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Term first seen in Twain &
Warner’s novel The Gilded Age
Gilded- covered with gold, but made of cheap material beneath the surface (inventions, cities expanding, skyscrapers built & electricity) lay corruption, poverty, & crime

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Political Machine- informal political group designed to gain & keep power
– In exchange for votes, the party bosses provided jobs, housing, food, heat, & police protection
– Party bosses controlled the city’s finances
 Grew rich by fraud (graft)—getting money through dishonest or questionable means
 Example- “Boss” Tweed of Tammany Hall
“Boss” Tweed

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Town populations of 2,500 or more grew from 10 mil. in 1870 to over 30 mil. in
1900
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Most immigrants lacked the money & education—stuck in the cities working long hours for little pay
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In NY, ¾ residents squeezed into tenements (dirty, crowded apartments)

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Crime & Violence
– Murder rate jumped 25 to 100 mil. b/w 1880- 1900
– Nativists blamed immigrants for increase in crime
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Fire
– Buildings/apartments touching each other– fire spread easily
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Disease & Pollution
– Improper sewer disposal contaminated drinking water
– Smoke, soot, & ash accumulated from coal & wood fires

Populism- mvmt. to increase farmer’s political power & to work for legislation in their interest
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Farmer’s Grievances
– Farm prices had dropped due to new technology
– High tariffs made it harder for farmers to sell goods overseas
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The Grange
– National farm organization
– First met about social & educational purposes
– Formed cooperatives (coops)
– Failed in the 1870s
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Farmer’s Alliance- 1877
– Formed when the
Grange failed
– Organized large co-ops called exchanges
– Failed to fix farmers’ problems
– Colored Farmers’
National Alliance 1891

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People’s Party (from the
Farmer’s Alliance)
– pushed for political reforms:
 Adoption of the sub-treasury plan (warehouses that stored crops)
 Free coinage of silver
 End to protective tariffs & national banks
 Tighter regulation of the railroads
 Direct election of senators by voters
– 1892- nominated Weaver for
Populist Party rep. for Pres.
Cartoon, Houston Daily Post,
March 30, 1896

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1893- Economic crisis- created a crisis for the
U.S. Treasury
– Goldbugs- believed American currency should be based on gold
– Silverites- believed coining silver in unlimited quantities would solve nation’s economic crisis
(supported by farmers)
1900- U.S. officially adopted a gold-based currency
– Silver Crusade died out & Populism lost its momentum

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Mississippi (1890) required a poll tax of $2
& a literacy test
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Segregation- separation of the races
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Some states gave whites a special breakgrandfather clause
(allowed any man to vote if he had an ancestor on the voting rolls in 1867)
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Jim Crow Laws- laws that enforced segregation
(after Civil War)
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Violence- 1890-1899
(average of 187 lynchings carried out each year)
80% in the South

DuBois
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W. E. B. DuBois
– Said African Americans could regain civil rights & achieve full equality by demanding their rights!
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Booker T. Washington
– Said African Americans should concentrate on achieving economic goals rather than legal/political ones
– Urged African Americans to postpone the fight for civil rights & instead concentrate on preparing themselves educationally & vocationally for full equality
Washington

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A collection of different ideas & activities designed to fix problems in American society
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Believed industrialism & urbanization had created many social problems
 wanted govt. to take a more active role in solving society’s problems

*journalists who investigated social conditions & political corruption
 Upton Sinclair- The Jungle (meat packing industry problems)
 Ida Tarbellcritical of the Standard Oil Co.
 Jacob Riis- How the Other Half Lives (described the poverty, disease, and crime in NYC)

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Direct Primary- all party members could vote for a candidate to run in the general election
Initiative- allowed a group of citizens to introduce legislation & required the legislature to vote on it
Referendum- allowed proposed legislation to be submitted to the voters for approval
Recall- allowed voters to demand a special election to remove an elected official from office before his/her term had expired
Direct election of senators- by state voters (17 th amendment)

*suffrage- right to vote
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1848- began before the progressive mvmt.
Felt 14 th & 15 th amendments should be worded to include women

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National Women Suffrage
Association
– Elizabeth Cady Stanton &
Susan B. Anthony
– Focus on passing a constitutional amendment allowing woman suffrage
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American Woman Suffrage
Association
– Lucy Stone & Julia Ward
Howe
– Strategy- convince state govt.’s to give women the right to vote before trying to amend the Constitution
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National American
Woman Suffrage
Association (1890)
– Helped by Alice Paul &
Carrie Chapman Catt
– 1912- WA, OR, CA, AZ,
KS granted full voting rights
– Nineteenth
Amendment (1920)gave women the right to vote

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Child Labor
– 1900- 1.7 mil. under 16 worked outside the home
– Laws passed limited the age a child could start working
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Health/Safety Codes
– Building codes
– Worker’s compensation
– Zoning laws
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Prohibition
– Many progressives believed alcohol was responsible for many problems
– Temperance Mvmt.advocated the moderation or elimination of alcohol
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Socialism- idea that the govt. should own & operate industry for the community as a whole