege

amendment

an article added to the US Constitution

trade associations

an association of people or companies in a particular business or trade, organized to promote their common interests

Mary McLeod Bethune

appointed as director of the Office of Minority Affairs withing the National Youth Association, became the first black woman to head a federal agency

Seminole Indians

are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily there and in Oklahoma.

French Revolution

at the beginning it was surprising peaceful and imposed constitutional shackles on Louis XVI, Americans considered it an extension of their revolution; 1792, France declared war on Austria and proclaimed itself a republic, Americans cheered and sang French songs; French king beheaded in 1793, the church was attacked, and the head-rolling Reign of Terror began (Americans disappointed); Britain began to get involved and then America was up to bat

Frederick W. Taylor

author of "The Principles of Scientific Management" 1911, described how a company could increase efficiency by managing time, breaking tasks down into small parts, and using standardized tools

Platt Amendment

authorized U.S. intervention in Cuba to protect its interests

George Washington Goethals

autocratic West Point engineer, brought Panama Canal project to completion

Sinclair Lewis

belonged to the Lost Generation of Writers, wrote about the absurdities of small-town life in "Main Street" and "Babbitt"

Woodrow Wilson

28th president of the United States, known for World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize

Samuel Slater

A British mechanic (AKA "Father of the Factory System in America") that invented the first American machine for spinning cotton

Winfield S. Hancock

A Civil War general who appealed to the South due to his fair treatment of it during Reconstruction and a veteran who had been wounded at Gettysburg, and thus appealed to veterans. He was chosen by the Democrats.

Andrew Jackson

A Democratic-Republican who was voted into office in 1828. The people wanted representation and reform from the administration of John Quincy Adams. He believed that the people should rule. He was the first president from the west, and he represented many of the characteristics of the west. He appealed to the common man as he was said to be one. He believed in the strength of the Union and the supremacy of the federal government over the state government.

John Adams

A Federalist who was Vice President under Washington in 1789, and later became President by three votes in 1796. Known for his quarrel with France, and was involved in the XYZ Affair, Quais War, and the Convention of 1800. Later though he was also known for his belated push for peace w/ France in 1800. Regarding his personality he was a "respectful irritation".

Citizen Edmond Genet

A French diplomat who came to the U.S. 1793 to ask the American government to send money and troops to aid the revolutionaries in the French Revolution. President Washington asked France to recall him after he began recruiting men and arming ships in U.S. ports. However, Washington later relented and allowed him to have U.S. citizenship upon learning that the new French government planned to arrest him.

Robert R. Livingston

A French minister who joined forces with James Monroe to buy New Orleans and as much land to its east as they could get for a maximum of $10 million. They were instructed by Jefferson to do this.

Anthony Wayne

A General, nicknamed "Mad Anthony". Beat Northwest Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794. After that the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 got the Indians to cede their claims to a vast tract in the Ohio Country.

Carl Schurz

A German liberal who came to America in the mid-1800s, was a relentless foe of slavery and public corruption, and contributed richly to the elevation of American political life.

Ann Hulton

A Loyalist who described in a letter to a friend in England in 1774, the political divisions within the colonies and her fears for her own safety.

Dred Scott decision

A Missouri slave sued for his freedom, claiming that his four year stay in the northern portion of the Louisiana Territory made free land by the Missouri Compromise had made him a free man. The U.S. Supreme Court decided he couldn't sue in federal court because he was property, not a citizen.

Board of Trade

body formed to oversee the American colonies' trade, see appointments of colonial officials, and review colonial laws. Disliked by Patriots. Part of the Privy Council.

Andrew Mellon

business tycoon named secretary of the treasury by Harding, responsible for some of the policies that contributed to the economic growth and prosperity of the 1920s

Gentlemen's Agreement

by this secret understanding, worked out during 1907-1908, Tokyo agreed to stop the flow of laborers to the american mainland by withholding passports.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

captain, author of 1890's "The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783," argued that control of the sea was the key to world dominance, helped stimulate the naval race among the great powers that gained momentum at the turn of the century

Henry Ford

car maker, cut the workweek for his employees from six days to five, first adopted the moving assembly line

Northern Securities case

case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1903. The Court ruled 5 to 4 against the stockholders of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroad companies, who had essentially formed a monopoly, and to dissolve the Northern Securities Company.

Gifford Pinchot

close friend of Roosevelt that was the head of the United States Forest Service established in 1905, said that the natural resources must be developed and preserved for the benefit of many and not merely for the profit of a few, conservationist who believed in managing the use of land for the benefit of the nation's citizens

Patriots/Whigs

colonists who supported the American Revolution; they were also known as "Whigs."

"yellow peril"

color metaphor for race that originated with immigration of Chinese laborers

George Dewey

commander of the American Asiatic Squadron at Hong Kong, carried out orders to sail his 6 warships at night into Manila harbor, no Americans died, making him a national hero overnight, but he had destroyed the enemy's fleet, causing tensions to rise

collective security

cooperation of several countries in an alliance to strengthen the security of each.

American Legion

created to support the veterans, founded in Paris in 1919 by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, was distinguished for its militant patriotism, conservatism, and zealous anti-radicalism, but was notorious for aggressive lobbying for veterans' benefits.

John Philip Sousa

creator of the newly popular military marching-band music, thrilled America

Immigration Quota Act

cut the quota down to 2% and the origins base was shifted to that of 1890, when few southeastern Europeans lived in America (old immigrants out, new immigrants in)

Black Tuesday

day when prices took the steepest dive yet, that day almost 16 million shares of stock were sold, the stock market lost between $10 billion and $15 billion in value (October 1929)

"solemn referendum"

death sentence for the League of Nations. Wilson's call for a solemn referendum in 1920 referred to. his attempt to use the presidential election as a public vote on the Treaty of Versailles.

Muscle Shoals Bill

designed to dam the Tennessee River and sell government-produced electricity in competition with citizens in private companies, Vetoed by President Herbert Hoover in 1931, Congress had drafted the bill to harness energy from the Tennessee River, but Hoover refused to lower steep tariffs or support any "socialistic" relief proposals such as the Muscle Shoals Bill.

"big stick"

diplomatic policy to use military forces if necessary, intimidates other countries without harming them

Hiram Johnson

elected Republican governor of California in 1910; helped break the grip of the Southern Pacific Railroad on California politics, then set up a political machine of his own

red scare

erupted in the early 1920's. The American public was scared that communism would come into the US. Left-winged supporters were suspected. This fear of communism helped businessman who used it to stop labor strikes.

"The Shame of the Cities"

exposed corrupt relationship between big business and city government

jingoism

extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy

Ray Stannard Baker

followed the Color Line (1908) was a series spotlighting the plight of 9 million blacks—of who 90 percent still lived in the South and one-third were illiterate.

Charles Evans Hughes

former Supreme Court Justice, later secretary of state, proposed a 10-year halt on the construction of new warships, also proposed a list of warships in each country's navy to be destroyed, beginning with some American battleships, led to the Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty between Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the USA

Charles Lindbergh

former airmail pilot, made an amazing transatlantic solo flight in 1927, showing possibilities of commercial aviation

Ernest Hemingway

fought in Italy in 1917 and later wrote "The Sun Also Rises" and "A Farewell to Arms"; was upset with American idealism v. WWI realism in the 1920's, belonged to the Lost Generation of Writers

Ku Klux Klan

founded in the 1860s in the south; meant to control newly freed slaves through threats and violence; other targets: Catholics, Jews, immigrants and others thought to be un-American

Bruce Barton

founder of the profession of advertising; commonly used persuasion, seduction, and sexual suggestion; published "The Man Nobody Knows" in 1925, saying Jesus was the greatest advertising man

Workingmen's Compensation Act

gave asistance to federal civil-service employees during periods of disability; indirectly bettered the safety of working conditions

"virtual" representation

governmental theory by George Grenville that stated Parliament represented every subject of the British Empire. Colonists were enraged by this belief.

Rough Riders

group of American volunteers that formed to fight at San Juan Hill in Cuba, many were cowboys and ex-convicts

"all of Mexico"

group of extreme Manifest Destiny ideals wanted this area despite already winning over Texas, they wanted it all

Anti-Imperialist League

group that battled against American colonization of the Phillippines

Sigmund Freud

had psychological theories that changed people's ideas about relationships, emphasized human sexuality and his theories became acceptable subjects of public conversation

Works Progress Administration

headed by Harry Hopkins, was the largest public works program of the New Deal, a 2nd New Deal agency that provided the unemployed with jobs in construction, garment making, teaching, the arts, and other fields

Harold Ickes

headed the PWA for unemployment relief, disagreed with favoring balancing the budget and cutting spending, encouraging business leaders to invest in the economy, pushed for more government spending using a new theory called Keynesianism to support their arguments

Lillian Wald

helped establish the Women's Trade Union League, the first national association dedicated to promoting women's labor issues, founded the Henry Street Settlement in New York City

Liberty League

hey were a group of wealthy conservatives who had organized in 1934 to fight "socialistic" new deal schemes. This group echoed Hoover's thoughts about Roosevelt's New Deal program

Theodore Roosevelt

hot-blooded assistant secretary to Navy secretary John D. Long, later resigned from Navy Department to serve as lieutenant colonel, "Rough Riders"

internal/external taxation

internal taxation is direct taxation on a domestic good; external taxation is indirect taxation on an imported good. Colonists were frustrated by internal taxes; external taxes were not a problem to them.

"slavocracy"

is a ruling class, political order or government composed of (or dominated by) plantation owners.

La Follette Seaman's Act

it benefited sailors by requiring decent treatment and a living wage on American ships. Its purpose was to free sailors from the bondage of their contracts and to strengthen maritime safety requirements

Federal Housing Authority

it insured mortgage loans, assisted low-income renters, and fought housing discrimination

muckrackers

journalists who uncovers abuses and corruption in a society

Queen Liliuokalani

last reigning queen of Hawaii, insisted native Hawaiians should control the islands, defense of native Hawaiian self-ruled led to a revolt by white settlers/her dethronement, wrote many songs

Democratic-Republicans

led by Jefferson had ability to lead people rather than drive them, strongest appeal = middle class and underprivileged (the "dirt" farmers, laborers, artisans, small shopkeepers), demanded a weak central regime, believed best government was the one that governed least, bulk of power should be retained by states, kept at a minimum through a strict interpretation of the Constitution, and national debt which Jefferson saw as a curse was to be paid off

John L. Lewis

led the United Mine Workers Union, worked with several other unions to organize industrial workers, they formed the Committee for Industrial Organization in 1935

Randolph Bourne

led the cultural pluralists with Horace Kallen; he had a weaving basket theory that America would be a blanket made with threads of all races and ethnicities

Elihu Root

masterly organizer, Secretary of War, established a general staff for the army and founded the War College in Washington

Open Door Notes

message sent by Secretary of State John Hay to Germany, Russia, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan asking countries not to interfere with U.S. trading rights in China

Teapot Dome

most famous scandal, began in early 1922, when Albert B. Fall secretly allowed private interests to lease lands containing USA Navy oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California

Civilian Conservation Corps

most highly praised New Deal work relief program, offered unemployed young men 18 to 25 years old the opportunity to work under the direction of the forestry service planting trees, fighting forest fires, and building reservoirs

Fundamentalists

movement that pushed that the teachings of Darwin were destroying faith in God and the Bible. It consisted of the old-time religionists who didn't want to conform to modern science.

Lincoln Steffens

muckraker; reported on vote stealing and other corrupt practices of urban political machines

Herbert Hoover

named secretary of commerce by Harding, responsible for some of the policies that contributed to the economic growth and prosperity of the 1920s

Brigham Young

A Mormon leader that led his oppressed followers to Utah in 1846. Under Young's management, his Mormon community became a prosperous frontier theocracy and a cooperative commonwealth. He became the territorial governor in 1850. Unable to control the hierarchy of Young, Washington sent a federal army in 1857 against the harassing Mormons.

Dorothea Dix

A New England teacher and author who spoke against the inhumane treatment of insane prisoners, ca. 1830's. People who suffered from insanity were treated worse than normal criminals. She traveled over 60,000 miles in 8 years gathering information for her reports, reports that brought about changes in treatment, and also the concept that insanity was a disease of the mind, not a willfully perverse act by an individual.

Ulysses S. Grant

A Northern General who helped gain victory for the union. His first successful victories came at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. These victories opened a door for the Union to the rest of the South. Eventually he was given command of the Union forces attacking Vicksburg. This would be his greatest victory of the war. He was made General-in-Chief after several more impressive victories near Chattanooga. His final victory came when he defeated General Robert E.

William Bradford

A Pilgrim, the second governor of the Plymouth colony, 1621-1657. He developed private land ownership and helped colonists get out of debt. He helped the colony survive droughts, crop failures, and Indian attacks.

Lucretia Mott

A Quaker who attended an anti-slavery convention in 1840 and her party of women was not recognized. She and Stanton called the first women's right convention in New York in 1848.

John Crittenden

A Senator of Kentucky, that fathered two sons: one became a general in the Union Army, the other a general in the Confederate Army. He is responsible for the Crittenden Compromise. This augments the fact that the war was often between families, and its absurdity. Kentucky and other states were split up between the Union and Confederacy, and both in the North and South sent people to the other side. This makes it clear that the war is primarily over slavery.

Andrew Johnson

A Southerner from Tennessee. He was V.P. When Lincoln was killed, he became President. He opposed radical Republicans who passed Reconstruction Acts over his veto. The first U.S. President to be impeached, he survived the Senate removal by only one vote. He was a very weak President.

Samuel Chase

A Supreme Court justice who was so unpopular that Republicans named vicious dogs after him and in 1804, impeachment charges against his were voted by the House of Representatives.

James G. Blaine

A U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time United States Secretary of State, and champion of the Half-Breeds. He was a dominant Republican leader of the post Civil War period, obtaining the 1884 Republican nomination, but lost to Democrat Grover Cleveland.

Battle of Austerlitz

A battle between Austria, Russia, and France; the French under Napoleon defeated the Russian armies of Czar Alexander I and the Austrian armies of Emperor Francis II.

Schenck v. United States

A legal case in which it was ruled that government can limit free speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils.

Fourteen Points

A list of foreign policy goals which Woodrow Wilson hoped to achieve in the aftermath of World War I

John Dickinson

A man who was among the wealthiest in the British colonies, he was an American lawyer who was deeply involved in all the political proceedings in the Revolutionary days.

monopolistic

A market structure in which many producers supply similar but varied products. This structure is closes to perfect competition.

Philip Armour

A meat-packing entrepreneur. He was worth $50 million when died in 1901 due to innovation and efficiency of his company.

trust

A mechanism by which one company grants control over its operations, through ownership of its stock, to another company. The Standard Oil Company became known for its practice in the 1870s as it eliminated its competition by taking control of smaller oil companies.

injunction

A method used by corporations to handle strikes, a court order against strikers to get them to stop striking.

Central Powers

A military alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire in WW1

American Federation of Labor

A national federation of trade unions that included only skilled workers, founded in 1886. Led by Samuel Gompers for nearly four decades, the AFL sought to negotiate with employers for a better kind of capitalism that rewarded workers fairly with better wages, hours, and conditions. The AFL's membership was almost entirely white and male until the middle of the twentieth century.

doughboys

A nickname for the inexperienced but fresh American soldiers during WWI

Lone Star

A nickname given to Texas

Harriet Beecher Stowe

A nineteenth-century American author best known for Uncle Tom's Cabin, a powerful novel that inflamed sentiment against slavery.

Hinton R. Helper

A non-aristocratic white North Carolinian who tried to prove, by an array of stats, that the non-slave-holding Southern whites were really the ones most hurt by slavery.

Gilbert Stuart

A painter from Rhode Island who painted several portraits of Washington, creating a sort of idealized image of Washington. When he was painting these portraits, the former president had grown old and lost some teeth. His paintings created an ideal image of him.

"South Carolina Exposition"

A pamphlet published by the South Carolina legislature, written by John C. Calhoun. It spoke against the "Tariff of Abominations," and proposed nullification of the tariff. Calhoun wished to use nullification to prevent secession, yet address the grievances of sectionalist Southerners. These sectionalist ideas helped lead to the Civil War.

mercenaries

A person hired for service in the army of a foreign country. For example, in the late 1760's George III hired soldiers to fight in the British army against Americans.

nonproducers

A person, device or organization that does not produce a specified material.

King Cotton

A phrase used in the Southern United States mainly by Southern politicians and authors who wanted to illustrate the importance of the cotton crop to the Confederate economy during the Civil War.

nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones.

