AMSTUD Chapter 6 Vocab

Second Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid industrial growth and technological innovations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Gilded Age

A time of great wealth and corruption in the late 19th century

Panic of 1893

A severe economic depression triggered by the collapse of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.

Union Pacific Railroad

A major railroad company constructed during the post-Civil War era

Central Pacific Railroad

A railroad company that built the western portion of the first transcontinental railroad.

Pacific Railway Act of 1861

Legislation that promoted the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Homestead Act

A law enacted in 1862 that provided land to settlers who would farm it for five years.

Dawes Severalty Act

An 1887 law that aimed to assimilate Native Americans by allotting them individual plots of land.

Assimilation

The process through which individuals or groups adopt the culture of another group.

Battle of Wounded Knee

A massacre in 1890 that marked the end of armed conflict between the U.S. and Native Americans.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

An industrial giant who made his wealth in railroads and shipping.

Jay Gould

A notorious financier and railroad magnate known for stock market manipulation.

Alexander Graham Bell

An inventor best known for inventing the telephone.

Thomas Edison

An inventor and businessman known for inventing the electric light bulb and phonograph.

Nikola Tesla

An inventor and engineer known for his contributions to the development of alternating current electricity.

John D. Rockefeller

An industrialist who founded the Standard Oil Company and became one of the richest men in history.

Andrew Carnegie

A steel industry leader who promoted the Gospel of Wealth and philanthropy.

J. Pierpont Morgan

A powerful banker who helped to finance reorganization of railroads

Vertical Integration

A business strategy where a company controls multiple stages of production.

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy where a company acquires competitors to consolidate the industry.

Bessemer Process

A method for producing steel more efficiently by blowing air through molten iron.

Sears

Roebuck and Company

“laissez-faire”

An economic philosophy of minimal government intervention in business.

Protestant Work Ethic

A belief in the importance of hard work and frugality in achieving success.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

A nationwide strike in the U.S. to protest wage cuts and poor working conditions.

National Labor Union

The first national labor federation in the U.S.

Knights of Labor

A significant labor organization that sought to unite all workers and promote social reform.

The Haymarket Affair

A labor protest that ended in violence in Chicago in 1886

Samuel Gompers

A labor leader who founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

American Federation of Labor

A national federation of labor unions focused on skilled workers.

Homestead Steel Strike of 1892

A violent labor dispute at Carnegie Steel Company resulting in a bitter confrontation.

Pullman Strike of 1894

A nationwide railroad strike that protested wage cuts and resulted in federal intervention.

Eugene V. Debs

A labor leader and socialist politician who helped organize the Pullman Strike.

George A. Custer

A U.S. Army officer known for his defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Great Sioux War

A series of battles between the U.S. government and Native American tribes in the 1870s.

Range Wars

Conflicts over land and resources between ranchers and farmers in the American West.

Ellis Island

An immigration station in New York where millions entered the U.S. from 1892 to 1954.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the U.S.

“Nativist”

A person who favors native-born inhabitants over immigrants.

Social Darwinism

A social theory that applied the concept of natural selection to human society.

Pragmatism

A philosophical approach emphasizing practical consequences and real-world effects.

William James

An American philosopher and psychologist associated with the philosophy of pragmatism.

Reform Darwinism

An ideology that applied the principles of evolution to social reforms.

Political Machine

A political group that commands enough votes to maintain control of a city or state.

Tammany Hall

A New York City political organization associated with Democratic Party corruption.

William “Boss” Tweed

A corrupt political leader linked to Tammany Hall during the 1860s and 1870s.

Stalwarts

A faction within the Republican Party in the late 19th century that opposed civil service reform.

Mugwumps

Republican reformers who opposed the party's political patronage.

Grover Cleveland

The only U.S. president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Election of 1888

An election where Benjamin Harrison defeated incumbent president Grover Cleveland.

Granger Movement

A movement among farmers advocating for social and economic reforms.

Farmers’ Alliances

Organizations that united farmers in the late 19th century to promote their interests.

Populist Party

A political party formed in the 1890s representing the interests of farmers and laborers.

Omaha Platform

The founding document of the Populist Party

Gold Standard

A monetary system where a country's currency is directly linked to gold.

Mary Elizabeth Lease

A prominent speaker and activist for the Populist Party.

Depression of 1893

A serious economic depression that began in 1893 and lasted several years.

William McKinley

The 25th U.S. president known for leading the nation during the Spanish-American War.

William Jennings Bryan

A politician known for his advocacy of populism and opposition to the gold standard.

George Washington Carver

An agricultural scientist and inventor known for his work with peanuts and crop rotation.

“Jim Crow” Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation.

“Separate but Equal”

The doctrine stating that racially segregated facilities were constitutional as long as they were equal.

Ida B. Wells

An African American journalist and activist who fought against lynching.

Booker T. Washington

An African American educator who advocated for vocational education and economic self-reliance.

WEB Du Bois

An African American sociologist and civil rights activist who opposed Booker T. Washington's views.

Dr. Walter Reed

An army physician known for his work on yellow fever and its transmission.

De Lome Letter

A private correspondence that criticized President McKinley

Alfred Thayer Mahan

A naval officer whose writings on sea power influenced naval strategy in the early 20th century.

Social Gospel

A religious movement emphasizing social justice and reform.

Settlement House

Community centers providing social services to the urban poor

Jane Addams

A social reformer and co-founder of Hull House

Gospel of Wealth

An essay by Andrew Carnegie that argued wealthy individuals should use their resources for the greater good.

Spectator Sports

Sports that are watched by large audiences

Barnum and Bailey

a circus known for its extravagant performances and large scale

Sherman Antitrust Act

A landmark federal statute passed in 1890 aimed at preventing monopolies and promoting competition in the marketplace.

Greenback Party

A political party formed in the 1870s that advocated for the issuance of paper money (greenbacks) to stimulate the economy and assist farmers.