Chapter 3 Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Native-born Americans

People born in the USA

recession

a period of temporary economic decline

Coinage Act of 1873

required all currency in the US to be backed by GOLD; helped cause the Panic of 1873

Bland-Allison Act (1878)

In 1878, this act allowed a limited coinage of silver each month at the standard silver-to-gold ratio of 16 to 1. (p. 385)

Gold Standard

a monetary system according to which the unit of currency has a precise value in gold

Free Silver Issue

Late 19th century public policy debate in which an inflammatory monetary policy was supported in order to aid farmers and debtors; opposed by bankers and creditors who favored the gold standard, it became the crucial issue in the presidential election of 1896; eventually was implemented during the New Deal with the elimination of the domestic gold standard and its replacement by fiat money

Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890

Directed the Treasury to buy even larger amounts of silver that the Bland-Allison Act and at inflated prices. The introduction of large quantities of overvalued silver into the economy led to a run on the federal gold reserves, leading to the Panic of 1893. Repealed in 1893.

Coxey's Army (1894)

A protest march by unemployed workers; led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey.

Currency Act of 1900

placed the US on the gold standard

Overproduction

A condition in which production of goods exceeds the demand for them

urbanization

the growth of cities

typhoid

an infectious bacterial fever with an eruption of red spots on the chest and abdomen and severe intestinal irritation.

Frederick Law Olmsted

a landscape engineer who designed Central Park in New York City and parks in other major U.S. cities

skyscrapper

a very tall building in a city

Louis Sullivan

United States architect known for his steel framed skyscrapers and for coining the phrase 'form follows function' (1856-1924)

slum

a heavily populated urban area characterized by substandard housing and squalor

Tenement

A building in which several families rent rooms or apartments, often with little sanitation or safety

Jacob Riss

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.

Settlement Houses

neighborhood centers in poor areas that offered education, recreation, and social activities

Hull House

settlement house founded by Progressive reformer Jane Addams in Chicago in 1889

Jane Addams

1860-1935. Founder of Settlement House Movement. First American Woman to earn Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 as president of Women's Intenational League for Peace and Freedom.

Tweed Ring

A symbol of Gilded Age corruption, "Boss" Tweed and his deputies ran the New York City Democratic party in the 1860s and swindled $200 million from the city through bribery, graft, and vote-buying. Boss Tweed was eventually jailed for his crimes and died behind bars.

Richard Croker

After the death of John Kelly he became the leader of Tammany Hall, and for some time almost completely controlled that organization. As head of Tammany, Croker received bribe money from the owners of brothels, saloons and illegal gambling dens. He survived Charles Henry Parkhurst's attacks on Tammany Hall's corruption and became a wealthy man.

Horatio Alger

Popular novelist during the Industrial Revolution who wrote "rags to riches" books praising the values of hard work

Joseph Pulitzer

He used yellow journalism in competition with Hearst to sell more newspapers. He also achieved the goal of becoming a leading national figure of the Democratic Party.