1870s - 1890s; time period looked good on the outside, despite the corrupt politics & growing gap between the rich & poor
Ulysses S. Grant
an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.
Bold and unprincipled financier whose plot to corner the U.S. gold market nearly succeeded in 1869
United States financier who gained control of the Erie Canal and who caused a financial panic in 1869 when he attempted to corner the gold market (1836-1892)
an unofficial system of a political organization based on patronage, the spoils system, "behind-the-scenes" control, and longstanding political ties within the structure of a representative democracy.
a joint-stock company organized in 1863 and reorganized in 1867 to build the Union Pacific Railroad. It was involved in a scandal in 1872 in which high government officials were accused of accepting bribes.
During the Grant administration, a group of officials were importing whiskey and using their offices to avoid paying the taxes on it, cheating the treasury out of millions of dollars.
Secretary of War who resigned after pocketing bribes from suppliers to the Indian reservations
Panic of 1873
Four year economic depression caused by overspeculation on railroads and western lands, and worsened by Grant's poor fiscal response (refusing to coin silver
Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war (plural)
Rutherford B. Hayes
19th president of the united states, was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history
Compromise of 1877
This settled the election of 1876, troops were removed from Louisiana and South Carolina and concessions for building a southern transcontinental railroad made
Republicans fighting for civil service reform during Garfield's term; they supported Cleveland.
a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party.
James G. Blaine
a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time United States Secretary of State, and champion of the Half-Breeds. He was a dominant Republican leader of the post Civil War period, obtaining the 1884 Republican nomination, but lost to Democrat Grover Cleveland
Chester A. Arthur
an honorable man but firmly believe in the spoils system but eventually demolished it, took Rutherford B Hayes place when he was assinated
Pendleton Civil Service Act
1883 law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons
Tariff of 1883, a compromise measure that satisfied nobody. Duties were lowered on a few items, but increased on most manufactured goods.
A group of renegade Republicans who supported 1884 Democratic presidential nominee Grover Cleveland instead of their party's nominee, James G. Blaine.
a series of letters written by James G. Blaine to a Boston businessman, Warren Fisher Jr., that indicated Blaine had used his official power as Speaker of the House of Representatives to promote the fortunes of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad.
Sherman Anti-trust Act
First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions
a party made up of farmers and laborers that wanted direct election of senators and an 8hr working day
Depression of 1893
Profits dwindled, businesses went bankrupt and slid into debt. Caused loss of business confidence. 20% of the workforce unemployed. Let to the Pullman strike.
business mogul, financial power behind McKinley's nomination and his subsequent campaign for president; promised a strong and prosperous industrial nation; a mass media genius
William Jennings Bryan
Principle figure in Populist Party - served as Sec. of State under Wilson (resigned in protest of WWI) - prosecutor in the Scopes Trial
a monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is defined by stated amounts of two metals (usually gold and silver) with values set at a predetermined ratio
Cross of Gold
speech given by #16 which advocated free coinage of silver and inflationary economic policy
He wrote Progress and Poverty in 1879, which made him famous as an opponent of the evils of modern capitalism.
first discovered in 1858 by Henry Comstock, some of the most plentiful and valuable silver was found here, causing many Californians to migrate here, and settle Nevada.
Immigrant from Germany who produced the first denim pants in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush.
Pacific Railroad Act
"AN ACT to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes,"
cerated standered time, end of na, killed their food supply, brouth setlers west, connected the contry by shipingh goods all over the country, allowed cattle industry
the railroad company that began building of the transcontinental railroad from its eastern starting point in Omaha, Nebraska
Location where the Transcontinental railroad was completed May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven into the railroad track at this point, joining the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads
Interstate commerce commision
an agency that sets the laws for all the companies that do business across state lines
Area in the Wyoming territory where a treaty was signed by United States and the Lakota nation, Yanktonai Sioux, Santee Sioux, and Arapaho in 1868 guaranteeing to the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. The Powder River Country was to be henceforth closed to all whites. The treaty ended Red Cloud's War.
In 1890, after killing Sitting Bull, the 7th Cavalry rounded up Sioux at this place in South Dakota and 300 Natives were murdered and only a baby survived.
Dawes Severalty Act
Bill that promised Indians tracts of land to farm in order to assimilate them into white culture. The bill was resisted, uneffective, and disastrous to Indian tribes
a battle in Montana near the Little Bighorn River between United States cavalry under Custer and several groups of Native Americans (1876)
Passed in 1862, it gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years. The settler would only have to pay a registration fee of $25.
Frederick Jackson Turner
"The Significance of the Frontier in American History": American needed a frontier [inspired by "closing of frontier"]
Allows for creation of land-grant colleges, colleges built on federally granted land specially appropriated for this purpose. It was signed into law by Lincoln
Originally a social organization between farmers, it developed into a political movement for government ownership of railroads
The Long Drive
Cowboys who drove the cattle thousands of miles to the train station to be slaughtered at a meat packing facility.
United States financier who accumulated great wealth from railroad and shipping businesses (1794-1877)
He controlled the steel industry in the late 1800s by purchasing mines, ships, railroads, and mills-the means of steel production
John D. Rockefeller
Was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy.
Banker who buys out Carnegie Steel and renames it to U.S. Steel. Was a philanthropist in a way; he gave all the money needed for WWI and was payed back. Was one of the "Robber barons"
absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution
The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.
