Period 6

Cornelius Vanderbilt

definition: railroad and steamship magnate who built a transportation empire in the 1800s and controlled major lines like New York Central, significance: early symbol of the “robber baron” era and corporate consolidation in railroads

Transcontinental Railroad

definition: first rail line linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts completed in 1869, significance: dramatically reduced cross country travel time and opened the West to large scale settlement and trade

Union and Central Pacific RR

definition: the two companies that constructed the first transcontinental line Union Pacific from Omaha westward and Central Pacific from Sacramento eastward, significance: relied on immigrant labor and federal aid and symbolized corporate power in western expansion

Speculation

definition: risky investment in assets mainly for quick profit rather than long term value, significance: fueled railroad overbuilding and financial bubbles that contributed to late nineteenth century panics

Panic of 1893

definition: severe national depression triggered by railroad and financial collapses beginning in 1893, significance: caused mass unemployment strengthened calls for reform and helped the Populist and later progressive movements

Bankruptcy of RR

definition: widespread failures of overextended railroads unable to pay debts, especially during downturns like 1893, significance: led to consolidation under powerful bankers and highlighted instability in unregulated capitalism

Industrial Growth

definition: rapid expansion of manufacturing output technology and big business after the Civil War, significance: transformed the United States into a leading industrial power while intensifying inequality and labor conflict

Andrew Carnegie

definition: Scottish born industrialist who built a dominant steel company, significance: exemplified vertical integration massive philanthropy and the contradictions of Gilded Age wealth

Vertical Integration

definition: business strategy of controlling all stages of production from raw materials to distribution, significance: used by firms like Carnegie Steel to cut costs crush competitors and build large scale corporations

US Steel

definition: giant steel corporation formed in 1901 when J P Morgan bought Carnegie Steel and other firms, significance: first billion dollar company and symbol of corporate consolidation and financial power

John D. Rockefeller

definition: founder of Standard Oil who dominated oil refining, significance: became a leading example of monopoly power and shaped antitrust debates

Horizontal Integration

definition: business strategy of merging with or buying out competitors in the same industry, significance: enabled trusts like Standard Oil to control markets and fix prices

Standard Oil trust

definition: corporate organization created in 1882 to hold stock in many affiliated oil companies under a small group of trustees, significance: became the classic example of a monopoly that provoked antitrust laws

J.P. Morgan

definition: leading Wall Street financier and banker, significance: orchestrated major mergers including US Steel and stabilized but also dominated the national economy

Bessemer Steel

definition: steel making process that blew air through molten iron to remove impurities quickly, significance: slashed costs enabled mass production of steel and underpinned railroads skyscrapers and heavy industry

Second Industrial Revolution

definition: phase of industrialization from late 1800s into early 1900s emphasizing steel chemicals electricity and communications, significance: reshaped work urban life and global power balances

Alexander Graham Bell

definition: inventor who patented the telephone in 1876, significance: revolutionized communication and fostered new national and business networks

Thomas Edison

definition: prolific American inventor of devices such as the phonograph and a practical incandescent light system, significance: helped create electric power networks and consumer technologies that transformed everyday life

Packaged Foods

definition: factory processed and branded foods sold in sealed packages, significance: extended shelf life standardized diets and supported mass marketing and national brands

Mail Order Companies

definition: firms like Sears and Montgomery Ward that sold goods through catalogs delivered by post, significance: brought consumer goods to rural areas and expanded a national consumer culture

Consumer Economy

definition: economic system driven by mass production and mass consumption of goods, significance: turned Americans increasingly into purchasers of branded products and linked wages credit and advertising

Advertising

definition: paid messages in media promoting goods and services, significance: stimulated demand for mass produced products and helped shape modern consumer identities

Federal Land Grants and Loans

definition: government aid in land and credit given especially to railroads, significance: sped up western development but encouraged corruption overbuilding and speculation

Interstate Commerce Act of 1886

definition: federal law passed in 1887 to regulate railroad rates and practices, significance: created the Interstate Commerce Commission and marked a first major step toward federal regulation of big business

