The Gilded Age

Apush

federal law granting 160 acres of free public land to settlers (including women, immigrants, and African Americans) who agreed to farm and "improve" the land for five years

Homestead Act (1862)

was the brutal killing of hundreds of Lakota Sioux, mostly women and children, by the U.S. 7th Cavalry near Wounded Knee Creek, marking a tragic end to the Plains Indian Wars and symbolizing broken treaties, government betrayal, and the violent subjugation of Native Americans during the Gilded Age, tied to the Ghost Dance movement. 

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

a U.S. law that broke up communal tribal lands, allotting individual plots (like 160 acres) to Native Americans to promote assimilation into white society by enforcing private land ownership, citizenship for allottees, and dissolving tribal governments, but it disastrously led to the loss of millions of acres of Native land to settlers and poverty. 

Key

Dawes Severalty Act (1887)

argues the American frontier experience forged a unique national character: individualistic, democratic, rugged, and innovative, distinct from Europe, with westward expansion driving progress and liberty until the frontier "closed" around 1890, signaling a new era. introduced by Frederick Jackson Turner

-Turner’s Frontier Thesis 1893

Scottish-American industrialist who dominated the American steel industry in the late 19th century using vertical integration, becoming one of the richest men ever, and later a major philanthropist, known for his "Gospel of Wealth" to give back to society through libraries and education, but also infamous for the harsh Homestead Strike. Built the Carnegie steel company

Andrew Carnegie

the founder of the Standard Oil Company, a ruthless industrialist who monopolized the oil industry through horizontal integration, becoming a symbol of Gilded Age capitalism and a major philanthropist, whose business practices led to public backlash and the eventual breakup of his trust by the Supreme Court. He revolutionized the industry with business models like trusts and played a key role in defining modern philanthropy through massive donations to education and medicine. 

John D. Rockefeller

a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the doctrine of "separate but equal," legally upholding state-sponsored racial segregation in public facilities like railroads, as long as the separate accommodations for Black and white people were supposedly equal, thus providing legal justification for Jim Crow laws until it was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

powerful 19th-century industrialists (like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Morgan) who built vast fortunes through exploitative labor, monopolistic practices, political corruption, and ruthless tactics, enriching themselves during the Gilded Age while often creating massive wealth inequality, leading to public backlash and later regulations. They are contrasted with "Captains of Industry," seen as innovators, while "Robber Barons" highlights their unethical methods, like underpaying workers, crushing competition, and bribing officials, all while justifying it with Social Darwinism. 

Robber Baron

the misapplication of Darwin's "survival of the fittest" to human society, arguing that the wealthy and powerful are naturally superior, while the poor and weak deserve their lower status, justifying laissez-faire capitalism, minimal government intervention, and even imperialism, racism, and inequality during the Gilded Age

Social Darwinism

the duty of the wealthy to use their fortunes for the public good, acting as trustees for society to distribute riches responsibly, primarily through philanthropy like libraries, schools, and arts, rather than leaving it to heirs or giving it directly to the poor, arguing the rich had the wisdom to benefit the masses and promote self-improvement

Gospel of Wealth

the popular belief, that anyone in America could achieve upward mobility and success through hard work, honesty, and virtue, though in reality, widespread opportunities were limited for many during the Gilded Age (fueled by author Horatio Alger Jr.'s rags-to-riches novels,)

Horatio Alger Myth

the first federal law to significantly restrict immigration, specifically banning Chinese laborers for 10 years, denying citizenship to existing Chinese residents, and reflecting rampant anti-Chinese nativism and economic anxieties on the West Coast, marking a major shift in U.S. immigration policy before being repealed in 1943. 

Chinese Exclusion Act

tightly organized, often corrupt, Gilded Age (late 19th-century) urban party organizations that dominated municipal politics by exchanging social services, jobs, and housing for votes from immigrants and working-class citizens. Bosses managed these systems through patronage, graft, and voter fraud to maintain control

Political Bosses & Machines

the political practice of giving government jobs, contracts, or favors to supporters, friends, and loyalists in exchange for votes and political support, a key part of the spoils system that fueled political machines during the Gilded Age, often leading to corruption and inefficiency before the Pendleton Act. 

Patronage

the nation's first major nationwide labor strike, triggered by severe wage cuts by railroad companies during the Panic of 1873 depression, leading to worker uprisings, violent clashes, and federal troops suppressing the strikes, highlighting Gilded Age tensions between labor and powerful corporations and setting precedents for future labor conflicts

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

a major late-19th-century American labor union, founded in 1869, notable for its inclusive membership (skilled/unskilled, men/women, Black workers) and broad reform goals like an eight-hour day, ending child labor, and equal pay, advocating for a cooperative society but declining after the 1886 Haymarket Riot, which damaged its reputation

Knights of Labor

a violent Chicago labor confrontation on May 4, where a bomb thrown at police during an 8-hour workday rally killed several officers and civilians. It triggered a national wave of xenophobia, fueled anti-anarchist hysteria, and severely damaged the reputation of labor unions, particularly contributing to the decline of the Knights of Labor. 

