Problems/Attempted Solutions Flashcards
Homestead Strike
In 1892, the Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers struck, and Henry Clay Frick responded by locking workers out of the plant. Frick then hired a small private army of Pinkerton detectives to drive them off
American Federation of Labor
A loose alliance of national craft unions. It organized only skilled workers along craft lines, avoided politics, and worked for specific practical objectives.
Social Darwinism
Applied Darwinian principles of natural selection to society, combining biology and sociology in a theory of “social selection” that tried to explain human progress. The “survival of the fittest” preserved the strong and weeded out the weak.
Social Gospel
An emerging religious philosophy in the late 1800s which focused on society as well as individuals, on improving living conditions as well as saving souls.
Settlement Houses
Homes run by social workers in the slums so that they could experience the problems they were trying to solve. The reformers wanted to bridge the socioeconomic gap between rich and poor and bring education, culture, and hope to the slums.
Bland-Allison Silver Purchase Act
A 1878 bill which called for the partial coinage of silver.
Pendleton Act
Act passed by Congress in 1883 which created a bipartisan Civil Service Commission to administer competitive examinations and appoint office holders on the basis of merit. It laid the basis for the later expansion of civil service.
Sherman Antitrust Act
The first federal attempt to regulate big business. The act shaped all later antitrust policy.
Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890
Tries to end the troublesome problem presented by silver. The act directed the Treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver a month and to issue legal tender in the form of Treasury notes in payment for it.
National Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union
Organization which promised unified action to solve agricultural problems.
Pullman Strike
One of the largest strikes in this country’s history. Within hours, the strike paralyzed the western half of the nation. The strike extended into 27 states and territories, tying up the economy and renewing talk of class warfare.
