By 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau declared that the frontier was officially settled
Sioux wars
Sioux initally won a deceive victory against the U.S. army.
Dawes act
Broke up tribal organizations and divided up tribal land and gave U.S. citizenship to natives who "Americanized" themselves
Booker T. Washington
former slave who trained other black men to become economically self-sufficient, and argued this was a better way to gain power than to campaign for better voting rights
Farmers wanted to print more money so they could more easily pay back their debts, but the bankers and the wealthy wanted to keep the U.S. Dollar on the gold standard
Pioneered horizontal integration, where one company controls every seller in the market.
Indian nations were assigned land called reservations. However this land was much less than before, and many decided to just keep following buffalo
16 million immigrants (mostly from Europe) came looking for better economic opportunities
Nativists successfully pressured Congress to stop the flow of Chinese immigrants who were coming over during the gold rush.
NAWSA
Labor unions
Workers formed labor unions to have more negotiating power and fight for better pay and working conditions
Assimilationist movement
Sherman antitrust act
Made monopolizing an entire market illegal
Bessemer process
Enabled manufacturers to produce huge quantities of steel
The new south
A new focus on cash-crops in the north and west, and a shift to more expensive mechanized farming methods put smaller farms out of business. Big trusts that farmers relied on (like railroads) also raised prices, making it even harder for farmers to make a living
Railroads
Massive extension of the railroad system created a truly national market for goods
White collar workers
There was an extreme lack of government regulation of the economy at the time
Ida B. Wells
Editor of a newspaper editorialized against lynching and jim crow. She fled north due to threats against her
Women's Christian Temperance Union
Worked to ban alcohol, had over 500,000 members
Views on immigration
Feared that factory owners would use immigrants to keep wages low and to replace striking workers
Forced segregation and prevented african americans from exercising their civil liberties
Populist party
Wanted to correct the concentration of power held by banks and trusts. Proposed the Omaha platform: Direct election of senators, more referendums, graduated income tax, and an 8-hour workday
Provided resources to the poor to enrich the neighborhood. Largely led by women
Indian appropriation act
Interstate commerce act
Required railroad rates to be reasonable and just, and established a federal commission to oversee the railroads
Pendleton Act
Haymarket square riot
Anarchists set off a bomb during a Knights of labor protest in Chicago for an 8-hour workweek. Many people began to see the labor movement as violent and radical
Gospel of wealth
Andrew Carnegie argued that those with wealth should invest it into society
