APUSH Unit VII The Gilded Age and the Progressive Response 1877-1914 By: Chris Russell, Demi Adejuyigbe, Ragini Mistry, Gokul Mani, Tiffany Shieh, Michael Kraft, Dakota Reynolds, Tanya Srivastava, and Charles Basile *disclaimer*- There may be errors in this review. If you think something’s wrong, we suggest you look it up. This is shared with others with the current understanding that it cannot be used to cheat in any way. We do not authorize this review to be used for cheating of any kind.
1. Gilded Age- Coined by Mark Twain is the period from 1878-1889. A time when the US was only rich and amazing on the surface, or gilded with the rich of the few and underneath the majority was poor.
2. Jim Fisk- together with Jay Gould they tried to control the US gold market (not controlled by the government but the people in the Gold Room of the NY Stock Exchange) by using Grant. Grant stopped the sail of gold raising prices and eventually realizing the outcome released $4 mil. in gold driving down prices on “Black Friday” (Sept. 24, 1869).
3. Jay Gould- starting with the Erie railroad line in NY, he was a major competition to Vanderbilt’s company. Although forced out of his railroad line due to stock watering (See # 11), he did continue in “business” with Jim Fisk.
4. Credit Mobilier- (1872) Mass. Congressman Oakes Ames was one of the directors of Union Pacific. With the other leaders of that enterprise he made the Credit Mobilier of America which got all construction contracts for the government. They then charged congress $94 mil. for work that was only worth $44 mil., Ames made the deal easier back in Washington by spreading the shares for Credit Mobilier and selling them at half their price.
5. Leland Stanford- The main entrepreneur behind Central Pacific, building the railroad from California to central US. Similar business style as Oakes Ames, by winning land grants, contracts, and overpayments to his railroad-owned construction company. One of the few to get away with his scandals and later built a university with the money.
6. “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt- started a Staten Island ferry business that he built into a steam ship empire. After the Civil War he expanded into railroads. His company, the New York Central, was built on graft and bribery, and became the largest single railroad line in the US.
7. Thomas Edison- An inventor of many things, the phonogram, light bulb, moving pictures, and the basic ability to transmit electricity over larger distances using Direct Current. This meant the ability to power whole towns with electricity (allowing the towns to spread out further from the center) and with the light bulb, work hours could go on into the night.
8. John D. Rockefeller- Originally a book keeper and when asked to see the prospects in oil, he responded that it had “no future”, to then invest in it himself. His first business was South Improvement Company, but was severely corrupt forcing it out of business, to which Rockefeller started Standard Oil of Cleveland in 1870. Standard Oil bought out other businesses with bribes and driving down prices until the competing company went out of business or he could buy them out with Standard Oil stock. Built his business on the idea of horizontal integration (See #14). Also he used “trusts” designed by one of his accountants, Samuel C. T. Dodd. The “trusts” were ways to get around state anti-monopoly laws. By making a nine-man board of trustees and selling “trust certificates” instead of stock. Controlled 90 to 98% of the oil business in the US.
9. Andrew Carnegie- represented the rags to riches idea. He started in a cotton factory after coming over from Scotland with his family in 1848, became a telegraph clerk, to secretary, to head of the Penn. Railroad, then a Wall Street broker. When oil was found on his land he got into that business and later went into iron and steel, and using the Bessemer Process (which he saw in England) hugely improved the process of steel making in the US, dominating the steel market. He mainly used vertical integration (See #13).
10. John Pierpont Morgan Sr- avoided the war by paying his $300 fine, but also profited from the war by buying old rifles for $3.50 apiece, altered the guns by selling to a middle man who bought them for $11.50 and then the government bought their old rifles for $22 apiece. Six times the original price for their old rifles slightly refurbished. Around 1900, he and a few friends owned most of the railroads in the US letting them set rates across the country. His bank in 1900 was one of the banks so high up, that it loaned money to other banks. He even bailed out the government in 1985 by exchanging gold for US bonds which he resold to make a profit off of. Also worked with Andrew Carnegie to make US Steel.
11. Stock watering- selling stocks at a price much higher than actual value. 12. Pool rebate13. Vertical integration- the business idea of owning all the companies involved in making one product. Such as owning the mining, shipping, refining and selling of coal or any number of other products.
14. Horizontal integration- When a company expanded into related fields of business. An example of this would be if Wal-Mart started selling a completely different commodity on its shelves.
