Glossary

American Passages: A History of the United States, Brief, 1st Edition
Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky, Soderlund

R & D: Research and development.

RAND: An acronym for Research and Development.

Restoration Era: The period when the Stuart dynasty under Charles II was restored to the throne of England. It ended with the overthrow of James II in 1688-1689.

Rough Riders: A voluntary cavalry unit that fought in Cuba; it was made up of Ivy League gentlemen, western Indian fighters, and cowboys.

rage militaire: A French term used to describe enthusiasm for the cause that encouraged thousands to volunteer for military service in 1775 and 1776.

rail head: The end of a railroad, or the farthest point on the track.

railroad gauge: The distance between the rails on which wheels of railroad cars fit. The national standard gauge adopted in 1886 was four feet, eight and one-half inches.

rainfall follows the plow: The erroneous belief that settlement and cultivation somehow changed the weather. Evolved due to heavier than normal precipitation during the 1870s and 1880s.

real wages: The relationship between wages and the consumer price index. If wages rise more than the rate of inflation or fall less than the rate of deflation, then real wages are increasing.

realism: A philosophy that prized detachment, objectivity, and skepticism. It arose in the 1890s in response to a widespread sense that prevailing attitudes were no longer relevant to the radical transformation that society was undergoing. Realistic writers brought shadowy figures vividly to life.

rebates: Certain big businesses were given a reduction in freight rates or a refund by the railroads.

recall: A political device that allowed voters to remove from office any public servant who had betrayed their trust.

red herring: A term used to describe an issue used to distract voters from more controversial or serious issues.

red scare: Fear of internal subversion. Many Americans assumed that there existed a radical movement determined to establish a Communist government in the United States.

redemptioners: This term described servants who were employed in a type of indentured contract that allowed them to find masters after they arrived in the colonies. It was attractive to couples because it allowed them to stay together. Many German settlers were redemptioners.

redlining: The refusal by banks and loan associations to grant loans for home buying and business expansion in neighborhoods that contained aging buildings, dense populations, and growing numbers of nonwhites.

referendum: A political device that gave voters the right to repeal an unpopular act that a state legislature had passed. Voters decided the issue directly in general elections.

referendum: The procedure of allowing voters to cast their votes on controversial issues alone. This was expected to settle the slavery issue in Kansas peacefully, but it did not.

religious bigotry: The intolerance of one by another based on religious beliefs or practices.

repatriation: Return of immigrants to the country of their origin. In the 1930s, repatriation efforts focused on Mexican immigrants in California.

republics: Independent Indian villages that were willing to trade with the British and remained outside the French system of Indian alliances.

restorationism: The belief that all theological and institutional changes since the end of biblical times were man-made mistakes and that religious organizations must restore themselves to the purity and simplicity of the apostolic church. This creed rejected learning and tradition and raised to priesthood all believers.

restraint of trade: An activity that prevents competition in the market place or free trade.

revival: An emotional religious meeting.

rifled: Process of cutting spiral grooves in a gun's barrel to impart a spin to the bullet. Perfected in the 1850s, it produced greater accuracy and longer range.

river gods: A group of wealthy intermarried families in the Connecticut River Valley towns, most of whom subsequently became loyalists.

rolling stock: Locomotives, freight cars, and other types of wheeled equipment owned by railroads.

royal colony: A colony controlled directly by the English king. The governor and council were appointed by the Crown.