APUSH Period 6

• transcontinental railroad: The Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad built in the 1860s that stretched across the west and east coasts of the United States. The railroad changed the way Americans lived their lives; it allowed products to be shipped quickly, which in turn made products cheaper, it allowed people to take only days to reach the East Coast from the West Coast (and vice versa), and it helped boom the cattle industry
• Homestead Act: A law passed by Congress on May 20, 1862, that granted 160 acres of surveyed government land to any adult citizen or intended citizen who had never taken up arms against the U.S., paid a small filing fee, improved the land, and lived there for five years.
• protective tariff: Protective tariffs were taxes, or fees, placed on foreign goods.
• gold standard: The gold standard system, which began in the United States, was a system in which the states fixed the value of their currencies by counting them in terms of gold. This system eventually made its way to other countries and is now used worldwide. 
• Morrill Act: The Morrill Act set aside federal land to create colleges across the United States. It caused a major boost in higher education across the country, now that higher education became more accessible to others.
• Exodusters: Exodusters was a name given to African Americans who migrated to Kansas. The name originated from the exodus from Egypt. The reason why the African Americans migrated to Kansas was because of racism, which only increased after the creation of Black Codes.
• Yellowstone National Park: Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States, and is known for its wildlife and scenic nature. It was nearly the last unexplored region within the United States, and holds one of the last and largest complete ecosystems in the world. It is home to half of the world’s natural geysers, and has over 10 thousand hydrothermal sites. 
• Sand Creek Massacre: The Sand Creek Massacre was the event in which federal troops attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho unprovoked. It marked a turning point between the Native Americans and the United States government. The main cause of the massacre was the conflicts between the Plains Native Americans and the federal government, despite the Cheyenne and the Arapaho being significantly tolerant of the settlers.
• Battle of the Little Bighorn: The Battle of the Little Bighorn occurred because the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, which guaranteed to various Native American tribes that they were in sole possession of Dakota territory, had been broken. The Sioux and the Cheyenne were able to win the battle and killed Custer along with all of his men. The aftermath of the battle affected the Native Americans, now that the United States government only began to force them onto reservations increasingly after the battle.
• Ghost Dance movement: The Ghost Dance movement was a spiritual movement of the 1800s, in which the Western Native Americans believed that there would be a renewal of the Earth, renewal of Native American land, and a lift on the restrictions placed on them.
• Wounded Knee: Wounded Knee was a massacre of the Lakota people, in which 150-300 Lakota people died. It was the United States’ retaliation to the Ghost Dance Movement, and it marked the end of the Plains Native American resistance against the United States government, as well as resistance to reservation life and assimilation.
• Chief Joseph: Chief Joseph, also known as Heinmot Tooyalekekt, was the Nez Perce leader and an advocate for Native American rights. He led his people all the way to Montana and then to the Canadian border, where he and his tribe ultimately surrendered.
• Sitting Bull: Sitting Bull was a Sioux leader who led his people during resistance against the United States. He accepted peace with the United States based on the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, which guaranteed a reservation for the Sioux.
• George Armstrong Custer: George Armstrong Custer, also known as Custer, was a cavalry officer who led the United States in the wars against the Plains tribes. He died in the Battle of Little Bighorn, along with the rest of his men.
• trust: A trust is a business practice in which one company holds the title to property or assets of another company.
• Chinese Exclusion Act: The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a law passed by the United States that prevented Chinese immigration to the United States, and prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens. This act was influenced by the sentiment of nativism, which was an ideology that stated that immigrants were less-than already established American citizens. The Chinese Exclusion Act was ultimately lifted in 1943.
• Great Railroad Strike of 1877: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, also known as The Great Upheaval, started on July 14th after wage cuts were announced by the B&O Railroad. It was the country’s first major railroad strike, and its first strike in general. The effects of the strike were that many organizations that focused on workers’ rights were created, including the Greenback Labor Party.