15. Interlocking directorate- A strategy where companies have the same people on their boards of directors to reduce competition among between the companies, and to control the market. Basically, there were a few people controlling an entire industry. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 (word #98) restricted these.
16. Union Pacific Railroad- built west from Omaha, Nebraska. Competed with Central Pacific to build as much of the Transcontinental Railroad as possible. Both used Chinese immigrants to build their track. Construction was completed in six years.
17. Central Pacific Railroad- built east from Sacramento, Calif. 18. US Steel- Banker J.P. Morgan founded U.S. Steel in 1901, and it immediately became history's first "billion dollar" corporation. At its strongest controlled more than 60% of the American steel market. It battled many unions and is still a powerful company today.
19. Standard Oil- The most powerful company in the US between 1880 and 1910. Controlled the entire line of petroleum processing, from mining to shipping the finished product. Created in 1870 when John Rockefeller and Samuel Andrews combined their holdings in the oil industry. The owners intended to create an oil monopoly and to keep the price high during periods of low demand. To disguise its attempts to gain a monopoly over the refining business, the company set up what appeared to be a competitive company, the Acme Oil Company. By the time Acme Oil's true ownership was discovered, Standard Oil owned most of the refineries in the country. The attorney general of Ohio filed charges against Standard in 1890. Under existing antitrust laws in 1892, Rockefeller agreed to dissolve Standard Oil into 20 independent companies. Rockefeller retained a section of Standard Oil and continued monopolistic behavior until 1911, when the Supreme Court said the company was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and broke Standard Oil into 70 new companies.
20. Social Darwinism- Darwin argued that within nature, there was competition between species, and only the fittest organisms survived. Social Darwinists believed that this theory of evolution gave validity to the notion that government should stay out of the economy, and let the strongest companies survive.
21. Gospel of Wealth- A concept created by Andrew Carnegie. He believed that the rich had to be stewards of wealth, and that God wanted them to be wealthy. But he also believed that the wealthy must use their power to help society.
22. Sherman Anti-Trust Act- (1890) - Opposition against trusts led to this act, which declared trusts illegal. Trusts were blamed to be illegally restricting trade and violated the corporate charters. Trusts were then replaced by the holding company, a company that could purchase other companies. This was a fairly weak act.
23. Interstate Commerce Commission- The first federal regulatory commission. It investigated railroads to prevent monopolies from forming. Formed as a result of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887.
24. Terence V. Powderly- A Catholic president of the Knights of Labor that made the organization open to workers of every sex, nationality, or race.
25. Samuel Gompers- (1850-1924)- The first president of the American Federation of Labor, the first enduring national labor union. Believed that labor had the most to gain by organizing only skilled craft workers, not all workers in an industry. Refused to form an alliance with the Knights of Labor.
26. Yellow dog contract- A contract stating that an employee would not join a labor union; many employers forced employees to sign them. Yellow-dog contracts were made illegal until the passage of the Norris-La Guardia Act in 1932.
27. National Labor Union- Was a loose federation of city trade assemblies, reform organizations and trade unions. The first convention was in Baltimore and the group may have had up to 500,000 members. It was against strikes and sought to improve working conditions through legislative reform. It turned into the National Labor Reform Party in 1872 and nominated David Davis of Illinois as its presidential candidate, but the party made a poor show at the polls. The last convention was in 1873 and then the NLU collapsed.
28. Knights of Labor- The first labor union. Founded 1869 in Philadelphia, by Uriah Stephens as a secret organization of tailors. The KoL was one of the most important early labor organizations and it structured workers into “one big brotherhood”, instead of separate unions whose members had common skills or who worked in the same industry. It had a strong Protestant influence, but Catholic Terence V. Powderly was elected as its head thus allowing almost anyone to join (excluding bankers, lawyers, gamblers and saloonkeepers). This is an open shop policy. It was at its height in 1885 with 700,000 members. The Knights won victories against the Union Pacific railroad in 1884 and against Wabash railroad in 1885. The Knights pushed for social and economic change; they wanted an 8 hr work day, the abolition of child labor, improved safety in factories, equal pay between sexes, and compensation for injury. The Knights favored cooperatively run workshops and cooperative stores. They held the first Labor Day celebration in 1882. The Knights declined after the 1886 with the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago.
29. American Federation of Labor- Founded Samuel Gompers. It was a closed shop union that only accepted white males who were skilled workers. It replaced the Knights as the largest labor organization. It was made up of craft unions and was committed to “bread and butter” (basic functions related to one’s business, survival or income) unionism. Had more realistic goals than those of the Knights (increased wages, reduce hours and the improvement of working conditions).
