1- 108 (Dorothea Dix - Hiroshima & Nagasaki)
Dorothea Dix
one of the leading reformers of the 1800's, she improved the lives of the mentally ill and prisoners by separating them and by stopping the legal beating of prisoners
The Underground Railroad
Set up by abolitionists to help runaway slaves reach freedom in Canada. Homes that helped the slaves were called "Stations" and the people that led them were "conductors"
Harriet Tubman
the most famous "conductor" who was a runaway slave that returned to the south several times to lead hundreds to freedom
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, which became the bible of the abolitionist movement. It described the horrors of slavery and the attempts of some to get away; considered one of the causes of the Civil war
The Missouri Compromise
Said that Missouri would become a slave state and Maine a free state; no state would have slavery above the latitude of 36°30'. Settled slave issue for 30 years.
Popular Sovereignty
The idea that the people of a territory should determine if it would or would not have slavery
The Compromise of 1850
California applied to be a free state, but upset the South since the North would have an advantage. The compromise lasted Four Years. California would be a free state, fugitive slave law would be enacted, popular sovereignty would be used on land from Mexico, and slave trade would be Outlawed in Washington D.C.
The Kansas Nebraska Act
opened Kansas and Nebraska to settlers, allowed the territories to use popular sovereignty, ending popular sovereignty.
Bleeding Kansas
both abolitionists and slave owners rushed into Kansas, and violence began between the two in Lawrence, Kansas. 200 men women and children were killed, and it did not end until the US army was called in.
The Republican Party
The violence in Kansas started the Republican Party since neither the Democrats nor the Whigs could take a stand on the slave issue during the violence of Kansas. The party stood for stopping the spread of Slavery
Dred Scott
He went to court saying that he should be free since he lived in a free-state. He won the case, but not the appeal. The Supreme Court said that He was not free, and as a black man, he was not a citizen of the US and had no right to take a case to the Supreme Court. In addition, they said that Popular Sovereignty is unconstitutional.
John Brown
Became a Martyr for the abolitionists. He started a slave rebellion in Harper's Ferry, Virginia and was captured by the US army led by Lee and was hanged for treason. H
The Election of 1860
The final event that divided the nation, Lincoln won the election with less than 40% of the popular vote. When he was, the southern states became to secede from the US.
Northern and Southern advantages in the Civil War
i. North
1. Had 22 million people (the south had nine million people minus 3.5 million slaves)
2. Had 92% of industry
3. More gold and silver
4. More railroads
5. Grew more food
i. South
1. Better generals
2. Used to living outdoors/riding horses
3. Fight at home and defend their territory
Strategies of the Civil War
The North came up with a plan to win the war known as the "Anaconda Plan."
This plan had three parts:
1. Blockade of southern coastline
2. Take control of Mississippi river
3. Take Richmond Virginia
The south wanted to:
1. Fight defensive war.
2. Get help from European nations because of "King Cotton"
3. Take Washington DC if possible
George McClellan
McClellan went on the offensive (attack) in what became known as the "Peninsular Campaign" but McClellan gave up on the campaign and returned to Washington DC. when he went against Lee
Robert E. Lee
Lee was a master of defensive warfare and he then defeated McClellan in a series of battles despite being outnumbered 2 to 1
Battle of Antietam
The battle of Antietam, which took place in Maryland turned out to be the single bloodiest day of the civil war. 12,000 Union and 10,000 Confederates were killed or wounded.
Emancipation Proclamation
This document changed the war because the north was no longer fighting to just preserve the US, they were now fighting to free the slaves.
Battle of Gettysburg
The three-day battle of Gettysburg turned out to be the bloodiest battle of the war (50,000 casualties) and turned out to be a turning point. The battle was a turning point because Lee lost too many men that he could not replace, and he would be forced to fight on the retreat for the rest of the war.
