Unit 6 – History Answers – Flashcards
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W.E.B. DuBois
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An African-American leader in this time period who helped to found the NAACP in 1909. He edited the NAACP's journal The Crisis. He advocated active resistance to segregation, as opposed to other African-Americans' strategy of accommodation.
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Booker T. Washington
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A leading African-American from this time period. A very intelligent man, he helped to build the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. This served as a major training school for African-Americans. He did not actively work against segregation; instead, he looked to build up separate African-American institutions and economy so they could be self-sufficient.
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The Slaughterhouse Case
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In 1873, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment (all laws must be applied equally to all citizens) applied only to federal citizenship. This allowed separate states to restrict the rights of state citizenship. This was important because most that that affected everyday life were governed by state citizenship, such as education, employment, and residency concerns.
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The Civil Rights Cases of 1883
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In 1883, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment did not apply to individual behavior (such as discrimination), only state power. This allowed segregation (or out-and-out exclusion) to go on in private business - for instance, a hotel not allowing blacks to stay or a restaurant refusing service to a black.
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Plessy v. Ferguson
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In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation laws were legal, provided "separate but equal" facilities were established. This formally established the legality of segregation (a.k.a., 'Jim Crow' laws) throughout the U.S. This included the North, as well as the South, even though the extent and thoroughness of segregation was most clearly seen in the South. The truth of the segregation was separation; the equality was very rarely in place. This ruling kept segregation alive well into the 20th century. It was finally overturned in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education.
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Name three Supreme Court cases in this time period that dealt with racial laws in the South and state briefly the major result of each case.
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• The Slaughterhouse Case • The Civil Rights Cases of 1883 • Plessy v. Ferguson
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In what year was the Plessy v Ferguson ruling?
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1896
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Jim Crow laws
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The slang name given to refer to the drastic laws of segregation in the South that were established in this time period. The foundation of these laws was a racist view of African-Americans, seeing them as a threat to the virtue of white Americans or to economic well-being of whites.
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During this time period, what did the whites moving into the western states use the land for?
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• Mines (especially gold in CA (1848-49), CO & NV (1858), MT & WY (1860s), ND & SD (1870s) • Cattle ranching • Sheep herding • Individual family farms
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In what ways were U.S. actions in the late 19th century toward the West imperialist?
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• The West was ruled politically by the East • Raw materials were sent from the West to the East • Finished goods and settlers came from the East to the West • The military was used to dominate the land and kill or remove the native inhabitants
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Homestead Act
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A law passed by Congress in 1862 to support the population of the western states. People could move to these new states and stake a claim for 160 acres for free. If they stayed on the land and improved it (built farm houses, kept fields, etc) for five straight years, they got to own the land. The conditions were so difficult, however, that many of the original settlers were unable to fulfill this provision.
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When was the massacre at Wounded Knee?
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1890
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Battle of the Little Bighorn
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In 1876, George Custer led a cavalry unit against the Sioux Indians camped along the Little Bighorn River. This encampment was one of the largest gatherings ever of Indians on the Upper Plains. They surprised Custer in their number and completely destroyed most of his detachment. This was the greatest Native American victory in the Plains Wars, and it came as a great shock to the U.S. in its centennial celebration. This actually worked against the Natives, though, since it led to redoubled efforts of the U.S. to move the remaining Natives onto reservations.
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The Ghost Dance movement
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A religious revivalist movement among the Upper Plains Indians (primarily the Sioux) in the 1880s. The adherents believed that by reinvigorating their religion and practicing it more closely that they would be able to defeat the whites and hold onto their traditional life. Key features here were the creation of a 'ghost dance' that would get the people more in touch with their religion and 'ghost dance shirts' that were supposed to protect the wearer against bullets. The strength of the movement led some of the Sioux to leave their reservation. They were chased by the U.S. Army and a showdown occurred at Wounded Knee in South Dakota. A massacre ensued; it was the last major incident of fighting in the Indian Wars of North America.
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Dawes Act
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In 1887, this federal law divided up tribal lands and gave it to individual Indians. This was done in the spirit of trying to help the Plains Indians, by making them individual landowners (ala the Homestead Act). The reality though was that the Indians were not socially ready for this (they had no particular history of individual land ownership or settled farming). The splitting up of the land helped to further divide Indians and break up tribes. Many of the Indians didn't understand the contracts they had and often sold their land to white land speculators.
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Name general reasons for why the U.S. was ready to take on an overseas empire in the late 19th century.
