| A | B |
|---|
| Gilded Age | Term coined by Mark Twain to describe the Post-Civil War period- especially the politics and corruption of the era |
| patronage | Rewarding loyal supporters with government jobs and perks |
| constituents | A party's group of followers (ex: Blacks in the South- Republicans; Union veterans- Republicans) |
| Republicans/Grand Old Party (GOP) | Political party that appealed to Union veterans, free blacks, and business interests after the Civil War |
| "waving the bloody shirt" | Tactic used by the Republicans to attract Union veterans by portraying the Democrats as the party of secession and disloyalty |
| Billion Dollar Congress | 1889-1891- period in which the Republicans dominated both the presidency and Congress- Sherman Antitrust Act, increased pensions for vets, etc. |
| tariffs | Taxes on imports- the #1 source of revenue for the federal government- High supported by GOP- low by Democrats |
| McKinley Tariff (1890) | Passed during the Billion Dollar Congress- highest tariff of the period |
| machines | Political organizations, especially at the municipal level, that seek to maintain power through patronage (ex: Tammany Hall in NYC) |
| Tammany Hall | Most famous of the urban machines- corrupt- led by Boss Tweed |
| Credit Mobilier Scandal | Most famous of the Grant Administration scandals- fraudulent railroad company that was bribing prominent Republicans |
| Whiskey Ring/Indian Ring | Other scandals of the Grant administration, involved key members of the Grant administration though he himself was not involved |
| Liberal Republicans | Third party committed to stopping the corruption of the Republican/Grant administration- Carl Schurz- Election of 1872 |
| Election of 1872 | Grant won reelection despite a threat from the Liberal Republicans |
| Panic of 1873 | 1st major financial crisis after the Civil War, caused by overspecualtion |
| Greenbackers | Nickname for the Greenback Labor Party- believed in inflating the economy with paper money to relieve the problems caused by the Panic of 1873 |
| Crime of '73 | Term coined by proponents of silver when the government took the metal out of circulation |
| Election of 1876 | Hayes (Rep) vs. Tilden (D)- Tilden probably won but there were three disputed states (FL, SC, LA)- not enough votes to win majority- election decided by Compromise of 1877 in favor of Hayes |
| Compromise of 1877 | Settled the very contentious outcome of the Election of 1876- Hayes (Republican) was granted the presidency in return for an end to Reconstruction |
| Mugwumps/Stalwarts/Half-Breeds | Various factions of the Republican Party in the mid-1880s |
| Pendleton Act (1883) | "Magna Carta" of civil service reform- response to Garfield's assassination- required govt. appointees to take competitive civil service exams |
| Wilson-Gorman Tariff (1894) | During Cleveland's 2nd term- lowered tariffs- also had a clause for an income tax that was declared unconstitutional a year later |
| Pacific Railway Act of 1862 | Passed during the Civil War- provided for the construction of the transcontinental railroad completed in 1869 |
| subsidies | Money given by government: a grant or gift of money from a government to a private company, organization, or charity to help it to function, ex: the government giving generous land grants to help railroads |
| transcontinental railroad | Built across the U.S. from California to the East. Two lines were built- met in the middle at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869- by 1900 four had been completed |
| Pullman sleeping cars | Luxurious railcars designed for overnight travel- Pullman was also the site of a notorious strike between American Railway Union and Pullman Company town |
| standard times | Division of the nation into four time zones- pushed by the railroads to improve and standardize scheduling |
| standard gauge | gauge = width between rail tracks- but the mid-1880s a standard gauge had been implemented- allowing for rail lines to connect without having to change rail cars |
| secret rebates | Discounts provided by railroads to large companies to haul their freight (ex: Standard Oil)- opposed by farmers and small business as discriminatory |
| vertical integration | Controlling the entire production process from the raw materials to the finished goods- cutting out the middle man along the way (ex: Carnegie Steel) |
| horizontal integration | Buying out rival companies in the same industry (ex: Rockefeller buying out smaller refineries) |
| steel | Stronger than iron- the commodity that best demonstrated the economic power of a nation. Increasingly important in post-Civil War America building railroads, bridges, skyscrapers, etc. |
| Bessemer Process | Improved the process of converting iron to steel by removing impurities by blowing air through molten iron- produced cheaper and more durable steel |
| U.S. Steel | The name of Andrew Carnegie's company after it was purchased by J.P. Morgan |
| Spindletop | Massive oil discovery in SE Texas in 1901- spewed oil for days |
| philanthropy | Donating money to charitable causes (ex: to colleges and universities)- ex: Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth |
