Workers formed labor unions to have more negotiating power and fight for better pay and working conditions
American federation of labor
Grew to over a million members by 1901 and had some modest successes
Made monopolizing an entire market illegal
Great railroad strike
Government support for railroads
Views on immigration
Feared that factory owners would use immigrants to keep wages low and to replace striking workers
By 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau declared that the frontier was officially settled
Interstate commerce act
Required railroad rates to be reasonable and just, and established a federal commission to oversee the railroads
Corrupt political bosses and their followers
Knights of labor
Editor of a newspaper editorialized against lynching and jim crow. She fled north due to threats against her
The new south
Idea that the future of the south would be based on economic diversity and industrial growth. Massive growth of population, industry, and railroads. Only in limited industrial centers though.
Bessemer process
American protective association
Heavily anti-catholic and Social Darwinists
The most famous political machine organized and met the needs of immigrants and the poor in exchange for votes
Chinese exclusion act
Nativists successfully pressured Congress to stop the flow of Chinese immigrants who were coming over during the gold rush.
Debates over money
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
International migration society
Facilitated the migration of black people to africa
Pullman strike
After a railroad car manufacturer cut wages, and the union tried to negotiate, the company failed them all. The railroad union decided to not work on any trains with Pullman cars in them. The railroad owners tied the Pullman cars to mail trains in order to get the government to keep them moving, and the union members were jailed
Dawes act
Broke up tribal organizations and divided up tribal land and gave U.S. citizenship to natives who "Americanized" themselves
Gospel of wealth
Settlement houses
Provided resources to the poor to enrich the neighborhood. Largely led by women
Social and educational collective aimed at brining farmers together. Soon became political to lobby for farmers
White collar workers
All the industrialization created a new type of work for managers and administrators who ran the factories instead of working in them
Changes in farming
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
Jim Crow laws
Pioneered horizontal integration, where one company controls every seller in the market.
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
Indian appropriation act
congress sparked a new fight with the Sioux, by passing a law that nullified all previous treaties made with native Americans