Triangle Shirtwaist fire

on March 25,1911, young women struggled against locked doors to escape from the burning building, the single elevator stopped running, some women jumped from the windows of the ninth floor to their death, while others died from the fire, some were able to escape through the fire exit, nearly 150 of the 500 employees lost their lives

Tweed Ring

A symbol of Gilded Age corruption, "Boss" Tweed and his deputies ran the New York City Democratic party in the 1860s and swindled $200 million from the city through bribery, graft, and vote-buying. Boss Tweed was eventually jailed for his crimes and died behind bars.

sharecropping

A system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land.

patronage

A system, prevalent during the Gilded Age, in which political parties granted jobs and favors to party regulars who delivered votes on election day. This was both an essential well-spring of support for both parties and a source of conflict within the Republican party.

Clarence Darrow

one of the country's most celebrated trial lawyers who defend Scopes in the Scopes Trial

Jack London

one of the most prominent naturalist writers, told the tales of the Alaskan wilderness that demonstrated the power of nature over civilization

Benjamin Franklin

American public official, writer, scientist, and printer. After the success of his Poor Richard's Almanac (1732-1757), he entered politics and played a major part in the American Revolution. He negotiated French support for the colonists, signed the Treaty of Paris , and helped draft the Constitution. His numerous scientific and practical innovations include the lightning rod, bifocal spectacles, and a stove.

Elijah P. Lovejoy

An American Presbyterian minister, journalist, and newspaper editor who was murdered by a mob in Alton, Illinois for his abolitionist views.

Alexander Stephens

An American politician from Georgia. He was Vice President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He also served as a U.S. Representative from Georgia (both before the Civil War and after Reconstruction) and as the 50th Governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1883.

John Wilkes Booth

An American stage actor who, as part of a conspiracy plot, assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865.

Jefferson Davis

An American statesman and politician who served as President of the Southern Confederate States of America after their succession from the Union for its entire history from 1861 to 1865.

Crittenden Compromise

An amendment of Kentucky as an attempt to permanently settle the issue of slavery without a dividing of the Union. It proposed that the 36' 60' line be used as the divide between slavery in the new territories. Territories above would not allow slaves while those below would.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

An anatomy teacher at Harvard Medical school who was regarded as a prominent poet, essayist, novelist, lecturer and wit from 1809-1894. Poem " the Last Leaf" in honor of the last "white Indian" at the Boston Tea Party, which really applied to himself.

Clement L. Vallandigham

An anti-war Democrat who criticized Lincoln as a dictator, called him "King Abraham". He was arrested and exiled to the South., prominent copperhead who was an ex-congressman from Ohio, demanded an end to the war, and was banished to the confederacy.

Grange

An association formed by farmers in the last 1800s to make life better for farmers by sharing information about crops, prices, and supplies. A social and educational organization through which farmers attempted to combat the power of the railroads in the late 19th century.

Zebulon Pike

An explorer who traveled to the headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1805-1806. He also ventured into the southern portion of the Louisiana Territory, where he sighted the Colorado peak, now called Pike's Peak.

Chesapeake incident

An incident that happened on June 22, 1807. The Chesapeake, a US frigate, was boarded by a British ship, the Leopard. The Chesapeake was not fully armed. The British seized four alleged deserters (the commander of the Chesapeake was later court marshaled for not taking any action). This is the most famous example of impressment, in which the British seized American sailors and forced them to serve on British ships. Impressment was one of the major factors leading to the War of 1812.

Bessemer process

An industrial process for making steel using this converter to blast air through iron and thus burning the excess carbon and impurities. Actually invented by American William Kelly but was named after a Briton who discovered it in the 1850s

Theodore Dreiser

one of the most prominent naturalist writers; wrote the 1900 novel "Sister Carrie" where he painted a world where people sinned without punishment and where the pursuit of wealth and power often destroyed their character

Mark Twain

one of the most prominent people in the United States, novelist, member of the Anti-Imperialist League

Al Capone

one of the most successful and violent gangsters of the era and had many police officers, judges, and other officials on his payroll, dominated organized crime in Chicago

Jane Addams

opened the famous Hull House in Chicago in 1889 to assist poor immigrants in Chicago; she favored woman suffrage, she was active in the peace movement, serving as the first president of the organization that became the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, won Nobel Peace Prize in 1931

National Labor Relations Board

organized factory elections by secret ballot to determine whether workers wanted a union

Seventeenth Amendment

passed in 1913, this amendment to the Constitution calls for the direct election of senators by the voters instead of their election by state legislatures

progressive education

pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century, viewed as an alternative to test-oriented instruction

cabinet

persons appointed by a head of state to head executive departments of government and act as official advisors

"White Man's Burden"

poem by Rudyard Kipling about the Philippine-American War

"Ohio Gang"

poker-playing group including Harding and his friends, they drank and smoked, but some members also used their positions to sell government jobs, pardons, and protection from prosecution

"white slave" traffic

popular in the early 1900s, idea/fear that white women were forced into sex slavery and prostitution;it was alleged that men were tricking, coercing, and drugging females to get them involved in prostitution and then forcing them to stay in brothels

Boxer Rebellion

popular peasant uprising in China that blamed foreign people and institutions for the loss of the traditional Chinese way of life

"royal veto"

power of the British government to nullify any colonial law it felt threatened the mercantile system. Fueled colonial grievances.

judicial review

power of the Supreme Court to determine whether laws of Congress are constitutional and to strike down those that are not

implied powers

powers not specifically mentioned in the Constitution; part of loose construction

Unionists

primarily the Orange Protestants in the north, who supported the Act of Union

"enumerated" products

products, such as tobacco, could be shipped only to England and not to foreign markets

Eighteenth Amendment

prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages

Eugene V. Debs

prominent labor leader and member of the American Socialist Party, helped found the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, helped organize the American Railway Union, ran for president 5 times between 1900-1920, even while in prison for speaking against America's involvement in World War 1

Margaret Sanger

public health nurse, believed that families could improve their standard of living by limiting the number of children they had, founded the American Birth Control League in 1921 to promote knowledge about birth control.

Upton Sinclair

published the novel "The Jungle," based on his close observations of the slaughterhouses of Chicago, best-selling book, made consumers ill and angry, led to Meat Inspection Act

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

raised the average tariff rate to the highest level in American history, in the end it failed to help American businesses, fewer American products were sold overseas

Stephen W. Kearny

American Army officer in the Mexican War. In 1846, he led 1700 troops over the Santa Fe Trail to Santa Fe. He conquered New Mexico and moved his troops over to Los Angeles. He was defeated by the Mexicans at San Pascual in 1846. He was arrested for refusing to carry out orders and sent into Mexico, where he died in 1848.

Hudson River school

American artistic movement that produced romantic renditions of local landscapes.

The Maine

American battle ship that blew up in Havana, Cuba and immediately started the Spanish-American WAr

Sylvester Graham

American clergyman whose advocacy of health regimen emphasizing temperance and vegetarianism found lasting expression in graham cracker.

Loyalists/Tories

American colonists who opposed the Revolution and maintained their loyalty to the King; sometimes referred to as "Tories."

Loyalists

American colonists who opposed the revolution and maintained their loyalty to the King; sometimes referred to as "Tories."

John Jay

American delegate who signed Treaty of Paris; New York lawyer and diplomat who negotiated with Britain and Spain on behalf of the Confederation; he later became the first chief justice of the Supreme Court and negotiated the Jay Treaty

Thomas Edison

American inventor and physicist who took out more than 1,000 patents in his lifetime. His inventions include the telegraph (1869), microphone (1877), and light bulb (1879). He also designed the first power plant (1881-82), making possible the widespread distribution of electricity.

Charles Francis Adams

American minister to London, prevented official British recognition of Confederacy. Billed England for damages cause by Alabama. Minister to Great Britain during the Civil War, he wanted to keep Britain from entering the war on the side of the South.

John Paul Jones

American naval hero. He went to sea at age 12 and became a ship's master at age 21. He joined his brother in Virginia in 1775. When the American Revolution began, he joined the new Continental Navy under Esek Hopkins. In 1776 he sailed the Providence along the Atlantic coast, capturing eight British ships and sinking eight more. Appointed by Congress to the newly built Ranger, he made a spectacular cruise through St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea (1777 - 78), where he took a number of prizes. In 1779 he commanded the Bonhomme Richard and intercepted a merchant fleet. Though outgunned by an escort ship, the Serapis, he forced its surrender after a fierce battle, answering its challenge to surrender with "I have not yet begun to fight!" His ship sank soon after, and he sailed two British prizes to the Netherlands. In 1790 he retired, in ill health, to France.

James Fenimore Cooper

American novelist who is best remembered for his novels of frontier life, such as The Last of the Mohicans (1826).

"peace without victory"

Annotation: On January 22, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson addressed the Senate and appealed for 'peace without victory' to settle the conflict in Europe. This plea occurred a little more than two months before the U.S. entered the war against Germany.

Chester A. Arthur

Appointed customs collector for the port of New York, corrupt and implemented a heavy spoils system. He was chosen as Garfield's running mate. Garfield won but was shot, so he became the president.

Cotton Kingdom

Areas in the south where cotton farming developed because of the high demand for cotton.

A. Mitchell Palmer

Attorney General in 1920s; earned the title of the "fighting Quaker" by his excess of zeal in rounding up suspects of Red Scare; ultimately totaled about six thousand; This drive to root out radicals was redoubled in June 1919, when a bomb shattered his home

Victor L. Berger

Austrian-born Socialist, was elected as a House of Reps member for Milwaukee, but was denied his seat in 1919 during a wave of anti-socialist hysteria.

Washington Irving

Author, diplomat, wrote The Sketch Book, which included "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," the first American to be recognized in England (and elsewhere) as a writer.

Sixteenth Amendment

Authorized the collection of income tax. This made the rich pay their fair share to the government as well as allowing the Underwood-Simmons Tariff of 1913 to lower many tariffs

"fire eaters"

refers to a group of extremist pro-slavery politicians from the South who urged the separation of southern states into a new nation, which became known as the Confederate States of America

joint resolution

resolution passed by both houses of Congress which becomes legally binding when signed by the Chief Executive

Jones Act

the act that granted the Phillipines territorial status and promised independence as soon as stable government was achieved

strict construction

the belief that all powers not specifically granted to the central government were reserved to the states under the Constitution; the belief that what the Constitution did not permit it forbade; proposed by Jefferson

"normalcy"

the condition of being normal; the state of being usual, typical, or expected.

Volstead Act

the enabling legislation for the Eighteenth Amendment which established prohibition in the United States

Frances Perkins

the first woman appointed to a cabinet post, Secretary of Labor

referendum

the practice of letting voters accept or reject measures proposed by the legislature

self-determination

the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government.

recall

the right that enables voters to remove unsatisfactory elected officials from office

Hundred Days

the special session of Congress that Roosevelt called to launch his New Deal programs, The special session lasted about three months: 100 days

preservationism

the theory and practice of creatively maintaining the historic built environment and controlling the landscape component

Five Civilized Tribes

these tribes were numbered by the whites and embraced the their new understanding of civilization; they included the Cherokee, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles

Glass-Steagall Act

this act separated commercial banking from investment banking, under this act, these banks were no longer allowed to risk depositors' money by using it to speculate on the stock market

General Federation of Women's Clubs

this club was formed to coordinate the activities of local organizations and gained more than 100,000 members in nearly 500 clubs in 1892 and the clubs grew rapidly from there. The clubs often contributed to social reform

Modernists

took a historical and critical view of the Bible and believed they could accept Darwin's theory of evolution without abandoning their religion.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

treaty between U.S. and Great Britain agreeing that neither country would try to obtain exclusive rights to a canal across the isthmus of Panama

Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

treaty that granted the US land to build the Panama canal in exchange for $10 million and annual payments to Panama. Occurred shortly after Panama's independence

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

American poet and professor of modern languages at Harvard. During a period which was dominated in the literary field by Transcendentalists, he was an urban poet who catered to the upper classes and the more educated of the citizens. He was also popular in Europe, and is the only American poet to have a bust in Westminster Abbey.

John Jay

American political who was the first Chief Justice. Federalist. Founding Father, Ambassador to Spain and France during the American Revolution.

William Travis

Commander of the defenders of the Alamo who was only 26 years old. He was determined to hold his position and managed to send messages through Mexican lines asking for assistance, but none came. He was killed in the Battle of the Alamo, and he was important because his death made Texas fight harder for their independence.

Comte de Rochambeau

Commander-in-Chief of the French Expeditionary Force that aided the Continental Army.

Adam Smith

Commonly known as the founder of capitalism, he served a significant role in the world of economics both at his time and even now into the present day, as the American colonists were being oppressed by the system of mercantilism.

Meat Inspection Act

Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1907 (FMIA) is an American law that makes it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions.

Harpers Ferry raid

Federal arsenal in Virginia seized by abolitionist John Brown in 1859. Though Brown was later captured and executed, his raid alarmed Southerners who believed that Northerners shared in Brown's extremism.

panic of 1857

Financial crash brought on by gold-fueled inflation, overspeculation, and excess grain production. Raised calls in the North for higher tariffs and for free homesteads on western public lands.

James G. Blaine

two-time Secretary of State, pushed his "Big Sister" policy, aimed at rallying the Latin American Nations behind Uncle Sam's leadership and opening Latin American markets to Yankee traders, presided the 1st Pan-American Conference held in D.C., beginnings of important series of inter-American assemblages

wildcat banks

unstable banking institutions that issued paper money called wildcat currency to lend to speculators. They were operated under state charters and were especially numerous after Jackson defeated the second Bank of the United States. They didn't require collateral for loans so farmers took out loans, bought land, lost money on the land, defaulted on their loans, and then the banks started to fail.

United Negro Improvement Association

urged African Americans to return to their "motherland" of Africa and provided early inspiration for "black pride" movements

Pearl Harbor

valuable naval base acquired by U.S. from the Hawaiian government in 1887

Bank of the United States

was a central bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791.

Arsene Pujo

was a member of the United States House of Representatives best known for chairing the "Pujo Committee", which sought to expose an anti competitive conspiracy among some of the nation's most powerful financial interests

Federal Trade Commission Act

1914 legislation that formed an organization to monitor practices that could lead to monopoly and to regulate false advertising.

H. L. Mencken

1920's patron to many young writers; criticized the middle class, democracy, marriage, and patriotism in his monthly "American Mercury"

Wagner Act

1935; established National Labor Relations Board; protected the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands

Grover Cleveland

22nd and 24th president, Democrat, honest and hardworking, fought corruption and vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills. He achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and Civil Service reform, violent suppression of strikes.

William Howard Taft

27th president of the U.S.; he angered progressives by moving cautiously toward reforms and by supporting the Payne-Aldrich Tariff; he lost Roosevelt's support and was defeated for a second term.

Guantanamo

28,000 acre Cuban beachhead which was under the control of the U.S. and the agreement to occupy that land can only be revoked by consent of both parties

Louis D. Brandeis

A lawyer and later justice of the Supreme Court who spoke and wrote widely (especially in Other People's Money [1913]) about the "curse of bigness." He insisted that government must regulate competition in such a way as to ensure that large combinations did not emerge.

Nat Turner

A black slave of the early nineteenth century, who led the only effective and sustained slave revolt in American history. He and his supporters killed several dozen white people in Virginia before he was captured; he was hanged in 1831. Although Turner's rebellion led to a severe reaction among the slaveholders, it demonstrated that not all slaves were willing to accept their condition passively.

"favorite son"

A candidate nominated for office by delegates from his or her own state.

John C. Fremont

A captain and an explorer who was in California with several dozen well-armed men when the Mexican War broke out. He helped to overthrow the Mexican rule in 1846 by collaborating with Americans who had tried to raise the banner of the California Bear Republic. He helped to take California from the inside.

Edward Everett Hale

A clergyman and author who wrote numerous newspaper articles, historical essays, sermons, short stories, and novels. He wrote "The Man Without A Country."

interchangeable parts

A concept developed by Eli Whitney for the production of firearms for the U.S. Army. The idea was that if part of the gun broke, the entire thing would likely have to be replaced, a fact that was both cost inefficient and wasteful as far as materials were concerned.

Credit Mobilier

A construction company was formed by owners of the Union Pacific Railroad for the purpose of receiving government contracts to build the railroad at highly inflated prices --- and profits. In 1872 a scandal erupted when journalists discovered that this company had bribed congressmen and even the Vice President in order to allow to ruse to continue.

John Slidell

A diplomat sent by Polk to buy California, New Mexico, and Texas from the Mexicans. Mexico rejected his offer and Polk sent Taylor's army into Mexico.

"The Birth of a Nation"

A dramatic silent film from 1915 about the South during and after the Civil War. It was directed by D. W. Griffith. The film, the first so-called spectacular, is considered highly controversial for its portrayal of African-Americans.

peculiar institution

A euphemism for slavery and the economic ramifications of it in the American South. The term aimed to explain away the seeming contradiction of legalized slavery in a country whose Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal". It was one of the key causes of the Civil War.

