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.
John D. Rockefeller
Sioux wars
American protective association
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
Anti-Saloon league
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
Labor unions
Workers formed labor unions to have more negotiating power and fight for better pay and working conditions
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
Massive extension of the railroad system created a truly national market for goods
Assimilationist movement
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
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.
Forced segregation and prevented african americans from exercising their civil liberties
Bessemer process
NAWSA
Women's Christian Temperance Union
National Grange movement
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
All the industrialization created a new type of work for managers and administrators who ran the factories instead of working in them
Government support for railroads
Railroads supported by the government through money and land grants
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
Gospel of wealth
Andrew Carnegie argued that those with wealth should invest it into society
Chinese exclusion act
Nativists successfully pressured Congress to stop the flow of Chinese immigrants who were coming over during the gold rush.
National union open to ALL laborers. Wanted to end child labor and end trusts
Tammany Hall
The most famous political machine organized and met the needs of immigrants and the poor in exchange for votes
Grew to over a million members by 1901 and had some modest successes
By 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau declared that the frontier was officially settled
Laissez-faire economics
There was an extreme lack of government regulation of the economy at the time
