American Industrial Revolution

entrepreneur

A person who starts and takes on the financial risk of a business.

rural

country

urban

city

agrarian society

A society in which people worked on the farm using farm animals and goods were made by hand.

industrialization

The development of industries for the machine production of goods.

capitalist

A person who has invested personal wealth in business.

monopoly

Complete control of a product or business by one person or group.

Robber Baron

Negative term used to describe large businessmen of the late 1800's; they used ruthless practices to destroy competition and took advantage of workers.

Captain of Industry

Positive term used to describe large businessmen of the late 1800's; they gave to charity, drove the American economy, and created million of jobs.

John D. Rockefeller

Established the Standard Oil Company, the greatest, wisest, and meanest monopoly known in history.

Andrew Carnegie

Founded the Carnegie Steel Company in 1892, his company dominated the American steel industry.

philanthropy

charity

Bessemer Process

A way to manufacture steel quickly and cheaply by blasting hot air through melted iron to quickly remove impurities.

Laissez Faire

The idea that government should not interfere or regulate industries and businesses.

corporations

Businesses that are owned by many investors who buy shares of stock.

Gilded Age

Term given to the United States during the late 1800's because of the extremes of wealth and poverty during the era.

labor union

Group of workers who band together to seek better working conditions.

collective bargaining

Labor unions worked together to obtain better working pay and conditions by negotiating with bosses.

lockouts, blacklist, court-injunctions, scabs

Strategies used by EMPLOYERS to stop the efforts of labor unions.

strikes, boycotts, picketing

Strategies used by LABOR UNIONS against unfair working conditions.

Sherman Anti-trust Act

Law that banned trusts and monopolies.

free enterprise

An economic system in which private business operates in competition and mostly free of government control.

mass production

Production of goods in large numbers through the use of machinery and assembly lines, quick and cheap.

skyscraper

A very tall building with many stories.

Mark Twain

An American writer, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer who coined the phrase "The Gilded Age".

consumerism

Goods were being produced quickly and cheaply enough for common people to be able to purchase.

trust

A group of corporations run by a single board of directors.

Social Darwinism

Using ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to justify political, social, or economic issues.

company town

A community set up and run by a company for its workers, residents rely upon the company for jobs, housing, clothing, and food.

Knights of Labor

A labor union that sought to organize all workers and focused on broad social reforms.

American Federation of Labor

The first federation of labor unions in the United States.

Haymarket Riot

100,000 workers rioted in Chicago. After the police fired into the crowd, the workers met and rallied in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality. A bomb exploded, killing or injuring many of the police. The Chicago workers and the man who set the bomb were immigrants, so the incident promoted anti-immigrant feelings.

Homestead Strike

1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company. Ten workers were killed in a riot when "scab" labor was brought in to force an end to the strike.

urbanization

The growth of cities due to movement of people from rural areas to cities.