test 3 Flashcards
Homestead Act
passed in 1862.The government offered 160 acres of land to people who agreed to live in the west for 5 years, dig a well, and build a road. encouraged further settlement and farming in the west which led to closing the frontier. the best land was given to railroad companies and speculators.
Battle of Little Big Horn
gold prospectors moved on to Indian land and natives assembled under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse to drive them away. Custer led his force (250) against their force of 2000 and lost. This defeat outraged white Americans and resulted in those Indians being forced onto reservations.
Interstate Commerce Act
passed in 1887 and prohibited railroads from short haul and long hauling, and from offering incentives to large shipper. hard to enforce.
Sitting Bull
Siuox leader who fought in the battle of Little Big Horn. He surrendered and joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
Chinese Exclusion Act
passed in 1882 and prohibited chinese laborers from entering the country for 10 years. White Americans were upset hat Chinese Americans were taking “white jobs,’ the bill was the first federal law prohibiting entry of an ethnic work group
Dawes Severalty Act
reformers wanted Indians to become Americanized. The act encouraged this by giving each native family 160 acres of their reservation to own as a farmstead, citizenship, and voting rights. The allotment was often not big enough to support a family, and they couldn’t get rid of the land as the act specified land could not be transferred for 25 years in an effort to protect it from speculators. effects were that 2/3 of reservation land was sold off and natives had to move to cities where they faced discrimination and poverty.
Bimetallism
government uses gold and silver for the coinage of money.
Morrill Act
passed in 1862. Gave land grants to states to establish agricultural + mechanical colleges. Aided in industrial development. the second Morrill Act passed in 1890 and was directed at former confederate states.
Exodusters
Group of African Americans who took their name and inspiration from the story of Moses leading the exodus of Jews to the promised land. Their promised land was in Oklahoma and Kansas. They migrated south along the Mississippi to find land and a better life.
what did the gold standard mean. what were farmers issues with it?
Using gold standard meant that the government would use gold as the basis of the nation’s currency. paper money was backed by gold reserves and could be redeemed for gold. Using only gold backed money meant the money supply was smaller and each dollar would be worth more. They wanted silver to increase inflation which they hoped would rise the prices of their crops and thus their income.
grange. grange laws
established by Oliver Kelley. provided education on farming techniques, called for the regulation of railroads and grain elevator rates. grange laws set maximum rates for shipping freight and grain storage. helped to prompt the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission to oversee interstate transportation.
why were farmers upset at the nation
they felt turned upon as most politicians came from urban industrial states.
what was the populist party
new political party that were concerned with corruption, inadequate money supply, and an unresponsive government. they also called for the coinage of silver and government control of railroads.
William Bryan Jennings
the presidential candidate of the democratic party. platformed similar issues to the populists which weakened the populists because they chose to support him and he lost because his issues did not connect with urban workers. first presidential candidate to tour the country. delivered the Cross of Gold speech which attacked those who opposed silver coinage.
