AP US History
Unit 5 Terms
Chapter 23
Tweed Ring – The Tweed Ring on New York City used bribery, graft, and fraudulent
elections to milk the metropolis as much as $200 million. He adopted the rule ‘addition, division,
silence.” Honest citizens were cowed into silence as the group, headed by Burly “Boss” Tweed,
the leader of Tammany Hall (the Democratic political machine in Manhattan). The fraud and
political corruption that milked New York City were finally unveiled by Thomas Nast, a New
York Times cartoonist, who having avoided a heavy bribe, brought the ring out into the open.
Samuel Tilden headed the prosecution, and Tweed finally died behind bars.
Credit Mobilier – The Grant administration was badly contaminated, with his cabinet the
nest of corruption. His administration was further tarred by the Credit Mobilier scandal. The
Credit Mobilier was a railroad construction company, formed by the insiders of the
transcontinental Union Pacific Railway. They cleverly hired themselves o build the railroad line
and sometimes paid themselves as much as $50,000 a mile for construction that actually cost
only $30,000 a mile.
Whiskey Ring – In 1875, the public learned that a Whiskey Ring had robber the treasury of
millions in excise-tax revenues. Grant was at first firm, but when his private secretary turned up
among the culprits, he volunteered a written statement to the jury that eventually allowed the
thief to escape. This added to the scandals involving the Grant administration, which was
furthered when Secretary of War William Belknap was shown to have pocketed $24,000 by
selling the privilege of dispersing supplies to the Indians. The House voted unanimously to
impeach him, while Belknap resigned the same day, thus avoiding conviction by the Senate.
Liberal Republicans – A powerful wave of disgust with Grantism built up throughout the
nation with the scandals, and reform-minded citizens banded together in the Liberal Republican
Party. They urged purification of the Washington administration and an end to military
Reconstruction. However, their chance in the election of 1872 was destroyed when amateurish
journalists and scheming politicians took power in the nominating conviction and chose the
brilliant but erratic editor of the New York Tribune, Horace Greeley – notoriously unsound in his
political judgments.
Pendleton Act – The Pendleton Act of 1883 was the reform act called for. It prohibited
financial assessments on jobholders, and established a merit system of making appointments to
office based on aptitude rather than “pull.” It also set up a Civil Service Commission, charged
with administering open competitive examinations to applicants for posts in the classified service
– offices not “classified” by the president remained open to the spoils system.
Stalwart Half Breeds – Internal fighting beset the Republican Party in the 1870s and 1880s,
with a great division between the Stalwarts and the Half-breeds. The Stalwarts were led by
“Lord” Roscoe Conkling, Senator of NY, who unblushingly supported the spoils system.
Mugwumps – Blaine was nominated by the Republicans in 1884 – but many reform-minded
Republicans gagged on Blaine’s candidacy. Some reformers, unable to swallow Blaine, switched
to the Democrat side. They were named Mugwumps. Democrats turned to a noted reformer,
Grover Cleveland. A lawyer, and later governor of New York, Cleveland was the moral leader
that the Democrats seemed to have been looking for. The contest hinged on the state of New
York, where Blaine blundered badly by not repudiating a speech by a Republican clergyman
who insulted the Irish-American voters. Cleveland thus won the election 219-182, and by only
29,000 votes.
Gilded Age – The name Gilded Age was a sarcastic name given to the post-Civil War era by
Mark Twain. In this era, the political balance was very close, with the smallest changes able to
sway control. Every presidential election is close, and the majority party in the House changed 6
times in 11 sessions. In such a situation, politicians were not inclined to take bold, firm stands on
anything, choosing to tiptoe timidly. Very few significant economic issues separated the major
parties – Democrats and Republicans agreed on most things such as the tariff, currency and civilservice reform – but they were still ferociously competitive with one another.
“Cheap” and “Sound” Money – Hard times in 1873 were especially distressing for debtors,
who clamored for inflationary policies to lessen the value of their debts – they breathed new life
in the call for issue of greenbacks. During the war $450 million had been issued and greatly
depreciated. By 1868, the Treasury had withdrawn $100 million of the currency from circulation,
and “hard-money” people looked forward to its complete extinction. However, afflicted agrarian
and debtor groups called for their reissuance – they reasoned that more money meant cheaper
money, and therefore rising prices and easier-to-pay debts. Creditors obviously wanted exactly
the opposite.
Horatio Seymour - In the 1868 election, the Republican’s nominated Grant – the people
were tired of professional politicians, and still believed that a good general was bound to make a
good president. He was given many presents, which he accepted (houses, money etc.), but he had
very little experience in the political arena. The Republicans’ platform called for the
reconstruction of the South with federal army presence, and Grant’s statement, “Let us have
peace,” became the main party slogan. Democrats, however, denounced military reconstruction,
but could decide on little else. Wealthy eastern delegates wanted a plank promising that federal
bonds issues during the bond, which had been purchased with badly depreciated paper
greenbacks, should be redeemed with gold. Poorer Midwestern delegates answered with the
“Ohio Idea,” forcing a “repudiation” plank into the platform.
Jim Fisk – Although the population of America increased by 26.6% from 1860-1870 due to
immigration, making America the 3rd most populous nation (behind France and Russia), the
moral stature of the USA fell regrettably short of its physical stature. The Civil War and the
industrialization that followed bred: waste, extravagance, speculation, and graft. Notorious in the
financial world were two millionaires: “Jubilee Jim” Fisk and Jay Gould. Fisk often paraded in
public with “cuddlesome women.” Teaming with Jay Gould, Fisk tried to corner the fold market.
Jay Gould – Grant’s admiration for an association with men of wealth involved him
unwittingly in the attempt by the financial duo, Gould and Fisk in 1869 to get command of a
large part of the nation’s gold supply in order to dictate their own price for the precious
commodity.
Samuel J Tilden – Tilden was the New York attorney who headed the prosecution against
Tweed. Through this case, he gained enormous fame, thus leading to his presidential nomination.
Tilden was the Democratic nomination, and having become famous for having bagged Boss
Tweed, was very close to becoming President.
Winfield S Hancock – For the 1880 election, Republicans turned to a “dark-horse”
candidate, James A Garfield from Ohio, a veteran of the Civil War. A notorious Stalwart,
Chester A. Arthur of NY was chosen as vice president as a consolation for Stalwarts. The
Republican platform called for reform of the civil service and the protective tariff. Democrats
nominated former Civil War general Winfield S Hancock who appealed to veterans and
Southerners (where he had headed one of the military Reconstruction districts fairly). The
Democratic platform called for civil-service reform and a smaller tariff. Garfield won the
election by only 40,000 votes, 214-155, and was soon flooded with spoilsmen.