30. Eugene V. Debs- He led a union for all rail workers. He started out as a champion of compromise, but he was convinced that the robber barons in command of major railroads were more interested in pitting one brotherhood against the other. In his twenties, he became an official of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. He later resigned his post with the firemen and became a prime mover in setting up the American Railway Union.
31. Haymarket Riot- Occurred on May 4, 1886 in Chicago, when a bomb exploded among a group of police officers as they attempted to disperse a giant labor rally held by the Knights in Haymarket Square. The explosion killed 7 officers and injured 70 people. The event damaged the image of the growing labor movement and was seen as a home for political dissidents rather than an organization of workers trying to get better living conditions. The event was blamed on anarchists and socialists.
32. Homestead Strike- (1892) US Steel closed down its steel mills in Homestead, PA in 1896. Four years earlier it was the site of a clash between labor and management that contributed to eliminating unions from the steel industry for more than four decades. The mill was purchased by Carnegie, who made producing steel products more efficient with the use of an open furnace. This efficiency led to inflation and an argument with Henry Clay Frick over cutting salaries due to this inflation. Frick also wanted to get rid of the union from the plant. Negotiations broke down, Frick shut down the mill and hired Pinkerton Detectives to surround the area. On July 6th, the guards were confronted by workers and townspeople and a gun battle began. It lasted twelve hours before the guards surrendered. The victory was short lived for the union because the National Guard took control of the plant. Frick was also seriously injured by an assassination attempt, which turned the public opinion against the steel workers’ union. The plant later reopened as a non union plant hiring African Americans and East European workers. Union leaders were black-listed from the steel industry for life.
33. Pullman Strike of 1894- 1894 was a year of economic depression. Pullman Palace Car Company, which made railroad cars, had to lay off thousands of workers and cut pay 25-50%. On May 11, 1894 90% of the workers went on strike, which spread to 27 states, when American Railway Union refused to move trains with Pullman cars. When workers refused to comply with an order to go back to work, Pres. Grover Cleveland issued an injunction, and sent 14,000 federal troops to stop the strike. He claimed that the strike was interfering with the mail, a federal interest. 25 were killed, and 60 injured. This event led to the common use of the injunction to break strikes.
34. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire- The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was one of the largest garment manufacturers in New York. The factory had no sprinklers and exit doors were kept locked to keep the workers working. On March 25, 1911 the worst industrial fire in New York City occurred. The fire started at 4:30 in the afternoon and lasted 15 minutes. Many women were trapped inside due to faulty fire escape plans and the efforts of the fire fighters were futile. The fire killed 146 workers, most of them were women. In response to the tragedy, the NY State legislature passed a series of laws to improve working conditions and work safety. This event had a huge impact on the labor and progressive movements because it spurred support for government regulation of factory safety/working conditions.
35. "Mother" Jones- Mary Harris “Mother” Jones was a union organizer and strike leader. Born in Ireland, she moved to the US when she was 8. She was present at some of the most famous American strikes urging workers in the coal strikes (Colorado, Illinois, W. Virginia), steel strikes (Indiana and Penn.) and cotton mill strikes in Alabama. She was present at the convention that founded the radical Industrial Workers of the World.
36. Ulysses S. Grant- Born on April 27, 1822 in Ohio. He is best remembered for his military leadership during the Civil War and for the corruption that plagued his presidency in the Gilded Age. He fought in the Mexican American War with General Taylor’s army and then with General Winfield Scott despite the fact that the war was unjustly provoked by the US. When the Civil War
started, he was a colonel in the state militia and was promoted to brigadier general. He became a national hero in Feb of 1862 after he led his troops into Tennessee and captured Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. After he rescued a large army at Chattanooga, Lincoln put him in command of all the armies of the US. His tactics were ruthless but his “total war” approach was successful, and Lee was forced to surrender. Grant was nominated for president by the Republican Party in 1868 and won the election. Grant believed that the job of the president was to implement the programs that Congress created. Grant also supported the need to control the secret society called the Klu Klux Klan and he later enforced the Klu Klux Klan Act in 1871. When Grant was reelected in 1872, the nation was suffering from depression and corruption scandals were common. Grant’s popularity declined. In his later years, Grant was financially devastated. He wrote Personal Memoirs in order to get money. A week after his manuscript was finished, Grant died on July 23, 1885.