English philosopher and sociologist who applied the theory of natural selection to human societies (1820-1903)
United States labor leader (born in England) who was president of the American Federation of Labor from 1886 to 1924 (1850-1924)
United States labor leader (born in Ireland) who helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World (1830-1930)
Prominent socialist leader (and five time presidential candidate) who founded the American Railroad Union and led the 1894 Pullman Strike
Strike at Andrew Carnegie's steel plant in which Pinkerton detectives clashed with steel workers
Haymarket Square Riot
100,000 workers rioted in Chicago. After the police fired into the crowd, the workers met and rallied in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality. A bomb exploded, killing or injuring many of the police. The Chicago workers and the man who set the bomb were immigrants, so the incident promoted anti-immigrant feelings.
Chinese Exclusion Act
(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate.
This 1906 work by Upton Sinclair pointed out the abuses of the meat packing industry. The book led to the passage of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act.
5 or 6 story dwellings, with a shape to accommodate the air flow requirements, tenements built in New York City after the Tenement House Act of 1879 and before the so-called "New Law" of 1901.
A Danish immigrant, he became a reporter who pointed out the terrible conditions of the tenement houses of the big cities where immigrants lived during the late 1800s. He wrote How The Other Half Lives in 1890.
A leading muckraker and magazine editor, she exposed the corruption of the oil industry with her 1904 work A History of Standard Oil.
United States journalist who exposes in 1906 started an era of muckraking journalism (1866-1936)
American naturalist who wrote The Financier and The Titan. Like Riis, he helped reveal the poor conditions people in the slums faced and influenced reforms.
Ray Stannard Baker
He worked with Tarbell and Steffans at McClure's. Best known for his work "Railroads on Trial". He was the first prominent journalist to write on race relations in the South- "The Clashes of the Races in a Southern City." He believed that social justice required journalism of "righteous indignation."
a group of United States painters founded in 1907 and noted for their realistic depictions of sordid aspects of city life
the political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society
Vote on the initiative., a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate
Passed in 1913, this amendment to the Constitution calls for the direct election of senators by the voters instead of their election by state legislatures.
Republican Senator from Wisconsin - ran for president under the Progressive Party - proponent of Progressivism and a vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, World War I, and the League of Nations
fought for railroad regulation in California helped to break the dominant grip of the Southern Pacific Railroad on California politics in 1910
Charles Evans Hughes
Secretary of State under Harding, Proposed a 10-year moratorium on the construction of major new warships at the Washington Conference
reformer who worked to prohibit child labor and to improve conditions for female workers
National Child Labor Committee which is where children would work because women and children could be paid less than men. Gave laws today where children can't work under a certain age.
A lawyer and jurist, he created the "Brandeis Brief," which succinctly outlines the facts of the case and cites legal precedents, in order to persuade the judge to make a certain ruling.
Social reformer who worked to improve the lives of the working class. In 1889 she founded Hull House in Chicago, the first private social welfare agency in the U.S., to assist the poor, combat juvenile delinquency and help immigrants learn to speak English.
(Women's Christian Temperance Union) group organized in 1874 that worked to ban the sale of liquor in the U.S.
Dean of Women at Northwestern University and the president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
Susan B. Anthony
social reformer who campaigned for womens rights, the temperance, and was an abolitionist, helped form the National Woman Suffrage Assosiation
Seneca Falls Convention
Took place in upperstate New York in 1848. Women of all ages and even some men went to discuss the rights and conditions of women. There, they wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, which among other things, tried to get women the right to vote.
Carrie Chapman Catt
Spoke powerfully in favor of suffrage, worked as a school principal and a reporter ., became head of the National American Woman Suffrage, an inspiried speaker and abrilliant organizer. Devised a detailed battle plan for fighting the war of suffrage.
Ida B. Wells
an African American sociologist, civil rights leader and a women's rights leader active in the History of women's suffrage in the United States.
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920) extended the right to vote to women in federal or state elections.
Economic policy by Roosevelt that favored fair relationships between companies and workers
elimination trusts (groups of businesses working together) to ensure competition's prices are low
William H. Taft
27th US president, took over presidency after theodore Roosevelt, strengthened ICC, trust buster
28th president of the United States, known for World War I leadership, created Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Clayton Antitrust Act, progressive income tax, lower tariffs, women's suffrage (reluctantly), Treaty of Versailles, sought 14 points post-war plan, League of Nations (but failed to win U.S. ratification), won Nobel Peace Prize
Woodrow Wilson's program in his campaign for the presidency in 1912, the New Freedom emphasized business competition and small government. It sought to reign in federal authority, release individual energy, and restore competition. It echoed many of the progressive social-justice objectives while pushing for a free economy rather than a planned one.
Clayton Anti-Trust Act
New antitrust legislation constructed to remedy deficiencies of the Sherman Antitrust Act, namely, it's effectiveness against labor unions
Federal Reserve Act
Sparked by the Panic of 1893 and 1907, the 1913 Federal Reserve Act created the Federal Reserve System, which issued paper money controlled by government banks.
1st black to earn Ph.D. from Harvard, encouraged blacks to resist systems of segregation and discrimination, helped create NAACP in 1910
Booker T. Washington
felt that african americans should accept segregation and the best way to overcome it is to improve you farming an d vocational skills
Jim Crow Laws
Limited rights of blacks. Literacy tests, grandfather clauses and poll taxes limited black voting rights
Plessy v. Ferguson
a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal