Unit 6 Vocab

American Federation of Labor

a national federation of labor unions in the United States. It focused on securing better wages, working conditions, and hours for skilled workers while promoting collective bargaining as a primary strategy

Battle of Little Bighorn

A confrontation between the United States Army and a coalition of Native American tribes, primarily the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne

Battle of Wounded Knee

a tragic and violent event, where U.S. troops killed over 250 Lakota Sioux men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota

Haymarket Square Riot

a violent confrontation between police and labor protesters that took place on May 4, 1886, in Chicago, Illinois

Homestead Strike

Date: 1892

Definition:a violent labor dispute between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company at the Homestead Steel Works in Pennsylvania

Horizontal Integration

Definition: a business strategy where a company acquires or merges with other companies at the same level of the supply chain, effectively increasing its market share and reducing competition

Interstate Commerce Act

a significant piece of legislation aimed at regulating the railroad industry and its monopolistic practices

Jim Crow Laws

state and local statutes that enforced racial segregation and disenfranchised African Americans in the Southern United States

Knights of Labor

Date:1860

Definition: a prominent labor organization in the United States that aimed to unite all workers, regardless of skill level, gender, or race, to promote social and economic reforms

Laissez-faire

an economic philosophy that advocates for minimal government intervention in the marketplace, allowing supply and demand to dictate prices and production

Monopolies

when a single company or entity has exclusive control over a market or industry, allowing it to dictate prices and eliminate competition

Nativists

individuals or groups that advocate for the interests of native-born inhabitants over those of immigrants, often expressing hostility towards new arrivals

Plessy v Ferguson

Date:1896

Definition a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1896 that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the doctrine of 'separate but equal’

Political Machines

organized groups that maintained political control through a system of patronage, bribery, and manipulation, particularly

Populist Party

Date: 1891

Definition: a political movement in the late 19th century that sought to represent the interests of farmers and laborers against the elites and established political powers

Social Gospel

a religious movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that aimed to apply Christian ethics to social problems, particularly issues like poverty, inequality, and labor rights

Temperance Movement

 a social and political campaign advocating for the reduction or prohibition of alcohol consumption

Vertical Integration

a business strategy where a company controls multiple stages of production or distribution within the same industry

Turner's frontier thesis

Date:1893

Definition: the argument presented by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893, claiming that the American frontier shaped the nation's character and institutions

Gilded Age

Date: 1870s to 1900s

Definition: characterized by rapid economic growth, industrialization, and social changes

Dawes Severalty Act

Date: 1887

Definition: A piece of legislation aimed at assimilating Native Americans into American society by allotting them individual plots of land and granting them U.S. citizenship

Transcontinental RR

a railroad line that connected the eastern United States with the Pacific Coast, completed in 1869

Socai Darwinism

 A social theory that applies the concept of 'survival of the fittest' from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to human societies

National Grange Movement

an organized effort  aimed at advancing the social and economic interests of farmers in the United States

Munn v. Illinois

Date: 1877

Definition: a landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the right of states to regulate private industries that affect public interests, specifically focusing on grain elevator rates in Illinois

Bessemer Process

Date: 1856

Definition: a method for producing steel by blowing air through molten iron to remove impurities

Collective Bargaining

the process in which employers and a group of employees negotiate the terms of employment, including wages, working conditions, and benefits

Chinese Exclusion Act

Date: 1882

Definition: a federal law passed that prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States