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Temperance
The Temperance movement was a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic. The movements criticizes alcohol intoxication, promote complete abstinence, or use its political influence to pressure the government to enact alcohol laws to restrict selling or producing alcohol or even its complete prohibition. Women were more likely to hold themselves away form alcohol, so this movement was typically harder for men to comply to, for they were more socially allowed to consume alcohol. -
John D. Rockefeller
Born in Richford, New York in 1839, John D Rockefeller lived to be the successful robber baron of the oil industry and philanthropist. Some may also know him as the Carnegie of the oil production. Rockefeller used a lot of the same methods as Carnegie to form is oil monopoly. He gained control of 90% of domestic oil, made a switch from vertical integration to horizontal Integration, and invested in trusts and holding companies. May 23, 1937, Rockefeller passed in Ormond beach, Florida. -
YMCA
The YMCA originated in an industrialized London faced with great turmoil and distress. a young man named, George Williams, a was disturbed by what he saw after moving to London from his old rural Home. He joined 11 friends to organize the first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), a refuge of Bible study and prayer for young men seeking escape from a dangerous life on the streets. These facilities also featured, gyms, libraries, cafeterias, and a safe place to rest. -
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Transforming the West
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Greenbacks
Greenbacks were paper currency introduced to the United States during the American Civil War. They were in two forms: Demand Notes and United States Notes. They were legal tender by law, but were not dependent on gold or silver. The value of the greenback was strictly based on the people's faith in the money. Greenbacks would replace gold and silver for those precious metals were in very limited supply. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act was issued to help populate the western territory. Landless farmers, former slaves, and single woman were promised 160 acres of land if it was improved for five years. However, the Homestead Act was partially successful. Farmers went bankrupt due to insulation, drought, and infertile soil. Railroad and real estate companies bought land from the settlers, and other settled land to improve it quickly when its value rose. -
The Union Pacific Railroad.
The Union Pacific Railroad was put under construction once President Abraham Lincoln passed the Pacific Railroad act of 1862. The construction of the railroad would begin from Sacramento California and meet at a midway point called Promontory Point with the Central Pacific Railroad in Utah. The Union Pacific Railroad is known as the first transcontinental railroad in the United States allowing Americans access to travel and settle across America more efficiently. -
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Becoming an Industrial Power
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Cattle Drives
In the 1860s beef had become a popular food in the north, coasting about 40 dollars per head. Cattle then became a very profitable industry. Cattle drives are long distance shipments of cattle made by cowboys to their nearest railway to load up and ship cattle to the north. These cattle drives were strenuous and took days to complete. Conflicts between Cattle drivers and farmers arose because of the masses of cattle being lead through farmlands and destroying crops. -
Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was the one of the most important and largest labor organizations in american history of the 1880s. The Knights of Labor promoted the social and cultural support of those in the work force, opposed anarchism and socialism, demanded the eight-hour day, and promoted the producers ethic of republicanism. At its peak, The KOL had as many as 800,000 members. However, the organization could not withstand the effects of violence as the Haymarket Square roit. -
Boarding Schools
In order to preserve American culture and keep Native Americans under control, the U.S. government established boarding schools to give native children an American education. Children were expected to speak only English. Speaking in their native language was forbidden, even punishable. The Pledge of Allegiance was mandatory for students to recite. these methods were used to "Americanize" native Americans so they would assimilate into American society. -
Laissez Faire
The French phrase meaning to "Leave it be" also serves as the term for the economy to function on its own without government interference. Laissez Faire had reached a its peak during the industrial era when American companies operated by themselves, however, these companies began to merge and diminish competition, causing goods to be overpriced by these growing monopolies. -
Telephone
The first telephone invented by Alexander Gram Bell, a Scottish born inventor, scientist, engineer, and innovator. Bell wanted to take communication to the next level by taking the idea of Samuel Morse's telegraph and combining it with the audio aspect of a record player in order to relay messages through wire. With this concept, Bell created Harmonic telegraph. The first phone call was from Bell to his is assistant Thomas Watson saying, "Mr. Watson--come here--I want to see you." -
Immigration
Between the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Fifteen million immigrants flooded the United States. The majority of which were Eastern and Southern Europeans who immigrated to the United States between 1880 and 1900. Later northern and western Europeans and Asian populations followed after that. These groups of people share a lot in common. They all moved to either seek better economic opportunity, escape persecution, famine, starvation, etc. -
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The Gilded Age
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Exodusters
Named after the book of the bible, Exodus, Dustbuster are the African American migrants who left their homes in the south to escape the restrictions of Jim Crow laws, the terror of the Klu Klux Klan, and ultimately find better opportunity in the north. About forty thousand American moved from the south to place such as Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. -
Five and Dime Stores
A five and dime store is where inexpensive products for personal or household use are sold at an cheap price. the concept was first introduced by the Woolworth Bros, Frank Winfeild Woolworth and Charles Sumner Woolworth. F. W. Woolworth establish his first successful Five and Dime store in Lancaster, Pennsylvanian. "Sum" Woolworth established his own store in Scranton, Pennsylvania. At first these stores strictly sold items for 5-10 cents until the company rid of the limit all together in 1935. -
Assassination of President Garfield
President James A. Garfield was a victim of an assassination attempt by Charles Guiteau. Guiteau believed Garfield owed him a patronage position in the diplomatic corps, and that the his political decisions threatened to destroy the Republican Party. Guiteau was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act to bring reform civil service and limit the number of patronage seekers like Guiteau. -
The Chinese Exclusion Act
