Gilded Age to AFL/CIO

US HISTORY 3 Final

Gilded Age

Period after the Civil War marked by rapid industrial growth, extreme wealth inequality, and widespread political corruption in the late 1800s.

Andrew Carnegie

Steel tycoon who built a vast fortune in the late 1800s and then promoted philanthropy with his “Gospel of Wealth” ideas.

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of Standard Oil who used aggressive business tactics to dominate the oil industry and became one of the richest Americans.

J. P. Morgan

Powerful banker and financier who organized major corporations and helped stabilize financial markets during crises.

Vertical integration

Business strategy in which a company controls every step of production, from raw materials to distribution, to cut costs and beat rivals.

Horizontal integration

Strategy in which a firm buys or merges with competing companies in the same industry to gain market power.

Pullman Strike

1894 railroad strike that began in the Pullman company town and spread nationally, leading to federal intervention against the workers.

Eugene V. Debs

Labor leader who led the Pullman Strike and later became a socialist presidential candidate advocating for workers’ rights.

Knights of Labor

Early national labor union that tried to organize skilled and unskilled workers for broad social and workplace reforms.

AFL/CIO

Large labor organization formed when the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations merged, focusing on collective bargaining and workers’ benefits.