Untitled Flashcards Set

Timeline: The Gilded Age & Related Developments

• 1865
  • End of the Civil War: The nation begins its transition into the Reconstruction Era.

• 1865–1877
  • Reconstruction Era: The South rebuilds politically and economically while industrial growth starts in the North.

• 1870s
  • Industrial Expansion: Rapid growth in railroads, factories, and urban centers; emergence of big businesses like Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel.

• 1873
  • Panic of 1873: A severe financial crisis triggers an economic depression, exposing vulnerabilities in the new industrial economy.

• 1876
  • Centennial Exposition: Held in Philadelphia, this fair showcases American technological achievements and industrial progress.

• 1880s
  • Rise of Monopolies and Trusts: Big business consolidates power; urbanization accelerates as millions migrate to cities seeking work.

• 1882
  • Chinese Exclusion Act: The first major federal law restricting immigration, reflecting rising nativist sentiments.

• 1886
  • Haymarket Riot: A labor protest in Chicago that turns violent, marking a pivotal moment in the history of American labor movements.

• 1890
  • Sherman Antitrust Act: Enacted to combat the concentration of corporate power by breaking up monopolies and trusts.
  • Dawes Act: Passed to assimilate Native Americans by dividing tribal lands into individual allotments, often leading to significant loss of tribal landholdings.

• 1892
  • Homestead Strike: A major labor conflict in Pennsylvania that highlights the tensions between workers and big industrialists.

• 1893
  • Panic of 1893: Another economic depression that underlines the cyclical nature of the business cycle and economic volatility.

• 1896
  • Plessy v. Ferguson: The Supreme Court decision that upholds racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine, reflecting broader social and political divisions.

• 1900 & Early 1900s
  • Transition to the Progressive Era: Reforms begin to address the excesses of industrial capitalism.
  • Technological Innovations: Advancements like Henry Ford’s assembly line reshape manufacturing and set the stage for modern industry.

Video 

• The Gilded Age: The ‘High’ Point in America’s History

Study Guide: U.S. History (Late 19th Century - Early 20th Century)

I. European Immigration in the United States

Key Themes:

• Immigrants arrived in large numbers, mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe.

• Many settled in urban areas, facing poor living and working conditions.

• The rise of nativism led to immigration restrictions.

Key Terms:

• Ellis Island – Main processing center for immigrants in New York.

• Nativism – Preference for native-born Americans over immigrants.

• Tenements – Overcrowded apartment buildings with poor sanitation.

• Americanization – Movement to assimilate immigrants into American culture.

Key People & Events:

• Jacob Riis – Wrote How the Other Half Lives, exposing poor living conditions.

• Jane Addams – Founded Hull House to help immigrants adjust to life in the U.S.

• 1882 Immigration Act – Placed restrictions on immigrants considered “undesirable.”

• 1917 Immigration Act – Introduced literacy tests for new immigrants.

II. Chinese Immigration & The Chinese Exclusion Acts

Key Themes:

• Chinese immigrants helped build the Transcontinental Railroad but faced discrimination.

• The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first major immigration restriction law.

Key Terms:

• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – Banned Chinese laborers from immigrating.

• Angel Island – Immigration station in San Francisco, known for detaining Chinese immigrants.

• Paper Sons – Chinese immigrants who claimed false family ties due to lost documents.

Key People & Events:

• Denis Kearney – Led the anti-Chinese movement in California.

• Chester A. Arthur – President who signed the Chinese Exclusion Act.

• 1906 San Francisco Earthquake – Destroyed records, allowing Chinese immigrants to claim U.S. citizenship.

III. Gilded Age Corruption in Major Cities

Key Themes:

• Political machines controlled city governments through bribery and fraud.

• Civil service reforms attempted to reduce corruption.

Key Terms:

• Political Machines – Organizations that controlled local politics.

• Tammany Hall – Democratic political machine in New York City.

• Patronage System – Government jobs given to political supporters.

• Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) – Required merit-based hiring for government jobs.

Key People & Events:

• Boss Tweed – Leader of Tammany Hall, stole millions from NYC.

• Thomas Nast – Political cartoonist who exposed Tweed’s corruption.

• 1871 Tweed Scandal – Tweed arrested after public exposure.

IV. Rise of Organized Labor in the U.S.

Key Themes:

• Industrial workers faced long hours, low pay, and unsafe conditions.

• Unions fought for better wages and working conditions through strikes.

Key Terms:

• Labor Unions – Groups formed to demand workers’ rights.

• Strike – Work stoppage to push for labor demands.

• Collective Bargaining – Negotiations between employers and workers.

• American Federation of Labor (AFL) – Union led by Samuel Gompers, focused on skilled labor.