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• Many European countries were carving Africa and Asia up into new colonies, and the U.S. did not want to get shut out of world economic opportunities (trade, minerals). • The U.S. had a growing navy, largely due to its expansion in the Civil War, and desired bases for the fleet. • The Manifest Destiny idea helped make some think that the America ideal should be spread farther than just North America • The U.S. had already essentially been running an empire in the western territories of North America, so the norms and practices were already in place. • The tradition of the Monroe Doctrine made the U.S. look unkindly on French and Spanish activities in the Western Hemisphere.
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In what year did the Spanish-American War take place?
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1898
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Name three specific reasons for why the U.S. fought a war with Spain.
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• American sympathy for Cuban independence movement against Spanish rule • The new national assertiveness, particularly spurred on by sensationalist newspapers (aka 'yellow journalism') • The sinking of the battleship Maine.
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'Yellow journalism'
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The name given to sensationalist newspapers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was the time that mass circulation newspapers first emerged, and publishers like Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) and William Randolph Hearst (New York Morning Journal) competed for readership. Their newspapers were full of scandalous and lurid stories designed to grab attention and sell copies. They are credited with whipping up public fervor about Spanish atrocities in the lead up to the Spanish-American War.
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Name three battles from the Spanish-American War.
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• Manila Bay (naval battle) • San Juan Hill (land battle) • Santiago Bay (naval battle)
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Name three territories that the U.S. acquired between 1867 and 1900.
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• The Philippines • Guam • Puerto Rico • American Samoa • Wake Island • Hawaii • Alaska
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The Philippine War
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A war few Americans know about. When the US took the Philippines from the Spanish in 1898, it took up the battle against Filipinos who had previously been fighting the Spanish for independence. For about four years, the US fought Filipino army units, then Filipino guerillas for about another decade. The US Army used many of the same approaches in this war as it had used in the Indian wars. Over 4,000 US soldiers died in this war, while more than 16,000 Filipino soldiers and 250,000 Filipino civilians died.
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The Battle of San Juan Hill
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A battle in the Spanish-American War in which Theodore Roosevelt played a leading role. It was a victory for the Americans, helping to surround Santiago, the main Spanish base in Cuba. It helped give Theodore Roosevelt national prominence, leading to his election as governor of New York in 1898, then as vice-president in 1900.
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The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
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Theodore Roosevelt's assertion that the United States had the right to intervene in countries in Latin America. The explicit rationale given was that if these countries could not meet their debt obligations to the U.S., then the U.S. would intervene. More generally, it was a statement that the U.S. saw it as its prerogative to set up governments in these countries to its liking. The United States used this concept in its occupations of Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua in the early 20th century.
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Name three different countries in the Western Hemisphere in which the U.S. intervened militarily between 1900 and 1920.
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• Cuba • Panama • Haiti • Dominican Republic • Nicaragua • Mexico
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Sherman Antitrust Act
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A law passed in 1890. It made restraint of interstate trade illegal. It was made to be a way to control and rein in the large trusts. It was not used much when it was passed but Theodore Roosevelt implemented it heavily when he was president.
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Interstate Commerce Commission
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A government body created to implement and oversee the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. It was designed to regulate excessive charges and rate discrimination, mainly by railroads. It was a device to control the huge railroad companies but was not used much when first created.
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Name five of the major inventions from this time period.
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• Telephone • Typewriter • Adding machine • Cash register • Linotype composing machine • Incandescent light bulb
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Trust
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What we would now call a monopoly. The trust was an idea that John Rockefeller and his advisors came up with to get around existing regulations on corporations. The biggest regulation of the time was that corporations could not do business outside the state in which it was incorporated. Rockefeller came up with the idea of a 'trust', which essentially owned corporations in different states. This effectively made one large corporation, without being called a corporation. Because corporate regulations applied to corporations, and not trusts, trusts were able to expand to very large sizes without regulation. U.S. Steel and Standard Oil were big examples of this growth.
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Andrew Carnegie
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He was a tycoon who developed a huge business in steel. He helped develop the notion of 'vertical integration,' in which one company owns all the steps in the production chain - from raw materials to finished product. By 1900, he was one of the richest men in America. In 1901, he created United States Steel in a merger with J.P. Morgan.
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Name three major resources that railroad companies needed.
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• Land • Labor • Steel • Capital (investable money)
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"Boss" Tweed
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William Tweed served as the chief of the Department of Public Works in New York City, as well as the head of the Tammany Hall political organization. He used the Tammany Hall machine to organize votes for the Democratic party, mostly from the lower economic classes, in exchange for public services. Tweed would use his public position to steer public works projects to the districts of his supporter, while also taking a share of the contract money for his own personal gain (i.e., corruption). He was representative of "city bosses" of the Gilded Age.
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Name four of the 'Robber Barons'
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• Vanderbilt • Carnegie • Gould • Morgan • Rockefeller
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In what year was the first transcontinental U.S. railway finished?