Stalwart

A faction of the Republican party in the ends of the 1800s Supported the political machine and patronage. Conservatives who hated civil service reform.

Tecumseh

A famous Shawnee Indian who tried to unite Indian tribes against the increasing white settlement. He was a gifted organizer and leader as well as a noted warrior.

Civil Rights Act

A federal law in the United States declaring that everyone born in the U.S. and not subject to any foreign power is a citizen, without regard to race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude.

Richard Montgomery

A former British General, he then led the colonists. He led a successful attack into Montreal, then on to Quebec. His attack on Quebec failed when he was killed, thus, the whole invasion into Canada failed.

Horatio Seymour

A former governor of New York who ran for president (Democrat) against Republican Ulysses S. Grant in the election of 1868.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)

A fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army who served in the American Civil War. It was among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics and was succeeded by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

Denmark Vesey

A free black man who led a slave rebellion in Charleston S.C.

Quakers

A group arose in England in the mid-1600s, were called this; name derived from when they supposedly quaked when under deep religious emotion; were originally known as the Religious Society of Friends. They were offensive to authorities both religious and civil; refused to support the established Church of England w/ taxes; built simple meetinghouses without a paid clergy; believed were all children in the sight of God; addressed people with thee's and thou's; would take no oaths because Jesus had condemned "Swear not at all." Abhorred strife and warfare and refused military service; were a simple devoted democratic people.

Knickerbocker group

A group in New York that wrote literature and enabled America to boast for the first time of a literature that matched its magnificent landscapes.

Great White Fleet

A group of 16 gleaming white ships on a cruise around the world to display the nation's naval power; steam powered ships impresses Japan. (Ended up having to borrow coal from the British in order to complete the voyage).

Bonus Army

A group of almost 20,000 World War I veterans who were hard-hit victims of the depression, who wanted what the government owed them for their services and "saving" democracy, They marched to Washington and set up public camps and erected shacks on vacant lots, They tried to intimidate Congress into paying them, but Hoover had them removed by the army, which shed a negative light on Hoover

Electoral College

A group of electors that are elected by the people to elect the President of the United States in every election year. This system was born along side the U.S. Constitution. This system is a way of speeding up Presidential elections and is still in force today. The representatives of each state must reflect the interests of the people within their respective states during each election. After the people in a state have voted, the votes are tallied. Whichever candidate has the most votes gets all of that state's votes in the Electoral College. That states votes is determined by its population.

confederation

A group of sovereign states, each of which is free to act independently from the others. In 1776, when America gained its independence, a loose confederation was formed among the thirteen colonies. Under this confederation, the states were united by a weak national government, which was completely lacking constitutional authority. The national government had some control over issues such as military affairs and foreign policy. The states, however, took the majority of power into their own hands, such as the power to coin money and raise armies.

Dust Bowl

A horrible natural disaster in which Midwestern dust from millions of acres of dry, arid land (which in-part got that way from the tilling of the area) was blown up into the air and carried as far as Boston, caused much suffering.

Industrial Workers of the World

A labor union for industrial laborers, this group performed many acts of industrial sabotage in pursuit of its goals. Openly opposed the Great War.

anarchy

A lack of a strong centralized government. Often resulting in chaos, giving no security to landowners or upper-class people. There is no stability, and what few laws exist are openly defied with no form of punishment. There are often problems in creating a usable and effective currency (this was a problem in inter-state relations.)

common man

A political leader who worked his way up to the top from the bottom. Andrew Jackson was the model one of these. He had been orphaned, so he fought in the Revolutionary War at age thirteen. In the War of 1812, he became a hero and launched his political career soon after. He was like the rest of the country, and that's why they liked him so much. They began to take over during the Jacksonian Democracy.

Liberty party

A political party formed in 1839 to oppose the practice of slavery, merged with the Free Soil Party in 1848.

plutocracy

A political system governed by the wealthy people.

mulatto population

A population created from white masters forcing themselves upon female slaves

William Lloyd Garrison

A prominent abolitionist of the nineteenth century. In his newspaper, The Liberator , he called for immediate freedom for the slaves and for the end of all political ties between the northern and southern states.

Louis D. Brandeis

A prominent reformer and Attorney in "Muller vs. Oregon" (1908) that persuaded Supreme Court to accept constitutionality of laws protecting women workers saying conditions are harder on women's weaker bodies; wrote book "Other People's Money and How Bankers use it" (1914) that pushed reform within the banks; nominated in 1916 by Woodrow Wilson for Supreme Court.

"loyal opposition"

A reference to the political party out of power at any given time. eventually, Jefferson and Hamilton's personal feud raged nationwide, creating two political parties. The idea was that one political party, the one out of party, was still loyal to the country while opposing the other parties policies. It made sure that people on all sides of the political spectrum were heard.

Clara Barton

A reformer and nurse of the nineteenth century, who founded the American Red Cross in the 1880s. She had organized nursing care for Union soldiers during the Civil War.

Charles Evans Hughes

A reformist Republican governor of New York, who had gained fame as an investigator of malpractices by gas and insurance companies and by the coal trust. He later ran against Wilson in the 1916 election.

Butternut Region

A region located in the Old Northwest and the Border States. Most people in this area complained that Lincoln has gone far enough on the Proclamation.

grandfather clause

A regulation established in many southern states in the 1890s that exempted from voting requirements (such as literacy tests and poll taxes) anyone who could prove that their ancestors ("grandfathers") had been able to vote in 1860. Since slaves could not vote before the Civil War, these clauses guaranteed the right to vote to many whites while denying it to blacks.

David Wilmot

A representative from Pennsylvania who introduced an amendment that would make slavery illegal in territory to be gained from Mexico. He proposed the amendment in 1846. This amendment was at the center of the slavery debate and inflamed both sides.

Virginia House of Burgesses

A representative legislative assembly in Virginia, which was the first self-governing body in the colonies It set the precedent for future mini-parliaments.

Bear Flag revolt

A revolt of American settlers in California against Mexican rule. It ignited the Mexican War and ultimately made California a state.

William Miller

A self-educated farmer from New York. Convinced from his studies that Christ will return in 1843, from his studies of the Scriptures.

Order of the Star-Spangled Banner

A society formed in 1849 by the noisier American nativists. These radical thinkers wanted to take decisive political action in order to combat the growing influence of the immigrants.

Theocracy

A society in which the church is almost indistinguishable from the state, residents have no more freedom of worship, than Puritans had had in England. Leaders of Church and politics are the same.

Ethan Allen

A soldier of the American Revolution whose troops helped capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British.

Roger Williams

A threat to the Puritan leaders, he was a popular Salem minister; was a young man w/ radical ideas and an unrestrained tongue; extreme separatist, he hounded his fellow clergymen to make a clean break with the corrupt Church of England; also challenged the legality of the Bay Colony's charter which he condemned for expropriating the land from the Indians without fair compensation, also went on to deny the authority of civil government to regulate religious behavior; the Puritans patience exhausted by 1635, the Bay Colony authorities found Williams guilty of disseminating "new and dangerous opinions" and ordered him banished; was allowed to stay for several months because of illness but kept on with his criticisms ; the magistrates fearing that he might rise a rival colony of malcontents made plans to exile him; but he outsmarted them escaping to Rhode Island helped by Indians; he established their freedom of religion even for Jews and Catholics, demanded no oaths regarding religious beliefs; no compulsory attendance at worship and no taxes to support church; was begun as a squatter colony in 1636 but was later granted a charter from parliament in 1644.

Sussex Pledge

A torpedo from a German submarine hit a french passenger liner, called the Sussex in march 1916. Wilson demanded the Germans refrain from attacking passenger ships. In this statement, Germany said they would temporarily stop these attacks but might have to resume in the future if the British continued to blockade German ports

company town

A town built and owned by a single company. Its residents depend on the company not only for jobs, but for stores, schools, and housing as well.

closed shop

A union-organizing term that refers to the practice of allowing only unionized employees to work for a particular company. The AFL became known for negotiating these agreements with employers, in which the employer would agree not to hire non-union members.

Elizabeth Blackwell

A woman who challenging the taboo of professional women. She graduated from medical college, thereby proving that women are able to do what men can.

William Clark

A young army officer who was sent by Jefferson to explore the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase with Meriwether Lewis. Their two and a half year expedition resulted in scientific observations, maps, and new knowledge.

stock watering

Originally referring to cattle, term for the practice of railroad promoters exaggerating the profitability of stocks in excess of its actual value.

Roosevelt coalition

Also known as the New Deal. Established by Roosevelt during the Great Depression, it helped the unemployed and the lost wages due to the panic on wall street.

Twelfth Amendment

Amendment to the Constitution; Election of 1824, 1825; allowed the House of Representatives to elect John Q. Adams as President because Andrew Jackson received the most votes but did not get a majority of the votes; angered Jackson and his followers.

Theodore Dwight Weld

Abolitionist who played a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known for his co-authorship of the authoritative compendium, American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses, published in 1839. Harriet Beecher Stowe partly based Uncle Tom's Cabin on his text and it is regarded as second only to that work in its influence on the antislavery movement.

James Buchanan Duke

Absorbed his main competitors into the American Tobacco Company in 1890. He donated to Trinity College, which then changed its name to Duke University

impressment

Act of forcibly drafting an individual into military service, employed by the British navy against American seamen in times of war against France, 1793-1815. This was a continual source of conflict between Britain and the United States in the early national period.

Sarajevo

Administrative center of the Bosnian province of Austrian Empire; assassination there of Arch-duke Ferdinand in 1914 started World War I

Compromise of 1850

Admitted California as a free state, opened New Mexico and Utah to popular sovereignty, ended the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in Washington D.C., and introduced a more stringent fugitive slave law. Widely opposed in both the North and South, it did little to settle the escalating dispute over slavery.

New Deal

After Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated in 1933, he decided the U.S. must improve economically to recover from the Great Depression, His policy focused on relief, recovery, and reform, Short term goals were relief and immediate recovery, Permanent recovery and reform were done by long-range goals, Programs were established to improve unemployment, regulate minimum wage, and reform many other social issues

War Industries Board

Agency established during WWI to increase efficiency & discourage waste in war-related industries.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Aggressive eastern railroad builder and consolidator who scorned the law as an obstacle to his enterprise.

Convention of 1800

Agreement to formally dissolve the United States' treaty with France, originally signed during the Revolutionary War. The difficulties posed by America's peacetime alliance with France contributed to Americans' longstanding opposition to entangling alliances with foreign powers.

Macon's Bill No. 2

Aimed at resuming peaceful trade with Britain and France, the act stipulated that if either Britain or France repealed its trade restrictions, the United States would reinstate the embargo against the nonrepealing nation. When Napoleon offered to lift his restrictions on British ports, the United States was forced to declare an embargo on Britain, thereby pushing the two nations closer toward war.

"The Influence of Sea Power upon History"

Alfred Mahan's book detailing the role of sea power through history

Virginia dynasty

All of the previous presidents were from Virginia

"corrupt bargain"

Alleged deal between presidential candidates John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to throw the election, to be decided by the House of Representatives, in Adams' favor. Though never proven, the accusation became the rallying cry for supporters of Andrew Jackson, who had actually garnered a plurality of the popular vote in 1824.

Nineteenth Amendment

Allowed women to vote

loose confederation

Also called "firm league of friendship", type of confederation made in US by Articles.

Progressive party

Also known as the "Bull Moose Party", this political party was formed by Theodore Roosevelt in an attempt to advance progressive ideas and unseat President William Howard Taft in the election of 1912. After Taft won the Republican Party's nomination, Roosevelt ran on the Progressive party ticket.

Battle of the Thames

Also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was a United States victory in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom and Tecumseh's Confederacy.

Zimmermann note

Secret German message to Mexico (intercepted by the US) which offered to return to Mexico the lands it lost in the Mexican-American War.

James Madison

Secretary of State for Jefferson, instructed not to deliver Marbury's commission for justice of the peace.

oligarchy

Before the Civil War, the South was in some respects not so much a democracy as this—or government by the few.

cultural pluralism

Belief that immigrants to the U.S. maintain their own cultural identity and thus the U.S. is a type of society in which diverse ethnic, racial, national groups go-exist while maintaining their own cultural heritage.

Unitarianism

Believed in a unitary deity, reject the divinity of Christ, and emphasize the inherent goodness of mankind. This first caught on in New England at the end of the eighteenth century.

John Burgoyne

British general. After serving in the Seven Years' War he was elected to the British House of Commons in 1761 and 1768. Assigned to Canada in 1776, he began a campaign to join British forces from the north, south, and west to isolate the rebellious New England colonies. In 1777 his army captured Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y., but was stopped at the Hudson River by a larger army of colonists under Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. After several months of fighting, he surrendered to Gates at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; he returned to England to face criticism for his defeat.

King George III

British king whose policies angered American colonists to the point of revolution. "Lost the colonies."

William Howe

British military commander. He fought in the last French and Indian War (1754 - 63), in which he earned a reputation as one of the army's most brilliant young generals. In the American Revolution, he succeeded Thomas Gage as supreme commander of British forces in North America in 1776. He soon captured New York City and the surrounding area, and in 1777 he led British troops to victories at the Battles of the Brandywine and of Germantown. Moving his forces to Philadelphia, he left troops under John Burgoyne vulnerable in New York state, thus contributing to the British defeat at the Battles of Saratoga. He resigned in 1778 and was succeeded by Henry Clinton.

David Lloyd George

British prime minister who was in the Big Four, which was the group of the four most important leaders in the post-World-War-I world

Thomas Hutchinson

British royal governor who refused to give in to the American refusal to comply with the tea component of the Townshend Act among other things.

Charles Cornwallis

British soldier and statesman. In 1780, during the American Revolution, he was appointed British commander in the American South. He defeated Horatio Gates at Camden, S.C., then marched into Virginia and encamped at Yorktown (see Siege of Yorktown). Trapped and besieged there, he was forced to surrender his army (1781), a defeat that effectively ended military operations in the war.

capital goods

Buildings, machinery, tools, and other goods that provide productive services over a period of time.

Jay Gould

Business partner to Jim Fisk, millionaire from cornering gold market, plan could only work if the federal Treasury refrained from selling gold; bid the price of gold skyward; Treasury eventually was compelled to release gold; great conspirator.

John Hay

Secretary of State under McKinley and Roosevelt who pioneered the Open-Door policy and Panama Canal

"The Call of the Wild"

Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck.

Noah Webster

Called "Schoolmaster of the Republic." Wrote reading primers and texts for school use. He was most famous for his dictionary, first published in 1828, which standardized the English language in America.

land grant (colleges)

Colleges and universities created from allocations of public land through the Morrell Act of 1862 and the Hatch Act of 1887. These grants helped fuel the boom in higher education in the late nineteenth century, and many of the today's public universities derive from these grants.

Henry Clay

Speaker of the House of Representatives. United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states.

Henry Cabot Lodge

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was a leader in the fight against participation in the League of Nations. He led the "reservationists" in Congress.

Nicholas P. Trist

Chief Clerk in the State Department, was sent to negotiate a peace treaty with a defeated Mexico in 1847. Before he could open negotiations he was summoned to return, but he ignored the order and stayed to negotiate the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

John Marshall

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835. Presided over cases such as Marbury V. Madison

John Marshall

Chief Justice, who Adams had appointed to the Supreme Court and was also the cousin of Jefferson. He profoundly shaped the American legal system. He served at Valley Forge during the Revolution and was a dedicated Federalist.

William H. Seward

Chief among the Young Guard, staunchly against slavery, said Americans must follow "higher law"; the anti-slavery advocate of God's moral law in the Senate. He was the wiry and husky-throated freshman senator from New York who opposed concession in 1850.

Powhatan

Chief, united 30 tribes along the Virginia coast to form Powhatan Confederacy. Called Algonquian because their language based on Algonquin tribe. He helped English settlers during first few years of winter since they had guns that can help his tribe defeat other surrounding tribes. English settlers still raided Powhatan's villages during their "starving period" so he decided to attack. Both sides fought each other; colonists shot w/ arrows while tribes' kids drowned in water. In 1614, both sides make peace when Powhatan's daughter (Pocahontas) marries John Rolfe. She dies 3 years later cause of disease Powhatan's brother, Openchacanough continued the fight after he died and (in 1622 on Good Friday) lead raids on Jamestown village that kills 347 people. When Openchacanough was executed, the tribes were forced to give up some of their land and recognize English rule. Powhatan's people felt land was like air; used by everyone and owned by no certain group.

Second Battle of Bull Run

Civil War battle that ended in a decisive victory for Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who was emboldened to push further into the North.

