US History Unit 4 Vocab

Eugenic Packet Reading

1927 VA pass law legalizing sterilization of feeble minded, imbeciles and socially inadequate. Buck v. Bell is example=Carrie Buck (was in institution as "feeble-minded moral delinquent") sterilized b/c her mother, herself and daughter (who was birthed after Buck was assaulted) were ruled by VA court as "mental defectives" through study by Albert Priddy of 3 generations, facts are controversial/proven not true Eugenics=the science of human improvement through controlled breeding, increase frequency of desirable traits. Sterilize those w/ undesirable traits. Eugenics began in US in 1902. Eugenic schemes included immigration restriction, laws against interracial marriage and sterilization of those considered "defective". Nazis influenced by American eugenics, still used today w/ livestock. Growing emphasis on genetics/genetic "improvements" in science so eugenics and concerns coming back in modern ways. Eugenics restricts freedom of choice by telling people whether or not they can have children.

CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT

A United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882. It was one of the most significant restrictions on free immigration in US history, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. The act was initially intended to last for 10 years, but was renewed in 1892 and made permanent in 1902. This was the first law implemented to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States.

OZAWA V. THE UNITED STATES

A case (1922) in which the United States Supreme Court found Takao Ozawa, a Japanese-American who was born in Japan but had lived in the United States for 20 years, ineligible for naturalization because he was not Caucasian so he was not white. In 1915, Takao Ozawa filed for United States citizenship under the Naturalization Act of 1906 which allowed only "free white persons" and "persons of African nativity or persons of African descent" to naturalize. Ozawa did not challenge the constitutionality of the racial restrictions. Instead, he claimed that Japanese people were properly classified as "free white persons". Ozawa said he was American at heart and took on American lifestyle. This case showed the subjectivity of citizenship as the court got to determine who was "white" enough.

THIND V. THE UNITED STATES

A case in which the United States Supreme Court unanimously decided that Bhagat Singh Thind, an Indian Sikh man who identified himself as a "high caste Hindu, of full Indian blood," was racially ineligible for naturalized citizenship in the United States. Thind argued that as a he was south Asian so that means he's Caucasian and he could prove it scientifically (descent). Because high-caste Hindus shared a biological ancestor with Europeans, he claimed, they were "free white persons" qualified for naturalization under the United States naturalization act. The court said Thind was not Caucasian in the "common understanding", so he could not be included in the "statutory category as white persons". The Court reiterated its holding in [Ozawa v. United States], explaining that the words "free white person" in the naturalization act were "synonymous with the word 'Caucasian' only as that word is popularly understood. The court said there is no way to scientifically prove one was white (through ancestry) as Thind tried to do, white is subjectively understood and defined by how it is seen popularly (Court has no specific definition of "white"). The court said he may be Caucasian but not white.

"TWO SOULS OF BLACK FOLKS"

A classic work of American literature by W. E. B. DuBois (1903). It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, and a cornerstone of African-American literary history. DuBois explains the meaning of the emancipation, and its effect, and his views on the role of the leaders of his race. DuBois proposes that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line." His concepts of life behind the veil of race and the resulting "double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others," have become touchstones for thinking about race in America.

CIVIL RIGHTS CASES

A group of five similar cases consolidated into one issue for the United States Supreme Court to review. The Court held that Congress lacked the constitutional authority under the enforcement provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to outlaw racial discrimination by private individuals and organizations, rather than state and local governments. More particularly, the Court held that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 (which gave blacks freedom/rights) was unconstitutional.

PLESSY V. FERGUSON

A landmark United States Supreme Court decision in 1896 upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1 with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the dissent written by Justice John Marshall Harlan. "Separate but equal" remained standard doctrine in U.S. law until its repudiation in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education.

MOORE V. DEMPSEY

A major legal victory for the NAACP in 1923. The case involved twelve black farmers in Arkansas who were sentenced to death for allegedly killing whites during a riot. The all-white jury debated the charges less than eight minutes per man; each defendant was found guilty. For Walter White of the NAACP, the case was far from closed. White traveled to Arkansas posing as a newspaper reporter and then traveling to Phillips County, the scene of the massacre. White publicized his findings (the black men did not kill the whites) and the NAACP hired local white and black lawyers to appeal the death sentence. Attorneys argued that the presence of the mob outside the court during the trial made it impossible for the defendants to have a fair trial. On February 19, 1923, the Supreme Court agreed. In a landmark decision that became a major step in defending the rights of black defendants, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote: "If the whole case is a mask -- that counsel, jury and judge were swept to the fatal end by an irresistible tide of public passion, and the state courts refuse to correct the wrong, then nothing can prevent this court from securing to the petitioners their constitutional rights." The case was sent back to the lower courts and Arkansas finally freed all 12 men.

