6.2 Key Legislation and Social Movements of the Gilded Age

patronage

use of government resources to reward individuals for their electoral support

Pendleton Act 1881

Set up by the Civil Service Commission, it created a system where federal jobs were awarded based on competitive exams

McKinley Tariff 1890

Raised the tax on foreign products to a peacetime high of 48 percent.

Wilson-Gorman Tariff 1894

provided a moderate reduction in tariff rates and levied a 2 percent income tax.

Gilded Age

period of ostentatious displays of wealth, growing poverty, and government inaction in the face of income inequality

Specie Resumption Act of 1875

Congress sided with creditors and investors when it passed this act which withdrew all greenbacks (paper money not backed by gold or silver) from circulation.

Greenback Party

formed by supporters of paper money not backed by gold or silver.

Sherman Silver Purchase Act 1890

Increased the coinage of silver but it was not enough to satisfy the farmers and miners.

Farmer's Alliance

Group of discontented farmers elected senators, representatives, governors, and majorities in state legislatures in the West.

scientific management

Theory using efficiency experts to examine each work operation, then find ways to minimize the time needed to complete the work

Ida Tarbell

muckraker and magazine editor, exposing the corruption of the oil industry with the series 'The History of the Standard Oil Company'

Jacob Riis

wrote 'How The Other Half Lives', which showed the terrible conditions of the tenement houses of the big cities where immigrants lived during the late 1800s

National Consumer League

attempted to mobilize the power of women as consumers to force retailers and manufacturing to improve wages and working conditions

Pure Food and Drug Act

Forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in order to abolish the 'patent' drug trade

Federal Reserve Act

created a central banking system, consisting of twelve regional banks governed a Board. Attempt to provide the United States with a sound yet flexible currency.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

mission was to abolish all forms of segregation and to increase educational opportunities for African Americans.

Direct Primary

nominating process where voters directly select the candidates who will run for office

League of Women's Voters

Civic organization dedicated to keeping voters informed about candidates and issues.

Hard money

Paper money backed by gold

Margaret Sanger

founded an organization that became Planned Parenthood. They advocated for birth-control education