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Political Machines
The president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. During the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears." -
Dollar Diplomacy
The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties. The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates. -
The Glided Age
The growth of industry and a wave of immigrants marked this period in American history. The production of iron and steel rose dramatically and western resources like lumber, gold, and silver increased the demand for improved transportation. Railroad development boomed as trains moved goods from the resource-rich West to the East. Steel and oil were in great demand. All this industry produced a lot of wealth for a number of businessmen like John D. Rockefeller (in oil) and Andrew Carnegie (in ste -
Haymarket Riot
The Haymarket affair was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers by the police, the previous day. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers. -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891, and again in 1906 by the Burke Act. -
Populism & Progressivism
The Progressive Era was a period of social activism and political reform in the United States that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was eliminating corruption in government by exposing and undercutting political machines and their bosses and establishing further means of direct democracy. Progressives also sought regulation of monopolistic trust corporations through antitrust laws, which were seen as a means to promote fair competition for the ben -
Homestead Strike
The Homestead Strike, also known as the Homestead Steel Strike, was an industrial lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, culminating in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6, 1892. The battle was one of the most serious disputes in U.S. labor history, second only to the Battle of Blair Mountain. The dispute occurred at the Homestead Steel Works in the Pittsburgh area town of Homestead, Pennsylvania, between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers -
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there on August 16, 1896 and, when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. The journey proved too hard for many, and only bet -
Manifest destiny
The feeling of God wanting you to go west. -
Pure food & Drug act
Scandals concerning the purity and quality of food sold to the U.S. public became widespread as the unsanitary methods used by the food industry were disclosed. One notable example was a novel written by upton sinclair entitled The Jungle, in which he exposed the dangerous working conditions as well as the unsavory products created by the Chicago meat-packing industry of the early twentieth century. Dr. Harvey W. Wiley was instrumental in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which was sub -
Federal Reserve Act
The 1913 U.S. legislation that created the current Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve Act intended to establish a form of economic stability through the introduction of the Central Bank, which would be in charge of monetary policy, into the United States. The Federal Reserve Act is perhaps one of the most influential laws concerning the U.S. financial system. -
Tea Pot Dome
The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery incident that took place in the United States from 1920 to 1923, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. -
Civil Service Reform
Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978132 governs federal employer and employee labor relations. It specifically declares labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service to be in the public interest. The act provides federal employees with legal rights similar to private-sector workers' Section 7 rights under the NLRA. The act states that employees of the federal government have "the right to form, join, or assist any labor organization, or to refrain -
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada. -
Immigration & the American Dream
Policy of favoring indigenous inhabitants: a policy, especially in the United States, of favoring the interests of the indigenous inhabitants of a country over those of immigrants.
