Unit 6 Part 1

Unions

Organizations of workers formed to protect and advocate for their rights, wages, and working conditions.

Collective Bargaining

The process where workers, through their unions, negotiate contracts with employers regarding wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.

Knights of Labor

A 19th-century labor organization that sought to unite all workers, regardless of trade, to advocate for broad social reforms.

Haymarket Riot

A violent labor protest in Chicago in 1886 that turned deadly when a bomb was thrown at police; it influenced public perceptions of the labor movement.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A federation of trade unions founded in 1886, focusing on skilled workers and practical economic goals.

Homestead Strike

A violent 1892 labor dispute between the Carnegie Steel Company and its workers, resulting in a battle with Pinkerton agents.

Pinkerton

A private security agency often hired by businesses to suppress labor strikes and protect property.

Pullman Strike

A nationwide railroad strike in 1894 over wage cuts and high rents in company-owned housing, leading to federal intervention.

Socialist Party of America

A political party advocating for socialism, including workers' rights and public ownership of industry.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

A radical labor union formed in 1905, advocating for the overthrow of capitalism and industrial democracy.

New South

A term describing the post-Civil War Southern economy's shift from agriculture to industrialization and economic diversity.

Convict Lease

A system where prisoners were leased out to private companies for labor, often in harsh and exploitative conditions.

Poll Tax

A fee required to vote, used to disenfranchise African Americans and poor whites in the South.

Jim Crow

Laws and practices enforcing racial segregation and disenfranchisement in the Southern United States.

Plessy v. Ferguson

A 1896 Supreme Court case upholding racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Robber Barons

A term for wealthy and powerful industrialists of the late 19th century, often criticized for exploitative practices.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific period.

Vertical Integration

A business strategy where a company controls all aspects of production, from raw materials to finished goods.

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy where a company merges with or acquires competitors to dominate a specific market.

Interlocking Directorates

A practice where the same individuals serve on the boards of directors for multiple companies, reducing competition.

Corporation

A business entity legally distinct from its owners, allowing it to own property, incur debt, and raise capital.

Trust

A business arrangement where multiple companies are managed under a single board to reduce competition and control markets.

Holding Company

A company created to own and control other companies' stock, often used to establish monopolies.

Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company

An 1886 Supreme Court case that established corporations as having legal personhood under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Sherman Antitrust Act

A 1890 federal law aimed at preventing monopolistic practices and promoting fair competition.

United States v. E.C. Knight Company

An 1895 Supreme Court case limiting the government's power to regulate monopolies under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Scientific Management

A system developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor to improve efficiency in industry through standardized procedures and worker productivity analysis.

Great Plains

A vast, flat region in the central United States known for its agriculture and role in westward expansion.

Transcontinental Railroad

A railway connecting the eastern and western United States, completed in 1869, facilitating commerce and settlement.

Treaty of Fort Laramie

An agreement between the U.S. government and Native American tribes guaranteeing tribal lands in exchange for peaceful relations.

Treaty of Medicine Lodge

A series of 1867 agreements relocating Plains tribes to reservations in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).

Sand Creek Massacre

An 1864 attack by Colorado militia on a Cheyenne and Arapaho village, killing many, including women and children.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

An 1876 battle where Sioux and Cheyenne warriors defeated U.S. forces led by General Custer, also known as 'Custer's Last Stand.'

Buffalo Soldiers

African American soldiers serving in the U.S. Army on the Western frontier after the Civil War.

Land Rush

Events where settlers raced to claim land made available by the government, such as the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889.

Dawes Act

A 1887 law that aimed to assimilate Native Americans by dividing tribal lands into individual allotments.

Ghost Dance

A spiritual movement among Native Americans, promising the return of ancestral lands and the disappearance of white settlers.

Wounded Knee Massacre

An 1890 massacre where U.S. troops killed hundreds of Lakota Sioux, marking the end of major Native American resistance.

Comstock Lodge

A significant silver ore deposit discovered in Nevada in 1859, sparking a mining boom.

Long Drive

The herding of cattle from Texas to railheads in Kansas, part of the cattle industry in the late 19th century.

Homestead Act

A 1862 law providing free land to settlers willing to farm it for at least five years, encouraging westward expansion.

Deflation

A decrease in the general price level of goods and services, often causing economic challenges for farmers and debtors.

Mormons

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who settled in Utah to escape religious persecution.

Californios

Mexican residents of California who faced economic and social marginalization after the U.S. annexation of California.

Chinese Exclusion Act

An 1882 federal law banning Chinese labor immigration, reflecting widespread anti-Chinese sentiment.