Gilded Age (Late 1800s) Test Review Part 2

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Pool

An agreement to divide the business in a given area and share the profits.

Oligopoly

a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers.

Economics of Scale

the reduction in the cost of a good brought about especially by increased production at a given facility

Captain of Industry

a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributes positively to the country in some way.

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad connecting the west and east coasts of the continental US

Blacklist

a group of people identified as troublemakers

Robber Barons

Refers to the industrialists or big business owners who gained huge profits by paying their employees extremely low wages. They also drove their competitors out of business by selling their products cheaper than it cost to produce it. Then when they controlled the market, they hiked prices high above original price.

Political Machine

a strong party organization that can control political appointments and deliver votes

Closed Shop

an agreement in which a company agrees to hire only union members

Laissez-Faire

Policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.

Bessemer Process

A way to manufacture steel quickly and cheaply by blasting hot air through melted iron to quickly remove impurities.

Unions

An association of workers, formed to bargain for better working conditions and higher wages.

Trust

a combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement, especially to reduce competition, and keep prices high.

Vertical Integration

An approach typical of traditional mass production in which a company controls all phases of a highly complex production process.

Darth Vader

Evil ruler of The Empire

William "Boss" Tweed

This New York City politician, arranged schemes that allowed he and his cronies to steal about $200 million dollars from New York. He was eventually sentenced to prison in 1871. (p. 301)

Samuel Gompers

First leader of the American Federation of Labor. An american labor union.

Jacob Riis

journalist and photographer who exposed the horrible conditions in New York City tenements, by taking pictures.

James J. Hill

built the great northern railroad

George Eastman

1888, lightweight Kodak camera that make photography an affordable pastime and history is documented in pictures

J.P. Morgan

Banker who buys out Carnegie Steel and renames it to U.S. Steel. Was a philanthropist in a way; he gave all the money needed for WWI and was payed back. Was one of the "Robber barons"

George Westinghouse

He was a pioneer in dealing with electrical things. He developed the alternating current system we use today for electricity.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

United States financier who accumulated great wealth from railroad and shipping businesses (1794-1877)

Edwin Drake

American pioneer who drilled the first oil well near Titusville, Pennsylvania

Karl Marx

Predicted that workers would cause a revolution and take all private property and create a new government and economic system.