Laws
Passed in 1862, this federal law granted 160 acres of free western land to adult heads of household who lived on and improved it for five years.
What is the Homestead Act?
This 1906 novel by Upton Sinclair exposed filthy conditions in Chicago's meatpacking industry, leading directly to federal reform.
What is The Jungle?
Commercial hunters slaughtered millions of these animals in the 1870s, undermining the Plains Indians' traditional food supply and way of life.
What are Buffalo/Bison?
This 1896 presidential candidate delivered the "Cross of Gold" speech and championed the free coinage of silver.
Who is William Jennings Bryan?
President Theodore Roosevelt referred to his package of domestic reform programs designed to protect common citizens and control big business by this name. This was the Progressives end goal. It's fair and...
What was the Square Deal?
Ratified in 1913, this constitutional amendment established the direct election of U.S. Senators by the voters.
What is the 17th Amendment?
In 1906, John Spargo wrote this book, detailing the appalling working conditions, exploitation, dangerous tasks (such as "breaker boys" in coal mines), child poverty, and malnutrition facing young laborers
What is The Bitter Cry of Children?
This Lakota chief and spiritual leader resisted U.S. reservation policies and helped defeat Custer at Little Bighorn.
Who is Sitting Bull?
The Populist movement was officially launched when farmers' alliances formed this political party to fight big-city interests and corporate monopolies on the national/federal level.
What is the People's Party (or Populist Party)?
Progressive political reforms like the initiative, referendum, and this private voting system ensured secrecy at the ballot box.
What is the Australian Ballot (or secret ballot)?
This 1887 act sought to assimilate Native Americans into white society by ending tribal landholding and dividing reservations into individual family allotments.
What is the Dawes Act (or Dawes General Allotment Act)?
Helen Hunt Jackson wrote this 1881 book to condemn the federal government's history of broken treaties and policy toward Native Americans.
What is A Century of Dishonor?
U.S. authorities viewed this peaceful Native American religious movement as a threat, ultimately leading to a 1890 massacre in South Dakota.
What is the Ghost Dance?
This local-level advocacy group was founded to combat the isolation of rural life, share modern farming techniques, and protect farmers from unfair economic practices.
What was the Grange?
This environmental philosophy, championed by federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, emphasizes the sustainable use and management of natural resources over time.
What is Conservation?
Signed by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, this federal law banned adulterated or mislabeled foods and medicines in interstate commerce.
What is the Pure Food and Drug Act?
Investigative journalist Ida B. Wells documented the brutal phenomenon of lynching across the South in this 1895 work.
What is A Red Record?
The slaughter of approximately 300 unarmed Lakota by federal troops occurred in South Dakota at this 1890 event, marking the end of armed Great Plains Indian resistance.
What is the Wounded Knee Massacre?
Populists and debt-ridden farmers strongly advocated for this monetary policy, demanding silver and gold be minted at a 16:1 ratio to expand the money supply.
What is Bimetallism (or Free Silver)?
This religious and social reform movement applied Christian teachings to societal problems, advocating salvation through service to the poor and working class.
What is the Social Gospel Movement?
Passed in 1916, Congress banned the interstate shipment of goods made by factories or mines employing children under specific age and hour limits. The Supreme Court deemed in unconstitutional.
What is the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act?
Ida Tarbell wrote a scathing expose detailing the ruthless business practices of this major corporate monopoly, which was later broken up in court.
What is Standard Oil (or The History of the Standard Oil Company)?
Located in Pennsylvania, this institution became the nation's first and most famous federal off-reservation boarding school for Native children. The founder is the one that wanted to "Kill the Indian but save the man."
What is the Carlisle Indian School?
After state Granger laws were limited by the Supreme Court in the Wabash case, Congress passed this 1887 law creating the ICC to regulate railroad freight rates.
What is the Interstate Commerce Act?
President Theodore Roosevelt intervened in this major 1902 labor dispute by threatening to send in federal troops to operate the mines, marking the first time the U.S. government sided with labor.
What is the Anthracite Coal Strike?