| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Transcontinental Railroad | Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west |
| Yellowstone | Signed into a national park in 1871 by Ulysses S. Grant, it is the first ever national park in the world, established in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho |
| Battle of Little Bighorn | Armed conflict against Indians that ends in Indian victory, annihiliating the entire US cavalry. Also referred to as Custer's Last Stand |
| A Century of Dishonor | Written by Helen Hunt Jackson, it detailed the injustices made to Native Americans during US expansion |
| Helen Hunt Jackson | Author of A Century of Dishonor |
| Dawes Severalty Act | Bill that promised Indians tracts of land to farm in order to assimilate them into white culture. The bill was resisted, uneffective, and disastrous to Indian tribes |
| Oklahoma Land Rush | Land run in 1889, after government opens up the territory |
| Ghost Dance | Spiritual revival in 1890 by Indians that would lead to the massacre at Wounded Knee |
| Wounded Knee Massacre | Last armed conflict between Sioux and US, instigated by overzealous Ghost Dance |
| Frederick Turner | Writer of The Significance of the Frontier in American History, arguing that in the frontier the purest form of democracy exists |
| Buffalo | Slaughtered by railroads |
| The Grange | Originally a social organization between farmers, it developed into a political movement for government ownership of railroads |
| Panic of 1873 | Four year economic depression caused by overspeculation on railroads and western lands, and worsened by Grant's poor fiscal response (refusing to coin silver |
| Munn v. Illinois | Court decision that allows states to regulate railroads within their borders, a victory for the Grange |
| Wabash v. Illinois | Court decision that rules states may not directly regulate railroads but leads to establishment of Interstate Commerce Commission |
| Bland-Allison Act | Proposes a 16:1 silver to gold purchase to increase circulation of silver, but in practice is not very successful |
| Sherman Silver Purchase Act | Increased silver purchase quotas previously set by Bland-Allison Act, but leads to gold-running on the US Treasury |
| Panic of 1893 | Economic panic resulting from a series of bank failures and gold-running on the US Treasury |
| Populist Party | Political party that opposed the gold standard and pushed for democratization of economic and financial systems. Largely supported by farmers, and failed to leave any direct impact, although its policies where adopted by other parties (use party in answer) |
| William Jennings Bryan | Politician who ran for president 1896, 1900 and 1908 under Democrats, was a pro-silverite and Populist leader |
| Alexander Graham Bell | Inventor of telephone |
| Thomas Edison | Inventor of lightbulb, phonograph and numerous other innovations |
| Typewriter | Developed in the late 19th century, it revolutionized the transcription of documents but was largely supplanted by the computer |
| Labor Union | Organization of workers for the purpose of increased lobbying power for benefits and wages |
| Knights of Labor | Labor union founded by Uriah S. Stephens in 1869, that grew out of the collapse of the National Labor Union and was replaced by AF of L after a number of botched strikes |
| National Labor Union | The original national labor federation that, after its decline, paved the way for othe runions |
| American Federation of Labor | Federation of craft labor unions lead by Samuel Gompers that arose out of dissatisfaction with the Knights of Labor |
| Haymarket Riot | A planned strike by the Knights of Labor results in police confrontation and a bomb |
| Pullman Strike | 4000 railcar workers strike in response to 28% pay cut, bringing a halt to Chicago traffic. Cleveland deploys the United States Marshalls to break up the strike, and Eugene V. Debs gets sent to jail to become a Socialist |
| Standard Oil | Established in 1870, it was a integrated multinational oil corporation lead by Rockefeller |
| Horizontal integration | Practice where a single entity controls an entire aspect of production, ensuring that everyone must go through you |
| John Rockefeller | Industrialist and philanthropist responsible for creation of Standard Oil |
| U.S. Steel | Established in 1901 by J.P. Morgan and Carnegie, it was a combination of steel operations into a single corporation |
| Vertical integration | Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution |
| Andrew Carnegie | Industrialist and Philanthropist responsible for U,S, Steel |
| Vanderbilt | Family of railroad moguls |
| J.P. Morgan | Banker and Philanthropist who dominated finance, helping create General Electric and U.S. Steel |
| Interlocking directorate | Practice where a single person is part of the boards of multiple companies |
| Interstate Commerce Commission | Regulatory body created by Grover Cleveland for purpose of regulating railroads |
| Sherman Antitrust Act | First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions |
| Gospel of Wealth | Philosophy asserted by Carnegie that the rich had to be philanthropic |
| YMCA | Spiritual organization meant to provide healthy activities for young workers in the cities |
| Dumbbell | Shape of an unsanitary, crowded housing complex |
| Otis | Inventor of the elevator and a safety device for the elevator's hoisting cables |
| Morrill Act | Allows for creation of land-grant colleges, colleges built on federally granted land specially appropriated for this purpose. It was signed into law by Lincoln |
| Hatch Act | Prevents civil servants from misappropriating public funds for campaign purposes |
| Samuel Tilden | Democratic nominee for president in 1876, loses narrowly |
| Winfield Scott | Democratic nominee for election of 1880, also loses narrowly, but only by popular vote |
| Rutherford Hayes | 19th president, Republican, succeeding Grant, didn't do much after the contested election against Tilden |
| James Garfield | 20th president, Republican, assassinated by Charles Julius Guiteau after a few months in office due to lack of patronage |
| Charles Guiteau | Disappointed job-seeker who assassinated James Garfield |
| Chester Arthur | 21st president, Republican, taking office after assassination of Garfield, revitalized the US Navy and ironically lead the charge of civil service reform |
| James Blaine | Republican nominee for president in 1884, previously a Secretary of State |
| Grover Cleveland | 22nd and 24th president, Democrat, Honest and hardworking, fought corruption, vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and civil service reform, violent suppression of strikes |
| Benjamin Harrison | 23rd President; Republican, poor leader, introduced the McKinley Tariff and increased federal spending to a billion dollars |
| William McKinley | 25th president, Republican, Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and the Annexation of Hawaii, imperialism |
| Mugwumps | Republicans who supported the Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in 1884 because they could not support Blaine |
| Stalwarts | "Traditional" faction of Republican party lead by Conkling who supported patronage and a third term for Grant |
| Half-Breeds | Moderate republicans who favored civil service reform |
| Pendleton Act | Bill signed into law by Arthur that ends patronage and institutes a meritocratic job-seeking system for civil service |
| McKinley Tariff | Raises tariff rates to 48.8% in return for Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Detrimental to farmers, Hawaii gets killed |
| Free silver | Political issue involving the unlimited coinage of silver, supported by farmers and William Jennings Bryan |
| Boss Tweed | Leader of the Democratic Tammany Hall, New York political machine |
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