US History: Gilded Age
Terms
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- Grover Cleveland
- 22nd and 24th president, Democrat, Honest and hardworking, fought corruption, vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and civil service reform, violent suppression of strikes
- A Century of Dishonor
- Written by Helen Hunt Jackson, it detailed the injustices made to Native Americans during US expansion
- James Blaine
- Republican nominee for president in 1884, previously a Secretary of State
- Populist Party
- Political party that opposed the gold standard and pushed for democratization of economic and financial systems. Largely supported by farmers, and failed to leave any direct impact, although its policies where adopted by other parties (use party in answer)
- 1880
- Election year: Republican Garfield defeats Democratic Hancock for president
- Pendleton Act
- Bill signed into law by Arthur that ends patronage and institutes a meritocratic job-seeking system for civil service
- Oklahoma Land Rush
- Land run in 1889, after government opens up the territory
- John Rockefeller
- Industrialist and philanthropist responsible for creation of Standard Oil
- Half-Breeds
- Moderate republicans who favored civil service reform
- Otis
- Inventor of the elevator and a safety device for the elevator's hoisting cables
- 1892
- Election year, Cleveland returns to defeat incumbent Harrison for presidency
- Buffalo
- Slaughtered by railroads
- Chester Arthur
- 21st president, Republican, taking office after assassination of Garfield, revitalized the US Navy and ironically lead the charge of civil service reform
- YMCA
- Spiritual organization meant to provide healthy activities for young workers in the cities
- Thomas Edison
- Inventor of lightbulb, phonograph and numerous other innovations
- J.P. Morgan
- Banker and Philanthropist who dominated finance, helping create General Electric and U.S. Steel
- Vertical integration
- Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution
- 1896
- Election year, Republican McKinley defeats Democrat WJB, extremely competitive election that results in realignment of interests
- Horizontal integration
- Practice where a single entity controls an entire aspect of production, ensuring that everyone must go through you
- Dawes Severalty Act
- Bill that promised Indians tracts of land to farm in order to assimilate them into white culture. The bill was resisted, uneffective, and disastrous to Indian tribes
- Winfield Scott
- Democratic nominee for election of 1880, also loses narrowly, but only by popular vote
- Wabash v. Illinois
- Court decision that rules states may not directly regulate railroads but leads to establishment of Interstate Commerce Commission
- Knights of Labor
- Labor union founded by Uriah S. Stephens in 1869, that grew out of the collapse of the National Labor Union and was replaced by AF of L after a number of botched strikes
- Morrill Act
- Allows for creation of land-grant colleges, colleges built on federally granted land specially appropriated for this purpose. It was signed into law by Lincoln
- Interstate Commerce Commission
- Regulatory body created by Grover Cleveland for purpose of regulating railroads
- Hatch Act
- Prevents civil servants from misappropriating public funds for campaign purposes
- Frederick Turner
- Writer of The Significance of the Frontier in American History, arguing that in the frontier the purest form of democracy exists
- Dumbbell
- Shape of an unsanitary, crowded housing complex
- Boss Tweed
- Leader of the Democratic Tammany Hall, New York political machine
- Transcontinental Railroad
- Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west
- 1884
- Election year: Democratic Cleveland narrowly defeats Republican Blaine after mudslinging campaign. Blaine's campaign is ruined by "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion"
- William McKinley
- 25th president, Republican, Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and the Annexation of Hawaii, imperialism
- Andrew Carnegie
- Industrialist and Philanthropist responsible for U,S, Steel
- Gospel of Wealth
- Philosophy asserted by Carnegie that the rich had to be philanthropic
- Typewriter
- Developed in the late 19th century, it revolutionized the transcription of documents but was largely supplanted by the computer
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Inventor of telephone
- 1876
- Election year: Tilden v. Hayes, Hayes gets presidency after Compromise of 1877
- Labor Union
- Organization of workers for the purpose of increased lobbying power for benefits and wages
- Pullman Strike
- 4000 railcar workers strike in response to 28% pay cut, bringing a halt to Chicago traffic. Cleveland deploys the United States Marshalls to break up the strike, and Eugene V. Debs gets sent to jail to become a Socialist
- Free silver
- Political issue involving the unlimited coinage of silver, supported by farmers and William Jennings Bryan
- Panic of 1893
- Economic panic resulting from a series of bank failures and gold-running on the US Treasury
- Helen Hunt Jackson
- Author of A Century of Dishonor
- Samuel Tilden
- Democratic nominee for president in 1876, loses narrowly
- Bland-Allison Act
- Proposes a 16:1 silver to gold purchase to increase circulation of silver, but in practice is not very successful
- Wounded Knee Massacre
- Last armed conflict between Sioux and US, instigated by overzealous Ghost Dance
- Sherman Silver Purchase Act
- Increased silver purchase quotas previously set by Bland-Allison Act, but leads to gold-running on the US Treasury
- American Federation of Labor
- Federation of craft labor unions lead by Samuel Gompers that arose out of dissatisfaction with the Knights of Labor
- Sherman Antitrust Act
- First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions
- Mugwumps
- Republicans who supported the Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in 1884 because they could not support Blaine
- Munn v. Illinois
- Court decision that allows states to regulate railroads within their borders, a victory for the Grange
- William Jennings Bryan
- Politician who ran for president 1896, 1900 and 1908 under Democrats, was a pro-silverite and Populist leader
- James Garfield
- 20th president, Republican, assassinated by Charles Julius Guiteau after a few months in office due to lack of patronage
- The Grange
- Originally a social organization between farmers, it developed into a political movement for government ownership of railroads
- Haymarket Riot
- A planned strike by the Knights of Labor results in police confrontation and a bomb
- Forgettable presidents
- Presidents who made very little effect on American politics
- Ghost Dance
- Spiritual revival in 1890 by Indians that would lead to the massacre at Wounded Knee
- Rutherford Hayes
- 19th president, Republican, succeeding Grant, didn't do much after the contested election against Tilden
- Interlocking directorate
- Practice where a single person is part of the boards of multiple companies
- U.S. Steel
- Established in 1901 by J.P. Morgan and Carnegie, it was a combination of steel operations into a single corporation
- Battle of Little Bighorn
- Armed conflict against Indians that ends in Indian victory, annihiliating the entire US cavalry. Also referred to as Custer's Last Stand
- Vanderbilt
- Family of railroad moguls
- Yellowstone
- Signed into a national park in 1871 by Ulysses S. Grant, it is the first ever national park in the world, established in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho
- Benjamin Harrison
- 23rd President; Republican, poor leader, introduced the McKinley Tariff and increased federal spending to a billion dollars
- Panic of 1873
- Four year economic depression caused by overspeculation on railroads and western lands, and worsened by Grant's poor fiscal response (refusing to coin silver
- National Labor Union
- The original national labor federation that, after its decline, paved the way for othe runions
- McKinley Tariff
- Raises tariff rates to 48.8% in return for Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Detrimental to farmers, Hawaii gets killed
- Charles Guiteau
- Disappointed job-seeker who assassinated James Garfield
- Stalwarts
- "Traditional" faction of Republican party lead by Conkling who supported patronage and a third term for Grant
- Standard Oil
- Established in 1870, it was a integrated multinational oil corporation lead by Rockefeller
- 1888
- Election year: Republican Harrison defeats incumbent Cleveland