The Gilded Age

What significant action did Congress take to support the construction of railroads in the late 1800s?

Congress subsidized the cost of many railroad construction projects.

Who were the two railroad companies responsible for building the transcontinental railroad?

The Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad.

What key contribution did Leland Stanford make to the Central Pacific Railroad?

He was one of the four chief financial backers of the Central Pacific Railroad.

What year was the transcontinental railroad completed?

What did the completion of the transcontinental railroad facilitate?

It allowed for increased trade with Asia and opened up the West for expansion.

Which railroad was completed first, the Northern Pacific Railroad or the Southern Pacific Railroad?

The Northern Pacific Railroad was completed in 1883.

What major advancement contributed to the development of railroads?

The steel rail and a standard gauge of track width.

Who was known for improving Eastern railroads and making a fortune in the railroad industry?

Cornelius Vanderbilt.

What major societal shift did railroads stimulate in post-Civil War America?

The industrialization of the country.

What system of timekeeping was established by major rail lines in 1883?

The division of America into four time zones.

What term refers to the practice of inflating claims about railroad companies' assets?

Stock watering.

What legislation was passed in 1887 to regulate railroads?

The Interstate Commerce Act.

What did the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) do?

It administered and enforced the Interstate Commerce Act.

Who invented the telephone and when?

Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.

Which process simplified steel production and reduced its cost?

The Bessemer process.

Who financed the organization of multiple major industries and restructured banks and railroads?

J.P. Morgan.

What was John D. Rockefeller's primary innovation in the oil industry?

Creating the Standard Oil Company and eliminating middlemen.

What was the Gospel of Wealth?

The belief that the wealthy were responsible for using their riches to promote the welfare of the community.

What crucial anti-trust legislation was passed in 1890?

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

What were the Jim Crow laws?

State-level legal codes enforcing racial segregation in the post-Reconstruction South.

What event marked the end of Reconstruction?

The Compromise of 1877.

What was a primary cause of the panic of 1873?

Over-speculation and imprudent loans by banks.

What did the Pendleton Act of 1883 do?

It reformed the spoils system and established merit-based appointments for federal jobs.

What scandal involved Union Pacific insiders profiting at the expense of the government?

The Credit Mobilier scandal.

Which political party did Grover Cleveland represent in his election victory of 1884?

The Democratic Party.

What economic policy did President Cleveland advocate?

Lowering tariffs.

What did the Dawes Act of 1887 aim to achieve?

To assimilate Native Americans into American society by allotting them individual plots of land.

Who was a leading advocate for Black education in the early 20th century?

Booker T. Washington.

What did the Homestead Act of 1862 allow?

Settlers to acquire land by living on it and improving it for five years.

Which group faced economic discrimination due to the 'Pittsburgh plus' pricing system?

Southern steel manufacturers.

What issue did women gain rights to vote in certain western states before their eastern counterparts?

Voting rights in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho.

What was the primary function of settlement houses?

To provide services and support to immigrant communities.

Which two cities had populations over a million by 1890?

New York and Chicago.

What led to the creation of the American Protective Association (APA)?

Nativist concerns about immigration impact on society.

Who wrote 'Looking Backward' and what was its subject?

Edward Bellamy; it depicted a future where big businesses were nationalized for public use.

What was the central theme of Henry George's 'Progress and Poverty'?

The link between economic progress and poverty and proposing a land value tax.

What did the Women's Christian Temperance Union promote?

The prohibition of alcohol.

Which literary movement focused on local ways of life before industrialization?

Regionalism.

What invention by Thomas Edison was crucial for music reproduction?

The phonograph.

When did the American frontier line effectively disappear?

What catastrophic impact did railroads and white settlement have on Native American populations?

Spread of diseases and loss of bison.

What was the primary goal of the Carlisle Indian School?

To assimilate Native Americans into white culture.

What were the primary reasons for increased immigration to the U.S. in the late 19th century?

Escape from poverty, persecution, and seeking better opportunities.

Who were the key authors of realists, naturalists, and regionalists in American literature?

Mark Twain, Henry James, Stephen Crane, Kate Chopin.