Wilson APUSH Unit 6 Vocab 26-50

Holding Companies

Corporations created to own controlling stock in other companies rather than produce goods directly, enabling centralized control over multiple firms and industries.

Robber Barons

A critical label for wealthy industrialists and financiers accused of using ruthless, exploitative methods—such as low wages and unfair practices—to amass great fortunes in the Gilded Age.

Laissez-faire

An economic philosophy arguing that government should interfere as little as possible in business and markets, allowing supply and demand to operate freely.

Economics

The social science that studies how individuals and societies choose to use scarce resources to produce, distribute, and consume goods and services.

Social Darwinism

A late-19th-century idea that applied “survival of the fittest” to human society, used to justify inequality, big business dominance, and limited aid to the poor.

Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie’s argument that the rich have a moral duty to use their wealth for the public good, by funding schools, libraries, and other community institutions.

Philanthropy

The practice of giving money, time, or resources to charities and public causes, often by wealthy individuals seeking to improve society and address social problems.

Knights of Labor

One of the first major national labor organizations, open to many types of workers, that aimed for broad social reforms as well as better wages, hours, and working conditions.

Terence Powderly

The leader of the Knights of Labor who promoted cooperative enterprises and peaceful negotiation, and who opposed the use of violent strikes to achieve labor goals.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A national labor union founded in 1886 that focused on skilled workers and emphasized practical goals such as higher wages, shorter hours, and improved working conditions.

Samuel Gompers

The long-serving president of the AFL who favored “pure and simple unionism,” stressing collective bargaining and focused economic gains over broad political reforms.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

A massive strike sparked by wage cuts on railroads that spread across many states, halted rail traffic, led to violent clashes, and was eventually suppressed by federal troops.

Haymarket Affair (1886)

A labor rally in Chicago that turned deadly when a bomb exploded and police opened fire, leading to executions of anarchists and a backlash against unions and radicals.

Homestead Strike (1892)

A violent labor conflict at Carnegie’s Homestead steel plant where workers protested wage cuts and union-busting, ending in defeat after clashes with Pinkerton guards and state militia.

Pullman Strike (1894)

A nationwide railroad strike led by workers at the Pullman car company that disrupted mail service and rail traffic, and was broken by federal injunctions and troops.

Eugene V. Debs

A prominent labor leader and socialist who led the American Railway Union and the Pullman Strike, later running for U.S. president multiple times on the Socialist Party ticket.

Collective Bargaining

The process in which representatives of workers and employers negotiate contracts regarding wages, hours, and working conditions for a group of employees.

Closed Shop

A workplace where employers agree to hire only union members, giving unions strong leverage in maintaining standards and protecting workers.

Scabs

Non-union workers or replacements hired during a strike, often viewed by strikers as strikebreakers who undermine union efforts.

Child Labor

The employment of children in factories, mines, and other workplaces—often for low wages and in dangerous conditions—especially common in the early industrial era.

New Immigration

The wave of immigrants arriving mainly after about 1880, coming largely from Southern and Eastern Europe and parts of Asia, who often settled in growing industrial cities.

Ellis Island

The primary federal immigration station in New York Harbor from 1892 to 1954, where millions of mostly European immigrants were inspected and processed before entering the United States.

Angel Island

An immigration station in San Francisco Bay that mainly processed Asian immigrants, particularly Chinese and Japanese, often subjecting them to longer detentions and harsher questioning.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

A federal law that sharply restricted Chinese immigration by banning most Chinese laborers and making Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization, reflecting strong anti-Chinese racism.