Spoils System – In the Gilded Age, both parties relied on patronage – disbursing jobs in
return for votes, kickbacks, and party service. In the postwar era, with the growth of the federal
government and particularly the postal service, the old practice of awarding spoils to the victors
mushroomed into big business. Reformers soon began to assail the spoils system as nemesis of
efficient public administration and the nutrient of corruption.
James G Blaine – Blaine led the Half-Breeds, who hinted at civil-service reform, but whose
real quarrel with the Stalwarts was over who should get the spoils. Blaine was a very popular
man, a great speaking voice, and photographic memory. He planned to become president, doing
something to attract votes from every group of people. Blaine and Conkling actually achieved
very little and just caused a stalemate and deadlock in their party.
Jay Cooke – The Grant years were further tarred by the panic that broke in 1873. Over
enterprising, and over-loaning caused the collapse – too many loans were made to new
enterprises that failed to produce profits. The first severe shock came with the failure of the New
York banking firm of Jay Cooke & Company, headed by the fabulously rich Jay Cooke,
financier of the Civil War.
Billion-Dollar Congress – The fifty-first Congress came to be known as the Billion-Dollar
Congress because Congress was appropriating an average of more than a billion dollars a day –
the first in peacetime to appropriate approximately this sum. This congress gave birth to
numerous pieces of legislation, cooperating with President Harrison to reduce the surplus.
Harrison appointed as commissioner of pensions a Civil War amputee, who cut a wide swath in
the Treasury.
Sherman Silver Purchase Act – A deal was reached between the two sides, under which
eastern protectionists agreed to support a silver bill, while westerners agreed to support a
protective tariff. As part of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, the Treasury was to buy a total of
4.5 million ounces – about all that was mined (double that of the Bland Allison Law) – and pay
for it in notes that could be redeemed in either silver or gold. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act
allowed all notes, including those issued due to the purchase of silver, to be exchanged for gold. Owners
of paper currency, fearing depreciation, did this at a rapid rate, thuds draining away the Treasury’s gold.
The gold reserve soon dropped below $100 million, popularly regarded as the sage minimum for
supporting about $350 million in outstanding paper money. Cleveland saw no alternative but to halt the
bleeding away of gold by engineering a repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 – for which he
summoned Congress into an extra session in the summer of 1893.
McKinley Tariff – The Republicans, in exchange for the new Silver program, were
rewarded with the McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890, which boosted rates to the highest peacetime
level yet – an average of 48.4%. Sponsored by William McKinley of Ohio, the bill disposed of
the troublesome surplus by giving 2 cents a pound to American sugar producers.
Omaha Platform – Nominating General James B Weaver, the eloquent old greenbacker,
they met in Omaha to adopt a scorching platform. This platform called for free and unlimited
coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1, government ownership of the telephone, telegraph, and
railroads, a graduated income tax, a shorter workday and immigration restriction (last two were
to gather labor’s support).
Homestead Strike – A series of strikes in 192 added to the prospect that the Populists could
gather a large number of votes. At Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel plant near Pittsburgh,
company officials called in 300 armed Pinkerton detectives in July to crush a strike by
steelworkers angry over pay cuts.
Jim Crow Laws – Literacy tests and poll taxes were used to deny the blacks the ballot, while
the notorious “grandfather clause” exempted from those requirements anyone whose forebear
had voted in 1860. Jim Crow laws were also put in place, which were designed to enforce racial
segregation in public places, including hotels and restaurants, backed up by lynching and other
forms of intimidation.
Depression of 1893 – Grover Cleveland retook office in 1893, and soon came the depression
of 1893, which lasted four years and destroyed his second term. The depression was the most
devastating economic downturn of the century, and as the first of the new industrial age, it
brought unprecedented hardships to the masses in the urban atmosphere.
Pullman Strike – Many violent labor protests occurred, particularly in Chicago where
150,000 members of the American Railway Union went on strike after wages were reduced by
about 1/3rd by the Pullman Palace Car Company, while holding the line on rent for the company
houses. In some places overturning Pullman cars, the strikers paralyzed railway traffic from
Chicago to the Pacific Coast. Governor John Peter Altgeld of Illinois thought that things were yet
to be out of hand, however after insistence by Richard Olney, the Attorney General, the Pullman
Strike was crushed by bayonet supported intervention from Washington.
Wilson-Gorman Tariff – The McKinley Tariff, aimed to keep protection high and the
surplus low, had run up an alarming deficit of $61 million. The Democrats began working on a
new tariff, as had been promised in the Cleveland-Harrison campaign of 1892. The new tariff
scheme came to be known as the Wilson-Gorman Bill of 1894, and after 630 amendments in the
senate, as well as a scandal involving the Sugar Trust that gave $20 million in benefits to the
trust; the act fell short of establishing a low tariff, although it did reduce the existing McKinley
rates from 48.4% to 41.3%.
“Cross of Gold Speech” – Democrats, angered by Cleveland’s actions such as the silverpurchase repeal, the Pullman strike, and the backstairs Morgan bond deal, refused to nominate
him. They found a leader in William J Bryan of Nebraska, at that time only 36 years old, and a
powerful orator. He was less a student than of human nature, and possessed broad human
sympathies. In front of the convention in Chicago, Bryan delivered a fervent plea for silver in his
“cross of gold speech”, thundering that “We will answer their demands for a gold standard by
saying to them: ‘You shall not press down upon the brow labor this crown of thorns, you shall
not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
Dingley Tariff – The Tariff issue once again pushed itself to the fore, with the WilsonGorman law not raising enough revenue to cover the annual Treasury deficits. The Dingley
Tariff Bill was jammed through the House in 1897 under the gavel of rethroned Czar Reed.
Higher rates were put in place, yet lobbyists still asked for more, and after 850 amendments, the
bill was finally passed raising the average rates to 46.5% - in some categories even higher than
the McKinley Act of 1890.
William Jennings Bryan – A dynamo of energy, he swept through the nation, making
between 500 and 600 speeches, even invading the East. Free silver became as much a religious
as a financial issue, with many silverites claiming Bryan as the messiah leading them out of the
wilderness of debt. Rushing around the nation, he began to lose steam as the weeks passed, with
the price of wheat rising sharply in the weeks before the election, owing to crop failures abroad.