| Gospel of Wealth | Idea the rich should donate their riches to charitable causes like libraries, theaters, and higher education- Andrew Carnegie- also an idea God had given them their riches |
| Munn v. Illinois (1877) | Upheld the state Granger laws to regulate railroads |
| Wabash Case (1886) | Reversed Munn (1877) by ruling states could not regulate interstate commerce- which most railroads conducted |
| Interstate Commerce Act (1887) | 1st major attempt by Congress to regulate railroads, created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC); several loopholes |
| Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) | 1st major attempt by Congress to regulate trusts, several loopholes which were exacerbated by the E.C. Knight Case (1895). Actually best used against labor unions. |
| United States v. E.C. Knight (1895) | Supreme Court case which gutted the Sherman Anti-trust Act (1890) by ruling the act did not apply to manufacturing |
| scabs | Workers hired to replace striking workers |
| yellow dog contracts | Prohibited workers from joining unions |
| blacklists | Lists of union members or troublesome workers circulated among bosses so those laborers would not be hired |
| Great Railroad Strike of 1877 | Railroads such as the Baltimore and Ohio cut wages and railroad workers went on strike over a wide area in solidarity. President Hayes called out the army/militia to put it down. Caused a lot of damage. |
| Haymarket Square Riot (1886) | Workers from the McCormick Harvester Works went on strike which created underlining tensions in Chicago. There was a peaceful demonstration with speakers at the Haymarket Square. A bomb was thrown killing some policemen and others. This act was blamed on anarchists. More than anything the Haymarket Square Riot killed off the Knights of Labor |
| Homestead Strike (1892) | Workers at one of Carnegie's steel mills went on strike. Henry Clay Fricke, Carnegie's right-hand man, sent Pinkerton detectives to take over the factory. The workers and Pinkertons waged a battle but in the end the steel workers union was broken |
| Pinkertons | Private detective force often hired by business leaders against strikers (ex: during the Homestead Strike) |
| Pullman Strike (1895) | The Pullman company town increased the price of goods in company town- American Railway Union led by Debs went on strike- court injunction and federal troops (mail) were called out and ended it |
| National Labor Union | The first major union after the Civil War- many weaknesses- basically over shortly after the Panic of 1873, led by William Sylvis |
| Molly Maguires | Radical Irish coal miners in Pennsylvania who resulted to violence and terrorism to achieve their goals |
| Knights of Labor | Broad based union of the late 1870s-mid-1880s- allowed skilled and unskilled workers- doomed by the Haymarket Square Riot (1886)- Uriah Stephens and Terrence Powderly |
| American Federation of Labor | Led by Samuel Gompers- allowed only skilled workers (trade unionism)- believed in basic demands- "bread and butter unionism"- replaced the Knights in importance |
| Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) | Also known of the Wobblies- radical, anti-capitalist union of the 1890s-1910s- led by Big Bill Haywood- doomed by World War I |
| closed shop vs. open shop | Closed shop requires labor force to be union members- the open shop is the opposite. Unions favor closed shop while employers prefer open shop. |
| Socialist Party | Led by Eugene V. Debs and to a lesser extent Daniel DeLeon- opposed the capitalist excesses of the post-Civil War period- really never gained broad based popularity |
| socialism | Political/economic philosophy were government owns the means of production to avoid capitalist excesses (ex: owning the railroads and telegraphs) |
| anarchy | Political philosophy where there is no government- increased popularity in the post-Civil War period and in Europe- often resort to violence (Ex: assassination of President McKinley) |
| City Beautiful Movement | Push to beautify urban areas with public parks and natural spaces (ex: Frederick Law Olmstead and Central Park in NYC) |
| suburbs | Areas of cities outside the central core of the city- this is where the wealthy tended to live- growth enabled by transportation developments |
| dumbbell tenements | Design of urban tenements (basically apartment buildings) that maximized space to allow for maximum occupancy- led to urban areas having very high population densities |
| New Immigration | Describes the wave of immigrants of the 1880s-1920 that was from Eastern and Southern Europe (Italy, Greece, Russia, etc)- different from previous waves in terms of origin, religion, culture, etc. |
| WASPs | White Anglo-Saxon Protestants |
| birds of passage | Term for immigrants who did not remain permanently in the U.S.- returned at some point- after the Civil War it was estimated to be 1/3 |
| Ellis Island | Immigration processing depot in New York City, opened in 1892- many of the New Immigrants came through Ellis Island |
| anti-Semitism | Hatred/discrimination/prejudice of Jews |