GHOST DANCE

A religious movement incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. Proper practice of the dance would reunite the living with spirits of the dead, bring the spirits of the dead to fight on their behalf, make the white colonists leave, and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to native peoples throughout the region.

"TALENTED TENTH"

A term that designated a leadership class of African Americans in the early 20th century. The term was created by Northern philanthropists, then publicized by W. E. B. DuBois. DuBois used the term to describe the likelihood of one in 10 black men becoming leaders of their race in the world, through methods such as continuing their education, writing books, or becoming directly involved in social change. He strongly believed that blacks needed a classical education to be able to reach their full potential, rather than the industrial education promoted by the Atlanta compromise which was endorsed by Booker T. Washington. DuBois believed these intelligent black men could teach others how to be successful in America.

DAWES ACT

Adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship. The stated objective of the Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into mainstream American society. Individual ownership of land on the European-American model was seen as an essential step. The act also provided what the government would classify as "excess" Indian reservation lands remaining after allotments, and sell those lands on the open market, allowing purchase and settlement by non-Native Americans.

Contemporary Native America Reading

Americans do not understand Indians because American's and Indian's values are so different. Many Indians (Pine Ridge) are stuck in poverty because Indians lack opportunities to succeed. Indians (Sioux) have wrongfully lost their ancestral land because Americans have violated treaties. Economic needs of tribes are colliding with tradition because in order to stimulate the economy, Indians must damage the Earth. The Southern Ute tribe has become a force in the West's energy boom because of the tribe's resources in their land. The Siletz tribe has been successful because the tribe got a second chance. Tribes are entering a new prosperous era because tribes have modernized aspects of their society. Indian colleges have not reached their full potential because the colleges lack resources to succeed.

What Americans Don't Know About Indians Reading

Americans do not understand Indians because Americans are ignorant to the matters of Native Americans. The media does not cover stories of NA b/c Indians live in rural areas away from media, Indians are seen as thing of the past that doesn't have anything to do with Americans today, Americans feel guilty discussing Indians, American don't understand Indian values. Leads to "formula stories"--(1) Noble savage, (2) Indian as guru, (3) Indians are always fighting each other over disputed land, (4) Indians stand in the way of development, (5) rich Indian--which are inaccurate, stereotypical stories about Indians coming from a lack of knowledge about Indians.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

An African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. In 1895 his Atlanta compromise called for avoiding confrontation over segregation and instead putting more reliance on long-term educational and economic advancement in the black community.

IDA B. WELLS

An African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, and an early leader in the civil rights movement. She documented lynching in the United States, showing that it was often used as a way to control or punish blacks who competed with whites, rather than being based used to punish blacks who committed crimes as whites usually claimed.

ATLANTA COMPROMISE

An agreement struck in 1895 between Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee Institute, and other African-American leaders, and Southern white leaders. It was opposed by W. E. B. DuBois and other African-American leaders. The agreement was that Southern blacks would work meekly and submit to white political rule, while Southern whites guaranteed that blacks would receive basic education and due process in law. Blacks would not agitate for equality, integration, or justice, and Northern whites would fund black educational charities

SAND CREEK MASSACRE

An atrocity in the American Indian Wars that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 700-man force of Colorado Territory militia (led by John Chivington) attacked and destroyed a peaceful village of Cheyenne and Arapaho in southeastern Colorado Territory, killing and mutilating an estimated 500 Indians, about two-thirds of whom were women and children

LYNCHING

An extrajudicial punishment by an informal group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob, often by hanging, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate a minority group. It took place most frequently against African-American men (sometimes against whites, Jews, immigrants) in the southern U.S. after the American Civil War and the emancipation of all slaves, and particularly from 1890 to the 1920s, with a peak in 1892.

POLL TAXES

Enacted in Southern states between 1889 and 1910 had the effect of disenfranchising many blacks (as well as poor whites), because payment of the tax was a prerequisite for voting. Blacks could not afford the tax and therefore, not vote.

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION LEAGUE

Founded in 1894 by lawyer Charles Warren, climatologist Robert DeCourcy Ward, and attorney Prescott F. Hall, three Harvard alumni who believed that immigrants from southern and eastern Europe were racially inferior to Anglo-Saxons, threatening what they saw as the American way of life and the high wage scale. They worried about immigrants bringing in poverty and organized crime at a time of high unemployment. They used books, pamphlets, meetings, and numerous newspaper and journal articles to disseminate information and sound the alarm about the dangers of the new immigration. They also started to employ lobbyists in Washington after the turn of the century and build a broad anti-immigrant coalition consisting of patriotic societies, farmers' associations, Southern and New England legislators, and eugenicists who supported the League's goals.

