UNIT 6, CH 17

Industrialization created new opportunities by increasing jobs, boosting production, and making goods cheaper and more widely available, which improved living standards for many Americans. At the same time, it brought serious risks, including unsafe working conditions, low wages, child labor, and growing economic inequality as wealth concentrated in the hands of industrialists. These changes reshaped American society by accelerating urbanization, expanding immigration, and fueling labor movements and reform efforts as workers and farmers organized to challenge corporate power and demand greater fairness.

Andrew Carnegie

Scottish-American industrialist who built a steel empire and became one of the richest men in US history

homestead lockout

a violent 1892 labor conflict between steel workers and Carnegie’s management at the homestead steel plant

management revolution

shift toward structured, professional management to run large corporations effeciently

Gustavus Swift

entrepreneur who revolutionized the meat packing industry using refrigerated railcars

vertical integration

business strategy where a company controls all stages of production and distribution

John D. Rockefeller

founder of Standard Oil and the most powerful oil industry of the era

horizontal integration

business strategy where a company buys out or merges with competitors

trust

legal arrangement allowing one company to control many others under a single board

deskilling

process of breaking skilled labor into simpler tasks that require less training

mass production

large scale manufacturing of standardized products using assembly line techniques

scientific management

system developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor to maximize worker efficiency through study and measurement

Chinese exclusion act

1882 law banning Chinese immigration to US

great railroad strike of 1877

nationwide labor strike sparked by wage cuts in the railroad industry

Henry George

reformer who proposed a single tax on land to reduce inequality

greenback-labor party

political party advocating for paper money and labor reforms

producerism

belief that workers and farmers create real wealth and deserve political power

Granger laws

state laws regulating railroad rates and grain storage fees

knights of labor

national labor union advocating broad social and economic factors

Terence Powderley

leader of knights of labor during peak years

Leonora Barry

labor activist who investigated conditions for women workers

anarchism

political philosophy opposing government authority

haymarket square

site of an 1886 labor protest that turned violent after a bomb exploded

farmers alliance

an organization formed to improve economic conditions for farmers

interstate commerce act

law regulating railroad rates and practices

closed shop

workplace that only hires union members

American federation of labor (AFL)

union of skilled workers focused on practical labor gains

Samuel Gompers

founder and leader of AFL