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Political Machines
A political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses (usually campaign workers), who receive rewards for their efforts. -
Nativism
Favoritism toward native-born Americans, caused immigrants issues with jobs and adapting to the new culture and language. The Nativists went public in 1854 when they formed the 'American Party', which was especially hostile to the immigration of Irish Catholics and campaigned for laws to require longer wait time between immigration and naturalization. -
Bessemer Steel Production
First inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. -
Robber Barons (Captains of Industry)
The term "robber baron" contrasted with the term "captain of industry," which described industrialists who also benefitted society. Nineteenth-century robber barons included J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. -
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American industrialist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and amassed a fortune in the steel industry. -
Jane Addams
Founder of Settlement House Movement. First American Woman to earn Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 as president of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. -
Tenement
A room or a set of rooms forming a separate residence within a house or block of apartments -
William Jennings Bryan
Became a congressmen in 1890, he starred at the 1896 Democratic convention with his Cross of Gold Speech that favored free silver, but was defeated in his bid to become U.S. president by William McKinley. -
Populism & Progressivism
This was knights of labor that started by individuals. This allowed anyone to join regardless of sex or skill. -
Alexander Graham Bell
Scottish-born scientist, inventor, engineer, and innovator who is credited with inventing and patenting the first practical telephone. -
Labor Strikes
Great Railroad Strike 1877-Many railroad workers went on strike in response to wage cuts. Eventually President Hayes sent in troops to put the strikers down. Homestead Strike 1892-a violent strike of 1892 at the Homestead Works in Pittsburgh over a lock out following a decision to cut wages by nearly 20%, and ended with the destruction of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel workers. -
Samuel Gompers
He founded and served as the first president of the American Federation of Labor. -
Haymarket Riot
Aftermath of the bombing that took place at a labor demonstration at Haymarket Square in Chicago. Began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. -
Interstate Commerce Act 1887
A U.S. federal law that was designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices. -
Ida B. Wells
Ida B.Wells was a journalist, she led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s, and went on to found and become integral in groups striving for African-American justice. -
Settlement House
They were neighborhood centers that provided child care, English classes, and other services to low-income and immigrant women in poor neighborhoods during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. -
Industrialization
The development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale -
Sherman Antitrust Act
First Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices. First measure passed by U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts. -
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony was raised in a Quaker household and went on to work as a teacher before becoming a leading figure in the abolitionist and women's voting rights movement. She partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and would eventually lead the National American Woman Suffrage Association -
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs was a socialist, presidential candidate, war opponent. Born of French immigrant parents in Terre Haute, Indiana. Debs became active in the labor movement in the 1870s and created the American Railway Union (ARU), an industrial union, in 1893. -
Klondike Gold Rush
Yukon-area Indians Skookum Jim Mason and Tagish Charlie, along with Seattleite George Carmack found gold in Rabbit Creek, near Dawson, in the Yukon region of Canada. Migration of about 100,000 prospectors. -
Initiative, Referendum, Recall
Three powers reserved to enable the voters, by petition, to propose or repeal legislation or to remove an elected official from office. -
The Gilded Age
Period between the 1870's to about 1900. Came to define the tumultuous years between the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century. During this era, America became more prosperous and saw unprecedented growth in industry and technology. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was known as the first modern President of the United States. His presidency endowed the progressive movement with credibility, lending the prestige of the White House to welfare legislation, government regulation, and the conservation movement. -
Labor Unions(Knights of Labor, American Federation of Labor, Industrial Workers of the world)
Knights of Labor-Labor organization founded in 1869.
American Federation of Labor-Craft union organization founded by Samuel Gompers.
Industrial Workers of the World-This radical union aimed to unite the American working class into one union to promote labor's interests. -
Muckraker
During the Progressive Era, which lasted from around 1900 to 1917, muckraking journalists successfully exposed America's problems brought on by rapid industrialization and growth of cities. Influential muckrakers created public awareness of corruption, social injustices and abuses of power. -
Jacob Riis
Jacob August Riis was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer -
Upton Sinclair
Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
An Act preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes. -
Dollar Diplomacy
Use of a country's financial power to extend its international influence -
17th Amendment
Senate of US shall be composed of two senates per state; elected by the people for six years. Each senator has one vote -
16th Amendment
The 16th amendment allows the federal (United States) government to collect an income tax from all Americans. Income tax allows for the federal government to keep an army, build roads and bridges, enforce laws and carry out other important duties. Passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913, the 16th amendment established Congress's right to impose a Federal income tax. -
Federal Reserve Act
Act of Congress that created and established the Federal Reserve System, and which created the authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes as a legal tender. -
Social Gospel
Christian faith practiced as a call not just to personal conversion but to social reform. -
18th Amendment
The 18th Amendment did not prohibit the consumption of alcohol, but rather simply the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. -
19th Amendment
Guaranteed the right for women to vote -
Tea Pot Dome Scandal
Bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921-1923. Secret leasing of federal oil reserves by the secretary of the interior, Albert Bacon Fall. -
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow volunteered to defend John Scopes' right to teach evolution, Clarence Darrow had already reached the top of his profession. The year before, in a sensational trial in Chicago, he saved the child-killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb from the death penalty.
