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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| 613753291 | Laissez-Faire | Policy based on the idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs. | |
| 613753292 | 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. | |
| 613753293 | Protective Tariff | Tax on imported goods designed to stimulate economic growth by encouraging consumers to buy American goods. | |
| 613753295 | 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. | |
| 613753296 | Monopoly | Exclusive control of economic markets. | |
| 613753298 | 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.). | |
| 613753299 | Trust | A combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement and governed by a board of directors. | |
| 613753300 | 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. | |
| 613753301 | 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. | |
| 613753302 | 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. | |
| 613753304 | 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. | |
| 613753305 | "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. | |
| 613753308 | 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. | |
| 613753312 | Jacob Riis | Journalist and photographer who exposed poor tenement living conditions in 1890 book, "How the Other Half Lives." | |
| 613753313 | Chicago Fire | 1871 event that revealed the dangers of urban congestion, gas lighting, and open fireplaces. | |
| 613753315 | 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. | |
| 613753316 | Yellow Journalism | Sensationalized form of newspaper reporting popularized by competing newspaper magnates Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) and William Randolph Hearst (New York Journal). | |
| 613753317 | James Naismith | Invented basketball in 1891. | |
| 613753318 | John Dewey | Advocated progressive education that focused on the application of knowledge rather than rote memorization. | |
| 613753319 | Political Machine | A network of activists that worked for a party "boss" in order to maintain control of regional spheres of influence, or "rings." | |
| 613753320 | 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. | |
| 613753321 | 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. | |
| 613753322 | Republicans | Considered the "party of morality," this group supported business and was primarily composed of Protestants, nativists, and prohibitionists of British descent. | |
| 613753323 | Democrats | A political party composed of a hodgepodge of Jews, Catholics, immigrants, and "free-thinkers" that usually supported labor. | |
| 613753325 | Mugwumps | Republican reformers who supported Grover Cleveland in the 1884 election; mostly educators and editors who favored civil service reform and free trade. | |
| 613753326 | "Stalwarts" | Group of Republicans led by Roscoe Conkling; supporters of both president Grant and the spoils system. | |
| 613753327 | "Half-Breeds" | Group of Republicans led by James G. Blaine; only half committed to president Grant and the spoils system. | |
| 613753328 | Booker T. Washington | Favored black social equality through "accommodation" - the acceptance of segregation and proof of deserved equality through hard work. | |
| 613753329 | 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. | |
| 613753330 | 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. | |
| 613753331 | 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. |
