Mr Bramer's Gilded Age & Progressive Era Review

Gilded Age

Time period 1865-1896. Period of American expansion and industrialism also known for over-the-top displays of wealth.

Andrew Carnegie

American industrialist who made his money in the steel industry; used strategy of vertical integration to create a monopoly

Gospel of Wealth

Book written by Andrew Carnegie, spoke of the responsibility of the rich to share their money with the needy.

J.P. Morgan

American banker and financier; created U.S. Steel company.

John D. Rockefeller

American industrialist who made his money in the oil industry; created Standard Oil Company; used strategy of horizontal consolidation to create a monopoly.

Vanderbilts

Leading American family of the Gilded Age that made their money in the railroad and shipping industries

Horatio Alger

Author of novels that all had the same "rags to riches" plot - that anyone could succeed in America if they worked hard enough.

Herbert Spencer

Man who coined the phrase "Survival of the fittest" and related Darwin's theory of evolution to human society.

Robber Barons

Negative side/interpretation of big businessmen during the Gilded Age (treated workers unfairly and took advantage of others on their path to wealth)

Captains of Industry

Positive side/interpretation of big businessmen during the Gilded Age (successful businessmen who also supported their communities).

Social Darwinism

The idea that certain people in human society worked harder, adapted better and deserved to be more successful than others.

Vertical Integration

Path to monopoly where you try to control every step of the supply and production process of your product.

Horizontal Integration

Path to monopoly where you try to buy out all of your competitors.

Monopoly

Having total control of an industry and being the only/main producer of your product.

Trust

To have a monopoly in their industry, many big businessmen of the late 1800s created this first; what looks like competing companies but they are controlled by virtually the same boards of directors

cartel

companies in the same business that agree to fix prices at a particular rate so as not to compete

Social Gospel

idea the wealthy have a responsibility to give back to society

dumbbell tenement

type of building where poor immigrants lived

political machine

a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses receive rewards for their efforts.

socialism

a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

collective bargaining

negotiation of wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of employees

lockout

the exclusion of employees by their employer from their place of work until certain terms are agreed to

scab

a person who refuses to strike or to join a labor union or who takes over the job responsibilities of a striking worker

labor union

an organized association of workers, often in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests

strike

refuse to work as a form of organized protest, typically in an attempt to obtain a particular concession or concessions from their employer

Sherman Anti-trust Act

first attempt by the US government to limit the power of monopolies

Haymarket Square Riot

a labor protest rally that turned into deadly after someone, thought to be an anarchist, threw a bomb at police; brought an end to the Knights of Labor

Pullman Strike

railroad labor protest that ended when the federal government got involved on the side of the railroad

Boss Tweed

Leader of the Tammany Hall political machine

Civil Service System

a system or method of appointing government employees on the basis of competitive examinations, rather than by political patronage...Pendleton Act

Credit Mobilier Scandal

stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad formed a company to build railroads and sold shares to Congressmen who pushed for the Union Pacific to build railroads

graft

illegal use of one's position to gain something of value (ex. money, political power

initiative

public petition that proposes legislation

Mugwumps

Republican that switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party to support Grover Cleveland in the election of 1884

Pendleton Act

law that created the Civil Service System

recall

a special election to try and remove a public official from office before the end of their term

referendum

an issue that is decided by popular vote

secret ballot/Australian ballot

voting method where a voter's choice of candidate stays confidential

Tammany Hall

New York City's Democratic political machine in the late 1800s

Thomas Nast

created political cartoons and may of America's most well-known political symbols; many of his cartoons were on the subject of Tammany Hall and political corruption

Whiskey Ring Scandal

over 100 government officials were bribed by distillers to allow illegal breaks on extremely high liquor taxes

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolishes and prohibits slavery

14th Amendment (1868)

Grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the US"; it forbids any state to deny any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws." Most important law ever passed besides original Constitution and Bill of Rights. It has been the vehicle for the expansion of civil rights, women's rights, gay rights among other movements. It also allowed for the "incorporation doctrine" which means the application of the national Bill of Rights to the states.

15th Amendment (1870)

States cannot deny any person the right to vote because of race.

Segregation

Separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Established separate but equal, legalized segregation

NACW

National Association of Colored Women; founded in 1896 to improve living and working conditions for African-American women

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Leaders of the women's suffrage movement

Suffrage

the right to vote

NAWSA

National American Woman Suffrage Association; founded in 1890 to help women win the right to vote

The Progressive Movement

an early 20th century reform movement seeking to return control of the government to the people, to restore economic opportunities, and to correct injustices in American life

Muckrakers

Journalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public

The seventeeth amendment

established direct election of U.S. senators

Robert M. La Follette

A proponent of Progressivism and a vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, WWI, and the League of Nations. He ran for President as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in 1924.

intiative

a procedure by which citizens can propose new laws or state constitutional amendments

Florence Kelley

An advocate for improving the lives of women and children. (Social Welfare). She was appointed chief inspector of factories in Illinois. She helped win passage of the Illinois factory act in 1893 which prohibited child labor and limited women's working hours.