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Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the richest men in history and the modern age. He acquired his wealth through the advancement of the steel industry and his massive involvement in it through the Carnegie Steel Corporation. In the later years of his life and his business, he devoted his time and money to more philanthropic endeavors, donating nearly $10 billion to charity in his life. -
Industrialization
Industrialization is described as "the development of industries in a country/region on a wide scale". The early 1800s and the "Industrial Revolution" were a period of massive improvement in which there was less manual labor and more technology and machine based work. This amount of industrialization provided economic and productive progress in America. -
Jacob Riis
Jacob Riis was an American journalist, photographer, and social reformer. He was considered a muckraker, and photographed living conditions in tenements to bring attention to the life of the impoverished. He also photographed factories and streets to shed light on the lives of the poor. He published the book, "How the Other Half Lives," in 1890, which was a pivotal piece for the future of muckraking and also for the improvement of life in poverty. -
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers was a founder and the first President of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). He began as a cigar maker with his father, eventually creating AFL. He played a very influential part in American labor movement. He concentrated on collective bargaining with employers and on legislative issues directly affecting the job. -
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs was an American political activist, unionist, and one of the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World. He was also elected for President by the Socialist Party five times. He ran the American Railway Union, and in 1884, he organized the Pullman Strike, which was a nationwide strike that shut down the country's railroads and eventually landed Debs in prison. During the time of his incarceration, he was represented by defense attorney Clarence Darrow. -
Bessemer Steel Production
The Bessemer "process", named for Sir Henry Bessemer, was the first method discovered for mass-producing steel. It was cheap and effective, removing impurities and allowing this to be done in mass amounts. They use a blast of air to remove the impurities such as carbon, silicon, and more to remove them by oxidation. -
Clarence Darrow
Darrow was an American lawyer, reformist, and an influential member of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was a very good member of the defense counsel, representing clients such as Eugene V. Debs of the Pullman Strike or William Haywood. He represented miners on strike and also worked on issues pertaining to child labor. During these trials he created a national reputation for himself and secured his spot in history. -
Tenement
Tenements were urban housing developments used by impoverished people, mostly immigrants. Tenements became popular in the late 1800s, and came in all different forms. They were dingy, overcrowded, unsafe places to live and in 1901, the Tenement House Act was passed which banned the construction of dark, poorly ventilated tenements in New York. -
Jane Addams
Jane Addams, known as the "mother of social work," was an American social worker, social reformer, activist, leader for women's suffrage, and much more. In 1889, she co-founded the Hull House, a community center for the poor, which offered services like concerts, classes, clubs, lectures, etc. She was a prominent figure in the advocacy for the settlement house movement to help the poor. Because of these things, in 1931, she won Nobel Peace Prize, and became the first American woman to do so. -
Progressivism
Progressivism is defined as the "support for or advocacy of improvement of society by reform". Its purpose is simply to respond to economic and social problems in a way that positively reforms the country. The four goals of progressivism were to protest social welfare, promote moral improvement, create economic reform, and to foster industrial efficiency. -
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformist and women's rights activist who also occupied a crucial role in the fight for women's suffrage. She also supported the abolition of slavery, and began by fighting for this. She was a successful speaker and leader, founding the American Equal Rights Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. When the 14th and 15th amendments passed, they formed the National Women Suffrage Association, traveling the U.S. gathering petitions and spreading her message. -
Knights of Labor
Founded in 1869, the Knights of Labor, or KOL, was the first nationwide industrial union. Its first leader, Uriah Smith Stephens, called it the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor. They were originally a secret organization to protect members from retaliation by their employer. They demanded eight hour work days and also equal pay for women. They also supported the abolition of child labor. -
Social Gospel
Social gospel was a "religious social-reform movement" in America beginning in about 1870. They believed people must follow the life of Jesus and connected salvation and humanitarian work. They wanted to end child labor, to have a shorter workweek, better wages, and better regulated factories. -
The Gilded Age
The Gilded Age, defined as "an era of rapid economic growth in the North and West", is when millions of immigrants from Europe came to America as wages here were higher than those in Europe especially for people who possessed skills. The term "Gilded Age" came from Mark Twain, as it symbolized things being glittering and flourishing on top but dirty and corrupt underneath. The Gilded Age played an important role in the development of American society and involved a lot of political corruption. -
