Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age

HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF U.S. HISTORICAL ERAS Jon Woronoff, Series Editor 1. From the Great War to the Great Depression, by Neil A. Wynn, 2003. 2. Civil War and Reconstruction, by William L. Richter, 2004. 3. Revolutionary America, by Terry M. Mays, 2005. 4. Old South, by William L. Richter, 2006. 5. Early American Republic, by Richard Buel Jr., 2006. 6. Jacksonian Era and Manifest Destiny, by Terry Corps, 2006. 7. Reagan–Bush Era, by Richard S. Conley, 2007. 8. Kennedy–Johnson Era, by Richard Dean Burns and Joseph M. Siracusa, 2008. 9. Nixon–Ford Era, by Mitchell K. Hall, 2008. 10. Roosevelt–Truman Era, by Neil A. Wynn, 2008. 11. Eisenhower Era, by Burton I. Kaufman and Diane Kaufman, 2009. 12. Progressive Era, by Catherine Cocks, Peter Holloran, and Alan Lessoff, 2009. 13. Gilded Age, by T. Adams Upchurch, 2009. Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age T. Adams Upchurch Historical Dictionaries of U.S. Historical Eras, No. 13 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2009 SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2009 by T. Adams Upchurch All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Upchurch, Thomas Adams. Historical dictionary of the Gilded Age / T. Adams Upchurch. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of U.S. historical eras ; no. 13) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5829-9 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8108-5829-0 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6299-9 (ebook) ISBN-10: 0-8108-6299-9 (ebook) 1. United States—History—1865–1898—Dictionaries. 2. United States—Politics and government—1865–1900—Dictionaries. I. Title. E661.U66 2009 973.8003–dc22 2008047279 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. Contents Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff vii Acknowledgments ix Reader’s Note xi Acronyms and Abbreviations xiii Chronology xv Introduction xxv THE DICTIONARY 1 Appendix A: Presidents and Their Administrations, 1869–1900 231 Appendix B: Constitutional Amendment 243 Select Bibliography 245 About the Author 277 v Editor’s Foreword The Gilded Age, which lasted for several decades at the end of the 19th century, has left less of an impression than the previous period of Civil War and Reconstruction or the one that followed, known as the Progressive Era. Nevertheless, it was an important time of transition, with positive as well as negative aspects, even if the latter often appeared predominant. Of course, with a tag like “gilded,” there is a tendency to look at the era’s more opprobrious features such as, in the economy, the rise of so-called Robber Barons, the growing gap between rich and poor, and the wretched conditions in which many lived and worked; in politics, the election of mostly forgettable presidents, unbri- dled rivalry between the parties, unexciting issues such as tariffs and free silver, and rampant corruption; in society, discrimination against African Americans, Native Americans, Chinese, Eastern European immigrants, and women; and in foreign policy, the emergence of jingo- ism and empire building. Tentatively if not always very visibly, reform- ers began to address many of these problems before the end of the era. This was also the period when the United States really expanded across the continent, fi lling in many of the hitherto empty spaces with a rapidly growing population, tied together with markedly improved transporta- tion and communications networks, and when mass industrialization began, transforming not only the economy but everybody’s lifestyle. As a period of transition with many countervailing good and bad features, it is not easy to get a fi x on the Gilded Age, and indeed even historians are gradually revising the earlier opinions. Therefore, another look is certainly worthwhile, and an encyclopedia like this is not a bad place to begin since it contains entries on good and bad aspects of the era alike; on notable leaders of every stripe and in many fi elds; on politi- cal parties, trade unions, and social movements; on major events and lesser ones that give a feeling for the times; on literature and the arts; vii viii • EDITOR’S FOREWORD and on changing lifestyles and popular culture. The chronology traces the trajectory from 1869 to 1899 and shows how surprisingly eventful the period was. The introduction, a particularly important section, ties things together and provides a broader perspective through which to view the entries. Admittedly, only so much can be said in this Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age, and readers who want to know more will have to consult the bibliography. Slowly but surely, this series on Historical Dictionaries of U.S. Historical Eras is fi lling in the blanks, and as noted above, the Gilded Age was an important but often overlooked period. Fortunately, it was possible to fi nd an author with a broad view as well as a crucial special- ization. Dr. T. Adams Upchurch is a history professor at East Georgia College where he offers a course covering this period, among others. His particular interest is racism and civil rights, a crucial issue for the Gilded Age, when it still seemed as if backsliding was just as likely as progressing on this front. He has written on this topic in several important books, including Legislating Racism: The Billion Dollar Congress and the Birth of Jim Crow, issues related to which are featured in entries in this volume. Dr. Upchurch has also written an award-winning article relevant to study of the Gilded Age on “Why Populism Failed in Mississippi.” His expertise in this era of American history ensures that readers will fi nd many good insights and much useful information contained in this volume. Jon Woronoff Series Editor Acknowledgments I wish to thank my friends and fellow historians who were kind enough to serve as proofreaders and fact-checkers: Dr. Connie Lester of the University of Central Florida and the Florida Historical Quarterly; Dr. Stanly Godbold, retired, from Mississippi State University; and Jeff Howell, doctoral candidate at Mississippi State University. Dr. Lester also deserves recognition for putting me in contact with editor Jon Woronoff of Scarecrow Press. Without the help of such able and willing professionals, this historical dictionary would not have been possible. ix Reader’s Note This dictionary contains articles chosen for their comparative signifi cance to the broad panorama of American history during the Gilded Age. Many important people, issues, and events have been excluded in the interest of brevity. Choices of what to include were subjective, so exclusion does not necessarily indicate insignifi cance. In some cases, collective entries proved more useful than individualized ones. For instance, the entries “Literature,” “Periodicals,” and “The Press” cover most of the major authors, editors, literary movements, books, and infl uential publications of the Gilded Age much more succinctly than several dozen individual entries could. Except for acts of God or nature, all historical events, issues, and artifacts are shaped by people. In some cases, an individual is more important than a single item for which he or she is famous. The apho- rism “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is applied in such cases. Thomas Edison is, for example, greater as an inventor than is any one of his separate inventions. Thus, the reader will fi nd an article on the inventor rather than on any one of his particular inventions. In other cases, an individual is primarily remembered for a single item, such as a book he or she wrote, or an event in which he or she was involved. George Armstrong Custer is a prime example. Were it not for Custer’s dramatic defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he would probably not be so remembered in history. Thus, the battle is deemed greater than the man. In some cases, both a person and an item always associ- ated with him or her have separate entries because of their distinct signifi cance in history. The best example is Mark Twain and his book The Gilded Age. People and their famous or infamous actions are, however, cross-referenced herein for the benefi t of the reader, as indicated by the embedded names and terms in bold print. xi xii • READER’S NOTE Most people mentioned herein did not live their whole lives during the Gilded Age. Except for Stephen Crane and a few others, most were born in the antebellum period but lived to see their greatest accomplish- ments in the last three decades of the 19th century. The vast majority of people mentioned in this volume fall into this category. Some mentioned herein were born during the Gilded Age and/or began making a name for themselves before the turn of the century but did not achieve their greatest fame until the Progressive Era. Depending on the relative signifi cance of their early fame, they were included in this dictionary or they were not. Examples of those excluded are George Washington Carver, Walter Reid, Charles Schwab, Scott Joplin, John Dewey, and Frederick Weyerhauser.

Load more