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Laissez-faire
An economic system in which there is very little to no government involvement. This system did not provide a safety net for the poor and was very related to Social Darwinism. This economy benefitted big business during the Gilded Age while the average American struggled. -
Pinkerton Detectives
The Pinkertons were a security guard that was hired to stop labor unrest such as unions and strikes. They were hired by Henry Clay Frick in the Homestead Strike of 1892 and suppressed the workers in their strike against Carnegie. -
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin published theories about natural selection that sparked the theory of Social Darwinism. His ideas were applied to humans during the Gilded Age. -
Social Darwinism
An ideology prevalent during the Gilded Age that justified the enormous socio-economic gap between the rich and the poor. It encouraged laissez-faire economics so as to not interfere with the so-called natural order. -
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall was one of the corrupt political machines in New York City. The political machines were tightly organized groups of politicians under a top politician who was the boss. These organizations would give aid to immigrants and newcomers in the form of jobs and apartments, but would also steal millions from tax payers at the same time. In 1868, William Marcy Tweed became head of Tammany Hall. -
National American Women Suffrage Association
the NAWSA became a mainstream and nationally visible pro-suffrage group. It's goal was to push for suffrage at the state levelbelieving that if each state supported it the federal government would soon enough have to make it an amendment. -
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Ulysses Grant (R) in office
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Standard Oil Company
John D. Rockefeller’s company that had a monopoly on the oil refining industry through the use of horizontal integration. Rockefeller came to represent the enormous gap in wealth between America's social classes. -
Chicago Great Fire of 1871
The Great Fire of 1871 in Chicago destroyed three square miles and left 18,000 homeless. Although devastating, the fire provided an opportunity for new and skilled architects and engineers to reconstruct the city. Architects such as Louis Sullivan and John Wellborn Root were among those who constructed the new commercial buildings. -
Carnegie Steel Company
Andrew Carnegie’s massive steel company famous for its harsh working conditions and its use of vertical integration to maximize profits. It represented the struggle between big business and workers. The two sides would eventually erupt into conflict at the Homestead Strike of 1892. -
Vertical Integration
A business plan that focuses on gaining control of many aspects of a business in order to cut out the middle man, which maximizes profits. Andrew Carnegie relied on vertical integration while building his fortune. -
Grange
A political movement that sought action against middlemen, trusts, and railroads. This movement made laws and fought against the railroads that were running their businesses unfairly. This movement truly tried to protect the common man that was not incorporated in the railroads’ sneaky business schemes. -
Central Park
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed Central Park in New York City, and completed it in 1873. Central Park was the first landscaped public park in the U.S. and provided an outdoor escape to the hustle and bustle of the city. -
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
A social movement during the Gilded Age as women attempted to improve morality and temperance in America. Women were pushing for more rights, such as the right to vote, at the time. -
Coney Island
Coney Island was a stretch of land 2 miles long near Manhattan used for commercialized leisure from the 1870s to the 1890s. It contained beaches, dance pavilions, arcades, a boardwalk, and was eventually converted into large amusement parks that attracted thousands of New Yorkers. The first carousel at Coney Island was built in 1876. -
Farmer's Alliance
The Farmer’s Alliance was created in 1877 when a group of farmers gathered in Lampasas, Texas to rally against “landsharks and horse thieves.” The movement quickly spread as big businesses dominated, railroads manipulated rates, farm prices fell, and farmers’ debts grew. The Alliance was divided between the Northwestern Farmer’s Alliance and the Southern Farmer’s Alliance. -
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Rutherford Hayes (R) in office
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The Gilded Age
The period of rapid economic growth in America following the end of reconstruction. America saw the rise of business tycoons such as Carnegie and Rockefeller while urban problems worsened for immigrants and the lower class. Disputes arose over issues such as organized labor and women's rights. -
Great Railroad Strike of 1887