Eugene V Debs – Eugene V Debs was the labor leader who helped organize the American
Railway Union of about 150,000 members. Debs and his leading associate, who had defied a
federal court injunction to cease striking, were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for
contempt of the court. The labor agitator spent much of this time reading radical literature, which
had much to do with his later leadership of the Socialist movement in America.
Thomas B Reed – Thomas Reed of Maine was elected speaker of the House, and as a
republican he decided to ignore the filibustering Democrat minority, and allow the majority to
continue. Ignoring Democratic speakers’ motions for roll calls, and counting as present certain
Democrats who would not answer to roll call, he forced the Democrats to comply.
Benjamin Harrison – Harrison was inaugurated president on March 4, 1889, replacing
Grover Cleveland (who ran again in 1892, and won back the presidency. President Harrison,
although cordially disliked by Party bosses, was renominated by the Republicans who gathered
in Minneapolis.
William McKinley – Republicans, confident that they would win the 1896 election,
nominated William McKinley of Ohio, sponsor of the ill-starred tariff bill of 1890. Having risen
to the rank of major in the Civil War, he could point to long years of honorable service in
Congress where he had many friends. As presidential candidate, McKinley was the creation of a
fellow Ohioan, Marcus Alonzo Hanna, who had made his fortune in the iron business, and paid
McKinley pay off debts that could have caused him bankruptcy.
“Free Gold” at 16 to 1 – The impoverished groups, particularly the farmers of the Populist
Party, called for unlimited coinage of silver at a rate of 16 ounces of silver for every one ounce
of gold. Discontented debtors, including the Populists looked increasingly to silver as the answer
to all their woes, particularly after the Wilson-Gorman Tariff. An enormously popular pamphlet
entitled Coin’s Financial School (1894) was soon being distributed by the hundreds of
thousands. Written by William Hope Harvey, it used comical fiction and illustrations to convince
debtors that free silver was the answer. The belief that there was a foul conspiracy on foot, both
nationally and internationally, to elevate gold above silver, began growing momentum. The nation
rushed into boom-times with the election of McKinley, with the depression of 1893 having taken its
course. The Gold Standard Act, loudly demanded by hard-moneyites, was finally passed in 1900 when
many silverites had left Congress. This act provided that the paper currency be freely redeemed in gold.
Thus ended some 20 years of attempts to “do something” for the debtor. In retrospect, we now realize the
importance of the controlled expansion of American currency in the 1880s and 1890s.
Coxey’s Army – The unemployed, victims of the depression, demonstrated for help – most
famously under the command of “General” Jacob S Coxey, a wealthy Ohio quarry owner who
started for Washington in 1894 with several score of supporters, accompanied by a score of
newspaper reporters. Demanding that the government relieve unemployment by an inflationary
public works program, supported by some $500 million in legal tender notes to be issued by the
treasury, Coxey rode in a carriage with his wife and infant son, his tiny army trailing behind. His
army finally arrived in Washington, but the band was arrested for walking on grass. However
other armies, uprisings by the masses, were less well-behaved and accounted for considerable
disorder and pillage.
Injunction – During the 1880s and 1890s, the high immigration levels from Europe tipped
the balance in favor of the employers, rather than the employees. Employers could pool vast
wealth, retain high-price lawyers, buy up the local press, and put pressure on politicians. They
could employ strikebreakers, and thugs to break up labor organizers. Finally, they could call
upon federal courts, presided over by well-fed and conservative judges, to issue “injunctions”
ordering the strikers to cease striking. If defiance and disorders continued, they could request the
state and federal authorities to bring in troops. The Pullman Strike was the first times that the
federal government conspicuously used the “injunction” to break a strike – and embittered cries
began pouring from organized labor. The injunction was hated particularly because defiant
laborites who were held in contempt could be imprisoned without jury trial. Signs multiplied that
businesses were using the courts to smash labor unions. The Populists and other debtors were
also angered, seeing the Pullman episode as further proof of an unholy alliance between big
business and the courts.
Richard Olney – Richard Olney Attorney General, an archconservative and an ex-railroad
attorney, who urged the dispatch of federal troops in reaction to the Pullman Strike, His legal
grounds were that strikers were interfering with the transit of the US mail. Cleveland supported
Olney, and pleasing Conservatives, ordered the army in to crush the strike.
Chapter 24
Union Pacific (UP) – Congress was impressed by arguments pleading military and postal
needs, and favored two business, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroad companies
who were rewarded with 155 million acres from Washington, and a further 49 from western
states – a total area larger than Texas. Much of the debate had been over whether the
transcontinental railroad shout be in the South or North, but with the secession of the South came
the perfect chance, and the Union Pacific Railroad was commissioned by Congress to thrust
westward from Omaha, Nebraska.
Central Pacific (CP) – The Central Pacific Railroad pushed eastward from Sacramento
through the Sierra Nevada. The so-called “Big Four” were the chief financial backers of the
enterprise, who had useful political connections. Operating through 2 construction companies
they made millions in profits. Chinese workers were used by the business, but the Central Pacific
group made less progress because of the mountains. The two sides finally met in Ogden, Utah in
1869, and the line was complete, and seen as a very important event in America’s history.
U.S. Steel, 1901 – In 1901, the U.S. Steel Recognition Strike of 1901 happened which
caused a significant aftermath. This strike was an attempt by the Amalgamated Association of
Iron, Steel and Tin Workers (the AA) to reverse its declining fortunes and organize large
numbers of new members. The strike failed, but the AA never recovered from the U.S. Steel
strike. It turned strongly conservative, hoping through submissiveness and cooperation to
maintain its few remaining contracts. U.S. Steel slowly dismantled AA unions in its plants.
When the company merged its National Steel and American Steel Hoop subsidiaries into its
Carnegie Steel arm in 1903, the union found itself servicing contracts with the now-nonexistent
Steel Hoop company rather than Carnegie. In the depression of 1904, the Carnegie Company
demanded significant wage cuts. The union balked and struck, but by December the strike had
been broken and the union had lost almost all of its Western affiliates. U.S. Steel idled AA mills
whenever possible, breaking the union through attrition.
The Gospel of Wealth – The new “millionaire” class, much like the monarchs of the old
world, invoked religion to justify their positions. Andrew Carnegie that the wealthy, entrusted
with society’s riches, had to prove themselves morally responsible according to a “Gospel of
Wealth.” Many church members and bishops also joined in the chorus, which John D
Rockefeller stated that ‘the good lord gave me my money.”
