American Federation of Labor (AFL)
union of skilled workers, formed in 1881 and led by Samuel Gompers, that used strikes to gain concessions from management
American Socialist Party
political party for economic reform created in 1901 that was closely aligned with organized labor
Andrew Carnegie
Scottish immigrant who became a steel magnate and then philanthropist during the Gilded Age
Edward Bellamy
author of the utopian novel Looking Backward (1888) in which government monopolies created an equitable society
Eugene V. Debs
leader of the American Railway Union in the Pullman strike of 1894; presidential candidate for the Socialist Party
gospel of wealth
term popularized by Andrew Carnegie to argue that those with immense wealth carry a greater burden to use that wealth for social progress
Haymarket bombing
in a clash between striking laborers and police in Chicago on May 1, 1886, an unknown person threw a bomb into a crowd killing seven police and injuring nearly seventy others
Henry Ford
early leader of the automobile industry who stressed the standardization of parts and assembly lines
Henry George
author of Progress and Poverty (1879), which argued for tax reform on land as a way to break the power of monopolies
Homestead strike
a strike of the steel mill union in 1892 that led to armed conflict and the involvement of state militia
Horatio Alger
author of Gilded Age books whose hardworking heroes go from "rags to riches"
horizontal integration
a corporate combination where a group of businesses that do the same thing are consolidated
John D. Rockefeller
founder of Standard Oil, famous for horizontal and vertical integration, and the wealthiest man of the Gilded Age
J.P. Morgan
banker and creator of U.S. Steel
Knights of Labor
short-lived early national labor union that championed eight-hour workdays and the end of child labor, open to almost all workers
Louisa May Alcott
author of the Little Women series about an ambitious girl who fought conventional society to become a writer
Molly Maguires
a secret society of Irish-born coal miners willing to use violence to deal with management
monopoly
a business entity that controls an industry or market sector without competition
Pullman strike
a 1894 railroad strike that escalated to twenty-seven states and territories, ultimately broken by federal troops and resulting in management's victory
Samuel Gompers
union organizer under whose leadership the American Federation of Labor (AFL) grew by combining similar skilled unions together
Social Darwinism
the belief that societies are subject to the laws of natural selection and that some societies or peoples are innately superior to others
Taylorism
named for Frederick Winslow Taylor, an attempt to use scientific management to improve factory production
vertical integration
the arrangement by which a company takes ownership of businesses in various stages of production and distribution within the same industry
Wilbur and Orville Wright
builders of the first self-powered airplane, successfully flown in 1903