US History- Progressive Age/Gilded Era

Transcontinental Railroad

railway across the country, allowed for transportation of materials and people, aided western expansion

Homestead Act

encouraged western migration, provided settlers with 160 acres of land in exchange for filing fee, settlers had to work on land for 5 years

Dawes Plan

attempted americanization of indians, gov offered native americans to make them individually successful and reduce their dependence on the gov, indian children were forced to learn english, take american names, given shorter haircuts

Granger Movement

farmer problems (falling crop prices and large debts) led to the formation of political organizations such as the Grange

Populism

political philosophy that favors common person’s interest over wealthy people and business interest

Populist Party

political party in 1892 calling for policies to help working people, such as gov ownership of railroads or coinage of silver

GOALS:


1. graduated income tax
2. government loans for farmers
3. limits on immigration
4. 8 hour work day
5. bimetallism: back money by gold and silver to increase supply

William Jennings Bryan

wanted bimetallism, ran as Democrat

Industrialization

factories and inventions, less need for skilled workers, artificial light allowed for working at night, bad pay/hours/conditions

Urbanization

many people moved into cities, crowded and unsanitary, tenements- people in squalor

Monopolies

company that dominates particular industry, Standard Oil, Carnegie Steel

Horizontal Integration

buying out any companies in industry

Trusts

set of companies teaming up to act like a monopoly by not competing

Cornelius Vanderbilt

railroad business, COI- developed Grand Central Station, allowed businesses to easily ship goods, philanthropist (donated to colleges/universities), RB- secret rebates, drove out competitors by slashing prices, consolidated smaller railroads to control industry

Social Darwinism

best run business led by most capable people

Interstate Commerce Act

passed in 1887 by congress

Sherman Antitrust Act

promoted competition, outlawed trusts, monopolies & forms of business that restricted trade

John D. Rockefeller

oil business (Standard Oil Company), COI- built oil refinery/purified oil, philanthropy (donated to charities, churches, former slaves, colleges, medicine), RB- drove competitors out of business, secret rebates, vertical integration, monopoly, increased prices

Andrew Carnegie

began Carnegie Steel Company, steel became metal of choice for heavy construction, COI- increased production of steel (bessemer process), philanthropist (donated to educational facilities), RB- monopoly, increased prices, vertical integration

JP Morgan

COI- bought Carnegie, rescued economy by investing in troubled business, donated to libraries/schools, RB- used profits, consolidation and bought Carnegie to create US Steel, eliminated competition

Vertical Integration

controlled all steps of specific industry to drive out competition

Captain of Industry

good deeds

Robber Baron

bad deeds

Labor Unions

negotiated for better pay/hours/conditions, protect interests of members

AFL

skilled workers, increase wages, improve working conditions, boycotts, strikes

Samuel Gompers

founded AFL

Collective Bargaining

negotiation of wages/conditions by organized body of employees

Great Strike of 1877

huge railroad strike, wage cuts, militia to stop strike

Haymarket Affair

August Spies gave a speech and told workers to stay calm, however striking unionists attacked men who had gone to work, police opened fire and killed 4, next day there was a vigil that ended in a bomb killing 6 police, union leaders arrested, anti-union measures, anti-immigration, unions weakened

Homestead Strike

union went on strike after mill’s manager attempted to increase production and lower wages, Henry Frick sent Pinkerton guards who battled with workers and lost, public supported workers until Berkman attempted to assassinate Frick, wages lowered, hours longer, union crushed

Pullman Strike

American Railway Union wanted Pullman to compromise, laborers obstructed railroads, media coverage was negative, US Marshals/Troops forced workers to return, ARU (Eugene Debs jailed, but gained public support) weakened, deepening awareness of labor problem

Old Immigrants

northern and western europe- irish, british, germans, scandinavians, push/pull factors: population growth, Irish potato famine, scarcity of farmland, economic opportunities, settled: cities in northeast (irish), western farms (germans/scandinavians)

Ellis Island

built in 1892, immigrants arrive on east coast, medical inspections and legal interviews,

Angel Island

Angel Act- harsher Ellis island of the west, designed to enforce exclusion act

Nativism

policy of favoring interests of native born Americans over immigrants, believe immigrants took jobs/economic threat, religious and cultural differences

Know Nothing Party

limited voting strength of immigration, tried to keep Catholics out of public office

Chinese Exclusion Act

prohibited immigration of chinese laborers (skilled or unskilled) for period of 10 years, prevented chinese in country from becoming citizens

Gentlemen’s Agreement

1907, informal agreement where Japanese officials agreed not to allow unskilled laborers to emigrate if schools were integrated in San Francisco

Americanization

process of becoming part of another culture & abandoning your own, education was the main tool, American Indians

New Immigrants

southern and eastern europe-italians, greeks, hungarians, poles and russians, asia-chinese and japanese, push/pull factors: economic opportunities, political freedom, escape religious persecution (russian/polish jews), settled: industrial sections of cities

Settlement House

community center that provides variety of services to poor, especially immigrants

Political Bosses

powerful leaders who ran local politics, provided jobs and social services to immigrants in exchange for political support, supporters known as political machine

