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
systematic state-level legal codes of segregation.
Jim Crow
creator of the American Federation of Labor. He provided a stable and unified union for skilled workers.
Samuel Gompers
The systematic program by the US government to force Native Americans to adopt European American ideas about culture, private ownership land and school.
assimilation
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
A movement, or groups of different reform movements, that took place at the turn of the 20th century until WWI directly caused by industrialization and urbanization. This movement sought to improve life in the industrial age by making moderate political changes and social improvements through governmental action.
Progressive Movement
"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
1896 court case that validated the South's segreationalist social order, ruling "separate but equal" facilities were constitutional under the "equal protection" clause of the 14th Amendment.
Plessy v. Ferguson
(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
1876 Battle at which Colonel George Custer's forces clashed with nearly 4000 well armed Sioux warriors led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull; Custer and more than 250 of his men were killed; U.S. reinforcements chased Sitting Bull to Canada where he received political asylum until hunger forced him to return.
Battle of Little Bighorn
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
movement to eliminate social problems by curbing alcohol consumption
Temperance Movement
technique used by Carnegie where he combined into one organization all phases of manufacturing from mining to marketing.
Vertical Integration
(1883) law that reformed the patronage system; created civil service and banned requirement of government workers to support political campaigns.
Pendleton Act
prominent black American, born into slavery, who believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, was founder of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. Was criticized for "accomodating" segregation. Progressive who supported segregation and demanded that African American better themselves individually to achieve equality.
Booker T. Washington
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
where Native American children were forced to go to learn English, cut their hair, learn farming skills, and physically punished for practicing cultural customs.
Indian Boarding Schools
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
Neighborhood centers established to provide help to needy families, combat juvenile delinquency, and assist recent immigrants in learning English and in becoming citizens.
Settlement Houses
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
scandal in 1872 where Union Pacific Railroaders formed a construction company and hired themselves at inflated prices to build a railroad line. They then paid off congressmen with shares of the company's stock to keep the lid on it. Newpaper exposé revealed the scandal went as far as the Vice President of the US.
Credit Mobilier Scandal
the political agreement between the Republicans and the Democrats that ended Reconstruction in the southern states by removing the federal troops from the South in exchange for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes winning the presidency in 1876. This deal ended protections for African Americans civil rights in the South.
The Compromise 1877
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
A ritual dance performed by some members of the Sioux tribe in an effort bring back the buffalo and return the Native American tribes to their land.
Ghost Dance
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
an American journalist who attacked established institutions and corrupt leaders.
muckrakers
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
an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement, who write about lynchings of African Americans in the South
Ida B. Wells
Supreme Court ruling from 1886 that declared state-passed Granger laws that regulated interstate commerce unconstitutional.
Wabash v. Illinois
1887 Legislation that allotted each head of household 160 acres of reservation land; land deemed to be "surplus" beyond what was needed for allotment was opened to white settlers with the proceeds invested in education programs; designed to breakup of the tribes and promote the assimilation of Native Americans into American society.
Dawes Severalty Act
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"
a preservationist who fought against companies exploiting public lands for their natural resources and created the Sierra Club
John Muir
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
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
One of the Reconstruction Amendments
Provisions:
Citizenship Clause - Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
Due Process Clause - Prohibited state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken to ensure fairness.
Equal Protection Clause - Required each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction.
14th Amendment
protest for shorter workdays, the event involved protests, murders, and bombings in Chicago Illinois
Haymarket Square Riot
Massacre of more than 200 Sioux tribe members by US troops due to the tribe performing the Ghost Dance.
Wounded Knee Massacre
Late 19th-century movement; Christians should financially support efforts to improve lives of these poor urban dwellers. Settlement houses were often financed by funds raised by ministers of this movement.
Social Gospel
having a specific work step in the manufacturing process; typically used in mass production and requires little skill
specialization in factory work
One of the most well known advocates for women and immigrants, this progressive woman founded the Hull House to get new immigrants on their feet with shelter, education and jobs.
Jane Addams