Haymarket 1886 – The Knights of Labor soon fell apart after a series of May Day strikes in
1886, half of which failed. The main one was in Chicago, where they were mixed up with a few
hundred anarchists who were advocating a violent overthrow of the government. Labor disorders
broke out, and the peak occurred in May 4, 1886, when the Chicago police advanced on a
meeting called to protest alleged brutalities by the authorities.
American Federation of Labor (AF of L) – The AFL, started in 1886, was a federation
consisting of an association of self-governing national unions, each of which kept its
independence, with the AFL unifying overall strategy. No individual laborer could really join the
central organization. The AFL established itself on solid but narrow foundations, and although
attempting to speak for all workers, it fell far short of being representative of them.
Knights of Labor – The Knights of Labor replaced the NLU as the premier labor union,
officially known as “The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor. Started in 1869 as a
secret society, the secrecy, which continued until 1881, allowed it to be protected from reprisals
by employers.
Wabash Case – The scattered efforts by the states to regulate big businesses were stopped in
1886 when the Supreme Court, through the Wabash Case, proclaimed that individual states had
no power to regulate interstate commerce. This meant that if any regulation were to occur, it
would have to occur on the federal scale.
Pools – Soon, these Railroad Kings began to shun the crude cutthroat competition and
cooperate with one another to rule the railroad dominion. The earliest form of combination was
the “pool” – an agreement to divide the business in a given area and share the profits. Some rail
barons granted secret rebates or kickbacks to powerful shippers in return for steady and assured
traffic. These same corporations often slashed rates on competing lines, while making up more
than the difference in non-competing ones.
Rebates – A rebate is a deduction from an amount to be paid, or money back. Rockefeller,
oil king, employed spies to find the rebates of railroads and forced the railroads to pay him the
rebates on the bills of his competitors.
“Vertical Integration” – Tycoons such as Andrew Carnegie soon began experimenting with
ways of reducing competition, their biggest foe. Carnegie integrated every phase of his steelmaking operation, from the mining down to the finished product. Carnegie thus pioneered the
entrepreneurial tactic of “vertical integration” – combining all phases of the manufacturing
process into one organization. This was meant to improve efficiency by making supplies more
reliable, controlling the quality of the product at all stages of production, and eliminating the
middlemen’s’ fees.
“Horizontal Integration” – Less justifiable on grounds of efficiency, this simply means
allying with competitors to monopolize a given market. Rockefeller soon became the master of
this stratagem with the idea of the “trust.”
Trust – Rockefeller perfected this idea. Rockefeller’s success inspired many, and the trust
came to be generally used to describe any large-scale business combination. Soon, other trusts
bloomed, such as the sugar trust, the tobacco trust, the harvester trust, the leather trust, and the
meat trust. The new trusts, controlled by immense figureheads, eclipsed the older American
aristocracy of modestly successful merchants and professionals, particularly the older
aristocracies of the South.
Injunction – During the 1880s and 1890s, the high immigration levels from Europe tipped
the balance in favor of the employers, rather than the employees. Employers could pool vast
wealth, retain high-price lawyers, buy up the local press, and put pressure on politicians. They
could employ strikebreakers, and thugs to break up labor organizers. Finally, they could call
upon federal courts, presided over by well-fed and conservative judges, to issue “injunctions”
ordering the strikers to cease striking. If defiance and disorders continued, they could request the
state and federal authorities to bring in troops. The Pullman Strike was the first times that the
federal government conspicuously used the “injunction” to break a strike – and embittered cries
began pouring from organized labor. The injunction was hated particularly because defiant
laborites who were held in contempt could be imprisoned without jury trial. Signs multiplied that
businesses were using the courts to smash labor unions. The Populists and other debtors were
also angered, seeing the Pullman episode as further proof of an unholy alliance between big
business and the courts.
William Graham Sumner – Yale Professor and Social Darwinist William Graham Sumner
explained the existence of the millionaire through the theories of Darwin and the notion of
“survival of the fittest.” He argued, “The millionaires are a product of natural selection…they get
high wages and live in luxury, but the bargain is a good one for society.” Despite plutocracy and
deepening class divisions, the captains of industry provided material progress.
Bessemer process – The invention of the Bessemer process, named after a British inventor,
allowed the steel revolution. Bessemer (and Kelly in the USA) discovered that cold air blown on
red-hot iron caused the metal to become white-hot by igniting the carbon and thus eliminating
the impurities. America’s natural resources (Coal, Iron etc), cheap labor supply, and industrial
know-how allowed the rapid development in this area to occur.
Samuel Gompers – The AFL was the brainchild of Jewish cigar maker Samuel Gompers,
who had risen spectacularly to be elected president of the AFL every year but one from 1886 to
1924. Gompers adopted a down-to-earth approach, looking to engineer a slow social reform.
J.P. Morgan – JP Morgan made a legendary reputation for himself and his Wall Street
banking house by financing the reorganization of railroads, insurance companies, and banks.
Morgan finally bought out Steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie for $400 million, upon which Carnegie
went about giving away money for public service.
“New South” –The invention of machine-made cigarettes gave a boost to the South, which
was soon controlled by James Buchanan Duke and his American Tobacco Company. But the
region remained overwhelmingly rural, even though many tried to bring the Southerners out of
the fields and into the factories and urban cities.
The Grange – People were slow to react to their economic injustices, and dedicated to free
enterprise they believed that competition is the sole of progress. However, with the depression of
the 1870s, many farmers protested against being “railroaded” into bankruptcy, and under
pressure from organized agrarian groups like the Grange (Patrons of Husbandry), many
Midwestern legislatures tried to regulate the railroad monopoly.
Chapter 25
“New Immigration” – A new wave of immigration began in the 1880s. The “New
Immigrants” came from southern and eastern Europe, among the Italians, Croats, Slovaks,
Greeks, and Poles – many worshipping in orthodox churches or synagogues. Their nations had
had little history of democracy, and largely illiterate and impoverished, the new immigrants
preferred to seek industrial jobs in jam-packed cities rather than move out to farms.
Social Gospel Movement – The nation’s conscience soon turned towards the poor
immigrants, and several Protestant clergymen sought to apply the lessons of Christianity to the
slums and factories. Walter Rauschenbusch and Washington Gladden were notable among these.
They insisted that the churches tackle the burning social issues of the day. Many social gospelers
predicted that socialism would be the outcome of the movement. These “Christian socialists” did
much to arouse the nation’s consciences, thus laying the path for the reform movement that
would come after the turn of the century.
