Gilded Age to the Late 20th Century History Review

Comprehensive flashcard set covering American history from the Gilded Age (1870) through the end of direct U.S. involvement in Vietnam (1973) and the early 1980s.

The Gilded Age (Years)

The period of American history spanning from $1870$ to $1890$.

The Gilded Age (Book)

A novel by Mark Twain about how corruption caused corporate dominance of politics.

Gilded (Definition)

A term meaning a glittering surface with little real value underneath.

Pools

Supposedly competing firms that divided up markets and fixed prices to bring order to the marketplace.

Trusts

Short-lived arrangements where several rival companies were managed by a single director.

Vertical Integration

A business model where one company controls every phase of the business from raw materials to distribution.

Andrew Carnegie

The owner of Carnegie Steel and U.S. Steel who used vertical integration and a rags-to-riches story.

Horizontal Integration

A business model established by buying out competing refineries to establish a monopoly.

John D. Rockefeller

The owner of Standard Oil who used horizontal integration to establish a monopoly.

Standard Oil Market Share

John D. Rockefeller's company controlled $90\%$ of the nation's oil industry.

Thomas Edison

A figure who pioneered technological change during the Gilded Age.

Carnegie's Philanthropy

The belief that the rich had a moral obligation to promote the advancement of society and distribute wealth through charity.

Robber Barons

Powerful industrialists characterized by dictatorial attitudes, unscrupulous methods, and repressive labor policies.

Social Darwinism

The application of 'survival of the fittest' to human society to justify racism and oppose aid to the poor.

On the Origin of Species Publication Date

The book by Charles Darwin published in $1859$, later used by Social Darwinists.

William Graham Sumner

A Darwinist who argued one could have liberty and inequality or not-liberty and equality.

The Gospel of Wealth

A book by Andrew Carnegie outlining the wealthy's obligation to benefit society through philanthropy.

E.C. Knight Case ($1895$)

New York court ruling that the Sherman Antitrust Act could not break up a sugar monopoly as it regulated commerce, not manufacturing.

Sherman Antitrust Act of $1890$

Act intended to bar combinations that restrained trade, but proved difficult to enforce due to vagueness.

Lochner v. New York ($1905$)

Supreme Court case voiding a state law that established a $10$-hour workday or a $60$-hour workweek for bakers.

Freedom of Contract

The legal concept used in Lochner v. New York to argue that workers 'freely' chose their work hours.

Henry George

The author of the bestseller Progress and Poverty ($1879$) which proposed the single tax.

The Single Tax

A proposal to replace other taxes with a levy on increases in real estate value.

Looking Backward ($1888$)

A novel by Edward Bellamy envisioning a cooperative socialist future where freedom rested on interdependence.

The Cooperative Commonwealth

A book by Lawrence Gronlund about the Americanization of socialism.

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union

An organization that campaigned for federal legislation to outlaw sinful behavior and Christianize the government.

The Social Gospel

The movement by Walter Rauschenbusch and Washington Gladden insisting freedom required an equalization of wealth/power.

Great Railroad Strike of $1877$

The first labor walkout where workers protesting pay cuts paralyzed rail traffic and burned railroad yards in Pittsburgh.

Armories (1887)

Structures built by the government in major cities to allow troops to respond quickly to labor unrest.

The Knights of Labor

The first group to organize unskilled and skilled workers, involving both women and men, led by Terence Powderly.

Knights of Labor Peak Membership

The union reached its peak membership in the year $1886$.

Haymarket Affair ($1886$)

A Chicago rally where a bomb killed a policeman, leading to the labor movement being framed as dangerous.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

An exclusive union for skilled workers that prioritized negotiation with employers over direct confrontation.

Samuel Gompers

The leader of the AFL who rejected the idea of a cooperative commonwealth and separate political parties.

The Homestead Strike ($1892$)

A strike where workers fought Pinkertons, but Andrew Carnegie eventually crushed the union.

The Pullman Strike ($1894$)

A strike in Illinois protesting wage reductions that crippled rail service after workers refused to handle Pullman trains.

Richard Olney

The attorney general under Grover Cleveland who obtained a federal injunction to stop the Pullman Strike.

In re Debs

An $1895$ Supreme Court case affirming the sentence of Eugene V. Debs and approving injunctions against striking unions.

Eugene V. Debs (Pullman)

The labor leader jailed for contempt of court for violating an injunction during the Pullman Strike.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

Created in $1887$ to ensure railroad rates charged to farmers were reasonable, though it was largely ineffective.

Greenbacks

Paper currency issued during the Civil War that became a point of debate in monetary policy.

Free Silver

A demand for the unrestricted minting of silver money supported by Democrats and Populists to increase the money supply.

The Grange

Also known as the Patrons of Husbandry ($1867$), they established cooperatives for marketing farm output.

The Farmers’ Alliance

A group that proposed the Subtreasury Plan to end farmer dependence on bankers.

The Subtreasury Plan ($1890$)

A plan for the federal government to establish warehouses where farmers could store crops and receive low-interest loans.

The Populists (People's Party)

A political party evolved from the Farmers' Alliance that wanted government regulation of technology and markets.

Omaha Platform ($1892$)

The Populist platform calling for direct election of senators, graduated income tax, and the right to form labor unions.

Panic of $1893$

A severe economic depression caused by railroad failures and bank collapses.

