American Industrialization, Labor, and Imperialism

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from late 19th and early 20th-century American history including industrialization, labor movements, and imperialism.

Cross of Gold

An impassioned speech by William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee in $1896$, criticizing gold-standard monetary policy and stating farmers were being crucified on a cross of gold.

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

An $1890$ law requiring the government to buy twice as much silver to increase money in circulation; it was repealed in $1893$ by President Cleveland after the panic of $1893$.

Interstate Commerce Act 1887

A law that reestablished the federal government's right to supervise railroad activities and created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

George Pullman

The inventor of the railway sleeping car.

George Westinghouse

The inventor of the railway air brake, which allowed all cars of a train to stop simultaneously.

Thomas Edison

An inventor of many things, including the phonograph, light bulb, and motion pictures, who also had a winter home in Fort Myers.

Bessemer Process

Developed around $1850$ by Henry Bessemer and William Kelly, this was a cheap and efficient method for producing steel.

Samuel Morse

The inventor of the telegraph, which enabled instant communication over long distances.

Alexander Graham Bell

The inventor of the telephone in $1875$.

Nikola Tesla

An inventor who developed an alternating current (AC) motor that could transmit power further than direct current (DC) models.

John Albert Burr

An African American inventor who created the rotary-blade lawnmower.

Jan Ernst Matzeliger

An African American inventor who created a machine that attaches the upper and lower parts of a shoe.

Lewis Howard Latimer

An African American inventor who improved the method for producing carbon filaments used in light bulbs.

Madam CJ Walker

An African American inventor known for creating cosmetic products.

Business Monopoly

A situation where a single company has total control over an industry, often justified by the theory of Social Darwinism.

Social Darwinism

The belief that successful individuals possessed superior talents that allowed them to thrive; used to justify free competition and minimal government regulation.

Sherman Antitrust Act 1890

A law making it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or countries, though its vague language limited its effectiveness.

Knights of Labor

A nationwide labor union created in $1869$ open to all workers; it supported an $8 \text{ hour}$ workday and equal pay for equal work.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A labor union of skilled workers founded by Samuel Gompers in $1886$ that focused on collective bargaining and used strikes as a major tactic.

Child Labor

The practice of using children in industry, especially textile mills and coal mines; by $1910$, $1$ out of every $5$ children under $15 \text{ years}$ old was working outside the home.

Haymarket Riot 1886

A protest against police brutality where a bomb was thrown into a police line, leading to violence that turned the public against labor unions like the Knights of Labor.

Homestead Strike 1892

A violent strike by steelworkers in Pennsylvania triggered by wage cuts, eventually suppressed by the state militia.

Pullman Strike 1894

A strike involving nearly $4,000$ Pullman factory employees and railroad workers near Chicago that shut down Western freight and passenger traffic until the Army intervened.

Chinese Exclusion Act

An $1882$ law that banned Chinese immigration of skilled and unskilled laborers for $10 \text{ years}$; it was not repealed until $1943$.

Gentleman's Agreement

A $1907\text{-}08$ agreement where Japan limited emigration of unskilled workers to the U.S. in exchange for the repeal of San Francisco's school segregation order.

Meat Inspection Act

A $1906$ law prompted by Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' that regulated the meatpacking industry.

Pure Food and Drug Act

A $1906$ law that halted the sale of contaminated food and medicines and required truth in labeling.

National Women's Suffrage Association

An organization founded in $1869$ by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to push for women's voting rights.

Great Migration

The movement of $6 \text{ million}$ African Americans from the rural South to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West between $1910$ and the $1960\text{s}$.

Henry Flagler

An industrialist who built hotels on Florida's Gold Coast and established the Florida East Coast Railroad from Jacksonville to Key West.

Vertical Integration

A business strategy where a company controls all levels of production, including raw materials, manufacturing, and distribution.

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy where companies producing similar products merge or are purchased by a single entity.

Imperialism

The policy where stronger nations extend economic, political, or military control over weaker territories.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

The author of 'The Influence of Sea Power upon History' who advocated for a strong naval fleet and a canal through Panama.

Yellow Press

Also known as yellow journalism, this is a technique of sensationalizing and exaggerating news events to attract and enrage readers.