Chinese Immigrants

came in search of gold, instead stayed and worked for less money than white workers

Grange

union that educated farmers about farm reform- lowering interest rates, government control over railroads, high tariffs on foreign goods

Granger Laws

states passed granger laws to regulate railroad rates

Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific R.R. v. Illinois

only federal government could regulate interstate commerce

Greenback Party

goal was to increase greenbacks (paper money) in circulation by changing monetary policy, include silver and gold

Gold Standard

every paper dollar backed by dollar’s worth of gold in US treasury

William McKinley

assassinated in 1901 after 6 months into his 2nd term, allowed Roosevelt to become president

Theodore Roosevelt

republican, 1901-1909 in office, president #26, “trust buster”- filed 44 antitrust lawsuits, broke up JP Morgan’s Northern Security Company, believed some trusts were bad and some were ok- only busted bad ones, didn’t do much about African American rights

Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal (even for all)

consisted of consumer protection, controlling corporations and conservation of the environment, fair and honest

Meat Inspection Act

required department of agriculture to inspect meat, in response to The Jungle

Pure Food and Drug Act

established FDA, tests and approves drugs, ensures proper labeling

Arbitration in Anthracite Coal Strike

government commission decided higher wages and shorter hours

Elkins Act

made it illegal for railroad officials to give & shippers to receive rebates, charge published fees

Hepburn Act

gave federal government the authority to set maximum rail shipping rates

Preservation

protection of wilderness from development, John Muir- father of national parks

Conservation

limited use of natural resources

US Forest Service

set up to protect forests and other natural areas, 150 million acres set aside of national forest, headed by Gifford Pinchot

William Howard Taft

republican, 1909-1913 in office, president #27, real trustbuster- busted 90 trusts in 4 years, not very successful because he was too conservation & raised tariffs

Mann-Elkins Act

gave more power to interstate commerce commission, increased government regulation of railroad

Election of 1912

Woodrow Wilson (democrat), William Taft (republican), Teddy Roosevelt (progressive/bull moose)

Woodrow Wilson in Eof1912

stronger antitrust legislation, banking reform, reduced tariffs, favored small business and free market competition, monopolies are evil, reduce corruption

William Taft in Eof1912

conservative ideas compared to other two candidates

Teddy Roosevelt in Eof1912

direct election of senators, women’s suffrage, 8 hour work day, workmen’s compensation, minimum wage for women, law against child labor, federal trade commission, some monopolies/trusts are okay

Election of 1912

Woodrow Wilson, William Taft, Teddy Roosevelt, Eugene Debs (Socialist), Woodrow Wilson WON, Roosevelt & Taft split the Republican vote, Roosevelt defeated Taft in both popular & electoral votes as a 3rd party

Clayton Antitrust Act

extended power of Sherman Antitrust Act, made it harder for trusts to form and squeeze out competition, protected labor unions

Federal Trade Commission

“watch dog” that regulated business, ended unfair business

Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

prohibited companies involved in interstate commerce form hiring works under 14

Adamson Act

gave railway workers 8 hour day, wage of 10 hour day

16th Amendment

established federal income tax, graduated income tax- heavier burden on wealthy

Underwood Tariff

substantially reduced tariffs

Federal Reserve System

central bank, set up to bring stability & prevent financial panic, 12 banks across country, lends money to private banks, controls money in circulation, influences interest rates

18th Amendment

established prohibition, ban on alcohol

19th Amendment

women’s right to vote

17th Amendment

established direct election of US senators, more influence from average citizens

Referendum

ability for people to vote directly on a law/issue

Recall

ability for voters to remove elected officials from office

Initiative

citizens may gather signatures to qualify a law

Social Gospel

religious movement that aimed to help the less fortunate

Pendleton Act

provided federal government jobs be awarded based on merit and a series of exams

California Gold Rush

over 80k migrants headed to California to find gold, population jumped

Chisholm Trail

cattle drive trail from San Antonio to Abilene, ranchers could sell cattle for $40 instead of $5

Pacific Railway Act

provided federal subsidies in land and loans for construction of transcontinental railroad, gov granted 6,400 acres and $48,000, irish and chinese worked, travel time shrank from 4 months to 10 days

Challenges of Settling West

treeless plains, arid environment, cold, droughts, grasshoppers, clashes with native americans

Sand Creek Massacre

150+ died, mainly women and children, by US military

Battle of Little Bighorn

much larger indian force, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

Gilded Age

industrialists amassed great fortune, but political corruption and wealth gap hurt society

Capitalism

economic system in which means of production are privately owned rather than controlled by the government

Patents

gave inventor sole legal right to make/sell invention

Inventions

Samuel Morse- telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell- telephone, Wright Brothers- airplane, Edwin Drake- drilled oil well

Interchangeable Parts

produce goods in large quantities, cheaper goods, Henry Ford

The Jungle

Upton Sinclair, showed working conditions and conditions of meat, led to Meat Inspection Act

How the Other Half Lives

Jacob Riis- Danish immigrant, showed the disgusting conditions of poor in cities, Tenement House Act

Shame of Cities

Lincoln Steffens, 17th Amendment

History of Standard Oil

Ida Tarbell, Clayton Antitrust Act