Antitrust movement

definition: late nineteenth century campaign against monopolies and trusts, significance: pushed Congress and courts to restrain corporate concentration and protect competition

Sherman AntiTrust Act of 1890

definition: federal law banning combinations that restrain trade or attempt to monopolize, significance: first national antitrust statute though weak at first and later used to break major trusts

US v E.C. Knight

definition: 1895 Supreme Court case limiting the Sherman Act by holding that manufacturing was not interstate commerce, significance: shielded many monopolies from federal action until later reforms

Credit Mobilier

definition: scandal in which Union Pacific insiders created a construction company and overcharged the railroad while bribing politicians with stock, significance: exposed deep corruption in railroad finance and federal subsidies

Causes of Labor Discontent

definition: factors such as long hours low pay unsafe conditions and lack of job security, significance: pushed workers toward strikes unions and demands for labor legislation

Anti-union tactics

definition: employer methods like blacklists lockouts strikebreakers and court injunctions to block organizing, significance: weakened unions and often provoked violent confrontations

Railroad Strike of 1877

definition: national wave of strikes starting on the Baltimore and Ohio after wage cuts, significance: first major nationwide labor upheaval and showed the power of federal troops in suppressing strikes

Knights of Labor

definition: inclusive labor organization founded in 1869 open to most workers, significance: grew rapidly in the 1880s advocated broad reforms then collapsed after the Haymarket backlash

Haymarket Bombing

definition: 1886 Chicago labor rally where a bomb killed police during an eight hour day protest, significance: discredited radicals and unions in public opinion and hurt the Knights of Labor

American Federation of Labor

definition: national federation of craft unions formed in the 1880s, significance: focused on skilled workers and bread and butter gains and became the leading union body

Samuel Gompers

definition: cigar maker and key founder leader of the AFL, significance: promoted pragmatic unionism centered on wages hours and working conditions

Pullman Strike

definition: 1894 strike at the Pullman car company that spread into a national rail boycott, significance: ended by federal troops and court injunctions and highlighted government alignment with business

Eugene Debs

definition: leader of the American Railway Union and figure in the Pullman Strike, significance: his jailing helped radicalize him into a prominent socialist and critic of capitalism

Railroad Workers (Chinese, Irish, veterans)

definition: main labor groups building transcontinental lines including Chinese on the Central Pacific and Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans on the Union Pacific, significance: showed reliance on immigrant and transient labor under harsh dangerous conditions

White Collar Workers

definition: salaried office and professional employees such as clerks managers and salespeople, significance: formed a growing middle layer between owners and labor and supported urban middle class culture

Expansion of the Middle Class

definition: growth of people with moderate incomes in business professions and government, significance: increased demand for education housing and consumer goods and shaped politics and reform

Factory Wage Workers

definition: laborers paid hourly or daily wages in industrial plants, significance: became the largest segment of the workforce and central actors in union and labor struggles

Women and Children Factory work

definition: employment of women and minors in mills shops and factories at low wages, significance: raised social concern about exploitation and fueled progressive labor and education reforms

Laissez-faire Capitalism

definition: doctrine that markets function best with minimal government interference, significance: justified limited regulation in the Gilded Age and allowed large trusts to flourish

Concentration of Wealth

definition: accumulation of vast fortunes in the hands of a small elite, significance: sharpened class divisions and inspired criticism reform and charitable responses

Social Darwinism

definition: ideology applying natural selection ideas to society and business competition, significance: used to defend inequality oppose welfare and legitimize dominance of successful capitalists

Gospel of Wealth

definition: Andrew Carnegie’s argument that the rich must act as trustees for society by funding public institutions, significance: encouraged philanthropy while accepting large wealth gaps

Great American Desert

definition: nineteenth century label for the semi arid Great Plains region, significance: initially discouraged settlement until new farming methods and railroads promoted migration

Buffalo Herds

definition: once vast populations of American bison on the Plains, significance: their near extermination devastated Plains Indian economies and eased white settlement and cattle ranching

