Gilded Age and Industrialization Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, court cases, and concepts from the Gilded Age lecture transcript.

Steerage

Cargo area of steamboats where poor immigrants were shoved during their journey, featuring bad water and no ventilation.

American Federation of Labor

Labor organization founded by Samuel Gompers that utilized collective bargaining and strikes to secure better working conditions and wages.

Angel Island

Immigration station located in San Francisco characterized by dirty conditions and long detentions, processing mostly Asian immigrants.

Boss Tweed

William M. Tweed, the unelected leader who ran Tammany Hall and NYC, stealing millions from the city including building a courthouse for $13 million that was estimated at $350k.

Thomas Nast

Cartoonist who drew political cartoons about Boss Tweed to expose his corruption to illiterate people.

Gospel of Wealth

Text written by Andrew Carnegie asserting that the duty of wealthy people is to give their fortune away.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Law that banned entry to all Chinese people except students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials.

Robber Barons

Term for ruthless businessmen who kept all profits to themselves.

Collusion

The belief that a 'corrupt elite' is secretly working together behind the scenes to betray, exploit, and suppress the 'pure people'.

Cross of Gold speech

Speech given by William Jennings Bryan that criticized the gold standard and championed 'free silver' to help the working class, receiving a 45-minute standing ovation.

Ellis Island

Immigration facility processing 11,000 immigrants per day, where 20% were detained and 2% were rejected.

Eugene Debs

Labor leader who formed the American Railway Union to include skilled and unskilled laborers, leading strikes for higher wages.

Free Silverites

Farmers and laborers who favored bimetallism because decreasing money value would raise selling prices for grain.

Gold bugs

Bankers and businessmen who wanted to maintain the gold standard to ensure loans were made and repaid in stable money.

Gilded Age

Period during industrial expansion when captains of industry grew profits rapidly and publicly displayed gold-plated wealth.

Gentlemen's Agreement

Agreement where Japan's government agreed to limit unqualified people going to Angel Island to prevent a Japanese Exclusion Act.

Haymarket Riot

May 4 anti-police brutality rally in Haymarket Square where a bomb killed 7 police and several workers following police killings of strikers on May 3.

Holden v. Hardy

1898 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a Utah law limiting miners' working hours because of unsafe conditions.

Homestead Strike

Steel mill strike where Frick locked out workers on July 2, leading to a July 6 battle with Pinkertons (3 Pinkertons, 6 workers killed) until the PA national guard took over on July 10.

Horizontal integration

An illegal monopoly strategy involving complete control over an entire industry.

International Workers of the World

Known as the 'Wobblies', a radical unionist and socialist organization in Chicago led by William Haywood that sought 'One big union' for unskilled workers.

Interstate Commerce Act

1887 act establishing the federal government's right to supervise railroad activities and creating a five-member Interstate Commerce Commission.

Laissez-faire economics

Economic theory stating that the government should remain 'hands off' and allow businesses to grow on their own.

Jacob Riis

Photographer who published 'How the other half lives' to reveal poor living conditions to the wealthy.

Muller v. Oregon

Supreme Court case that upheld limits on women's working hours in laundry jobs, implying women were weaker and justifying unequal pay.

Munn v. Illinois

1877 Supreme Court case ruling that states can regulate railroad shipping rates charged per mile.

Nativism

Favoritism towards native-born Americans based on the belief that Anglo-Saxons were superior to other ethnic groups.

Political machine

A party organization that controls political activities by offering favors (jobs, emergency housing, food) in exchange for votes and engaging in graft.

Populist Party

Also called the People's party (1892), a political movement of farmers and workers pushing for bimetallism, a graduated income tax, direct election of senators, and secret ballots to abolish banks and railroads.

Pullman Strike

1894 strike triggered by job losses and wage cuts in a company town, ending when President Cleveland sent military forces and arrested Eugene Debs.

Social Gospel movement

Movement among educated middle-class reformers who believed helping the poor was an 'easy pass to heaven'.

Sherman Antitrust Act 1980 (failed)

Law declaring trusts illegal if they interfered with interstate commerce, which proved difficult to enforce and was mostly thrown out by the Supreme Court.

Social Darwinism

Societal theory of 'survival of the fittest' holding that superior businesses grow while inferior ones die, justifying wealth and condemning the poor.

Tammany Hall

Political machine in NYC run by Boss Tweed.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Disastrous fire where 146 workers (30% of employees, mostly teenage girls) died due to locked doors on the 9th floor, inward-opening doors, and elevator failure.

U.S. v. E. C. Knight Co.

Supreme Court case in which E.C. Knight Co., controlling 98% of US sugar refining, won against federal antitrust actions because its production was located entirely in PA.

Vertical integration

A legal business strategy in which a company owns every aspect of its production process.

William Jennings Bryan

Democratic presidential candidate and bimetallist who delivered the 'Cross of Gold' speech in the Election of 1896.

William McKinley

Republican who won the Election of 1896 on a Gold Standard platform.