Homestead act
Gave settlers 160 acres of land if they lived there for 5 years.
Great railroad strike
Knights of labor
National union open to ALL laborers. Wanted to end child labor and end trusts
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
National Grange movement
Social and educational collective aimed at brining farmers together. Soon became political to lobby for farmers
NAWSA
Worked to secure voting rights for women
Political machines
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
Laissez-faire economics
There was an extreme lack of government regulation of the economy at the time
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
Chinese exclusion act
Nativists successfully pressured Congress to stop the flow of Chinese immigrants who were coming over during the gold rush.
Sioux wars
Sioux initally won a deceive victory against the U.S. army.
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
Forced segregation and prevented african americans from exercising their civil liberties
By 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau declared that the frontier was officially settled
Railroads
Massive extension of the railroad system created a truly national market for goods
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.
Andrew Carnegie argued that those with wealth should invest it into society
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.
Assimilationist movement
Wanted to end indian culture by forcing them to assimilate to American values.
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.
Andrew Carnegie
Pioneered vertical integration, where one company controls every stage of the manufacturing process
Women's Christian Temperance Union
Worked to ban alcohol, had over 500,000 members
Sherman antitrust act
Made monopolizing an entire market illegal
Feared that factory owners would use immigrants to keep wages low and to replace striking workers
Pioneered horizontal integration, where one company controls every seller in the market.
Labor unions
Workers formed labor unions to have more negotiating power and fight for better pay and working conditions
Growth of immigration
Ida B. Wells
Editor of a newspaper editorialized against lynching and jim crow. She fled north due to threats against her
Changes in farming
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