Battle of Vicksburg
The same day that the battle of Gettysburg ended, the Union won a months long siege along the Mississippi river. Vicksburg was the last Southern stronghold on the Mississippi river that was won over by General Ulysses S. Grant
Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan
Lincoln would pardon almost all Southerners, even if they had fought against the Union. All that Lincoln asked was that Southerners take a solemn oath to support the Constitution of the United States in the future. As soon as enough citizens of a Southern state took the oath, Lincoln would recognize the government of that state and let the people rule themselves
Radical Republicans
Republican members in Congress called "Radicals." They were bitter against the Southern rebels. They wanted to punish white Southerners
John Wilkes Booth
the man, having a twisted feel for drama, had planned to assassinate President Lincoln, which was one of the greatest American tragedies of all American History.
Carpetbaggers
Northerners who had come South with no more belongings, it was said that they only brought what they could carry in a carpetbag.
Preventing black Americans from voting
Literacy Test was to test who can read or write, and a poll tax as well as the grandfather clauses.
"Jim Crow" laws
The southern states were segregating Blacks and Whites in public places. They got the idea for these laws from northern cities that had separate facilities and transportation usages for blacks
Plessy v. Ferguson
the court ruled that Jim Crow laws were legal as long as the facilities were equal (separate but equal)
President U.S. Grant
Nominated by the Republican party when they met in Chicago. Tough, silent, inscrutable Grant was the North's war hero. He knew nothing at all about politics, but many Northerners loved him.
"Boss" Tweed
"Boss Tweed," a self-made, warmhearted man, had used Tammany Hall, a clique inside the Democratic Party, to become the most powerful politician in New York City
Thomas Nast
Tilden was helped to destroy the Tweed Ring by Thomas Nast, a clever German-born cartoonist
The Election of 1876
the most controversial election since 1824. Hayes became president, but it was due to the 8 men that were Republicans (versus 7 Democrats) that made him President. He did end the period of reconstruction by removing the Union troops from the South.
Destruction of the Buffalo
9 million buffalo were killed in only a 3 year period and the Indians were running out of supplies for their tents, equipment, clothing, and housing.
Little Bighorn
a battle in Montana near the Little Bighorn River between United States cavalry under Custer and several groups of Native Americans (1876)
The Dawes Act
supposed to "Americanize" Native Americans by encouraging in them the desire to own property and to farm reservation land distributed to Native American families
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act
This was the first attempt by the US government to outlaw monopolies and trusts. However this act was poorly written and proved to be difficult to enforce
Vanderbilt/Carnegie/Rockefeller
a. Vanderbilt - made his fortune in the transportation industry with railroads and steam boats.
b. Carnegie - a Scottish immigrant that was the 2nd richest man through the Steel Industry, built 2,800 libraries (known as Scrooge McDuck in DuckTales).
c. Rockefeller - richest man in the world through the monopoly of the oil industry (known as Mr. Burns in The Simpsons)
Knights of Labor
The first major labor union in the US; preferred to use arbitration instead of strikes to settle labor disputes
The Haymarket Affair
destroyed the "Knights of Labor" and hurt the growth of labor unions in general when a bomb was thrown (by the KoL), which killed 8 policemen.
The AF of L
(The American Federation of Labor), became the new major labor union, but did not grow as large as the people distrusted labor unions.
The Populist Party
angry farmers started this party and had four goals:
a. free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16:1
b. government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones
c. A graduated income tax (the more is made, the more your paid)
d. Democratic reforms such as the secret ballot.
William Jennings Bryan
The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska after he made the famous "Cross of Gold" speech which favored using gold and silver. The Populist Party was so impressed with his speech that they also nominated Bryan
William McKinley
favored removing silver from circulation and still beat Bryan. the return of the economy (because of McKinley) brought an end to the Populist party.
Muckrakers
Nickname given to progressive writers who exposed evil and corruption in business and in politics. The most famous of the Muckrakers was Upton Sinclair.
Progressive Reforms
achieved some of the goals of the populist party Australian Ballot (Secret Ballot)
a. Women's suffrage, the 19TH amendment passed in 1920 gave women the right to vote.
b. The Initiative. This gives citizens the power to suggest a law and have the people of their state vote on it
c. The Referendum. This gives citizens of a state the power to vote on a law that has been proposed by lawmakers
d. The Recall Vote - this allows citizens to remove someone from office before their term is over.
Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt led his "Rough-riders" to victory on San Juan Hill (Kettle Hill) and later became the US President. (He wanted to make the US a world power).
