Chapter 1
Reconstruction
Returning the south back to the union
impeachment
The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution.
Sitting Bull
American Indian chief, he lead the victory of Little Bighorn
Homestead Act
1862 - provided free land in the west as long as the person would settle there and make improvements in five years
Sharecropping
Poor people contracted with landowners to work the land and get a share of the crop
Freedmans Bureau
A federal agency that helped freed slaves & relieve the South's immediate needs
Fourteenth Amendment
made "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" citizens of the country
Chief Joseph
Leader of Nez Perce. Fled with his tribe to Canada instead of reservations. However, US troops came and fought and brought them back down to reservations
Exodoster
African Americans who migrated from the South to the West fter the Civil War
Manifest Destiny
the belief that the United States was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean
Andrew Johnson
U.S. president after Lincoln, almost impeached by the Radical Republicans
Cash crop
a readily salable crop that is grown and gathered for the market (as vegetables or cotton or tobacco)
assimilate
become similar to one's environment
Redeemer
Southerners who wanted to return the South to the way it was before the Civil War
open-range system
property was not fenced in though ranchers claimed ownership and knew the boundaries of their property , cattle from any ranch grazed freely across those boundaries.
Thirteenth Amendment
the constitutional amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude.
Farmer's Alliance
A Farmers' organization founded in late 1870s; worked for lower railroad freight rates, lower interest rates, and a change in the governments tight money policy
vigilante
someone who takes law enforcement into his or her own hands
Transcontinental Railroad
Railroad connecting the west and east coasts of the continental US
Sand Creek Massacre
n attack on a village of sleeping Cheyenne Indians by a regiment of Colorado militiamen on 29 November 1864 that resulted in the death of more than 200 tribal members
Radical Republicans
Political party that favored harsh punishment of Southern states after civil war
reservation
land set aside for the Native Americans
land grant
land given by a government
Sitting Bull
American Indian chief, he lead the victory of Little Bighorn
Dawes General Allotment Act
1887 law that divided reservation land into private family plots