APUSH Gilded Age, Imperialism, and Progressivism

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty 1850

• Signed btwn US and GB

• Said that neither nation had exclusive control over trade route in Central Amer 

Homestead Act 1862

• Granted Americans 160 acres of land in the West

Pacific Railway Act 1862

• Allowed RRs to own land around the RRs they constructed

Haymarket Square Riot Chicago 1866

• Started peaceful at McCormick Farm Equipment Works and workers demanded 8 hr workday 

• Few days later police and Pinkerton (police force) tried to break up crowd

• Let to several workers killed

• Bomb goes off and anarchists accused and sentenced to be hung or life in jail

National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry 1867

• Organization for Grange farmers (members) to counter power of middlemen 

• Shared resources and equipment to make farming more profitable

• Granger Laws that set maximum rates for RRs and grain storage + gave state power to regulate private businesses

Knights of Labor Union 1869 - 1880s

• Was secret society of garment workers in Philadelphia

• Made of unskilled workers and skilled craftsmen like carpenters, ironworkers, textile workers, etc

• Open to women and black ppl

• Wanted change through elections not through strikes

• Wanted 8 hr workday, workplace safety laws, end to child labor, federal tax on wealthy, public ownership of telegraphs and railroads, etc

Standard Oil of Ohio 1870

• John D. Rockefeller created largest oil monopoly

• Used vertical integration where company owns everything from start to finish 

• Used horizontal integration where company buys out or merges with other companies to own all of the industry

Social Gospel Movement 1870-1920

• Renewing religious faith through dedication to justice and social welfare

• Jacob Riis was photographer and took photos of drunk kids; movement’s solution was orphanages
  

Credit Mobilier Scandal 1872

• Union Pacific Railroad shareholders created a fake company called Credit Mobilier that would get gov’t funding for the RRs

• Credit Mobilier demanded more money than was needed for the construction of the RRs

• Kept the extra money for themselves

• For protection, Credit Mobilier gave members of Congress cheaper shares than what they charged the public

Comstock Act 1873

• Prevented spread of information about birth control and intercourse

Greenback Labor Party 1873

• Grangers, local men’s parties, and labor advocates created national party

• Wanted the protection of every man’s vote

• Wanted the gov’t to print more greenbacks (paper money) which would stimulate economy and make it easier for farmers to pay off debts

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 1874

• Wanted to stop drunkenness through prohibiting liquor sales

• Spread after 1879 when Willard became its leader

• First organization to defend and combat domestic violence and founded soup kitchens and libraries

• Germans and Irish Catholics opposed temperance bc it was leisure activity in saloons
  

Election of 1876

• Rutherford Hayes is Republican nominee for second presidency

• Multiple votes placed for certain states so needed Congress to choose winner

• Electoral commission was unbalanced and had more Reps and chose Hayes as president

Munn. v. Illinois 1876

• RR companies owned land around RR and had silo to hold grain 

• Farmers charged to hold grain in silo

• Also charged for grain elevator that puts grain into RR freights

• Granger Laws threatened big businesses so Munn grain storage company sued

• Supreme Court upheld Granger Laws and said state can intervene and regulate corporations for the benefit of the ppl

Hayes 1877-1881

Great Railroad Strike 1877

• Railroad workers walk off job after wage cuts

• Pennsylvania governor sends state militia to stop strike

• Workers react by doing 40 mill worth of damage to RRs

• Workers that participated are blacklisted so can’t get jobs anywhere else in the industry

• National Guard made in response to enforce order at home

End of Reconstruction 1877

• Hayes becomes president and pulls out last troops in South 

• Officially ends Reconstruction and gives way to Jim Crow laws 

Solid South 1877

• After Reconstruction ended

• Had northern city political machines and helped working poor (wanted their votes in exchange)

• Continued to focus on state’s rights

Salvation Army 1879

• Arrived from GB in 1879 

• Spread gospel to urban poor

• Made soup kitchens and shelters

Election of 1880

• Garfield used spoils system/patronage to hand out jobs to supporters

• Garfield wins

Garfield 1881

Garfield’s assassination 1881

• Gets assassinated bc someone wanted position through patronage but Garfield didn’t give it to him

