The Gilded Age, Politics, and Society

Union

an organized association of workers formed to protect and further their rights and interest

Strike

a work stoppage by employees to force an employer to accept their demands

Boycott

the refusal to work for a company (e.g. purchasing or handling goods, products, or services)

Sabotage

Workers on strike might destroy materials from their workplace in retaliation

Lockout

an employer prevents employees from working to force the union to comply to the company’s terms in a labor dispute

Yellow Dog Contract

an agreement between the employee and employer that prevents the employee from joining or supporting a labor union during employment

Scabs

a worker that is hired to break a strike during work stoppage

“Cross the Picket Line”

working at a location where a union is on strike and picketing (e.g. standing outside of a work location to make an issue known to the public)

Laissez-Faire

Hands off approach to economic matters, no government regulation (limited role in buisness), social darwinism

Tariffs

A tax on imported/exported goods; high tariffs were favored (encouraged people to buy American goods)

Subsidy

A payment made by the government to encourage the development of certain key industries (e.g. Transcontinental Railroad)

Socialism

Economic and political philosophy that favors public/social control of property and income, not private control; society should be in charge of the nation’s wealth, not individuals; wealth should be distributed to everyone; many Americans opposed socialism

Knights of Labor

National Union organized in 1869; Hoped to organize ALL working men and women (including African Americans, skilled or unskilled); pursued broad social reform (equal pay for equal work, 8 hours work day, end to child labor): had failed strikes and disappeared by the 1890’s

Wobblies

Assembled in 1905 in Chicago; opposed the AFL; focused on unskilled workers, but included everyone; moslty radical socialists; had violent strikes

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Organized by Samuel Gompers in 1886; Only skilled workers in a network of smaller unions each devoted to a specific craft; excluded women and African Americans; fought for better wages, hours, and working conditions; relied on economic pressures of boycotts and strikes

Collective Bargaining

A process in which workers negotiate as a group with employers

Effects of the Great Strikes

Violence, property damage, arrests; some unions lost support, some gained national recognition; spread ideas/other strikes/leaders; establishment of Unions/workers protections (8 hours work day, collective bargaining, child labor laws

Political Machine

Unofficial city organization/ring of people'; designed to keep a particular party or group in power; usually headed by a single, powerful “boss”

Tammany Hall

NYC’s most powerful Democratic political machine

Boss Tweed

William Marcy Tweed; one of the most powerful political bosses of the time

Thomas Nast

A cartoonist who attacked the graft, corruption, and theft carried out by the Tweed Ring and Tammany Hall through his images featured in Harper’s Weekly and The New York Times; resulted in voters turning against Tweed in the November election of 1871

Graft

A form of political corruption defined as the immoral use of a politician’s authority for personal gain

James Garfield

President of US; hoped to reform Spoils System; Assassinated in July 1881 and died 3 months later; lawyer shot him in a train station because he expected a job from Garfield and he wa a loyal Republican; death caused a public outcry against the Spoils System

Spoils System

Introduced by A. Jackson in 1829; Elected officials appointed friends and supporters to government jobs regardless of their qualifications; ensured loyalty - pay off those who helped with elections, etc; By 1870’s the government was filled with unqualified, dishonest people

Rutherford B. Hayes

Elected in 1870; refused to use the Spoils System and reformed the Civil Service; resulted in many angry people and great opposition from Congress; appointed qualified politicians to positions and fired unqualified ones; strengthened the government, but not the Republican Party; didn’t seek second term

Chester A. Arthur

VP for Garfield; Defender of the Spoils system until Garfields death; Reforms Civil Service Act as new president; passed Pendleton Service Act as a law in 1883

Pendleton Civil Service Act/Reform

Civil service reform; requires a civil service exam to acquire certain positions workign for the government (e.g. police firefighters, etc)

Plessy v. Ferguson

A Supreme Court case about a strategic group of African Americans who tried to challenge the Jim Crow Separate Car Act in Louisiana by placing a fair-skinned Creole black man named Homer Plessy on the “whites only” railcar; the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Louisiana; resulted in the legalization of the “separate but equal” doctrine; violated the 13th and 14th amendments

Jim Crow

A character in a minstrel show; Daddy Rice, a white actor, would cover his face with charcoal and sing and dance in a silly way, which was used to describe black people in a negative way; the term is also used to describe any racist law that limited the rights of black people

Jim Crow laws

A system of legal segregation; public places, education, voting restriction with poll tax and grandfather clauses (“If your grandfather was a slave, then you can’t vote”); Anyone was considered black if you has one great grandparent who was black (1/8 African heritage)

Minstrel Shows

An American form of entertainment developed in the early 19th century; each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that mocked people specifically of African descent

Segregation

The legal separation of white and black people; Legalized at the federal level through Plessy v. Ferguson

Booker T. Washington

Born into slavery in Virginia and was nine years old when the Civil War ended. Graduated from the Hampton Institute, a vocational school that provided “moral” instructions to students formerly enslaved; founded the Tuskegee Institute that provided industrial and academic training for African Americans; believed that industrial education and vocational training would build the social status and economic self-sufficiency for African Americans; not a strong advocate for women’s rights and didn’t support women’s suffrage

W.E.B. DuBois

Raised in a free, land-owning family in Mass and attended integrated public schools; a talented student who was the first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard University; believed that African Americans should also have access to a classical education that focused on math, history, Latin, and Greek; created the “Talented Tenth”; advocate for women’s rights and suffrage

The Atlanta Riot

A deadly outbreak of white mobs that killed 25 African Americans and injured hundreds and destroyed black-owned businesses; caused by false newspaper reports about black men assaulting white women; law enforcement would often stand by or aid these white mobs; resulted in the NAACP’s formation

The Talented Tenth

An elite group of African American students and leaders; Du Bois motive with this group was to promote the rights and interests of all Africans Americans

A Woman’s Life in 1900

Job opportunities; work at home was still essential

The Woman Question

“Social Role”, voting, control of their own property and income, access to higher education and professional jobs; new lifestyle (dress, behavior, hairstyles), dating/marriage customs, rise in divorce rate, a push for legalization of information about birth control

Debate over Women’s role in Society

People thought it would upset social order and destroy femininity to allow women to have job opportunities, control of property, etc