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14th
Amendment
Constitutional amendment ratified in 1868 which defined a
dual citizenship and said national citizenship takes
precedence over state citizenship, said no state can deny
any person the rights to live, liberty, and property without
due process of law, and required states to give all persons
equal protection of the laws.
TERM 2
Compromise of 1877
DEFINITION 2 Agreement between Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans which brought an end to Reconstruction by allowing the election of Rutherford B. Hayes as President in return for the withdrawal of the remaining troops from the South, appointment of a former Confederate general to the Hayes cabinet, federal aid to bolster economic and railroad development in the South, and a free hand for Southerners in regard to race relations. TERM 3
Rural Myth
DEFINITION 3 The notion that the farmer and farm life symbolized the essence of America, that farmers were independent, self- sufficient, and non-materialistic, and that farm life was pleasant, peaceful, and satisfying. This was far from the truth in the Gilded Age as farmers lost influence politically and struggled to maintain solvency in an era dominated by industry. TERM 4
Dawes Severalty Act
DEFINITION 4
Legislation intended to destroy tribal bonds by
allotting tribal reservations in 160 acre plots to
individual members of tribes as private property with
the promise of ultimate citizenship. A good deal of
tribal land was thus made available for settlement by
white settlers.
TERM 5
Poll Tax
DEFINITION 5
A tax which had to be paid each year in order to
retain the right to vote. This tax was used to
disenfranchise poor blacks in the South.
Munn v. Illinois
Supreme Court decision in 1877 which upheld state laws regulating railroads and grain elevators within their boundaries. Having satisfied their major goal, and, as a result of the return to prosperity following the Depression of 1873, the Grangers became less active. However,the Court reversed this decision in theWabash Caseof 1886 by distinguishing between interstate and intrastate commerce and by arguing that property rights are a natural right (and therefore anterior to government) rather than societal rights, leading to the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act. TERM 7
Rebates
DEFINITION 7
Cheaper fares secretly given by the railroads to large
shippers in order to attract their business. Smaller
businesses had difficulty competing as a result,
leading to more consolidation in business.
TERM 8
Horizontal Integration
DEFINITION 8
Combinations of businesses in the same field in an
effort to monopolize one stage of production in an
industry. Such combinations were pioneered by John
D. Rockefeller, and resulted in the elimination of
many competitors.
TERM 9
Knights of Labor
DEFINITION 9 Labor organization founded in 1869 by Uriah Stephens which organized all workers on a geographic basis, proposed a cooperative system of production be established alongside the existing competitive system, and worked for a wide variety of other labor, political, and social reforms. The Knights faced problems because they worked for political reform and organized all workers, making it difficult for protests to succeed. TERM 10
Patronage
DEFINITION 10 The practice of office-holders rewarding supporters for their support during campaigns by appointing them to a job in the government. Public disgust at the patronage system led to Civil Service Reform with the Pendleton Act of 1883, although only about 10% of federal offices were originally covered and state and local patronage continued (and continues).
Open Door
Policy
U.S. China policy calling for equal trading rights for all nations and the territorial and administrative integrity of Chinadrafted by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and distributed to the other major powers in the form of two sets of diplomatic notes, one for equal trading rights in 1899 and one for the integrity of China in 1900.This remained the basis for U.S. policy toward China until World War II and caste the U.S. in the role of the protector of China. TERM 17
Black Codes
DEFINITION 17
Laws passed by Southern states following the Civil
War which extended limited rights to blacks and
attempted to control the actions of freedmen. As a
result, a second-class citizenship for freedmen was
created.
TERM 18
15th
Amendment
DEFINITION 18
Laws passed by Southern states following the Civil
War which extended limited rights to blacks and
attempted to control the actions of freedmen. As a
result, a second-class citizenship for freedmen was
created.
TERM 19
Debt Peonage
DEFINITION 19
A perpetual indebtedness tying the debtor to the land
which resulted from tenant farmers buying supplies
on credit based on future crops.
TERM 20
Homestead Act
DEFINITION 20 Act passed in 1862 which granted 160 acres of government land to any adult who lived on a claim for five years or who paid $1.25 an acre after six months of residence. This act was designed to encourage settlement of the West, but, in fact, the amount of land which could be homesteaded was too much to irrigate and to little to dry farm. In addition, the best lands were bought by speculators or controlled by railroads.
Jim Crow laws
Laws which segregated blacks from whites first in
public facilities and ultimately in all aspects of life
which were passed in the South beginning in the
1890s. These laws limited the rights of freedmen,
creating a second class citizenship.
TERM 22
Literacy Test
DEFINITION 22
A test which required citizens to read and interpret a
part of the state constitution in order to register to
vote which was used in the South to disenfranchise
blacks.
