NWRHS US History Ch 10 & 11 vocabulary
Terms
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- The Gilded Age
- term coined by Mark Twain - period after Civil War, politicians/govt were corrupt, unrestricted capitalism
- graft
- slang term for political corruption
- political machine
-
an unofficial system of political
organization, most prevalent in American cities between about 1875
and 1920 that was characterized by total "behind-the-scenes" control of municipal politics. - Tweed Ring
- notorious city machine in New York City led by "Boss" Tweed
- William "Boss" Tweed
- first political boss of Tammany Hall in New York City; built control by election and appointment of friends; managed to steal millions of dollars of city funds
- kickback
- contractor would pad bill for city work and "kick back" a percentage to politicians
- Thomas Nast
- famous editorial cartoonist in New York City; focused on political corruption; instrumental in downfall of Boss Tweed
- Tammany Hall
- name given to the Democratic political machine that dominated New York City politics from 1854-1934; local machine leaders drew power from their own neighborhoods - great deal of graft was used to "help" the needy in the neighborhood wards
- wards
- small administrative divisions of a city- usually defined as neighborhoods
- lobbyists
- people paid to represent a company or a special interest group
- townships
- smaller divisions of a county broken up into local government districts
- Ulysses S. Grant
- US President 1869-77; Republican; former Union general; presidency was plagued by suspicion of scandal; Although there is no evidence that Grant himself profited from corruption among his subordinates, he did not take a firm stance against malefactors and failed to react strongly even after their guilt was established.
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- US President 1887-81; Republican; nicknamed "Old Granny"; election close; Southern Democrats were assured he would end Reconstruction and pull federal troops from the South; rescued presidency from domination of Congress; very HONEST man
- patronage
- the assumed right of elected officials to control political appointments to unelected positions (politicians would put their friends in high positions)
- Pendleton Act 1883
- established the US Civil Service Commission and placed most federal employees on a merit system; marked the end of the "spoils system"; brought about after a "dissatisfied" office seeked assassinated President Garfield
- Chester Arthur
- US President 1881-85; Republican; became president when Garfield was assassinated; champion of civil service reform; passed the Pendleton Act; lowered tariff rates; suspended Chinese immigration for ten years
- James Garfield
- US president 1881; Republican; leader of the "Half Breeds" who supported civil service reform and lenient treatment of the South
- free-traders
- farmers, consumers, shippers & importers who argued that a protective tariff was unfair govt interference with the laws of supply and demand - they said that tariffs were subsidies paid to manufacturers out of the pockets of consumers
- protectionists
- defended the tariff as a means of nurturing fledgling industries in the US; argued that tariffs kept wages high by shielding them from competition with cheap foreign labor
- Benjamin Harrison
- US President 1889-93; Republican; favored attempts to freely spend the mounting treasury surplus; helped form Pan American Union; signed Sherman Anti-Trust Act
- antebellum
- period before the Civil War
- Samuel Clemens/ Mark Twain
- popular humorist and writer; wrote vivid & hilarious stories; Tom Sawyer; Huckleberry Finn; his writing bridged the gap between popular and "highbrow" literature
- realism
- European influenced movement that strove for accurate representation
- Stephen Crane
- wrote Red Badge of Courage; realist novel that depicted a Union soldier's fear and cowardice under fire
- Joseph Pulitzer
- published the New York World newspaper; sensationalism; first to use "scare headlines"; introduced serialized comic strips; if he could not find news - Pulitzer made it.
- expatriates
- people who choose to live outside their native countries
- yellow journalism
-
sensationalism over facts!
exaggeration; lack of fact checking; some stories were deliberate lies - pooling
- competing railroad lines would divide traffic services
- The Grange
-
early national farm organization
involved the affiliation of local farmers into area "granges" to work for their political and economic advantages.
one of the first special interest groups - cooperatives
- nonprofit stores owned by farmers
- Interstate Commerce Act 1887
-
first federal law to regulate interstate commerce --
declared rates that railroads charged must be reasonable and just; forbade pooling; rr's were required to publish rates; make annual financial reports to federal govt; created the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) - greenbacks
- US paper money issued during Civil War; prices began to drop, farmers began to demand inflation
- inflation
- rise in price of goods
- deflation
- general reduction in the level of prices
- gold standard
- currency is convertible into gold; restricts currency supply (because production of gold does not increase very fast) and drives prices down
- Bland-Allison Act
- 1878; required that the Treasury buy silver and issue currency against it
- third party
- minor political party
- Populist Party
- third party in 1892 that won electoral votes; expression of farmers' grievances; comdemned political corruption, newspapers dominated by business, and the condition of labor; Against worldwide adoption of gold standard; did not want to overthrow capitalist system but change the rules
- J.P. Morgan
- financier and banker; most powerful banker on Wall Street; bought federal bonds below value & made millions; world's first billion dollar corporation
- William Jennings Bryan
- 1896 Democratic presidential candidate; "Cross of Gold" speech blasted supporters of gold standard; gifted orator
- William McKinley
- US president 1897-01; Republican; launched "trust-busting" era; led US into Spanish-American War
- temperance movement
- movement in support of total abstinence from alcohol; blamed many of society's ills (joblessness, domestic violence) on alcohol; tried to persuade people to become "teetotalers"
- Susan B. Anthony
- civil rights leader; led effort to grant women the right to vote;
- Karl Marx/socialism
- German political philosopher; writings formed basis of communism & socialism; THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO & DAS KAPITAL; predicted capitalism was doomed; fewer would control wealth while more people would become proletariat (people without property) Eventually proletariat would rise up and take control of society
- conspicuous consumption
- the use of vast resources just for show; the production of excess unwanted goods, which must be consumed to justify continued production
- riders
- irrelevent amendments to laws