A strike on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad spread across 11 states and shut down a large portion of the railroad. Other employees from other industries joined in, and it was finally put down by President Rutherford B Hayes with force. More than 100 people were killed. -
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James Garfield (R) in office
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Chester Arthur (R) in office
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"What Social Classes Owe to Each Other"
A short book by William Graham Sumner - a sociology professor at Yale - that supported the idea of Social Darwinism. Sumner argued that giving money to the poor actually reduced their chances of survival in society. -
Pendleton Civil Service Act
A reform that allowed applicants for federal jobs to be judged by scores on a competitive examination instead of being chosen because of race, religion, political views, etc. It essentially eliminated the spoils system in regard to hiring federal employees. -
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Grover Cleveland (D) in office
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American Federation of Labor
A labor union that focused their goals on the economic reforms. By 1901 they were the largest (1 million members) and most successful labor union in the country. -
Knights of Labor
Beginning as a secret national labor union in 1869 in order not be known by employers, the Knights of Labor went public in 1881 and opened membership to all workers, including African Americans. They wanted reform such as abolition of child labor, monopolies, trusts, and they wanted to make each man his own employer. As fast as they grew, they decline just as fast because of the negative public opinion on unions. -
Colored Farmer's Alliance
The Colored Farmer’s Alliance was formed in Texas in the 1880s and worked together with the Southern Alliance, although the two did not always agree.The Alliance Movement worked together by “bulking” their cotton in order to negotiate a better price. -
Haymarket Bombing
On May 4th, workers from the Knights of Labor held a public meeting in Haymarket Square in response to the May Day movement calling for a general strike to achieve an eight hour work day. When police attempted to break up the meeting, someone threw a bomb and seven police officers were killed. This event led to the decline in popularity of the Knights of Labor as Americans concluded that their movement was violent. -
Wabash v. Illinois
A Supreme Court case that ruled that individual states could not regulate interstate commerce. -
Interstate Commerce Act
This was the first federal effort to regulate the railroads. It required the railroad rates to be “reasonable and just” and it also created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) which had the power to investigate the business of the railroads. -
"The Gospel of Wealth"
An essay by Andrew Carnegie that encouraged philanthropy in areas such as fine arts, but discouraged giving direct aid to people who were deemed ill-equipped to handle it. During the Gilded Age, figuring out whether or not to help the poor and how/if to do so was a big question. -
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Benjamin Harrison (R) in office
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Sherman Antitrust Act
In response to the steel and oil companies making trusts that allowed them to be economic powerhouses, this act prohibited any “contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade and commerce.” -
Ellis Island
An immigrant center in 1892 which shows the more rigorous tests an immigrant had to take in order to enter the country as well as an entry tax as soon as these immigrants were allowed into America. The reason for such difficulty was because of the labor unions who feared their jobs and anti immigrant sentiment. -
People's/ Populist Party
The Populist party emerged from the Alliance movement. In 1892, the party drafted it’s Omaha platform that demanded restoration of the government to the people, unlimited coinage of silver, graduated income taxes and an eight hour day for workers, among other proposals. In the election of 1892, the Populist candidate James Weaver managed to win one million votes and electoral votes as well, although the Populists were still defeated in the election. -
Homestead Lockout
this lockout happened and it was between strikers and private security agents. it took place in homestead steel works in pennsylvania and was the second largest dispute in U.S. labor hisotry. it was between the AA and the Carnegie Steel Company. -
Panic of 1893
it was an economic depression due to the collapse of the railroads. there was an overproduction of railroads and they were building too fats for it to keep up with so it collapsed. the panic was the worst economic depression the U.S. had seen besides the great depression of 1929. -
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Grover Cleveland (D) in office
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World's Columbian Exposition