Political Machines
Political machines were groups in which a boss leads, that had enough votes to maintain control of an area. The most famous of these was Tammany Hall, ran by William Tweed, which was the headquarters for the Democratic Party in New York. They committed fraud, bribery, and rigged elections, eventually swindling the city out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Machines would provide services to people and rewards for their work on campaigns. -
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish scientist and inventor who created and patented the first telephone in 1876. In 1885, he founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, or AT&T, which is still one of the largest telephone corporations in the world. He wanted a way to communicate electronically after being a teacher for the deaf, and succeeded in doing this by creating the telephone. -
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began in West Virginia when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad cut wages for their workers for the third time. The workers went on strike, prohibiting any trains to move until their wage cut was revoked. The strike spread through states like Maryland, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Illinois, with support numbers in the tens-of-thousands in some cities. -
Upton Sinclair
Sinclair was an American writer with a substantial number of works to his name. In 1906, he published his now famous work, "The Jungle", with the purpose of unveiling the horrible conditions immigrants faced in the meat-packing industry of Chicago. In 1943, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, solidifying his role as a writer in history. In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed, which enacted procedures for the inspection meat processing plants and kept from the consumption of bad food. -
Settlement House
Settlement houses began in London, and provided services and education for poor workers. They were "reform institutions" and became more well known through the country. In 1889, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates founded Hull House in Chicago. It operated with the purpose of providing social and educational opportunities for workers in urban Chicago, most of whom were immigrants. -
Haymarket Riot
The Haymarket Riot began as a peaceful rally in Chicago in support of striking workers who wanted an eight-hour work day. Their numbers were in the thousands at the rally. That day in Haymarket Square, during the rally, someone threw a bomb at the police, killing eight people and resulting in eight labor activists being convicted in connection with the bombing. It became a sort of symbol for the international struggle that was workers' rights. -
American Federation of Labor
Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886, the AFL was a national federation of labor unions. It organized workers into craft unions and by industries. They worked with skilled craft unions, unlike other unions that had unskilled workers. They supported a good economy, higher wages, shorter hours, and better work conditions. They generally stayed out of politics. -
Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is a federal law that was created to regulate the railroad industry and the monopolies within it. The act required railroads be "reasonable and just". Congress passed the law because of public demand that the government regulate railroads better. -
Robber Barons (Captains of Industry)
A robber baron was a person who was very rich, but came to be rich under ruthless or unethical means. They were called "Captains of Industry" because of their importance and roles and the way they controlled industries. These were very influential people such as J.P. Morgan, Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, or Rockefeller. -
Populism
Reform populism emerged in the 1890s to reform the country "from within". The Populist party was formed in 1892. The populists wanted to replace the Democrats as the nation's second party by joining together farmers in the West and South and industrial workers of the East together in an alliance. The Populists elected their Presidential candidate with over a million votes, showing their newfound significance. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 is a law passed by Congress during the presidency of President Harrison to regulate competition between enterprises. It protects trade and commerce against unlawful restraints or monopolies. Its purpose is to protect the people from market failure and competition within companies. -
Homestead Strike of 1892
The Homestead Strike, or Pinkerton rebellion, was a strike beginning in 1892 which eventually led to a battle between strikers and security agents. At the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania, manager Henry Clay Frick cut wages so the workers organized a strike. Frick hired 300 pinkertons, or private security agents, who arrived by barge and were then attacked by the strikers. 16 people died with around 8,000 soldiers sent to the strike. -
Pullman Strike of 1894
The 1893 recession caused Pullman to lay off workers and lower their salaries. It was the first national strike, held by the American Labor Union. The rail workers across the U.S. refused to handle the cars and federal troops were sent to end the strike. 12 people died as a result and the damage totaled more than $5 million. -
William Jennings Bryan
Bryan was an American speaker and politician. He was a Democratic congressman from Nebraska and ran, unsuccessfully, of President of the United States. In 1896, he delivered the "Cross of Gold" speech, supporting bimetallism, which is a system of unrestricted currency using metals as legal tender, and speaking about how this would bring prosperity to the nation. -