37. Grand Army of the Republic- It was an organization composed of veterans of the Union Army who had served in the Civil War. It was founded by Benjamin F. Stephenson on April 6, 1866.
38. "the bloody shirt"- Politics during the Gilded Age was corrupt and didn’t focus on the issues at hand. A historian named Richard Hofstadter said that the major parties were “divided over spoils” and “over patronage, not principle.” He maintained a voter following by waving around a bloody shirt appealing to Civil War loyalties and playing on religious, ethnic and regional differences.
39. Tweed Ring- William Marcy Tweed was a member of the Democratic Party and was active in New York City Democratic politics. Tweed won his position as the leader of Tammany Hall, which meant that he was the leader of the City’s Democratic Party Organization in 1863. His political machine controlled thousands of patronage jobs and millions of dollars in contracts and govt benefits. Tweed steered city contracts to those who paid the highest bribes or who did the biggest favors for his Tammany political machine. In 1870 he was appointed to the new post of Commissioner of Public Works and consolidated the Tweed Ring’s control over city spending. Tammany Hall maintained its political power. The scandal behind building a new city hall in 1871 brought Tweed down. In Oct. 1871, Tweed was named in a civil suit that charged him with cooperating with contractors to steal more than $6 million in city funds. Nast, a cartoonist, routinely criticized Boss Tweed by drawing political cartoons. 40. Whiskey Ring- defrauded the government of millions in taxes with the assistance of the Treasury Department and President (General) U.S. Grant’s personal secretary, Orville Babcock. 41. Rutherford B. Hayes- became president because of a fraudulent election that stole the presidency from Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, resulting in a compromise with Southern Democrats that killed congressional Reconstruction and any hope for civil rights in the South. 42. Samuel Tilden- a reform Democrat and governor of New York who later lost the White House in an election scandal that stripped him of the electoral votes he rightfully deserved. Got Tweed into trouble.
43. James Garfield- 20th President of U.S. Garfield was assassinated in 1881 by a mentally disturbed man, Charles J. Guiteau, who thought he deserved appointment to a government job, which led to a public outcry for reform of the Spoil System started by Andrew Jackson.
44. Roscoe Conkling- was the undisputed leader of the Republican Party in New York while Ulysses S. Grant was president. He was considered by the Republicans for the presidential nomination in 1876 but lost it to Rutherford B. Hayes. After Grant retired from office in March 1877 and Conkling lost the right to dispense all federal patronage positions in New York, his political power rapidly declined. Furious at Hayes for supporting civil service reform and for launching an investigation of corruption at New York's customhouse, Conkling became the leader of a faction within the Republican Party known as Stalwarts. In addition to opposing civil service reform because of its debilitating effects on patronage, Stalwarts supported the nomination of Grant for a third term as
president in 1880 and wanted to continue providing federal protection of the voting rights of the newly enfranchised, largely pro-Republican, former slaves in the South. 45. James Blaine- The Republican nominee (Maine), was nicknamed the "plumed knight," but disgruntled Republican reformers regarded him as a symbol of corruption. He "wallowed in spoils like a rhinoceros in an African pool”. In office, Cleveland pleased conservatives by advocating sound money and reduction of inflation, curbing party patronage, and vetoing government pensions. But he alienated business and labor interests by proposing a lower tariff and was defeated by Republican Benjamin Harrison in 1888, winning the popular vote but losing the electoral vote. In 1892, Cleveland won reelection thanks in part to a third party movement--the Populists--that siphoned off some of the strength of the Republican Party, and by a vigorous campaign against the extravagance of the Republican "Billion Dollar Congress." But his second term was ruined by the economic depression of the mid-1890s, the worst economic crisis that the country had ever seen. Insisting on sound money, he sought to keep the country on the gold standard and helped convince Congress to enact an income tax (which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court). In 1896, Cleveland's policies were repudiated by his own party 46. Stalwarts vs. Half-breeds- “Stalwarts” swapped civil-service jobs for votes. They were let by New York Senator Roscoe Conkling. Opposed to Conkling were the Half-Breeds. They were led by James Blaine of Maine and they quarreled with the Stalwarts over who should get the give out the civil-service jobs for the votes. 47. Chester A. Arthur- In 1880, Arthur had been elected vice president on a ticket headed by James A. Garfield. After Garfield died as president, Arthur became an ardent reformer. He insisted that high ranking members of his own party be prosecuted for their part in a Post Office scandal. He vetoed a law to improve rivers and harbors. In 1883, he helped push through the Pendleton Act. Failing to please either machine politicians or reformers, Arthur was the last incumbent president to be denied re-nomination for a second term by his own party. Ironically, the president who led the successful campaign for civil service, was linked to a party faction from New York that was known for its abuse of the spoils of office. In fact, in 1878, Arthur had been fired from his post at New York Federal Custom's Collection for giving away too many patronage jobs
