Industrialization, Labor, and Urban Growth in U.S. History

Entrepreneurs

People who start and run businesses to earn profit.

Laissez-faire

Government stays out of business and the economy.

Patent

Legal right to make and sell an invention.

Bessemer process

Fast, cheap way to make steel.

Time zones

Divisions of the world into areas sharing the same time for train schedules.

Free enterprise

Businesses compete freely with little government control.

Mass production

Making many goods quickly and cheaply with machines.

Corporation

Company that sells stock and is legally separate from its owners.

Monopoly

One company controls an entire industry.

Cartel

Businesses working together to control prices and limit competition.

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of Standard Oil; used monopolies to dominate the oil industry.

Andrew Carnegie

Steel tycoon who used the Bessemer process; donated much of his wealth.

Vertical integration

Controlling all steps of production (from raw materials to sales).

Horizontal integration

Buying out or merging with competitors.

Social Darwinism

"Survival of the fittest" idea applied to business and society.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

First U.S. agency to regulate railroads.

Sherman Antitrust Act

Banned monopolies and unfair business practices.

Sweatshops

Crowded workplaces with low pay and long hours.

Company towns

Towns owned by businesses where workers lived and shopped.

Collective bargaining

Negotiations between workers and employers for better conditions.

Knights of Labor

First large labor union; open to all workers.

Samuel Gompers

Founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Union for skilled workers focusing on wages and hours.

Haymarket Riot

Chicago protest that turned violent, hurting the labor movement.

Homestead Strike

Steelworker strike at Carnegie Steel; ended in violence.

Eugene V. Debs

Leader of the American Railway Union; led the Pullman Strike.

Pullman Strike

Railroad strike over wage cuts and high rent; shut down rail traffic.

New immigrants

Came from Southern and Eastern Europe in the late 1800s.

Ellis Island

Main immigration center in New York Harbor.

Angel Island

Immigration station in San Francisco Bay for Asian immigrants.

Americanization

Helping immigrants learn American customs and English.

Melting pot

Idea of blending many cultures into one.

Nativism

Favoring native-born Americans over immigrants.

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law banning Chinese immigration.

Urbanization

Growth of cities as people moved from farms to city jobs.

Rural-to-urban migrants

People moving from countryside to cities.

Skyscrapers

Tall steel buildings in growing cities.

Mass transit

Public transportation like trolleys and subways.

Suburbs

Residential areas outside city centers.

Tenements

Crowded, unsafe apartments for poor workers.

Frederick Law Olmsted

Designed Central Park; promoted city green spaces.

Mark Twain

Author who called the era the 'Gilded Age.'

Gilded Age

Time of wealth and corruption hiding poverty and problems.

Conspicuous consumerism

Buying goods to show off wealth.

Mass culture

Shared culture from newspapers, ads, and entertainment.

Joseph Pulitzer

Newspaper publisher known for sensational stories.

William Randolph Hearst

Rival publisher who used bold headlines and drama.

Reservation

Land set aside for Native Americans by the government.

Sand Creek Massacre

1864 killing of Native Americans by U.S. soldiers in Colorado.

Sitting Bull

Lakota Sioux leader who fought U.S. control.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

Native American victory over General Custer's troops.

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce leader who tried to flee to Canada.

Wounded Knee

1890 massacre that ended major Native resistance.

Assimilation

Forcing Native Americans to adopt white culture.

Dawes General Allotment Act

Divided tribal land into private family plots.

Vigilantes

Self-appointed law enforcers in the West.

Land grants

Government gave land to railroads and settlers.

Open range system

Cattle grazing freely on public land.

Homestead Act

Free land to settlers who farmed it for five years.

Exodusters

African Americans who moved west to farm after the Civil War.

Las Gorras Blancas

Mexican-American group that fought to protect their land.

Spoils system

Giving government jobs to supporters instead of qualified people.

Civil service

Government jobs given based on ability, not politics.

Pendleton Civil Service Act

Required exams for government jobs to reduce corruption.

Gold standard

Money backed by gold.

Fiat money

Money backed only by government trust, not gold.

Oliver H. Kelley

Founded the Grange to support farmers.

Populist Party

Farmers' party calling for reforms to help workers.

William Jennings Bryan

Populist leader known for 'Cross of Gold' speech.

William McKinley

Republican president who supported the gold standard.

Farmers' Alliance

Organized farmers to fight for better conditions.