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush was the migration of an estimate of 100,000 hopefuls to the Klondike region of Yukon, Canada. Gold was found in the Klondike River in 1896 and this started a massive migration of prospects to the area in hopes of finding gold themselves and becoming rich. The Klondike Gold Rush became on of the greatest gold rushes in history and also one of the biggest. -
Initiative, Referendum, Recall
Initiative, referendum, and recall are the three powers that are reserved to give voters, by petition, to propose or repeal legislation. They could also remove a elected officials from office. Initiative allowed for voters to propose a law for public approval, referendum allowed citizens to place a recently passed law on the ballot to allow voters to approve or reject it, and recall enabled citizens to remove elected officials by calling for special election. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States, statesman, and writer. He served as Vice President before the assassination of former President McKinley, becoming the youngest president. He was disliked by the Republican party and believed the wealthy had a "moral obligation" to help the poor. He opposed strong corporate power and working class violence, and he became one of the most popular presidents to date. -
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), is an international labor union founded in Chicago by Eugene V. Debs, Bill Haywood, and more. They were commonly referred to as "Wobblies" and they sought to promote worker solidarity in the struggle to overthrow the employing class. They also opposed the AFL and their support of capitalism and their opposition of unskilled workers in craft unions. -
Muckraker
A muckraker was someone in the Progressive Era that was a reform-minded journalist who attacked established institutions and leaders to denounce them as corrupt. Through magazines, the muckrakers would have considerably sized audiences. Famous muckrakers included Jacob Riis, Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, and many, many more. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
In 1906, President Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act. This act prevented the manufacture, sale, and transportation of harmful, misbranded, or poisonous foods, medicines, liquors, and other drugs. This act helped ensure safety of the people and also was the beginning of the current day Food and Drug Administration (FDA). -
Dollar Diplomacy
Dollar diplomacy is the use of a country's financial power to extend its international influence. Through this, the US felt obligated to uphold economic and political stability. Generally connected to President Taft and Secretary of State Knox, this foreign policy was used in several Central American countries to extend America's influence to help smaller, oppressed countries. -
Ida B. Wells
Ida Wells was an important investigative journalist, teachers and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which advocated for the rights of African-Americans. She supported and led the support for justice for African-Americans, and was also an avid abolitionist, being herself born a slave. She was also an ardent feminist, leading anti-lynching crusades in the 1890s. -
16th Amendment
The 16th Amendment to the Constitution said that Congress possesses the power to establish and collect income tax. This amendment played a very important role in the fight for prohibition. The 16th Amendment allowed the government to find large funding from another source, making the alcohol tax obsolete, providing prohibitionists a gateway to the ban of alcohol. -
17th Amendment
The 17th Amendment to the Constitution says that the Senate it to be made up of two Senators from each state, elected by the people. The Senators then have one vote and hold office for six years. These Senators represent the people and the popular vote and allow for the people to have communication and a voice in the capitol. -
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act is an act of Congress that established the Federal Reserve System, which is the central bank of the United States. It provided the country with a safer and more stable way of banking and finances. It also created the authority for the government to issue the Federal Reserve Note, or the new form of American currency. -
Nativism
Nativism was the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established US residents against those of immigrants. Even though the people that had been here for centuries were immigrants themselves, they still saw themselves as superior. Their interests and safety was more important. The Nativists created political parties to limit immigrants' rights and try to get rid of them. -
18th Amendment
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution put into effect prohibition after a long struggle with a nationwide alcohol problem. They banned the sale, production, and consumption of intoxicating liquors. The government declared it illegal to produce, transport, sell, consume, or possess illegal alcohol. This amendment made America a dry country until 1933, when the 21st Amendment was passed to end national prohibition. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment made it possible for citizens of every state of the United States to vote regardless of gender. This granted women the right to vote, an issue that had been fought for for decades. Women's suffrage movements effectively received the right to vote and voting equality to men, which they had not had before. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery scandal that involves U.S. President Warren G. Harding. It involved the secret leasing of federal oil reserves. The corrupt politicians involved had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from unknown sources and other benefits. The convicted politicians and influential people involves spent time in prison and became an important image for governmental corruption.
