The following flashcards include significant terms, places, persons, legislation, and events from the periods of industrialization, urbanization, and the Gilded Age.
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| 445715831 | Second Industrial Revolution | Originating in the United States and Germany, this produced technological innovations in the fields of transportation, communication, electrical, chemical, and steel industries. Also resulted in mass production of goods and consumerism. | |
| 445715832 | Titusville, Pennsylvania | Site of the nation's first oil well, discovered in 1859 by Edwin Drake. This led to increased developments in the kerosene and gasoline industries. | |
| 445715833 | Horatio Alger | Popular novelist during the Industrial Revolution who wrote "rags to riches" books praising the values of hard work. | |
| 445715834 | Laissez-Faire | Policy based on the idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs. | |
| 445715835 | Menlo Park | New Jersey village west of New York City where Thomas Edison established the world's first industrial research laboratory in 1876. He was funded by banker J.P. Morgan. | |
| 446840451 | Protective Tariff | Tax on imported goods designed to stimulate economic growth by encouraging consumers to buy American goods. | |
| 445742021 | Patent | A license that gives the inventor of a new product the exclusive right to sell it for a defined period of time. | |
| 445742022 | Bessemer Process | Method for purifying iron into an inexpensive and lightweight steel, created in 1858. Made steel production more accessible and affordable, leading to the development of skyscrapers, suspension bridges, and other technological marvels. | |
| 445742023 | Time Zone | Created in 1884 by a delegation of 27 nations; the purpose of these 24 regions was to alleviate traveler confusion when covering great distances by train. | |
| 445742024 | Corporation | Shared ownership in a business that allows investors to take greater financial risks by reducing losses in the event of business failure; these entities were legally treated as individuals and were able to file law suits and own property. | |
| 445742025 | Monopoly | Exclusive control of economic markets. | |
| 445742026 | Cartel | An informal organization of producers that agree to coordinate prices and production. | |
| 445742027 | Vertical Integration | Absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution. | |
| 445742028 | Horizontal Integration | Absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in the same level of production and sharing resources at that level. | |
| 445742029 | J.P. Morgan | A highly successful investment banker who bought out Carnegie. With Carnegie's holdings and some others, he launched U.S Steel and made it the first billion dollar corporation. Known for consolidating multiple firms into a larger, more successful entity (railroads, steel, etc.). | |
| 445742030 | Trust | A combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement and governed by a board of directors. | |
| 445742031 | Social Darwinism | The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - in this instance as justification for the successes and failures of individuals in the business world. | |
| 445742032 | Interstate Commerce Commission | Formed in 1887 to regulate railroads, though its power was limited by its inability to do more than make gentle suggestions to the government. | |
| 445742033 | Sherman Anti-Trust Act | In 1890, this became the first United States law to limit trusts and big business. It outlawed any trusts that purposefully interfered with interstate trade. | |
| 445742034 | Molly Maguires | Radical organization of Irish miners who used violence to protest the poor working conditions in Pennsylvania coal fields; 24 were convicted in 1876, leading to the dissolution of the Miner's National Association and a wage reduction. | |
| 445742035 | Great Railroad Strike | 1877 strike beginning in West Virginia that led to sympathy walk-outs across the entire country, resulting in over 100 dead and millions of dollars of property damage. | |
| 445742036 | Knights of Labor | Founded in 1869 by Uriah Stephens, the group emphasized social change over workers' rights and operated as a secret society until 1881, when Terrance Powderly began to reform the organization. | |
| 445742037 | Samuel Gompers | Founded the American Federation of Labor in 1886 as a craft union of skilled workers; focused on obtaining workers' rights and downplayed social issues. | |
| 445746584 | Haymarket Riot | A demonstration of striking laborers in Chicago in 1886 that turned violent when an Anarchist threw a bomb at a policeman, killing a dozen people and injuring over a hundred. The Knights of Labor were used as a scapegoat for the incident, leading to the demise of the Knights by 1893. | |
| 445746585 | Homestead Strike | 1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company. Pinkerton detectives were called in to disperse the strike, resulting in a violent standoff that ended in an attempted assassination of Carnegie's partner, Henry Frick. | |
| 445746586 | Pullman Strike | 1894 strike against the low wages of the Pullman Car Company that resulted in nationwide walkouts of 300,000 railroad employees. Dispersed by federal troops under Cleveland, who cited violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. | |
| 446886662 | "New Immigrants" | People who traveled to the United States beginning in the 1870s, principally from central and eastern Europe; most were unskilled, penniless, and spoke little English. | |
| 446886663 | Push Factors | Negative conditions that induced people to emigrate from their home country; typically included religious or political persecution, poverty, or military conflict. | |
| 446886664 | Pull Factors | Positive conditions that encouraged people to immigrate to the United States; included inexpensive land, job opportunities, and "chain" immigration of families | |
| 446886665 | Contract Labor Act | 1864 legislation that promoted immigration by allowing businesses to recruit laborers directly from their home countries, promising both employment and paid travel expenses; repealed in 1868. | |
