Gilded Age, Progressive Era, WWI Flashcards
Battle of the Little Bighorn (“Custer’s Last Stand”)
In June 1876, Sitting Bull gathered Sioux and Cheyenne warriors along the Little Bighorn River in Montana. They were joined by Crazy Horse and his forces. With only about 250 soldiers, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer of the U.S. Army attacked the thousands of warriors even though they were outnumbered. He and almost all of his men were killed in the battle. The news of the defeat shocked the nation. Yet the army soon crushed the Native American uprising, sending most of them to reservations.
Dawes Act (1887)
The Dawes Act (sometimes called the Dawes Severalty Act or General Allotment Act), passed in 1887 under President Grover Cleveland, allowed the federal government to break up tribal lands. … Only the Native Americans who accepted the division of tribal lands were allowed to become US citizens.
The Buffalo
For most of their history, Native Americans had millions of buffalo to meet their needs. As American settlers pressed onto the Great Plains, the buffalo population declined steeply. American hunters targeted buffalo to sell the hides in the East. Railroad companies also hired hunters to kill buffalo to feed their crews and to prevent giant herds from blocking the trains. By the end of the 1800s, only a few hundred buffalo survived.
Geronimo
Born in Mexico, Geronimo led his people against the colonization of Apache lands by both Mexican and U.S. settlers. He once said that he might have lived peacefully with white settlers if their promises had been kept.
Wounded Knee Massacre
After Sitting Bull was killed, several hundred Lakota Sioux with weapons gathered at Wounded Knee, a creek in southwestern South Dakota. In December 1890, the U.S. Army sent troops there to collect the Sioux weapons. When they did this, one of the guns went off, and when the shooting ended, more than 200 Sioux and 25 soldiers lay dead. This marked the end of armed conflict between the U.S. government and Native Americans.
John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil Company
John D. Rockefeller was the most famous figure of the oil industry. When he was just 26, he and four partners built an oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1870, he organized the Standard Oil Company of Ohio and set out to dominate the oil industry. Standard Oil grew powerful and wealthy.
Price Fixing
One method Rockefeller used to make Standard Oil more powerful was price fixing, or artificially making prices lower than competitors just to drive them out of business.
J.P. Morgan
One of the most powerful bankers of his era, J.P. (John Pierpont) Morgan (1837-1913) financed railroads and helped organize U.S. Steel, General Electric and other major corporations. Morgan used his influence to help stabilize American financial markets during several economic crises, including the panic of 1907. However, he faced criticism that he had too much power and was accused of manipulating the nation’s financial system for his own gain.
Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Steel
Andrew Carnegie was the leading figure in steelmaking. He realized there was a huge market for steel, and built a steel plant near Pittsburgh. He acquired companies at all stages of the steelmaking process, which allowed him to lower his company’s costs of making steel, and other steel companies could not compete.
Corporation
One way a company can raise capital is by becoming a corporation. This is a type of business organization that can have many owners and grow very large. A corporation often sells shares - part-ownership of the corporation called stock. It then uses the money from stock sales to build up the business. The people who buy stock shares are called shareholders. When a corporation does well, shareholders can earn dividends, which are cash payments from the corporation’s profits.
Monopoly
Total control of a type of industry by one person or one company.
Trust
A combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement, especially to reduce competition.
Conditions of U.S. Workers
Industrial growth created jobs, yet factory workers had poor working conditions without rights. They generally worked 10-12 hours per day, six days a week. They could be fired at any time for any reason. Immigrants willing to take lower pay drove down wages. People often worked in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. Women generally made about half of what men did. Hundreds of thousands of children under 16 also worked in industry. Many states had to pass child labor laws that said children had to be at least 12 years old and should not work more than 10 hours a day, but employers mostly ignored those laws.
Labor Unions
Dissatisfied workers organized into groups called labor unions to demand better pay, shorter workdays, and better working conditions.
Pullman Strike
In 1894 when the company cut their wages, employees of the Pullman railway-car plant went on strike. Pullman responded by closing the plant. Workers in the American Railway Union then refused to handle any trains that included Pullman cars. The union’s action paralyzed rail traffic across the nation. Pullman and the railroad owners obtained an injunction, or court order, against the union. When the union refused to end the strike, the union’s leader was sent to jail. President Cleveland then sent in federal troops and the strike ended. The failure of the Pullman Strike dealt another blow to the union movement.
Homestead Strike
In 1892 workers went on strike at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant in Homestead, PA. In an attempt to weaken the union, plant managers had cut workers’ wages. In response, the union called a strike. Homestead managers then hired nonunion workers and brought in 300 armed guards to protect them. A fierce battle then broke out where at least 10 people were killed. PA’s governor had to send in the state militia to restore order. The plant then reopened with the nonunion workers. After the failure of the Homestead strike, membership in the steelworkers’ union dwindled.
Haymarket Affair
In 1886, workers from the McCormick Harvester Company had been striking in favor of an 8-hour workday. Several were injured when the police broke up the rally. The next day, a crowd gathered in protest. As police ordered the crowd to break up, someone threw a bomb which stared a riot. The exchange of gunfire that followed left several police officers and civilians dead. Afterward, many Americans linked the labor movement with violence and disorder.
Anarchism
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of authority and rejects all involuntary, coercive forms of hierarchy. Anarchism calls for the abolition of the state, which it holds to be unnecessary, undesirable, and harmful.
Immigration
Immigration to the U.S. shifted in the late 1800s. Before 1865, most immigrants other than enslaved Africans had come from northern and western Europe. After the Civil War, immigrants from other countries began coming to the U.S. Most immigrants from Europe landed at New York City. There, they were processed through Ellis Island in New York Harbor, which was the main government reception center for immigrants coming into the country in New York.
Urbanization, Innovation, Culture in Gilded Age
More and more people moved to cities, including immigrants, which led to larger cities and more population density. A lot of new innovation, or thinking, stared in the Gilded Age, including new bridges, skyscrapers, and new technologies. Examples are more automated farm machinery, new steelmaking technology, and modern forms of transportation.
Formation of Populist Party
Farmers formed alliances seeking regulation of the railroads, tax reform, and “free and unlimited coinage of silver.” The needs of the farmers led to the creation of the Populist Party.
Spanish American War
After centuries of Spanish rule, the people of Cuba rebelled in the late 1800s. Rebels destroyed property in hopes of forcing the Spanish to leave. Spain responded with harsh measures. As a result, thousands of Cubans died of starvation and disease. The American people were horrified of Spain’s treatment of the Cuban people. Business leaders were also worried about the loss of property and trade in Cuba. Responding to the public pressure, President McKinley sent the battleship USS Maine to Havana to protect American citizens and property. Then, the Maine exploded, killing 260 people onboard. America blamed the Spanish and people wanted war with Spain.
