Ulysses S. Grant

Question 1

Term

Answer 1

1869-1877

Question 2

Party

Answer 2

Republican

Question 3

15th Ammendment (1870)

Answer 3

granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”; However, through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans (Brinkley, 412)

Question 4

Enforcement Acts (1870-71)

Answer 4

criminal codes which protected blacks’ right to vote, to hold office, to serve on juries, and receive equal protection of laws; if the states failed to act and enforce these laws, the federal government had the right to intervene; created due to threats toward newly freed slaves about their political rights and freedoms (Brinkley, 421)

Question 5

Alabama Claims (1872)

Answer 5

a series of claims for damages by the U.S. government against the government of the United Kingdom for the assistance given to the Confederates during the American Civil War; Britain settled the matter by paying the United States $15.5 million for damages done by several warships built in Britain and sold to the Confederacy, which ended the dispute and ensuring friendly relations (http://history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/Alabama)(Office of the Historian, Introduction)

Question 6

Credit Mobilier Scandal (1872)

Answer 6

involved the Union Pacific Railroad and the Credit Mobilier of America construction company in the building of the western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad; Congressman Oakes Ames had distributed Credit Mobilier shares of stock to other congressmen, in addition to making cash bribes, during the Andrew Johnson presidency (Brinkley, 419)

Question 7

Panic Of 1873

Answer 7

a financial crisis which triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States; caused by the fall in demand for silver internationally (Brinkley, 419-420, 421)

Question 8

Crime of ‘73 (1873)

Answer 8

Fourth Coinage Act was enacted by the United States Congress in 1873; it embraced the gold standard, and demonetized silver. Western mining interests and others who wanted silver in circulation years later labeled this measure the “Crime of ‘73” (Brinkley, 542)

Question 9

Specie Resumption Act (1875)

Answer 9

a law in the United States of America which restored the nation to the gold standard through the redemption of previously unbacked United States Notes; further constricted the nation’s money supply and was seen by critics as an worsening factor of the so-called “Long Depression” which struck in 1873 (Brinkley, 420)

Question 10

Civil Rights Act 1875

Answer 10

: guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and prohibited exclusion from jury service; Supreme Court decided the act was unconstitutional in 1883 (Brinkley, 415)

Question 11

Election of 1876

Answer 11

one of the most contentious and controversial presidential elections in American history; first presidential election in 20 years in which the Democratic candidate won a majority of the popular vote; republican nomination: Rutherford B. Hayes democratic nomination: Samuel J Tilden; won by Hayes (Brinkley, 422-424)

Question 12

Compromise of 1877

Answer 12

ended Reconstruction in the South; Republican Rutherford B. Hayes became president over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden on the understanding that Hayes would remove the federal troops whose support was essential for the survival of Republican state governments in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana (Brinkley, 422-424)