HIS 356 I.D. Section Midterm

Muscular Christianity

A 19th century movement that combined physical strength, religious faith, and moral integrity. Originated in England and later spread to the U.S., it promoted the idea that physical fitness was vital to moral character and Christian virtue. The movement influenced the creation of organizations like the YMCA and shaped school athletics and public attitudes toward sports as moral training. Figures such as Thomas Hughes, author of “Tom Brown’s School Days” and President Theodore Roosevelt’s idea of a “strenuous life,” popularized Muscular Christianity in America, connecting fitness, patriotism, and manly virtue with moral and spiritual duty. 

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers, the American Federation of Labor focused on improving wages, hours, and working conditions for SKILLED workers. Unlike earlier broad-based unions, the AFL emphasized “pure and simple” unionism, prioritizing collective bargaining and avoiding radical political movements. It organized workers into craft unions by skill and became a dominant force in American labor representing realistic, gradual progress for workers rather than revolutionary change.

Bloody Shirt

The “Bloody Shirt” was a political strategy used by post-Civil War Republicans to remind voters of the sacrifices of Union soldiers and to associate Democrats with the Confederacy and treason. By “waving the bloody shirt,” Republicans stirred wartime memories to gain support and secure control over Reconstructionist policies. Helped Republicans maintain political dominance in the postwar era.

Carpetbaggers

A derogatory term used by Southerners during Reconstruction to describe Northerners who moved South after the Civil War. Many were portrayed as opportunists seeking political or economic gain, but others came with genuine intentions to rebuild the South. They often aligned with Southern Republicans (including African Americans and “scalawags”), and though their role was controversial, they were key in establishing new governments and reforms in the postwar South.

“Cross of Gold” Speech

Delivered by William Jennings Bryan at the 1896 Democratic National Convention. The speech passionately defended bimetallism (the use of both gold and silver to back U.S. currency, in opposition to the gold standard.) Bryan argued that the gold standard oppressed farmers and working-class Americans while benefiting industrialists and bankers. His famous line “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold,” symbolized his populist appeal and won him the Democratic nomination, marking a key movement in the Populist’s movement and influence on national politics.

Ellis Island

Opened in 1892 in New York Harbor and served as the primary immigration processing center for the United States until 1954. Millions of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe passed through its inspection stations seeking a new life in America. The island symbolizes both the hope and hardship of the immigrant experience. It remains a symbol of America’s identity as a “nation of immigrants.”

Equality State

Refers to Wyoming, which earned this title for being the first U.S. territory to grant women the right to vote in 1869. Wyoming’s commitment to gender equality extended to women serving on juries and holding public office, including the first female justice of the peace, Esther Hobart Morris. The name symbolizes Wyoming’s pioneering role in women’s rights and suffrage, decades before the 19th Amendment was ratified.

Daniel Chester French

1850-1931, one of America’s most renowned sculptors, celebrated for creating iconic monuments that capture American ideals. His most famous work is the seated statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. French also sculpted The Minute Man in Concord, Massachusetts, honoring the Revolutionary War soldiers. His classical style is a representation of American democracy, heroism, and civic virtue.

Homestead Strike

A violent 1892 labor conflict between the Carnegie Steel Company and its workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania. After management led by Henry Clay Frick attempted to cut wages and break the union, workers went on strike and locked out the plant. Frick hired Pinkertons to regain control, resulting in a bloody battle that left several dead. The strike’s failure marked a major defeat for labor unions and highlighted growing tensions between industrial capitalists and workers during the Gilded Age.

Hull House

A settlement house founded in Chicago in 1889 by reformers Jane Addams. It provided education, childcare, healthcare, and employment assistance to poor immigrants and working-class families. Hull House became a center for social reform, promoting labor laws, public health, women’s rights, and education. Jane Addams used the institution to advance the Progressive Movement and advocate for social justice Nationwide.

Muckrakers

Progressive Era journalists and writers who exposed corruption, inequality, and social injustices in politics and businesses during the early 1900s. Their investigative works brought issues like monopolies, unsafe working conditions, and urban poverty to public attention. Notable muckrakers included Upton Sinclair. Their work spurred reforms in food safety, labor laws, and anti-trust regulation, helping shape the Progressive Movement.

Ghost Dance

A Native American religious movement in the late 19th century that promised the restoration of their land, disappearance of white settlers, and the return of the buffalo. Founded by Wovoka, it spread widely among Plains tribes, especially the Sioux. U.S. authorities feared it signaled rebellion and tried to suppress it, leading to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, where hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children were killed, marking the tragic end of armed Native resistance.

Promontory Point, Utah

The meeting point between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads established in 1869, completing the first transcontinental railroad. The symbolic “Golden Spike” ceremony joined the tracks, linking the East and West coasts and revolutionizing transportation, trade, and settlement across the United States. The event marked a milestone in national unity and industrial progress, but also contributed to Native displacement and labor exploitation of immigrant workers.

Rough Riders

A volunteer cavalry led by Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War in 1898. The unit was comprised of cowboys, miners, and Ivy League athletes. They gained prominence for their charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba, a key victory that contributed to U.S. success in the war. The Rough Riders boosted Roosevelt’s national reputation, paving the way for his political rise to presidency.

Social Darwinism

Applied Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human society, arguing that competition and “survival of the fittest” justified social inequality, imperialism, and capitalism. Prominent advocates like William Graham Sumner claimed that aiding the poor interfered with natural progress. This ideology was used to rationalize the wealth concentration, racial hierarchies, and colonial expansion during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, shaping attitudes towards poverty and reform.

W.T.C.U (Women’s Christian Temperance Union)

Founded in 1874, the W.T.C.U was one of the largest and most influential women’s reform organizations in the 19th century. Led by Frances Willard, it campaigned for temperance (aka prohibition of alcohol), as well as women’s suffrage, education, and social purity. The W.T.C.U viewed alcohol as a root cause of poverty and domestic issues, and helped mobilize women into political activism, playing a major role in both the Prohibition and women’s rights movements.

Stalwarts

A conservative faction of the Republican Party in the late 19th century who supported the traditional patronage or “spoils” system and opposed civil service reform. Led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, they clashed with the reformist “Half-Breeds” within the party. The conflict came to a head during President James Garfield’s administration, and Garfield’s assassination by a disgruntled office-seeker (Charles Guiteau) in 1881. This fueled public support for reform, leading to Chester A. Arthur changing his stance and passing the Pendleton Act of 1883.

Standard Oil

Founded by John D. Rockefeller in 1870, Standard Oil became the world’s first major industrial monopoly, dominating the American petroleum industry through vertical integration. By controlling nearly every aspect of oil refining, it symbolized the power of Gilded Age trusts. Ida Tarbell later exposed these aggressive business tactics and anti-trust pressure led the Supreme Court to dissolve Standard Oil under the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1911, setting a key precedent for federal regulation of monopolies.

Tweed Ring

A corrupt political organization led by William “Boss” Tweed of New York’s Tammany Hall during the 1860s and 1870s. Using bribery, Tweed and his associated embezzled millions from the city treasury. Cartoonist Thomas Nast’s political cartoons and journalism eventually exposed the corruption, leading to Tweed’s arrest and imprisonment. The scandal became a symbol of Gilded Age political corruption and the need for reform in urban governance.

White Man’s Burden

A phrase popularized by Rudyard Kipling’s 1899 poem, encapsulated the imperialist belief that Western powers had a moral duty to “civilize” and govern nonwhite people. The poem encouraged U.S. colonial rule in the Philippines following the Spanish-American War. It symbolized the era’s intertwining of an empire, racial hierarchy, and the self-proclaimed benevolence of Western domination.