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WTCU) – The WTCU was organized in 1874 by
militant women who were opposed to alcohol. The white ribbon was its symbol of purity, and the
saintly Frances E Willard was its leading spirit. Carrie A Nation also played a prominent, and
very violent, role, boldly smashing saloon bottles and bars with a hatchet.
18th Amendment – The Anti-Saloon League was formed in 1893, and statewide prohibition,
which had made surprising gains in Maine and elsewhere before the war, swept states into the
“dry” column. The great triumph came in 1919 when the national prohibition amendment
(eighteenth), was attached to the constitution.
American Protective Agency (APA) – Anti-foreign organizations, like the old “knownothings” of antebellum days, were soon set up, notorious among them the APA, which was
created in 1887 and soon claimed a million members. In pursuing its nativist goals, the APA
urged voting against RC candidates for office and sponsored the publication of lustful fantasies
about runaway nuns. Congress nailed up partial bars with the first restrictive law, assed in 1882,
which banged the door shut on paupers, criminals and convicts. In 1885 Congress prohibited the
importation of foreign workers under contract.
Hull House – Jane Addams was deeply dedicated to uplifting the urban masses. Inspired by a
visit to England, she purchased and established Hull House, the most prominent American
settlement home. She soon came to be seen as a kind of urban American saint, and eventually
won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (she also condemned war). Located in a poor immigrant
neighborhood of Greeks, Italians, Russians and Germans, the Hull House offered classes in
English, counseling, child-care services, and cultural activities for neighborhood residents.
Morrill Act –The phenomenal growth of higher education was owed it success to the Morrill
Act of 1862, passed after the South seceded, providing a generous grant of the public lands to the
states for support of education. Most of the new educations became state universities, bound to
provide certain services, such as military training.
Settlement Houses – Following Jane Addams’ lead, other women founded houses in other
cities as well, including Lillian Wald’s Henry Street Settlement in New York, which opened in
1893. These settlement houses became centers of women’s activism and of social reform. The
women of Hull House successfully lobbied in 1893 for an Illinois anti-sweatshop law that
protected women workers and prohibited child labor, led by Florence Kelley.
Dr. WEB Du Bois – Other leaders, such as Du Bois, condemned Booker T Washington as
condemning their race to manual labor and perpetual inferiority. Born in Massachusetts, Du Bois
was a mixture of African, Dutch, French, and Indian blood. Earning his PhD at Harvard (the first
black), he demanded complete social and economic equality for blacks, and helped create the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) in 1910.
Booker T Washington –The foremost champion of black education was ex-slave Booker T
Washington, who was called in 1881 to head the black normal (teacher-training) and industrial
school at Tuskegee, Alabama. Washington avoided the issue of social equality, accepting
segregation, but claiming the right to develop the economic and educational resources of the
black community, economic independence being the pathway to black political and civil rights.
William James – William James was one of America’s most brilliant intellectuals, who
served for 35 years at Harvard. His most famous work, Pragmatism (1907), described America’s
greatest contribution to the history of philosophy. It held that truth was to be tested, above all, by
the practical consequences of an idea, by action rather than theories. This kind of reasoning
represented the nation’s philosophical temperament as a nation of doers.
Yellow Journalism – Pulitzer gave the name yellow journalism to his lurid sheets due to his
use of colored comic supplements. Meanwhile, Hearst was able to draw on his father’s mining
millions from California, ultimately building up a powerful chain of newspapers beginning with
the San Francisco Examiner in 1887. The Associated Press, founded in the 1940s, began to gain
strength, and put off their flair for scandal, sensational rumor, and syndicated material.
Nativism – “Nativists” viewed the eastern and southern Europeans as culturally and
religiously exotic hordes and often gave them a rude reception. The nativists also blamed the
immigrants for the degradation of urban government, while trade unions cursed the
“strikebreakers” who were often newcomers. The American government did virtually nothing to
ease the assimilation of immigrants into American society, and state governments, overwhelmed
with the scale of urban growth, proved inadequate. The business of ministering the immigrants’
needs fell to the unofficial “governments” of the urban political machines. Taking care of the
immigrants was big business, with jobs and services exchanged for votes. The bosses would
provide jobs on the city payroll, find housing, provide gifts of food and clothing for the needy,
patch up minor scrapes with the law, and help get schools, parks, and hospitals built in
immigrant areas. Reformers complained against this method of getting votes.
Jane Addams – Jane Addams was deeply dedicated to uplifting the urban masses. Inspired
by a visit to England, she purchased and established Hull House, the most prominent American
settlement home. She soon came to be seen as a kind of urban American saint, and eventually
won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (she also condemned war). Located in a poor immigrant
neighborhood of Greeks, Italians, Russians and Germans, the Hull House offered classes in
English, counseling, child-care services, and cultural activities for neighborhood residents.
Henry George – Henry George, a journalist-author, also left an important mark. After seeing
poverty in India, and land grabbing in California, he wrote Progress and Poverty, a treatise that
undertook to solve the problems of the age, the “association of progress with poverty.”
Megalopolis – Louis Sullivan, a Chicago architect, contributed greatly to the development of
the skyscraper. Electric trolleys, powered by overhead wires, propelled cities outward, replacing
the communal “walking city” with the immense and impersonal megalopolis, divided into
districts for business, industry, and residential neighborhoods – which were in turn segregated by
social class, race, and ethnicity.
Comstock Laws – Victoria Woodhull shook the pillars of conventional morality when she
publicly proclaimed in her belief in free love in 1871. Woodhull, with her sister, Tennessee
Claflin, published Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly, which astonished many when it charged that
Henry Ward Beecher, the most famous preacher of his day, had for years been carrying on an
adulterous affair. Pure-minded Americans resisted these affronts on their moral principles, led by
Anthony Comstock, who made a lifelong war on the “immoral.” Armed with a federal statute in
1873 – the “Comstock Law,” he confiscated immoral photos, pictures, and drugs.
Pragmatism – William James was one of America’s most brilliant intellectuals, who served
for 35 years at Harvard. His most famous work, Pragmatism (1907), described America’s
greatest contribution to the history of philosophy. It held that truth was to be tested, above all, by
the practical consequences of an idea, by action rather than theories. This kind of reasoning
represented the nation’s philosophical temperament as a nation of doers.
Mark Twain – Mark Twain was a Missouri writer who reached fame with The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1867) and The Innocents Abroad (1869). He was actually
called Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He also wrote Roughing It 91837) after journeying westward
to California. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1884) rank among American top masterpieces.
