Causes of the Civil War
What institution was at the center of tensions between the North and South that led to the Civil War?
Slavery.
What Union military plan aimed to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River?
The Anaconda Plan.
Which constitutional amendment guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the law?
The 14th Amendment.
What farming system required farmers to give landowners a portion of their crops and often kept freedmen economically dependent?
Sharecropping.
What federal law encouraged western settlement by offering eligible settlers land if they met certain requirements?
The Homestead Act of 1862.
What structures did Great Plains farmers use to pump groundwater because rainfall was often insufficient?
Windmills.
What political party was formed to represent farmers and workers and advocated economic and political reforms in the 1890s?
The Populist Party (People's Party).
What federal law passed in 1887 attempted to regulate interstate railroad rates and prohibit unfair railroad practices?
The Interstate Commerce Act.
What right did many white Southerners believe states possessed that allowed them to leave the Union?
The right to secede (states' rights).
Why did the Union impose a naval blockade on the Confederacy?
To prevent supplies and trade goods from reaching the South.
Republicans disagreed about whether Congress or which government official should control Reconstruction?
The president.
What laws passed in Southern states after the Civil War restricted the freedoms and rights of African Americans?
Black Codes.
What federal government system forced many Native Americans onto designated lands to make room for white settlers?
The reservation system.
What happened to crop prices when farmers produced more agricultural products than consumers demanded?
Crop prices fell.
What Populist reform required wealthier Americans to pay a higher percentage in taxes?
A graduated income tax.
What state laws were passed to regulate railroad rates and prevent unfair practices against farmers?
Granger Laws.
Which 1857 Supreme Court decision denied citizenship to African Americans and intensified conflicts over slavery?
Dred Scott v. Sandford.
What order was issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 transformed the Civil War into a moral struggle against slavery?
The Emancipation Proclamation.
What Reconstruction program divided the South into five military districts and required Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment?
Congressional Reconstruction (Radical Reconstruction).
Which constitutional amendment prohibited denying voting rights based on race, color, or previous enslavement?
The 15th Amendment.
What 1887 federal law divided Native American tribal lands into individual plots and threatened traditional Native American cultures?
The Dawes Act.
What expensive agricultural items forced many farmers to borrow money and accumulate debt?
Farm machinery and equipment.
What 1892 Populist Party document demanded the free coinage of silver and gold at a ratio of 16 to 1?
The Omaha Platform.
What major project connected the eastern and western United States and encouraged western expansion?
The transcontinental railroad.
What doctrine did Stephen Douglas propose that allowed territorial governments to exclude slavery by refusing to pass laws protecting it?
The Freeport Doctrine.
What a consequences of the Civil War?
The end of slavery.
What group of Republicans in Congress fought for stronger protections and political rights for formerly enslaved African Americans?
Radical Republicans
What is a voting restrictions were used to prevent African Americans from exercising their voting rights after Reconstruction?
Poll taxes and literacy tests.
Grandfather Clauses
What material did many settlers use to construct houses on the Great Plains because trees were scarce?
Sod.
What powerful companies charged farmers unfair shipping rates and controlled access to markets?
Railroad monopolies.
Which presidential candidate delivered the famous Cross of Gold speech in 1896, criticizing the gold standard?
William Jennings Bryan.
An 1895 Florida law required Black and white students to attend separate schools. What system of legalized discrimination did this represent?
Jim Crow segregation.
Who won the presidential election of 1860, triggering the secession of Southern states?
Abraham Lincoln
What constitutional protection against unlawful detention did Abraham Lincoln controversially suspend during the Civil War?
Habeas corpus.
What term described Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War?
Carpetbaggers.
Which 1896 Supreme Court decision upheld racial segregation under the separate-but-equal doctrine?
Plessy v. Ferguson.
What term describes the government policy that pressured Native Americans to abandon traditional cultures and adopt mainstream American customs?
Assimilation (Americanization).
What farmers' organization worked to reduce rural isolation and protect farmers' economic interests?
The Grange.
What monetary policy supported using both gold and silver as currency to expand the money supply, raise crop prices, and make farmers' debts easier to repay?
Bimetallism.
What Union victory in 1863 gave the North control of the Mississippi River?
Battle of Vicksburg