When the Chinese began to migrate to American in search for better jobs and opportunities, Americans became upset. The Chinese were a cheap source of labor and were employed. Americans complained about how these Chinese immigrants were taking all of their jobs they believe were their natural right to have. In order to situate this issue, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. It details that Chinese immigrants and laborers are prohibited in the American work force. -
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show was like a traveling circus of 19th century America. Founded by William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, the circus was based off dime novel by Ned Buntline. The show depicted a romanticized western frontier featuring Cowboys, Native Americans, army scouts, outlaws, and wild animals. The open aired show allowed people who couldn't go to the west get an exiting, and entertaining visual take of what they imagined the west to be. -
War Bosses
War Bosses worked to secure the vote in all the precincts in the ward, or electoral district. through these effort, they helped the poor and gained their votes by doing favors or providing services. Ward Bosses provided jobs to immigrants and the poor. -
Bessemer Process
The Bessemer Process was the first method discovered to mass produce steel. It took Andrew Carnegie, a hard working Scottish immigrant, to truly invest into the process in order for it to be a success. Carnegie used the Bessemer Process to cheaply produce steel and sell it for less as well. Because of The Bessemer Process, steel became a monopoly and was readily available for the construction of modern cities. -
The Great Upheaval
The Great Upheaval or The Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886, was a labor union strike against the Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific Railroads by the Knights of Labor. The Knight efforts caught the attention of people all over the United States. Sympathy strikes began to happen across the country in response to the efforts of the KOL. However violence erupted when authorities became involved. The Great Upheaval was known to be the first major defeat of the Knights of Labor. -
The Haymarket Riot
At the Chicago Haymarket Square, a labor union riot was in full swing. As a result of the tension between the strikers and authorities, an unexpected bomb was thrown at police. Violence quickly surged through the crowds, leading to the death of eight people. The Haymarket Riot was a set back for labor unions, especially for the Knights of Labor.. The Knights of Labor began to decline as a result of the violence, receding to at most 100,000 members. -
Coca Cola
This world wide famous beverage was invented by Dr. John S. Pemberton, a wounded veteran of the Civil War. He first made a prototype of coca cola in order to tide over his craving for morphine. It was until prohibition when the drink had to be cut form the drink and replaced with a non alcoholic version. It was then sold as a medicine for 5 cents in Atlanta Georgia. Pemberton claimed it could cure many diseases such as morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, and headaches. -
Dawes Severalty Act
This law was supposed to help convert Native Americans into farmers by giving them about 480 acres of land for farming and grazing their animals. Giving them these grants would make the natives become more "civilized" beings instead of nomadic savages. As a part of the deal, their hunting rights were compromised too. Natives carried out this medium of assimilation, but their efforts did not secure their land as their own. If White men wanted their land, it could always be sold to them. -
Bicycle Craze
The Bicycle Craze was a historic period marked by increased bicycle enthusiasm, popularity, and sales. In the Guilded age, a bicycle craze arose around the 1890s. The bicycle especially appealed to women. It gave them a sense of independence by mobilizing them where ever they please. To the eyes of others, it was seen as immoral and bizarre for the women were becoming less supervised in a public setting. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The abundance of trusts taking hold of the economies and creating monopolies, prices on goods began to rise dramatically. In order to fix this imbalance, President Benjamin Harrison passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to prevent the raising in prices by restricting trade and supply. Its purpose is to protect the competitive market place and relieve consumers of the heavy prices imposed by monopolies such as oil and steel. -
Wounded Knee
The Wounded Knee Massacre was result of American Calvary men being provoked by Native Lakota preforming a spiritual ritual known as the "Ghost Dance", a call upon their ancestors to protect them from the white men's bullets. Unfortunately, Soldiers opened fire killing 150 native men, women, and children, as well as injuring 51. The total estimate of native fatalities add of to 300 people. At least twenty American soldiers who lived earned a medal of honor for their deeds at Wounded Knee. -
City Beautiful Movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that grew during the 1890s and 1900s with the purpose of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement began in the United States in order to solve the problem to crowding in tenement districts, high birth rates, increased immigration and migration of rural populations into cities. -
World's Columbian Exposition 1893
The World's Columbian Exposition ( or also known as the Chicago World's Fair and Chicago Columbian Exposition) was a world's fair held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The exposition was a social and cultural event and had a major impact on architecture, sanitation, arts, Chicago's self-image, and American industrial optimism, and was first world's fair with an area for an amusement park. -
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Progressive Era
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Klondike Gold Rush
When gold was found in mines of the Klondike region of the Yukon in Canada, about 100,000 prospectors left from San Francisco and Seattle to mine their fortune. Mining was difficult, for the harsh, cold climate of Klondike, however people persisted. Because of the massive sudden rush of people, settlements or "boom towns" began to develop along the routes to Klondike. Unfortunately, as outsider Americans began to prospect for gold, Native Americans were push out of their native lands. -
The Square Deal
Roosevelt issued the Square Deal to achieve three goals: conserve natural resources, control corporations, and consumer protection. It aimed helping middle class and involved attacking plutocracy and bad trusts while protecting business from the most extreme demands of unions. Roosevelt believed the government could mitigate social injustices.During his second term, Roosevelt tried to expand uponhis Square Deal, but was denied by conservative Republicans in Congress. -
Election of 1912
The 32nd presidential election where Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey ran against President William Howard Taft and defeated former President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt ran as the Progressive Party ("Bull Moose"). Wilson won a large majority of the electoral vote.. He was the first Democrat to win a presidential election since 1892. and would be one of just two Democratic presidents to serve between the Civil War and the Great Depression. -
The Great Migration
The Great migration was the mass migration of African Americans from the rural south, to the industrial northeast, Midwest, and west parts of America. About six million African american moved into these area is escape harsh Jim Crow laws and seek better opportunities.