Haymarket Bombing (1886)

founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886, was a federation of skilled craft unions focusing on "bread-and-butter" issues like better wages, shorter hours, and safer conditions, contrasting with radical groups by avoiding big political reforms and concentrating on tangible gains for its skilled, often white male, membership. 

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

a violent labor dispute at Carnegie Steel's Homestead Works in Pennsylvania, triggered by wage cuts and a lockout by management (Henry Clay Frick) against the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (AA) union, culminating in a deadly clash with Pinkerton guards and a state militia intervention, ultimately crushing the union and becoming a symbol of Gilded Age conflict between labor and powerful industrialists

Homestead Strike (1892)

a major nationwide railroad strike in Chicago, sparked by 25% wage cuts during an economic depression while rents in company-owned towns remained high, leading to widespread railroad disruption, federal intervention by President Cleveland (citing mail interference), the jailing of labor leader Eugene V. Debs, and highlighting Gilded Age labor conflicts, corporate power, and the government's pro-business stance (against the Pullman Palace Car Company)

Pullman Strike (1894)

a late 19th-century farmers' organization that started as a social/educational network but grew into a powerful political force, advocating for economic reforms against railroad and grain elevator monopolies by promoting cooperatives, lobbying for state regulations (like the Granger Laws), and influencing later agrarian movements like the Populists to improve farmers' economic conditions during industrialization. 

National Grange Movement

a pivotal APUSH Supreme Court case that established states cannot regulate interstate commerce, only the federal government can, invalidating state laws like Illinois's prohibition on different long-haul/short-haul rates, and directly leading to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to manage national railroads and commerce. 

Wabash Case

a late 19th-century agrarian movement in the U.S., formed by farmers (initially in Texas) to combat economic hardship from low crop prices, high railroad rates, and debt by creating cooperatives for buying/selling and advocating for political reforms like railroad regulation and currency expansion, ultimately leading to the Populist Party

Farmers Alliance

a landmark law that ended the spoils system by creating a merit-based system for federal jobs, requiring competitive exams for selection, and establishing the Civil Service Commission to oversee hiring, aiming to reduce political corruption and increase government efficiency, though initially covering only a small percentage of jobs.  

Pendleton Act (1881)

(often remembered with the triggering 1886 Wabash v. Illinois Supreme Court case) was landmark U.S. legislation that regulated railroads, establishing the first federal agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), to ensure "just and reasonable" rates, ban rebates, prevent long-haul/short-haul discrimination, and prohibit pooling, marking a key shift towards federal oversight of big business and economic fairness

Interstate Commerce Act (1886)

the first federal law outlawing monopolistic business practices, aiming to curb powerful trusts and promote fair competition by making illegal any "combination in the form of trust or otherwise that was in restraint of trade or commerce". It marked a significant step in government regulation during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, though initial enforcement was weak, it later became a tool for trust-busting under figures like Theodore Roosevelt. 

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

a high protective tariff law, that raised import duties to nearly 50% to shield American industries from foreign competition, but it significantly increased consumer costs, leading to public backlash, especially from farmers, and contributed to Republican losses in the 1890 elections, while also spurring annexation efforts in Hawaii due to sugar tariff changes. (sponsored by William McKinley)mhe

McKinley Tariff (1890)

severe economic depression in the U.S., triggered by railroad overbuilding, bank failures (especially after the Reading Railroad collapsed), and agricultural distress, leading to massive business failures (15,000 companies), bank closures (500+), and ~20% unemployment, highlighting economic interconnectedness and fueling Populist movements, as seen with William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech in 1896 and Coxey's Army protests against President Grover Cleveland's gold-standard policies and laissez-faire approach

Panic of 1893

was a protest march of unemployed workers in 1894, led by Jacob Coxey, who marched to Washington D.C. during the Panic of 1893 to demand federal government intervention, specifically a public works program to create jobs and inflate currency, famously called a "petition in boots". The movement highlighted Gilded Age economic distress and the government's lack of response, ending when Coxey was arrested for trespassing on the Capitol lawn

Coxey’s Army

was a late 19th-century political movement, largely of farmers and laborers, that challenged elite corporate power (banks, railroads) by advocating for economic and political reforms like the Omaha Platform, demanding a graduated income tax, direct election of senators, government ownership of railroads, and the unlimited coinage of silver to help debtors, shifting power from the few to the "people". 

The Populist Party

William Jennings Bryan's fiery 1896 Democratic National Convention address attacking the gold standard, advocating for bimetallism (free silver) to help indebted farmers, and famously declaring, "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold," which helped him win the presidential nomination but symbolized the clash between agrarian Populism and industrial interests. 

Cross of Gold speech