unit 5 (part 1) key terms

insignificant presidents

Gilded Age

Mark Twain's sarcastic name for the post-Civil War era, which emphasized its atmosphere of greed and corruption

Pacific Railway Act

government subsidies (money and land) for the construction of a transcontinental railroad

Transcontinental Railroad

completed in 1869, it connected the East and the West and spurred the Second Industrial Revolution in the U.S.

Monopoly

consolidation of a market where there is no competition

John D. Rockefeller

used the principle of "horizontal integration" to ruthlessly incorporated or destroyed competitors in creating Standard Oil

Andrew Carnegie

used "vertical integration" which combined all phases of the industry from raw material to manufacturing into a single unit, to have a monopoly on steel

U.S. Steel

the first billion-dollar corporation, organized when J.P. Morgan bought out Andrew Carnegie

Robber Barons

term for industrialist who gained huge profits by making their employees work long hours for low wages in poor working conditions

Conspicuous Consumption

spending to display one’s wealth and status

Knights of Labor

founded by Terrence Powderly, group advocated for the 8-hour workday, and its reputation hurt during the Haymarket Affair

Homestead Strike

labor dispute at Carnegie Steel in 1892 that helped the Populists gain support from industrial workers

Pullman Strike

bitter labor dispute in Chicago that involved railroad workers, led by Eugene Debs

American Federation of Labor

founded by Samuel Gompers, this group represented skilled laborers focusing mainly on hours, wages, and conditions

Social Darwinism

justification that the success of those at the top of the socioeconomic structure was both appropriate and inevitable

Credit Mobilier

corrupt construction company whose bribes and payoffs to congressmen and others created a major Grant administration scandal

Pendleton Act

established the Civil Service Commission to make appointments to federal jobs

Political Machines

corrupt organizations that controlled local and state governments in the late 1800s

Wabash Case

Supreme Court case of 1886 that prevented states from regulating railroads or other forms of interstate commerce

Interstate Commerce Act

first federal law (1887) that controlled the Railroads and established the ICC

Sherman Antitrust Act

first federal law (1890) to control "combinations in restraint of trade"

Gospel of Wealth

philosophy of philanthropy that justified earning great wealth but carried with it a social responsibility to the community

New South

some Southern leaders called for this attempt to industrialize the Southern economy, although the South mainly continued with sharecropping and tenant farming

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court case of 1896 upholding racial segregation in public facilities

Lynching

public executions to intimidate African Americans