Rio Grande

Claimed by United States as southern boundary of Texas

three-fifths clause

Clause of the Constitution that said a slave would count as three-fifths of a person; gave more power to southern states and helped Thomas Jefferson secure the presidency

pure and simple unionism

Coined by Samuel Gompers in a speech at the 1890 AFL convention in Detroit in which he opposed the inclusion of political parties in trade union organizations.

Merrimack (the Virginia)

Confederate ironclad ship with the ability to crush through wooden ships; fought to a standstill with Union ship Monitor. This signaled an end to wooden warships.

First Battle of Bull Run

Confederates troops forced Union troops to retreat. First major battle on land during the war. The Confederacy won. The importance is that this showed the Union battle was not going to be as quick as they thought.

Foraker Act

Congress accorded the Puerto Ricans a limited degree of popular government, later granted U.S. citizenship

protective tariff

Congress passed the first act in 1816. They were designed to protect America's infant industries from the competition of less expensive foreign imports, thus making the nation's economy more self-sufficient.

Securities and Exchange Commission

Congressional commission created in 1934 to administer the Securites Act requiring full financial disclosure by companies wishing to sell stock, and to prevent the unfair manipulation of stock exchanges

Whigs

Conservatives and popular with pro-Bank people and plantation owners. They mainly came from the National Republican Party, which was once largely Federalists. They took their name from the British political party that had opposed King George during the American Revolution. Their policies included support of industry, protective tariffs, and Clay's American System. They were generally upper class in origin. Included Clay and Webster.

insular cases

Constitution didn't have full authority of how to deal with islands

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Created a policy for administering the Northwest Territories. It included a path to statehood and forbade the expansion of slavery into the territories.

civic virtue

Cultivation of habits of personal living claimed to be important for the success of the community.

Jacob Riis

Danish immigrant; wrote the 1890 book "How the Other Half Lives;" published photographs and descriptions of the poverty, disease, and crime that afflicted many immigrant neighborhoods in New York City

James K. Polk

Dark horse presidential winner in 1844 who effectively carried out ambitious expansionist campaign plans. 11th president of the United States. A North Carolina Democrat, largely unknown on the national stage, campaigned on a platform of American expansion, advocating the annexation of Texas and the "reoccupation" of Oregon. As President, he provoked war with Mexico, adding vast tracts of land to the United States but provoking a bitter sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired territories.

Declaration of Sentiments

Declared that all "people are created equal," used the Declaration of Independence to argue for women's rights.

Proclamation of 1763

Degree issued by Parliament in the wake of Pontiac's uprising, prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachians. Contributed to rising resentment of British rule in the American colonies.

Samuel Tilden

Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in the disputed election of 1876, the most controversial American election of the 19th century. A political reformer, he was a Bourbon Democrat who worked closely with the New York City business community, led the fight against the corruption of Tammany Hall, and fought to keep taxes low.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Democratic candidate who won the 1932 election by a landslide. He refused to uphold any of Hoover's policies with the intent on enacting his own. He pledged a present a "New Deal" (its specific meaning ambiguous at the time to the American people) to the American public.

Alfred E. Smith

Democratic nominee for 1928 election, four-time governor of New York, first Roman Catholic to win a major party's nomination for president, Hoover defeated Smith by more than 6 million votes and Hoover won the Electoral College by a landslide, 444-87

scalawags

Derogatory term for pro-Union Southerners whom Southern Democrats accused of plundering the resources of the South in collusion with Republican governments after the Civil War.

Californios

Descendants of Spanish and Mexican conquerors. Spanish speaking inhabitants of California, they were the culture of Mexico and carried it to California.

Herbert Spencer

Developed the survival-of-the-fittest theories with William Graham Sumner. He coined the phrase "survival of the fittest." This social thinker emphasized the rigidity of natural law, while occasionally borrowing evolutionary jargon to engage contemporary audiences. He said: "These millionaires are a product of natural selection. What do social classes owe each other? Nothing."

Santa Anna

Dictator of Mexico. In 1835 wiped out all local rights and started to raise an army to suppress the upstart Texas; led 6,000 soldiers into Texas for the famous Alamo in an Antonio where he emerged victorious after a 30 day siege. In San Jacinto General Sam Houston and about 900 soldiers defeated his men and captured him; while captured he was forced to sign two treaties. After Polk and Congress declared war on Mexico for their attack of General Taylor's Command across the Rio Grande the exiled dictator voiced that if the American blockading squadron would permit him to slip into Mexico, he would sell out his country. Polk agreed to this, however, once in Mexico he rallied his countrymen to a desperate defense of their soil.

Whiskey Ring

During the Grant Administration, a group of officials were importing whiskey and using their offices to avoid paying the taxes on it, cheating the Treasury out of millions of dollars.

National Consumers League

During the late 19th century's Progressive Era, social justice movements emerged to protect the interests and promote justice for working people. As part of that movement, the National Consumers League was chartered in 1899 by two of America's leading social reformers Jane Addams and Josephine Lowell. These two women were pioneers in achieving many social reforms in communities and workplaces across the country.

panic of 1837

Economic crisis triggered by bank failures, elevated grain prices, and Andrew Jackson's efforts to curb overspeculation on western lands and transportation improvements. In response, President Martin Van Buren proposed the "Divorce Bill," which pulled treasury funds out of the banking system altogether, contracting the credit supply.

Keynesianism

Economic theory that advocated deficit spending to stimulate the economy; with the depression still lingering in 1937, FDR announced a bold new program embracing this theory and effectively reversing current economic policies

Mercantilism

Economic theory that closely linked a nation's political and military power to its bullion reserves. They generally favored protectionism and colonial acquisition as means to increase exports.

market revolution

Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century transformation from a disaggregated, subsistence economy to a national commercial and industrial network.

"Revolution of 1800"

Electoral victory of Democratic Republicans over the Federalists, who lost their Congressional majority and the presidency. The peaceful transfer of power between rival parties solidified faith in America's political system.

Embargo Act of 1807

Enacted in response to British and French mistreatment of American merchants, the Act banned the export of all goods from the Untied States to any foreign port. The embargo placed great strains on the American economy while only marginally affecting its European targets, and was therefore repealed in 1809.

Tariff of 1832

Enacted on July 14, 1832, this was referred to as a protectionist tariff in the United States. The purpose of this tariff was to act as remedy for the conflict created by the Tariff of 1828. Mainly, the protective Tariff of 1828 was created in such a way that it intended to protect the industry in the north.

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Enacted on July 14, 1890 as a United States federal law, it was named after its author, Senator John Sherman, an Ohio Republican, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. While not authorizing the free and unlimited coinage of silver that the Free Silver supporters wanted, it increased the amount of silver the government was required to purchase every month. It had been passed in response to the growing complaints of farmers and mining interests.

Puritans

English Protestant reformers who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic rituals and creeds. Some of the most devout Puritans believed that only "visible saints" should be admitted to church membership.

William Pitt

English statesman who brought the Seven Years' War to an end.

Horatio Gates

English-born American general. He served in the British army during the French and Indian War. In 1772 he immigrated to Virginia, where he sided with colonial interests. He was made adjutant general of the Continental Army (1775) and succeeded Gen. Philip Schuyler in New York (1777). Assisted by Benedict Arnold, he forced the surrender of British forces under John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga (1777). Congress then chose him as president of the Board of War. Supporters, including Thomas Conway, sought to have him replace George Washington, but the plan failed, and he returned to his New York command. In 1780 he was transferred to the South, where he attempted to oust the British forces under Charles Cornwallis but was defeated at the Battle of Camden, S.C. An official inquiry was ordered, but charges never were pressed. He retired to Virginia, then freed his slaves in 1790 and moved to New York.

Committee on Public Information

Established by Woodrow Wilson and headed by George Creel, this was the Federal group that worked on producing and distributing pro-war propaganda to the US people.

Half-Breed

Favored tariff reform and social reform, major issues from the Democratic and Republican parties. They did not seem to be dedicated members of either party.

Ohio fever

European immigrants bought large amounts of cheap west American land.

Middle Ground

Europeans and Indians living together in regions where neither side was able to establish clear dominance. Carved out ways of living together, with each side making concession to the other.

Henry Knox

First Secretary of War. He managed Native American relations, passed the bill that made it possible for only the federal government to control native lands, rather than the states.

Tariff of 1816

First protective tariff in American history, created primarily to shield New England manufacturers from the inflow of British goods after the War of 1812.

Border States

Five slave states - Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia - that did not secede during the Civil War. To keep the states in the Union, Abraham Lincoln insisted that the war was not about abolishing slavery but rather protecting the Union.

Russo-American Treaty of 1824

Fixed the line of 54 degrees 40' as the southernmost boundary of Russian holdings in North America.

Millerites

Followers of a Calvanist Baptist minister who taught that the second coming of Christ would occur in 1944.

Boston Associates

Formed by fifteen Boston families, this was the name of the one of the earliest investment capital companies.

United States Steel

Founded by J.P. Morgan in 1901 by combining the Carnegie Steel Company with Gary's Federal Steel Company and Moore's National Steel Company for $492 million. At one time, was the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world. Maintained the labor policies of Carnegie, which called for low wages and opposition to unionization.

Founding of Pennsylvania

Founded by William Penn, a Quaker, to provide protection for Quakers. Philadelphia was a center for trade and crafts, and attracted a large number of immigrants, so that by 1720 it had a population of 10,000.

American Temperance Society

Founded in Boston in 1826 as part of a growing effort of nineteenth-century reformers to limit alcohol consumption.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945.

Court-packing plan

Franklin Roosevelt's politically motivated and ill-fated scheme to add a new justice to the Supreme Court for every member over seventy who would not retire. His objective was to overcome the Court's objections to New Deal reforms.

Jesuits

French Catholic missionaries who wanted to save Indians for Christ and from fur traders.

Huguenots

French Protestants. The Edict of Nantes (1598) freed them from persecution in France, but when that was revoked in the late 1700s, hundreds of thousands of them fled to other countries, including North America.

Admiral de Grasse

French admiral who led the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, which led to the British surrender at Yorktown.

New France

French colonies in New World; 1608 started establishment in Quebec on St. Lawrence River; completely controlled by the King; population was 60 thousand, mostly Catholic; motivation was not economic (more interested in Caribbean islands) nor religious (Huguenots denied religious refuge there)

Philippe Bunau-Varilla

French engineer and solider, key figure in the decision to construct the Panama Canal

Talleyrand

French foreign minister; In 1797, Adams sent a diplomatic commission to France to settle matters about the upset of the Jay Treaty of 1794. The French thought that America was siding with the English through Jay's Treaty, which would violate the Franco-American Treaty of 1778. The commission was sent to talk to him about the seizing of American ships by the French. Communication between the commission and he existed between three go betweeners (XYZ) because talking to him in person would cost a quarter of a million dollars. Americans soon negotiated and this act subtly started an undeclared war with France.

Marquis de Lafayette

French general in the American Revolution who was a key figure in American-French relations and brilliantly led the Continental Army.

Louisbourg

French island citadel seized in June-July 1758 by British troops under Jeffery Amherst and James Wolfe. The battle turned into a siege, and the French finally surrendered, more than three weeks after the fighting began. Important battle in that it cut off French reinforcements. It also allowed allowed the British to sail down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec, the last real French stronghold in North America.

Acadians

French residents of Nova Scotia, many of whom were uprooted by the British in 1755 and scattered as far south as Louisiana, where their descendants became known as "Cajuns."

Maximilian

French viceroy appointed by Napoleon III of France to lead the new government set up in Mexico. After the Civil War, the U.S. invaded and he was executed, a demonstration of the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine to European powers.

Robert de La Salle

Frenchman who followed the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the region for France and naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV

Antoine Cadillac

Frenchman who founded Detroit in 1701 to prevent English settlers making a play for the Ohio Valley.

industrial revolution

From agricultural to industrial. Characterized chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines, as the power loom and the steam engine, and by the concentration of industry in large establishments.

George Rogers Clark

Frontier military leader in the American Revolution. The brother of William Clark, he worked as a surveyor in Kentucky in the mid-1770s. During the Revolution he raised troops and defended the region against the British and Indians. He captured settlements along the Mississippi River in the Old Northwest (Illinois), and in 1780 he helped defeat a British attempt to capture St. Louis. Appointed an Indian commissioner, he helped conclude a treaty with the Shawnee.

Land Act of 1820

Fueled the settlement of the Northwest and Missouri territories by lowering the price of public land. Also prohibited the purchase of federal acreage on credit, thereby eliminating one of the causes of the Panic of 1819.

Women's Rights Convention

Gathering of feminist activists in Seneca Falls, New York, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton read her "Declaration of Sentiments," stating that "all men and women are created equal."

John J. Pershing

General of the Armies John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing was a senior United States Army officer, most famous as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in World War I, 1917-18.

Zachary Taylor

General that was a military leader in Mexican-American War and 12th president of the United States. Sent by President Polk to lead the American Army against Mexico at Rio Grande, but was defeated.

Victoriano Huerta

General who seized power in 1913, brutality repulsed Wilson because he didn't was to recognize the new government

John J. Pershing

General, was sent by Wilson to cross the border and find and capture Pancho Villa

Georges Clemenceau

Georges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French politician, physician, and journalist who served as Prime Minister of France during the First World War. A leader of the Radical Party, he played a central role in the politics of the French Third Republic.

Baron von Steuben

German military officer who taught the American soldiers military technique and discipline (whipped them into shape).

U-boat

German submarines used in World War I; they sank many Allied ships around the British Isles. They were responsible for the sinking of the Lusitania and the Sussex.

Hessians

German troops hired from their princes by George III to aid in putting down the colonial insurrection. This hardened the resolve of American colonists, who resented the use of paid foreign fighters.

British East India Company

Government charted joint-stock company that controlled spice trade in the East Indies after the Dutch. Granted Monopoly of American Tea Business

Alfred M. Landon

Governor of Kansas, the Republicans nominated him to challenge President Roosevelt's reelection bid, favored some New Deal policies, but he declared it was time "to unshackle initiative and free the spirit of American enterprise," unable to convince the majority of American voters it was time for a change

Huey Long

Governor of Louisiana, opposed FDR's New Deal and came up with a , "Share the Wealth" wanted to give $5k to all families

Hay-Pauncefote Treaty

Great Britain recognized U.S. Sphere of Influence over the Panama canal zone provided the canal itself remained neutral. U.S. given full control over construction and management of the canal

Hudson's Bay Company

This was founded in 1670 in London, England by a group of British merchants eager to exploit the resources of northern Canada. An unpopular monopoly in the Oregon Country.

Alexander Hamilton

Great political leader; youngest and brightest of Federalists; "father of the National Debt"; from New York; became a major general; military genius; Secretary of Treasury; lived from 1755-1804; became Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington in 1789; established plan for economy that went into effect in 1790 including a tariff that passed in 1789, the assumption of state debts which went into affect in 1790, an excise on different products (including whiskey) in 1791, and a plan for a national bank which was approved in 1791; plan to take care of the national debt--a. fund debt at face value, b. assumption of state debts, c. creation of National Bank, D. taxes (tariffs and excises)--plan was a success in dealing with the national debt; founded the Federalist Party.

moderate/radical Republicans

Group of Republicans that agreed with Lincoln that the Southern states should be re-admitted into the Union as simply as possible, while the others believed that believed the South needed to atone more painfully for its sins.

Ku Klux Klan

Group that advocated white supremacy that was revived in 1915 and increased in size during the 1920s in reaction to challenges to traditional culture; the new Klan attacked the immigrants, blacks, Catholics, communists, and Jews

Robert La Follette

Hailing from Wisconsin, he was one of the most militant of the progressive Republican leaders, He served in the Senate and in the Wisconsin governor's seat, and was a perennial contender for the presidency, keeping the spirit of progressivism alive into the 1920s

Harry M. Daugherty

Harding named him his campaign manager and boss of the Ohio Republican Party, attorney general, involved in a scandal that made the new president, Calvin Coolidge, demand he resign

Charles R. Forbes

Harding selected him to head the Veterans Bureau, Ohio acquaintance of Harding's, sold scarce medical supplies from veterans' hospitals and kept the money for himself, costing taxpayers about $250 million

Andrew Mellon

Harding's Secretary of Treasury who felt it was best to invest in tax-exempt securities rather than factories that provided good payrolls; believed in trickle-down or Hamiltonian economics

Albert B. Fall

Harding's secretary of the interior, secretly allowed private interests to lease lands containing U.S. Navy oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming and Elk Hills, California, in return he received bribes from the private interests totaling more than $300,000

Calvin Coolidge

Harding's vice president, became president in 1923 when Harding pasted away from a probable heart attack, believed that prosperity rested on business leadership and that part of his job as president was to make sure that government interfered with business and industry as little as possible

Roger Taney

He was Chief Justice for the Dred Scott case. A decision was made on March 6, 1857. He ruled against Dred Scott. Scott was suing for freedom because of his long residence in free territory. He was denied freedom because he was property and his owner could take him into any territory and legally hold him as a slave. This court ruling was major cause in starting the Civil War.

