Westward Expansion
The 1862 law that provided 160 acres of free land to settlers willing to farm it for five years
The Homestead Act
The French term for a "hands-off" government approach to the economy.
Laissez-faire
This large-scale labor union was unique because it sought to unite both skilled and unskilled laborers into one "Big Union."
The Knights of Labor
The movement of African Americans out of the rural South to the urban North during this period.
The Great Migration
A spiritual ritual practiced by tribes in the late 1800s in hopes of restoring their traditional way of life and removing white settlers.
The Ghost Dance
An economic system characterized by private ownership of the means of production and the creation of goods for profit.
Industrial Capitalism
Name three core demands that Gilded Age labor unions fought for.
Higher Wages (to keep up with the high cost of urban living).
The 8-Hour Workday (summarized by the slogan: "8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, 8 hours for what we will").
Safer Working Conditions (to reduce the high rate of industrial accidents and deaths).
The Abolition of Child Labor (to protect children and prevent them from undercutting adult wages).
The 1882 law that banned a specific group of immigrants for ten years after they helped build the railroad.
The Chinese Exclusion Act
This 1887 law sought to assimilate Indigenous peoples by breaking up tribal lands into individual family plots.
The Dawes Act
Give three (positive) reasons why industrialists were considered "captains of industry."
1. Increased efficiency/productivity
2. Lowered prices
2. Philanthropy (donating to libraries/universities);
4. Providing thousands of jobs/expanding the middle class.
Name two social change or educational reform movements that brought change about in the Gilded Age
The Settlement House Movement (Jane Addams);
The Grange Movement
Populist Party
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union
The Social Gospel
Corrupt urban political organizations that controlled local government by trading services for votes, and the most famous one in NYC.
Political Machines / Tammany Hall (run by Boss Tweed)
Identify 3 ways that the US government and/or Westward migration contributed to the "demise" of indigenous peoples.
1. Decimation of the bison/buffalo;
2. Forced relocation to reservations;
3. The Dawes Act (loss of tribal land);
4. Spread of diseases;
5. Military conflict/massacres (e.g., Wounded Knee); 6. Forced assimilation (Boarding schools).
Explain the difference between vertical integration and horizontal integration.
Vertical is owning every stage of the supply chain (from raw materials to shipping); Horizontal is buying out all competitors within the same stage of production (creating a monopoly).
What was the Haymarket Square Riot and how did contribute to the fall of the Knights of Labor?
This 1886 Chicago protest turned into a deadly riot after a bomb was thrown at police, leading to the public perception that unions like the Knights of Labor were linked to anarchy.
Identify two reasons "old immigrants" (from Northern/Western Europe) feared or resented "new immigrants" (from Southern/Eastern Europe).
1. They were often Catholic or Jewish rather than Protestant;
2. They were willing to work for lower wages;
3. They were perceived as unable to assimilate due to language/cultural barriers.
Three major economic grievances held by Gilded Age farmers that led to the rise of agrarian activism.
Dropping crop prices, high railroad shipping rates, and debt/high interest rates.
This 1887 federal law was the first to regulate big business, specifically targeting the unfair practices of the railroad industry.
The Interstate Commerce Act
What were two pieces of legal reform (laws or amendments) bringing about change in the Gilded Age?
The Sherman Antitrust Act;
The 17th Amendment (Direct election of Senators);
The Interstate Commerce Act;
The Pendleton Act (Civil Service reform)
Two major infrastructural problems cities faced because they grew faster than the government could manage.
Poor sanitation/waste management and lack of safe housing/fire protection.