Business
This was an economic philosophy begun by Adam Smith in his book, Wealth of Nations, that stated that business and the economy would run best with no interference from the government. This economic thought dominated most of the time period of the Industrial Revolution.
laissez-faire
law that prohibited rebates and pools and required the railroads to publish their rates openly. It also forbade unfair discrimination against shippers set up a Commission to administer and enforce the new legislation across state lines
Interstate Commerce Act
creator of the American Federation of Labor. He provided a stable and unified union for skilled workers.
Samuel Gompers
The late 19th century, from the 1870s to about 1900. Satirized an era of serious social problems masked by a thin gold gilding of economic progress. The term was coined by Mark Twain.
Gilded Age
a multi-dwelling building, often poor or overcrowded
Tenement
"Oil Baron", Standard Oil.
John D. Rockefeller
(1890) a law that tried to regulate trusts. It favored businesses rather than workers and was originally used to break up labor unions.
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
(1894) strike in Chicago led by Eugene Debs for railroad workers that spread nationwide. President Grover Cleveland called in federal troops to put down the strike.
Pullman Strike
Included bankers, entrenched capitalists, creditors, and investors who thought this would:
Allow currency to hold its value, since gold-backed money is less susceptible to inflation.
Increase the value of gold as the population expanded.
Supporters of Hard Money
the policy, generally around immigration but also dealing with social and economic aspects of daily life, that favors native-born or long-term resident individuals in the United States at the expense of immigrants.
Nativism
technique used by Carnegie where he combined into one organization all phases of manufacturing from mining to marketing.
Vertical Integration
A set of companies managed by a small group known as trustees, who can prevent companies in the trust from competing with each other.
trust
American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States.
Eugene V. Debs
The application of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to the business world; used by industrialists and social conservatives to discourage any government regulation in society and explain why they were getting so rich.
Social Darwinism
The first major legal restriction on immigration to the U.S. in 1882; prohibited further unskilled Chinese immigration in order to reduce competition for jobs.
Chinese Exclusion Act
a railroad that would cross the continent and connect the East to the West in 1869; opened new markets and helped spur the Industrial Revolution
transcontinental railroad
Unofficial political organization that works to win elections in order to exercise power
Sometimes referred to as a shadow government
Rose to power in the late 1800s because of ill-equipped local governments that failed to meet the needs of growing urban populations
Political Machine
Violent labor conflict in Carnegie's mills
Henry Frick (manager) announced pay cut
Strike had to be put down by state militia in 1892
Homestead Strike
An essay written by Andrew Carnegie in June of 1889 that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich.
Gospel of Wealth
A population shift from rural areas to cities and the ways in which each society adapts to the change
urbanization
Strategy to maximize profits by attempting to purchase competing companies in the same industry; monopoly-building (ex. Rockefeller's Standard Oil)
horizontal integration
Political machine of New York City that was well-known for its corruption. Lead by William Boss Tweed. The machine was exposed by cartoonists like Thomas Nast.
Tammany Hall
protest for shorter workdays, the event involved protests, murders, and bombings in Chicago Illinois
Haymarket Square Riot
Refers to the industrialists or big business owners who gained huge profits by paying their employees extremely low wages. They also drove their competitors out of business by selling their products cheaper than it cost to produce it. Then when they controlled the market, they hiked prices high above original price.
Robber Barons
Immigrants who came to the United States during and after the 1880s; most were from southern and eastern Europe like Italy, Poland, Russia, Greece
"new immigrants"