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Radical Republicans
A minority group that emerged in Congress during the Civil War. Led by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and Senator Charles Sumner, the Radicals demanded a stringent Reconstruction policy in order to punish the Southern states for seceding, and called for extended civil rights in the South. Often aligned with moderate Republicans during the early years of Reconstruction, Radical Republicans were a dedicated and powerful force in Congress until the mid-1870s.
Railroad strike
The first nationwide strike in the U.S. In 1877, workers on nearly every rail line from New York to San Francisco struck to protest wage cuts and firing. The riots provoked widespread violence and resulted in more than 100 deaths, prompting President Hayes to send in federal troops to subdue the angry mobs and restore order.
Rationalism
A school of thought heavily influenced by the Enlightenment. Rationalists criticized most traditional religion as irrational and unfounded. Proponents of rationalism held that religious beliefs should not simply be accepted but should instead be acquired through investigation and reflection.
Ronald Reagan
Republican, president from 1981 to 1989. His presidency revolved around two goals: economic prosperity and victory in the Cold War. Reagan initiated major tax cuts and a massive military buildup.
Reaganomics
Ronald Reagan’s economic philosophy which held that a that a capitalist system free from taxation and government involvement would be most productive. Reagan believed that the prosperity of a rich upper class would “trickle down” to the poor.
Reconstruction Act of 1867
The central law passed during Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Act invalidated state governments established under Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plans, provided for military occupation of the former Confederacy, and bound state governments to vote for black suffrage.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
Created by President Hoover in 1932 to make loans to large economic institutions such as railroads and banks. The RFC loaned over $2 billion in 1932, but that amount was too little, too late in the fight against the Great Depression. The RFC continued operating under FDR.
Redemption
A political movement to overturn Reconstruction in the South. Redemption shifted the power in state governments from Republican to Democratic hands, undid Republican legislature, and reinstated the oppression of freedmen.
Republican Party
Arose as the opposition party to the dominant Federalists during the Washington administration, Republicans (sometimes known as Democratic-Republicans) aimed to limit the power of central government in favor of states’ rights and individual liberty. A long period of Republican dominance began with Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800 and ended with Democrat Andrew Jackson’s election in 1828. A new Republican Party was formed in the mid-1850s after the collapse of the Whig Party. As a sectional party concentrated in the North, the Republican Party focused primarily on promoting the issue of free soil. In 1860, the party successfully elected Abraham Lincoln president, and dominated politics during the Civil War and early Reconstruction. Because of its origin as an antislavery party, the Republican Party held the black vote for over sixty years, until FDR’s New Deal policies caused black voters align with the Democrats.
Revenue Act of 1942
Raised taxes to help finance the war effort. The act hiked rates for the wealthiest Americans and included new middle- and lower-income tax brackets, vastly increasing the number of Americans responsible for paying taxes.
Revolutionary War
Began with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The American colonists defeated the British and won independence.
Robber barons
Wealthy entrepreneurs and businessmen during the Industrial Age. Notable robber barons include Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
John D. Rockefeller
Chairman of the Standard Oil Trust, which grew to control nearly all of the United States’ oil production and distribution.
Roe v. Wade
The 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized most first- and second-trimester abortions in the United States. Roe v. Wade represented a major victory for the women’s rights movement.
John Rolfe
An English settler in Jamestown. Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan tribe, and introduced the Jamestown colonists to West Indian tobacco in 1616. Tobacco soon became the colony’s lifeblood, bringing in much revenue and many immigrants eager for a share in the colony’s expanding wealth.
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
Declared (during Roosevelt’s 1904 State of the Union address) that the United States, not Europe, should dominate the affairs of Latin America, and that although the U.S. had no expansionist intentions, any “chronic wrongdoing” by a Latin American nation would justify U.S. intervention as a global police power.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Democrat, president from 1933 until his death in 1945. FDR broke the unofficial tradition initiated by George Washington of presidents serving no more than two terms in office. FDR was the architect of the New Deal and the visible force behind the United States’ efforts at recovery from the Great Depression. In forging the New Deal, FDR exercised greater authority than perhaps any president before him, giving rise to a new understanding of the role and responsibility of the president. Under FDR’s leadership, the modern Democratic Party was formed, garnering support from labor unions, blacks, urban workers, and farmers. In the later years of his presidency, FDR heavily supervised both the civilian and military effort in World War II. He has been called the most popular president in American history.
Theodore Roosevelt
President from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt rose to fame as the leader of the Rough Riders, a volunteer unit during the Spanish-American War. He went on to become governor of New York and was vice president to William McKinley during McKinley’s second term in office. After McKinley’s assassination in 1901, Roosevelt assumed the presidency, and served until 1909 (he won the 1904 election). A Progressive reformer, he worked to regulate the activities of corporations and protect consumers and workers. Roosevelt pursued an aggressive style of foreign relations known as “big stick” diplomacy.
The Rosenbergs
Husband and wife who, in 1950, were accused of spying for the Soviets. The Rosenbergs countered the accusation on the grounds that their Jewish background and leftist beliefs made them easy targets for persecution. In a trial closely followed by the American public, the Rosenbergs were convicted and sentenced to death. They were executed on June 19, 1953.
Rosie the Riveter
A popular advertising character during World War II. Rosie the Riveter—a well-muscled woman carrying a rivet gun—symbolized the important role American women played in the war effort at home. “Rosie” represented the new, hard-working, independent woman.
Russo-Japanese War
Fought from 1904–1905. The war pitted Russia against Japan in a battle over Manchuria, China. Roosevelt aided in the negotiation of a peace treaty in the interest of maintaining the balance of power in the Far East, an area recently opened to American business through the Open Door policy.