Key Events and Legislation in U.S. History (1865-1900)

Homestead Act

A law granting 160 Acres of federal land to settlers after 5 years of residence.

Morrill Act

An Act granting federal land to states to fund colleges focused on agriculture and the mechanic arts.

Sod houses

Frontier dwellings built from prairie sod by settlers on the treeless Great Plains.

Comstock Lode

Major silver ore discovery in Nevada (1859), the first significant U.S silver strike.

Barbed Wire

Fencing innovation patented by Joseph Glidden with sharp barbs, allowing cheap enclosure of large tracts.

Frontier Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 theory that American democracy and character were shaped by the frontier experience.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Federal law banning Chinese labor immigration for 10 years.

Sand Creek Massacre

Attack by Colorado militia on a Cheyenne/Arapaho encampment at Sand Creek, killing 230.

Little Bighorn

Battle in Montana where Lt. Col. Custer's 7th cavalry was defeated by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors.

Sitting Bull

Ogala Lakota War leader who co-led the defeat of Custer at the Little Bighorn.

Crazy Horse

Oglala War leader who co-led the defeat of Custer at the Little Bighorn.

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce leader who conducted a 1,170-mile retreat toward Canada in 1877 to avoid forced relocation.

Geronimo

Apache leader who resisted U.S (and Mexican) control, he finally surrendered in 1886.

Ghost Dance

Native American religious revival promising the return of the buffalo and the renewal of Native lands.

Wounded Knee

Massacre in South Dakota where U.S troops killed 150 - 300 Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee Creek.

Oklahoma Territory

The federal territory created in 1890 from the 'Unassigned Lands' in present-day Oklahoma.

A Century of Dishonor

Book by Helen Hunt Jackson exposing the U.S government's broken treaties and harsh treatment of Native Americans.

Cornelious Vanderbilt

A shipping and Railroad magnate who built a vast transport empire.

J.P. Morgan

Financier and banker who consolidated railroads and created major corporations.

Andrew Carnegie

Steel industry leader who founded Carnegie Steel and expanded U.S. steel production.

Bessemer Process

The first affordable industrial process for mass-producing steel by blowing air through molten iron.

John D. Rockefeller

An industrialist who founded Standard Oil and built it into a near-monopoly on U.S. oil refining.

Standard Oil

An oil refining company founded by Rockefeller that achieved a near monopoly on U.S petroleum.

Vertical Integration

A business strategy where a company controls all stages of production of a good.

Horizontal Integration

Strategy of consolidating many firms in the same industry.

Horatio Alger

Writer known for 'rags-to-riches' where virtuous boys rise from poverty to success.

Social Darwinism

Ideology applying Darwin's theory to society: wealth and poverty reflected natural selection.

Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie's philosophy that the wealthy have a duty to redistribute their wealth for the public good.

Knights of Labor

First national labor union (founded in 1869) that admitted workers of all kinds: Skilled, Unskilled, Women, African Americans.

AFL

The Federation of Trade Unions founded in 1886 under Samuel Gompers, concentrating on skilled workers and achievable goals.

Samuel Gompers

Founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor (1886 - 1924) who advocated 'Pure and Simple' Unionism.

Railroad Strike

Nationwide railway workers strike in July 1877 protesting wage cuts, demonstrating unrest among industrial workers.

Haymarket Riot

A Chicago labor protest on May 4, 1886, that turned violent when a bomb killed policemen, provoking a national backlash against organized labor.

Homestead Strike

Strike at Carnegie Steel's Homestead Works in 1892 over wage cuts, escalating into an armed clash with Pinkerton agents.

Pullman Strike

Nationwide railroad strike/boycott from May to July 1894, led by Eugene Debs, that shut down much of the U.S. rail network.

Eugene V. Debs

Labor leader of the American Railway Union and organizer of the Pullman Strike, later a socialist presidential candidate.

Wabash v. Illinois

1886 Supreme Court ruling that states cannot regulate interstate railroad traffic; only Congress can.

Sherman Antitrust Act

1890 federal law outlawing combinations in restraint of trade or monopolies, establishing the principle that big corporations could be regulated.

Half-breed/Stalwart

Republican Party factions in the Gilded Age; Stalwarts backed the patronage system while Half Breeds supported civil service reform.

McKinley Tariff

The Tariff Act of 1890, which raised the average duty on imported goods to about 48%.

Pendelton Act

1883 federal law establishing merit-based federal employment through competitive exams.

Tenement Housing

Overcrowded, often unsanitary multi-family apartments in cities where many immigrants lived from the 1860s to 1910s.

Salvation Army

A Christian charitable organization founded in 1865 that provided food, shelter, and aid to the urban poor.

Settlement Houses

Community centers in poor neighborhoods from the 1880s to 1920s offering services like education and childcare to immigrants.

Tammany Hall

The NYC Democratic political machine controlled city politics via patronage from 1789 to the 1930s.

Mary Baker Eddy

Founder of Christian Science in 1879, emphasizing spiritual healing and attracting many followers.

William J. Bryan

Orator and politician; three-time Democratic presidential candidate known for his free silver and Populist advocacy.

Granges

Farmers' organization founded in 1867 to promote agricultural interests and community cooperation.

Bimetallism

Monetary policy of coining both gold and silver at a fixed ratio, advocated by Populists in the 1890s.

Gold Standard

Monetary system based on gold, established by U.S. law in 1900.

Cross of Gold Speech

William J. Bryan's famous speech at the 1896 Democratic convention, championing free silver and condemning the gold standard.

Social Gospel

A Christian reform movement focused on helping the poor and improving society from the 1870s to early 1900s.