Carrie Chapman Catt – By 1900, a new generation of women took control of the suffrage
battle, their most effective leader being Carrie Chapman Catt, a pragmatic and businesslike
reformer of relentless dedication. Catt stressed the desire that women be given the vote if they
were to continue their traditional duties as homemakers and mothers in the increasingly public
world of the city, rather than want women to be considered equal to men in all matters.
Chapter 26
Sioux Wars – During the Civil War the Sioux of Minnesota, facing starvation and taking
advantage of sectional quarrel, went on the warpath and murdered several hundred settlers. The
uprising was finally crushed by federal troops, with 40 Sioux Indians hanged. From 1868 to
1890, war raged in various parts of the West between Indians and whites. The fighting was fierce
and harrowing, particularly the winter campaigning in subzero weather. General Sherman and
Custer, veterans of the Civil War, won further battles in the campaigns.
Wounded Knee - On December 29, 1890, the Wounded Knee Massacre or the Battle of
Wounded Knee commenced under the US 7th Calvary. This battle was the last armed conflict
between the Great Sioux Nation and the United States of America and of the Indian Wars and
resulted in 146 deaths of the Lakota Sioux.
Dawes Act – The movement to reform Indian policy bred the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887.
Reflecting the forced-civilization views of the reformers, the act dissolved many tribes as legal
entities, wiped out tribal ownership of land, and set up individual Indian family heads with 160
free acres. If the Indians then behaved well, they would get full title to their holdings, as well as
citizenship, in 25 years. The probationary period was later extended, but full citizenship was
granted to all Indians in 1924.
Granger Laws – Through state legislation, the Grangers strove to regulate railway rates and
the storage fees charged by railroads and by the operators of warehouses and grain elevators.
Many of the state courts were willing to do so, and a number of Granger Laws were written, and
they were bitterly fought through the high courts by the well-paid lawyers of the “interests.”
Greenback Labor Party – Farmers constructed the Greenback Labor Party, which
combined the inflationary appeal of the earlier Greenbackers with a program for improving labor
conditions. In 1878, the Greenback Laborites polled over a million votes and elected 14 members
of congress.
Populists – Eastern politicians and plutocrats ignored the hardship-hardened farmers of the
South and West, and soon these overburdened began flexing their political muscles through their
right to vote. In the coming decade, they would combine into a new People’s party, the Populists,
who would launch a ferocious attack on the northeastern citadels of power.
Farmers’ Alliance – The Farmers’ Alliance was founded in Texas in the late 1870s, when
Farmers came together to socialize, but more importantly to break the strangling grip of the
railroads and manufacturers through cooperative buying and selling. Local chapters spread
throughout the South and the Great Plains during the 1880s and by 1890 members numbered
more than a million.
Nez Percé/Chief Joseph – The Nez Perce Indians of Idaho were another tribe, who were
thrust into warfare in 1877 when fold discoveries on their reservation caused the federal
government to reduce their land by 90%. Chief Joseph, their leader, surrendered his band of
some 700 Indians after a 1,700-mile trek across the Continental Divide toward Canada, where he
hoped to rendezvous with Sitting Bull. Betrayed into believing they would be returned to their
ancestral lands in Idaho, they were instead sent to a dusty reservation in Kansas, where 40%
perished from disease.
Helen Hunt Jackson – Helen Hunt Jackson was a Massachusetts writer of children’s
literature, who pricked the moral sense of Americans in 1881 when she published A Century of
Dishonor. The book chronicled the sorry record of government ruthlessness and chicanery in
dealing with the Indians. Her later novel Ramona (1884), a love story of injustice to the
California Indians sold 600,000 copies, and further inspired sympathy for the Indians.
John Glidden– Tough strains of wheat were imported from Russia, corn was abandoned in
favor of sorghum, and barbed wire, perfected by Joseph F. Glidden, solved the problem of
building fences. Eventually federally financed irrigation projects irrigated more than 45 million
acres of land, allowing the Great American Desert to bloom.
George Armstrong Custer – Custer had been one of the generals of the Civil War who
became an Indian Fighter in the war with the Sioux. As Colonel, he led a “scientific” expedition
into the Black Hills of South Dakota (part of the Sioux reservation) in 1874, and announced he
had discovered gold. Hordes of gold-seekers rushed into the Dakota Territory, and the Sioux
took to the warpath. Colonel Custer’s Seventh Cavalry set out to suppress the Indians, and
attacking a superior force of 2,500 well-armed warriors camped along the Little Big Horn River
in Montana, he was completely wiped out in 1876 when two supporting columns failed to come
to their rescue.
Sitting Bull – Sitting Bull was famous among the leaders of the Sioux. He was a medicine
man, but very cunning in his actions, and extremely influential among his people. After losing
the Battle of Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull trekked across the Continental Divide to Canada,
where he took refuge.
Geronimo – Geronimo led the fierce Apache tribes of Arizona and New Mexico, who were
pursued into Mexico by federal troops using the sun-flashing heliograph, a communication
device. Scattered remnants of the warriors were finally persuaded to surrender after the Apache
women had been exiled to Florida. The Apache ultimately became successful farmers in
Oklahoma.
Homestead Act – The Homestead Act, passed in 1862 after the secession of the Southern
states, provided that a settler could acquire as much as 160 acres of land by living on it for 5
years, improving it, and paying a nominal fee averaging about $30. As an alternative, land might
be acquired after only 6 months residence for $1.25 an acre.
Comstock Lode – The conquest of the Indians and the construction of railroads gave life to
the mining frontier. California and Colorado were both popular spots as avid “fifty-niners” or
“Pike’s Peakers” rushed west to rip at the ramparts of the Rockies. However, many failed in their
search for minerals. “Fifty-niners” also poured into Nevada in 1859, after the fabulous Comstock
Lode had been uncovered.
James B Weaver – General Weaver ran in the presidential election of 1880, an old Granger
who was a favorite of the Civil War veterans and who possessed a remarkable voice and bearing.
He spoke to perhaps a half-million citizens in a hundred or so speeches but polled only 3% of the
total popular vote.
Ghost Dance – The relentless fire and sword policy of the whites at last shattered the spirit
of the Indians. Their white masters at last discovered that the Indians were much cheaper to feed
than to fight, but even so, for many decades they were almost ignored to death. The railroad shot
an iron arrow through the heart of the West, and locomotives could bring out an unlimited
number of troops, farmers, cattlemen, sheepherders, and settlers. The white man’s diseases also
ravaged the Indians, as did their alcohol. When the “Ghost Dace” policy spread to the Dakota
Sioux, the army bloodily stamped it out in 1890 at the Battle of Wounded Knee. In this battle, an
estimated 200 Indian women, men, and children were killed.
