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| A 1887 act that aimed to "Americanize" the Native Americans. The act broke up the reservations and gave the land to individual Native Americans- 160 acres to each head of household 80 acres to each unmarried adult. the government sold the remainder of the land to settlers. HS: By 1932 whites had taken about 2/3 of the territory that had been set aside for Native Americans. The Native Americans received no money from the sale. With the change in the reservations, Buffalo population went down dramatically. |
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| The Battle of Wounded Knee |
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| In December 1890, the Seventh Calvary rounded up about 350 starving and freezing Sioux and took them to Wounded Knee Creek. The soldiers demanded the Native Americans give up their weapons. A shot was fired and the soldiers opened fire. Within minutes they had slaughtered 300 unarmed Native Americans including children. The soldiers left the corpses to freeze. HS: brought the Indian wars, and an entire era to a bitter end. |
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| Because the Sioux were suffering from poverty and disease, they turned to a Paiute prophet who promised that if the Sioux performed a ritual called Ghost Dance, their lands and way of life would be restored. It spread rapidly and alarmed military leaders. HS: 40 Native Americans were sent to arrest Sitting Bull, who was then shot. Chief Big Foor led the fearful Sioux away |
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| The philosophy that grew out of Charles Darwin's theory of biological evolution: some individuals of a species flourish while others do not, called "natural selection" and weeded out less-suited individuals and enabled the best-adapted to survive. HS: Herbert Spencer and William Sumner used Darwin's biological theories to explain that the marketplace should not be regulated. Failure in business is governed by natural law and no one has the right to intervene. |
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| A U.S. law enacted in 1862, that provided 160 acres in the West to any citizen or intended citizen who was head of household and would cultivate the land for five years. The law was strengthened in 1889 to encourage individuals to exercise their private property rights and develop homesteads out of the vast government lands. HS: The law's passage led to record numbers of U.S. settlers claiming private property which previously had been reserved by treat and by tradition for Native American nomadic dwelling and use. |
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| A warrior, spiritual leader, and medicine man who was determined for the whites to leave Sioux territory. HS: During a sun dance in 1876, he had a vision of soldiers and Native Americans falling from their horses. When the Colonel Custer and his troops reached the sun dance, the Native Americans were ready for them. They managed to kill all the men in the Seventh Calvary. He led remaining Sioux to Canada until eventually he had to surrender to prevent starvation. |
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| A 19th Century reform movement based on the belief that Christians have a responsibility to help improve working conditions and alleviate poverty HS: Led to the establishment of settlement houses, or community centers in slum neighborhoods that provided assistance to people in the area especially immigrants |
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| a law enacted in 1887 that established the federal government's right to supervise railroad activities and created a five-member interstate Commerce Commission to do so. HS: The ICC's financial problems played a major role in the nationwide economic collapse: the panic of 1893 |
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| A process developed by Henry Bessemer and William Kelly around 1950. The technique was to inject air into molten iron to remove the carbon and other impurities. By 1880 American manufacturers were using the method to produce more than 90% of the nation's steel. HS: this age led to rapid change and innovation. Railroads became the biggest customers for steel. |
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| Transcontinental Railroad |
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| A railroad line linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States HS: made industrial expansion across the US possible. The railroad laborers also helped to transform the diverse regions of the country into a united nation. |
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| The stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad formed a construction company called Credit Mobilier. They gave this company a contract to lay track at 2-3 times that actualy cost and pocketed the profits. They donated shares of stock to about 20 representatives in Congress in 1867. It was eventually found out the officers had taken up to $23 million in stocks HS: although they kept the profits and got a slap on the wrist, the reputation of the Republican Party was tarnished. |
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| The Interstate Commerce Commission presented problems for the railroads, corporate abuses, mismanagement, overbuilding, and competition pushed many railroads to the brink of bankruptcy. These financial problems played a major role in the economic collapse called the panic of 1893. It was the worst depression up to the time. By the end of 1893, about 600 banks and 15,000 businesses had failed and by 1895, 4 million people had lost their jobs. By the middle of 1894 a quarter of the nation's railroads had been taken over by financial companies. HS: As the 20th century neared, seven powerful companies held sway over 2/3 of the nation's railroads. |
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