Unit 6: Turn of the 20th Century

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific

Homestead Act of 1862

US provided 160 acres in the West to any citizen who would cultivate the land for 5 years

Mechanical Reaper

Helped industrialize farming by efficiently cutting grain

Barbed Wire

Fencing with sharp edges used instead of wood fencing

Telegraph

A device used to communicate messages across long distances

Urbanization

Population shift from rural to urban areas

Ellis Island

Immigration station located in New York City

Assimilation

The process of absorbing into culture or language

Melting Pot

A mixture of people from different races who blend together by abandoning their native languages and culture

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

A law that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the US

Bessemer Steel Process

A cheap and efficient way to make steel

Alexander Graham Bell

Inventor of the telephone

Corporation

A business owned by a group of stockholders who share the gains and losses up to the amount of their investment

Andrew Carnegie

Captain of the steel industry

JP Morgan

Captain of the banking industry

John D. Rockefeller

Captain of the oil industry

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Captain of the railroad industry

Segregation

The separation of different racial groups

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case that ruled separation of the races in public is legal

NAACP

Organization founded to promote full racial equality

Lynching

Killing a person for an alleged offense without a trial

Progressive Movement

Early 20th Century reform movement

Haymarket Square

Violent Chicago protest in support of striking workers

Samuel Gompers

Founder of the American Federation of Labor

Eugene Debs

Founder of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Prevented businesses from entering into agreements with the goal of monopolizing commerce

Clayton Anti-Trust Act

Protected the rights of labor unions and placed additional regulations on business practices