Chapter 8

Enforcement Acts

Reconstruction-era acts passed by Congress in 1870-1871 that outlawed the KKK and similar groups, made depriving people of their civil and political rights a federal offense, and allowed presidents to impose martial law in the event of an insurrection.

Southern Insurgencies

Reconstruction-era attempts by southern white conservative groups to use intimidation and terror to remove the Republican state governments formed during Congressional Reconstruction and replace them with Democratic ones.

Redemption

Reconstruction-era attempts by white southern conservative groups to install conservative Democratic state governments and re-institute white supremacy, thus redeeming the south and ostensibly saving the southern states from the horrors of "Black" Republican rule.

White Leagues

Reconstruction-era groups of conservative whites who in 1874 openly threatened, bullied, and attacked local Republican officials and their supporters, often better armed than official militia.

White Liners

conservative paramilitary organizations in the Reconstruction-era south.

buffalo soldiers

African American soldiers in the U.S. Army led by white officers. Originally established as the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry Regiments and the Twenty Fourth and Twenty Fifth Infantry Regiments in 1866, their service was crucial during the western Indian wars, particularly on the southern plains and southwest.

USS Maine

American battleship sunk on February 15, 1898, in Havana Harbor, an event that helped to precipitate the Spanish-American War.

Bureau of Indian Affairs

the U.S. government organization that administers Indian reservations.

Sand Creek Massacre

the attack of a peaceful Indian village by Colorado militia on November 29, 1864, resulting in about 150-200 slaughtered men, women, and children.

George Crook

(1828-1890), a U.S. Army general during the Indian Wars of the Pacific Northwest in the 1860-1870s. Crook is known for his use of pack mules instead of horses to carry provisions over difficult terrain, utilizing Indian allies as trackers and to augment his regulars, and aggressively pursuing hostile Indian bands.

Geronimo

(1829-1909), an Apache mystic who led warrior bands in the American southwest and Mexico during the Apache Wars. His surrender to American forces in September 1886 led to the end of the Apache Wars and native resistance to U.S. authority in the region.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

(1840-1914), considered by many to be one of the most influential American strategists, the so-called "prophet of American navalism." Mahan's book published in 1890, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783, advocated American control of the sea through a large navy, and overseas bases in order to dominate international sea lanes and foster a strong economy.

Emilio Aguinaldo

(1869-1964), a Filipino revolutionary who led a rebellion against Spain and worked with the United States in the Spanish-American War to defeat the Spanish. Aguinaldo led resistance forces during the Philippine-American War until his capture in March 1901.

Military Reconstruction Acts

1867 laws passed during Radical Reconstruction that essentially allowed for Federal military occupation of southern states, placing the 10 unreconstructed states into five military districts with an army generals exercising authority over state governments in their districts.

Modoc War

a Pacific Northwest conflict beginning in 1872, triggered when a band of disgruntled Modoc Indians, unhappy with their reservation, attempted to return to their homelands on the California-Oregon border. A series of clashes between the Modoc, white settlers, and U.S. Army troops finally ended in June 1873.

Nez Perce War

a Pacific Northwest conflict beginning in 1877 stemming from the refusal of a band of Nez Perce Native Americans to move onto reservations. Federal cavalry pursuit of an obstinate band of Nez Perce for three-and-a-half months resulted in a nearly 1,700 mile chase until Chef Joseph and 400 of his people surrendered with another 300 escaping into Canada, at a cost of 100 men, women, and children during the war.

Freedmen's Bureau

a Reconstruction-era organization set up by the U.S. government in 1865 to protect the rights of former slaves by providing them legal services, education, jobs, and landownership.

Mississippi Plan

a Reconstruction-era program of intimidation by conservative paramilitaries in Mississippi, so-called "White Liners." In 1875, White Liners used violence and threats against Republican meetings and speakers in an attempt to take back political control from the Republican government.

Grant's Peace Policy

a U.S. government policy announced in 1869 that attempted to assimilate Native Americans in the west. The plan placed Indian groups on reservations where they would receive protection while humanitarian and religious groups would provide education and Christian instruction.

Philippine-American War

a conflict between Filipino revolutionaries and the United States from June 1899 to July 1902. For the first year, the war remained a conventional conflict, but in 1900 it transformed into guerrilla warfare and U.S. counterinsurgency operations that utilized punitive measures.

Red Cloud's War

a conflict between Native American groups, most notably Lakota and Cheyenne bands. Red Cloud, the most prominent of the hostile Lakota chiefs, led attacks against civilian routes to Montana gold mines and against U.S. Army soldiers in 1866 until the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie ended the conflict.

Compromise of 1877

a deal made between the Democratic and Republican parties in order to resolve the disputed 1876 presidential election. Democrats allowed Republican Rutherford B. Hayes to assume the presidency in exchange for the withdrawal of Federal troops from the only southern states still to have Republican governments and army garrisons, thus ending Reconstruction.

Presidential Reconstruction

a moderate form of Reconstruction - the period after the Civil War when ex-Confederate states were permitted back into the Union - from 1865 to 1867, supported by President Abraham Lincoln and his successor, Andrew Johnson; concerned with speedily restoring the Union, regardless of protections for African Americans.

Battle of Manila Bay

a naval battle on the morning of May 1, 1898, during the Spanish-American War in the Philippines. U.S. Navy Commodore George Dewey's Asiatic Squadron destroyed Spanish vessels commanded by Patricio Montojo, eliminating Spain's naval power in the Pacific and making Dewey a hero in the United States.

Congressional Reconstruction

a radical form of Reconstruction following the Civil War from 1867 to 1870. Also known as Military Reconstruction, ex-Confederate states had to meet stricter criteria than Presidential Reconstruction for re-entry into the Union, and the Military Reconstruction Acts allowed for the Federal occupation of southern states until each state met Congress' requirements.

