Settlement houses
Provided resources to the poor to enrich the neighborhood. Largely led by women
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
Haymarket square riot
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
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
National Grange movement
Social and educational collective aimed at brining farmers together. Soon became political to lobby for farmers
Broke up tribal organizations and divided up tribal land and gave U.S. citizenship to natives who "Americanized" themselves
Gospel of wealth
Andrew Carnegie argued that those with wealth should invest it into society
Worked to close down saloons
By 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau declared that the frontier was officially settled
Bessemer process
Enabled manufacturers to produce huge quantities of steel
Starting in 1865 many Americans started pushing westward again after the interruption of the civil war
Chinese exclusion act
White collar workers
Interstate commerce act
Required railroad rates to be reasonable and just, and established a federal commission to oversee the railroads
Labor unions
Workers formed labor unions to have more negotiating power and fight for better pay and working conditions
American protective association
Heavily anti-catholic and Social Darwinists
Sherman antitrust act
Political machines
Sioux initally won a deceive victory against the U.S. army.
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.
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
16 million immigrants (mostly from Europe) came looking for better economic opportunities
Reservation system
Ida B. Wells
Editor of a newspaper editorialized against lynching and jim crow. She fled north due to threats against her
Debates over money
Views on immigration
Grew to over a million members by 1901 and had some modest successes
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
Homestead act
Gave settlers 160 acres of land if they lived there for 5 years.
Railroads
Massive extension of the railroad system created a truly national market for goods