• Not killed by bullet but by ignorance of doctors

Arthur 1881-1884

Oriental (Chinese) Exclusion Act 1882

• Blocked immigrants from entering US

• Took away citizenship from Chinese immigrants in US

Pendleton Civil Service Act 1883

• Creates Civil Service Commission to choose gov’t officials based on merit
  

Cleveland 1885-1889

Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific RR Co. v. Illinois 1886

• Narrowed/overturned Munn decisions

• Granger Laws made RRs publish rates but RRs didn’t like that cause they could charge smaller businesses more for shorter trips without business knowing

• Supreme Court said it’s not a state power but a federal power bc RRs cross state lines

• Prohibited long haul and short haul clauses in contracts so only federal gov’t could enforce fair pricing not the states

American Federation of Labor 1886

• Leader was Samuel Gompers

• Believed Knights of Labor relied too much on change through elections

• Wanted to get workers rights through collectively bargaining with employers

• Created pure-and-simple unionism where pure meant limited membership to skilled workers and simple meant goals that immediately benefited workers

Dawes Act 1887

• Subdivides Indian reservations into individual plots of land of 160-320 acres

• Sold surplus land to white settlers 

Interstate Commerce Act 1887

• Prevented monopolistic practices by regulating and posting RR rates

• Also created Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to oversee railroads

• Allowed citizens to sue RR in court if they didn’t comply

• Gave RR option to be publicly owned by the gov’t if it went bankrupt

• Problem was that it wasn’t federally funded enough so not enforced

Harrison 1889-1892

Johnstown Flood Pennsylvania 1889

• Country club for elites had reservoir that broke after rebuilding road to make it easier to access club

• Dam lowered to create road and runoff water pipes never replaced

• After heavy storm reservoir collapsed and 2,200 ppl died and none of the elites held responsible

Populist Party 1890

• Kansas Farmers’ Alliance and Knights of Labor create Populist Party/People’s Party

• Represented the farmers who wanted public ownership of RRs and telegraphs, income tax for the wealthy, land protection against monopolies and foreigners, etc

• Nominated James Weaver for pres

• Hard to gain traction from those who were dedicated to Rep or Dem party

• Reps called them Ex-Confeds and Dems called them disguised Radical Reps

General Federation of Women’s Clubs 1890

• Studied problems like pollution, working conditions, and poverty

• Ideal of maternalism was btwn domesticity and equality

National American Woman Suffrage Association 1890

• Reunited in 1890 and won ballots for women in multiple states

• Discouraged by state defeats and Congress’s rejections to made constitutional amendment 

Western Frontier Close 1890

• US Bureau of the Census announced western frontier now closed

• Causes identity crisis bc Amer was built on expansion

Sherman Antitrust Act 1890

• First law to stop monopolies

• Created to break up monopolies and stop unfair business practices that would hurt competition

• Also stopped union strikes bc they interfered with trade

Wounded Knee Massacre 1890

• Ghost Dance movement sparked and Sioux ppl believed it would help them regain prosperity

• White settlers thought it would be an uprising and army is sent to South Dakota 

• Lakota Sioux ppl murdered in confrontation

McKinley Tariff 1890

• McKinley was Congressman during Harrison administration

• Increased tariffs on imported goods by almost 50% 

• Based on theory that domestic businesses would boom from protectionism (tariff on foreign goods)

• Affected sugar cane imports (connected to annexation of Hawaii)

Cleveland 1893-1896

American Railway Union 1893

• Founded by Eugene V. Debs who was socialist

• Included skilled and unskilled workers

Coxey’s Army 1894

• Radical businessman Jacob Coxey proposed that to reduce unemployment the gov’t should hire the unemployed to fix Amer’s roads/gov’t take responsibility for employing idle ppl

