Acts/Amendments passed Flashcards
Thirteenth Amendment
1864 - Formally freed all slaves in the USA
Civil Rights Bill (Reconstruction)
1866 - Gave minimum rights to African Americans
Fourteenth Amendment
1868 - All US citizens were guaranteed equality before the law
Military Reconstruction Bill
1867 - Imposed military rule on the South unless they accepted black suffrage and the Fourteenth amendment
Command of the Army Act
1867 - Reduced Johnson’s military power
Tenure of Office Act
1867 - Prevented Johnson from removing a host of office-holders
Fifteenth Amendment
1869 - Right to vote should not be denied on account of race, colour, or previous conditions of servitude
Homestead Act
1862 - Gave 160 acres of free land to farmers in the West provided that they farm it for five years
Timber and Culture Act
1873 - Gave an additional 160 acres of free land provided 40 acres were planted with trees
Desert and Land Act
1877 - Offered a further 640 acres of land at $1.25 dollars an acre provided some of it was irrigated
Pacific Railroad Act
1862 - Authorised the construction of a transcontinental railroad
Monroe Doctrine
1823 - US policy was to avoid involvement in European wars unless American interests were involved or threatened
Pendleton Act
1883 - Established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation
Chinese Exclusion Act
1882 - Prohibited Chinese immigration for 10 years
Dawes General Allotment Act
1887 - Broke up Native American reservation land into units held by individuals or families, those who accepted this and ‘adopted habits of civilised life’ would be granted citizenship after 25 years
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
1890 - Government had to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver each month to use in production of coinage
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
1890 - Any trust that restricted trade between states or between foreign nations was declared illegal
Hepburn Act
1906 - Gave federal government commission to inspect book of railroad companies and lay down maximum rates they could charge
Federal Reserve Act
1913 - Created the first central banking system in the USA
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
1914 - Gave more powers for enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and made certain business practices illegal
Underwood Tariff Act
1913 - Reduced many duties and freed certain items from duties entirely
Sixteenth Amendment
1913 - Introduced federal income tax
Revenue Act
1916 - Taxed business profits and estates as well as incomes
Workmen’s Compensation Act
1916 - Ensured federal employees absent from work because of injury/illness received financial assistance
Adamson Act
1916 - Laid down a maximum 8 hour day for railroad workers
Seventeenth Amendment
1913 - States must elect US senators by direct popular vote
Eighteenth Amendment
1919 - Enforced prohibition
Nineteenth Amendment
1920 - Secured voting rights for women nationwide
Literacy Act
1917 - All foreigners wishing to enter the US had to take a literacy
Immigration Quota Act
1921 - This introduced a quota system, immigrants were allowed in as a proportion to the number of people of the same nationality who were in America in 1910
Immigration Act
1929 - Fixed immigration at 150000 per year
Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act
1930 - Protected US farmers by increasing import duties on foreign goods