Labor
In the post–Civil War South, many formerly enslaved people and poor whites worked this system, farming someone else’s land in exchange for a share of the crop.
What is sharecropping?
This term describes a powerful business leader in the late 1800s who built huge companies and amassed enormous wealth.
What is a robber baron (or “captain of industry”)?
These Progressive reforms required factories to meet cleanliness and safety standards, especially after public outrage over food processing conditions.
What are health and safety regulations?
He became president after McKinley’s assassination and gained a reputation as a Progressive “trust-buster.”
Who is Theodore Roosevelt?
In the late 1800s, the U.S. generally had no federal law requiring employers to pay workers at least a certain hourly amount—meaning wages could be extremely low.
What is a minimum wage (law)?
This late-1800s business strategy involves one company taking control of another to reduce competition in the same industry.
What is horizontal integration?
This muckraking novel exposed the meatpacking industry and helped spark major federal food and sanitation reforms.
What is The Jungle?
She led the settlement house movement in Chicago and founded Hull House to support immigrants and the urban poor.
Who is Jane Addams?
This is the process where workers, as a group (often through a union), negotiate with employers over wages, hours, and working conditions.
What is collective bargaining?
This 1890 law was designed to limit monopolies and “restraints of trade.”
What is the Sherman Antitrust Act?
This constitutional amendment established the direct election of U.S. senators.
What is the 17th Amendment?
This steel magnate built Carnegie Steel and became famous for the “Gospel of Wealth,” arguing the rich should give back to society.
Who is Andrew Carnegie?
He led the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and focused on union goals like wages, hours, and working conditions.
Who is Samuel Gompers?
This muckraker exposed Standard Oil’s unfair practices in The History of the Standard Oil Company, helping build support for trust-busting.
Who is Ida Tarbell?
This Progressive-era reform allowed voters to approve or reject laws passed by a legislature.
What is a referendum?
This author’s work exposed meatpacking conditions and pushed the federal government toward reform during the Progressive Era.
Who is Upton Sinclair?
This author wrote The Bitter Cry of the Children, exposing harsh child labor conditions and fueling Progressive-era reform efforts.
Who is John Spargo?
This business strategy involves controlling multiple stages of production and distribution—like owning raw materials, factories, and transportation—in order to cut costs and weaken competitors.
What is vertical integration?
This 1913 amendment allowed the federal government to collect an income tax, greatly expanding federal power and revenue.
What is the 16th Amendment?
This president’s assassination (1881) helped build momentum for civil service reform and reducing the spoils system.
Who is James A. Garfield?