Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life Vocabulary

October 8th is the test

Dumbell Tenement

A Tenement building that narrowed in the middle forming air shafts on either side and allowing light and air into the rooms

Prohibition

A ban on the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages

Sociology

term coined by philosopher Auguste Comte to describe the study of how people interact with one another in society

Temperance Movement

An organized campaign to eliminate alcohol consumption

Political Machine

an unofficial city organization designed to keep a particular party or group in power and usually headed by a single powerful boss

Nativism

Favoring native-born American over immigrants

Social Gospel Movement

A social return that developed within religious institution and sought to apply the teachings of Jesus directly to society

Settlement House

Community, center organized provide various services to the Urban power

Gentlemen’s Agreement

An unofficial government document that ended the segregation of Japanese immigrants in San Francisco and required Japan to stop issuing passports to laborers

Munn v. Illinois

on 1877 Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their boards, including railroads

Alien

Non-citizen

Civil Service

The government’s non-elected workers

Quarantine

a time of isolation to prevent the spread of a disease

Subsidy

a payment made by the government to encourage development of certain key industries, such as railroads

Ghetto

area in which one ethnic or racial group dominates

Blue Laws

regulations that prohibit certain activities that some people consider immoral

Restrictive Covenants

agreements among homeowners not to sell real estate to certain groups of people

Gilded Age

a term coined by Mark Twain to describe the post-Revolution Era

Pogroms

violent massacres of Jews in Russia

Pendleton Civil Service Act

an act made law by President Arthur that created the Civil Service Commission which classified government jobs and tested applicants fitness for them

Chinese Exclusion Act

passed in 1882, it prevented the entry of Chinese immigrants into the United States

Steerage

a large open area beneath a ship’s deck where immigrants coming to America stayed

Laissez-Faire

an economic and government philosophy that holds government should play a very limited role in regulating business

Vice

immoral or corrupt behavior

Suburbs

residential communities surrounding cities

Graft

the use of one’s job to gain profit, was a major, source of income for the machines

Tenement

low-cost apartment buildings designed to house as many families as the owner could pack in

Rebate

partial refunds