WALTER WHITE

He was a very light skinned African-American who, as a member of the NAACP, investigated lynchings and worked to end segregation. He was able to attend lynchings as he passed for a white person and then, he and the NAACP published information about the atrocities that he learned of. On one occasion in 1919, the fact that he was in fact an African American was discovered. Tipped off to the danger, he quickly fled town to avoid being attacked himself.

"NEW IMMIGRATION"

Immigration from 1870-1920 where people were coming to the US from different parts of Europe, specifically eastern and southern Europe. These people were darker skinned and poorer. They were Catholic, Jewish and Eastern Orthodox. Some were political radicals. They spoke different languages and were therefore deemed unintelligent. These immigrants were seen as inferior because they were not WASPs. Americans didn't like them because they would lead to a "mongrel" race, they took American jobs, brought a wave of crime, they brought unskilled/cheap labor and they weakened democracy.

The Challenge to Jim Crow Reading

Many different methods of combat to Jim Crow: Ida B. Wells=discovered real reason behind lynching was white fear of blacks (not that blacks were criminals), wrote pamphlets to spread word about this Booker T. Washington=blacks are not worthy of freedom yet, should not fight/agitate Jim Crow (accept subordination), instead focus on developing industrial education in order to make blacks successful economically W.E.B DuBois= blacks must resist Jim Crow, agitation was only effective strategy against racism, educate "talented tenth" so they can lead other blacks NAACP=challenge Jim Crow in courts, try to win cases in favor of blacks (try to free blacks), write newspaper to raise awareness Walter White=investigate lynchings, publish findings w/ NAACP, bring awareness to atrocities/change opinions, want anti-lynching law passed Marcus Garvey=self-help and unity among blacks, blacks join together and encourage blacks to return to Africa (published in newspaper)

WOUNDED KNEE

On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under Big Foot, a Lakota Sioux chief, near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it's unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in which it's estimated 150 Indians were killed (some historians put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and children. The cavalry lost 25 men.

JIM CROW

Racial segregation state and local laws enacted after the Reconstruction period in Southern United States that continued in force until 1965 mandating racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern U.S. states (of the former Confederacy), starting in 1890 with a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. Conditions for African Americans were consistently inferior and underfunded compared to those provided for white Americans. This decision institutionalized a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.

LITERACY TESTS

Refers to state government practices of administering tests to prospective voters purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote. In practice, these tests were intended to disenfranchise African-Americans (b/c not educated, so won't pass test and then can't vote)

A Path to Citizenship Reading

Supporters of path to c-ship: Illegal immigrants are crucial to economic and moral health of US, do hard labor Americans refuse to do, make goods cheaper, willing to pay taxes, put money they earn back into US economy by buying goods, right thing to do Opponents of path to c-ship: Should not reward those coming across illegally, no amnesty, illegal immigrants receive more in government benefits than they pay in taxes so taking money from government, must deport illegal immigrants, only lead to more illegal immigrants, unfair to those who are still waiting for c-ship legally, should focus on enforcing existing immigration laws, drain US resources America has a history of restricting immigration (i.e. Chinese Exclusion Act, quota system, Gentleman's Agreement). Now (Bush/Obama), America is beginning to try to work with illegal immigrants already in US. Some argue need to strengthen border first, then let illegal immigrants in US get c-ship (Senate/Rubio). Immigration reform in the US is a divisive issue.

The Rise of Jim Crow Reading

The Jim Crow era was the lowest point in America history because black expectations of freedom were unfulfilled.

NATIVISM

The political position of demanding a favored status for certain established inhabitants of a nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It typically means opposition to immigration, and support of efforts to lower the political or legal status of specific ethnic or cultural groups who are considered hostile or alien to the natural culture, upon the assumption that they cannot be assimilated.

W.E.B. DUBOIS

an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author and editor. He graduated from Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate, he became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. He was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. He wanted equal rights for blacks opposed the Atlanta Compromise. Instead, he insisted on full civil rights and increased political representation, which he believed would be brought about by the African-American intellectual elite. He referred to this group as the Talented Tenth and believed that African Americans needed the chances for advanced education to develop its leadership. He strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination in education and employment. He believed agitation was the only way to stop racism (unlike Booker T. Washington)