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Urbanization
Urbanization was fueled by the Industrial Revolution. During this period in American history workers moved towards manufacturing centers in cities and towns seeking jobs in factories as agricultural jobs became less common. Urbanization in America was also driven by the massive rush of unskilled immigrants who also traveled to the industrial cities, to start their life in America. -
Populism & Progressivism
The populism movement was farmers or those associated with agriculture believed that industrialists and bankers controlled the government and making the policy against farmers. The progressivism movement was that they continue their struggle by remaining in the political mainstream. -
Industrialization
Following the Civil War, industrialization in the United States increased at a rapid pace. The period, encompassing most of the second half of the nineteenth century, has been called the Second Industrial Revolution. -
Suffrage
The Women's Suffrage Movement was the struggle for the right of women to vote and run for office and is part of the overall Women's Right Movement. -
Indian Removal
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing states borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. -
Third Parties Politics
Third party is a term used in the United States for American political parties other than Republican and Democratic Parties. Third party candidates rarely win election in American campaigns. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the idea that Americans were destined, by God, to govern the North America Continent and to stretch from coast to coast. This attitude helped fuel western settlement, Native American removal, and war with Mexico. -
Jane Addams
Jane Addams, known as the mother of social work, was a pioneer American settlement activist/reformer, social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace. She was an advocate of immigrants, the poor, women, and peace. She co-founded the first settlement house in the United States, the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act encouraged Western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land. -
The Gilded Age
Paid immigration, along with the explosion of Americans moving from farms to the cities, caused an urban boom during the Gilded Age. The growth of cities gave rise to powerful political machines, stimulated the economy, and gave birth to a American middle class. -
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. She became a leading figure in the abolitionist and women's voting rights movement. She eventually lead the National American Woman Suffrage Association. -
Nativism
Favoritism toward native born Americans caused immigrant issues with jobs and adapting to the new culture and language. The policy protected the interests of native inhabitants against those of immigrants. -
Civil Service Reform
The Civil Service Reform was the federal legislation that created a system in which federal employees were chosen based upon competitive exams. This made job positions based on merit or ability and not inheritance or class. -
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World, and five times the candidate of the Socialists Party of America for President of the United States. -
Haymarket Riot
Haymarket riot, outbreak of violence in Chicago, Demands for an eight hour working day became increasingly widespread among American laborers. A demonstration, largely staged by a small group caused a crowd of some 1,500 people to gather at Haymarket Square. -
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual indians. -
Political Machines
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses, who receive rewards for their efforts. -
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was an African American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, feminist, and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Wells led an anti-lynching campaign in the United States and went on to found and become essential in groups striving for African American justice. -
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist. He led the expansion of the American steel industry. He was known as the Father of Modern Philanthropy. -
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in northwestern Canada. -
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American orator and politician, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party. William Jennings Bryan was a three time presidential candidate, argued for the prosecution, while Clarence Darrow, the famed defense attorney, spoke for scopes. -
Initiative & Referendum
Initiativem, referendum, and recall are the three powers reserved to enable the voters, by petition, to propose or repeal legislation or to remove an elected official from office. Proponent of an initiative, referendum, or recall effort must apply for an official petition serial number from the Town Clerk. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was an American Statesman, author, explorer, soldier naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th president of the United States. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States. -
Muckraker
A person who intentionally seeks out and publishes the misdeeds, such as criminal acts or corruption, of a public individual for profit or gain. Sometimes this information is linked to powerful businessmen. Muckraker is often applied specifically to journalists. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act prevented the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous foods, drugs, medicines, liquors, and for regulating traffic therein and for other purposes. -
Upton Sinclair
Sinclair received fame by muckraking the meat-packing industry. Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to a new federal food safety laws. -
Dollar Diplomacy
President William Howard Taft and Secretary of State Philander Knox followed a foreign policy stated as "dollar diplomacy." The goal of diplomacy was to create stability and order that would best promote American commercial interests. -
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act was a United States legislation that created the current Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve Act intended to establish a form of economic stability in the United States through the introduction of the Central Bank, which would be in charge of monetary policy. -
17th Amendment
The 17th Amendment was part of a wave of progressive constitutional reforms that sought to make the Constitution, and our nation, more democratic. It gave Americans the right to vote directly for their Senators, thereby strengthening the link between citizens and the federal government. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment is a very important amendment to the Constitution as it gave women the right to vote in 1920. The 19th Amendment unified suffrage laws across the United States. -
18th Amendment
The 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution effectively established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery incident that took place in the United States, during the administration of President Warren G, Harding. By executive order of the President, control of navel oil reserves at Teapot Dome, WY. was transferred from the Navy Dept. to the Dept. of the interior. -
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow was American Lawyer and a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was among the first attorneys to be called a "labor lawyer." He was also known for defending teenaged thrill killers Leopold and Loeb, and John T. Scopes in the Scopes Monkey Trial. -
Immigration & the American Dream
The term "American dream" was first used by the American historian James Truslow Adams in his book "The Epic of America." At the time the United States was suffering under the Great Depression. Adams used the term to describe the complex beliefs, religious promises, and political and social expectations. -
16th Amendment
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without distribute among several States, and without regard any census or enumeration.
