AP U.S. History Premium Prep - The Age of Invention and Economic Growth

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes.

Thomas A. Edison

Built his workshop in Menlo Park, New Jersey, and proceeded to produce some of the most important inventions of the century

Light Bulb

Edison's greatest invention.

Edison's power plants

Allowed for the extension of the workday and the wider availability of electricity.

Age of Invention

A period marked by numerous technological advances and greater opportunities for mass production.

Captains of Industry/Robber Barons

People who owned and controlled the new manufacturing enterprises during the Age of Invention.

Economies of Scale

The concept that cost per unit decreases as the number of units produced increases.

Assembly Line Production

Production method requiring workers to perform a single task repetitively.

Corporate Consolidation

The merging of businesses into larger and larger entities.

Holding Company

A company that owns enough stock in various companies to control production, transportation, and distribution.

Monopoly

Complete control of an entire industry.

Horizontal Integration

Combining several smaller companies within an industry to form one larger company.

Standard Oil

Company created by John D. Rockefeller as a best known example of Horizontal Integration.

Vertical Integration

Buying out all the factors of production, from raw materials to finished product.

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

Federal law forbidding any "combination…or conspiracy in the restraint of trade."

Andrew Carnegie

Steel mogul who promoted the Gospel of Wealth.

Social Darwinism

Theory that unrestricted competition allows only the "fittest" to survive.

Gospel of Wealth

Advocated philanthropy by the wealthy.

Social Gospel Movement

Promoting public health and education to improve the moral lives of the poor.

Political Bosses

Provided services to the poor and new immigrants, but often resorted to criminal means.

Political Machines

Political organizations led by bosses.

"Boss" Tweed

Notorious political boss of Tammany Hall in New York City.

Tammany Hall

A New York City political machine.

Thomas Nast

Drew images of Tweed's corrupt practices in Harper's Weekly.

Labor Unions

Organizations formed to counter the poor treatment of workers.

Knights of Labor

One of the first national labor unions, founded in 1869.

Terrence Powderly

Leader of the Knights of Labor.

Haymarket Square Riot

Incident during an 1886 labor demonstration in Chicago where a bomb went off, killing police.

Homestead Steel Factory

Factory where workers went on strike protesting a wage cut and refusal to allow them to form a union.

Henry Clay Frick

Manager of the Homestead Steel factory who locked out workers and hired replacement workers.

Pinkerton Detective Force

Detective force called in to prevent steel workers from protesting.

Pullman Strike

Strike organized due to wage cuts and increased housing costs.

Eugene V. Debs

President of the American Railway Union (ARU).

"Bread and Butter" Issues

An approach that proved successful for unions. Concentrating instead on "bread and butter" issues as higher wages and shorter workdays.

Samuel Gompers

Leader of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

Settlement Houses

Community centers providing schooling, childcare, and cultural activities in poor neighborhoods.

Jane Addams

Founded Hull House in Chicago to provide services for immigrants and the poor.

Yellow Journalism

A new style of sensational reporting utilizing bold headlines and lurid tales of scandal.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation in the South.

Crop Lien System

The method by which landless farmers rented land, designed to keep the poor in constant debt.

Railroad Bounty Hunters

Hunted buffalo to near extinction during railroad construction.

Railroad Transformation

Transformation of depot towns into vital cities through railroad connectivity.

"Railroad Time"

The nation's first standardized method of time telling.

Frederick Jackson Turner

Historian who declared the American frontier was gone in 1890.

Turner or Frontier Thesis

Ideas about the significance of the frontier in shaping American character, spirit, and democracy.

Homestead Act

Offered 160 acres of land to anyone who would "homestead" it for five years.

Morrill Land-Grant Act

Set aside land and provided money for agricultural colleges.

U.S. Fish Commission

Created in 1871 to study, monitor, and preserve wild fisheries.

John Muir

Created the Sierra Club, one of the first large organizations devoted to conservation.

Theodore Roosevelt

President who furthered environmental preservation of the West through the National Parks system.

Dawes Severalty Act

Broke up reservations and distributed land to Native American families.

Ghost Dance Movement

Movement inspired by the visions of the prophet Wovoka, promising the end of federal expansion.

Gilded Age

Mark Twain's term for the era between Reconstruction and 1900, marked by a shiny surface but underlying corruption.

Munn v. Illinois

Case upholding an Illinois state law regulating railroads and grain elevators.

Interstate Commerce Act

First federal regulatory law, setting up the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

Susan B. Anthony

Led the fight for women's suffrage, convincing Congress to introduce a suffrage amendment.

Silver Issue

Movement supporting a more generous money supply, particularly the use of silver coins.

More Generous Money Supply

Movement farmers came to support to help with payments. The increase in money would make payments easier.

Grange Movement

Founded in 1867, boasted more than a million members by 1875 as cooperatives.

Farmers' Alliances

Replaced the Granger Movement because of a lack of money.

Mary Elizabeth Lease

A huge organizer for the Farmer's Alliances. Allowed women to be politically active.

Eugene V. Debs

Led the Socialists and gained support during hard economic times of the Populist movement.

William Jennings Bryan

Backed by Populists as a Democratic candidate and ran on a strictly Populist platform for free silver.

"Cross of Gold" speech

Speech made by William Jennings Bryan.

The Wizard of Oz

A novel reportedly a political allegory, with Dorothy representing the common citizen.

William H. Seward

Set the precedent for increased American participation in the Western Hemisphere and engineered the purchase of Alaska.

Imperialism

Taking control of another country.

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (1890) by Alfred T. Mahan

Book that popularized the idea of the New Navy and foreign acquisitions.

Cuban Revolution

Caused in part by high US tariffs, led to Spanish-American War.

Hawaii

Annexed by the U.S. in 1898.

Maine

Ship sunk in Havana harbor, leading to the Spanish-American War.