America Past and Present, Eighth Edition
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| 381506000 | Bland-Allison Silver Purchase Bill | This act was a compromise between groups favoring the coinage of silver and those opposed to it, called for the partial coinage of silver. President Hayes vetoed the bill in 1878, but Congress overrode his veto. | |
| 381506001 | Colored Farmer's Alliance | Loosely affiliated with the Southern Alliance this alliance enlisted black farmers in the South. Ended in 1891 when a group of black cotton pickers struck for higher wages near Memphis, TN led by Ben Patterson and ended with 15 lynched. | |
| 381506002 | Dingley Tariff | Tariff passed by the House and Senate, which raised average, tariff duties to a record level and caused troubles for the Republican Party (1897) | |
| 381506003 | Eugene Debs | Leader of the American Railway Union who led his union into the Pullman strike by refusing to handle trains that carried Pullman sleeping cars. | |
| 381506004 | Frank Norris | Attacked big business in The Octopus and The Pit | |
| 381506005 | Gold Standard Act | Act passed by Congress in 1900, which declared gold the standard of currency and ended the silver controversy. | |
| 381506006 | Grandfather clause | Used a literacy test to disqualify black voters but permitted men who had failed to vote anyway if their fathers or grandfathers had voted before 1867. | |
| 381506007 | Half-Breeds | A political faction of the U.S. Republican Party and opponents of the Stalwarts-separated by political patronage. Led by James G. Blaine they were in favor of civil service reform and a merit system. | |
| 381506008 | Horatio Alger | Author of 130 popular rags-to-riches tales that gave lessons on how to get ahead in business and life | |
| 381506009 | In re Debs | Supreme Court case that upheld the use of injunctions in labor disputes; hindered union growth. | |
| 381506010 | Interstate Commerce Act | This act of 1887 passed by Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission to investigate and oversee railroad activities. The act outlawed rebates and pooling agreements. | |
| 381506011 | Jack London | Naturalist writer who traced the power of nature in society in the Sea Wolf and The Call of the Wild. | |
| 381506012 | Jacob Coxey | Businessman who wanted to put the nation's jobless to work building roads. Wanted Congress to pass a bill, which would authorize the printing of $500 million in paper money to finance road construction. Marched to WA but was arrested. | |
| 381506013 | James G. Blaine | Republican nominee in the election of 1884 against Grover Cleveland | |
| 381506014 | Leonidas L. Polk | President of the National Farmers' Alliance he believed in scientific farming and cooperative action. | |
| 381506015 | Mark Hanna | McKinley's old friend, ally, and campaign manager; "I told William McKinley it was a mistake to nominate that wild man at Philadelphia. I asked him if he realized what would happen if he should die. Now look, that damned cowboy is president of the United States!" | |
| 381506016 | Mark Twain | The country's most famous realist writer, author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Used dialect and regional language. | |
| 381506017 | Mary E. Lease | From Kansas this woman helped head a movement remarkably open to female leadership; she called on farmers to rise against Wall Street and the industrial East. | |
| 381506018 | McKinley Tariff Act | Act passed by the Republican controlled Congress in 1890 which raised tariff duties to 4%; included a novel reciprocity provision that allowed the president to lower duties if other countries did the same; used duties to promote new industries. | |
| 381506019 | Minor v. Happersett | The Supreme Court case that upheld the power of the states to deny the right to vote to women. (1875) | |
| 381506020 | Munn v. Illinois | The Supreme Court case that upheld the Illinois legislation that the railroads be declared public highways and authorized the legislature to pass laws est. maximum rates and preventing rate discrimination. | |
| 381506021 | National Farmer's Alliance | One of the largest reform movements this alliance sought to organize farmers in the South and West to fight for reforms that would improve their lot, including measures to overcome low crop prices, burdensome mortgages, and high railroad rates. | |
