Chapter 17 Flashcards
(15 cards)
New South
A term describing the post-Civil War Southern economy, which aimed to industrialize and diversify beyond agriculture but largely remained dependent on low-wage labor and cash crops.
Textiles
The textile industry became a major part of the Southern economy during Reconstruction and the New South era, with many mills employing poor whites in harsh working conditions.
American Tobacco Company
Founded by James B. Duke, it became a dominant force in the tobacco industry, controlling cigarette production and marketing across the U.S. in the late 19th century.
Crop-Lien System
A credit system where farmers, especially in the South, borrowed supplies against future crop yields, often leading to cycles of debt and poverty.
Sharecropping
A system in which tenant farmers worked land owned by someone else in exchange for a share of the crop, keeping many African Americans and poor whites in economic dependency.
Mississippi Plan
A series of voter suppression laws in the 1890s, including literacy tests and poll taxes, designed to disenfranchise Black voters and maintain white supremacy.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
A Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine, legitimizing Jim Crow laws in the South.
W.E.B. du Bois
An African American intellectual and activist who co-founded the NAACP and advocated for civil rights, education, and immediate racial equality.
Joseph Glidden
Inventor of barbed wire, which revolutionized the American West by allowing farmers and ranchers to fence off land, ending open-range cattle grazing.
Homestead Act (1862)
A federal law that provided 160 acres of free land to settlers willing to farm it for five years, encouraging westward expansion but often leading to hardship.
Mining in the West
The discovery of gold and silver, such as in California (1849) and Nevada (Comstock Lode), led to mining booms, economic growth, and conflicts with Native Americans.
Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)
Also known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” it was a major victory for the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne against U.S. forces, but led to harsher military actions against Native Americans.
Chief Joseph
Leader of the Nez Perce, he led his people on a long retreat to escape U.S. forces, famously declaring, “I will fight no more forever” upon surrender.
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
A tragic and violent clash between the U.S. Army and Lakota Sioux, where hundreds of Native Americans, including women and children, were killed, marking the end of large-scale Native resistance.
Dawes Severalty Act (1887)
A law aimed at assimilating Native Americans by dividing tribal lands into individual plots, undermining tribal sovereignty and leading to massive loss of Native land.
