-
Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush: Late 1800s, in Northern Washington and Alaska.
Human factors – thousands, hoping to ease the woes of economic depression, sold farms, dropped businesses, and boarded ships to follow their dreams north. Physical factors – Alaska was seen as a large and distant source of raw materials. -
Period: to
Civil Service Reform
Civil Service Reform:
A major issue in the late 19th century at the national level, and in the early 20th century at the state level. Proponents denounced the distribution of office by the winners of elections to their supporters as corrupt and inefficient.The five important civil service reforms were the two Tenure of Office Acts of 1820 and 1867, Pendleton Act of 1833, the Hatch Acts (1939 and 1940) and the CSRA of 1978. -
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony: February 15, 1820 - March 13, 1906.
An American social reformer who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. -
Indian Removal
Indian Removal: A law that was passed by Congress on May 28, 1830.
American Indian children were taken away from their homes (and traditional culture) and raised in boarding schools to become “Americanized.” -
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie: November 25, 1835 - August 11, 1919.
One of the highest philanthropists in his era and he gave away around 90% percent of his fortune to charities and foundations by the time of his death. He was a powerful industrialist in the Gilded Age. His companies manufactured steel and built railroads. He authored “The Gospel of Wealth” which promoted philanthropic actions such as the building of libraries and schools. -
Eugene V. Debbs
Eugene V. Debbs: November 5, 1855 - October 20, 1926.
Debs organized the American Railway Union, which waged a strike against the Pullman Company of Chicago in 1894. -
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow: April 18, 1857 - March 13, 1938.
An American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks. -
Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt: October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919.
Served as America’s 26th president. He helped build the Panama Canal and guarded it. There were no wars, but his slogan was, “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick.” He also sent his Navy's Great White Fleet on a world tour. -
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan: March 19, 1860 - July 26, 1925.
A leading American politician from the 1890s until his death. He was a dominant force in the populist wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as the Party's candidate for President of the United States. -
Jane Addams
Jane Addams: September 6, 1860 - May 21, 1935.
A famous pioneer American settlement social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women’s suffrage and world peace. -
Homestead Act
Homestead Act: The first of the acts, the Homestead Act of 1862, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862.
Attracted European immigrants to settle the Great Plains, 270 million acres was claimed by homesteaders, Homesteaders were able to successfully farm the land. -
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells: July 16, 1862 - March 25, 1931.
An African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, and an early leader in the civil rights movement. -
Period: to
Urbanization & Industrialization
Urbanization & Industrialization: 1870-1900
Urbanization: Cities were crowded and living conditions were often unhealthy (sanitation, water, etc.).
Industrialization: Industries and “Big Business” grew in response to technological innovations such as the Bessemer Steel Process, which enabled faster production of a stronger steel product. -
Period: to
The Gilded Age
The Gilded Age: In the US, a period c 1870 to 1898 (or World War I), which was marked by the growth of industry and wealth which supported materialism and political corruption. -
Period: to
Social Gospel
Social Gospel: About 1870 to 1920.
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada. -
Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair: September 20, 1878 - November 25, 1968.
An American author who wrote nearly 100 books. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, getting the most fame for his classic novel, The Jungle. -
Populism & Progressivism
Populism & Progressivism: 1880.
Appealed to farmers, promoted political action to try to protect their industry: wanted the government to own the railroads, telephone, and telegraph (to keep large companies from being able to control the prices). -
Nativism
Nativism: Immigration quotas – concerns over immigration rose in the 1880s.
As a result of World War I, Congress passed the National Origins Quota Act in 1921. This law set the quota of legal immigrants to 3% of their current ethnic makeup in the United States. This quota was changed three years later. -
Haymarket Riot
Haymarket Riot: Haymarket Square Riot: May 4, 1886.
The May 4, 1886, rally at Haymarket Square was organized by labor radicals to protest the killing and wounding of several workers by the Chicago police during a strike the day before at the McCormick Reaper Works. -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act: Signed in to law in 1887.
A federal law intended to turn Native Americans into farmers and landowners by providing cooperating families with 160 acres of reservation land for farming or 320 acres for grazing. -
Political Machines
Political Machines:
Corruption in politics (e.g., Tammany Hall, Boss Tweed, Thomas Nast’s illustrations). Leaders of the political machines known as political bosses gained support of the populous by making improvement to urban infra structures, providing jobs to immigrants and the poor, and favors to local businessmen. The expectation was to then have support from these groups at the ballot box. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny: In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief in the United States that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent. -
Suffrage
Suffrage: Women's suffrage (also known as woman suffrage) is the right of women to vote and to stand for electoral office. Limited voting rights were gained by women in western U.S. states in the late 19th century. -
Initiative, Referendum, Recall
Initiative, Referendum, Recall: In 1902, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved a legislatively referred ballot measure that created Oregon's initiative and referendum process. In 1904, voters enacted the direct primary and, in 1908, Oregon’s Constitution was amended to allow for recall of public officials. These were the culmination of efforts by the Direct Legislation League, a group of political activists that progressive leader William S. U’Ren founded in 1898. -
Muckraker
Muckraker: The term muckraker refers to reform-minded journalists who wrote largely for all popular magazines and continued a tradition of investigative journalism. Upton Sinclair published The Jungle to expose labor abuses in the meat packing industry. Upton’s book was published on February 26, 1906. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
Pure Food and Drug Act: The Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906 was a federal law that provided inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines. -
Period: to
Dollar Diplomacy
Dollar Diplomacy: From 1909 to 1913, President William Howard Taft and Secretary of State Philander C. Knox followed a foreign policy characterized as “dollar diplomacy.”
The Dollar Diplomacy is the use of a country's financial power to extend its international influence. “Dollar diplomacy” was evident in extensive U.S. interventions in the Caribbean and Central America, especially in measures undertaken to safeguard American financial interests in the region. -
Third Parties Politics
Third Parties Politics: 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 (Republican Party and Democratic Party). The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed by former President Theodore Roosevelt, after a split in the Republican Party. -
Federal Reserve Act
Federal Reserve Act: 1913.
The central banking system of the United States of America, and granted it the legal authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes and Federal Reserve Bank Notes as legal tender. -
16th, 17th, 18th, 19th Amendments
1913 - 16th Amendment authorized Congress to levy an income tax. 1913 - 17th Amendment gave the power to elect senators to the people. Senators had previously been appointed by the legislatures of their states. 1919 - 18th Amendment prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. 1920 - 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. -
Period: to
Tea Pot Dome Scandal
Tea Pot Dome Scandal: 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. -
Period: to
Immigration & the American Dream
Immigration & the American Dream: Great Depression and WWII, 1929-194 - Postwar United States, 1945-present.
Immigrant optimism is typically based on the idea that each generation will do better in life than the one that preceded it. (Pursuit of the American Dream).
