Comstock Lode
first discovered in 1858 by Henry Comstock, some of the most plentiful and valuable silver was found here, causing many Californians to migrate here, and settle Nevada.
Chinese Exclusion Act
Passed in 1882; banned Chinese immigration in US for a total of 40 years because the United States thought of them as a threat. Caused chinese population in America to decrease.
Frederick Jackson Turner
American historian who said that humanity would continue to progress as long as there was new land to move into. The frontier provided a place for homeless and solved social problems.
Sitting Bull
American Indian medicine man, chief, and political leader of his tribe at the time of the Custer massacre during the Sioux War
Crazy Horse
Sioux warrior who ambushed Captain William Fetterman and his company at long trail ridge on the Bozeman trail. Over 80 soldiers killed. Native Americans call this fight Battle of The Hundred Slain. Whites called it the Fetterman Massacre.
George Custer; Little Big Horn
Battle of Little Big Horn (aka "Custer's Last Stand") 1876, Montana - US (Custer) vs. Cheyenne (Crazy Horse) and Sioux (Sitting Bull). Custer was arrogant, he wanted to see the gold in the Black Hills (NAs had that land.) He was convinced that the US would always win - some troops warned they would lose and left. US was led into a valley and surrounded.
Chief Joseph
Lead the Nez Perce during the hostilities between the tribe and the U.S. Army in 1877. His speech "I Will Fight No More Forever" mourned the young Indian men killed in the fighting.
Helen Hunt Jackson
A writer. Author of the 1881 book A Century of Dishonor. The book exposed the U.S. governments many broken promises to the Native Americans. For example the government wanted Native Americans to assimilate, i.e. give up their beliefs and ways of life, that way to become part of the white culture.
Assimilationists
Motivated to help Native Americans by giving them formal education and training and conversion to Christianity.
Dawes Severalty Act
1887, dismantled American Indian tribes, set up individuals as family heads with 160 acres, tried to make rugged individualists out of the Indians, attempt to assimilate the Indian population into that of the American
Ghost Dance Movement
The last effort of Native Americans to resist US domination and drive whites from their ancestral lands came through a religious movement known as the Ghost Dance. In the government's campaign to suppress the movement, the famous Sioux medicine man sitting Bull was killed during his rest.
Wounded Knee
Located in South Dakota near Wounded Knee Creek. An Indian tribe - the Hunkpapa Sioux - was attacked by 500 US soldiers during the Ritual Ghost Dance. The Indians were massacred, little boys were shot, women running with children were murdered...
Indian Reorganization Act
Government legislation that allowed the Indians a form of self-government and thus willingly shrank the authority of the U.S. government. It provided the Indians direct ownership of their land, credit, a constitution, and a charter in which Indians could manage their own affairs. 1934
Crop Lien System
in this system, Storekeepers granted credit until the farm was harvested. To protect the creditor, the storekeeper took a mortgage, or lien, on the tenant's share of the crop. The system was abused and uneducated blacks were taken advantage of. The result, for Blacks, was not unlike slavery.
George Washington Carver
A black chemist and director of agriculture at the Tuskegee Institute, where he invented many new uses for peanuts. He believed that education was the key to improving the social status of blacks.
Tuskegee Institute
A normal and industrial school led by Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Alabama. It focused on training young black students in agriculture and the trades to help them achieve economic independence. Washington justified segregated, vocational training as a necessary first step on the road to racial equality, although critics accused him of being too "accomodationist".
Farmer's Southern Alliance
Dr. Charles W. Macune took leadership. Consisted of farmers who were upset with crop liens, depleted lands, and sharecropping.
Colored Farmer's National Alliance
More than 1 million southern black farmers organized and shared complaints with poor white farmers. By 1890 membership numbered more than 250,000. The history of racial division in the South, made it hard for white and black farmers to work together in the same org.
Civil Rights Cases of 1883
A case in which the court ruled that Congress could not legislate against the racial discrimination practiced by private citizens, which included railraods, hotels, and other businesses used by the public.
Plessy v. Ferguson
a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal
Jim Crow Laws
The "separate but equal" segregation laws state and local laws enacted in the Southern and border states of the United States and enforced between 1876 and 1965
Grandfather Clause; Poll Tax; Literacy Test
The grandfather clause was a clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867. A poll tax is a tax of a fixed amount per person and payable as a requirement for the right to vote. A literacy test is given to persons to prove they can read and write before being allowed to register to vote
Ida B. Wells
the lynching of blacks outraged her, an africanamerican journalist. in her newspaper, free speech, wells urged africanamericans to protest the lynchings. she called for a boycott of segregated street cars and white owned stores. she spoke out despite threats to her life.
Booker T. Washington
Prominent black American, born into slavery, who believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, was head of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. His book "Up from Slavery."
National Grange Movement
Organized by Oliver H. Kelley primarily as a social and educational organization for farmers and their families. By the 1870s however, the Grange organized economic ventures and took political action to defend members against the middlemen, trusts, and railroads.
Granger Laws
Grangers state legislatures in 1874 passed law fixing maximum rates for freight shipments. The railroads responded by appealing to the Supreme Court to declare these laws unconstitutional
Munn v. Illinois
1876; The Supreme Court upheld the Granger laws. The Munn case allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their borders, including railroads, and is commonly regarded as a milestone in the growth of federal government regulation.
Wabash v. Illinois
1886 - Stated that individual states could control trade in their states, but could not regulate railroads coming through them. Congress had exclusive jurisdiction over interstate commerce.
Interstate Commerce Act
Established the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) - monitors the business operation of carriers transporting goods and people between states - created to regulate railroad prices
National Alliance
The deepening crisis in farm prices in the 1880s resulted in the blending of a host of organizations into the National Alliance Movement. The movement had distinct branches in the South and Midwest.
Ocala Platform
A platform that would have significant impact in later years: They supported 1) direct election of US senators, 2) lower tariff rates, 3) a graduated income tax, and 4) a new banking system regulated by the federal govt.