The Great American desert
The term Great American Desert was used in the 19th century to describe the part of North America east of the Rocky Mountains to approximately the 100th meridian. It can be traced to Stephen H. Long's 1820 scientific expedition which put the Great American Desert on the map.
1912 election
Roosevelt runs and lost, he was for; progressives/Bull Moose Party, new nationalism, was most progressive party in US history
Woodrow Wilson runs; Democrat, new freedom, won, adopt idea of big business
William Howard Taft; republican
Interstate Commerce Act
to stop discriminatory and predatory pricing practices (regulating the railroad)
social Darwinism
the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals. Now largely discredited, social Darwinism was advocated by Herbert Spencer and others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was used to justify political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention and reform.
W.E.B. DuBois
DuBois became director of publicity and research for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1909. The legal arm of the NAACP led the campaign to end segregation altogether, but it first targeted inequality in education
“Ashcan School”
The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods.
transcontinental railroad
By connecting the existing eastern U.S. rail networks to the west coast, the Transcontinental Railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad") became the first continuous railroad line across the United States. It was constructed between 1863 and 1869
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers (1850 –1924) founded the American Federation of Labor and served as its president for nearly 40 years, between 1886 and 1924, and the nation's leading trade unionist and labor spokesman
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance preached peaceful co-existence with Euro-Americans, but the Sioux interpretation of the religion foretold that the Ghost Dance would remove non-Indians from their lands, stopping westward expansion
Homestead Act of 1862
In 1862, northerners in Congress passed the Homestead Act, which allowed male citizens (or those who declared their intent to become citizens) to claim federally owned lands in the West. Settlers could head west, choose a 160-acre surveyed section of land, file a claim, and begin “improving” the land by plowing fields, building houses and barns, or digging wells, and, after five years of living on the land, could apply for the official title deed to the land
The Maine
In 1898, Americans began in earnest to turn their attention southward to problems plaguing their neighbor Cuba. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, Cubans had tried unsuccessfully again and again to gain independence from Spain. The latest uprising, and the one that would prove fatal to Spain’s colonial designs, began in 1895 and was still raging in the winter of 1898. By that time, in an attempt to crush the uprising, Spanish general Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau had been conducting a policy of reconcentration—forcing Cubans living in certain cities to relocate en masse to military camps—for about two years. Prominent newspaper publishers sensationalized Spanish atrocities. Cubans in the United States and their allies raised cries of Cuba Libre! And while the U.S. government proclaimed a wish to avoid armed conflict with Spain, President McKinley became increasingly concerned about the safety of American lives and property in Cuba.He ordered the battleship Maine to Havana harbor in January 1898. The Maine sat undisturbed in the harbor for about two weeks. Then, on the evening of February 15, a titanic explosion tore open the ship and sent it to the bottom of the ocean. Three quarters of the ship’s 354 occupants died. A naval board of inquiry immediately began an investigation to ascertain the cause of the explosion, but the loudest Americans had already decided that Spanish treachery was to blame. Capitalizing on the outrage, “yellow journals”—newspapers that promoted sensational stories, notoriously at the cost of accuracy—such as William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal called for war with Spain. When urgent negotiations failed to produce a mutually agreeable settlement, Congress officially declared war on April 25.
J.P. Morgan
eorganizing businesses to make them more profitable and stable and gaining control of them. He reorganized several major railroads and became a powerful railroad magnate. He also financed industrial consolidations that formed General Electric, U.S. Steel, and International Harvester.
Tammany Hall
a political organization within the Democratic Party in New York city (late 1800's and early 1900's) seeking political control by corruption and bossism.
Custer’s Last Stand
The engagement was one in a series of battles and negotiations between Plains Indians and U.S. forces over control of Western territory, collectively known as the Sioux Wars. In less than an hour, the Sioux and Cheyenne had won the Battle of the Little Bighorn, killing Custer and every one of his men
John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust.
Great Migration
The Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history. Approximately six million Black people moved from the American South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states roughly from the 1910s until the 1970s
William Jennings Bryan
Democratic candidate in 1896 that advocated in free silver movement, farming interests and improved conditions for the urban working class. He gained immense support of the populist party after his famous "Cross of gold speech"
Social Gospel Movement
The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean environment, child labor, lack of unionization, poor schools, …
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act is a law the U.S. Congress passed to prohibit trusts, monopolies, and cartels. Its purpose was to promote economic fairness and competitiveness and to regulate interstate commerce. Ohio Sen. John Sherman proposed and passed it in 1890.
American Federation of labor
American Federation of Labor, a labor union formed in 1886 by Samuel Gompers in order to voice the working class. It fought against labor forces and debated work conditions for skilled workers. Utilized Strikes. The AFL used strikes to help improve hours, working conditions, and wages for skilled workers
“Lost Cause”
The Lost Cause is an interpretation of the American Civil War (1861–1865) that seeks to present the war from the perspective of Confederates and in the best possible terms.
The Plains Tribes
Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North America. (Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North America.)
I.W.W.
