golden age terms HARDEST

vanderbuilt

railroad tycoon, industrial capitalist

speculation

risky investment for hopefully future profits

panic of 1893/ panic of 1893

severe economic depression caused by railroad failures and banks collapsing, causing calls for reforms

carnegie

steel magnate who used VERTICAL integration, promoted the GOSPEL OF WEALTH

us steel

first billion dollar corporation founded by jp morgan

rockefeller

oil tycoon (standard oil) who used horizontal integration —> monopoly

alexander graham bell

inventor of the telephone

interstate commerce act (1887)

first federal law regulating railroads

antitrust movement/ Sherman antitrust act (1890)

law banning monopolies, laid groundwork for future trust busting

us vs e knight (1895)

supreme court casing limiting the power of the Sherman act, allowing manufacturing monopolies to continue

credit mobilier scandal

railroad construction scandal involving bribery of congressmen (overcharged the government and the profit went to the corrupt congressmen)

anti-union tactics

blacklists, lockouts, yellow-dog contracts, legal but violent methods

samuel gompers

american federations of labor leader

eugene v debs

labor organizer and socialist

great American desert

arid great plains region that was considered unfit for agriculture and designated at permanent territory for native americans

dawes act (1887)

divided tribal land into private plots, reducing native landholdings and sovereignty

indian reorganization act (1934)

reversed the dawes act of 1887

tuskegee institute

vocational school founded by Booker t washington, giving African Americans more opportunities for economic self reliance

civil rights cases (1883)

supreme court invalidated the civil rights act of 1875, allowing for private segregation

ida b wells

anti lynching activist

booker t washington

black leader advocating for accommodation, accepted segregation in exchange for economic activity

national grange movement

farmers organization challenging railroad monopolies, fueled by economic panic of 1873

granger laws

first government regulation of business, allowed for state regulation of railroads

munn vs illinois

supreme court upheld that governments can regulate private industry/companies, established public interest doctrine (aka regulate in the best interest of the public)

wabash vs illinois

limited state regulation, led to federal oversight of regulation (after munn v Illinois)

interstate commerce commission

federal railroad regulator, first government agency for regulation

ocala platform (1890)

farmed reform demands, foundation of what the populists would later demand

census of 1890

declared that the frontier was closed (integrated fully into the rest of the US)

frederick Jackson turner

historian and author of frontier thesis (arguing that the frontier shaped excellence and American individualism)

omaha platform

populist party demands for silver backing of currency, regulation and democracy reform

coxey’s army

protest march of unemployed workers, demanded federal job programs

william Jennings bryan

populist aligned democrat who championed silver inflation

cross of gold speech

speech in 1896 at a convention that called for the populist’s monetary demands

coinage of silver

inflationary money policy by populists, favoring debtors and farmers (free silver movement)

gold standard and high tariffs

conservative economic practice that benefited bankers, industrialists and exporters (opposed free silver movement)