HIS 1091 History of the United States through the Gilded Age
Lesson Five: Study Guide
READING: Brands, American Stories; Chapter 20 “Political Realignments, 1876-1901”
DIRECTIONS: Read the chapter and learn the course content in preparation for the chapter quiz and the
comprehensive test to end the module. Each chapter is divided into sections; each section covers a
specific topic. This study guide contains three parts: Essential Questions, Key Terms, and General
Questions. Essential Questions highlight important themes and concepts in each section. Key Terms
include significant people, places, events, concepts, and artifacts that are relevant to American history.
Key Terms are the essential historic facts that are the basis for all types of assessments from short answer
to essay questions. General Questions emphasize the major themes/concepts and ideas from one or more
chapters.
PREVIEW: Before you read look over the Essential Questions and Key Terms for each section.
READ: As you read highlight the text and take notes on the major themes/concepts and key terms.
REVIEW: Try to answer the questions and define each term. Review the chapter by completing the
activities in the Interactive Study Guide. Once you are satisfied you are familiar with the chapter material,
proceed to the Chapter Quiz.
QUIZ: After you have read the chapter and have completed the activities in the Interactive Study Guide,
proceed to the Chapter Quiz.
SECTION 1 “Politics of Stalemate”
Essential Questions:
Discuss the reasons for the stalemate of partisan politics in the 1870s and 1880s.
How did each of the presidents from Rutherford B. Hayes to Benjamin Harrison work to regain the power
of his office, diminished during the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson?
What resulted from the assassination of President James A. Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau?
Key Terms: 1890s Depression, Rutherford B. Hayes, Bland-Allison Silver Purchase Act, James A.
Garfield, Charles J. Guiteau, Chester A. Arthur, Pendleton Act, Civil Service Commission, Grover
Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison
SECTION 2 “Republicans in Power: The Billion-Dollar Congress”
Essential Questions:
What were the three most important laws enacted by the “Billion-Dollar Congress?”
Explain and evaluate the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
Why were the 1890 elections among the most important midterm elections in U.S. history?
Key Terms: McKinley Tariff, Dependent Pensions Act, Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Sherman Silver
Purchase Act, “Billion-Dollar Congress”
SECTION 3 “The Rise of the Populist Movement”
Essential Questions:
Describe and evaluate the grievances of American farmers in the late nineteenth century.
Trace the growth of the farmers’ protest from the Grange through the Farmers’ Alliance.
Discuss the founding of the People’s (Populist) Party, its platform, and its first presidential election.
Key Terms: National Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union, Southern Alliance, Colored Farmers’
National Alliance and Cooperative Union, Northwestern Alliance, Ocala Demands, “sub-treasury
system,” People’s (or Populist) Party, James B. Weaver, 1892 Election
SECTION 4 “The Crisis of the Depression”
Essential Questions:
Describe the Panic of 1893 and discuss its immediate effect on American business, finance, industries,
and work force.
Discuss the “great” Pullman strike of 1894 and its importance in the 1890s.
Discuss and evaluate President Cleveland’s responses to the difficult events of the 1890s?
Key Terms: Panic of 1893, Pullman strike, Eugene V. Debs, American Railway Union, Grover Cleveland,
Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, 1894 Elections
SECTION 5 “Changing Attitudes”
Essential Questions:
What changes in outlook especially about government, the economy and society did the panic and
depression of the 1890s bring about?
Describe the changes in the American work force brought on by the depression of the 1890s.
Trace the rise of the new realist and naturalist movements in American literature and explain why they
emerged.
Key Terms: Mothers Congress of 1896, Horatio Alger, Louisa May Alcott, Anna Sewell, pragmatism,
Hamlin Garland, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, naturalists, Stephen Crane, Jack London, Theodore Dreiser
SECTION 6 “The Presidential Election of 1896”
Essential Questions:
Explain how the silver issue served as a symbol for a social and political movement.
Compare and contrast the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns of 1896.
What were the most important results of the 1896 election?
Key Terms: William McKinley, gold standard, William Jennings Bryan, “Cross of Gold Speech”
SECTION 7 “The McKinley Administration”
Essential Questions:
Many historians regard William McKinley as the first modern president. How did McKinley distinguish
himself and his administration from his Gilded Age predecessors?
Key Terms: Dingley Tariff, Gold Standard Act, 1900 Election, 1901 Pan-American Exposition, Leon
Czolgosz
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
Discuss the federal government’s response to the panic of 1893 and the ten-year long depression that
followed.
Discuss the rise and importance of the People’s Party on American politics in the late nineteenth century.
What impact did the Presidential election of 1896 have on the political stalemate of the Gilded Age?