The Gilded Age & Politics
This term, coined by Mark Twain, describes the late 19th century as a period that looked glittering on the surface but was corrupt underneath.
What is the Gilded Age?
This industrial giant used horizontal integration to control the oil industry through Standard Oil.
Who is John D. Rockefeller?
This 1886 riot in Chicago led to the decline of the Knights of Labor after a bomb was thrown at police.
What is the Haymarket Riot?
This 1887 Act sought to 'Americanize' Native Americans by breaking up tribal lands into individual plots.
What is the Dawes Severalty Act?
This term refers to the surge of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe between 1880 and 1920.
What is "New Immigration"?
This 1883 Act established a merit-based system for federal jobs and ended the spoils system following the assassination of President Garfield.
What is the Pendleton Act?
This Scottish immigrant used vertical integration to dominate the steel industry and later became a leading philanthropist.
Who is Andrew Carnegie?
This union led by Samuel Gompers focused on "bread and butter" issues like higher wages and shorter hours for skilled workers.
What is the American Federation of Labor (AFL)?
This 1862 law provided 160 acres of free land to any citizen who was willing to settle and farm it for five years.
What is the Homestead Act?
This 1882 law was the first significant federal legislation to restrict immigration based on a specific nationality.
What is the Chinese Exclusion Act?
This political party (also known as the People's Party) formed in the 1890s to advocate for farmers' interests and the free silver movement.
Who are the Populists?
This 1889 essay by Andrew Carnegie argued that the wealthy had a moral obligation to distribute their wealth for the public good.
What is the Gospel of Wealth?
This 1892 strike at one of Andrew Carnegie’s steel plants turned violent when Pinkerton detectives were called in.
What is the Homestead Strike?
This historian's 'Frontier Thesis' argued that the existence of cheap land in the West shaped American democracy and character.
Who is Frederick Jackson Turner?
This reformer founded Hull House in Chicago to provide social services to poor immigrants.
Who is Jane Addams?
This infamous leader of New York City's Tammany Hall was the face of political machine corruption during the 1860s and 70s.
Who is William "Boss" Tweed?
This investment banker 'rationalized' industries by merging companies into massive trusts, including the creation of U.S. Steel.
Who is J.P. Morgan?
Eugene V. Debs led this 1894 strike against a railroad sleeping car company which was eventually broken by federal troops.
What is the Pullman Strike?
This 1890 event marked the end of the Indian Wars and the symbolic 'closing' of the frontier.
What is the Wounded Knee Massacre?
This photojournalism book by Jacob Riis exposed the horrific living conditions in New York City's tenements.
What is "How the Other Half Lives"?
This 1896 Supreme Court case established the "separate but equal" doctrine.
What is Plessy v. Ferguson?
This 1890 law was the first federal attempt to prohibit trusts and monopolies.
What is the Sherman Antitrust Act?
This term describes the philosophy that 'survival of the fittest' applied to human society and business competition.
What is Social Darwinism?
This 1862 act provided federal land grants to states to establish agricultural and mechanical colleges...like the University of Illinois!
What is the Morrill Land Grant Act?
This 1896 speech by William Jennings Bryan argued against the gold standard and for the free coinage of silver.
What is the "Cross of Gold" speech?