Great Plains

definition: broad grassland region between the Mississippi River and the Rockies, significance: became the heartland of commercial farming ranching and key conflicts with Native peoples

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882

definition: federal law barring most Chinese labor immigration and denying naturalization, significance: first major ethnic immigration restriction and precedent for later nativist policies

Cattle Drives

definition: long distance movement of herds from Texas ranges to northern railheads, significance: created the cowboy era and linked western ranching to eastern meat markets

Homestead Act

definition: 1862 law granting 160 acres of public land to settlers who improved it for five years, significance: spurred western migration though many claims failed or went to speculators

Causes of Indian Wars

definition: pressures from railroad building miners ranchers homesteaders and repeated treaty violations, significance: produced decades of violent conflict ending in forced reservation life

Assimilation

definition: policy of absorbing Native Americans into white culture and economy, significance: undermined tribal identities through boarding schools allotment and bans on traditional practices

Little Big Horn

definition: 1876 battle in which Sioux and Cheyenne forces defeated Custer’s Seventh Cavalry, significance: last major Native victory that provoked a harsher US military campaign

Dawes Act of 1887

definition: law dividing tribal lands into individual allotments for Native families and selling surplus to whites, significance: caused massive loss of Indian land and advanced assimilation aims

Ghost Dance Movement

definition: late nineteenth century Native religious movement promising renewal and the return of the buffalo, significance: alarmed authorities and contributed to the Wounded Knee massacre

Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

definition: New Deal law reversing allotment promoting tribal self government and restoring some lands, significance: marked a shift from assimilation toward limited tribal autonomy

Forest Reserve Act of 1891

definition: law allowing the president to set aside public timberlands as forest reserves, significance: foundation for the national forest system and federal conservation policy

Forest Management Act of 1897

definition: statute providing guidelines for using and administering forest reserves, significance: balanced conservation with regulated logging mining and grazing

John Muir, Sierra Club

definition:a naturalist who founded the Sierra Club in 1892, significance: championed preservation of wilderness and influenced creation of national parks

Agriculture Dominance

definition: continued central role of farming in the southern and western economy after the Civil War, significance: left many regions vulnerable to price swings debt and political movements like Populism

Tuskegee Institute

definition: vocational school for African Americans founded by Booker T Washington in Alabama, significance: emphasized industrial education as a path to economic progress under segregation

Civil Rights cases of 1883

definition: Supreme Court decisions striking down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 as unconstitutional, significance: allowed private segregation and paved the way for Jim Crow laws

Plessy v Ferguson

definition: 1896 Supreme Court ruling upholding state segregation under “separate but equal”, significance: legitimized Jim Crow segregation until overturned in the mid twentieth century

Jim Crow Laws

definition: state and local statutes enforcing racial segregation mainly in the South, significance: institutionalized second class citizenship for African Americans

Literacy Tests, Poll Taxes, Grandfather Clauses

definition: voting barriers requiring reading tests fees or ancestry based exemptions, significance: effectively disfranchised most Black voters while protecting many whites

Lynch Mobs

definition: groups that carried out extralegal hangings and violence often against African Americans, significance: terrorized Black communities and enforced racial hierarchy without due process

African American Migration

definition: movement of Black southerners to western towns and later northern cities, significance: sought escape from oppression and reshaped urban demographics and politics

Ida B. Wells

definition: African American journalist and activist who investigated and publicized lynching, significance: exposed its use as a tool of racial control and helped launch anti lynching campaigns

Booker T. Washington

definition: educator and leader advocating vocational training and economic self help for Blacks, significance: urged accommodation to segregation in exchange for limited progress and white support

National Grange Movement

definition: organization of farmers founded in 1867 to promote social and economic cooperation, significance: led efforts to regulate railroad rates and created farmer owned enterprises

Granger Laws

definition: state regulations of railroads and grain elevators championed by the Grange, significance: tested government power to control business and led to key Supreme Court cases

