A-70 ★ GLOSSARY
ently inferior to white people, as well as
the belief that slavery, in creating a perma-
nent underclass of laborers, made freedom
possible for whites. Other elements of the
argument included biblical citations.
Public Works Administration A New
Deal agency that contracted with private
construction companies to build roads,
bridges, schools, hospitals, and other pub-
lic facilities.
Pueblo Revolt Uprising in 1680 in which
Pueblo Indians temporarily drove Spanish
colonists out of modern- day New Mexico.
Pure Food and Drug Act Passed in 1906,
the first law to regulate manufacturing of
food and medicines; prohibited dangerous
additives and inaccurate labeling.
Puritans English religious group that
sought to purify the Church of England;
founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony
under John Winthrop in 1630.
Radical Republicans Group within the
Republican Party in the 1850s and 1860s
that advocated strong resistance to the
expansion of slavery, opposition to com-
promise with the South in the secession
crisis of 1860–1861, emancipation and
arming of black soldiers during the Civil
War, and equal civil and political rights
for blacks during Reconstruction.
Reagan Revolution The rightward turn
of American politics following the 1980
election of Ronald Reagan. The Reagan
Revolution made individual “freedom” a
rallying cry for the right.
Reaganomics Popular name for President
Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of “supply
side” economics, which combined tax
cuts with an unregulated marketplace.
reconquista The “reconquest” of Spain
from the Moors completed by King Ferdi-
nand and Queen Isabella in 1492.
Reconstruction Act 1867 law that estab-
lished temporary military governments
in ten Confederate states— excepting
Tennessee— and required that the statesincluding free coinage of silver, income
tax, postal savings, regulation of railroads,
and direct election of U.S. senators.
Porkopolis Nickname of Cincinnati,
coined in the mid- nineteenth century,
after its numerous slaughter houses.
Port Huron Statement A manifesto by
Students for a Democratic Society that
criticized institutions ranging from polit-
ical parties to corporations, unions, and
the military- industrial complex, while
offering a new vision of social change.
Potsdam conference Last meeting of the
major Allied powers; the conference that
took place outside Berlin from July 17 to
August 2, 1945, at which U.S. president
Harry Truman, Soviet dictator Joseph Sta-
lin, and British prime minister Clement
Attlee finalized plans begun at Yalta.
Proclamation of 1763 Royal directive
issued after the French and Indian War
prohibiting settlement, surveys, and land
grants west of the Appalachian Moun-
tains; caused considerable resentment
among colonists hoping to move west.
Progressive Party Political party created
when former president Theodore Roo-
sevelt broke away from the Republican
Party to run for president again in 1912;
the party supported progressive reforms
similar to those of the Democrats but
stopped short of seeking to eliminate
trusts. Also the name of the party backing
Robert La Follette for president in 1924.
Progressivism Broad- based reform
movement, 1900–1917, that sought gov-
ernmental action in solving problems in
many areas of American life, including
education, public health, the economy,
the environment, labor, transportation,
and politics.
proslavery argument The series of argu-
ments defending the institution of slavery
in the South as a positive good, not a nec-
essary evil. The arguments included the
racist belief that black people were inher-