US History 1 - Chapter 16 (The Americans)

Skyscrapers

Tall steel-framed buildings made possible by elevators and internal skeletons; solved the problem of limited space in growing cities

Louis Sullivan

Architect who designed the Wainwright Building; promoted the idea that form should follow function in skyscraper design

Daniel Burnham

Led the planning of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and redesigned Chicago with parks, civic centers, and harbors

Brooklyn Bridge

Opened in 1883, connected Manhattan and Brooklyn; symbolized industrial innovation and unified New York City

Electric Transit

Streetcars and trolley systems powered by electricity that allowed cities to expand outward and enabled suburban commuting

Subways and El Trains

Underground and elevated rail systems that reduced street congestion and expanded public transportation

Urban Planning

The organized design of city infrastructure, including parks, streets, and civic spaces, to improve quality of life

Frederick Law Olmsted

Landscape architect who designed Central Park in NYC and promoted urban parks to give city dwellers access to nature

Chicago Plan

Daniel Burnham's vision for a cleaner, more beautiful Chicago with organized streets, green spaces, and lakefront access

Garden City Idea

Urban design promoting harmony between city life and nature; popularized by British planner Ebenezer Howard

Web-Perfecting Press

Machine that printed on both sides of paper and folded it, allowing faster newspaper production

Printing Revolution

Cheap wood pulp paper and fast presses made books, magazines, and newspapers widely affordable by the 1890s

Wright Brothers

Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first powered airplane in 1903 in North Carolina, beginning the age of aviation

Airmail Service

U.S. Post Office began delivering mail by plane in 1918, improving communication speed across long distances

George Eastman

Inventor of the Kodak camera, which used roll film and made photography available to ordinary people

Kodak Camera

Sold in 1888 with a 100-photo roll; allowed people to take photos easily and mail the camera back for development

Photojournalism

The use of photography to capture real events as they happened, often for newspapers and magazines

Compulsory Education Laws

Required children aged 8-14 to attend school for a set number of weeks annually, expanding access to education

Elementary Curriculum

Focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic; emphasized memorization and discipline, sometimes harshly

Kindergarten Expansion

Started as childcare for working families, then added to public schools to support early childhood learning

High School Growth

Attendance grew rapidly as schools began teaching science, civics, and vocational skills for modern jobs

Vocational Education

Schools trained students for industrial jobs (boys) and office or domestic work (girls)

College Enrollment

Increased more than fourfold between 1880 and 1920 due to growing demand for specialized and professional education

Research Universities

New colleges offered modern languages, social sciences, and laboratory-based science education

Admissions Shift

State universities began admitting students based on high school diplomas instead of entrance exams

Education for African Americans

Black students were often excluded from public high schools and had limited access to higher education

Booker T. Washington

Former slave who believed racism would end if African Americans gained vocational skills and economic value

Tuskegee Institute

School founded by Washington to teach African Americans agriculture, mechanics, and domestic skills

W.E.B. Du Bois

First Black Ph.D. from Harvard; argued for immediate equality and liberal arts education for African Americans

Niagara Movement

Group founded by Du Bois in 1905 that pushed for full civil rights and academic education for Black leaders

Talented Tenth

Du Bois's idea that the most educated 10% of African Americans should lead the fight for equality

Americanization

Schools taught English, U.S. history, and civics to help immigrant children assimilate into American culture

Night Schools

Evening classes for immigrant adults to learn English and pass citizenship tests

Parochial Schools

Catholic-run schools created to avoid Protestant religious influence in public education

Henry Ford's Worker Program

Taught immigrant factory workers English and American values to promote loyalty and efficiency

Voting Restrictions

Southern states used poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses to deny African Americans the right to vote

Poll Tax

Annual fee that had to be paid to vote; kept poor Black and white citizens from voting

Literacy Test

Reading test required for voting, often unfairly administered to fail African Americans

Grandfather Clause

Allowed whites to vote if their ancestors had voted before 1867—excluding nearly all Black voters

Jim Crow Laws

State laws that enforced racial segregation in public and private spaces across the South

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court ruling that upheld segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine

Justice Harlan's Dissent

Opposed Plessy decision, warning it legalized inequality and planted "seeds of race hate"

Cumming v. Board of Education

Ruled federal government could not interfere with segregated local schools

Williams v. Mississippi

Upheld state literacy tests that disenfranchised Black voters

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

Limited federal protection of civil rights, allowing private businesses to discriminate

Racial Etiquette

Unwritten rules that forced African Americans to act inferior, like not shaking hands with whites

Lynching

Illegal mob killings of African Americans, often as punishment for violating racial customs

Ida B. Wells

Black journalist who led a national campaign against lynching and wrote articles exposing racial violence

Northern Discrimination

African Americans in the North faced job exclusion, segregated housing, and occasional race riots

Mexican Laborers

Recruited for farm and railroad work in the Southwest, often paid less than white workers

Debt Peonage

System that trapped workers in forced labor until debts were paid; outlawed in 1911

Chinese Immigrants

Faced intense job discrimination and social segregation throughout the U.S.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

First major federal immigration restriction; banned Chinese labor immigration for 10 years

Coney Island

Popular NYC amusement park offering rides and shows to working-class families

Bicycling

Became a leisure trend; women's involvement helped break fashion and gender barriers

Tennis

Spread quickly in the U.S. and was played by both men and women for recreation

Hershey's Chocolate Bar

First mass-produced chocolate bar, sold beginning in 1900

Coca-Cola

Invented in 1886 as a tonic; became a national soft drink brand by 1900

Baseball

America's most popular sport; leagues formed and professional teams traveled nationally

Negro Leagues

African American baseball players formed separate leagues due to segregation in white leagues

Boxing

Became a major spectator sport with huge national audiences and gambling interest

Vaudeville

Variety shows including music, comedy, dance, and acrobatics, popular among diverse audiences

Minstrel Shows

Racist performances that mocked Black people; declined in popularity after 1900

Nickelodeons

Five-cent movie theaters showing short silent films to large working-class crowds

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

First American narrative film; shown in nickelodeons and launched film storytelling

Joseph Pulitzer

Newspaper editor who introduced comics, sports sections, and sensational headlines

William Randolph Hearst

Rival publisher who exaggerated stories to attract readers and increase sales

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized and exaggerated news used by Pulitzer and Hearst to attract mass audiences

Ashcan School

Group of painters who portrayed gritty scenes of urban life and working-class people

Thomas Eakins

Realist artist who used photography and anatomy to paint human subjects truthfully

Mark Twain

Famous American author who used satire to critique society in novels like Huckleberry Finn

Dime Novels

Cheap, popular fiction books telling adventure stories about the Wild West or heroism

Public Libraries

Expanded access to books and knowledge; known as "the poor man's university"

Department Stores

Sold a wide range of products with services like delivery and credit; e.g., Marshall Field's

Chain Stores

National stores like Woolworth's that sold low-priced goods with limited service

Mail-Order Catalogs

Montgomery Ward and Sears sent catalogs nationwide so rural Americans could shop from home

Rural Free Delivery (RFD)

Postal service began delivering mail and packages directly to rural homes in 1896