Industrialization, Labor, Immigration, and Urbanization in America

Vocabulary flashcards covering industrialization, organized labor, immigration, and urbanization in America.

Sweatshops

Places where workers endured difficult and often harsh labor conditions, typically with long hours and low pay.

Company towns

Villages or communities built and owned by a company for its employees, where residents were often dependent on the employer for housing and goods.

Socialism

A political and economic theory urging workers to rise up, reject capitalism, and collectively own and control the means of production.

Terence V. Powderly

A prominent leader of the Knights of Labor, a major labor union in the late 19th century.

Samuel Gompers

The founder and long-time president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

AFL (American Federation of Labor)

A labor union federation founded by Samuel Gompers, open to skilled workers from various trades.

Communist Manifesto

A political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, urging workers to rise up and reject capitalism.

Haymarket Riot

A significant labor protest in Chicago in 1886, which resulted in a bombing and violence, damaging the reputation of the labor movement.

Homestead Strike

A violent strike at Andrew Carnegie's Homestead steel plant in 1892, between steelworkers and private security forces.

Eugene V. Debs

A prominent labor organizer and socialist leader, known for his role in the Pullman Strike and as a presidential candidate.

Pullman Strike

A nationwide railroad strike in 1894 led by Eugene V. Debs, protesting wage cuts and poor working conditions in the Pullman Company.

IWW (Industrial Workers of the World)

A radical labor organization, also known as 'Wobblies,' that aimed to unite all workers into 'one big union'.

New Immigrants

Term used to describe immigrants arriving in the United States primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Steerage

The cheapest accommodations on a ship, typically located below deck, where many immigrants traveled to America.

Ellis Island

The primary immigration processing station in New York Harbor for European immigrants entering the United States.

Angel Island

The primary immigration processing station in San Francisco Bay for Asian immigrants, particularly Chinese immigrants, entering the United States.

Americanization

The process of assimilating immigrants into American society by teaching them American culture, customs, and language.

Melting Pot

A metaphor describing American society as a place where people of various cultures and races blend together to form a new, unified culture.

Nativism

A policy or belief prioritizing the interests of native-born inhabitants over those of immigrants, often leading to anti-immigrant sentiment.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A federal law passed in 1882 that prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers, marking the first significant law restricting immigration.

Urbanization

The growth of cities and the increasing percentage of a population living in urban areas.

Rural-to-Urban migrants

Individuals who moved from agricultural areas in the countryside to cities, often in search of economic opportunities during industrialization.

Skyscrapers

Tall multi-story buildings made possible by steel-frame construction and elevators, symbolizing urban growth.

Elisha Otis

Inventor credited with developing a safety elevator that made skyscrapers practical and safe for widespread use.

Mass Transit

Public transportation systems, such as streetcars, subways, and commuter trains, that allowed people to travel efficiently within growing cities and to suburbs.

Suburbs

Residential areas located on the outskirts of cities, connected to urban centers by mass transit.

Frederick Law Olmsted

A prominent landscape architect who designed many significant urban parks, including Central Park in New York City, to improve city life.

Tenements

Overcrowded, often dilapidated, multi-family apartment buildings in urban areas, typically housing poor working-class families.

Cholera

A severe bacterial infection of the small intestine, often associated with contaminated water and poor sanitation, prevalent in crowded urban areas.

Chicago Fire 1871

A massive urban conflagration that devastated much of Chicago, highlighting the dangers of wooden construction and inadequate fire safety in rapidly growing cities.