my powerpoint for the American History vocab terms from 1865-1895

1. American History from 1865-1895
By Daisy Lawing
3rd period

2. 1860s 1862 1860s-1900s
Great Plains: A vast desert that was
occupied by savage tribes in the
1860s-1870s. The high developed
and distinctive ways of the Native
Americans existed there. Wars
between the Native Americans and
the US occurred there fighting for
land.
Homestead Act: In 1862, Congress
passed the Homestead Act, offering 160
acres of land free to any citizen or
intended citizen who was head of the
household. From 1862-1900, up to
600,000 families moved into the land.
Homesteaders: Along with the
Homestead Act comes the
Homesteaders. They were settlers that
got free land from the Homestead Act.
They had the lifestyle in the west and
they were also moving into reservations
that were occupied by the Native
Americans. The homesteaders would
live in a Soddy, which is a dugout home
that was built by settlers. Trees were
scarce, so they built their homes in the
ground. The homes were small, and
offered little light & air.

3. 1864 1866 1867
Buffalo soldiers: members of the US
10th Cavalry regiment of the US army
who formed on September 1866.
There were African Americans in it
that earned the medal of honor
during the Indian wars.
Sand Creek Massacre: in
1864, John Chivington
instructed his troops to attack
Indian groups Cheyenne and
Arapaho. It was a hard
decision to make, but he
decided to attack. At Sand
Creek, they attacked at dawn
on November 29th. They killed
150 inhabitants who were
mostly women and children.
Oliver Kelley: He started the
Patrons of Husbandry, an
organization for farmers that
become popularly known as
the Grange. It’s original
purpose was to produce a
social outlet & educational
reform for isolated farm
families. By the 1870s, they
spent their time fighting
railroads.

4. Transcontinental Railroad: A
railroad that crosses a
continental land mass with
terminals at different oceans
or continental borders. It
linked the East coast and West
coast together. It was officially
completed on May 10th, 1869.
1869
Tammany Hall: NYC’s powerful
democratic political machine. Boss
Tweed became head of it. It played a
major role in controlling NYC and NY
state politics & helping immigrants rise
up in American politics (Tammany
Society).
1868
Tweed Ring: A group of corrupt politicians led
by Boss Tweed from 1869-1871 in defrauding
the city. One scheme involved extreme graft. It
cost taxpayers $13 million while it was
supposed to be $3 million. The Ring was broken
in 1871.

5. 1870
John D. Rockefeller: He
established the standard oil
company. He used a trust to
gain control of the oil Industry
in America. Rockefeller
earned a ton of money and
paid his employees extremely
wages. He gave away $500
million establishing
Rockefeller Foundation &
providing funds to found the
University of Chicago.
Frederick Law Olmstead: A
landscape. In the 1870s he planned
landscaping for Washington DC and
St. Louis. He also drew the initial
designs for Boston’s parks system.
George Westinghouse: An American
entrepreneur and engineer who invented the
railway air brake and was a pioneer of the
electrical system. He was one of Thomas
Edison’s main rivals. He also invented the first
hydro electronic power plant in Niagara.
1873

6. 1873 1874 1883
Joseph Pulitzer: A Hungarian
immigrant who had bought
the New York World in 1883.
He pioneered in innovations,
such as a large Sunday
edition, comics, sports
coverage, and women’s
news.

7. Bimetallism: A monetary
system in which the
government would give citizens
either gold or silver in exchange
for paper currency or checks.
This was intended to increase
the supply of money, stabilize
prices, and facilitate setting
exchange rates.
Patronage: The giving of government jobs to
people who had helped a candidate get elected.
By Andrew Jackson, it was known as the Spoils
system. Some government employees were not
qualified for the positions they filled. Reformers
began to press for the elimination of patronage.
Alexander Graham Bell: He
invented the telephone along with
Thomas Watson in 1876. He
worked at a deaf school for awhile
while attempting to invent the
telephone.
1875 1876

8. Battle of Little Big Horn: A
battle between combined
forces of Lakota, Northern
Cheyenne, and Arapaho
tribes against the 7th Cavalry
Regiment of US army in
Montana. From June 25-26.
A great victory for the
Indians.
Nez Perce: A Native American tribe that
lived in the Great Plains reservations. In
1877, they split into two groups under the
pressure of Americans. They made a
treaty to go to a reservation. Those who
didn’t go with the treaty surrendered after
the Battle of Bear Paw Mountains.
1876 1877 1877
Chief Joseph: A Nez Perce chief
who led his followers in a dramatic
effort to escape to Canada. It was
one of the greatest retreats in
military history. The US army
chased them and caught them
before they reached Canada. They
were forced to return to the
reservations.

