InQuizitive Chapter 16: America's Gilded Age, 1870—1890

During the Gilded Age, the federal government sought to define the place of Native Americans in society and address questions of indigenous citizenship. Place the following events in chronological order:

1) Congress eliminated the treaty system with native tribes. 2) The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Elk v.Wilkins that citizenship did not apply to Native Americans. 3) The Dawes Act was passed, dividing tribal land into parcels of land open for white settlement. 4) Congress extended citizenship to all Native Americans.

What arguments does Chief Joseph make about the treatment and conditions of his fellow Nez Percé in "Voices of Freedom"?

All people, whites and Native Americans alike, should be treated equally. The Nez Percé would also have to change and adapt.

Identify the statements that describe the economic changes that occurred between 1870 and 1920.

Between 1870 and 1920, the percentage of people employed in industry grew significantly. The GNP per capita between 1870 and 1920 more than doubled. Between 1870 and 1920, the percentage of people employed in agriculture decreased significantly.

Analyze the political cartoon from an 1883 edition of the magazine Puck, and then complete the following statement.

In this image, -robber barons- like Cornelius Vanderbilt sit safely perched on their millions of dollars, made from the labor of -workers-, who stand in a sea of -hard times-.

Identify the statements that describe "robber barons."

Ironically, many of the "robber barons" rose from modest backgrounds and seemed examples of how creative genius and business sense enabled Americans to seize success. John D. Rockefeller was considered by many to be the worst of the robber barons.

In Gilded Age America, dissatisfaction with the new social order extended beyond the working class and into the middle class. Some of the most popular works of literature in the era concerned the crumbling social order or the means of fixing it. Match the authors to their literary contributions:

Progress and Poverty Correct label: Henry George The Cooperative Commonwealth Correct label: Laurence Gronlund Looking Backward Correct label: Edward Bellamy

Despite promises in promotional pamphlets, farming on the Great Plains was not an easy task. Identify the statements that describe farming on the Great Plains.

The Homestead Act led to thousands of families moving westward to farm. Wheat and corn were primary crops grown on the Great Plains for the national and international markets.

Identify the statements that describe the Knights of Labor.

The Knights of Labor included women in its membership.

The Knights of Labor were the first group to try to organize unskilled and skilled labor, both men and women, and black and white, though they gave into West Coast racism and excluded the despised immigrants from Asia on the West Coast.

True The group reached a peak membership of nearly 800,000 in 1886 (making it the largest labor organization of the nineteenth century) and involved millions of workers in strikes, boycotts, political action, and educational and social activities.

Between 1860 and 1880, the number of railroad track miles tripled in the United States, and tripled again by 1920.

True The massive expansion of the railroad allowed for the United States to develop a truly national economy. Soon national brands became popularized, such as Ivory soap and Quaker Oats.

Identify the statements that describe examples of Christian moral reform and its successful attempts to stamp out sin.

Women's Christian Temperance Union Mann Act of 1910 Gambling, prostitution, polygamy, and birth control were all targets of the legislation attempts to control or eliminate by Evangelical Christians in the Gilded Age.

Identify the statements that describe working conditions and policies during the Gilded Age in America.

"The miner's freedom" consisted of work rules that left skilled miners free of managerial supervision on the job. Many industrial workers labored with no pensions, compensation for injuries, or protections against unemployment.

The conquest of the American West was a unique phenomenon in global history, whereby settlers moved boldly into the interior of regions of a great continent with a temperate climate, bringing their families, crops, and livestock, and establishing mining and other industries.

False Argentina, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Africa, like the United States, are termed "settler societies" because the immigrant population quickly outnumbered and displaced the native population.

Most of the farms on the Great Plains were bonanza farms that covered thousands of acres and employed large numbers of agricultural wage workers.

False Bonanza farms were large farms, often owned by companies and run by professional managers. This style of farming did not constitute the majority of farmers in the Great Plains.

Every Republican candidate for president from 1868 to 1900 except for James G. Blaine had fought in the Confederate army in the Civil War.

False Every Republican candidate for president from 1868 to 1900 except for James G. Blaine had fought in the Union army in the Civil War.

In 1879, the United States went off the gold standard to help debt-ridden farmers.

False In 1879 the United States returned to the gold standard by which currency was exchangeable with gold at a fixed rate.

Between the end of the Civil War and the early twentieth century, the United States experienced stagnant economic growth and the loss of international markets.

False The federal government actively promoted industrial and agricultural development. It enacted high tariffs that protected America from foreign competition, granted land for railroad companies to encourage construction, and used the army to remove Indians from western lands desired by farmers and mining companies.

The "overwhelming labor question" replaced slavery as the hot-button topic in the late nineteenth century. Identify the events and actions that illustrate the "overwhelming labor question."

the Great Railroad Strike Troops fired on striking workers in Pittsburgh, killing twenty people. The federal government built National Guard armories in major cities to ensure troops would be on hand if strikes got out of control

Match each term to the correct description.

vertical integration - the process of controlling all aspects of the business from procuring raw materials to manufacturing, transporting, and distributing the final product- robber barons - business leaders who wielded power without any accountability in an unregulated marketplace horizontal expansions - the practice of buying out competing firms in an industry to monopolize an industry