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1869
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Name four difficulties that industrial workers faced in the late 19th century.
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• Low wages - especially for women and children • Long hours • Hazardous working conditions • Downward pressures on wages: economic crises, spread of technology, immigration
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Laissez-faire capitalism
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The largely unregulated capitalism of the late 19th century. The lack of regulations favored the creation of large corporations that concentrated wealth. This concentration of wealth was translated into power by the corruption of government. The large corporations were therefore backed by the power of the legislature and judiciary. Additionally, the concept of Social Darwinism seemed to support this notion, too, by arguing for "survival of the fittest."
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In what year was the Knights of Labor formed?
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1869
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American Federation of Labor
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The AFL was founded by Samuel Gompers. It was the major successor to the Knights of Labor. Whereas the Knights of Labor had tied their movement to a political message and was open to a very broad range of workers, the AFL was an apolitical body, focused on increasing wages, reducing working hours, and improving working conditions for skilled workers. It found success by focusing on these 'bread and butter' issues and steering away from overtly political messages. By 1901, it had over 1,000,000 members.
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Haymarket Square Incident
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In 1886, workers at the McCormick plant in Chicago went on strike. On May 4, a rally in support of the strikers was held in Haymarket Square. At the end of the rally, a bomb was thrown into a group of policemen, killing one of them. While it was not clear who exactly was responsible for the bombing, several anarchists were put on trial and found guilty. Because some members of the Knights of Labor union were anarchists and socialists, the union as a whole was then seen by many as a radical organization. This marked the downfall of the Knights of Labor, the place of which was taken by the more moderate American Federation of Labor (AFL).
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Knights of Labor
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The first big, nationwide labor union in the U.S. It was founded in 1869. It was considered by some as a radical group, in part because it allowed for blacks and women to join. While it fought (through the use of strikes) for higher wages and better workplace conditions, it also involved itself in political movements as well. This allowed for additional criticism to be focused on the union. In particular, when it formed a rally to support striking workers at Haymarket Square in 1886, which ended with a bombing incident that killed several police officers, it was open to harsh criticism as a politically radical group supporting instability. This criticism led to its downfall; its place was taken by the apolitical American Federation of Labor (AFL).
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Name five major strikes during this time period and when they happened
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• Great Rail Strike 1877 • Haymarket Square Incident 1886(Led to downfall of Knights of Labor) • Homestead Strike 1892 (Against Carnegie Steel) • Pullman Strike 1894 (Against Railroads; Eugene Debs involved) • Coal Mine Strikes 1902-3 (Shift in the role of federal government)
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What was the basic cycle of these major strikes?
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• Strike begins (usually over wages) • Company does not negotiate • Company attempts to break strike • Fighting / rioting occurs over strike breaking • Federal troops usually sent in
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Name three important factors that led to agrarian distress in the late 19th century.
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• Overproduction of agricultural products leading to a drop in prices • Farmers had little money and were almost hostages to monopolized railroads' prices and high prices on manufactured goods. • Sharecropping situations in the South led to a cycle of poverty that sharecroppers could not escape. • Also: soil exhaustion • Also: decline in self-sufficiency / attachment to larger market forces
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What were the three major groups made by farmers in response to the agrarian distress?
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• Granger movement • Farmers' Alliance • Populist Party
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In what decade were each of the above movements most powerful?
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• Granger movement - mainly in 1870s • Farmers' Alliance - 1880s • Populist Party - 1890s
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Granger movement
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A movement of the late 1860s and 1870s in which farmers in rural communities across America began to band together to pool their resources. These 'Granges' began to set up their own stores, warehouses, and processing plants, in an effort to make their services more affordable to farmers. It was a sort of unionization of farmers and largely an apolitical movement.
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Populist Party
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A political party that grew out of the Granger movement and the more political Farmers' Alliance. The Populist Party emerged in 1890 and pushed for legislative / governmental responses to the difficulties that farmers faced. The party was successful in elections in the 1890s in getting people into office in state legislatures and the national Congress. One of the big issues that the party dealt with was the standard of money - gold vs. silver. The party ran candidates for president in 1892 and 1896. By 1896, the Democratic Party took on many of the Populist positions, which led to a decline of the independent Populist party.
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Bimetallism
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In the 19th century, paper currency was convertible into gold; this is what gave people confidence to accept paper money. Tying the money to gold, however, also limited the money supply. As the country grew, and industrialization / urbanization took hold late in the century, capital accumulated in the eastern cities; many people in the West began to feel the squeeze. They advocated 'bimetallism,' meaning to have paper money convertible into either gold or silver. Effectively, they wanted to increase the supply of money, which is inflationary. As people in the West were more likely to be indebted, this was to their advantage. This bimetallism position became a significant issue for the Populist Party, and then the Democratic Party. In the end, bimetallism was rejected, but it had drawn attention to the dissatisfaction of many Westerners with the economic and political state of affairs in the country in the late 19th century.