Munn v Illinois

definition: 1877 Supreme Court case upholding state regulation of grain warehouse rates, significance: affirmed that businesses affected with a public interest could be regulated

Wabash v Illinois

definition: 1886 Supreme Court decision limiting state power over interstate railroads, significance: prompted Congress to enact the Interstate Commerce Act

Interstate Commerce Commission

definition: federal agency created to oversee railroad practices and later other transport, significance: first permanent independent regulatory commission

Ocala Platform of 1890

definition: Populist oriented farm movement program calling for lower tariffs income tax and monetary and railroad reforms, significance: foreshadowed demands adopted by the Populist Party

Census of 1890

definition: national count showing that the frontier line had largely disappeared, significance: influenced Turner’s frontier thesis and views of a new urban industrial America

Frederick Jackson Turner

definition: historian who argued in 1893 that the frontier shaped American democracy and character, significance: his thesis framed debates about expansion and national identity

Boomtowns

definition: rapidly growing mining or railroad settlements in the West, significance: illustrated volatile resource driven growth often followed by decline

New South

definition: vision of a modern industrial diversified southern economy after Reconstruction, significance: mixed limited industrial gains with continued racial oppression and agricultural dependence

Sharecropping, Tenant Farming

definition: systems where farmers worked land for a share of the crop or rent often with supplied credit, significance: trapped many Black and poor white farmers in chronic debt and quasi serfdom

Old Immigrants vs New Immigrants

definition: old immigrants mainly from northern and western Europe new immigrants mainly from southern and eastern Europe and Asia, significance: cultural and religious differences fueled nativism and restrictionist policies

Statue of Liberty

definition: French gifted monument dedicated in 1886 in New York Harbor, significance: became a symbol of freedom and welcome for immigrants

Immigration Act of 1882

definition: early federal immigration law that excluded certain categories such as convicts and the poor and imposed a head tax, significance: signaled growing federal role in immigration control

Ellis Island/Angel Island

definition: main federal immigrant inspection stations in New York Harbor and San Francisco Bay, significance: processed millions of newcomers and symbolized differing experiences for European and Asian arrivals

Tenements

definition: crowded multi story urban apartment buildings housing the poor, significance: associated with unhealthy conditions and spurred housing and sanitation reforms

Political Machines

definition: party organizations that traded services and jobs for votes often corrupt, significance: dominated city politics and also provided some welfare like aid to immigrants

Tammany Hall

definition: Democratic political machine that controlled New York City politics for decades, significance: epitomized urban corruption yet integrated immigrants into politics

Urban Reformers

definition: activists journalists and professionals seeking to improve city living conditions and governance, significance: pushed for housing health and government reforms

Jane Addams

definition: social worker who co founded Hull House in Chicago, significance: pioneer of settlement houses and progressive era social reform

Settlement Houses

definition: community centers in poor urban neighborhoods offering services and education, significance: helped immigrants adapt and fostered progressive activism

Susan B. Anthony

definition: leading suffrage and women’s rights advocate, significance: campaigned nationally for women’s vote and equal legal status

Clarence Darrow

definition: famous defense lawyer known for representing labor and radicals, significance: symbolized progressive legal advocacy and later defended evolution in the Scopes Trial

WEB Du Bois

definition: African American intellectual and co founder of the NAACP, significance: demanded immediate civil rights and higher education challenging Booker T Washington

Mark Twain

definition: influential American writer and satirist, significance: coined the term Gilded Age to critique the era’s superficial prosperity and deep corruption

Spectator sports

definition: organized games like baseball boxing and later football drawing paying audiences, significance: became a major form of mass leisure and community identity

Mass Circulation of Newspapers

definition: growth of cheap widely read dailies using sensationalism and advertising, significance: shaped public opinion and created national media figures

Growth of Leisure Time

definition: increased non work hours for many urban workers, significance: supported new industries in entertainment travel and recreation

Jazz, Blues, Ragtime

definition: musical styles with African American roots that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, significance: transformed American culture and influenced global music