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Gospel of Wealth
The belief that the wealthy have a responsibility to use their riches to advance social progress. Created by Andrew Carnegie and argued that the wealthy had a moral responsibility to carry out projects of civic philanthropy to help other members of society to better themselves and in turn improve society.
Muckrakers
Journalists who exposed corruption and problems in society during the Progressive Era.
Ida Tarbell
A muckraker known for her exposé on the Standard Oil Company's monopolistic practices. Revealed the corrupt practices of Rockefeller, which helped contribute to the eventual break-ups of trusts and create Anti-trust acts.
Thomas Nast
A political cartoonist who helped bring down Boss Tweed through his illustrations. Exposed the corruption of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall.
Upton Sinclair
Author of 'The Jungle,' which exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry. Helped bring attention to the need of a sanitation inspection for food companies.
Homestead Act
Legislation that granted land to settlers for agricultural development. Encouraged farmers on the Great Plains by offering 160 acres of public land free to any family that settled on it for a period of five years
The Grange
An agrarian organization that sought to improve the economic and social conditions of farmers. Existed in almost every state, with most in the Midwest. It expanded and became active in economics and politics to defend members against middlemen, trusts, and railroads.
Pacific Railway Act
Legislation that promoted the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, it provided federal funding and incentives to private companies such as land grants and loans.
Transcontinental Railroad
A railroad that connected the eastern and western coasts of the United States. The first route was authorized by Congress by land grants and loans. Chinese Immigrants led by Charles Crocker helped build the route. In four additional routes, companies built other shoreline and narrow-gauge railroads to open up the western interior to settlements by miners, ranchers, farmers, and business owners, leading to more towns and cities.
Sand Creek Massacre
The killing of a peaceful Cheyenne village by U.S. troops in 1864. Chivington’s militia in Colorado massacred in cold blood some four hundred Indians who thought they had been promised immunity.
Red Cloud's War
A series of conflicts between the U.S. government and Native Americans, led by Chief Red Cloud. Due to the discovery of gold in Montana and encroached on the Sioux lands which violated their treaty rights. “Fetterman Maassacre” Native forced led by Crazy Horse killed 81 soldiers. One of a few conflicts where Native Americans won a clear victory against the US Army.
Battle of Little Bighorn
A 1876 battle between U.S. cavalry and Native American forces, resulting in a significant Native American victory. When the Sioux tribe found gold, new settlers came to encroach on their land which made them angry. Aided by Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians which were inspired by Sitting Bull. Compared to the 2,500 Indians, the 250 US officers and men severely lost due to Custer’s ignorance.
Treaty of Ft. Laramie
An 1868 agreement which established peace between the U.S. and Native American tribes following Red Cloud’s War. The US agreed to abandon the Bozeman Trail and the forts along it and guaranteed the Sioux ownership of the Black Hills and established the Great Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. They promised the Sioux hunting rights on unceded lands. The government provided supplies and education to assimilate. The Sioux agreed to cease attacking the settlers.
Dawes Act
Legislation aimed to assimilate Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land. Divided tribal lands into plots of 160 acres and distributed it to American Indians but 90 million was given to white settlers.
Ghost Dance
A religious movement among Native Americans aiming to restore their way of life and drive out American settlers. The Sioux medicine man named Sitting Bull was arrested and killed. Then the US army gunned down more than 200 Indian men, women and children in the Battle of Wounded Knee and marked the end of the Indian Wars.
Wounded Knee
The site of a massacre in 1890 where U.S. troops killed hundreds of Sioux. Sioux Men, women, and children were massacred in the Dakotas at Wounded Knee in Pine Ridge which marked the end of the Indian Wars.
Plessy Vs Ferguson
A Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine. Upheld it for white and black passengers on the railroads. The court ruled that Louisiana’s law did not violate the 14th amendment.
Jim Crow Laws
State laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. These segregated washrooms, drinking fountains, park benches, and other public facilities. Only the use of streets and most stores were not restricted according to race.
Ida Wells
An African American journalist and activist who fought against lynching. Editor of the Memphis free speech, a black newspaper, campaigned against lynching and Jim Crow laws. Death threats and the destruction of her printing press forced her to carry on her work in the North.