• Hundreds of unemployed men marched from Ohio to Washington to petition program

• He was arrested in Washington for stepping on the grass for trespassing

Pullman Strike 1894

• Pullman Company lowered wages without also lowering worker’s housing rent

• Workers of the luxury sleeping car company and the American Railway Union boycotted Pullman cars

• Managers said strike obstructed US Mail and trade

• Pres Cleveland sent troops to end strike and Debs of ARU was arrested
  

Venezuelan Boundary Dispute 1895-1896

• Land dispute btwn Venezuela and GB

• Venezuela asked US for help bc GB was violating Monroe Doctrine (European nations should not interfere with Western Hemisphere)

• Cleveland urged arbitration (peace settlement) and uses Monroe Doctrine

• GB was unimpressed and Clevalnd ready for conflict but gives in despite having military superiority over US

• Big foreign policy win for Cleveland

• South Amer pleased with US help and GB wins partly bc they end up with most of the disputed territory

• Start of new US and GB friendship

National Association of Colored Women 1896

• Created orphans, elderly homes, promoted temperance and public health

• Ida B. Wells sued RR company after being denied a seat in ladies car and white mob destroyed her friends’ store and killed them

• Thought that their store was competing with white stores and in response Wells told ppl to boycott Memphis’s businesses

• Showed lynching was due to economic competition, labor disputes, or interracial relationships

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896

• Home Plessy was 1/8 black and told to move to a colored car but he refused and was arrested

• Supreme Court said segregation didn’t violate 14th amendment as long as blacks had facilities that were “separate but equal”

• Segregation was not equal in reality and showed modern consumerism based on racial discrimination

McKinley 1897-1901

Spanish-American War 1898

• Spanish send General “Butcher”  to Cuba to put down rebellion by creating concentration camps which are written by Yellow Press

• USS Maine mysteriously blows up killing Amers and Yellow Press blames Spanish and calls for war against Spain

• McKinley asks Congress to declare war

• Entire Spanish Asian fleet sunk within hours

• Spanish Caribbean fleet completely sunk

Annexation of Hawaii 1898

• Hawaii was natural extension of US since New England missionaries in 1820s went and became economic leaders of trade cross-roads

• 1840 US told other nations to leave Hawaii alone 

• 1875 had reciprocal trade agreement (deal where Hawaii and US get trade benefits) and 1887 got Pearl Harbor for a naval base

• McKinley tariff made it hard to import sugar cane and US scared of Japanese boats by Hawaii

• White economic leaders urged annexation but Queen Liliuokalani didn’t want annexation and wanted a treaty

• Cleveland returned to office and withdrew treaty (anti-imperialist)

• 1894 Sanford Dole declared himself President of the Republic of Hawaii and sentence Queen for 5 yrs of labor and 5000 fine for treason

• Hawaii gets annexed in 1898, a territory in 1900, and a state in 1959

Teller Amendment 1898 (Teller Amendment TELLS the people what they want to hear)

• Before the war started the US guaranteed that after the war was over they wouldn’t annex Cuba as a territory but instead allow their independence

Treaty of Paris 1898

• After the Spanish Amer War the Philippines were bought for 20mill 

• Puerto Rico and Guam were also acquired

• Was signed in 1898 but ratified by Senate in 1899

Filipino Revolt 1899-1902

• When Spanish controlled the Philippines they paid rebel leaders for them to go in exile

• Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was exiled but when US took the Philippines he used money to buy guns to bring back and fight US

• Revolt started 2 days before Treaty of Paris was ratified by Senate

• US used tactics like burning crops, villages, and rounding up civilians

• Caused many dislocated civilians and children died from malnutrition and disease

Walker Isthmian Canal Commission 1899

• Challenged the Nicaragua canal route

• Turned to Panama route bc it’s faster

Open Door Policy 1899-1900

• Secretary of State John Hay defends US interests in China by making Open Door Note

• Note said all nations would have equal trading rights throughout all of China

• Chinese were not informed or part of discussion

• After Boxer Rebellion Hays makes second note that preserved territorial and administrative entity (No political or territorial division of China or its gov’t)

