Key People
Key Events
Industrialization & Urbanization
Progressive Reforms
Labor & Immigration
History and Today
Random Sauce
100
This steel magnate (a wealthy, influential person in business), wrote the gospel of wealth in 1889 which he argued wealthy individuals have a moral responsibility to use their wealth for the greater good of society by actively engaging in philanthropy and investing in institutions like libraries and universities, rather than simply accumulating personal riches
Who is Andrew Carnegie?
100
This Progressive Amendment granted women the right to vote (suffrage).
What is the 19th Amendment?
100
This term was used to describe wealthy industrialists who were seen as unethical and exploitative of their workers.
What are Robber Barons?
100
This law was passed to prevent the sale of contaminated food and medicines.
What is the Pure Food and Drug Act?
100
These organizations helped immigrants and the urban poor gain valuable education and skills to get by. These organizations formed the beginnings of the social work profession.
What are settlement houses?
100
Make a comparison between the concerns over Robber Barons during the Gilded Age to society today.
Answers will vary, but could include comparisons to debates about:
1. Wealth Inequality, fairness, and economic opportunity.
2. Corporate influence of big corporations and tech giants over government policies and the economy.
3. Worker's rights, wages, and treatment in certain industries.
100
This term refers to a company's complete control over an industry.
What is a monopoly?
200
This person was the founder of Standard Oil which owned or controlled 90 percent of the U.S. oil refining business, an example of a monopoly.
Who is John D. Rockefeller?
200
This event marked the completion of a nationwide transportation network in 1869.
What is the Transcontinental Railroad Completion?
200
This movement aimed to address industrialization’s social issues by reforming the government, including protections for workers and consumers.
What is Progressivism? or What is the Progressive Movement?
200
National parks were established under this Progressive president.
Who is Theodore Roosevelt?
200
So called "old immigrants" arriving to the US prior to the 1880s or so came primarily from these regions of Europe, while "new immigrants" arriving post-1880s arrived from these regions of Europe.
What are Northern and Western Europe ("Old immigrants")?
What are Southern and Eastern Europe ("New immigrants")?
200
What former U.S. president would have likely supported the following:
1. Endangered Species Act
2. Sustainable farming practices
3. Investment in green energy
Who is Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt?
As president, Roosevelt was a strong advocate for the conservation of natural resources, helping to establish the foundation for the U.S. national parks system, including the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service to oversee these protected lands.
200
These journalists exposed corruption and societal issues. Ex: Upton Sinclair (meatpacking industry), Ida B. Wells (lynching of African-Americans), etc.
Who are muckrakers?
300
This person was the founder of Hull House in Chicago that helped give immigrants and the urban poor skills and education - a leader in social reform during the Progressive Era.
Who is Jane Addams?
300
This Progressive Amendment allowed for the direct election of senators. Before this amendment state legislatures would select the senators for the state.
What is the 17th Amendment?
300
This image shows this type of poorly built, overcrowded urban housing that was common in large cities during the Gilded Age as the demand for housing was high with the influx of immigrants and other workers looking for industrial jobs.
What are tenements?
300
The temperance movement influenced the passage of this amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919, which prohibited alcohol (known as Prohibition). Organizations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) became a leading force in the temperance movement, emphasizing the connection between alcohol and domestic violence.
What is the 18th Amendment?
300
At this event from 1892, workers at one of Andrew Carnegie’s Pennsylvania steel plants protested wage cuts. Carnegie left management to Henry Frick, who hired armed security, sparking a deadly clash. Though workers briefly triumphed, the state militia crushed the strike, exposing Carnegie’s mixed stance on unions and highlighting Gilded Age labor struggles.
What is the Homestead Strike?
300
Suffragists during the 19th and early 20th centuries would likely be advocates of what social reforms today?
Answers will vary, but could include:
Gender Equality in the Workplace: Suffragists would likely support efforts to fight against workplace discrimination and advocate for equal opportunities in leadership roles for women.
Reproductive Rights: They would likely be advocates for women's reproductive rights, including access to contraception, family planning, and safe, legal abortions.
Equal Political Representation: Suffragists would continue to push for greater female representation in political offices and leadership positions, advocating for policies that ensure women’s voices are heard and represented in governance.
