APUSH Unit 6 Key Concepts

Technological advances, large

scale production methods,
and the opening of new markets encouraged

Large

scale industrial production—accompanied by massive technological
change, expanding international communication networks, and pro

Following the Civil War, government subsidies for transportation and

communication systems helped open new markets in North America.

Businesses made use of technological innovations, greater access to natural
resources, redesigned financial and management structures, advances in
marketing, and a growing labor force to

dramatically increase the production
of goods.

As the price of many goods decreased, workers' real wages increased, providing
new access to a

variety of goods and services; many Americans' standards of
living improved, while the gap between rich and poor grew.

Many business leaders sought increased profits by consolidating
corporations into

large trusts and holding companies, which further
concentrated wealth.

Businesses and foreign policymakers increasingly looked outside U.S. borders
in an effort to

gain greater influence and control over markets and natural
resources in the Pacific Rim, Asia, and Latin America.

A variety of perspectives on the economy and labor developed during a time of

financial panics and downturns.

Some argued that laissez

faire policies and competition promoted economic
growth in the long run, and they opposed

The industrial workforce expanded and became more diverse through

internal
and international migration; child labor also increased.

Labor and management battled over wages and working conditions, with
workers organizing

local and national unions and/or directly confronting
business leaders.

Despite the industrialization of some segments of the Southern
economy—a change promoted by Southern leaders who called for a
"New South"—

agriculture based on sharecropping and tenant farming
continued to be the primary economic activity in the South.

New systems of production and transportation enabled consolidation within

agriculture, which, along with periods of instability, spurred a variety of responses
from farmers.

Improvements in mechanization helped

agricultural production increase
substantially and contributed to declines in food prices.

Many farmers responded to the increasing consolidation in agricultural markets
and their dependence on the evolving railroad system by

creating local and
regional cooperative organizations.

Economic instability inspired agrarian activists to create the People's (Populist)
Party, which called for

a stronger governmental role in regulating the American
economic system.

The migrations that accompanied industrialization transformed both

urban and rural areas of the United States and caused
dramatic social and cultural change.

International and internal migration increased

urban populations and fostered the
growth of a new urban culture.

As cities became areas of economic growth featuring new factories and
businesses, they attracted immigrants

from Asia and from southern and eastern
Europe, as well as African American migrants within and out of the South.
Many migrants moved to escape poverty, religious persecution, and limited
opportunities for social mobility in their home countries or regions.

Urban neighborhoods based on particular ethnicities, races, and classes
provided

new cultural opportunities for city dwellers.

Increasing public debates over assimilation and Americanization accompanied the growth of

international migration. Many immigrants negotiated compromises
between the cultures they brought and the culture they found in the United States.

In an urban atmosphere where the access to power was unequally distributed,

political machines thrived, in part by providing immigrants and the poor with social services.

Corporations' need for managers and for male and female clerical workers as
well as increased access to educational institutions, fostered the growth of

a distinctive middle class. A growing amount of leisure time also helped expand
consumer culture.

Larger numbers of migrants moved to the West in search of

land and economic
opportunity, frequently provoking competition and violent conflict.

The building of transcontinental railroads, the discovery of mineral resources,
and government policies promoted

economic growth and created new
communities and centers of commercial activity.

In hopes of achieving ideals of self

sufficiency and independence, migrants
moved to both

As migrant populations increased in number and the American bison population was decimated, competition for land and resources in the West among white settlers,

American Indians, and Mexican Americans led to an increase in violent
conflict.

The U.S. government violated treaties with American Indians and responded
to resistance with

military force, eventually confining American Indians to reservations and denying tribal sovereignty.

Many American Indians preserved their cultures and tribal identities despite

government policies promoting assimilation, and they attempted to develop
self

The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates over

economic and social policies.

New cultural and intellectual movements both buttressed and challenged the

social order of the Gilded Age.

Social commentators advocated theories later described as Social Darwinism
to justify the

success of those at the top of the socioeconomic structure as
both appropriate and inevitable.

Some business leaders argued that the wealthy had a moral obligation to help
the less fortunate and improve society,

as articulated in the idea known as the
Gospel of Wealth, and they made philanthropic contributions that enhanced
educational opportunities and urban environments.

A number of artists and critics, including agrarians, utopians, socialists, and
advocates of the Social Gospel, championed

alternative visions for the economy and U.S. society.

Dramatic social changes in the period inspired political debates over

citizenship,
corruption, and the proper relationship between business and government.

The major political parties appealed to lingering divisions from the Civil War
and

contended over tariffs and currency issues, even as reformers argued that
economic greed and self

Many women sought greater equality with men, often joining

voluntary
organizations, going to college, promoting social and political reform, and,
like Jane Addams, working in settlement houses to help immigrants adapt
to U.S. language and customs.

The Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson that upheld racial
segregation helped to mark the end of most of the

political gains African
Americans made during Reconstruction. Facing increased violence,
discrimination, and scientific theories of race, African American reformers
continued to fight for political and social equality.