Rise of Modern America Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Industrialization, the Gilded Age, Progressivism, Imperialism, WWI, and the Great Depression based on Mrs. Jones's study guide.

Edwin Drake

The individual who drilled the first oil well in Titusville, PA.

Alexander Graham Bell

The inventor of the telephone.

Social Darwinism

The belief that society evolved through competition and 'survival of the fittest,' applied to business and social classes.

Thomas Edison

The inventor of the lightbulb, which extended the number of hours American workers could work.

The Gilded Age

A term for the late 1800s suggesting that while things appeared to sparkle with wealth on the surface, there was corruption and poverty underneath.

Gospel of Wealth

The philosophy that wealthy Americans had a responsibility to engage in philanthropy or giving to charity.

Social Gospel Movement

A reform movement that worked to better conditions in cities according to the biblical ideals of charity and justice.

Southern and Eastern Europe

The part of the world from which more than half of all immigrants were coming by the 1890s.

Workingman’s Party

A political organization formed to fight Chinese immigration.

William Tweed

The corrupt leader of the New York City Democratic political machine, Tammany Hall.

Tammany Hall

The most famous New York City political machine of the late 1800s.

Nativists

People who had a preference for native-born people and a desire to limit immigration.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law that barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented Chinese already in the U.S. from becoming citizens.

Ellis Island

The processing center for the majority of immigrants arriving on the East Coast.

Middle Class

The social class created and expanded by new industrialization in the United States.

John Rockefeller

A powerful industrialist associated with Standard Oil and the creation of trusts.

Andrew Carnegie

A steel industry magnate who advocated for the Gospel of Wealth.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

A prominent businessman who built his wealth in the railroad and shipping industries.

JP Morgan

A highly influential investment banker and industrialist.

Monopoly

When a single company achieves control of an entire market.

Strike Breaker

Workers hired by companies to replace employees who are on strike.

Lockout

A tactic used by business owners to break a union by refusing to allow employees into the facility to work.

Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire

A tragic industrial disaster that led to the creation of new building codes and fire escape requirements.

Clayton Antitrust Act

A law intended to strengthen the government's ability to break up monopolies and protect labor unions.

18th Amendment

The amendment that prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol.

19th Amendment

The amendment that guaranteed women the right to vote.

Upton Sinclair

A muckraker whose novel 'The Jungle' exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Jacob Riis

A photojournalist and muckraker who documented the poor living conditions of NYC tenements.

Spanish-American War Outcomes

The U.S. gained Puerto Rico, Guam, and paid for the Philippines while Cuba gained limited independence.

USS Maine

The American ship that exploded in Havana Harbor, which many Americans blamed on Spain.

Yellow Press

Sensationalist journalism that used exaggerated stories to fuel American support for Cuban rebels.

Seward’s Folly

The nickname given to the purchase of Alaska, as critics believed it was a mistake.

Monroe Doctrine

The policy stating that the United States would oppose any European interference in the Western Hemisphere.

Zimmerman Note

A telegram from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance and promising the return of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if the U.S. joined WWI.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace treaty that ended WWI and helped create the League of Nations, though it was not ratified by the U.S. Senate.

Flappers

Liberated women of the 1920s who wore bobbed hair and more flamboyant or revealing clothing.

Harlem Renaissance

A boom in African American cultural, artistic, and literary creativity emerging from New York City in the 1920s.

Hoovervilles

Shantytowns built by homeless people during the Great Depression, named to mock President Hoover's perceived inaction.

New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's series of reforms and programs intended to end the Great Depression.