48. Grover Cleveland- He was the first Democratic president elected after the Civil War and the only person ever to be elected to non-consecutive terms in office. He was elected in 1884 after slandering his opponent. He named William Whitney as his secretary of navy, who set out to build a “steel navy” by buying Carnegie's steel at inflated prices. His attempts at “reform” were mostly without bite, intended to mollify a public sick of corruption. As president, he signed the Indian Emancipation Act, established the Departments of Agriculture and of Labor, and successfully defended the gold standard. He lowered taxes, because he believed it was unfair to have taxes when the government didn't need them. He had been also known as the "veto" Mayor of Buffalo for rejecting political graft, and as governor he repudiated Tammany Hall. He lost the election of 1888 to Benjamin Harrison because he failed to carry his home state of New York. 49. Benjamin Harrison- Cleveland’s successor, a former railroad attorney who had broken railroad strikes as a soldier. During his tenure, as a reaction to public sentiment, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, named for Senator John Sherman (brother of Gen. W.T. Sherman), for the purpose of protecting trade against “unlawful restraints”.
50. Pendleton Act- Stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit. This act was a result of the President Grover's assassination and the Spoils System. It also made it unlawful to fire or demote covered employees for political reasons or to require them to give political service or payment, and it set up a Civil Service Commission to enforce the law. When the Pendleton Act went into effect, only 10 percent of the government's 132,000 civilian employees were placed under civil service. The rest remained at the disposal of the party power, which could distribute for patronage, payoffs, or purchase.
51. Pork-barrel bills- American political slang for elected representatives or senators who attach the extra or earmark funds to bills specifically for their states that get slipped in hopefully unnoticed. These typically are a politician pet project. The money is called pork and the lawmaker a porkbarreller. 52. James B. Weaver- Was the populist candidate in the presidential election of 1892 who had received over a million in popular votes as well as 22 electoral votes.
53. Hard vs. soft money- Hard money is backed up by precious metals, soft money isn't, and it is prone to inflation. 54. Bland-Allison Act- 1878, passed by the U.S. Congress to provide for freer coinage of silver and incorporated the demands of the Western radicals for free and unlimited coinage of silver.
55. Greenback Labor Party- Were agitated in the early 1870’s with the issue of paper money, when no longer backed up by gold or silver, with the idea that a depreciating currency would make it easier for debtors to meet their obligations. The rich opposed this idea.
56. Populist Party- financed a credit system that allowed farmers to store in federal warehouses to wait till prices had gone up. Populism rose as a result of the poor conditions on the farm, falling crop values, and severe debts. People from both the Grange and the Farmer's Alliance joined this party after the Grange and Alliance died. The Populists supported government ownership of railroads, graduated income tax, and bimetallism/ coinage of silver. They didn’t cooperate with blacks, which potentially weakened the organization.
57. Sherman Silver Purchase Act- 1890, passed by the U.S. Congress to supplant the Bland-Allison Act of 1878. It not only required the U.S. government to purchase nearly twice as much silver as before, but also added substantially to the amount of money already in circulation. 58. William Jennings Bryan- Won his party’s with one of the most famous speeches ever delivered at a political convention. "The boy orator of the Platte" which promised relief to hard pressed farmers. 59. The Grange- First major protest which was the Patrons of Husbandry, which was founded in 1867 had embattled farmers from buying and selling cooperatives and had demanded state regulation for railroad rates and grain elevator fees.
60. Wabash case- decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1886. The decision narrowed earlier ones favorable to state regulation of those phases of interstate commerce upon which Congress itself had not acted.
61. "Cross of Gold'- A famous speech by William Jennings Bryan, the Populist candidate for president. He stated that America wouldn't be hurt for the rich's interests. Bryan lost to Taft. 62. Jim Crow- Named after a mid-19th century black-faced minstrel act which was a degrading system of social segregation and deprived of the right to vote and other prerogatives of citizenship. 63. Crop-lien system- To finance the sharecropping system landowners and sharecroppers borrowed (at high interest rates) against the future harvest. 64. Grandfather clause- provided an exemption from state property and literacy requirements to citizens, or descendants of citizens, who had the right to vote prior to 1866 or 1867. These clauses, enacted in several southern states around 1890, were meant to disenfranchise blacks.
