Great railroad strike
Railroad companies cut salaries due to a recession. Railroad workers went on strike in 11 states. When the strike got violent, 11 people were killed before President Hayes sent in federal troops
Pullman strike
After a railroad car manufacturer cut wages, and the union tried to negotiate, the company failed them all. The railroad union decided to not work on any trains with Pullman cars in them. The railroad owners tied the Pullman cars to mail trains in order to get the government to keep them moving, and the union members were jailed
Booker T. Washington
former slave who trained other black men to become economically self-sufficient, and argued this was a better way to gain power than to campaign for better voting rights
nationwide movement of resistance. They began to believe that if they took up the ritualistic ghost dance, that their ancestors would return and drive the Americans out.
National Grange movement
Social and educational collective aimed at brining farmers together. Soon became political to lobby for farmers
By 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau declared that the frontier was officially settled
National union open to ALL laborers. Wanted to end child labor and end trusts
Tammany Hall
Worked to close down saloons
A new focus on cash-crops in the north and west, and a shift to more expensive mechanized farming methods put smaller farms out of business. Big trusts that farmers relied on (like railroads) also raised prices, making it even harder for farmers to make a living
Heavily anti-catholic and Social Darwinists
Indian nations were assigned land called reservations. However this land was much less than before, and many decided to just keep following buffalo
Chinese exclusion act
Nativists successfully pressured Congress to stop the flow of Chinese immigrants who were coming over during the gold rush.
Sherman antitrust act
Made monopolizing an entire market illegal
Jim Crow laws
Forced segregation and prevented african americans from exercising their civil liberties
Anarchists set off a bomb during a Knights of labor protest in Chicago for an 8-hour workweek. Many people began to see the labor movement as violent and radical
Government support for railroads
Ida B. Wells
Editor of a newspaper editorialized against lynching and jim crow. She fled north due to threats against her
American federation of labor
Grew to over a million members by 1901 and had some modest successes
Views on immigration
Feared that factory owners would use immigrants to keep wages low and to replace striking workers
Settlement houses
Provided resources to the poor to enrich the neighborhood. Largely led by women
White collar workers
All the industrialization created a new type of work for managers and administrators who ran the factories instead of working in them
Bessemer process
Enabled manufacturers to produce huge quantities of steel
Panic of 1893
A severe economic depression during which nearly a quarter of railroads declared bankruptcy. This caused bankers to buy up many of the railroads, leading to consolidation.
Sioux wars
Sioux initally won a deceive victory against the U.S. army.
Labor unions
Wanted to correct the concentration of power held by banks and trusts. Proposed the Omaha platform: Direct election of senators, more referendums, graduated income tax, and an 8-hour workday
Laissez-faire economics
There was an extreme lack of government regulation of the economy at the time
Political machines
Corrupt political bosses and their followers
The new south
Idea that the future of the south would be based on economic diversity and industrial growth. Massive growth of population, industry, and railroads. Only in limited industrial centers though.
