Pendleton Act
Political appointments were very corrupt after a guy shot the president because he didn't get a job, congress passed the Pendleton Act, which created an exam that was used for deciding who would get a job
Growth of immigration
Bessemer process
Enabled manufacturers to produce huge quantities of steel
John D. Rockefeller
Pioneered horizontal integration, where one company controls every seller in the market.
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
Social and educational collective aimed at brining farmers together. Soon became political to lobby for farmers
Anti-Saloon league
Worked to close down saloons
White collar workers
Worked to ban alcohol, had over 500,000 members
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.
Ida B. Wells
Sherman antitrust act
Made monopolizing an entire market illegal
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
Required railroad rates to be reasonable and just, and established a federal commission to oversee the railroads
Railroads
Massive extension of the railroad system created a truly national market for goods
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.
Nativists successfully pressured Congress to stop the flow of Chinese immigrants who were coming over during the gold rush.
Gospel of wealth
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
Settlement houses
Broke up tribal organizations and divided up tribal land and gave U.S. citizenship to natives who "Americanized" themselves
Views on immigration
American federation of labor
Grew to over a million members by 1901 and had some modest successes
Heavily anti-catholic and Social Darwinists
Jim Crow laws
Forced segregation and prevented african americans from exercising their civil liberties
Indian appropriation act
congress sparked a new fight with the Sioux, by passing a law that nullified all previous treaties made with native Americans
Political machines
Reservation system