Key People & Events:

• Samuel Gompers – Leader of the AFL, promoted collective bargaining.

• Eugene V. Debs – Socialist labor leader, led major strikes.

• 1877 Great Railroad Strike – First nationwide labor strike, turned violent.

• 1894 Pullman Strike – Federal troops sent in, resulting in violent clashes.

V. Growth of Populism in the 1800s

Key Themes:

• Farmers struggled with debt and sought political representation.

• The Populist Party emerged to challenge big businesses.

Key Terms:

• Populist Party – Political party that fought for farmers and workers.

• Free Silver Movement – Advocated for silver-based currency to help farmers.

• Bimetallism – Using both gold and silver as currency.

Key People & Events:

• William Jennings Bryan – Populist leader, famous for Cross of Gold speech.

• Mary Elizabeth Lease – Populist activist who encouraged farmers to fight back.

• 1896 Election – William Jennings Bryan lost to William McKinley, leading to the decline of Populism.

VI. Where the Buffalo No Longer Roamed

Key Themes:

• Native American lands were taken, and their way of life was destroyed.

• The U.S. government forced Native Americans onto reservations.

Key Terms:

• Homestead Act (1862) – Gave settlers land, pushing Native Americans off their land.

• Dawes Act (1887) – Divided Native lands to force assimilation.

• Reservations – Land designated for Native American tribes.

• Buffalo Extermination – U.S. policy to weaken Native Americans by eliminating their food source.

Key People & Events:

• Sitting Bull – Sioux leader who resisted U.S. policies.

• Chief Joseph – Led the Nez Perce in an unsuccessful escape to Canada.

• 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn – Sioux and Cheyenne forces defeated U.S. troops.

• 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre – U.S. troops killed hundreds of Sioux, marking the end of Native resistance.

• merican Federation of Labor- as a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL–CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual support and disappointed in the Knights of Labor. 

• Battle of Little Bighorn- Battle of the Little Bighorn, (June 25, 1876), battle at the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory, U.S., between federal troops led by Lieut. Col. George A. Custer and Northern Plains Indians (Lakota [Teton or Western Sioux] and Northern Cheyenne) led by Sitting Bull.Plains Indians and U.S. forces over control of Western territory, collectively known as the Sioux Wars.

• Dawes Act- authorized the President to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals. Thus, Native Americans registering on a tribal "roll" were granted allotments of reservation land.

• de facto -de facto (Latin: “from the f

• de jure- de jure, (Latin: “from the law”) legal concept that refers to what happens according to the law, 

• Ghost Dance- The Ghost Dance movement in many respects ended with the Wounded Knee Massacre.

• Gilded Age- a time of great political corruption and wealth inequality in the late 1800s. The Gilded Age's history is characterized by rapid economic growth, a flood of immigration, and scandalous politics.

• Gospel of Wealth- Carnegie argued that extremely wealthy Americans like himself had a responsibility to spend their money in order to benefit the greater good. In other words, the richest Americans should actively engage in philanthr

• Great Railroad Strike- The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cut wages for the third time in a year. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was the first strike that spread across multiple states in the U.S.

• Haymarket Square Riot- Violent confrontation between police and labour protesters in Chicago that dramatized the labour movement's struggle for recognition. Radical unionists had called a mass meeting in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality in a strike action.

• Homestead Act- enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land.

• Homestead Strike- The Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania discharged workers from the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers Union. A bloody confrontation ensued between the workers and the hired Pinkerton security guards, ultimately killing 16 people and causing many injuries.

• Jim Crow Laws-mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of the former Confederate States of America and in some others, beginning in the 1870s.

• Knights of Labor- officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation that was active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also in Great Britain and Australia.

• laissez-faire-Laissez-faire is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism from the government.

• literacy test- state government practices of administering tests to prospective voters purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote.

• Lost Cause- an American pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery.

• lynching-of a mob) kill (someone), especially by hanging, for an alleged offense with or without a legal trial.

• melting pot- it is often used to describe the cultural integration and even assimilation of immigrants into the US. 

• Morrill Act- The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally owned land, often obtained from Native American tribes through treaty, cession, or seizure.

• New South- New South, New South Democracy or New South Creed is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War. 

• Pendleton Act-provided that federal government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and that government employees be selected through competitive exams. The act also made it unlawful to fire or demote for political reasons employees who were covered by the law.

• political machine-A political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives—money, political jobs—and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership control over member activity.

• poll tax- Generally, In the United States, the term "poll tax" is used to mean a tax that must be paid in order to vote, rather than a capitation tax simply.

• Pullman Strike- a widespread railroad strike and boycott that disrupted rail traffic in the U.S. Midwest in June–July 1894.