Chicago hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. Chicago was also called the “White City” due to the fairgrounds and white buildings around the exposition. The Exposition served to show off the latest industrial technologies and architecture. -
American Railway Union
It was started in Chicago under the leadership of Debs and it had a goal to unionize all railway workers. After a year of its creation it gained 150,000 members and in 1894 wages were cut and the ARU voted strike and shut the railways down for 18 whole days. this forced them to raise the wages again, it was the ARU's only successful strike. -
Coxey's Army
Jacob Cox lead a group of unemployed protestors into Washington DC with the purpose to protest unemployment caused by the panic of 1893. they wanted the government to create jobs that involved building roads and and other public imporvements. They also wanted the workers to be paid in paper currency. -
Pullman Strike
3,000 pullman workers went on a strike without the authorization from their union and Eugene V. Debs was the leader and he wanted to make things better. He wanted better wages and better working conditions. He also thought it was very important that the workers get safer equipment so workers wouldn't lose their lives on the job. -
Cripple Creek Miner's Strike
The strike was the only successful strike of the era. It was a strike against low was a strike against low wages and long days with terrible conditions in gold mines. it was the only srike that had the support of the state military. -
Venezuelan Cris
A boundary dispute between Venezuela and neighboring British Colony, Guiana, prompted U.S enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine. This event marked the final instance of U.S-British tension, with the two fostering a friendship from that point on. -
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William McKinley (R) in office
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The Maine
On February 15, 1898, the U.S battleship Maine suddenly exploded while anchored in Havana, Cuba, killing 260 Americans. U.S press accused Spain for the destruction, even though the explosion was most likely an accident. -
Boxer Uprising
it is the moveemnt of Chinese farmers who formed to make thousands, and they moved into Beijing and they disrupted the national capital and provoked foreing powers that were stationed there in economic and political sectors. -
Annexation of Hawaii
In the decades preceding the Spanish-American war, U.S entrepreneurs and missionaries settled in the islands of Hawaii. In 1893, these settlers aided the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalni. President Cleveland opposed Republican annexation efforts, but the outbreak of war and efforts to obtain the Philippines rationalized McKinley’s efforts to complete annexation in July 1898. -
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Spanish-American War
As a result of increased desire for expansionism in America, specific events such as the Cuban Revolution in 1895, the De Lome letter (1898) and the sinking of the Maine, led to a tipping point in tension between Spain and the U.S. Despite Spain’s acceptance of McKinley’s ultimatum demanding a ceasefire in Cuba, the U.S declared war on Spain on April 20, 1898. Ultimately, the U.S overwhelmed the Spanish Navy, and Spain surrendered in August of the same year. -
Rough Riders
The name bestowed upon the 1st United States Cavalry, raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War. Despite being a cavalry unit, they ended fighting primarily on foot. The unit’s second in command was future president, Theodore Roosevelt, and it consisted primarily of Native Americans, cowboys and ranchers. -
Treaty of Paris
Representatives from the U.S and Spain met on October 1st, 1898 to produce a treaty that would end the Spanish-American War. The main issue of debate was that regarding the Philippines, which was ultimately surrendered to the U.S in exchange for $20 million. The Treaty was signed on December 10, 1898 -
Samoan Islands
Throughout the late 19th century, the U.K, U.S and Germany engaged in disputes over territory in the Samoan Islands. In the 1890s, civil war plagued the islands, with the U.K and U.S supporting one side, and Germany the other. In 1899, the Tripartite Convention partitioned Samoa into a German section and an American Section. -
Open Door Policy
In an effort to maintain access to lucrative trade opportunities in China, Secretary of State John Hay offered a diplomatic request to countries holding spheres of influence (Russia, Japan, Great Britain, France and Germany), requesting equal trading privileges in China. -
Platt Amendment
From 1898-1901, U.S troops remained in Cuba after the war. However, in 1901, U.S congress made troop withdrawal conditional upon Cuba’s acceptance that a) Cuba would never sign a treaty impairing its independence b) they would never build up excessive public debt c) they would permit the U.S to intervene in Cuba’s affairs to preserve its independence and maintain stability and d) the U.S would be allowed to maintain naval bases in Cuba, in locations such as Guantanamo Bay.