William Crawford

He was Secretary of Treasury under James Monroe Presidency; and a candidate for Presidency in 1824 he represented the south in this election.

Edward Braddock

He was a British commander during the French and Indian War. He attempted to capture Fort Duquesne in 1755. He was defeated by the French and the Indians. At this battle, he was mortally wounded.

George B. Meade

He beat the Confederate army at the Battle of Gettysburg. The loss finally broke the back of the Confederate cause.

William T. Sherman

He commanded the Union army in Tennessee. In September of 1864 his troops captured Atlanta, Georgia. He then headed to take Savannah. This was his famous "march to the sea.". His troops burned barns and houses, and destroyed the countryside. His march showed a shift in the belief that only military targets should be destroyed. Civilian centers could also be targets.

William H. McGuffey

He created the nations first and most widely used series of textbooks.

William H. Seward

He foolishly believed that if the North picked a fight with European nations, the South would rally behind the Union. After the war was over in 1865, he organized a force and went down to Mexico to pursue the people that had defied the Monroe Doctrine. Napoleon realized this and took leave, leaving his puppet emperor to die.

Andrew Jackson

He fought during the War of 1812 in central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian allies under him, defeated the Red Sticks, a part of the Creek Indian tribe inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, effectively ending the Creek War.

George Washington

He is called "the father of his country" for his crucial role in fighting for, creating and leading the United States of America in its earliest days. He was a surveyor, farmer and soldier who rose to command the Colonial forces in the Revolutionary War. He held the Continental Army together -- most famously during a frigid encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania during the winter of 1777-78 -- and eventually led them to victory over the British.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

He led ex-slaves in a resistance. He was a military genius and did much to set up the sale of Louisiana to the U.S.

David G. Farragut

He led the New Orleans expedition in December, 1861. He captured the forts guarding the port in April, 1862 and troops led by General Benjamin F. Butler occupied the city soon afterwards. He was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and full admiral of the Navy.

Edmund Burke

He moved to England and served as a statesman in the House of Commons. During his time there, he came to be known as a supporter of the American Revolution while disagreeing with the happenings of the French Revolution.

James Monroe

He proclaimed that the Americas should be closed to future European colonization and free from European interference in sovereign countries' affairs. It further stated the United States' intention to stay neutral in European wars

Daniel Webster

He proposed that all reasonable compromises should be made with the South and that a new fugitive-slave law be formed. Although, he was against slavery and he supported Wilmot Proviso, because he felt that cotton could not grow in the territories gained from the Mexican-American War.

Washington Irving

He published Knickerbockers History of New York in 1809 which had interesting caricatures of the Dutch. The Sketch Book, published in 1819-1820, was an immediate success. This book made him world renown. The Sketch Book was influenced by both American and English themes, and therefore popular in the Old and New World.

Joseph Smith

He reported to being visited by an angel and given golden plates in 1840; the plates, when deciphered, brought about the Church of Latter Day Saints and the Book of Mormon; he ran into opposition from Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri when he attempted to spread the Mormon beliefs; he was killed by those who opposed him.

Nathanael Green

He served in the colonial legislature and as commander of the colonial militia (1775). He led troops in the Continental Army at Boston and New York, then fought in the battles at Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He succeeded Gen. Horatio Gates as commander in chief of the southern army (1778), and his strategy so weakened the British troops that Gen. Charles Cornwallis abandoned plans to conquer North Carolina (1781). Greene began the reconquest of inner South Carolina, and by late June 1781 he had forced the British back to Charleston. He presided at the court-martial of John André in the Benedict Arnold affair (1780).

Stephen A. Douglas

He took over for Henry Clay in the Compromise of 1850. Clay could not get the compromised passed because neither party wanted to pass it as a whole since they would be passing things for the opposite party as well as their own. He split the compromise up to get it passed.

William Walker

He tried repeatedly to take control of Nicaragua in the 1850s, backed by an armed force recruited largely in the South, he installed himself as president in July 1856 and promptly legalized slavery.

Charles G. Finney

He urged people to abandon sin and lead good lives in dramatic sermons at religious revivals.

Winfield Scott

He was a United States Army general, diplomat, and presidential candidate. Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army", he served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history and most historians rate him the ablest American commander of his time. Over the course of his fifty-year career, he commanded forces in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War, and, briefly, the American Civil War, conceiving the Union strategy known as the Anaconda Plan that would be used to defeat the Confederacy.

J. Pierpont Morgan

He was a banker who financed the reorganization of railroads, insurance companies, and banks. He bought out Carnegie and in 1901 he started the United States Steel Corporation.

Dred Scott

He was a black slave who had lived with his master for five years in Illinois and Wisconsin territory. He sued for his freedom on the basis of his long residence in free territory. His court decision was handed down by the Supreme Court on March 6,1857. The Supreme Court ruled that he was a black slave and not a citizen. Hence, he could not sue in a federal court.

James B. Weaver

He was a former Civil War general who ran for president with the Greenback Party (1880) and the Populist Party (1892).

George B. McClellan

He was a general for Northern command of the Army of the Potomac in 1861, nicknamed "Tardy George" because of his failure to move troops to Richmond, lost battle vs. General Lee near the Chesapeake Bay. Lincoln fired him twice.

John D. Rockefeller

He was a man who started from meager beginnings and eventually created an oil empire. In Ohio in 1870 he organized the Standard Oil Company. By 1877 he controlled 95% of all of the refineries in the United States. It achieved important economies both home and abroad by it's large scale methods of production and distribution. He also organized the trust and started the Horizontal Merger.

Samuel Adams

He was a master propagandist and an engineer of rebellion. Though very weak and feeble in appearance, he was a strong politician and leader that was very aware and sensitive to the rights of the colonists. He organized the local committees of correspondence in Massachusetts, starting with Boston in 1772. These committees were designed to oppose British policy forced on the colonists by spreading propaganda.

Thomas Jefferson

He was a member of the House of Burgesses, wrote the Declaration of Independence, was ambassador to France, and was later the President of the United States of America. With his Declaration of Independence he declared the colonies' freedom from England. While President, he bought the Louisiana Purchase and had Lewis and Clark to explore it.

Walt Whitman

He was a poet who lived in Brooklyn. His most famous collection of poems entitled Leaves of Grass, gained him the title "Poet Laureate of Democracy."

Henry David Thoreau

He was a poet, a mystic, a transcendentalist, a nonconformist, and a close friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He condemned government for supporting slavery and was jailed when he refused to pay his Massachusetts poll tax. He is well known for his novel about the two years of simple living he spent on the edge of Walden Pond called "Walden" , Or Life in the Woods. This novel furthered many idealistic thoughts.

Louis Agassiz

He was a professor at Harvard College. He was a student of biology who insisted on original research. He hated the overemphasis on memory work. He was one of the most influential American scientists in the nineteenth century.

Daniel Shays

He was a radical veteran of the Revolution. He led a rebellion, fittingly named Shays Rebellion. He felt he was fighting against a tyranny. The rebellion was composed of debtors demanding cheap paper money, lighter taxes, and suspension of mortgage foreclosures. He was sentenced to death but was later pardoned. The rebellion in 1786 helped lead to the Constitution and Shay somewhat became one of the Founding Fathers.

John C. Calhoun

He was a war hawk; supporter of states' rights; believed South Carolina had the right to "nullify", or ignore, federal laws that they thought were wrong, part of Whig Party.

John Hancock

He was a wealthy Massachusetts merchant in 1776 who was important in persuading the American colonies to declare their independence from England. He was the ring leader in the plot to store gunpowder which resulted in the battles in Lexington and Concord. These battles began the American Revolution.He was president of the Continental Congress and was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Robert Owen

He was a wealthy and idealistic Scottish textile manufacturer. He sought to better the human race and set up a communal society in 1825.

Marquis de Lafayette

He was a wealthy young French nobleman who was made a general in the colonial army at age nineteen; helped to further secure aid from France for the colonists.

Stephen Foster

He was a white Pennsylvanian that wrote, ironically, the most famous black songs. His one excursion into the South occurred in 1852, after he had published "Old Folks at Home". He made a valuable contribution to American Folk music by capturing the plaintive spirit of the slaves.

Alexander Graham Bell

He was an American inventor who was responsible for developing the telephone. This greatly improved communications in the country.

William Harrison

He was an American military leader, politician, the ninth President of the United States, and the first President to die in office. His death created a brief constitutional crisis, but ultimately resolved many questions about presidential succession left unanswered by the Constitution until passage of the 25th Amendment. Led US forces in the Battle of Tippecanoe.

William Henry Harrison

He was an American military leader, politician, the ninth President of the United States, and the first President to die in office. Led US forces in the Battle of Tippecanoe.

John C. Fremont

He was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery.

Horace Mann

He was an idealistic graduate of Brown University, secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. He was involved in the reformation of public education. He campaigned for better school houses, longer school terms, higher pay for teachers, and an expanded curriculum. He caused a reformation of the public schools, many of the teachers were untrained for that position. Led to educational advances in text books by Noah Webster and Ohioan William H. McGuffey.

David Walker

He was an outspoken African American activist who demanded the immediate end of slavery in the new nation. A leader within the Black enclave in Boston, Massachusetts, he published in 1829 his Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World: a call to "awaken my brethren" to the power within Black unity and struggle.

Frederick Douglass

He was born a slave, but escaped to the North and became a prominent black abolitionist; gifted orator, writer, and editor.

Abraham Lincoln

He was born in Kentucky to impoverished parents. He was mainly self-educated; a Springfield lawyer. Republicans chose him to run against Senator Douglas (a Democrat) in the senatorial elections of 1858. Although he lost victory to senatorship that year, he came to be one of the most prominent northern politicians and emerged as a Republican nominee for president. Although he won the presidential elections of 1860, he was a minority and sectional president (he was not allowed on the ballot in ten southern states).

Edgar Allan Poe

He was cursed with hunger, cold, poverty, and debt. He was orphaned as a child and when he married his fourteen year old wife, she died of tuberculosis. He wrote books that deal with the ghostly and ghastly, such as "The Fall of the House of Usher."

James A. Garfield

He was elected President in the election of 1880. After being elected he was assassinated, and Chester Arthur took his place.

John Tyler

He was elected Vice President and became the 10th President of the United States when Harrison died 1841-1845, President responsible for annexation of Mexico after receiving mandate from Polk, opposed many parts of the Whig program for economic recovery.

John Tyler

He was elected Vice President and became the 10th President of the United States when Harrison died 1841-1845. He was responsible for annexation of Mexico after receiving mandate from Polk, opposed many parts of the Whig program for economic recovery.

Napoleon III

He was elected emperor of France from 1852-1870, he invaded Mexico when the Mexican government couldn't repay loans from French bankers. He sent in an army and set up a new government under Maximilian. He refused Lincoln's request that France withdraw. After the Civil War, the U.S. sent an army to enforce the request and Napoleon withdrew.

James Buchanan

He was elected five times to the House of Representatives, then, after an interlude as Minister to Russia, served for a decade in the Senate. He became Polk's Secretary of State and Pierce's Minister to Great Britain. Service abroad helped to bring him the Democratic nomination in 1856 because it had exempted him from involvement in bitter domestic controversies. A democrat who won the election of 1856 by a narrow margin.

Franklin Pierce

He was elected president in the 1852 election as the second Democratic "dark horse." He was a pro-southern northerner who supported the Compromise of 1850 and especially the Fugitive Slave Law. He also tried to gain Cuba for the South as a slave state, but was stopped because of Northern public opinion after the incident in Ostend, Belgium. He also supported the dangerous Kansas-Nebraska Act pushed for by Senator Douglas.

Tom Watson

He was elected to the U.S Congress, became known as a champion of Georgia's farmers, and he sponsored and pushed through a law providing for RFD-rural free delivery.

Andrew Johnson

He was elected vice president in 1864 and became president when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. He is one of two presidents to have been impeached; the House of Representatives charged him with illegally dismissing a government official. The Senate tried him, and he was acquitted by only one vote.

Rutherford B. Hayes

He was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history. He won the election.

Charles Townshend

He was in control of the British ministry and was nicknamed "Champagne Charley" for his brilliant speeches in Parliament while drunk. He persuaded Parliament in 1767 to pass the Townshend Acts. These new regulations were a light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, and tea. It was a tax that the colonist were greatly against and was a near start for rebellions to take place.

Daniel Webster

He was involved in the Webster-Haynes debate over states' rights. He served as Secretary of State under the Tyler administration. In 1836 he ran for the Presidency as a member of the Whig party, losing to Martin Van Buren. He was also America's greatest orator.

Martin Van Buren

He was known as "Little Magician" vice president; destruction of Second Bank of the United States; blocked annexation of Texas; Panic of 1837; Free Soil Party.

William Marbury

He was named a justice of the peace for the District of Columbia at the end of Adams' presidency; sued Madison when he learned that his commission was being shelved by Madison.

Lewis Cass

He was named father of "popular sovereignty." He ran for president in 1848 but General Taylor won. The north was against him because popular sovereignty made it possible for slavery to spread.

Horace Greeley

He was nominated by Liberal Republicans for the presidential election of 1872 (against re-election of Republican Grant), office-hungry Democrats also endorsed his candidacy, notoriously unsound in his political judgments. He lost the election to Grant.

John J. Audobon

He was of French descent, and an artist who specialized in painting wild fowl. He had such works as Birds of America and Passenger Pigeons. Ironically, he shot a lot of birds for sport when he was young. He is remembered as America's greatest ornithologist.

Billion-Dollar Congress

This was named for its lavish spendings, gave pensions to Civil War veterans, increased government purchases on silver, and passed the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890.

Thomas Paine

He was one of the great fiery voices of the American Revolution. He emigrated from England to Philadelphia in 1774. Two years later he published "Common Sense," a popular pamphlet that argued for complete American independence from Britain. Later that year in his pamphlet "The American Crisis" he penned his famous line, "These are the times that try men's souls." The revolution won, Paine returned to England in 1787, and in 1791 he published "The Rights of Man," which opposed the idea of monarchy and defended the French Revolution. To escape being tried for treason, he fled to Paris, where he wrote "The Age of Reason." In 1802 he returned to America, only to find himself outcast and poverty-stricken in his final years.

Lord Ashburton

He was sent by England to Washington in 1842 to work things out with Secretary Webster over boundary disputes. He and Webster finally compromised on the Maine boundary. They split the area of land and Britain kept the Halifax-Quebec route.

James Monroe

He was sent by Jefferson to join forces with Robert R. Livingston in Paris. He was also instructed to purchase New Orleans and as much land to its east for a maximum of $10 million.

Thomas Jefferson

He was the 3rd President of the United States. He favored limited central government. He was the chief drafter of the Declaration of Independence; approved of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and promoted ideals of republicanism. He sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore this territory.

James Wolfe

He was the British general whose success in the Battle of Quebec won Canada for the British Empire. Even though the battle was only fifteen minutes, he was killed in the line of duty. This was a decisive battle in the French and Indian War.

Edwin M. Stanton

He was the Secretary of War appointed by Lincoln. President Andrew Johnson dismissed him in spite of the tenure of office act, and as a result, Congress wanted Johnson's impeachment.

Henry Clay

He was the Senator who persuaded Congress to accept the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Maine into the Union as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state. He was a distinguished Senator from Kentucky, who ran for president five times until his death in 1852. He was a strong supporter of the American System, a war hawk for the War of 1812, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and known as "the Great Compromiser." outlined the Compromise of 1850 with five main points, he died before it was passed.

Peter Cartwright

He was the best known of Methodist "Circuit riders". He was a traveling frontier preacher. Ill-educated but still powerful, he reigned for 50 years going from Tennessee to Illinois. He converted thousands of people doing this. He also liked to pick a fight if someone spoke against his religion.

Tenskwatawa - "the Prophet"

He was the brother of Tecumseh. Together, he and his brother created a confederacy of all the tribes east of the Mississippi.

John Bell

He was the candidate for the election of 1860 for the Constitutional Union party. His platform was focused on the Constitution, preserving the Union, and enforcing laws. This put a split in the Union.

Little Turtle

He was the chief of the Miamis. In 1790 and 1791 his armies defeated many American armies and killed hundreds of soldiers and handed the United States what remains one of its worst defeats in the history of the frontier.

Samuel Gompers

He was the creator/president of the American Federation of Labor. He provided a stable and unified union for skilled workers.