William Howard Taft
Taft was the largest man ever to be President (weighed over 300 pounds). Taft turned out to be more progressive and more of a "Trustbuster" than TR because he was more active in his attacks on monopolies.
The Election of 1912
The split of the Republican Party vote allowed Wilson to become only the second Democrat to be elected President since the start of the Civil War. TR came in 2nd, Taft in 3rd.
"Seward's Folly"
In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska from Russia for $7 million. Americans called this purchase "Seward's Folly" because they thought it was only a frozen wasteland (Seward's IceBox)
. "Yellow Journalism"
Style of newspaper reporting designed to sell more newspapers by sensationalizing the news
The Maine
the US battleship Maine was sent to Havana harbor to protect American interests (some Americans owned sugar plantations in Cuba).
Commodore Dewey
The Spanish-American war actually began near the Philippines where US Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet
The Platt Amendment
In 1901, the US gave Cuba its freedom, but with strings attached. Cuba had to agree to do three things to keep their freedom according to the Platt Amendment: (1) hey must not enter into agreements that could cost them their freedom.(2) They must allow the US to intervene if their freedom was in danger; and (3) They must give the US the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Guantanamo Bay.
The Panama Canal
It took 10 years and $400 million dollars to build the canal. The US had to find a cure for Malaria before the canal could be completed (6 thousand workers had died building the canal). The completion of the canal shortened the distance from one US coast to the other by 8,000 miles.
Causes of WWI (MANIA)
Militarism (glorification of armed forces), Alliances (Triple Entente and Triple Alliance), Nationalism (patriotic love for own country, Serbs wanted to join Serbia), Imperialism (colonies in Africa and Asia caused rivalries), Assassination (Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serb imperialist)
Trench Warfare
resulted in high casualty rates, month-long battles, and very little territory being taken
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
the Germans would blow up any ships at sea without warning. This was a violation of the international law of the seas
The Lusitania
a German U-boat sank the British passenger ship Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. 1200 people were killed, including 128 Americans. The sinking of the Lusitania pushed the US closer to war.
Sussex Pledge
President Wilson was very angry and he forced the Germans to stop unrestricted submarine warfare after another passenger ship The Sussex (The Sussex Pledge).
The Zimmerman Note
During the war, Germany sent a "secret message" to Mexico promising to give Mexico the land that the US had taken from them (California and Texas), however the British intercepted this note and held on to it until they thought the US was mad enough to join the war.
The Fourteen Points
- a peace plan that would not punish the losing side, some of the fourteen points were:
a. Freedom of the seas
b. An end to secret treaties and alliances
c. A reduction in weapons
d. A League of Nations to preserve peace
e. An end to Imperialism
The Treaty of Versailles
This is the treaty that ended World War I it did the following to Germany:
a. Germany was forced to accept "war guilt."
b. Germany was forced to pay millions of dollars in reparations.
c. Germany lost all of its colonies and the nations of Czechoslovakia and Poland were created with land taken from Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
d. The Germans had to reduce their arms and demilitarize the Rhine River
Senate rejection of the Treaty of Versailles
Senate rejection of the Treaty of Versailles - Many senators did not like the treaty because they were afraid that the League of Nations would drag them into another unwanted war.
The "Red Scare"
a wave of fear spread across America about the Bolsheviks (communists) who had taken over Russia were going to try to take over the US as well. US Attorney General A. Mitchel Palmer helped to end the "Red Scare" by illegally arresting and deporting those he believed to be communists.
Warren G. Harding
He was a popular President but he his administration was the most corrupt since President Grant
"Teapot Dome" Scandal
In Tea Pot Dome Scandal the Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, accepted bribes to lease government oil fields. Just as this scandal was becoming public, Harding died of a heart attack
Calvin Coolidge
Coolidge was a man of few words, but helped to restore the people's faith in the government.
Herbert Hoover
He had become famous by leading the effort to feed starving Europeans after WWI was over. He was elected President during a time period known as the "Golden 20s", the "Roaring 20s" and the jazz age.
The Stock Market Crash
As a result of over-speculation on the stock market, an over-production of good, a panic of selling hit the stock market. The stock market crashed in October 1929. The value of stocks dropped $30 billion in one month.