• push and pull factors- push factors describe the reasons that individuals might emigrate from their homes, including poverty, lack of social mobility, violence, or persecution. Pull factors describe the reasons that an individual might settle in a particular country.

• robber barons- is a term used frequently in the 19th century during America's Gilded Age to describe successful industrialists whose business practices were often considered ruthless or unethical. Included in the list of so-called robber barons are Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller.

• Sand Creek Massacre- On November 29, 1864, roughly 700 federal troops attacked a village of 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho on Sand Creek in Colorado. An unprovoked attack on men, women, and children, the massacre at Sand Creek marked a turning point in the relationship betw

• Second Industrial Revolution-The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid scientific discovery, standardisation, mass production and industrialisation from the late 19th century into the early 20th century.

• Sherman Antitrust Act-  prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace. It outlaws any contract, conspiracy, or combination of business interests in restraint of foreign or interstate trade.

• Social Darwinism- charles darwin. he idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better.

• Tammany Hall- It became the main local political machine of the democratic party and played a major role in controlling New york city and new york state politicos and help immigrants most notable the rise  in american politics 

• Tenements- a room or a set of rooms forming a separate residence within a house or block of apartments.

• transcontinental railroad- by connecting the existing eastern U.S. rail networks to the west coast, the Transcontinental Railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad") became the first continuous railroad line across the United States. It was constructed between 1863 and 1869.

• Treaty of Fort Laramie- to bring peace between the whites and the Sioux who agreed to settle within the Black Hills reservation in the Dakota Territory.

• Wounded Knee Massacre-the slaughter of approximately 150–300 Lakota Indians by United States Army troops in the area of Wounded Knee Creek in southwestern South Dakota. The massacre was the climax of the U.S. Army's late 19th-century efforts to repress the Plains Indians.

Key People:

• “Buffalo Bill” Cody- William Frederick Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous and well-known figures of the American Old West. 

• Alexander Graham Bell- Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born Canadian-American inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1885.

• Andrew Carnegie- Andrew Carnegie was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history.

• Annie Oakley- Annie Oakley was an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. 

• Calamity Jane- Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits, she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok

• Chief Joseph- was the leader of a Native American tribe of the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States, faced with settlement by whites of tribal lands in Oregon, led his followers in a dramatic effort to escape to Canada.

• Cornelius Vanderbilt-his business tactics and strategies which allowed him to create a transportation empire. During the next decade, Vanderbilt gained control of the traffic on the Hudson River by cutting fares and offering unprecedented luxury on his ships.

• Crazy Horse- Crazy Horse was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by white American settlers on Native American territory and to preserve the traditional way of life of the Lakota people.

• Frederick Jackson Turner- American historian known for the 'frontier thesis,'

• General George Armstrong Custer-Union cavalry officer in the American Civil War (1861–65) and a U.S. commander in wars against Native Americans over control of the Great Plains.

• Ida B. Wells-da Bell Wells-Barnett was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

• J.P. Morgan-John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.It became J.P. Morgan and Company.

• John D. Rockefeller-He was by most definitions the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust.

• Red Cloud-War chief and leader of the Oglala branch of the Teton Sioux, Red Cloud was born in present-day, north-central Nebraska near the forks of the Platte River. He was the first American Indian in the West to win a war against the United States. He was also the last.

• Sitting Bull-Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies.

• Thomas Edison- Thomas Alva Edison exerted a tremendous influence on modern life, contributing inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone.

• William “Boss” Tweed-William Magear Tweed, widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party's political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th-century New York City and state.

Presidents:

• Ulysses S. Grant (#18)- was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As commanding general, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as U.S. secretary of war.

• Rutherford B. Hayes (#19)- Hayes had firmly supported Republican Reconstruction policies throughout his career, but the first major act of his presidency was an end to Reconstruction and the return of the South to "home rule".

• James Garfield (#20)-Garfield's accomplishments as president included his assertion of presidential authority against senatorial courtesy in executive appointments, a purge of corruption in the Post Office, and his appointment of a Supreme Court justice

• Chester A. Arthur (#21)-Chester A. Arthur believed that one failed policy in terms of managing relations with various Native American tribes was the assimilation policy. This policy aimed to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream American culture by encouraging them to adopt the customs, language, and way of life of the white settlers.

• Grover Cleveland (#22 & #24)- The first Democrat elected after the Civil War in 1885, our 22nd and 24th President Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later (1885-1889 and 1893-1897).

• Benjamin Harrison (23)-Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States from 1889 to 1893, elected after conducting one of the first “front-porch” campaigns by delivering short speeches to delegations that visited him in Indianapolis.