Martin Van Buren

He was the eighth president who was experienced in legislative and administrative life. He passed the Divorce Bill which placed the federal surplus in vaults located in large cities and denied the backing system. A Democratic-Republican Senator from New York, rallied the factory workers of the north in support of Jackson. He became Jackson's VP after Calhoun resigned. Also became the leader of the Albany Regency, a clique of wealthy landowners who controlled New York politics.

Matthew Lyon

He was the first person to be put to trial for violating the acts on charges of criticizing Federalist president John Adams and disagreeing with Adam's decision to go to war against France. He was sentenced to four months in jail and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs. While in jail, he won election to the Sixth Congress. In the election of 1800 he cast the deciding vote for Jefferson after the election went to the House of Representatives because of an electoral tie.

George III

He was the king of England in the 1770's. Though he was a good man he was not a good ruler. He lost all of the 13 American colonies and caused America to start to gain its freedom.

William McKinley

He was the last veteran of the Civil War to be elected. By the 1880s, this Ohio native was a nationally known Republican leader; his signature issue was high tariffs on imports as a formula for prosperity, as typified by his Tariff of 1890. As the Republican candidate in the 1896 presidential election, he upheld the gold standard, and promoted pluralism among ethnic groups.

Crispus Attucks

He was the leader of the mob in the Boston Massacre; was a "mulatto" (African American and European mixed ethnicity) and was one of the first to die in the massacre.

J.P. Morgan

He was the man that President Grover Cleveland turned to during his second term as President in 1895 in order to address the gold deficit that was fast becoming a problem for the nation. He was widely known as "the bankers' banker" and was the head of a Wall Street syndicate. After tense negotiations, the bankers agreed to lend the government $65 million in gold to plug up the gold that had drained from the Treasury and was now threatening to significantly devalue the nation's currency.

Matthew C. Perry

He was the military leader who convinced the Japanese to sign a treaty in 1853 with the U.S. The treaty allowed for a commercial foot in Japan which was helpful with furthering a relationship with Japan.

Phineas T. Barnum

He was the most famous showman of his era. He was a Connecticut Yankee who earned the title, "the Prince of Humbug." Beginning in New York City, he "humbugged" the American public with bearded ladies and other freaks. Under his golden assumption that a "sucker" was born every minute, Barnum made several prize hoaxes, including the 161-year-old (actually 80) wizened black "nurse" of George Washington.

Thomas Jefferson

He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom (1777), and third President of the United States (1801-1809). He was also an influential Founding Father and an advocate for Jeffersonian Democracy. He was a wartime governor of Virginia, a US minister to France, first US Secretary of State, and a leader in The Enlightenment.

Andrew Carnegie

He was the steel king, integrated every phase of his steel-making operation. Pioneered "Vertical Integration," his goal was to improve efficiency by making supplies more reliable controlling the quality of the product at all stages of production and eliminating the middle man.

Millard Fillmore

He was the successor of President Zachary Taylor after his death. He helped pass the Compromise of 1850 by gaining the support of northern Whigs for the Compromise. He was largely self-educated, he had made his own way in the profession of a law and the rough-and-tumble world of New York politics, he was ready to make peace and used extreme caution.

John C. Breckenridge

He was the vice-president elected in 1856. He was nominated for the presidential election of 1860 for the Southern Democrats. After Democrats split, the Northern Democrats would no longer support him. He favored the extension of slavery, but was not a Disunionist. He also wanted to keep the Union together, but when the polls started he couldn't even get the votes of his own party.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

He wrote the Scarlet Letter in 1850. This was his masterpiece. He also wrote The Marble Faun. Many of his works had early American themes. The Scarlet Letter is about a woman who commits adultery in a Puritan village. His upbringing was heavily influenced by his puritan ancestors.

National Recovery Act

Headed by Hugh S. Johnson. It set standards for: production, prices, & wages, in textile steel, mining & auto industries. 1935 declared unlawful by Congress because in its codes & regulations it delegated legislative power to the president & attempted to regulate local businesses that didn't engage in interstate commerce

internal improvements

Henry Clay developed a plan for profitable home markets called the American System in 1824. It enforced a protective tariff to get funding for transportation improvements. These improvements would be the construction of better roads and canals. This would allow industrialization to prosper since the raw materials of the South and West could easily and inexpensively get to the North and East to be manufactured. The manufactured goods could then be shipped back out to the South and West.

Alexander Hamiliton

High Political leader, 32 year old New Yorker who saved the convention from complete failure by engineering the adoption of his report. It called upon Congress to summon a convention to meet in Philadelphia the next year, not to deal with commerce alone but to bolster the entire fabric of the Articles of Confederation. Congress, because of Hamilton's influence, issued the call for a convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising" the Articles of Confederation. He was present as an advocate of super-powerful central government. He gave a five hour speech that did not reach anyone but himself. One of the youngest and most brilliant founding fathers.He helped whip up support for the anti-federalists, even though he favored a strong central government. He joined John Jay and James Madison in penning a masterly series of articles for the New York newspaper. There essays are the most penetrating commentary ever written on the Constitution.

Benjamin Franklin

Highly respected scientist, one of the wealthiest men in Pennsylvania. helped found UPENN, served as agent in London, and Pennsylvania, became convinced the colonies needed to revolt. Served as ambassador to France during the war, helped write the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and helped negotiate the peace treaty ending the revolution.

Venustiano Carranza

His forces acquired arms from the United States, became Mexico's president

Abraham Lincoln

His foremost goal in the beginning was the preservation of the Union, but by 1863 he had become convinced that it could be preserved only by the destruction of slavery, which he abhorred on moral grounds. He did a masterful job of articulating the moral goals of the war and the American experiment in government.

Francis Parkman

Historian with defective eyes that forced him to write in darkness with the aid of a guiding machine; chronicled the struggle between France and England in colonial times for mastery of North America.

ecological imperialism

Historians' term for the spoliation of Western natural resources through excessive hunting, logging, mining, and grazing.

republican motherhood

Idea that mothers/women are bestowed with the responsibility of cultivating the ideas of civic virtue and family life to children through education, gives them more prestigious role as keepers of the nation's conscience.

rotation in office

Idea that those in power should be switched out regularly, President = 2 terms of 4 years, Senator = unlimited terms of 6 years, Representative = unlimited terms of 2 years, Supreme Court Justice = life time appointment

Roscoe Conkling

Imperious Senator from New York who was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican party in the 1870s and 1880s.

William Penn

In 1681 King Charles gave him permission to create a new colony south of New York. He regarded Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" where settlers would have religious freedom and a voice in government. He particularly wanted to help his fellow Quakers escape persecution in England. A treaty he signed in 1682 assured peace with a local group of Native Americans. He soon acquired coastal land to the southeast, which later became the colony of Delaware.

Toleration Act

In 1694, the local representative assembly passed the Maryland Act of Toleration. This act provided religious toleration to all Christians living in Maryland. However, it allowed the death penalty for Jews, atheists, and anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus. Overall the law actually provided less religious toleration, however it ensured that Catholics, who feared persecution, were sheltered.

Louisiana Purchase Treaty

In 1803 Thomas Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles of land for 15 million dollars from Napoleon the leader of France. The land mass stretched from the Gulf of Mexico all the to Rocky Mountains and Canada. The purchase of this land sprouted national pride and ensured expansion.

Emma Willard

In 1821 she founded Troy Female Seminary in New York, which was a model for girls' schools everywhere.

Lane rebels

In 1832 Theodore Dwight Weld went to the Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Seminary was presided over by Lyman Beecher. Weld and some of his comrades were kicked out for their actions of anti-slavery. The young men were known as the "Lane Rebels." They helped lead and continue the preaching of anti-slavery ideas.

Charles Sumner

In 1848, he abandoned the Whig party to support Martin Van Buren's (unsuccessful) Free-Soil candidacy for President. In 1851, a Democratic-Free-Soil coalition in the Massachusetts legislature chose him to fill the vacated U.S. Senate seat of Daniel Webster, who had resigned to become Secretary of State.

John Brown

In 1859, this militant abolitionist seized the U.S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry. He planned to end slavery by massacring slave owners and freeing their slaves. He was captured and executed.

Charles J. Guiteau

In 1881 he shot President Garfield in the back in a Washington railroad station. He allegedly committed this crime so that Arthur, a stalwart, would become President. His attorneys used a plea of insanity, but failed and he was hung for murder.

Tampico incident

In April 1914, some U.S. sailors were arrested in Tampico, Mexico. President Wilson used the incident to send U.S. troops into northern Mexico. His real intent was to unseat the Huerta government there. After the Niagara Falls Conference, Huerta abdicated and the confrontation ended

Pottawatomie Creek Massacre

In reaction to the sacking of Lawrence by pro-slavery forces, John Brown and a band of abolitionist settlers killed five pro-slavery settlers in Franklin County, Kansas.

Muller v. Oregon

In this case the Supreme Court addressed government's authority to regulate business to protect workers; women working in laundries in Oregon got helped by the Court deciding to limit the state's right to limit hours. This didn't violate the 14th Amendment since women needed to stay healthy with having children

Lochner v. New York

In this case, the Supreme Court addressed government's authority to regulate business to protect workers; the Court ruled that a New York law forbidding bakers to work more than 10 hours a day was unconstitutional

Praying Indians

Indians who converted to Christianity and joined Puritan communities.

primogeniture

Legal principle that the oldest son inherits all family property or land. Landowner's younger sons, forced to seek their fortunes elsewhere, pioneered early exploration and settlement of the Americas.

Clayton Act

Lengthened Sherman Anti-Trust Act's list of practices. Exempted labor unions from being called trusts, legalized strikes and peaceful picketing by labor union members

Underground Railroad

Informal network of volunteers that helped runaway slaves escape from the South and reach free-soil Canada. Seeking to halt the flow of runaway slaves to the North, Southern planters and congressmen pushed for a stronger fugitive slave law.

"Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion"

Insult used by Republican to insult Democrats, which ended up costing the New York Republicans in the elections since it demoralized the Irish Americans who were populous voters.

sewing machine

Invented by Elias Howe in 1846 and later perfected by Isaac Singer.

Cyrus McCormick

Irish-American inventor that developed the mechanical reaper. The reaper replaced scythes as the preferred method of cutting crops for harvest, and it was much more efficient and much quicker. The invention helped the agricultural growth of America.

Terence Powderly

Irish-American, leader of the Knites of Labor in 1885, won a number of strikes for 8-hour day, successful strike against Jay Gould's Wabash Railroad, increase in membership.

Neutrality Proclamation of 1793

Issued by George Washington, it proclaimed America's formal neutrality in the escalating conflict between England and France, a statement that enraged pro-French Jeffersonians.

Divorce Bill

It created the Independent Treasury thus "divorcing" the federal government from banking. It was written and passed after the Second bank of the United States expired in 1836.

mosquito fleet

It is the term used to describe the United States Navy's fleet of small gunboats, leading up to and during the War of 1812.

protective tariff

It was a tariff imposing 8% on the value of dutiable imports. It was passed by the first Congress. Revenue was the main goal. It was also designed to protect small industries just getting started. Hamilton wanted more protection for the well-to-do manufacturing groups. Congress still had agriculture and commercial interest dominating. This was part of Hamilton's economic plan to support the industrialists.

"large-state plan"

It was the plan purposed by Virginia to set up a bi-cameral congress based on population, giving the larger states an advantage. It was first written as a framework for the Constitution.

Pan-American Conference

James G. Blaine pushed his "Big Sister" policy, sought better relations with Latin America

James M. Cox

James Middleton Cox was the 46th and 48th Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative from Ohio and Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920

Albert Gallatin

Jefferson's Secretary of Treasury. "Watchdog of the Treasury", he agreed that a national debt was a curse rather than a blessing and managed to reduce the debt while balancing the budget.

Aaron Burr

Jefferson's first-term vice president who was dropped from the cabinet in Jefferson's second term. He joined with a group of Federalists to plot the secession of New England and New York, and he was responsible for Hamilton's death, "The world was wide enough, for both Hamilton and me."

Abigail Adams

John Adams wife, she wrote to him and famously said "Don't forget about the women"- start of women's rights.

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was the 30th President of the United States. A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state.

Tobacco

John Rolfe began planting this in Virginia. Many were willing to buy so growing it became very popular. This pressured the colonists to expand their territory because a lot of land is needed for growing this to grow large amounts and because it exhausted the soil. The need for land made Europeans move more inward away from the center of European settlement, which was going in to the native's land. It quickly became the most valuable crop. By 1616 it was profitless due to overproduction.

yellow press

Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, practice of journalism emerged in New York, journalism practiced with unethical, unprofessional standards

"Our Country"

Josiah Strong's book that proclaimed superiority of Anglo-Saxon civilization and argued that U.S. had obligation to spread superior way of life/civilization to Latin America and Asia

Herbert Hoover

Later elected president of the United States, this Quaker-humanitarian was the head of the Food Administration and attained an amazingly positive reputation all over the world for his help in feeding the hungry.

Espionage and Sedition acts

Law which punished people for aiding the enemy or refusing military duty during World War 1

General Incorporation Law

Laws first passed in New York in 1848 granting the right for businessmen to create corporations without applying for individual charters from the legislature.

"personal liberty laws"

Laws passed by Northern states forbidding the imprisonment of escaped slaves.

Marquis de Montcalm

Leader of French in Quebec who was defeated by English James Wolfe in 1759.

John C. Calhoun

Leader of the Fugitive Slave Law, which forced the cooperation of Northern states in returning escaped slaves to the south. He also argued on the floor of the Senate that slavery was needed in the south. He argued on the grounds that society is supposed to have an upper ruling class that enjoys the profit of a working lower class.

Eugene V. Debs

Leader of the Socialist Party; arrested for making a speech in Canton, Ohio for protesting the war, he was convicted

Sons of Liberty & Daughters of Liberty

Led by Sam Adams and John Hancock. They led mobs to harass English soldiers, tar and feathered loyalists and destroyed stamp offices. They even killed stamp collectors.

Battle of Chancellorsville

Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stuart hammered the Union army into submission and retreat at Spotsylvania, Virginia. But the cost was high for the South, Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men and died eight days after Lee's greatest success.

limited liability

Legal principle that facilitates capital investment by offering protection for individual investors, who, in cases of legal claims or bankruptcy, cannot be held responsible for more than the value of their individual shares.

"Exodusters"

Name given to African Americans who fled the Southern United States for Kansas in 1879 and 1880 because of racial oppression and rumors of the reinstitution of slavery.

Cajun

Name of the 1 million descendants (in Louisiana) of Acadians forced out of Nova Scotia by the British

Thomas Macdonough

Naval officer who forced the invading British army near Plattsburgh to retreat on September 11, 1814; he saved the upper New York from conquest.

Sacco and Vanzetti case

On April 15, 1920, two men robbed and murdered two employees of a shoe factory in Massachusetts, the two arrested were two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The two anarchists, or people who oppose all forms of government, both were found guilty by a judge and a jury on July 14, 1921, after 6 years of appeals, they were executed on August 23, 1927

Battle of Plattsburgh

On September 11, 1814, it became the most decisive engagement of the War of 1812, and it ended the final invasion of the northern states by the British during the War of 1812.

Sally Hemings

One of Jefferson's slaves who was rumored to be intimate with him.

Benedict Arnold

One of history's best-known traitors, he was a successful general from Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War -- until he switched sides and was caught trying to help the British in 1780.

Leland Stanford

One of the "Big Four" tycoons who reaped millions from his involvement in the Central Pacific railroad; was an ex-governor of California who used his political connections for dubious reasons.

Collis P. Huntington

One of the Big Four with Leland Stanford, he was involved in both railroads and shipping. He founded Newport News Shipping, the largest privately owned shipyard in the United States.

Oneida Community

One of the more radical Utopian communities established in the nineteenth century, it advocated "free love," birth control, and eugenics. Utopian communities reflected the reformist spirit of the age.

antifederalists

Opponents of the 1787 Constitution, they cast the document as antidemocratic, objected to the subordination of the states to the central government, and feared encroachment on individuals' liberties in the absence of a bill of rights.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Ordered the removal of Indian Tribes still residing east of the Mississippi to newly established Indian Territory west of Arkansas and Missouri. Tribes resisting eviction were forcibly removed by American forces, often after prolonged legal or military battles.

Judiciary Act of 1789

Organized the federal legal system, establishing the Supreme Court, federal district and circuit courts, and the office of the attorney general.

Thaddeus Stevens

Pennsylvania congressman who led the Radical Republican faction in the House of Representatives during and after the Civil War, advocating for abolition and later, the extension of civil rights to freed blacks. He also called for land redistribution as a means to break the power of the planter elite and provide African Americans with the economic means to sustain their newfound independence.