TERM 23
Pools
DEFINITION 23 Informal agreements between competitors to set uniform rates and divide markets, thereby cutting competition. These arrangements, pioneered by the railroads, were difficult to enforce and resulted in higher rates to small shippers and higher prices to the public. In addition, they were difficult to enforce, leading to more permanent and enforceable arrangements like trusts. TERM 24
New Immigrants
DEFINITION 24 Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who were primarily Jewish and Catholic in religion, non-English speaking, penniless, unskilled, and unfamiliar with democratic traditions, who came to the United States in large numbers after 1880. They provided much of the cheap, unskilled labor needed for industrialization. However, tensions resulted between native-born Americans and these immigrants, which resulted in demands for immigration reform. TERM 25
American Federation of Labor
DEFINITION 25 Federation of craft unions founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886 which organized skilled workers only and emphasized immediate, realizable "bread and butter" issues. The AFL was more successful than previous unions, but its refusal to organize unskilled workers, women, and minorities created an economic split between the skilled and the rest of the working class.
Yellow Press
Newspapers (such as William Randolph Hearst's New YorkJournaland Joseph Pulitzer's New YorkWorld) which printed sensational stories in order to increase their circulations and manipulate public opinion.By exaggerating incidents, using scare headlines, printing lurid details of private lives, emphasizing scandals, and especially by using the developments in Cuba prior to the Spanish- American War, these two papers aroused public opinion against Spain, contributing to the coming of the Spanish American War. TERM 32
13th
Amendment
DEFINITION 32 Constitutional amendment (ratified in 1865) which made slavery unconstitutional in the United States.This is significant because it shows that the objectives of the Civil War changed as the war proceeded so that by the end its goal was not simply to preserve the Union but to promote the nation's professed, but previously denied, ideals of liberty and equality for all. TERM 33
Carpetbagger
DEFINITION 33 Northerners (Republicans) who moved South after the Civil War for idealistic and materialistic purposes. They took over southern governments and were resented by southerners as a result. The term carpetbaggers came to represent the southern belief that these individuals were scoundrels and thieves, and also represented the hostility which existed between the North and South after the War. TERM 34
New
South
DEFINITION 34 The vision of a south which was modern, progressive, and self- sufficient advocated by Henry Grady and others beginning in the 1880s. They urged the South to abandon its dependence on cotton and industrialize and economically diversify.The South did diversify economically and grow industrially but such a relatively slow pace compared to the North in the late 19th century that it actually became more dependent on cotton. The New South also came to represent policies of small government which translated into few state prisons and no public schools and policies of racial segregation and disfranchisement. TERM 35
Plessy v. Ferguson
DEFINITION 35
Supreme Court decision in 1896 which paved the way
for legal segregation by declaring that "separate but
equal" facilities did not violate the equal protection
clause of the 14th Amendment.
Atlanta Compromise
Speech delivered by Booker T. Washington at the Atlanta Exposition of 1895 in which he renounced black interest in the vote, civil rights, and social equality with whites while proclaiming black loyalty to the economic development of the South. This was seen as a sell-out by Washington's critics such as W.E.B. Du Bois, but made him a major force in negotiating compromises and attracting white support for black institutions. TERM 37
Interstate Commerce Commission
DEFINITION 37 Regulatory commission established by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 which had the power to investigate and prosecute railroad corporations that charged unfair rates or engaged in illegal practices. Congress passed this measure after the Granger Laws were ruled unconstitutional in theWabash Case, and it was not strictly enforced in the remainder of the 19th century, resulting in calls for further reform. TERM 38
Southern Farmers Alliance
DEFINITION 38 Agricultural reform organization of the 1880s which called for measures to improve the quality of rural life, regulation of monopolies in the interests of farmers, and inflation of the currency. Ultimately frustrated with their inability to influence legislation, they merged with the other Farmers' Alliances, labor organizations, and Greenbackers to form the Populist Party. TERM 39
Vertical Integration
DEFINITION 39 One of two methods used in the late 19th century to gain control of an industry, vertical integration involved adding operations before or after the production process to control all phases of an industry from acquisition and transportation of raw materials to distribution of finished products.This method is significant because it shows how many of the great entrepreneurs of the late 19th century (as Andrew Carnegie) were organizers rather than technically expert in their product and how in the process of seeking to improve efficiency, increase sales, and insure profits, they built bigger and bigger operations which eliminated competition TERM 40
Horatio Alger
DEFINITION 40 Author of 119 novels which were based on the rags-to- riches myth. While Alger's goal was to inspire boys to work hard and success would be their reward, most of his heroes prospered as a result of luck as well as pluck. These novels convinced many that anyone could succeed fantastically with effort, although this was not typically the case.
