Chpater 28
Pullman Strike
1894 nonviolent strike in Chicago, Pullman cut wages but refused to lower rents in the "company town", Eugene Debs had American Railway Union refuse to use Pullman cars, Debs thrown in jail after being sued, strike achieved nothing; President Cleveland shut it down because it was interfering with mail delivery.
Coxey's Army
A protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by the populist Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington D.C. in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United States history to that time.
Injunction
Acourt order directing someone to do something or to refrain from doing something.
Cross of Gold Speech
An address given by Bryan, the Democratic presidential nominee during the national convention of the Democratic party, it criticized the gold standard and supported the coinage of silver. His beliefs were popular with debt-ridden farmers.
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
In 1890, an act was passed so that the treasury would by 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly and pay those who mined it in notes that were redeemable in either gold or silver. This law doubled the amount of silver that could be purchased under the Bland-Allison Law of 1878.
Homestead Strike
It was one of the most violent strikes in U.S. history. It was against the Homestead Steel Works, which was part of the Carnegie Steel Company, in Pennsylvania in retaliation against wage cuts. The riot was ultimately put down by Pinkerton Police and the state militia, and the violence further damaged the image of unions.
Eugene V. Debs
Leader of the American Railway Union arrested during the Pullman Strike (where he voted to aid workers) (1894); a convert to socialism, Debs ran for president five times between 1900 and 1920. In 1920, he campaigned from prison where he was being held for opposition to American involvement in World War I.
Free Silver
Populists campaigned for silver-backed money rather than gold-backed, believed to be able to relieve working conditions and exploitation of labor; supported by farmers and William Jennings Bryan.
Gold Standard Act
Signed by McKinley in 1900 and stated that all paper money must be backed only by gold. This meant that the government had to hold large gold reserves in case people wanted to trade in their money. Also eliminated silver coins in circulation.
William McKinley
The 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the Civil War to be elected. By the 1880s, this Ohio native was a nationally known Republican leader; his signature issue was high tariffs on imports as a formula for prosperity, as typified by his McKinley Tariff of 1890. As the Republican candidate in the 1896 presidential election, he upheld the gold standard, and promoted pluralism among ethnic groups.
William Jennings Bryan
This Democratic candidate ran for president most famously in 1896. His goal of "free silver" won him the support of the Populist Party. Though a gifted orator, he lost the election to Republican William McKinley. He ran again for president and lost in 1900. Later he opposed America's imperialist actions, and in the 1920s, he made his mark as a leader of the fundamentalist cause and prosecuting attorney in the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Populist party
U.S. political party formed in 1892 representing mainly farmers, favoring free coinage of silver and government control of railroads and other monopolies.
Bimetalism
Use of two metals, gold and silver, for currency as America did with the Bland-Allison Act and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Ended in 1900 with the enactment of the Gold Standard Act.