Booker T. Washington
An African American leader who advocated for vocational education and economic advancement. He was born enslaved and established an industrial and agricultural school for African Americans in Tuskegee, Alabama. Promoted economic independence and growth for African Americans.
W.E.B. Dubois
An African American sociologist who fought for civil rights and co-founded the NAACP. Demanded an end to segregation and granting civil rights to African Americans.
NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization formed to fight for civil rights. A multiracial group including Du Bois, Ida Wells, and Mary White Ovington. Focused on ending racial discrimination and promoting equality through legal challenges, education and advocacy, worked to pass anti-lynching laws.
Telegraph
A communication device that transmitted messages over long distances using electrical signals. Created by Samuel Morse in 1844 which became a standard part of living especially in Northern states.
Department Stores
Large retail establishments offering a wide variety of goods organized into departments.
Thomas Edison
An inventor known for developing the light bulb and phonograph, the dynamo for generating electric power, the mimeograph machine, and the motion picture camera. Electric lights revolutionized life from the way they worked and shopped.
Alexander Graham Bell
The inventor of the telephone in 1876. He revolutionized communication and contributed to the industrial America.
Andrew Carnegie
A leading figure in the American steel industry and a philanthropist. Emigrated from Scotland and became the superintendent of a Pennsylvania railroad. He manufactured steel in Pittsburg and used vertical integration where a company would control every stage of the Industrial process.
U.S. Steel
A major American steel company formed by Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan. It was the first billion dollar company. It was the largest enterprise in the world, employing 168,000 people and controlling more than three-fifths of the nation’s steel business.
John D. Rockefeller
Founder of Standard Oil and a major figure in the oil industry. He applied new technologies and efficient management practices by keeping the price low for consumers to extort rebates from railroad companies and temporarily cut prices in order to force rival companies to sell out.
Standard Oil
A dominant oil refining company established by John D. Rockefeller. Controlled 90 percent of the oil refinery business which became a monopoly, a company that dominates a market so much that it faces little or no competition from other companies.
Vertical Integration
A business model where a company controls all aspects of production. For example, Carnegie Steel controlled coal mines, the ore ships, steel mills, and distribution systems for the steel company to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase profits.
Horizontal Integration
A business model where a company acquires (takes control of all former competitors) competitors in the same industry such as oil refining or coal mining.
Interlocking Directorates
A business practice where the same individuals serve on the boards of multiple companies. When railroad companies experienced bankruptcy, Morgan took control and consolidated them. However, the system was controlled by a few powerful men such as Morgan who dominated the boards of competing railroad corporations.
Trusts
Large business entities that use monopolistic practices to dominate the market. An organization or board that manages the assets of other companies. Under Rockefeller, Standard Oil became this in which one board of trustees managed a combination of once-competing oil companies.
Holding Companies
A company that owns the outstanding shares of other companies to form a corporate group. Created to own and control diverse companies. Morgan managed it that orchestrated the management of the companies it had acquired in various industries, such as banking, rail transportation, and steel.
Annexation of Hawaii
The 1898 incorporation of the Hawaiian Islands into the United States. The outbreak of war in the Philippines gave Congress and President McKinley the pretext. A group of American businessmen overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy.
Tenements
Crowded, often substandard apartment buildings in urban areas. New York City soon eventually put a law that for each bedroom, there must be a window.
Jacob Riis
A reformer and journalist known for his work on urban poverty. He exposed tenement lifestyles in New York’ slums to the upper class.
Knights of Labor
An early labor organization that sought to unite all workers. Opened membership to all workers, including African Americans and women. Powderly formed worker cooperatives to make each man his own employer, abolishing child labor, abolishing trusts and monopolies, and settling labor disputes by arbitration rather than strikes but he could not control them (they could strike).
American Federation of Labor
A national federation of labor unions focused on skilled workers. Founded in 1886 as an association of 25 craft unions of skilled workers, and led by Samuel Gompers until 1924, they focused on higher wages and improved working conditions. They walked out until the employer agreed to negotiate a new contract through collective bargaining.