• Greenback-Labor Party: The Greenback Labor Party was a movement that had the goal of gaining workers' rights. 
• Knights of Labor: The Knights of Labor was the first major labor organization movement in the United States. They organized both skilled and unskilled workers, fought to have an eight-day workday, fought for an increase in wages, and overall fought for workers’ rights.
• Haymarket Square: The Haymarket Square riot was a confrontation between workers and the police during a riot for workers’ rights. 
• American Federation of Labor: The American Federation of Labor, or the AFL, worked for better working conditions, higher wages, bargaining rights, and shorter work days. They were successful in many of their goals.
• Andrew Carnegie: Andrew Carnegie was a wealthy businessman who boosted the steel industry in the United States, and created the business practice of vertical integration. He was also a well-known philanthropist, and he donated most of his wealth to build new buildings for the American citizens toward the end of his life.
• John D. Rockefeller: John D. Rockefeller was a well-known businessman who is best known for his monopoly in the oil industry. He is also known for creating the business practice of horizontal integration.
• Plessy v. Ferguson: Plessy v. Ferguson was a case in which Homer Plessy, a man who was 1/8th black, decided to fight against segregation by sitting in on a “whites-only” railcar. He was arrested, and then brought to court to plead his case. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, where they ruled against Plessy. The Supreme Court argued that segregation was not a form of slavery, therefore it was lawful.
• Young Men’s Christian Association: The Young Men’s Christian Association, better known as the YMCA, was a group that aimed to provide entertainment and good sportsmanship for young men.
• Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is known for advocating for nature and national parks. It shut down a proposal that aimed to reduce the boundaries of the Yosemite National Park.
• Comstock Act: The Comstock Act of 1873 determined contraceptives as illegal, making it a federal offense to distribute birth control.
• Woman’s Christian Temperance Union: The Women’s Christian Temperance Union worked to eliminate excessive alcohol consumptions amongst men. They argued that alcohol was the main source of abusive husbands and fathers, and that limiting or eliminating alcohol would improve the home life.
• National Association of Colored Women: The National Association of Colored Women, also known as the NACW, supported women’s suffrage and the right for all African Americans to vote. They also raised money for kindergartens, vocational schools, summer camps, and retirement homes.
• National American Woman Suffrage Association: The National American Woman Suffrage Association, also known as the NAWSA, was a more radical organization that supported women’s suffrage, but also wanted to make women equal members of society in all aspects.
• natural selection: Natural selection was a theory created by Charles Darwin in which the more powerful organisms in the ecosystem survive, while the weaker ones die off. 
• social Darwinism: Social Darwinism was the ideology that society operated off of “survival of the fittest”, and that the government should not interfere with the “natural order of things”. Social Darwinism was not only prejudiced toward poor people, but also toward disabled people, people of color, and other marginalized groups. 
• Social Gospel: Social Gospel was a movement in the Progressive Era that aimed to apply Christian ethics to social problems.
• fundamentalism: Fundamentalism is a form of religion that aims to have a strict interpretation of a scripture, and strict adherence to the scripture.
• Booker T. Washington: Booker T. Washington was an African American leader in the African-American community, who believed that White people would see Black people as equal if Black people proved themselves by working and getting an education.
• Ida B. Wells: Ida B. Wells was an investigative journalist who led the anti-lynching movement. She became involved in the movement after her friends were murdered by lynching.
• tenement: A tenement was a cheap housing area that was usually built in poorer areas of the country. They lacked the basic necessities, and often put the people who were living inside of them in danger.
• muckrakers: Muckrakers was a term for investigative journalists who sought to expose society’s problems.
• political machine: A political machine was a political figure who was corrupt. They often gained votes by doing favors, and some even committed illegal acts to maintain their power.
• social settlement: Social settlement was a neighborhood social welfare agency and a reformist social movement that sought to bring the poor and the rich together, and that also sought to improve poorer communities.