| American Protective Association | Powerful nativist organization in the 1890s |
| settlement houses | Ex: Hull House run by Jane Addams. Provided opportunities for college-educated women to provide services to immigrant neighborhoods (ex: English classes) |
| Protestant fundamentalism | Literal interpretation of the Bible- ex: the Genesis as the story of creation rather than evolution/Darwinism |
| Social Gospel | Protestant reform movement of churches trying to tackle the problems of urban America- Washington Gladden and Walter Rauschenbusch |
| Salvation Army | Organization that typified the Social Gospel |
| YMCA | Young Men's Christian Association- example of the Social Gospel |
| Darwinism | Theory of evolution and natural selection to describe origins of man |
| Chautauqua Movement | Education- travelling lecture circuits across the United States (ex: Russell Conwell and William Jennings Bryan)- very popular |
| Morrill Land Grant Act (1862) | Provided for federal funds for the creation of state land grant colleges- typically agricultural and mechanical colleges such as Texas A&M |
| Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) | Upheld the constitutionality of "separate but equal" facilities for whites and blacks in the South- overturned by Brown v. Board of Education (1954) |
| Tuskegee Institute | Founded by Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver- education institute for blacks in Alabama- industrial training in line with Washington's philosophy |
| Vassar, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr | Famous women's colleges |
| Johns Hopkins | Graduate school in Baltimore based on the German model of specialized research |
| Comstock Act (1873) | Morality law which prohibited mailing obscene materials, including information on birth control |
| Gibson Girl | Cartoon character by Charles Dana Gibson idealizing the woman as sleek, athletic, and curvy |
| National American Woman Suffrage Association | Pushed for woman suffrage- included Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt |
| Minor v. Happersett (1875) | A setback for the women's suffrage movement by upholding state restrictions on women suffrage |
| chain and department stores | Changed the shopping experience and provided standard goods across the country- dominated smaller stores |
| Sears and Roebuck | Mail-order store that used catalogs sent via mail to attract a nation-wide market |
| Social Darwinism | "Survival of the fittest'- Spencer and Sumner- applied Darwin's theories to man- used to justify big trusts, racism, imperialism, etc. |
| baseball | The most popular spectator sport of the late 1800s, 1903- 1st World Series |
| vaudeville | Influenced by immigrant culture- shows with a variety of acts such as singing, dancing, comedy, ventriloquists, etc. |
| minstrel shows | White actors in black face- very popular among whites in lampooning blacks |
| Realism | A shift away from Romanticism- emphasis on life as it is- not as it is idealized- ex: Ashcan School of art and literature of Dreiser and Twain |
| dime novels | Cheap novels, typically about the Wild West (ex: the novels of Bret Hart) |
| Californios | The Mexican natives of California- discriminated against with the flood of Anglos with the California Gold Rush |
| Chinese | First came with the Cal. Gold Rush- later worked on transcontinental railroad- target of racism and discrimination on the West Coast |
| Workingman's Party | Nativist organization led by Denis Kearney- directed their anger at Chinese on the West Coast |
| Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) | First law to restrict an immigrant group - response to nativist sentiments and racism on the West Coast |
| Angel Island | The "Ellis Island" for the Chinese- located in San Francisco |
| reservation system | The plan for sequestering Indians on certain areas of land where they can be out of the way of white expansion (ex: Oklahoma) |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs | Often corrupt federal agency entrusted with dealing with Native Americans and managing reservations |
| Sand Creek Massacre (1864) | Led by Col. J.M. Chivington- attack on largely defense Cheyenne village in Colorado |
| Sioux/Cheyenne | Tribes that dominated the northern part of the Great Plains- Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse |
| The Black Hills | Located in the Dakotas- sacred/holy land for the Sioux and Cheyenne- discovery of gold led to settlers led to Little Big Horn (1876) |
| Battle of Little Big Horn (1876) | Massacre of Custer's command at the hands of Sioux and Cheyenne- last great victory of the Plains Indians |
| Buffalo Soldiers | Term for Black cavalrymen fighting on the Great Plains- term of respect given by the Native Americans |
| Nez Perce | Led by Chief Joseph- failed in their flight to the sanctuary of Canada |
| Comanche | Dominated the southern Great Plains (ex: Texas)- led by Quannah Parker |
| Apache | Led by Geronimo- resilient people of the Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico) |
