Populist party
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
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
Bessemer process
Enabled manufacturers to produce huge quantities of steel
Labor unions
Workers formed labor unions to have more negotiating power and fight for better pay and working conditions
Assimilationist movement
Views on immigration
Feared that factory owners would use immigrants to keep wages low and to replace striking workers
Government support for railroads
Railroads supported by the government through money and land grants
Forced segregation and prevented african americans from exercising their civil liberties
Ida B. Wells
Editor of a newspaper editorialized against lynching and jim crow. She fled north due to threats against her
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
Chinese exclusion act
Nativists successfully pressured Congress to stop the flow of Chinese immigrants who were coming over during the gold rush.
Interstate commerce act
Required railroad rates to be reasonable and just, and established a federal commission to oversee the railroads
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
Settlement houses
Provided resources to the poor to enrich the neighborhood. Largely led by women
American protective association
Heavily anti-catholic and Social Darwinists
Anti-Saloon league
Worked to close down saloons
Laissez-faire economics
There was an extreme lack of government regulation of the economy at the time
Railroads
Debates over money
Farmers wanted to print more money so they could more easily pay back their debts, but the bankers and the wealthy wanted to keep the U.S. Dollar on the gold standard
Pendleton Act
Panic of 1893
International migration society
Facilitated the migration of black people to africa
John D. Rockefeller
Pioneered horizontal integration, where one company controls every seller in the market.
Gave settlers 160 acres of land if they lived there for 5 years.
American federation of labor
Grew to over a million members by 1901 and had some modest successes
Sioux initally won a deceive victory against the U.S. army.
Ghost dance movement
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.
congress sparked a new fight with the Sioux, by passing a law that nullified all previous treaties made with native Americans
Gospel of wealth
Andrew Carnegie argued that those with wealth should invest it into society