The Grange – The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was organized in 1867 by
Oliver H. Keller, a shrewd and energetic Minnesota farmer. Kelley wanted to enhance the lives
of isolated farmers through social, educational, and fraternal activities. He threw picnics,
concerts, and lectures, and farmers responded well to his mumbo-jumbo of passwords and secret
rituals, as well as his four-ply hierarchy.
The Long Drive – By the end of the Civil War, Texas supported several million long-horned
cattle, which were killed primarily for hide because there was no way their meat could be
profitably transported to markets. Newly perfected refrigerator cars allowed meat to be sent from
Kansas City and Chicago to the East Coast. The cattle were horded into the new slaughterhouses
using the “Long Drive.”
Chapter 28
Muckrakers – The muckrakers were great representatives of the nature of the progressive
reform movement. They were long on lamentation and short on sweeping remedies. They sought
not to overthrow capitalism but to cleanse it. The cure for the ills of American democracy, they
believed, was more democracy.
17th Amendment – Direct election of US Senators soon became a popular goal of
progressives, especially after the muckrakers had exposed the scandalous intimacy between
greed corporations and Congress. It seemed that the Senators were more representative of their
“masters” then of the people. A constitutional amendment to bring about the popular election of
senators had a rough ride in Congress, because the plutocratic members of the Senate were happy
with existing methods. However, after a number of states established primary elections for
electing senators, the senators found it politically wiles to listen to the masses. Because of such
pressures, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution was approved in 1913, and established the
direct election of US Senators.
18th Amendment – Women suffrage received powerful new support from the progressives
early in 1900s, with political reformers believing that women’s vote elevate the political tone.
Many states, particularly in the West, extended the vote to the women, but by 1910, women’s
suffrage was still a decade away. However, alcohol became a major battle field with the creation
of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League. In 1919, the
corner saloons, that seemed to epitomize the evils of society, were banned with the prohibition
amendment – the 18th Amendment.
Hepburn Act of 1906 – The Interstate Commerce Commission was given teeth and
expanded with this act. Free passes, with their hint of bribery, were severely restricted, while the
commission was given the power to nullify existing rates and stipulate maximum rates, with its
reach extended to include express companies, sleeping-car companies, and pipelines.
Northern Securities Case, 1903 – Roosevelt first busted into the headlines in 1902 with an
attack on the Northern Securities Company, a railroad holding company organized by financial
titan JP Morgan and empire builder James J Hill. These millionaires had sought to achieve a
virtual monopoly of the railroads in the Northwest, and Roosevelt was thus challenging the most
important member of the industrial aristocracy. The railway promoters appealed to the Supreme
Court and in December 1903 the Supreme Court heard the case. In March of 1904 the Court
upheld Roosevelt’s antitrust suit and ordered the Northern Securities Company to be dissolved.
Pure Foods and Drug Act of 1906 – After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt
induced Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. Foreign governments had threatened
to ban all American meat imports, because of the disgusting conditions of meat preparation.
From that point on, meat shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection. This
allowed good producers to drive out the worse ones, while at the same time they could receive
the government’s seal of approval on exports. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was also put
into effect as a reaction to The Jungle. It was designed to prevent the adulteration and
mislabeling of foods and pharmaceutical products
Newlands Act – Under this piece of landmark legislation, Washington was allowed to collect
money from the sale of public lands in the sub-baked western states and use these funds for the
development of irrigation projects. The giant Roosevelt Dam, constructed on Arizona’ Salt
River, was funded partly by this act, as were dozens of other dams across the nation.
“Dollar Diplomacy” – Taft, the new president after TR, bestirred himself to use the lever of
American investments to boost American political interests abroad, an approach to foreign policy
that his critics denounced as “dollar diplomacy.” Washington encouraged Wall Street bankers to
sluice their surplus dollars into foreign areas of strategic concern to the USA, particularly in the
Far East and in the regions critical to the security of the Panama Canal.
Payne-Aldrich Tariff – True to his campaign promises, Taft called Congress in to a special
session in March 1909 to reduce the tariffs. The House proceeded to pass a moderately reductive
bill, but senatorial reactionaries, led by Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island, tacked on
hundreds of upward tariff revision. Taft signed the bill, although with great nerves and
anticipation, although he later defended his actions. Taft also set up the Bureau of Mines to
control mineral resources, and rescue millions of acres of western coal lands from exploitation.
Old Guard - The reformist wing of the Republican Party was now up in arms following the
Ballinger-Pinchot Affair, aroused by support for Ballinger. Taft saw himself being pushed into
the embrace of the Old Guard, particularly when he deserted progressives in their attack on the
leading Old Guard mouthpiece in the House of Representatives. Taft came up with his “New
Nationalism” plan that urged the national government to increase its power to remedy economic
and social abuses – an idea that further split the Republican Party.
Ballinger-Pinchot Affair – The Ballinger-Pinchot affair erupted in 1910 when secretary of
the Interior Richard Ballinger opened public lands in Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska to
corporate development, and it was sharply criticized by Gifford Pinchot, chief of the Agriculture
Department’s division of Forestry and a stalwart Rooseveltian. Taft dismissed Pinchot on
grounds of insubordination, and a storm of protest arose from conservationists and from
Roosevelt’s friends and the whole episode further widened the growing rift between the
president and the former president.
“Rule of Reason” – A doctrine developed by the Supreme Court in it’s ruling on the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It determined that only economic actions and policies pursued by
corporations that unreasonably restricted the natural order of trade should be subject to anti-trust
legislation. Not only that, but it determined that the powers of monopolies were not inherently
illegal.
Thorstein Veblen – Thorstein Veblen was an impassioned critic of the performance of the
American economy. Veblen developed a 20th century evolutionary economics based upon
Darwinian principles and new ideas which helped write his most famous book, The Theory of the
Leisure Class (1899).
Jacob A Riis – Jacob A Riis, a reported of the NY Sun shocked middle class Americans with
How the Other Half Lives – an account of the dirt, disease, vice, and misery of the rat-gnawed
human rookeries known as the NY slums. This book greatly affected Theodore Roosevelt.
