G2 Glossary
civil rights cases (p. 537) A group of cases in 1883 in which the
U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the Civil Rights
Act of 1875, which had prohibited racial discrimination in hotels,
theaters, and other privately owned facilities. The Court ruled that
theFourteenth Amendmentbarred state governments from dis-
criminating on the basis of race but did not prevent private indi-
viduals, businesses, or organizations from doing so.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (p. 687) ANew Dealpro-
gram to provide government jobs in reforestation, flood control,
and other conservation projects to young men between ages eigh-
teen and twenty-five.
Clayton Antitrust Act (p. 577) Legislation that strengthened
antitrust laws. Passed in 1914, it outlawed interlocking direc-
torates, exempted labor unions from antitrust laws, and limited the
use of injunctions in labor disputes.
Coercive Acts (p. 108) A series of laws passed by Parliament in
1774 to punish Boston and Massachusetts for the destruction of
tea during the “Boston Tea Party.” Many colonists, who regarded
these and similar laws as “intolerable,” moved closer toward war.
Columbian Exchange (p. 27) The transfer of plants, animals, and
diseases from Europe, Africa, and Asia to and from the Americas
after Columbus’s fateful voyage in 1492.
Common Sense(p. 117) An influential tract, published by Thomas
Paine in January 1776, calling for American independence from
Great Britain and establishment of a republican government.
Compromise of 1850 (p. 315) Several laws that together sought
to settle several outstanding issues involving slavery. They banned
the slave trade, but not slavery in Washington, DC; admitted
California as a free state; applied popular sovereignty to the
remaining Mexican Cession territory; settled the Texas-New
Mexico boundary dispute; and passed a more stringentFugitive
Slave Act.
Compromise of 1877 (p. 427) A brokered arrangement whereby
Republican and Democratic leaders agreed to settle the disputed
1876 presidential election. Democrats allowed returns that
ensured the election of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes; and
Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South,
ensuring an end to Reconstruction.
Comstock Lode (p. 444) The first major vein of silver ore in
the United States, discovered in the late 1850s, near Virginia
City, Nevada.
conquistadores(p. 22) The Spanish term for “conquerors,” specif-
ically the explorers, adventurers, and soldiers who crushed the
native peoples of the Americas.
Conservation (p. 572) The efficient management and use of nat-
ural resources, such as forests, grasslands, and rivers; it represents a
“middle-of-the-road” policy as opposed to the uncontrolled
exploitation of such resources or the preservation those resources
from any human exploiters.
Continental army (p. 115) The regular or professional army
authorized by the Second Continental Congress, mostly under
the command of General George Washington during the
Revolutionary War.
Contract with America (p. 852) A pledge, signed by many
Republicans running for Congress in 1994, to support conserva-
tive reforms limiting federal power and expenditures. Championed
by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, it contributed to a Republicansome 1,500 Cuban exiles was routed at the Bay of Pigs, a major
embarrassment for President John F. Kennedy.
beat school (p. 778) Also known as “beats,” “beatniks,” or the
“beat generation”—nonconformists in the late 1950s who rejected
conventional dress and sexual standards and cultivated avant-garde
literature and music.
Berlin airlift (p. 743) U.S. effort to deliver supplies including
2 million tons of food and coal by air to West Berlin in
1948–1949 in response to the Soviet blockade of the city.
Berlin wall (p. 767) Erected by East Germany in 1961 and torn
down by a Dutch company in 1989, the wall isolated West Berlin
from the surrounding areas in communist controlled East Berlin
and East Germany.
Bill of Rights (p. 154) The first ten amendments to the
United States Constitution (adopted in 1791); they protected
individual liberties and states’ rights against the power of the
national government.
Black Codes (p. 407) Special laws passed by southern state and
municipal governments after the Civil War that denied free blacks
many rights of citizenship.
Bland-Allison Silver Purchase Act (p. 545) An 1878 compro-
mise law that that provided for the limited coinage of silver.
Blitzkrieg(p. 705) A German tactic in World War II, translated
as “lightning war,” involving the coordinated attack of air and
armored firepower.
Bonus Army (p. 679) A gathering of 20,000 Great War veterans
in Washington, DC in June 1932, to demand immediate payment
of their “adjusted compensation” bonuses voted by Congress in
- Congress rejected their demands, and President Hoover
ordered U.S. troops to drive them from the capital.
Boston Massacre (p. 105) A violent confrontation between
British troops and a Boston mob on March 5, 1770; the soldiers
opened fire and killed five, an incident that inflamed sentiment
against the British.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka(p. 757) The 1954
Supreme Court decision that held that racially segregated educa-
tion, which prevailed in much of the South, was unconstitutional.
The ruling overturned the doctrine of “separate but equal” that
had provided the legal justification for racial segregation ever since
the 1896 Plessy v. FergusonSupreme Court decision.
Camp David Accords (p. 803) A 1978 peace treaty between
Egypt and Israel, mediated by President Jimmy Carter, signed at
Camp David, a presidential retreat near Washington, DC.
carpetbaggers (p. 414) A pejorative term for Northerners who
went to the South after the Civil War to exploit the new political
power of freed blacks and the disenfranchisement of former
Confederates.
Central Powers (p. 613) Germany and its World War I allies—
Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
Chinese Exclusion Act (p. 436) A law passed by Congress in
1882 that prohibited Chinese immigration to the United States; it
was overturned in 1943.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (p. 772) Legislation outlawing dis-
crimination in public accommodations and employment on the
basis of race, skin color, sex, religion, or national origin.