65. "New South"- The Post-Civil War South, which had become more industrialized and part of a modern national economy, due to its inability to rely on slave labor, which had been outlawed.
66. Plessy vs. Ferguson- Though Homer Plessy was 1/8 black and 7/8 white, Louisiana law ruled him as an African-American, meaning that he needed to sit in the 'colored' car when riding the railroad. The judge presiding over the original case ruled that Louisiana had the right to regulate railroad companies, if they stayed within state boundaries. It was brought up with the Supreme Court of the United States, where the court ruled in Plessy's favor.
67. Second Wave Immigration- A surge in European immigration around 1910. These people were from South and East Europe, and unlike the First Wave Immigrants, they stayed in their own ethnic communities, and mostly spoke their own languages. This unity encouraged the rise of unions. (In the 1880's, 1st wave immigrants were from Ireland and Germany)
68. Tenement- A multi-part building made up of apartments that was build to house poor immigrants. 69. Settlement house- Houses for the poor that provided food, shelter, and education provided by wealthy donors and city residents.
70. Hull House- One of the first American settlement houses founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in Cook County, Illinois. Earned a reputation as one of the best settlement houses in the US for its social, educational, and artistic programs.
71. Jane Addams- A founder of the U.S. Settlement House movement. 72. Booker T. Washington- An African-American writer and educator. Opened the Tuskegee Negro Normal Institute that promoted academic subjects as well as practical education.
73. W.E.B. DuBois- An African-American civil rights activist and professor- considered the Father of Pan-Africanism. He believed in the 'talented ten' plan, where the top 10% of blacks would be educated and given important jobs.
74. Charlotte Perkins Gilman- Feminist sociologist and writer famous for such works as "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "Herland."
75. Carrie Chapman Catt- Woman's suffrage leader that was elected president of the National American Woman's Suffrage Association twice.
76. Dwight L. Moody- American evangelist that founded the Moody Church and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts.
77. Social gospel-The idea that the poor are not responsible for being impoverished, but rather society creates a place for them. This reform movement combined the ideals of the Progressive movement with the Christian Church fundamentals.
78. Salvation Army- A Christian religious organization that follows militaristic structure; their main purpose is to promote the Christian faith, as well as contribute to various humanitarian efforts such as poverty and education.
79. Comstock Act- An attempt to limit the transfer of lewd or obscene materials through the U.S. postal system.
80. Margaret Sanger- The founder of the birth-control movement in the United States. She believed women could never become equal unless they had control over childbearing.
81. Women's Christian Temperance Union- An organization of women that pushed for total abstinence from alcohol. Their goals were realized by the passage of the 18th amendment.
82. Muckrakers- People in the political scene in the Progressive Era and onwards who focused on “digging up” political slanders against other opposing candidates or even incumbents, in order to swing the popular vote in their favor. Called muckrakers due to the term “mudslinging” in old political times, this referred to people who took the “muck” and collected it.
83. Jacob Riis- A famous photographer well-known for his series of works that exposed the conditions of the slums of New York, and led to a following of investigative photographers afterwards. He wrote How the Other Half Lives, which outlined the conditions of New York slums.
84. Lincoln Steffens- One of the original muckrakers who reported of the corrupt American politics in urban cities and businesses; influential in civic reform. He wrote Shame of the Cities, which exposed political machines.
85. Ida Tarbell- One of the most well-known muckrakers who condemned Standard Oil in History of the Standard Oil Company. She used their records to show how they were monopolizing the oil industry.
86. Upton Sinclair- Author who used his novels and nonfiction titles to attack the economic and social problems within the American Workplace, and sought reforms in those areas. He wrote The Jungle. 87. Robert LaFollette- First Native American named as Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; worked to gain benefits for the Native American population; tried to convince the people that Indians could settle their own affairs.
88. John Muir- A major figure in the environmentalist groups of the Progressive Era; leading figure of forest conservation; led to establishment of the National Parks System and the Land Reclamation Act. 89. Ballinger - Pinchot Affair- Fight between Richard Ballinger and Gifford Pinchot; Ballinger supported land developers who had claims in Alaska, Pinchot supported those who said the land developers were taking advantage of Alaskan lands. It turned out that Pinchot was helping Ballinger, so Taft fired him.