Gouverneur Morris

Pennsylvania representative at the Constitutional Convention; credited with authoring large sections of the Constitution, including the preamble, draftsman.

homesteaders

People who made temporary claims to a parcel of land in the ever expanding West and then settled on the land, building some sort of a house and working the land to thereby gain permanent claims to the land.

Meriwether Lewis

Personal secretary of Jefferson and partnered with William Clark to explore the Louisiana Purchase.

cult of domesticity

Pervasive nineteenth-century cultural creed that venerated the domestic role of women. It gave married women greater authority to shape home life but limited opportunities outside the domestic sphere.

Ballinger-Pinchot affair

Pinchot-Ballinger controversy, also known as the "Ballinger Affair", was a dispute between U.S. Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Richard A. Ballinger that contributed to the split of the Republican Party before the 1912 presidential election and helped to define the U.S. conservation movement in the early 20th century.

spoils system

Policy of rewarding political supporters with public office, first widely employed at the federal level by Andrew Jackson. The practice was widely abused by unscrupulous office seekers, but it also helped cement party loyalty in the emerging two-party system.

spoils system

Policy of rewarding political supporters with public office.

contraction

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

anarchists

Political belief that all organized, coercive government is wrong in principle, and that society should be organized solely on the basis of free cooperation.

Greenback Labor party

Political party devoted to improving the lives of laborers and raising inflation, reaching its high point in 1878 when it polled over a million votes and elected fourteen members of Congress.

Herbert Croly

Political theorist that argued that the government should use its regulatory and taxation powers to promote the welfare of its citizens

republicanism

Political theory of representative government, based on the principle of popular sovereignty, with a strong emphasis on liberty and civic virtue. Influential in eighteenth-century American political thought, it stood as an alternative to monarchical rule.

"politics is adjourned"

Politics is adjourned,'' Woodrow Wilson declared in 1918 as he first led Americans out of their isolationism

Burned-Over District

Popular name for Western New York, a region particularly swept up in the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening.

"pet" banks

Popular term for pro-Jackson state banks that received the bulk of federal deposits when Andrew Jackson moved to dismantle the Bank of the United States in 1833.

American Colonization Society

Reflecting the focus of early abolitionists on transporting freed blacks back to Africa, the organization established Liberia, a West-African settlement intended as a haven for emancipated slaves.

Daniel Webster

Premier orator and statesman, he served many years in both houses of Congress and also as secretary of state. Often regarded as presidential timber, he was somewhat handicapped by an overfondness for good food and drink and was frequently in financial difficulties. His devotion to the Union was inflexible. "One country, one constitution, and one destiny," he proclaimed in 1837. He expounded his Federalistic and nationalistic philosophy before the supreme bench.

Indian Territory

Present day Oklahoma; most of the five civilized tribes—the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles—sided with the Confederacy; some Indians owned slaves and thus felt themselves to me making common cause with the slave-owning south. Confederate government agreed to take over federal payments to the tribes and invited them to send delegates to the Confederacy congress, tribes supplied troops to the Confederate army.

Richard Olney

President Cleveland's "pugnacious" Secretary of State, waded into affair with Britain invoking the Monroe Doctrine, didn't stop there, haughtily informed the world's number one naval power that the U.S. started calling tune in Western Hemisphere

Nicholas Biddle

President of the Second Bank of the United States; he struggled to keep the bank functioning when President Jackson tried to destroy it.

William Henry Harrison

President, "Old Tippecanoe", Whig, considered as nothing more than an impressive figurehead by the real leaders of the Whig party (Daniel Webster and Henry Clay), Harrison died from pneumonia after only four weeks in office

Lord North

Prime Minister of England from 1770 to 1782. Although he repealed the Townshend Acts, he generally went along with King George III's repressive policies towards the colonies even though he personally considered them wrong.

Eugene V. Debs

the 1912 Socialist canidate for president who received 900,672 votes or more than twice as many as four years earlier

George Grenville

Prime minister who, in 1763, ordered the British navy to begin strictly enforcing the Navigation laws. He also secured from Parliament the Sugar Act of 1764, The Quartering Act, and the Stamp Act.

privateering

Privately owned armed ships specifically authorized by congress to prey on enemy shipping. There were over a thousand American privateers who responded to the call of patriotism and profit. The privateers brought in urgently needed gold, harassed the enemy, and raised American morale.

"higher law"

Promoted by William Seward and Republicans that no law can be enforced unless it includes universal fairness, divine laws.

Federalists

Proponents of the 1787 Constitution, they favored a strong national government, arguing that the checks and balances in the new Constitution would safeguard the people's liberties.

Tariff of 1842

Protective measure passed by Congressional Whigs, raising tariffs to pre-Compromise of 1833 rates.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Provided for the sale of land in the Old Northwest and earmarked the proceeds toward repaying the national debt.

Public Works Administration

Provided funding for numerous projects that created many jobs while improving the nation's infrastructure.

James J. Hill

Public-spirited railroad builder who assisted farmers in the northern areas served by his rail lines.

Underwood Tariff Bill

Pushed through Congress by Woodrow Wilson, this 1913 tariff reduced average tariff duties by almost 15% and established a graduated income tax

Thomas Reed

Republican Speaker of the House in 1888, he gained a reputation for an iron grip over Congress and kept Democrats in line.

Robert M. La Follette

Republican governor of Wisconsin, Wisconsin became a model of progressive reform, he attacked the way political parties ran their conventions, pressured the state legislature to pass a law requiring parties to hold a direct primary, this earned Wisconsin a reputation as the laboratory of democracy"

Mugwumps

Republican political activists who switched from the Republican party to the Democratic party for Grover Cleveland. They switched because they didn't like the financial corruption.

Benjamin Harrison

Republican, poor leader, introduced the McKinley Tariff and increased federal spending to a billion dollars.

Josiah Strong

Reverend, author of "Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis," inspired missionaries

Progressive Party

Revived political party that ran Robert La Follette in the Election of 1924, This group believed in a more pro-labor policy, especially in the supporting of economically downtrodden farmers, It received a fairly large percentage of votes for a third party

William Howard Taft

Roosevelt's handpicked successor. Taft was a Republican lawyer from Ohio and was associated with the "Old Guard" or very conservative politicians. He favored protective tariffs and trust regulation.

conservation

Roosevelt's most enduring tangible achievement; It was based on the up welling national mood of concern about the disappearance of the frontier; Progressive conservationists believed that nature must be neither uncritically reverenced nor wastefully exploited, but must instead be efficiently utilized

New Nationalism

Roosevelt's progressive political policy that favored heavy government intervention in order to assure social justice

Napoleon Bonaparte

Ruler of France, sold Louisiana to the Americans after receiving it from the Spanish. He deliberately provoked a war with Britain.

Kaiser Wilhehm the Second

Ruler of Germany; congratulated the Boers of South Africa for capturing a British raiding party; this turned British anger toward Germany and prevented a war between the US and Britain over the Venezuelan Crisis

Russo-Japanese War

Russia and Japan were fighting over Korea, Manchuria, etc. Began in 1904, but neither side could gain a clear advantage and win. Both sent reps to Portsmouth, NH where Roosevelt mediated the Treaty of New Hampshire in 1905. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, becoming the first president to do so.

Black Hawk

Sauk leader who in 1832 led Fox and Sauk warriors against the United States.

Navigation Acts

Series of laws passed, beginning in 1651, to regulate colonial shipping; the acts provided that only English ships would be allowed to trade in English and colonial ports, and that all goods destined for the colonies would first pass through England.

Draft Riots

Series of 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 Civil War.

panic of 1819

Severe financial crisis brought on primarily by the efforts of the Bank of the United States to curb overspeculation on western lands. It disproportionately affected the poorer classes, especially in the West, sowing the seeds of Jacksonian Democracy.

Susan B. Anthony

She was a lecturer for women's rights. She was a Quaker. Many conventions were held for the rights of women in the 1840s. She was a strong woman who believed that men and women were equal. She fought for her rights even though people objected. Her followers were called Suzy B's.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

She was a member of the women's right's movement in 1840. She was a mother of seven, and she shocked other feminists by advocating suffrage for women at the first Women's Right's Convention in Seneca, New York 1848. Stanton read a "Declaration of Sentiments" which declared "all men and women are created equal."

Abigail Adams

She was the wife of second president John Adams. She attempted to get rights for the "Ladies" from her husband who at the time was on the committee for designing the Declaration of Independence.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

She wrote the abolitionist book. It 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. In 1862, when she visited President Lincoln, legend claims that he greeted her: "So this is the little lady who made this big war?"

Panama Canal

Ship canal cut across the isthmus of Panama by United States Army engineers; it opened in 1915. It greatly shortened the sea voyage between the east and west coasts of North America. The United States turned the canal over to Panama on Jan 1, 2000.

Robert Gray

Ship captain who explored the Oregon territory in the late 1700's. Discovered the Columbia River in 1792. Named the river after his ship.

John Muir

Sierra Club Founder, worked with Roosevelt to create Yosemite National Park, preservationist, hoped that wild places could be left as they were

breakers

Slave drivers who employed the lash to brutally "break" the souls of strong-willed slaves.

Brain Trust

Small group of reform minded intellectuals, mainly young college professors, Considered much of the New Deal legislation and worked as a kitchen cabinet for Franklin Roosevelt

Margaret Fuller

Social reformer, leader in women's movement and a transcendentalist. Edited "The Dial" which was the publication of the transcendentalists. It appealed to people who wanted "perfect freedom" "progress in philosophy and theology and hope that the future will not always be as the past".

Nullifiers

South Carolina Party that wanted to nullify the tariff

Fort Sumter

South Carolina location where Confederate forces fired the first shots of the Civil War in April of 1861, after Union forces attempted to provision the fort.

"Redeemers"

Southern Democratic politicians who sought to wrest control from Republican regimes in the South after Reconstruction.

Redeemers

Southern Democratic politicians who sought to wrest control from Republican regimes in the South after Reconstruction.

"Hoovercrats"

Southern Democrats who turned against their party's "wet," Catholic nominee and voted for the Republicans in 1938.

Dupuy de Lome

Spanish ambassador to the United States, attacked McKinley's policies and regarded McKinley as an overall weak President, the letter this was written in contributed to the Spanish-American War

Maine

State where "Aroostook War" was fought over a disputed boundary with Canada.

Schechter case

Stated that congress could not delegate legislative powers to the executive. Also known as the sick chicken decision because of the involvement of a fowl business in New York

Gag Resolution

Strict rule passed by prosouthern Congressmen in 1836 to prohibit all discussion of slavery in the House of Representatives.

Marbury v. Madison 1803

Supreme Court case that established the principle of "judicial review" -- the idea that the Supreme Court had the final authority to determine constitutionality.

Jim Crow

System of racial segregation in the American South from the end of Reconstruction until the mid-twentieth century. Based on the concept of "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites, this system sought to prevent racial mixing in public, including restaurants, movie theaters, and public transportation. An informal system, it was generally perpetuated by custom, violence, and intimidation.

crop-lien system

System that allowed farmers to get more credit. They used harvested crops to pay back their loans.

factory system

System where goods were produced at a large level by unskilled workers using machinery.

excise tax

Tax on goods produced domestically. Excise taxes, particularly the 1791 tax on whiskey, were a highly controversial component of Alexander Hamilton's financial program.

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is an environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who became its first president

ABC Powers

The South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, which attempted to mediate a dispute between Mexico and the United States in 1914

U.S. Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres.

Women's Bureau

The United States Women's Bureau (WB) is an agency of the United States government within the United States Department of Labor.

Adlai E. Stevenson

The Vice President during Grover Cleveland's second term as President of the United States, he was looked down upon by many hard moneyists as a "soft-money" person who would support the expansion of the use of silver and the issuing of greenbacks

William Graham Sumner

The Yale professor of the late 1800s who concluded that millionaires are a product of natural selection; they get high wages and live in luxury.

trust-busting

The act of elimination trusts (groups of businesses working together) to ensure competition's prices are low.

Compromise of 1877

The agreement that finally resolved the 1876 election and officially ended Reconstruction. In exchange for the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, winning the presidency, Hayes agreed to withdraw the last of the federal troops from the former Confederate states. This deal effectively completed the southern return to white-only, Democratic-dominated electoral politics.

states' rights

The anti-federalists opposed the constitution because they thought it did not give enough power to the states. They believed that each state deserved certain rights that were not clearly defined in the constitution but were pertinent in democracy. Since these rights were not included in the original draft of the constitution there was a delay in the ratification process until the states were granted individual powers in an added clause.

martial law

The body of law imposed by the military over civilian affairs (usually in time of war or civil crisis).

Payne-Aldrich Tariff Bill

The compromise Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act had the effect of reducing tariff rates but also enacted a corporation tax. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act split the Republican party. ... One of the important events during his presidency was the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.

ratification

The confirmation or validation of an act (such as a constitution) by authoritative approval.

scabs

The derisive name given to strikebreakers, people who would be employed by the boss of a factory on strike.

conscription

The draft

James Gadsden

The man who negotiated the 1853 treaty which ceded part of the Mexican territory to the U.S. for $10 million.

Portsmouth Conference

The meeting between Japan, Russia, and the U.S. that ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the fighting between those two countries.

constitutional convention

The meeting of state delegates in 1787 in Philadelphia called to revise the Articles of Confederation. It instead designed a new plan of government, the US Constitution.

abolitionism

The militant effort to do away with slavery. It began in the north in the 1700's. Becoming a major issue in the 1830's, it dominated politics by the 1840's. Congress became a battle ground between the pro and anti slavery forces.

rugged individualism

The mindset of the early pioneers, these Americans would often be isolated from the rest of society and thus were ill-informed, superstitious, and provincial.

Sugarcane

The most lucrative crop to Caribbean colonies, it could also be distilled into rum, for which there was a booming market abroad. It was a labor-intensive crop.

domestic feminism

The name given to the changing ideology of women. With the decline in birth rate and the gradual move of the woman into the workplace, showed a new sense of purpose and individualism among the women of the time.

Bleeding Sumner

The name given to the incident in Congress when Preston S Brooks of South Carolina savagely beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts after Sumner had made a speech that spoke out against supporters of slavery in a derisive way. Sumner was repeatedly beaten on the head until the cane broke and thus suffered various neurological damages

Clermont

The name of Robert Fulton's first steamboat.

"swing around the circle"

The nickname for Andrew Johnson's series of political speeches in the Congressional campaign of 1866 to get support for his Reconstruction plan.

"Beecher's Bibles"

The nickname given to the deadly new Sharps rifles that the New England Emigrant Aid Company supplied its representatives with in Kansas to fight for the abolitionist cause.

Robert Fulton

The painter-engineer who constructed the first successful steamboat in 1807.

populism

The political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite.

interlocking direcorates

The practice of having executives or directors from one company serve on the Board of Directors of another company. J.P. Morgan introduced this practice to eliminate banking competition in the 1890s.

vertical integration

The practice perfected by Andrew Carnegie of controlling every step of the industrial production process in order to increase efficiency and limit competition.

horizontal integration

The practice perfected by John D. Rockefeller of dominating a particular phase of the production process in order to monopolize a market, often by forming trusts and alliances with competitors.

League of Nations

The precursor to the United Nations, this was a proposed union of the world powers after World War I; the brainchild of Wilson, who fought tooth-and-nail for its passage.

rendezvous system

The principal marketplace of the Northwest fur trade, which peaked in the 1820s and 1830s. Each summer, traders set up camps in the Rocky Mountains to exchange manufactured goods for beaver pelts.

self-determination

The principle of the Declaration of Independence, stating the right of a people to assert its own national identity or form of government with outside influence, which seemed in 1860 to apply to the South and top justify secession.

second Bank of the United States

This was chartered in 1816, much like its predecessor of 1791 but with more capital; it could not forbid state banks from issuing notes, but its size and power enabled it to compel the state banks to issue only sound notes or risk being forced out of business.

Union Pacific Railroad

The railroad company commissioned by Congress to build westward from Omaha, NE; eventually met the Central Pacific near Ogden, UT. Company was granted 20 square-miles of land for every mile of track built, also given large federal loans. Employed Irish labor gangs. Was involved in the Credit Mobilier scandal, when insiders reaped millions in profits.

"Ohio Idea"

The rich eastern delegates demanded a plank promising that federal war bonds be redeemed in gold, even though many of the bonds had been purchased in low-value greenbacks. The poorer Midwestern delegates answered with this, which called for redemption in greenbacks. This would help the indebted democrats keep more money in circulation and keep lower interest rates.

New South

The rise of a South after the Civil War which would no longer be dependent on now-outlawed slave labor or predominantly upon the raising of cotton, but rather a South which was also industrialized and part of a modern national economy.

