Western Frontier
Provide 2 specific examples of how the federal government facilitated settlement in the Western Frontier
railroad land grants
Homestead Act
"controlling" the indigenous population
telegraph line federal grants
Describe the factory system
machines replaced human skill; fast, cheap, efficient production; labor became monotonous; assembly line production hurt quality
List 3 challenges for immigrants during the Gilded Age
learning English, low wages/exploitation, dangerous working conditions, gross housing, disease, lack of family network
In general, what did the Progressive Era accomplish?
advocating for the safety and well-being of the working class
What is an ethnic enclave?
Provide 3 challenges along the Oregon Trail
disease, broken equipment, sick oxen, out of money/food, weather, river crossing, clashes with natives, mountains
Provide 2 major benefits of unregulated free market capitalism
innovation, low prices, opportunity, incentive for hard work
Why were wages so low during the Gilded Age?
no minimum wage
Robber Barons didn't want to cut into profits
Thought that poor people deserved it
Why was it necessary to regularly clean urban streets, besides it was "smelly and gross"?
it was unsanitary and people were getting sick
Why did farmers have to create a National Grange?
to stand up to businesses like banks and the railroads, who were fleecing them
California Gold Rush began in 1849: hard workers, hustlers
What's the difference between a Captain of Industry and a Robber Baron?
Captain: smart, innovation, $ from knowing how to run a business
Robber: shady, exploitative, $ from cutting corners
Explain why historians call it "The Gilded Age"
the wealthy had beautiful lives but their wealth was built on exploiting the poor and dismissing their poverty
List 2 demands of the Tenement Housing Act
fire escapes
windows in each bedroom
indoor plumbing
How does a labor union help workers?
collective bargaining: organizing in numbers to advocate for needs like conditions, safety, and wages
Provide 2 specific methods of assimilation that were enforced at places like the Carlisle Industrial School
only speak English
practice Christianity
cut long hair
dressed in American clothes
fed western meals
punishment for practicing native culture
educated in service skills
Provide 2 causes of urbanization at the turn of the century
low-skill jobs in factories, skyscrapers created housing, immigration
Why was the meatpacking industry particularly dangerous?
Knives
Why was it necessary to protect places like Glacier Natl Park, Haleakala Natl Park, and the Grand Tetons?
business would have stripped, mined, cleared, and developed these places and stripped them of their irreplaceable natural beauty
Which innovation led to skyscrapers and steam ship transportation?
Bessemer Process = steel
Explain how unregulated free market capitalism led to the a boom in innovation at turn of the century
capitalism = competition; a competitive edge in business can be earned by creating a new product
How did Carnegie explain the growing gap between rich and poor during the Gilded Age?
both deserved it
What do we call the preservation of parks and green spaces--like Central Park and Grant Park-- in urban areas?
City Beautiful Movement
because America is so wonderful-- freedom, democracy, innovation-- we are entitled to spread out across the continent