90. Initiative- Where people have the ability to use petitions to ask for laws. It is a form of direct democracy. It has also been referred to as "minority initiative," thus relating it to minority influence.
91. Referendum- A direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal or law. The referendum is a form of direct democracy ideally favoring the majority.
92. Recall- The ability to re-vote on a subject. 93. Elkins Act- strengthened the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 by imposing heavy fines on railroads offering rebates and on the shippers accepting them. The railroad companies were not permitted to deviate from published rates. The law was sponsored by President Theodore Roosevelt as a part of his so-called "Square Deal", and greatly boosted his popularity. This law also caused nearly all railroads to become defunct for a short period of time.
94. Hepburn Act- gave the railroad company/steel and power co. the power to set maximum railroad rates but allowed the continuation of free passes to loyal shippers. In addition, the company could
view the railroads' financial records. Any railroad that resisted, the company's conditions would remain in effect until the outcome of litigation said otherwise.
95. Northern Securities case- was a large United States railroad trust formed in 1902 by E. H. Harriman, James J. Hill, J.P. Morgan, J. D. Rockefeller, and their associates. The company a large number of railroads. The company was sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by President Theodore Roosevelt, one of the first anti-trust cases filed against corporate interests instead of labor.
96. Meat Inspection Act- A federal law that authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to inspect and condemn any meat product found unfit for human consumption. Unlike previous laws ordering meat inspections which were enforced to assure European nations from banning pork trade, this law was strongly motivated to protect the American diet. All labels on any type of food had to be accurate (although not all ingredients were provided on the label). Even though all harmful food was banned, there were still few warnings provided on the container. The law was partly a response to the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, an exposé of the Chicago meat packing industry, as well as to other Progressive Era muckraking publications of the day.
97. Pure Food and Drug Act- is federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines. The Act arose due to public education and exposés from authors such as Upton Sinclair and Samuel Hopkins Adams, and President Theodore Roosevelt.
98. Newlands Act- is a United States federal law that funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of the American West. It was authored by Representative Francis G. Newlands of Nevada.
99. Teddy Roosevelt- Vice president to William McKinley. He became president after McKinley was assassinated. He fought trusts and was a conservationist. He supported the revolution that helped clear the way for the Panama Canal. His foreign policy was 'Big Stick Diplomacy', which used the military to negotiate with other countries. His domestic policy was the 'Square Deal', where Roosevelt fought the extremely rich and the extreme demands of unions to benefit the middle class.
100.William Howard Taft- Foreign policy was based upon 'Dollar Diplomacy', where Taft used monetary influence to negotiate with other nations. He was a leader of the progressive conservative wing of the Republican Party in the early 20th century. As president, filed twice as many anti-trust suits as Roosevelt, expanded Roosevelt's program of conserving public lands, and created a Children's Bureau within the Labor Department. He also submitted a proposal for a tax on corporate income and called for a constitutional amendment to permit an income tax.
101.Bull Moose Party- was a political party created by a split in the Republican Party in the presidential election of 1912. It was formed by Theodore Roosevelt when he lost the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft and pulled his delegates out of the convention. The party is colloquially also known as the Bull Moose Party, after the party's emblem and after Roosevelt's boast that he was "as strong as a bull moose".
102.Woodrow Wilson- 28th president, received 42% of the popular vote. Pushed Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission, a tariff reduction, and the anti-trust act through congress. He had the "New Freedom" domestic policy while president, and pushed for morality in the globe during World War One with his 14 Points. This foreign policy was the Missionary or Moral Policy. 103.New Nationalism- Term for what Theodore Roosevelt pledged in the 1912 election, focused on strong central government, believed industrial trends of the time (trusts, monopolies, etc.) weren't bad if they were handled responsibly by their leaders. 104.New Freedom- Collective term for the reforms promised by Woodrow Wilson
105.Underwood Tariff- 1913- lowered the tariff on imports for the first time since the civil war, and imposed a graduated income tax.
106.16th Amendment- 1913- gives Congress the power to tax income 107.17th Amendment- -1913- requires Senators to be elected directly by the people 108.18th Amendment- 1919- banned production and consumption of alcoholic beverages 109.19th Amendment- 1920- Gave women the right to vote. 110.Federal Reserve Act- 1913 Established a Federal board, and 12 Regional boards to supervising the banking system 111.Federal Trade Commission- Established the Federal Trade Commission in 1914, to preserve competition by forcing companies to compete
112.Clayton Anti-Trust Act- 1914 Limited ownership of stock by executives of another, provided for non-competitive pricing and banned interlocking directorships. This was a strong deterrent for trusts. 113.Workingmen's Compensation Act- Passed 1916, provided assistance to federal employees injured on the job.