Apache Wars

a series of continual hostilities between the Chiricahua Apaches in the Arizona Territory, white settlers, and U.S. soldiers after the Civil War. Native raids throughout the 1860s and 1870s led to increased U.S. Army operations against the Indians across the American southwest, including Mexico. The last stage of the wars began in 1881 and culminated with the September 1886 capture of Geronimo, ending native resistance to U.S. authority in the region.

Red Shirts

a well-organized conservative white band in South Carolina during Reconstruction who employed intimidation and fraud to help secure a Democratic victory in the 1876 election.

General Orders 100

also known as the Lieber Code, originally issued to Union armies during the Civil War but also invoked during the Philippine-American War, the U.S. government directive dictated lawful treatment of prisoners and civilians during war.

Red River War

an 1874 conflict in the American Great Plains resulting from Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne warrior bands leaving Indian territory to ravage settlements and travelers in Texas and Kansas. Philip Sheridan led U.S. Army troops in numerous battles against belligerent natives until defeated bands drifted back to the reservations.

Great Sioux War

an 1876-1877 conflict on the northern plains between Lakota peoples led by Sitting Bull with his Cheyenne allies and U.S. military forces. Clashes over forced relocation led to the Battle of the Rosebud and Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Spanish-American War

an April-August, 1898 war between the United States and Spain. Fought in two theaters, the Caribbean and Pacific, conflict resulted from an American desire to see Spanish withdrawal from Cuba, and that colony's independence. Fighting did not last long in either Cuba or the Spanish holdings in the Philippines, though it revealed fractures in the U.S. military and its ability to mobilize. The end of hostilities marked the first pieces of an overseas American empire.

Battle of the Washita

an assault against a Cheyenne village by Lieutenant Colonel George Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment in present-day western Oklahoma. As part of Philip Sheridan's campaign against the winter camps of belligerent bands, Custer attacked the camp of Black Kettle, killing the chief and nearly 100 of his people while capturing about 50 women and children.

Battle of Rosebud

an attack by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors against George Crook's U.S. Army troops during the Great Sioux War on June 17, 1876, in present-day southern Montana.

Samar and Batangas

an eastern island of the Philippines and a province on Luzon, respectively, they were the sight of punitive campaigns launched by the Americans that used coercive measures Filipino resistance during the Philippine-American War.

Battle of Little Big Horn

an engagement during the Great Sioux War between U.S. Army cavalry and bands of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors in present-day southern Montana. Lasting from June 25-26, 1876, the battle is best known for George Armstrong Custer's "last stand," claiming the lives of Custer and all of his men.

1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty

an ultimately failed treaty that sought to confine natives on the southern plains to reservations, namely the Kiowa, Comanche, Kiowa Apache, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe peoples. Relinquishing claims to their lands, these Indian groups agreed to move to designated areas in Indian Territory north of the Red River and to remain peaceable toward white settlers.

Colfax Massacre

one of the bloodiest events of the Reconstruction period, occurring in Louisiana in April 1873. Confusing election results led to African American men gathering in Colfax to protect Republican officials from a potential attack. Hundreds of alarmed whites confronted the group and a battle ensued with up to 100 black men dying.

Memphis and New Orleans Race Riots

riots in May and July 1866, respectively. While the violence in Memphis was a spontaneous release of social tensions due to a growing black population, the New Orleans riot was political, with the disruption of a convention who sought to expand black rights.

Battle of Santiago

the culminating actions in the Caribbean theater during the Spanish-American War. The land battle began on July 1, 1898, and the sea battle that destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Caribbean followed two days later, virtually securing American victory in the war and eventually leading to a negotiated settlement.

Battle of Manila

the final large military engagement of the Spanish-American War in the Pacific theater. Though U.S. forces worked with Filipino resistance fighters to assault the Spanish-held city of Manila, a secret arrangement between the Americans and Spain meant that the Spanish handed the city over to the Americans on August 13, 1898, not the Filipinos.

Fetterman Massacre

the killing of 80 U.S. Army soldiers on December 21, 1866, by 1,500 Native American warriors in northern Wyoming during Red Cloud's War.

Battle of Wounded Knee

the last engagement of the Indian Wars. Taking place on December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, a botched attempt to disarm a group of Lakota warriors ended in fighting that killed 150 Lakota men, women, and children and 25 U.S. soldiers.

Treaty of Paris

the negotiated settlement of the Spanish-American War, signed on December 10, 1898.

Balangiga

the sight in the Philippines of a Filipino surprise attack in September 1901 by rebels and villagers on a company of U.S. soldiers, killing or wounding almost all of the 78 Americans. The U.S. Army used harsh punitive measures in retaliation, chasing rebels, destroying crops, livestock, and homes.

National Guard

the volunteer state militias of the United States. Though the American military had long been founded on the idea militias, it was not until the 1870s that state militias began to label them National Guard, and by 1898 these units constituted the reserves to the Regular Army but remained state-controlled. Throughout the late 1800s, the National Guard dealt with labor unrest and prevented race-related violence.

1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie

treaty between the United States government and Indian groups in the Wyoming Territory. It gave the native peoples the Great Sioux Reservation, all of present-day South Dakota west of the Missouri River, in exchange for continued peace with white settlers. While it calmed the northern plains for a few years, lack of agreement between signatories and continued white expansion incited Indian resistance, compromising the peace.

Ku Klux Klan

white supremacist group originally formed in 1866 as a social club for Confederate veterans. In response to Congressional Reconstruction in 1867, many members became terrorists, harnessing violence to achieve political goals. Lashing out against Republican leaders of both races and Reconstruction proponents in the south, KKK members attempted to frighten the black population into submission and drive away their white allies.