Established in June 1905 in Chicago, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was a labor organization that sought to organize workers along the lines of industrial unions rather than the specialized trade, or craft, unions of the American Federation of Labor.
Jane Addams
Jane Addams co-founded and led Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in North America. Hull House provided child care, practical and cultural training and education, and other services to the largely immigrant population of its Chicago
“Gilded Age”
The Gilded Age was a period of economic growth as the United States jumped to the lead in industrialization ahead of Britain. The nation was rapidly expanding its economy into new areas, especially heavy industry like factories, railroads, and coal mining.
Roosevelt Corollary
The assumptions underlying the Roosevelt Corollary were that the United States had a responsibility to intervene in the affairs of Latin American countries to protect its own economic and political interests, and that the United States was superior to these countries and had the right to act as their protector.
New Nationalism
political philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt, an espousal of active federal intervention to promote social justice and the economic welfare of the underprivileged; its precepts were strongly influenced by Herbert Croly’s The Promise of American Life (1910). Roosevelt used the phrase “New Nationalism” in a 1910 speech in which he attempted to reconcile the liberal and conservative wings of the Republican Party.
Thomas Edison
His inventions included the phonograph, the carbon-button transmitter for the telephone speaker and microphone, the incandescent lamp, the first commercial electric light and power system, an experimental electric railroad, and key elements of motion-picture equipment.
Mark Twain
author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
Wounded Knee Massacre
The massacre at Wounded Knee, during which soldiers of the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment indiscriminately slaughtered hundreds of Sioux men, women, and children, marked the definitive end of Indian resistance to the encroachments of white settlers.
Plessy v. Ferguson
The ruling in this Supreme Court case upheld a Louisiana state law that allowed for "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races."
Teller Amendment
It placed a condition on the United States military's presence in Cuba. According to the clause, the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people." In short, the U.S. would help Cuba gain independence and then withdraw all its troops from the country.
Grover Cleveland
Cleveland was the first Democrat to win the presidency after the Civil War, and was one of two Democrat presidents, followed by Woodrow Wilson in 1912, in an era when Republicans dominated the presidency between 1861 and 1933. He won the popular vote in three presidential elections—1884, 1888, and 1892.
Vertical Integration
Vertical integration is the business arrangement in which a company controls different stages along the supply chain. Instead of relying on external suppliers, the company strives to bring processes in-house to have better control over the production process.
Dawes Severalty Act
The Dawes Act (sometimes called the Dawes Severalty Act or General Allotment Act), passed in 1887 under President Grover Cleveland, allowed the federal government to break up tribal lands
Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair was a famous novelist and social crusader from California, who pioneered the kind of journalism known as "muckraking." His best-known novel was "The Jungle" which was an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry.
Newlands Reclamation Act
defined the federal role in western water distribution
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Workers in the factory, many of whom were young women recently arrived from Europe, had little time or opportunity to escape. The rapidly spreading fire killed 146 workers. The building had only one fire escape, which collapsed during the rescue effort. Long tables and bulky machines trapped many of the victims.
Frederick Jackson Turner
the settlement and colonization of the rugged American frontier was decisive in forming the culture of American democracy and distinguishing it from European nations
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce and laid a foundation for the nation's first consumer protection agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Yellow Press
Newspaper editors, most notably William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, began an aggressive campaign to push for U.S. intervention in the conflict. They continuously sensationalized the story, an approach that came to be known as yellow journalism that was designed to increased newspaper sales
Platt Amendment
gave the US the right to take over the Island of Cuba if that country entered into a treaty or debt that might place its freedom in danger. This amendment also gave the U.S. the right to put a naval base in Cuba to protect it and the US holdings in the Caribbean.
New freedom
The New Freedom was Woodrow Wilson's campaign platform in the 1912 presidential election, and also refers to the progressive programs enacted by Wilson during his time as president.
Alfred T. Mahan
US Navy flag officer, geostrategist, and historian. His most prominent work, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783, had a widespread impact on navies around the world.
Ida B. Wells
Participating in the founding of such organizations as the National Association of Colored Women (1896), the Afro-American Council (1898), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1910)
After the lynching of one of her friends, Wells-Barnett turned her attention to white mob violence. She became skeptical about the reasons black men were lynched and set out to investigate several cases. She published her findings in a pamphlet and wrote several columns in local newspapers.
Brigham Young
American religious leader, second president of the Mormon church, and colonizer who significantly influenced the development of the American West
John Muir
Muir is credited with both the creation of the National Park System and the establishment of the Sierra Club. He educated Americans about the value of the country's wilderness, inspiring generations of wilderness advocates.
Pendleton Act
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act provided for selection of some government employees by competitive exams rather than ties to politicians, and made it illegal to fire or demote some government officials for political reasons
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a depression set off by the failure of two of the largest employers in the country: The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the National Cordage Company. The stock market plummeted as businesses that had borrowed heavily to invest in railroads went bankrupt
Knights of Labor
Knights of Labor were members were skilled and unskilled workers, rallied for shorter work days, equal pay for men and women, and to end child labor. Its founding marked the beginning of union activism in the era
Filipino Insurrection
The resistance in the Moro-dominated provinces in the south, called the Moro Rebellion by the Americans, ended with their final defeat at the Battle of Bud Bagsak on June 15, 1913. The war resulted in at least 200,000 Filipino civilian deaths, mostly from famine and diseases such as cholera.