9. 1877
Vanderbilt family: An
American family that was
prominent during the
Gilded Age. They expanded
into various other areas of
industry and philanthropy.
1879
Jim Crow Laws: Racial segregation laws
to separate the white from the black
people in public. This was put into
schools, hospitals, parks, and
transportation systems throughout the
South.
Vaudeville: A type of entertainment
popular chiefly in the United States in the
early 20th century, featuring a mixture of
specialty acts such as burlesque, comedy,
song, and dance.

10. National Farmer’s Alliance: An
organized economic movement
among American farmers that
developed and flourished in the
1870s & 1880s. One of the goals of
the organization was to end adverse
effects of the crop-lien system on
farmers.
Booker T. Washington: A prominent African
American educator that believed that racism would
end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and
proved their economic value to society. By 1881 he
headed the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial
Institute. They aimed to equip African Americans
with teaching diplomas, useful agricultural skills,
&/or mechanical work.
1879 1881
1883
Eugene V. Debs: A labor leader who
attempted to form such an industrial
union – the American Railway Union.
He felt that unions should include all
laborers, skilled & unskilled. He
eventually turned to socialism.
Exoduster: A name
given to Africa
Africans who
migrated from states
along the Mississippi
River to Kansas as
part of the Exoduster
movement of 1879

11. Culture shock: A feeling of
disorientation experienced by
someone who is suddenly
subjected to unfamiliar culture,
way of life, and set of attitudes.
This occurred to the millions of
immigrants coming to the
United States during this time
(late 1800s, early 1900s).
Dawes Act: in 1887 passed by Congress to
“Americanize” the Indians. The act broke up
the reservations and gave some land to
individual Native Americans. By 1932, the
whites took up 2/3s of the territory set up for
the Indians and they received no money.
Samuel Gompers: A Jewish immigrant that led
the Cigar Makers’ International Union to join
other craft unions in 1886. Gompers was the
president of the American Federation of Labor,
and was very successful in the labor activism.
1886 1887

12. Political machine: An
organized group that
controlled the activities of a
political party in a city. It
offered services to voters and
businesses in exchange for
political or financial support.
Thomas Edison: He established the world’s first
research laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ. There he
perfected the light bulb in 1880 and later the
entire system for producing and distributing
electrical power.
1876
Urbanization: The technological
boom in the 19th century contributed
to the growing industrial strength of
the United States. The result was
rapid urbanization (growth of cities)
mostly in the regions of the
Northeast and Midwest. Immigrants
started living in cities, because it
wasn’t that expensive.
1880

13. Colored Farmer’s Alliance 1886:
Established by white Baptist
missionary R.M. Humphrey in 1886.
They promoted cooperative buying
and selling. The group had to work
mostly in secret to avoid violence.
They had to make their own group
because they weren’t aloud in
others.
Sitting Bull: (Tatanka
Iyotanka) leader of the
Hunkpapa. He was
determined that white
should leave their
territory. His most
famous fight was the
Battle of Little Big Horn
in June 1881. He was
killed in December
1890.
Jane Addams: A pioneer settlement
social worker, public philosopher, &
leader in women’s suffrage and
world peace. Along with Ellen Gates,
they founded a settlement called
Hull House. Hull House was a center
for research, study & debate.
1889
1881
Settlement houses: Founded by Charles
Stove and Stanton Coit, they are
community centers in slum
neighborhoods that provided assistance to
people in the area, especially immigrants.
They were run by college educated
women who provided classes of all
different subjects. The first settlement
house was the Neighborhood Guild, in
New York City.
1886

14. Wounded knee: On December 28th 1890, the
7th cavalry rounded up about 350 starving and
freezing Sioux and took them to camp at
Wounded Knee in South Dakota. The soldiers
demanded the Sioux to give up their weapons,
but they refused. The soldiers opened fire with
a deadly cannon killing 300 of the Sioux. This
battle brought the Indian Wars to an end.
1890
1892
Ellis Island: Immigrants coming to the
US would have to pass inspection at
immigrant stations on Ellis Island (East
coast). They would first get examined by
a doctor. If they pass that, they then
have to pass the medical exam. The
immigrants also had to meet the legal
requirements for entering the United
States. Any who didn’t pass the tests,
were sent home.
Angel Island: Asian immigrants arriving on
the West Coast would have to go through
inspection on Angel Island. Between 1910-
1940, 50,000 Chinese immigrants entered
the US through this system. They endured
harsh questioning and long detentions in
filthy buildings waiting to see if they got
accepted or rejected.
Sweat shops: Workshops in tenements
rather than in factories. Workers had
little choice to put up with awful
conditions. They paid the lowest
wages, and kids also worked in the
sweat shops. Most children had full
time jobs. They were used from the
1850s to the early 1900s.

