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Homestead Act
Allowed any citizen of the United States, who was a head of household, to claim 160 acres of government land nearly free, granted they improve the land by cultivating it and building a dwelling, and living there for five years. -
Great Railroad Strike
First general strike, as there were no labor unions at this point in time, to have federal action taken against it. Federal militia was mobilized against the strike in a coordinated effort to dissolve it. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Prohibited the immigration of Chinese labor workers for 10 years in order to protect the jobs of native citizens, as the Chinese would work for significantly lower wages. -
Haymarket Riot
A labor protest demonstration that turned into a riot after a bomb was thrown at the police overseeing the rally, eight people died in the ensuing chaos, and despite a lack of evidence, eight radical labor protesters were arrested. -
Dawes Act
Legally divided land designated as Native American reservations into allotments, both to force the Americanization of the Native Americans, but also to sell the more desirable land to white settlers. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
Prohibited monopolies and trusts, granting the federal government the power to dissolve them; however, the act was weak, only able to be used in certain instances, and was barred by the Supreme Court for a number of years. -
Homestead Strike
The largest trade union, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers enacted a strike against the Carnegie Steel Company, leading to a bloody battle between the strikers and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. -
The Pullman Strike
A strike that occurred across the entire nation between the American Railway Union and the Pullman Company, the main railways, and the federal government. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A landmark civil rights case of the Supreme Court, in which Homer Plessy's plea was overturned, de jure segregation was upheld, and the precedent of "Separate but Equal" was established. -
"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair
A book which highlighted the poor working conditions of impoverished immigrants and the unhygienic nature of the meat packing industry, led to public outrage and the passage of the Meat Inspection Act. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The first of many consumer protection acts, aimed at goods that had been mislabeled or tampered with, specifically,"AN ACT For preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein, and for other purposes." -
17th Amendment
Established the election of United States Senators through a popular vote consisting of the people of their respective states. -
18th Amendment
Established Prohibition, which made the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol illegal. It did not, however, make private possession or consumption illegal. -
19th Amendment
Established women's suffrage, stating that no United States citizen could be denied the right to vote based upon sex.
