Going West
These transportation networks, rapidly expanding in the late 19th century, transformed the American economy and facilitated westward expansion.
What are railroads?
This invention revolutionized ranching and farming in the American West, leading to the end of the open-range system.
What is barbed wire?
This 1890 massacre marked the end of the Plains Indian Wars, where U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Lakota Sioux.
What is Wounded Knee Massacre?
This term refers to a market structure where a single company or entity controls the entire supply of a product or service, often leading to reduced competition.
What is a monopoly?
This practice involves the donation of wealth to charitable causes, and was notably embraced by industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
What is philanthropy?
This American inventor, known for his work with the electric light bulb, phonograph, and motion pictures, held over 1,000 patents and is often called "The Wizard of Menlo Park" for his innovative work in electricity and technology
Who is Thomas Edison?
This massive infrastructure project, completed in 1869, connected the eastern and western United States by rail, revolutionizing transportation and trade.
What is the Transcontinental Railroad?
These tribes, skilled hunters and warriors, lived a nomadic lifestyle on the Great Plains, relying on the buffalo for food, shelter, and clothing, and resisting the encroachment of white settlers.
Who are the Plains Indians?
This government policy, intended to control Native American populations and open up land for white settlement, forced tribes onto designated areas, disrupting their traditional cultures and economies.
What is the Reservation System?
This industrialist founded Standard Oil, became one of the wealthiest individuals in history, and played a key role in the development of the American oil industry.
Who is John D. Rockefeller?
This communication invention, developed by Samuel Morse in the 1830s, allowed messages to be sent over long distances using electrical signals and revolutionized long-distance communication.
What is the telegraph?
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, millions of people from Europe, Asia, and other regions moved to the United States in search of better economic opportunities, freedom, and safety, reshaping the nation’s workforce and culture.
What is immigration?
This 1862 law granted 160 acres of public land to settlers who agreed to live on and improve it for five years.
What is the Homestead Act of 1862?
This 1868 agreement between the U.S. government and the Lakota Sioux, among other tribes, promised them control of the Black Hills, but was later violated.
What is the Fort Laramie Treaty?
This industry, revolutionized by the Bessemer process, provided the raw material for railroads, bridges, and skyscrapers, fundamentally changing the landscape of American cities and driving industrial growth.
What is the Steel Industry?
This Scottish-American industrialist made his fortune in steel and is known for his philanthropic efforts, including donating large sums to educational and cultural institutions.
Who is Andrew Carnegie?
This invention, patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, revolutionized communication by allowing people to speak to one another over long distances.
What is the telephone?
These are the reasons that drive people to leave their home country and the factors that attract them to a new country, often seen in migration patterns like those of 19th-century immigrants to the U.S.
What are push and pull factors?
This method of livestock management, prevalent in the American West, involved allowing cattle to graze freely over vast stretches of unfenced land.
What is the Open-Range System?
The discovery of valuable minerals in this sacred Lakota territory led to a surge of white settlers, violating a previous treaty and sparking conflict.
What is the Black Hills Gold Rush?
In the late 19th century, this company, founded by John D. Rockefeller, dominated the oil industry until it was broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911 for violating antitrust laws.
What is Standard Oil?
This business strategy involves controlling every step of the production process, from raw materials to the finished product, often used by industrialists like Andrew Carnegie in the steel industry.
What is vertical integration?
This invention, developed by Thomas Edison in 1879 after years of experimentation, was the first commercially successful electric light source. It revolutionized lighting by providing a safer and more reliable alternative to gas lamps, enabling cities to extend their working hours and altering the way people lived and worked.
What is the electric light bulb?
This island, located in New York Harbor, served as the primary immigration station in the United States from 1892 to 1954, processing millions of immigrants seeking entry into the country.
What is Ellis Island?
These iconic figures of the American West drove cattle herds across vast distances, often working long hours in harsh conditions.
Who are cowboys?
This 1876 battle, also known as Custer's Last Stand, resulted in a significant victory for the Lakota Sioux and their allies against the U.S. Cavalry.
What is the Battle of Little Bighorn?
During the Gilded Age, this term referred to large-scale corporate enterprises that dominated industries like steel, oil, and railroads, often leading to debates over monopolies and government regulation.
What is Big Business?
This business strategy involves acquiring or merging with competitors in the same industry to eliminate competition and increase market share, famously used by John D. Rockefeller in the oil industry.
What is horizontal integration?
This Scottish inventor, known for patenting the telephone in 1876, is credited with revolutionizing communication by making it possible to transmit sound over long distances, forever changing personal and business interactions.
Who is Alexander Graham Bell?
Located in San Francisco Bay, this island served as the main immigration station on the West Coast from 1910 to 1940, where primarily Chinese immigrants were detained and processed under restrictive immigration laws.
What is Angel Island?