| 446886666 | Ellis Island | Immigration processing center that opened in New York Harbor in 1892; where most East Coast immigrants were filtered into the country. | |
| 446886667 | Americanization | Process of assimilating immigrants into American culture by teaching English, American history, and citizenship. | |
| 446886668 | Settlement Houses | Mostly run by middle-class native-born women, these provided housing, food, education, child care, cultural activities, and social connections for new arrivals to the United States. | |
| 446886669 | Nativism | The belief that white, native-born Americans were superior to foreigners; often resulted from fears of job competition, unfamiliar customs, religious tension, and political loss of control. | |
| 446886670 | Page Act | 1875 legislation that prohibited the immigration of Asian contract laborers, Asian prostitutes, and convicted felons. | |
| 446886671 | U.S. v. Kim Wong Ark | Supreme Court Case which, in 1898, supported a native born American's right to citizenship regardless of a parent's nationality. | |
| 446886672 | Chinese Exclusion Act | Law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country, but did not prevent entry of those who had previously established U.S. residence. | |
| 446886673 | Streetcar Suburbs | Communities on the outskirts of large cities that allowed middle and upper class citizens to live outside inner-city chaos through the use of mass transit (streetcars, subways, etc.) | |
| 446886674 | Jacob Riis | Journalist and photographer who exposed poor tenement living conditions in 1890 book, "How the Other Half Lives." | |
| 446886675 | Chicago Fire | 1871 event that revealed the dangers of urban congestion, gas lighting, and open fireplaces. | |
| 446886676 | Consumerism | Movement in which buyers have access to the same goods in in similar markets; made possible by product branding, mass production, and increased standard of living. | |
| 446886677 | Rowland H. Macy | Formed the first department store in 1858, making heavy use of advertising and the organization of goods into discrete areas, or departments. | |
| 446886678 | Yellow Journalism | Sensationalized form of newspaper reporting popularized by competing newspaper magnates Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) and William Randolph Hearst (New York Journal). | |
| 446886679 | James Naismith | Invented basketball in 1891. | |
| 446886680 | John Dewey | Advocated progressive education that focused on the application of knowledge rather than rote memorization. | |
| 448058403 | Political Machine | A network of activists that worked for a party "boss" in order to maintain control of regional spheres of influence, or "rings." | |
| 448058404 | Boss William Tweed | Political "boss" in New York City that ran the Tammany Hall Ring until his arrest in 1871; though corrupt, he and other bosses brought structure and necessary services to communities. | |
| 448058405 | Thomas Nast | Often considered the "Father of the American Cartoon," he was a political cartoonist whose scathing commentary on government corruption helped in the 1876 capture of William Tweed. | |
| 448058406 | Republicans | Considered the "party of morality," this group supported business and was primarily composed of Protestants, nativists, and prohibitionists of British descent. | |
| 448058407 | Democrats | A political party composed of a hodgepodge of Jews, Catholics, immigrants, and "free-thinkers" that usually supported labor. | |
| 448058408 | Pendleton Act | 1883 legislation signed by president Chester A. Arthur that attempted to replace the spoils system of government employment with a merit-based system. | |
| 448058409 | Mugwumps | Republican reformers who supported Grover Cleveland in the 1884 election; mostly educators and editors who favored civil service reform and free trade. | |
| 448058410 | "Stalwarts" | Group of Republicans led by Roscoe Conkling; supporters of both president Grant and the spoils system. | |
| 448058411 | "Half-Breeds" | Group of Republicans led by James G. Blaine; only half committed to president Grant and the spoils system. | |
| 448058412 | Sherman Silver Purchase Act | 1890 legislation that required the government to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month; this both expanded the money supply and fueled the increasingly volatile gold-silver debate. | |
| 448058413 | Booker T. Washington | Favored black social equality through "accommodation" - the acceptance of segregation and proof of deserved equality through hard work. | |
| 448058414 | W.E.B. Du Bois | Harvard educated black reformer who demanded immediate social equality, stating that it had already been earned. | |
| 448058415 | Yick Wo v. Hopkins | 1886 court case concerning the ban of a Chinese-run laundry; ruling determined that race-neutral laws applied in a prejudicial manner were unconstitutional. | |
| 448058416 | National Woman Suffrage Association | Organization formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1869 to raise support for women's voting rights. | |
| 448058417 | Populism | Also called the "People's Party," this was a movement and political platform created in 1892 that emphasized farmer's rights, business regulations, silver coinage, immigration limits, and the nationalization of transportation and communication systems. | |
| 448058418 | Grange | Founded by Oliver H. Kelley in 1867, this group lobbied for more favorable conditions for farmers and regulations on freight and warehouse storage rates. | |
| 448058419 | Panic of 1893 | Economic crises caused by the failures of major railroads (both Philadelphia and Reading), bank closings, agricultural debt, and a restriction of gold reserves. | |
| 448058420 | William Jennings Bryan | Democratic candidate in the election of 1892, he advocated taxation of the wealthy, federal welfare programs, worker's rights, and prohibition; an evangelical candidate who shaped the modern politician with his grandstanding and "common man" appeal. | |
| 448058421 | Dingley Act | 1897 legislation pushed by president McKinley to return the country to stable economic footing by raising the tariff to its highest level yet. |