114.Election of 1912- The republicans split their vote between Taft, and Roosevelt, who had formed the Bull Moose Party, allowing Woodrow Wilson, the Democrat, to take the presidency with only 42% of the popular vote. 115.Three tendencies underlay progressive reforms: the desire to eliminate political corruption, the impulse to make government more efficient and effective, and a belief that government should "relieve social and economic distress."
116.If any one book can be said to offer a manifesto of Progressive beliefs, it was Herbert Croly's The Promise of American Life. It called for big government and regulation.
117.Rise of Unions- Unions rose because of the 2nd wave immigrants, poor working conditions, and average pay that couldn't allow someone to live comfortably. There was no insurance in case of injury, there was too much competition for jobs, machines were taking more and more jobs, and the employee needed the company, not the other way around.
118.Struggle of the Unions- Unions were forced to face the perils of strike breakers, courts who were in the corporation's pockets, yellow dog contracts, blacklists of union leaders, and violent Pinkerton Detectives hired by corporations. The first major strike was the Railroad Strike of 1877 versus the B.O. Railroad. 119.Industrial Workers of the World- Also known as the 'Woblies'. This was a militant, radical union that wanted an enormous, open-shop collective of workers. It decreased after 1913. 120.Angel Island- West Coast immigration post
121.Ellis Island- East Coast immigration post. This was where 20 million immigrants entered the country. 2% of immigrants were turned away. Most stayed in eastern cities. Many new immigrants were sucked into the political machines as soon as they got off the boat.
122.Urbanization- made possible by elevators, streetcars, new architectural design, and the Great Chicago Fire, which allowed Chicago to be rebuilt in a more organized manner.
123.Politics of the Progressive Age- Politics had a greater baring on American life, and as a result the common man was much more involved in politics. The Democrats were involved in manufacturing interests, and the Republicans were involved in agriculture interests. Reconstruction after the Civil War was ended by the election of Hayes.
124.Rise of the Progressive Age- It came as a result of the Gilded Age, the 1890's depression, and Coxey's Army. Coxey's Army was a large group of unemployed who wanted a public roads bill that would employ many. Progressives were usually urban, middle class whites. The middle class was angry at the rich for keeping them down, and afraid of an uprising by the poor. There were many reforms, including prohibition, regulation of gas and water, fire exits in buildings, and city government reform. Law reforms were made, including the direct primary, the secret ballot, the direct election of senators, and the practice of governors having assistants to give them advice. 125.McKinley Tariff- Passed while Grover Cleveland was president to protect manufacturing interests and to help along other Democratic legislature. This tariff made farmer's lives much harder, driving them to form the Free Silver movement and the Populist Party. This tariff made Harrison, a Republican, be elected. 126.Extra stuff • Interstate Commerce Commission- given strength by the Elkins and Hepburn Act • Lafayette- the official from Wisconsin that laid the foundation to reformation of elections of officials. • David G. Phillips wrote an expose of the incompetence of the federal government. • American banking was regulated by the Federal Reserve Act.
127.Order of Presidents: • Ulysses S. Grant- 1870-1878 • Rutherford B. Hayes- 1878-1882 • James Garfield- 1882 (assassinated) • Chester Arthur- 1882-1886 • Grover Cleveland- 1886-1890 • Benjamin Harrison- 1890-1894 • Grover Cleveland- 1894-1898 • William McKinley- 1898-1902 • Teddy Roosevelt- 1902-1910 • William Taft- 1910-1914
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Was the growth of industry in the late 1800s primarily beneficial or detrimental to American politics, economics, and society? To what extent were Americans divided over changes brought about by the growth of industry in the late 1800s? To what extent did farmers' protest movements of the late 1800s improve the lives of average American farmers? To what extent did the labor unions of the late 1800s and early 1900s improve the lives of average workers? To what extent did immigration to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s change American politics, economics, and society?
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To what extent did the progressive reforms of 1901-1917 effectively address problems created by the forces of industrialization and urbanization? To what extent were the lives of American women affected by the economic, political, and ideological developments between 1890 and 1920? To what extent did the guarantees of the 14th and 15th Amendments protect African-Americans between 1877 and 1920?