Stalwarts and
Half-Breeds
Factions in the Republican party that emerged by 1880; the Stalwarts, led by Senator
Roscoe Conkling, supported the spoils system, while the Half-Breeds claimed to represent
the idea of civil service reform.
Trust
A form of business organization in which a group of corporations in the same industry
gave their stock int he individual companies to a board of trustees in return for stock
certificates that earned dividends. The trust effectively eliminated competition by giving
control to the board. The earliest example is the Standard Oil trust that controlled ninety
percent of the oil refineries and pipelines.
Turner Thesis
The historian Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the frontier was the key factor in the
development of American democracy and institutions; he maintained that the frontier
served as a "safety valve" during periods of economic crisis.
"Crime of '73"
Through the Coinage Act of 1873, the United States ended the minting of silver dollars
and placed the country on the gold standard. This was attacked by those who supported
an inflationary monetary policy, particularly farmers, and believed in the unlimited coinage
of silver.
"Rum, Romanism,
and Rebellion"
An insult made against New York Irish-Americans by a Republican clergyman in the
1884 election; Republican candidate James Blaine's failure to repudiate this statement lost
him New York and contributed to his defeat by Grover Cleveland.
Social Gospel
Religious response to the problems created by industrialization and urbanization in the late
nineteenth century; supporters of the Social Gospel supported child labor laws, civil
service reform, and control of the trusts.
Political machine
A vote-gathering organization of politicians who loyally support a party boss and get the
votes in their neighborhoods to support their party's candidates by fulfilling needs and
providing services to constituents.
Mugwumps
Reform Republicans who refused to support James Blaine, the party's candidate in the
election of 1884.
Long vs. short
haul
The railroad practice to charge higher rates on lines where there was no competition than
on routes where several lines were operating. This often meant that the cost of shipping
goods a short distance was greater than over a long distance.
Jim Crow laws
Laws that enforced segregation by discriminating against and suppressing black people.
Gilded Age
The name applied to the 1870s and 1880s during which national politics was characterized
by party rivalries, the spoils system, and unregulated business competition. The term
comes from the title of a novel written by mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner.
Dawes Act (1887)
Changed the reservation system by granting 160 acres and U. S. Citizenship to native
American heads of families who agreed to give up their tribal allegiance.
Craft unions
Labor organizations whose members were skilled workers in a particular craft--for
example, carpenters, masons, or cigar makers. The American Federation of Labor was
composed of individual craft unions.
Agrarian malaise
Discontent among farmers, resulting from changes in their economic position after the
Civil War. They sought help from states and the federal government, thus abandoning the
doctrine of laissez-faire.