| 381506022 | Ocala Demands | Adopted by the Farmer's Alliance in 1890 these demands became the organization's main platform. Called for the creation of a sub-treasury system to allow farmers to store their crops until they could get the best price, the free coinage of silver, an end to protective tariffs and national banks, a federal income tax, the direct election of senators by voters, and tighter regulation of railroads. | |
| 381506023 | Panic of 1893 | The New York stock market crashed in early 1893. Business investment dropped sharply in the railroad and construction industries, touching off the worst economic depression to that point in the U.S. The rush to sell stocks and buy gold depleted the gold reserve of the U.S. Treasury. May 3, 1893 the stock market crashed completely-"Industrial Black Friday." Unemployment rose while businesses failed an average of two dozen per day. | |
| 381506024 | Pendleton Act | Passed by Congress in 1883 this act sought to lessen the involvement of politicians in the running of the gov't. Created a bipartisan Civil Service Commission to administer competitive exams to candidates for civil service jobs and to appoint officeholders based on merit. Outlawed forcing political contributions from appointed officials | |
| 381506025 | Populist Party | A political party organized in 1892 by farm, labor, and reform leaders, mainly from the Farmers' Alliance. It offered a broad-based reform platform reflecting the Ocala Demands. Nominated Weaver in 1892 and Bryan in 1896 indentifying with the focus on free silver. | |
| 381506026 | Pullman Strike | Strike in 1894 near Chicago; workers struck to protest wage cuts, high rents for co. housing, and layoffs. The American Railway Union, led by Debs joined the strike. Cleveland secured an injunction to break the strike. | |
| 381506027 | Roscoe Conkling | Powerful NY senator who resented some of Garfield's choices | |
| 381506028 | Sherman Antitrust Act | Act passed by Congress in 1890, which was the first major U.S. attempt to deal legislatively with the problem of the increasing size of business. | |
| 381506029 | Sherman Silver Purchase Act | Act that attempted to resolve the controversy over silver coinage. U.S. Treasury would purchase 4.5 million oz. of silver each month and issue legal tender for it. Pleased both silver opponents and proponents. | |
| 381506030 | Southern Alliance | Began in TX in 1875 and picked up speed under Dr. Charles W. Macune this alliance was designed to bring farmers together to make greater profits. | |
| 381506031 | Stalwarts | A political faction of the U.S. Republican Party and opponents of the Half-Breeds-separated by political patronage. They were in favor of political machines and spoils-system-style patronage. | |
| 381506032 | Stephen Crane | A naturalist writer who described the plight of the poor and the carnage of war in detail (Red Badge of Courage and Maggie: a Girl of the Streets) | |
| 381506033 | Theodore Dreiser | Foremost naturalist writer, focused on enviornment and character in Sister Carrie | |
| 381506034 | Thomas E. Watson | A politically minded Southerner who reflected the high quality of Alliance leadership he was a talented orator and organizer who urged GA farmers, black and white, to unite against their oppressors. | |
| 381506035 | United Mine Workers | A struggling union formed in 1890 that called for a strike of bituminous coal miners and by April all Midwestern and PA coal miners quit working. Violence followed. | |
| 381506036 | United States v E.C. Knight Company | The Supreme Court case that weakened the Sherman Antitrust Act by drawing a sharp distinction between manufacturing and commerce and ruled that manufacturing was excluded from its coverage. (1895) | |
| 381506037 | Wabash v. Illinois | The Supreme Court case of 1886 that narrowed the Munn ruling and held that states could not regulate commerce extending beyond their borders. This case turned people's attention back to the federal gov't and spurred Congress to pass the Interstate Commerce Act, which created Interstate Commerce Commission. | |
| 381506038 | William Jennings Bryan | The Democratic candidate in the election of 1896 against McKinley; he made the famous "Cross of gold" speech that got him nominated. "Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world...we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: 'You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." | |
| 381506039 | Wilson-Gorman Tariff | Tariff passed by Congress in 1894 which reduced duties on coal, iron ore, wool, and sugar, ended the McKinley Tariff Act's popular reciprocity agreements with other countries, and moved some duties higher than before; imposed small income tax. |