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William Jennings Bryan
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A Democrat who ran for president three times (1896, 1900, and 1908). In 1896, he came close to winning the presidency by talking on many Populist positions, including backing the change of money from the gold standard to silver. He became very famous for a speech he gave at the Democratic convention called the "Cross of Gold" speech. He carried the South and most of the West on these positions.
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Name at least three conditions leading to the creation of Progressivism
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• The power of 'robber barons' and how they treated their workers • The power of 'political bosses' and the political corruption in the cities • Food safety concerns • Life in the tenements; urban squalor; public health issues • Unsafe working conditions (e.g., Triangle Shirtwaist Factory)
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Progressivism
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A reform movement in American politics from 1890-1920. Progressives "saw themselves as engaged in a democratic crusade against the abuses of urban political bosses and corrupt "robber barons" of big business. Their goals were greater democracy and social justice, honest government, more effective regulation of business and a revived commitment to public service. They believed that expanding the scope of government would ensure the progress of U.S. society and the welfare of its citizens." (Hamby, p. 195)
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Name seven 'muckraking' writers / journalists of this time period.
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• Twain The Gilded Age • Sinclair The Jungle • Dreiser The Financier and The Titan • Norris The Pit • Steffans The Shame of the Cities • Tarball History of Standard Oil • Riis How the Other Half Lives
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The Jungle
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A book written by Upton Sinclair, published in 1906. It focused on the conditions of meatpacking plants in Chicago and revealed these conditions to be horribly unsanitary and unhealthy. Public outcry following its publication led to federal inspections of the meat plants and eventually to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, regulating the production of food in the United States.
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How the Other Half Lives
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A book written by Jacob Riis, published in 1890. It focused on the living conditions of the urban poor in New York City. What made it effective was Riis's use of photography to illustrate his words. This expose helped fuel the progressive effort to reform municipal laws governing housing, sanitation, and rental properties.
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Settlement houses
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A movement that was strongest in the 1890s in the United States. The idea was to have a community center that focused on the working poor, primarily immigrants. At the settlement house the people could get some basic education and more importantly be instructed in how to adapt to American society. The settlement houses also offered lectures, day care, and playgrounds. The most famous settlement house was 'Hull House' in Chicago, founded by Jane Addams.
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What were some examples of governmental Progressivism on the state level?
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• The 'Wisconsin Idea' • Recall elections • Referendums • Primary elections
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Primary elections
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One of a number of electoral changes that came out of the progressive movement (along with recall elections and referendums). Through most of the 19th century, political party nominees for general elections were chosen by party officials. This process was not open to the public and subject to much political deal-making. In the spirit of having a more open governmental process, and one which included the people more explicitly, progressives pushed to have primary elections, where voters got to select who would be the nominee for a political party in the general election. This is the method which is now used in most states of the U.S. (including Indiana).
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Robert LaFollette
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He was most famous for serving as governor of Wisconsin during the Progressive era. He pushed for a set of reforms that came to be known as the 'Wisconsin Idea.' This included using the notion of a primary election, which would give the ordinary voter more power in selecting party nominees, as well as using the state university system to create a set of resources and libraries for legislators to use in crafting laws. This was seen as a way to have less corrupt government.
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Who were the three Progressive presidents?
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• Theodore Roosevelt • William Taft • Woodrow Wilson
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Name seven Progressive accomplishments during Roosevelt's administration.
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• Eight hour work day • Workman's compensation • New taxes on the wealthy • Trust busting - strengthened the ICC and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act • Pure Food and Drug Act - federal inspection of food • Conservation: the establishment of more national parks and national monuments • Use of federal troops to establish arbitration between company and strikers
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Name four Progressive accomplishments during Taft's administration
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• Continued prosecution of trusts - suing and fining companies for cheating on taxes and illegal restraints of trade • Continued strengthening of the ICC • Sponsored the 16th Amendment - income tax • Sponsored the 17th Amendment - direct election of Senators • Conservation: the creation of national forests (the Weeks Act)
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Name four Progressive accomplishments during Wilson's administration
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• Tariff revision (the Underwood Tariff) - lowered to stop protecting businesses, lowers cost of living • Federal Reserve Act - reorganization of banks - brings banks under federal control for the first time since 1830s which stabilizes money supply in the country • Federal Trade Commission • Variety of acts to help farmers, seamen, civil workers, railroad workers