Andrew Carnegie
helped build the formidable American steel industry,
Populist Movement
In the United States, the term "populist" originally referred to the Populist Party and related left-wing movements of the late 19th century that wanted to curtail the power of the corporate and financial establishment
Electric Trolley
Frank J. Sprague, an engineer once employed by the great inventor Thomas A. Edison made this
IN 1887 Sprague designed an electric-driven system for Richmond, Virginia: a "trolley" carriage running along an overhead power line was attached by cable to streetcars equipped with an electric motor
It replaced the horse car and became the primary mode of transportation in most American cities
Cattle Drives
The cattle drives took place between 1867 and 1893. After the Civil War, the large cities in the northeast United States wanted beef, but they didn't have cattle, so the cattle drives were done to satisfy eastern appetites for beef and for the cattle men to make money.
1896 Election
The 1896 United States presidential election was the 28th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican nominee, defeated former Representative William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee.
William McKinley (Republican) defeated William Jennings Bryan (Democratic/Populist) in the 1896 presidential election.
Why are the railroads are considered such an important industry in the process of
American Industrialization?
railroads became a major industry, stimulating other heavy industries such as iron and steel production. These advances in travel and transport helped drive settlement in the western regions of North America and were integral to the nation's industrialization
Remember the key factors that contributed to American industrialization
Industrialization. This term describes the transition from making products by hand to now making products in factories with machines.
Plentiful Natural Resources. ...
Improved Transportation. ...
Increase in Population & Immigration. ...
Investment Capital. ...
New Technologies. ...
Railroads and Steamboats. ...
Light Bulb.
Be familiar with the effects of industrialization that have been discussed in your textbook.
For example, how did industrialization affect different social groups (gender, ethnic
groups, workers)
How did industrialization affect gender roles?
Industrialization brought new opportunities for employment, changing ideas of work, and economic cycles of boom and bust. During this period, women's roles changed dramatically. Industrialization redefined the role of women in the home, at the same time opening new opportunities for them as industrial wage earners.
opened up more job opportunities, altered the class system, and created a faster way of life made possible
immigrants towns/ neighborhoods
Know the difference between the “Old” and “New” immigrations
The old immigrants arrived in the mid-1800s, coming mostly from northwestern Europe, while the new immigrants arrived a generation later, traveling mostly from southeastern Europe. Immigrants migrated to escape problems in their native countries and in search of new opportunities in America.
be familiar with how cities changed during the period
Urbanization and technological creativity led to many engineering advances such as bridges and canals, elevators and skyscrapers, trolley lines and subways. The invention of electricity brought illumination to homes and businesses and created an unprecedented, thriving night life
Be familiar with the major changes in American politics during the time period
Politics in the Gilded Age were characterized by scandal and corruption, but voter turnout reached an all-time high. The Republican Party supported business and industry with a protective tariff and hard money policies. The Democratic Party opposed the tariff and eventually adopted the free silver platform.
What were the goals and characteristics of the Progressive Movement?
Progressives were interested in establishing a more transparent and accountable government which would work to improve U.S. society. These reformers favored such policies as civil service reform, food safety laws, and increased political rights for women and U.S. workers.
What were the goals and characteristics of the Populist Movement?
The platform also called for a graduated income tax, direct election of Senators, a shorter workweek, restrictions on immigration to the United States, and public ownership of railroads and communication lines. The Populists appealed most strongly to voters in the South, the Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountains.
Be able to discuss the Theodore Roosevelt Presidency
Sympathetic to both business and labor, Roosevelt avoided labor strikes, most notably negotiating a settlement to the great Coal Strike of 1902. He vigorously promoted the conservation movement, emphasizing efficient use of natural resources. He dramatically expanded the system of national parks and national forests. He created numerous programs to provide relief to the unemployed and farmers while seeking economic recovery with the National Recovery Administration and other programs. He also instituted major regulatory reforms related to finance, communications, and labor, and presided over the end of Prohibition.
Characteristics of, and concerns in, “The New South”
The rise of the New South, however, involved the continued supremacy of whites over blacks, who had little or no political power once Reconstruction was over, Federal troops were withdrawn from the South as a result of the Compromise of 1877, and Jim Crow laws were put in place to suppress black rights
Be able to describe changes in American foreign policy during this time period and the
events of the Spanish-American War as well as what happened in the Philippines.
In conclusion, the Spanish-American War marked a significant shift in US foreign policy. The victory over Spain and the acquisition of overseas territories led to a more assertive and interventionist stance, with the United States increasingly willing to intervene in international affairs to protect its interests. After the Spanish-American War, the United States adopted a policy of granting the Philippines independence but reserving the right to intervene in the nation if U.S. interests were at stake.