Coxey’s Army ($1894$)

A group of unemployed men led by Jacob Coxey who marched to Washington demanding economic relief.

William Jennings Bryan

The $1896$ Democratic and Populist nominee known for demanding 'free silver.'

William McKinley

The Republican winner of the $1896$ election who believed the gold standard was essential for business confidence.

McKinley Tariff ($1890$)

A tariff passed by William McKinley while he was a congressman.

McKinley Presidential Campaign Funding

The amount spent on William McKinley's presidential campaign was $10\text{ million}$.

Cross of Gold Speech ($1896$)

William Jennings Bryan's address condemning the gold standard and supporting silver coinage.

Election of $1896$ Result

McKinley won the industrial states and created a long-standing Republican majority.

Dingley Tariff ($1897$)

A tariff passed during William McKinley's presidency.

Gold Standard Act of $1900$

Legislation passed under McKinley formally adopting the gold standard.

Initiative

A Progressive Era reform allowing citizens to propose and vote directly on laws.

Referendum

A reform calling for popular votes on public policies.

Recall

A reform allowing for the removal of public officials from office.

William U'Ren

Oregon politician who set up the 'Oregon System' containing initiative, referendum, and recall.

Muckraking

Journalism used to expose corruption and the negative conditions of urban life.

Lewis Hine

A muckraking journalist who used imagery to expose the ills of urban life.

The Jungle ($1906$)

A novel by Upton Sinclair exposing slaughterhouses and the sale of rotten meat.

Pure Food and Drug Act ($1906$)

A law regulating food and medicine labeling and safety as a response to The Jungle.

Meat Inspection Act ($1906$)

Legislation requiring federal inspection of meatpacking plants passed after Sinclair's novel.

The 'New Immigration' Statistics

$13\text{ million}$ people arrived from Italy, Russia, and Austro-Hungary between $1901$ and $1914$.

Mexican Immigration (1900s)

During the Progressive Era, $1\text{ million}$ immigrants from Mexico arrived in the U.S. in three years.

Slavic Immigrant Quote

'My people are not in America; they are under it.'

Model T

A Ford car established in $1908$ that was priced within reach of many workers.

Model T Sales ($1910$)

In $1910$, $730,000$ units were sold at a price of $316$.

Ford Motor Company Founding

The company was established in the year $1903$.

Assembly Line (Ford)

Established in $1913$, this production method expanded output by reducing assembly time.

Ford's $1914$ Wage

Henry Ford paid workers $5\text{ a day}$ so they could afford to buy the goods being produced.

Fordism

A system of mass-production and mass-consumption developed by Henry Ford.

Taylorism

Also known as 'Scientific Management,' it involved timing workers to find the 'one best way' to work.

Frederick Taylor

The pioneer of scientific management who required workers to obey detailed instructions from supervisors.

Industrial Democracy

The idea that workers should have a voice in industrial decision-making and that unions increase industrial freedom.

IWW (Industrial Workers of the World)

Established in $1905$, this union mobilized those excluded from the AFL with 'solidarity' as its principle.

Collective Bargaining

Negotiations between unions and employers over wages and conditions using collective power.

Bread and Roses Strike

A strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, protesting pay cuts following a new $54$-hour work week.

Bread and Roses (Banner Meaning)

A declaration that workers sought both higher wages and 'the finer things in life.'

Hiram Johnson

The Progressive governor of California ($1911-1917$) who passed the Public Utilities Act.

Robert La Follette

Governor of Wisconsin in $1900$ and architect of the 'Wisconsin Idea.'

The Wisconsin Idea

Program including direct nomination, taxation of corporate wealth, and state regulation of public utilities.

Theodore Roosevelt

President who introduced the Square Deal and prosecuted the Northern Securities Company.

Square Deal

Program to address economic consolidation by distinguishing between 'good' and 'bad' corporations.

Northern Securities Company

A railroad monopoly owned by J.P. Morgan that was ordered dissolved in $1904$.

Hepburn Act ($1906$)

Law giving the ICC authority to examine railroad business records and set reasonable rates.

Conservation Movement

A Progressive movement that saw millions of acres set aside as wildlife preserves and the creation of national parks.

Gifford Pinchot

Advised Theodore Roosevelt on conservation and was later fired by William Howard Taft in $1910$.

William Howard Taft

Successor to Roosevelt who was anti-trust and supported the $16th$ Amendment, but clashed with Progressives.

16th Amendment

Constitutional amendment authorizing a graduated income tax.

Election of $1912$ (Candidates)

Taft (Republican), Wilson (Democrat), Roosevelt (Progressive), and Debs (Socialist).

Eugene V. Debs (1912 Platform)

Socialist candidate advocating for public ownership of railroads and aid to the unemployed.

Woodrow Wilson

President who warned that corporations were likely to corrupt the government and promoted 'New Freedom.'

New Nationalism

Theodore Roosevelt's idea favoring big government to control big business and Americanize immigrants.

New Freedom

Woodrow Wilson's idea favoring strong anti-trust laws and protecting workers' right to unionize to encourage small business.

Progressive Party Platform ($1912$)

Called for women's suffrage, an eight-hour day, and a national system of social insurance.

Underwood Tariff ($1913$)

The first significant measure under Wilson; it reduced import duties and taxed the richest $5\%$ of Americans.