300
This was the name used for political organizations that controlled cities through corruption and patronage (giving government jobs and favors to friends). One of the most infamous ones was Tammany Hall led by Boss Tweed who controlled New York City's politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
What are political machines?
400
This person was the author of The Jungle, which led to reforms in the meatpacking industry after exposing the harsh realities of the meatpacking industry in Chicago during the early 20th century, and example of muckraking journalism.
Who is Upton Sinclair?
400
In 1886, this peaceful labor protest, supporting the eight-hour workday movement in Chicago, turned violent when a bomb killed several police officers. Eight anarchist leaders were arrested, with some executed despite uncertainty about the bomber's identity. The event severely damaged the labor movement's reputation and marked a critical turning point in American labor history.
What is the Haymarket Riot?
400
This theory applied the principles of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, particularly "survival of the fittest," to human society, often used to justify social inequalities, racism, and imperialism by claiming that the powerful and wealthy were naturally superior to the poor and marginalized.
What is Social Darwinism?
400
This amendment created a federal income tax to raise revenue for the federal government's progressive policies.
What is the 16th Amendment?
400
This infamous labor event in 1914 included a violent attack by the Colorado National Guard and private guards on striking coal miners and their families, resulting in numerous deaths and symbolizing the brutal suppression of labor rights during the early 20th century.
What is the Ludlow massacre?
400
Describe how a nativist might react to this:
Answers will vary, but highlights that nativists would likely react negatively, viewing the increase in immigration as a threat to American jobs, culture, and security. They may argue that the growing immigrant population puts pressure on resources, housing, job opportunities, and undermines national identity.
400
This was a term used to describe the favoring of native-born Americans over immigrants (e.g. jobs, culture cohesion, etc.)
What is Nativism?
500
This president was known for trust-busting (breaking up big businesses/monopolies) and conservation efforts.
Who is Theodore Roosevelt?
500
During this 1894 event, railroad workers protested wage cuts and exploitative company practices by staging a massive labor dispute. Led by Eugene V. Debs, the workers' actions quickly grew into a nationwide transportation shutdown. The federal government responded by sending troops to suppress the strike, resulting in Debs' arrest and imprisonment. Though the workers were defeated, the conflict drew national attention to labor conditions and became a pivotal moment in the struggle for workers' rights.
What is the Pullman Strike?
500
This economic policy favors minimal government interference in the economy and means "let it happen" in French. It was the dominant economic philosophy before the Progressive Movement.
What is laissez-faire? (lah-zay-fare)
500
This act aimed to curb monopolies and promote competition.
What is the Sherman Antitrust Act?
500
This political party advocated for farmers. This included advocating for monetary (banking) reform and government regulation of railroads.
What is the Populist party? What is Populism?
500
Compare examples of labor movements during the Gilded Age (e.g. the Haymarket riot or the Pullman strike) to a labor movement today.
Answers will vary, but could include examples like:
Amazon Workers' Strikes (2021-2023): Employees at Amazon warehouses have organized strikes and protests demanding better wages, safer working conditions, and union representation.
Starbucks Workers United (2021-Present): Starbucks employees across the U.S. have formed unions to advocate for better pay, benefits, and working conditions.
Fight for $15 (2012-Present): A movement calling for a $15 minimum wage, supported by fast-food workers and other low-wage employees advocating for higher wages and better benefits.
Teachers' Strikes (e.g., Los Angeles, Chicago): Teachers in various U.S. cities have gone on strike to demand higher wages, better school funding, and improved working conditions.
Uber and Lyft Drivers' Protests: Rideshare drivers have staged protests and legal battles in various cities over fair pay, benefits, and classification as independent contractors vs. employees.
Port Strikes (Port Workers, 2024):
Dockworkers at major U.S. ports, like those on the Gulf Coast, have gone on strike or threatened to strike over demands for higher wages, improved benefits, , better working conditions, and a ban on automation.
500
This work written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889, emphasized the responsibility of the wealthy to use their riches to benefit society. Carnegie argued that those who have accumulated great wealth should act as stewards for the public good by funding initiatives like education, libraries, and cultural institutions, rather than leaving their fortunes to heirs or donating them indiscriminately. This philosophy encouraged philanthropy as a moral duty of the rich, reflecting the belief that wealth was entrusted to them to improve society.
What is the "Gospel of Wealth"?