Gilded Age
A term to describe the late 19th century
as a period of ostentatious displays of
wealth, growing poverty, and
government inaction in the face of
income inequality.
Pendleton Act
An 1883 law establishing a nonpartisan
civil service commission to fill federal
jobs by examination. It dealt a major
blow to the spoils system and sought to
ensure that government positions were
filled by trained, professional
employees.
Mugwumps
A late 19th-century branch of reformminded Republicans who left their party
in 1884 to support Democratic
presidential candidate Grover
Cleveland. Many were classical liberals
who denounced corruption, advocated a
reduction in government powers, and
advocated civil service reform.
Sherman
Antitrust Act
Landmark 1890 act that forbade anticompetitive business activities and
required the federal government to
investigate trusts and any companies
operating in violation of the act.
However, the law was soon used to
prohibit the activities of labor unions as
they “restrained trade.”
Omaha
Platform
An 1892 statement by the Populists
calling for stronger government to
protect ordinary Americans.
free silver
A policy of loosening the money supply by
expanding federal coinage to include silver
as well as gold. Advocates of the policy
thought it would encourage borrowing and
stimulate industry, but the defeat of
Democratic presidential candidate William
Jennings Bryan ended the movement and
gave Republicans power to retain the gold
standard.
Solid South
The post-Reconstruction goal—
achieved by the early twentieth
century—of almost complete
electoral control of the South by
the Democratic Party.
Newlands
Reclamation
Act
A 1902 law, supported by President
Theodore Roosevelt, that allowed
the federal government to sell
public lands to raise money for
irrigation projects that expanded
agriculture on arid lands.
Wisconsin
Idea
A policy promoted by Republican state
governor Robert La Follette for greater
government intervention in the
economy, with reliance on experts,
particularly progressive economists, for
policy recommendations.
recall
A pioneering progressive idea,
enacted in Wisconsin, Oregon,
California, and other states, that
gave citizens the right to remove
unpopular politicians from office
through a popular vote.
referendum
The process whereby citizens vote
directly on a proposed policy
measure rather than leaving it in
the hands of elected legislators; a
progressive reform.
Lochner v.
New York
A 1905 Supreme Court ruling that
New York State could not limit
bakers’ workdays to ten hours
because that violated bakers’ rights
to make contracts.
Muller v.
Oregon
A 1908 Supreme Court case that upheld
an Oregon law limiting women’s
workday to ten hours, based on the
need to protect women’s health for
motherhood. It divided women’s rights
activists, however, because some saw
its provisions as discriminatory.
talented tenth
A term used by Harvard-educated
sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois for the
top percentage of educated African
Americans, whom he called on to
develop new strategies to advocate
for civil rights.
NAACP
An organization, founded in 1910
by leading African American
reformers and white allies, as a
vehicle for advocating equal rights
for African Americans (colored
people), especially through the
courts.
Industrial
Workers of
the World
An umbrella union and radical political
group that was founded in 1905 and
dedicated to organizing unskilled
workers to oppose capitalism.
Nicknamed the Wobblies, it advocated
direct action by workers, including
sabotage and general strikes.
Federal
Reserve Act
The central banking system of the
United States, created in 1913 and still
in existence today. It helps set the
money supply level, thus influencing the
rate of growth of the U.S. economy, and
seeks to ensure the stability of the U.S.
monetary system.
Clayton
Antitrust Act
A 1914 law that strengthened federal
definitions of monopoly and gave more
power to the Justice Department to
pursue antitrust cases; it also specified
that labor unions could not generally be
prosecuted for “restraint of trade,” thus
ensuring that antitrust laws would apply
to corporations rather than unions.
William
Jennings
Bryan
This Nebraska congressman was
nominated by the Democratic Party
in 1896. He passionately defended
farmers and attacked the gold
standard and had been a favorite of
the Progressive Party.
Robert La
Follette
Known as “Fighting Bob,” this
Republican governor of Wisconsin
advocated increasingly aggressive
measures to protect workers and
rein in corporate power.
Theodore
Roosevelt
He served as Republican assemblyman
for NY, U.S. Civil Service commissioner,
head of NY City Police Commission,
Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and
Vice President before becoming
President in 1901. As a vigorous
reformer, he brought about a major
shift in the Republican Party.
W.E.B. Du Bois
Earning his PhD in sociology from
Harvard, he was the leading black
intellectual in the U.S. by 1900. As a civil
rights leader, and co-founder of the
NAACP, he demanded full and
immediate social and political equality
for African Americans.
Eugene V.
Debs
He founded the American Railway Union
(ARU) and served time in prison for his role
in the Pullman strike of 1894. He launched
the Socialist Party of America in 1901 and
co-founded the IWW in 1905. He was the
Socialist candidate for President 5 times,
(the last time from prison while serving a
sentence for violating the Espionage Act of
1917.)