Numerous other writers added to the progressive movement, including Henry Demarest Lloyd
with his Wealth Against Commonwealth – which charged the Standard Oil Company. Meanwhile
The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen assailed the new rich. Theodore Dreiser
used his blunt prose to batter promoters and profiteers in The Financier (1912) and The Titan
(1914).
Robert B Lafollette – Progressivism naturally bubbled up to the state level, notably in
Wisconsin, which became a yeasty laboratory of reform. The governor of the state, Lafollette
emerged as the most militant of the progressive Republican leaders. After reaching the
governor’s chair in 1901 he routed the lumber and railroad interests while wrestling control from
the corporations and returning it to the people. He also perfected a scheme for regulating public
utilities, while laboring in close association with experts of the state university at Madison.
Hiram Johnson – Other states also marched towards the progressive camp, as they
undertook to regulate railroads and trusts, chiefly through public utilities commissions. Oregon
was a center of reform, as was California under Hiram W Johnson. He helped break the
dominant grip of the Southern Pacific Railroad on California politics, and they he set up a
political machine of his own. Charles Evans Hughes, the audacious reformer, Republican
governor of New York, had earlier gained fame as an investigator of malpractices by gas and
insurance companies and by the coal trust.
Initiative – Initiative is the process of petitioning a legislature to introduce a bill. It was part
of the Populist Party's platform in 1891, along with referendum and recall. These all intended to
make the people more responsible for their laws and allow them to make political decisions
rather than the legislature.
Mann-Elkins Act 1908 - The Mann-Elkins Act placed the telephone, telegraph, radio, cable
services, and other communications companies under the control of the Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC). It gave the I.C.C. the power to suspend railroad rate increases. This act was
first suggested in 1908, but it was not passed until June 1910.
Chapter 29
“New Nationalism” – Roosevelt was nominated by the Progressive Republican Party, and
was nominated by Jane Addams for the presidency. Roosevelt offered another variety of
progressivism to counter the “New Freedom” plan of Woodrow Wilson – his “New Nationalism”
plan, which called for continued consolidation of labor unions paralleled by the growth of
powerful regulatory agencies in Washington. Roosevelt and his “bull moosers” also campaigned
for women suffrage and a broad program of social welfare, including minimum-wage laws and
social insurance. The election of 1912 allowed voters to choose between the two political and
economic philosophies. Roosevelt and Taft split up the Republican votes between them, thus
leaving the path clear for Wilson to win the election. During the campaign, a radical shot
Roosevelt in the chest. Wilson won the election as a minority President, while the third
Progressive Republican Party faded away.
“New Freedom” – The New Freedom plank was the one upon which Wilson, who was
nominated by the Democrats for the presidency, which included a program for stronger antitrust
legislation, banking reform, and tariff reductions. A militant progressive, Woodrow Wilson had
been a lecturer on government who had risen in 1902 to the presidency of Princeton University
and then to governor of New Jersey. Wilson showed great reforming zeal and superb powers of
leadership. Wilson’s New Freedom favored small enterprise, entrepreneurship, and the free
functioning of unregulated and un-monopolized markets. Shunning social welfare proposals, the
Democrats pinned their economic faith on competition – the keynote was not regulation but
fragmentation of the big industrial combines – chiefly by means of vigorous enforcement of the
antitrust laws.
Herbert Croly – Herbert favored the regulation of trusts and labor unions with a strong
national government. Croly would end up inspiring the book The Promise of American Life.
Underwood Tariff of 1913 – Summoning Congress into special session in early 1913, he
presented his own presidential message. Under Wilson’s leadership the House passed the
Underwood Tariff Bill, which provided for a substantial reduction of rates. When a swarm of
lobbyists descended upon the bill in the Senate, Wilson issued a message to the people urging
them to hold their elected representatives in line – a plan that worked. The new tariff
substantially reduced import gees, and under the newly ratified 16th Amendment enacted a
graduated income tax, beginning with a modest levy on incomes over $3,000. By 1917, the
revenue from the income tax shot ahead of receipts from the tariff.
Federal Reserve Act of 1913 – In June 1913 Wilson made a second appearance in both
houses, delivering a stirring plea for sweeping reform of the banking system, endorsing
Democratic proposals for a decentralized bank in government hands, as opposed to Republican
demands for a huge private bank. In 1913, Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act, the most
important piece of economic legislation for many years. The new Federal Reserve Board,
appointed by the President, oversaw a nationwide system of 12 regional reserve districts, each
with its own central bank, owned by member financial institutions.
Clayton Act – The Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914 lengthened the Sherman Act’s list of
business practices that were deemed objectionable, including price discrimination and
interlocking directorates – where the same individuals served as directors of supposedly
competing firms. The Clayton Act also conferred long-overdue benefits on labor. The Clayton
Act sought to exempt labor and agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution, while
explicitly legalizing strikes and peaceful picketing.
The Adamson Act of 1916 – The Adamson Act of 1916 established an 8-hour day for all
employees on trains and in interstate commerce, with extra pay for overtime.
Workingman’s Compensation Act of 1916 – The Workingman’s Compensation Act of
1916 was passed by Wilson. This law granted assistance to federal civil-service employees
during periods of disability.
Louis D Brandeis – After an investigation by Republican Senator Aldrich in 1908, it was
advised that a third Bank of the United States be set up – a gigantic Bank with numerous
branches. More elasticity was needed in the nation’s currency, and only such an organization
could provide it. Democratic banking reformers were further engulfed in ideas of reform when
Lous Brandeis, a progressive Massachusetts attorney wrote Other People’s Money and How the
Bankers Us It (1914). Brandeis in 1816 was nominated for the Supreme Court by Wilson.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - Early in 1914, Wilson once again went before
Congress, this time asking for greater power to break up the trusts. Nine months later Congress
responded with the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1915 that empowered a presidentially
appointed commission to search industries engaged in interstate commerce. The commission was
expected crush monopoly by rooting out unfair practice, including unlawful competition, false
advertising, mislabeling, adulteration, and bribery.
Nationalization – The government takeover of private industries. Presidential candidate and
Socialist Eugene Debbs advocated it as part of his economic policies while campaigning for
president in the 1912 campaign.
Eugene V. Debs – Debs represented the Socialist Party in the 1908 and 1912 elections.
Because he received high number of votes in the 1912 election, it made Socialists think that they
would win the presidency in 1916
LaFollette Seamen’s Act – The LaFollette Seamen’s Act required that decent treatment and
a living wage be given on American merchant ships – a law that crippled America’s merchant
marine, as freight tares spiraled upward with crew’s wages.