Unit 6 - 1865 to 1898 Flashcards
Gilded Age
Mark Twain, Upper Class Wealthy
Term coined by Mark Twain as a critique of upper class wealthy society in the U.S. Conspicuous consumption; displays of wealth; idolatry of a lavish lifestyle; excessive opulent wealth.
United States
Late 19th Century
Evidence of shifting morality and the excesses of the Second Industrial Revolution. Questioned what lied beneath the conspicuous consumption of upper class wealthy society.
Political Machines
Boss Tweed, Thomas Nast
Corrupt political entities like Tammany Hall who were controlled by a boss that wielded immense power over local and state politics. Controlled tax rates, and exchanged favors and votes for jobs.
New York, Chicago, Philadelphia
1830s to 1930
Prime example of fraud, political domination, and graft in the Gilded Age. Thrived off kickbacks and bribes from businesses. Made political participation difficult for qualified individuals. Embezzled millions from taxpayers.
Haymaker Riot
Knights of Labor
Peaceful protest (due to workers being injured and/or killed by Chicago police in a previous incident) for labor rights that turned violent when a bomb was thrown at police.
Chicago
May 4, 1886
Associates the labor movement with anarchy, violence, and radicalism. Major setback for unions.
The New South
Former Confederacy, American South
Term that described the post Civil War South’s attempt to rebuild through industrialization and modernization; and, its new social, political, and economic systems.
Post Civil War South
1877
South was primarily a slave based economy. With the advent of emancipation, it had to establish a new way to generate revenue. Not very successful. Share cropping and segregation continued.
Chinese Exclusion Act
Congress, Chinese Immigrants
Act prohibited immigration from China for 10 years, and the naturalization of Chinese who had already entered the country.
California, United States
1882
Nativist resentment of cheap Chinese labor available as a result of immigration. Placed new requirements and restrictions on Chinese who had already entered the country.
American Federation of Labor
Samuel Gompers, Skilled White Male Workers
Union bargained with management for better wages, conditions, and hours. Organized along craft lines.
United States
1886
Established the use of collective bargaining as an effective tool in gaining workers rights and fair wages when employed by a union that maintained an exclusive membership.
Dawes Severalty Act
Congress, Native Americans
Act ending tribal ownership of lands. Allowed the government to divide reservations into small plots to sell to individual Native Americans. Intended to help assimilate Native Americans into white culture and improve their quality of life.
United States
1887
Decreased land held by Native Americans by 50%, and opened the rest to white settlers and Railroads. Undermined the Native American tribal structure and destroyed their way of life.
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
Congress
Agency created to regulate the railroad industry to ensure fair rates and eliminate rate discrimination. Five member commission appointed by the president.
United States
1887, Abolished 1895
Shift in power from state to federal. First independent regulatory body. First agency to regulate a large industry in the United States.
Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie
Article that describes the responsibility of the upper class wealthy to be philanthropic to society.
United States
1889
Called into question the responsibility of the wealthy to society. Advocated individual philanthropy similar to idea of trickle down economics.
Wounded Knee
Sitting Bull
Began with the attempted arrest of Sitting Bull (killed in the process) in response to the Ghost Dance movement. Resulted in a massacre that left 150 Lakota Sioux dead. A third of all dead were women and children.
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
1890
Last major armed conflict between Lakota Sioux and the U.S. Army; end of NAI resistance in the Plains. A third of all dead at Wounded Knee were women and children. Will hasten the cultural genocide of NAI tribes forced onto reservations using practices of forced assimilation.
Populist Party
William J. Bryan, Farmers
Party platform: government ownership of railroads, banks, and telegraphs; graduated income tax; eight hour workday; subtreasuries; and free Silver. William J. Bryan is nominated as both the Democrat and Populist presidential candidate.
Western United States
1896
Farmers became involved in politics.
Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court, African Americans
Supreme Court ruling that legitimized the legal doctrine of separate, but equal in law.
United States
1896
Legal doctrine of “separate, but equal” legitimized. Entrenched Jim Crow in the South. Overturned later in 1954 by the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
Carrie Chapman Catt, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Merging of two opposing suffrage factions. Worked on a state by state campaign to ratify a constitutional amendment to grant women the right to vote.
Washington, District of Columbia
1890 to 1920
Despite being part of a segregated movement, especially after passage of the 14th Amendment, NAWSA, along with other women’s suffrage reform groups such as the National Women’s Party, was successful in getting the 19th Amendment passed in 1920.