• US had extraterritoriality that let Americans in China be ruled and tried under US law

Boxer Rebellion 1900

• Patriotic Chinese rebels kill 200 missionaries, foreign diplomats, etc in Beijing

• Multinational military force used to put down rebellion (breaks Amer foreign policy)

• China paid 24.5mill in indemnities (compensation) to US

• 24.5mill was a lot more than what damage cost and in goodwill US gave back 18mill

McKinley’s assassination 1901

• Killed 6 months after winning presidency 

• Shot at Pan American Exposition in NY by Leon Czolgosz who was influenced by anarchists in Europe

• Yellow Press blames Ben Parker for assassination bc he was the only black man in the room
  

Roosevelt 1901-1909

Hay-Pauncefote Treaty 1901

• Signed by US and GB that allowed the US to build the Panama Canal

• Nullified the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

• Wasn’t allowed to fortify (militarize) canal

• Colombia upset and didn’t want US there at all

• US offered Colombia 10 mill but they reject it

Platt Amendment 1901

• Amendment put in Cuba’s constitution

• Blocked Cuba from making treaties with any foreign countries besides the US

• Gave US the right to intervene

• Gave US land in Cuba for a naval base or coaling
  

Insular Cases 1901

• After Treaty of Paris the question on citizenship for new land acquired arose

• Supreme Court said Constitution didn’t automatically give citizenship to ppl in acquired territories

• Congress gets to decide

• Made Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines colonies and not guaranteed statehood unless Congress granted it

Lochner v. NY 1905

• NY state law limited working hours

• Bread bakers weren’t comfortable with limitations on working hours bc felt like they could work more hours bc work wasn’t very strenuous

• Supreme Court struck down state law and said it interfered with private contracts and the 14th amendment that allowed ppl to get work (private contracts)

Pure Food and Drug Act 1906

• Journalist Upton Sinclair exposed labor exploitation in novel The Jungle

• Created federal Food and Drug Administration to oversee compliance of act

• Prohibited sale of mislabeled food and drugs

Women’s Trade Union League 1903

• Organized women into unions and financed by wealthy women

National Child Labor Committee 1907

• Made by progressives concerned about labor conditions for women and children

• Lewis Hine photographed conditions in mines and mills where children worked

 Muller v. Oregon 1908

• Supreme Court upheld Oregon law that limited women’s workday to 10 hrs

• Problem is that it doesn’t protect men and women

Taft 1909-1913

Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire 1911

• Employers locked emergency doors to prevent workers from leaving and from theft

• Fire broke out on 3 floors in NYC building

• Workers were young immigrant women and either jumped out of building to die or burned alive

Standard Oil Decision 1911

• Supreme Court agreed with Justice Department that Rockefeller’s monopoly should be divided into multiple competing companies

Wilson 1913-1921

Lawrence Labor Strike 1912

• Wanted shorter work hours per week for women and wanted hourly pay instead of by piece

• In MA textile workers who went on strike got lowered work hours but company lowers wages

• Strikers killed and police justify it bc they’re socialists

• IWW makes soup kitchens for the young immigrant women but get arrested

• In the end it was successful and got less hours and regular wages

Leo Frank Case 1913

• Frank is Jewish northerner who owned pencil factory in Atlanta

• Frustration during time of New South ideology of bringing industrialization to S

• Girl from factory gets killed and Frank accused of rape and murder

• Black men accused him of crime or else they would be accused of the murder

• He gets lynched by white mob

Panama Canal completed 1914

• Hard to construct canal and yellow fever and malarai spreading

• Fumigation sprayed chemicals on crops which got into irrigation systems and caused harm to humans

• Most workers were black men bc work was far overseas and gov’t knew it could be dangerous
  

Clayton Antitrust Act 1914

• Amended Sherman Antitrust Act

• Mad definition illegal businesses/practices more flexible
  

Jones Act 1916

• Divided the Philippine Islands into 12 districts