15. Ida B. Wells: She started out as a
teacher. Later she became the editor
of a local paper. Racial Justice was a
persistent theme in Wells’ reporting.
On March 9th 1892, 3 African
American business men (friends of
hers) were illegally executed without
trial.
1892 1895
Populist: A member or adherent
of a political party seeking to
represent the interests of
ordinary people. Populism was a
major political party in the US in
the late 19th century (1890s).
William Hearst: A wealthy business man that
purchased the New York Morning Journal in 1895.
Hearst filled the journal with exaggerated tales of
personal scandals, cruelty, and hypnotism. Hearst
and Joseph Pulitzer tried to outdo each other by
doing these things.

16. Literacy test: Some Southern states
limited the vote to people who could read,
& required registration officials to
administer a literacy test to test reading.
Blacks were asked more difficult questions
than whites, or could be given a test in a
foreign language.
Poll Tax: An annual tax that had to be
paid before qualifying to vote. Black as
well as white sharecroppers were often
to poor to pay it. That is one of the ways
that the South eliminated African
Americans to vote.
Grandfather Clause: The clause stated
that even if a man failed the literacy test
or couldn’t afford the poll tax, he was
still entitled to vote if he, his father, or
his grandfather had been eligible to vote
before January 1st, 1867. Before that
time, freed slaves did not have the right
to vote.
1860s-1960s

17. 1896
Plessy vs. Ferguson: In 1896, the
Supreme Court ruled that the
separation of races in public
accommodations was legal & didn’t
violate the 14th amendment. This
decision was legalized for 60 years.
Interstate Commerce Commission: A
regulatory agency in the United States
created by the Interstate Commerce Act of
1887. The original purpose was to regulate
railroads to ensure fair rates, eliminate rate
discrimination, and regulate other aspects of
common carriers. Congress expanded it to
regulate other modes of commerce
beginning in 1906.
1887

18. Segregation: In the
1870s-1880s, Southern
states passed racial
segregation laws to
separate white & black
people in public and
private facilities. The
laws became known as
the Jim Crow Laws.
Debt peonage: A system that bound
laborers into slavery in order to work off a
debt to the employer. Mexicans and
African Americans were forced into it. This
occurred in the late 1800s.
Assimilation: A plan under which Native
Americans would give up their beliefs
and way of life and become apart of the
white culture.
1870s to the early 1900s

19. William McKinley: He was a part of the
1896 campaign, nominated by the
Republican party with the gold standard.
He was very popular with the Republican
party He was campaigning during the Panic
of 1893, so he convinced a lot of people to
vote for him at that time. McKinley won
the election, burying the hopes of farmers,
and populism collapsed.
“Cross of Gold”: William Jennings Bryan delivered an
impassioned address to the assembled delegates. It
became known as the “Cross of Gold” speech. With that
speech, Bryan won the Democratic election. It was
delivered on July 8th, 1896 at the Democratic National
Convention in Chicago. The speech advocated
bimetallism. It is considered one of the greatest speeches
in American history.
William Jennings Bryan: A
former Nebraska
congressman, editor of the
Omaha World-Herald. He
delivered the ‘cross of gold’
speech & won the
Democratic election with
that. Bryan faced a difficult
campaign. He lacked funds,
and was loosing the support
of his Democratic followers.
He lost the election of 1896.
1896

20. Orville and Wilbur Wright: These
bicycle manufacturers from Dayton,
Ohio experimented with new engines
powerful enough to fly. Their first
successful flight was on December 17th,
1903 in Kitty Hawk, NC. In 1920, the
United States government established
the first airmail service.
W.E.B Dubois: The first African
American to receive a doctorate
from Harvard (1895). In 1905 he
founded the Niagara
Movement, which insisted that
blacks should seek a liberal arts
education so their community
would have well-educated
leaders.
Socialism: An economic and political
system based on government control
of business and property, & equal
distribution of wealth. If socialism
would carry on to the extreme form
(communism), it would result in the
overthrow of the capitalist system.
1903 1905

21. Sources
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22. Sources
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