APUSH Unit 6

Helen Hunt Jackson

The author of A Century of Dishonor which simultaneously illuminated the horrible treatment of the native americans by the US government as well as encouraged the assimilation of the natives.

political machines

Tightly organized groups of politicians, each with a "boss" who gave orders to the rank and file and doled out government jobs to loyal supporters, They became power centers to coordinate the needs of businesses, immigrants, and the underpriviledged and in return expected people's votes on election day.

JP Morgan

Banker who took control of many of the railroads that were left bankrupt after the 1893 financial panic. With competition eliminated he could stabilize rates, reduce debts, and made the railroad a consolidated and efficient system. However he dominated using interlocking directorates, essentially creating regional railroad monopolies.

Grandfather Clause

This prevented many African Americans from voting by allowing a man to vote if his grandfather had voted in elections before Reconstruction.

Frederick Jackson Turner

This historian argued that 300 years of frontier experience had shaped American culture by promoting independence and individualism.

Interest Commerce Act

This law required railroad rates to be "reasonable and just" and also set up the first federal regulatory agency, the ICC, which was supposed to investigate businesses practices that hurt the economy. This was largely ineffective.

The Homestead Act

Federal law promoting westward expansion by allotting 160 acres of free public land to individual settlers

“New immigrants”

The term used to describe the people that came over the in the second wave of immigration during the 2nd Industrial Revolution in the late 1890s. They were mainly from southern and eastern Europe, poor and illiterate, and had many cultural differences from Americans.

Social Darwinism

Charles Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory of natural selection was applied to the marketplace and society as a whole. This was the justification for the ruthless business tactics, social inequities, etc.

Booker T. Washington

Person who advocated that in order to fight oppression with economic power, also referred to as “the little green ballot”. They established the Tuskegee institute for African Americans which taught the values of hard work, moderation, and economic self help.

Vertical integration

A business strategy to cut costs and streamline production in which a company would control every stage of the industrial process from mining the raw materials to transporting the finished product.

“The New South”

The term for the southern vision for a post civil society that has a self sufficient economy, capitalistic, more industrial, has updated infrastructure, and improved race

Dawes Act of 1887

This law divided Indian tribal lands into plots of 160 acres and granted US citizenship to those who stayed on the land for 25 years.

Thomas Edison

Inventor who through his laboratory at Menlo Park, was able to bust out more than one thousand patented inventions including electrical light and power.

Pullman Strike

This labor event took place when workers, who produced railroad sleeping cars, declared they would no longer work after their wages were cut and individuals were fired when they attempted to bargain. The end result showcased the attitude of the federal government to side with management

Ellis Island

This immigration center was opened in 1892 to welcome European immigrants. New arrivals were subjected to rigorous medical tests before entering the US.

Horizontal integration

The process through which one company takes control of all its former competitors in a specific industry as oil refining or mining

Haymarket Bombing

This incident in Chicago in 1886 where an incident led to the death of seven police officers. Many Americans contributed that the movement was radical and violent.

Tenement apartments

These crowded slum like living quarters in the cities promoted the spread of diseases like cholera and tuberculosis

Plessy vs Ferguson

1896 landmark supreme court case that upheld a Louisiana law requiring “separate but equal” accommodations

Andrew Carnegie

This man behind United States Steel industry who outdistanced his competitors by a combo of salesmanship

American Federation of Labor

This labor union concentrated on “bread and butter” unionism, and to craft unions and skilled workers

The Chinese Exclusion Act

This law placed a ban on all immigrants coming from a particular Asian country.

George Westinghouse

A remarkable inventor that held more than 400 patents and was responsible for developing an air brake for railroads and a transformer for producing high-voltage AC thereby allowing the lighting of cities and businesses

“Laissez-faire”

The prevailing ideology which guided the government’s limited “hands off” involvement in the economy

Gospel of Wealth

This work written by Andrew Carnegie that argued that the wealthy had a moral responsibility to carry out projects of civic philanthropy to help other members of society to better themselves and improve society

Tammany Hall

This political machine in New York City developed into a power center to coordinate the needs of businesses, immigrants and the underprivileged. In exchange, they expected votes on election day for their party.

Jim Crow Laws

In the 1870s southern states began adopting these laws that encouraged segregation in virtually all public places and wide scale disenfranchisement

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

First federal law passed to prohibit any business from forming a monopoly or “combination in restraint of trade” but was so poorly worded it was ineffective.

Literacy Test

This was a common technique used to prevent southern blacks from voting. In 1879, the Supreme Court upheld a state’s right to try and determine citizen's’ intellectual qualifications

Transatlactic Cable

This invention in 1866 suddenly made it possible to send messages across the sea in minutes. By 1900 all of the continents were part of global communications network

Poll Taxes

This financial barrier was added throughout the southern states as a means to prevent lower socio economics from voting. Although it mainly affected African Americans

Transcontinetal railroad

The creation of this opened up the west to settlement by miners, ranchers, farmers, and business owners, thereby leading to more cities and towns being created.

Farmers alliance

Farmers and homesteaders expressed their discontent by forming this organization that promoted the welfare for these folks by teaching scientific farming methods and attempting economic and political reform