Reconstruction
The period after the Civil War when the United States worked to rebuild the South and reunite the country.
Reconstruction
Large animals that lived on the Great Plains and were an important food and resource for many Native American tribes.
Buffalo
A crowded and poorly built apartment building where many working-class families lived in cities.
Tenement
The ability of a country or people to rule themselves without outside control.
Self-government
The system a country uses to make, buy, and sell goods and services.
Economy
The president who took office after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and led the country during the early part of Reconstruction.
President Andrew Johnson
A railroad completed in 1869 that connected the East Coast and West Coast of the United States.
Transcontinental Railroad
A group of workers who join together to improve wages and working conditions.
Labor union
When one country takes control of another area of land and makes it part of its own territory.
Annexation
Work, especially the work done by people for wages.
Labor
A government agency created after the Civil War to help formerly enslaved people by providing food, schools, and legal assistance.
The Freedmen’s Bureau
Areas of land set aside by the U.S. government where Native American tribes were required to live.
Reservations
The growth of factories and machines used to make goods.
Industrialization
When a country expands its power by gaining control over other countries or territories.
Imperialism
A plan or rule that guides decisions, often made by a government or organization.
Policy
The process of formally charging a president or other government official with wrongdoing, which can lead to a trial and removal from office.
Impeachment
An 1876 battle in which Native American forces led by chiefs like Sitting Bull defeated U.S. soldiers led by George A. Custer.
Battle of Little Bighorn
When one company controls all or most of the supply of a product or service.
Monopoly
The U.S. president who believed in the “Big Stick Policy,” meaning the U.S. should use its strong military to influence other countries while still trying to negotiate peacefully.
President Theodore Roosevelt
A large business that is owned by many people but treated by law as a single entity.
Corporation
The effort by white Southern Democrats to regain political control of Southern states and reverse many Reconstruction policies.
Redemption
An 1887 law that divided Native American reservation land into individual plots in an attempt to force Native Americans to adopt American farming practices and culture.
Dawes Act
The act of donating money, time, or resources to help others.
Philanthropy
A short war in 1898 between the United States and Spain that began after the explosion of the USS Maine and resulted in the U.S. gaining control of territories like Puerto Rico and the Philippines.
The Spanish-American War
A global war from 1914–1918 involving many countries, including the U.S., fought over alliances, land, and power.
World War 1