Railway Strike of 1877
A major nationwide strike protesting wage cuts and poor working conditions. During an economic depression, the railroad companies cut wages in order to reduce costs. A strike on Baltimore and Ohio Railroad shut down two-thirds of the country’s rail lines. President Hayes had to use federal troops to end a labor dispute. 100 people had been killed.
Haymarket Riot
A violent confrontation in 1886 between police and labor protesters. May Day labor movement with anarchists who fought to overthrow the government. In response to it calling for a general strike to an eight-hour day, labor violence broke out at a plant. Workers held a public meeting in Haymarket Square, and as police attempted to break up the meeting, someone threw a bomb which killed 7 police officers. Knights of Labor were guilty by association.
Pullman Strike
A nationwide railroad strike in 1894 that disrupted rail traffic. Pullman cut wages and fired the leaders of the workers delegation who came to bargain. The workers laid down their tools and appealed to the American Railroad Union for help. Directed workers not to handle any trains with Pullman cars. President Cleveland ordered the workers to continue working so mail could continue.
Child Labor
The employment of children in industrial and manufacturing sectors. They are hired because they are cheap and small-many are killed in factories.
Ellis Island
An immigration station in New York Harbor for millions of immigrants arriving in the U.S. An immigrant center that new arrivals had to pass rigorous medical examinations and pay a tax before entering.
Angel Island
An immigration station on the West Coast that processed Asian immigrants in California. They scrutinized Chinese immigrants due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, subjecting them to lengthy detention and rigorous inspections before allowing entry.
Chinese Exclusion Act
A law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese labor immigration. Ended immigration of people from China. However, Japanese, Korean, and Filipino immigrants found work in Hawaii, and some settled in California and other states.
Social Darwinism
The belief that society progresses through competition, similar to natural selection. A social theory that justified inequality, imperialism, and racial hierarchies. Herbert Spencer argued that societal advancements depended on the success of the strongest individuals or groups.
Jane Addams
A social reformer who co-founded Hull House and advocated for immigrants. She was a settlement worker of Hull House in Chicago who was civil-minded volunteers who created the foundation for the later job of a social worker. Crusaded for child-labor laws, housing reform, and women’s rights.
Hull House
A settlement house in Chicago that provided social services to immigrants (women and children). Provided housing and education for those specific immigrants.
Lincoln Steffens
U.S. journalist and reformer. He worked for New York City newspapers and was managing editor of McClure's Magazine, where he began his famous muckraking articles exposing corruption in politics and big business.
Populist Movement
primarily composed of farmers who advocated for government intervention to regulate big businesses, control railroad rates, and implement policies that would benefit the common people against the interests of the wealthy elite
Greenback Labor Party
National political movement calling on the government to increase the money supply in order to assist borrowers and foster economic growth; these followers also called for greater regulation of corporations and laws enforcing an eight hour work day
Cross of Gold
A speech delivered by William Jennings Bryan at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that occurred in 1896. Bryan supported bimetallism, or free silver, which he believed would bring the nation prosperity. He vehemently opposed the gold standard, and famously said, "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold" The speech helped put him on as the Democratic presidential nomination. The nation since 1873 was bitterly divided on the monetary standard.
Laissez Faire
In economics, this means allowing industry to be free of state intervention, especially restrictions in the form of tariffs and government monopolies.
Interstate Commerce Act
Established the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission)-monitors the business operation of carriers transporting goods and people between states-created to regulate railroad prices.
Waving the bloody shirt
A term of ridicule used in the 1880s and 1890s to refer to politicians-especially Republicans-who, according to critics, whipped up old animosities from the Civil War era that ought to be set aside.
Credit Mobiler Scandal
a scandal that formed when a group of union pacific railroad insiders formed the credit mobiler construction company and then hired themselves to build the railroad with inflated wages. They bribed several congressmen and the vide president to keep the scandal from going public.
Tammany Hall
powerful New York political organization. It drew support from immigrants. The immigrants relied on the Hall patronage, particularly for social services. In return, they asked for ppl's votes on election day. Started as a social club and later developed into a power center to coordinate the needs of businesses, immigrants, and the underprivileged. These machines asked for people’s votes on Election Day.
Boss Tweed
disgraced American politician who was convicted for stealing millions of dollars from New York City taxpayers through political corruption; head of Tammany Hall.
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