| Ghost Dance | Religious movement introduced by Wovoka- scared the whites because the Indians believed the buffalo would return, the white's bullets would not harm them, and their ancestors would return- led to the tensions that led to Wounded Knee |
| Wounded Knee | December 1890- massacre of Sioux village (precipitated by Ghost Dance) basically marked the end of the Plains Indian Wars |
| extermination of the buffalo | The #1 reason for the defeat of the Plains Indians- wholesale slaughter by white hunters make the buffalo almost extinct |
| Carlisle Indian School | One of many institutions to try to assimilate Indian youth |
| Dawes Severalty Act (1887) | Major attempt by the federal government to assimilate Indians attempting to make them into small farmers by breaking up tribal lands into individual plots. Ultimately proved disastrous to Native Americans. |
| A Century of Dishonor (1881) | By Helen Hunt Jackson- documented the long history of broken treaties by the federal govt. against the Indians |
| Homestead Act (1862) | Provided 160 acres of land in the Great Plains as long as settlers remained 5 years and improved the land, lots of fraud and 160 was too little for arid Great Plains |
| Timber Culture Act (1873) | Addition to the Homestead Act which granted an additional 160 acres for planting trees |
| Oklahoma/Sooners | Indian Territory was opened to Anglo settlement in 1889- "final fling of settlement"- some jumped the gun early and were known as Sooners |
| barbed wire | Invented by Joseph Glidden- enabled fencing on the treeless Great Plains- led to fencing wars of farmers vs. ranchers vs. ranchers |
| sodbusters | Nickname for settlers on the Great Plains- after the material their homes were often made of |
| Comstock Lode | Major discovery of silver in Nevada |
| Yonder-siders | Miners who left California for strikes in the Rocky Mountains |
| Texas longhorns | Tough, semi-wild animal roaming Texas- driven by enterprising cowboys to rail hubs in Kansas where they could be shipped via rail to meatpacking plants in the West |
| The Long Drive | The term for the cattle drives from Texas to rail hubs in Kansas and Nebraska (ex: Goodnight-Loving Trail, Chisholm Trail) |
| Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show | Very popular in the East- had real life cowboys, Indians, and animals- great example of Easterners fascination with the Wild West |
| Frederick Jackson Tuner's "Frontier Thesis" | Written in response (1893) to the closing of the frontier (Census of 1890)- argued the frontier was an essential character of American culture and identity- safety valve for the discontent |
| bonanza wheat farms | Massive wheat farms with thousands of acres- ex: Oliver Dalrymple's in the Dakotas |
| Hatch Act (1887) | Federal law which established agricultural research stations |
| inflation | Currency loses its value- it depreciates; farmers and other debtors wanted inflation (greenbacks or silver) to easier pay back their debts |
| Bland-Allison Act (1878) | Required the federal government to buy a certain amount of silver to issue as currency- victory for proponents of inflation |
| The Grange | Farmers organization that provided social activities and travelling lectures, increasingly became political (ex: state laws to regulate railroads) |
| Granger Laws | State laws, often in Great Plains states, to regulate railroads. Upheld in Munn v. Illinois (1877) but overturned by the Wabash Case (1886) |
| Farmers' Alliance | Successor to the Grange in the late 1880s and early 1890s, increasingly political, C.W Macune, platform articulated in the Ocala Demands (1890) |
| Ocala Demands (1890) | Platform of the Farmers' Alliance; called for subtreasury system, free and unlimited coinage of silver, an end to tariffs, direct election of senators, government regulation of railroads |
| Populist Party | Political party of the 1890s that ran candidates in 1892 and 1896. Strong among farmers, especially in the Great Plains. #1 issue was inflation through free and unlimited coinage of silver; prominent leaders included Ignatius Donnelly, Mary E. Lease, Tom Watson, and William Jennings Bryan |
| Omaha Platform (1892) | Platform of the Populist Party in 1892, mirrored the Ocala Demands (1890)- #1 issue was the free and unlimited coinage of silver |
| Panic of 1893 | Worst financial crisis in U.S. History prior to the Great Depression, lasted for almost 5 years |
| Coxey's March (1894) | March of an unemployed "army" led by Jacob Coxey that came to Washington D.C. demanding public works jobs to offset the unemployment of the Panic of 1893 |
| Election of 1896 | William Jennings Bryan (Democratic and Populist) vs. William McKinley (Republican). The Democrats and Populists merged behind Bryan ("Cross of Gold" Speech). The #1 issue was the free and unlimited coinage of silver. McKinley and the Republicans' victory spelled the end of the Populist Party- one of the most important elections in U.S. History |
| Gold bugs | Supporters of the gold standard, in the Democratic Party specifically (ex: Grover Cleveland) |
| Cross of Gold Speech | William Jennings Bryan's acceptance speech in 1896- urged for the free and unlimited coinage of silver |
