planters Owners of large farms (or, more specifically, plantations) that were worked by twenty or more slaves. By 1860, planters had accrued a great deal of local, statewide, and national political power in the South despite the fact that they represented a minority of the white electorate. Planters’ dominance of southern politics demonstrated both the power of tradition and stability among southern voters and the planters’ success at convincing white voters that the slave system benefited all whites, even those without slaves. (pp. 400, 404, 407, 408, 409, 416, 421–422, 482)

plutocracy A society ruled by the richest members. The excesses of the Gilded Age and the fact that just 1 percent of the population owned more than half the real and personal property in the country led many to question whether the United States was indeed a plutocracy. (p. 614)

pogrom An organized and often officially encouraged massacre of an ethnic minority; usually used in reference to attacks on Jews. (p. 608)

popular sovereignty The idea that government is subject to the will of the people. Before the Civil War, this was the idea that the residents of a territory should determine, through their legislatures, whether to allow slavery. (pp. 438, 444, 430–431)

Populism A political movement that led to the creation of the People’s Party, primarily comprising southern and western farmers who railed against big business and advocated business and economic reforms, including government ownership of the railroads. The movement peaked in the late nineteenth century. The Populist ticket won more than 1 million votes in the presidential election of 1892 and 1.5 million in the congressional elections of 1894. The term populism has come to mean any political movement that advocates on behalf of the common person, particularly for government intervention against big business. (pp. 656, 657, 659)

predestination The idea that individual salvation or damnation is determined by God at, or just prior to, a person’s birth. The concept of predestination invalidated the idea that salvation could be obtained through either faith or good works. (p. 98) See also Calvinism.

progressivism (progressive movement) A wide-ranging twentieth-century reform movement that advocated government activism to mitigate the problems created by urban industrialism. Progressivism reached its peak in 1912 with the creation of the Progressive Party, which ran Theodore Roosevelt for president. The term progressivism has come to mean any general effort advocating for social welfare programs. (pp. 614, 640, 643, 1072)

Protestantism A powerful Christian reform movement that began in the sixteenth century with Martin Luther’s critiques of the Roman Catholic Church. Over the centuries, Protestantism has taken many different forms, branching into numerous denominations with differing systems of worship. (pp. 54–56, 86, 93, 94, 339, 347, 439, 587)

Protestant Reformation See Reformation.

Puritanism The ideas and religious principles held by dissenters from the Church of England, including the belief that the church needed to be purified by eliminating the elements of Catholicism from its practices. (pp. 91–92, 93–97, 101)