Sir William Berkeley

The royal governor of Virginia. Adopted policies that favored large planters and neglected the needs of recent settlers in the 'backcountry.' His shortcomings led to Bacon's Rebellion.

Stephen Austin

The son of Moses Austin and also known as the "Father of Texas" he lead "the old 300" into Texas after his father died of pneumonia even though he did not want to. Granted land from Mexico on condition of no slaves, convert to Roman Catholic, and learn Spanish.

the "bloody shirt"

The symbol of Republican political tactic of attacking Democrats with reminders of the Civil War. It reminded the Democrats that the Republicans won the Union the Civil War.

plantation system

The system used in the south that allowed for the rich of the south to have many slaves, and kept the poor the same way. A class system that did not allow for momement between classes

"twisting the lion's tail"

The term given to firing verbal volleys at London or the British in an attempt to gain the sympathy of the Irish. Coming from their oppressed state, the Irish immigrants were not quick to forget their British tormentors and maintained an anti-British sentiment even during their time in the United States.

natural rights

The theory that people are born with certain "natural rights." Some say these rights are anything people do in the pursuit of liberty--as long as the rights of others are not impeded.

Fiscal Bank

The trying of creating the 3rd national bank with a fancy name. President Tyler vetoed it twice, he did not want another national bank.

John W. Davis

The unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1924, The wealthy, Wall-Street-connected man was no less conservative than his opponent, Calvin Coolidge

Abigail Adams

The wife of John Adams, she was also a prominent Patriot during the Revolution. As a woman, she was among the first to see that successful women involvement in the revolutionary efforts would lead to a changing in the status of women within society.

nullification

Theory promoted by John C. Calhoun and other South Carolinians that said states had the right to disregard federal laws to which they objected

Battle of Lexington and Concord

These battles initiated the Revolutionary War between the American colonists and the British. British governor Thomas Gage sent troops to Concord to stop the colonists who were loading arms. The next day, on April 19, 1775, the first shots were fired in Lexington, starting the war. The battles resulted in a British retreat to Boston.

People's Party (Populists)

They represented Westerners and Southerners who believed that U.S. economic policy inappropriately favored Eastern businessmen instead of the nation's farmers. Their proposals included nationalizing the railroads, creating a graduated income tax, and most significantly the unlimited coinage of silver.

"radical" regimes

They were military groups sent throughout the secessionist states after riots erupted over the Reconstruction in 1865.

Battle of Horseshoe Bend

This was fought during the War of 1812 in central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian allies under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Sticks, a part of the Creek Indian tribe inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, effectively ending the Creek War.

checks and balances

This "is the principle of government under which separate branches are employed to prevent actions by the other branches and are induced to share power." The framers of the constitution for the U.S. saw the policy of checks and balances necessary for the government to run smoothly. Third principle has prevented anyone branch from taking over the government and making all the decisions.

Russell Conwell

This 19th century preacher became rich by delivering his lecture "Acres of Diamonds." In it he said, "There is not a poor person in the U.S. who was not made poor by his own shortcomings."

"Lusitania

This British liner was sunk in 1915, by German U-Boats, causing Wilson to issue a stern warning to the Germans, telling them not to attack unarmed vessels "without warning"

Federal Reserve Act

This act created a central banking system, consisting of twelve regional banks governed by the Federal Reserve Board. It was an attempt to provide the United States with a sound yet flexible currency. The Board it created still plays a vital role in the American economy today.

Agricultural Adjustment Act

This act restricted agricultural production in the New Deal era 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.

Seven Years' War (French and Indian War)

This began with Washington's battle with French in Canada; England & Prussia vs. France, Spain, Austria, & Russia; ended in a British win because of Pitt = France out of Canada, Spain got Louisiana which British gained to Mississippi River

"The Promise of American Life"

This book by Herbert Croly contained many of the ideas that Roosevelt preached in his Bull Moose campaign, under his New Nationalism creed. "Hamiltonian means to achieve Jeffersonian ends"

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

This corporation became a government lending bank, It was designed to provide indirect assistance to insurance companies, banks, agricultural organizations, railroads, and even hard-pressed state and local governments, Under this plan, to preserve individualism, no loans were made to individuals, In the election of 1932, Hoover ran against FDR and this was part of Hoover's plan

isolationism

This deals with the Americans trying to separate themselves from foreign affairs. This takes place on North America and the oceans around it. Washington tries to separate the Americans from all British and foreign continents. Washington displays this in 1793 by the Proclamation of Neutrality and Washington' s Farewell Address in 1796.

rebate

This is a deduction from an amount to be paid, or money back. Rockefeller, oil king, employed spies to find the amount to be paid of railroads and forced the railroads to pay him it on the bills of his competitors.

antislavery

This is a movement to end slavery, whether formal or informal.

filibustering

This is an attempt to obstruct a particular decision from being taken by using up the time available, typically through an extremely long speech. This would prevent the "opposing" party to pass an unfavorable law and ultimately force a compromise.

pool

This is an informal agreement between a group of people or leaders of a company to keep their prices high and to keep competition low. The Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 made railroads publicly publish their prices and it outlawed the pool.

sovereignty

This is defined as supreme political power. When the Continental Congress in 1776 asked the colonies to draft new constitutions, it was asking them to become new states, whose sovereignty, according to republicanism, would rest on the peoples authority. Power in the peoples hands is the basis for democracy.

noncolonization

This is part of the Monroe Doctrine that was written in 1823. This said that America was closed to anymore colonization. A colonization attempt by anyone would be deemed a threat to the United States. It was created by the U.S. to protect the Western Hemisphere.

"positive good"

This is the idea that slavery was not, actually a "necessary evil," as Jefferson would describe it, but "a good-a positive good" institution for both blacks and whites in that whites get cheap manual labor and blacks benefit from the civilizing effect of being under the guidance of benevolent whites, and exposure to Christianity (John C. Calhoun's response).

impeachment

This is to accuse a public official of misconduct in office. The Jeffersonians were angry about a ruling made by Chief Justice John Marshall. The House of Representatives attempted to impeach the unpopular Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Chase. Although there were enough votes in the House of Representatives, the Senate did not have enough. Since this attempt in 1804, there has been no serious attempt to impeach members of the Supreme Court.

Dawes Plan

This loan program was crafted to give money to Germany so that they could pay war reparations and lessen the financial crisis in Europe; the program ended with the 1929 stock market crash

Union

This referred to the U.S. and specifically to the national government of President Abraham Lincoln and the 23 free states and 5 border states that supported it.

"bundle of compromises"

This referred to the fact that the Constitution was trying to please everybody.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

This settled the dispute over the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border between the United States and Canada as well as the location of the border in the westward frontier up to the Rocky Mountains. It called for a final end to the slave trade on the high seas, to be enforced by both signatories.

"Gospel of Wealth"

This was a book written by Carnegie that described the responsibility of the rich to be philanthropists. This softened the harshness of Social Darwinism as well as promoted the idea of philanthropy.

Miami Confederacy

This was an alliance of eight Indian nations who terrorized Americans invading their lands, they were lead by Little Turtle

"Johnny Reb"

This was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the Civil War.

Thomas Jefferson

Under the executive branch of the new constitution, he was the Secretary of State. When Alexander Hamilton wanted to create a new national bank, he adamantly spoke against it. He felt it would violate states rights by causing a huge competitor for the state banks, then causing a federal monopoly. His argument was that since the Constitution did not say Congress could create a bank they should not be given that power. This is the philosophy of strict construction. His beliefs led to the creation of the political party, Democratic Republicans. They believed in an extremely weak central government, no special privileges for special classes, especially manufacturers, and did not believe in letting every white male the ability to vote, only those intelligent enough to make wise decisions.

Oliver O. Howard

Union general known as the "Christian general" because he tried to base his policy decisions on his deep religious piety. He was given charge of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1865, with the mission of integrating the freed slaves into Southern society and politics during the second phase of the Reconstruction Era.

Monitor

Union ironclad ship that fought Merrimack. It fought a historic battle in 1862.

Congress of Industrial Organizations

Union organization of unskilled workers; broke away from the American Federation of Labor in 1935 and rejoined it in 1955.

Sojourner Truth

United States abolitionist and feminist who was freed from slavery and became a leading advocate of the abolition of slavery and for the rights of women.

Harriet Tubman

United States abolitionist born a slave on a plantation in Maryland and became a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad leading other slaves to freedom in the North.

Oliver Hazard Perry

United States commodore who led the fleet that defeated the British on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Said, "We have met the enemy and they are ours," which became the slogan of the American cause and gave it new life.

Jay Gould

United States financier who gained control of the Erie Canal and who caused a financial panic in 1869 when he attempted to corner the gold market.

Denmark Vesey

United States freed slave and insurrectionist in South Carolina who was involved in planning an uprising of slaves and was hanged.

Winfield Scott

United States general who was a hero of the War of 1812 and who defeated Santa Anna in the Mexican War.

Francis Scott Key

United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; wrote "The Star Spangled Banner"

William Jennings Bryan

United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)

Sam Houston

United States politician and military leader who fought to gain independence for Texas from Mexico and to make it a part of the United States.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

United States writer and leading exponent of transcendentalism.

Catharine Beecher

Urged women to enter the teaching profession. Was a noted educator, renowned for her forthright opinions on women's education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of a kindergarten into children's education.

Metacomet

Wampanoags Chief known to the English as King Philip. He led one of the last Native Americans battles against the colonist in New England in 1676.

Henry Clay

War Hawk; called "the Great Compromiser" because of his ability to get opposing sides to agree; Missouri Compromise; speaker of House from Kentucky, Secretary of State in Adams' administration after the 1824 election; created American System; Compromise of 1850.

Warren G. Harding

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1921, until his death in 1923

USS Constitution

Warship which defeated the British Warship Guerriere in 1812 -- called "Old Ironsides."

Barry St. Leger

Was a British officer in the American Revolutionary War. He led a British advance into New York's Mohawk Valley in the summer of 1777. Hoping to join the British army of General John Burgoyne at Albany, he was halted by American militia in Fort Stanwix. His forces were nearly destroyed while repelling an American relief unit at Oriskany, and the approach of additional American troops forced him to retreat to Canada.

National Woman's party

Was formed in 1916. A more militant approach to gaining votes by some women. Took to streets with mass pickets, parades, and hunger strikes. Their leader was Alice Paul.

Jay Cooke

Wealthy New York financier whose bank collapse in 1873 set off an economic depression.

pork-barrel bills

When Congress votes for an unnecessary building project so that a member can get more district popularity.

Eli Whitney

While in Georgia he was told that the South would make a lot of money if someone could invent a machine to separate the seed from cotton. In 1793, within ten days of being told this, he had constructed a rough machine fifty times more effective than the handpicking process.

peculiar institution

Widely used term for the institution of American slavery in the South. Its use in the first half of the 19th century reflected a growing division between the North, where slavery was gradually abolished, and the South, where slavery became increasingly entrenched.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Wife of FDR; one of the most active First Ladies, she supported the impoverished and oppressed and commanded enormous popularity and influence during FDR's presidency.

James Wilkinson

Wilkinson had been an officer in the Continental Army, and later held several positions relating to the Army, such as Secretary of the Board of War and Clothier General to the Army. He was one of the Commissioners appointed to receive the Purchase Louisiana from the French, and served as Governor of Louisiana from 1805-1806. He informed President Jefferson of Burr's conspiracy to take over Louisiana, and was the primary witness against Burr at his treason trial, even though Wilkinson was himself implicated in the plot.

William D. Haywood

William Dudley Haywood, better known as "Big Bill" Haywood, was a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of America

"Little Brown Brothers"

William Howard Taft's belittling term of endearment for his strong attachment to the Filipinos

U.S. vs. Wong Kim

With the Chinese Exclusion Act in effect, some exclusionists even tried to strip native-born Chinese-Americans of their citizenship, but this case in 1898 said that the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed citizenship to all persons born in the United States. This doctrine of "birthright citizenship" provided important protections to Chinese-Americans as well as to other immigrant communities.

Alice Paul

Woman's suffrage leader who helped form the National Woman's Party. Organized many walks and rallies.

New Freedom

Woodrow Wilson's domestic policy that promoted antitrust modification, tariff revision, and reform in banking and currency matters.

Allies

World War I alliance that included Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States and Italy. They opposed the Central Powers

James Fenimore Cooper

Writer who lived in New York. First novelist to gain world fame and make New World themes respectable.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Written by Federalist government; provided that anyone who impeded the policies of the government or falsely defamed its officials, including the president, would be liable to a heavy fine and imprisonment; used againt outspoken Jeffersonians; seemed to be in direct conflict with the Consitution (freedom of speech and press); Federalists intentionally wrote the law to expire in 1801 so that it could not be used against them if they lost the next election

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1853 that highly influenced England's view on the American Deep South and slavery. A novel promoting abolition. intensified sectional conflict.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. It's famed for its giant, ancient sequoia trees, and for Tunnel View, the iconic vista of towering Bridalveil Fall and the granite cliffs of El Capitan and Half Dome. In Yosemite Village are shops, restaurants, lodging, the Yosemite Museum and the Ansel Adams Gallery, with prints of the photographer's renowned black-and-white landscapes of the area.

Father Coughlin

a Catholic priest in Detroit, organized the National Union for Social Justice, which some Democrats feared would become a new political party

Tennessee Valley Authority

a New Deal project that produced visible benefits, built dams to control floods, conserve forest lands, and bring electricity to rural areas

Women's Trade Union League

a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women formed in 1903 to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions

Bernard Baruch

a Wall Street stockbroker appointed by President Wilson to run the War Industries Board

John T. Scopes

a biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee volunteered to be arrested for teaching evolution

minority president

a candidate who fails to win a majority of popular votes and yet wins the Presidency

Richard Ballinger

a conservative corporate lawyer, tried to make nearly a million acres of public forests and mineral reserves available for private development

spheres of influence

a country or area in which another country has power to affect developments although it has no formal authority

"Revolution of 1828"

running candidates for president were John Q. Adams and Andrew Jackson. There was an increased turnout of voters at this election. The large turnout proved that the common people now had the vote and the will to use it for their ends. The results of the election show that the political center of gravity was shifting away from the conservative seaboard East toward the emerging states across the mountains. The revolution was peaceful, achieved by ballots.

Henry Cabot Lodge

said Cuba layed "right athwart the line," which led to much-anticipated Panama Canal, claimed whoever controlled Cuba controlled the Gulf of Mexico, interpreted Darwinsim

Nelson W. Aldrich

senator of Rhode Island, tacked hundreds of upward tariff revisions onto the reductive tariff bill in 1909

William Randolph Hearst

sent gifted artist Frederic Remington to Cuba to draw sketches, allegedly with "you furnish pictures, I'll furnish the war," yellow journalism, publicized a private letter from Spanish minister, led to uproar, infuriated the American public

parity

set price for a product that gave it the same real value it had before in 1909

re-concentration camps

set up by Spanish military in Cuba during wars

boondoggling

several work relief programs under the control of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), it is a politically motivated, trivial, wasteful or impractical government project funded with the intent to gain political favor

"How the Other Half Lives"

shocked Americans with open portrayal of dirt,disease, vice, misery of New York slums, and Deeply influenced Theodore Roosevelt through the book

Kellogg-Briand Pact

signed on August 27, 1928, USA and 14 other nations signed, the pact hailed as a victory for peace, stated that all who signed agreed to abandon war and to settle all disputes by peaceful means

Pure Food and Drug Act

significant consumer protection laws enacted by Congress in the 20th century and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Its main purpose was to ban foreign and interstate traffic in adulterated or mislabeled food and drug products, and it directed the U.S. Bureau of Chemistry to inspect products and refer offenders to prosecutors.

"twisting the lion's tail"

slang term for a politician in America in the mid 1800s making negative remarks about the British to his Irish audiences

"No taxation without representation"

slogan used by Americans in response to George Grenville's theory of "virtual representation." Became a famous advertisement for revolution.

"dry and "wet" states (or countries)

some states and numerous counties passed "dry" laws, which controlled, restricted, or abolished alcohol;the big cities were generally "wet," (no control on the sale of alcohol) for they had a large immigrant vote accustomed in the Old Country to the free flow of wine and beer.;By 1914, nearly one-half of the population lived in "dry" territory, and nearly three-fourths of the total area had outlawed saloons

initiative

something that motivates a person into action

Democratic party

started by Andrew Jackson. Liberal, progressives, left libertarians.

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

stated that only the United States had the right to intervene in Latin American nations' affairs.

National Republicans

supporters of a strong central government who favored road building and supported the Bank of the United States to shape the nation's economy; many were farmers or merchants

Philippine insurrection

tension between U.S. troops and Filipinos eventually entered into war