Gilded Age, Progressive Era, Imperialism, World War I

Gilded Age (dates)

Period in American history from roughly the 1870s to early 1900s

Gilded Age (industrialization)

Marked by rapid industrialization, economic growth, and major social/political change

Bessemer Process

Steel-making innovation that allowed mass production of high-quality steel

Urbanization

Growth of cities as people moved from rural areas for industrial jobs (e.g. NY, Chicago, Detroit)

Thomas Edison (electricity)

Pioneered electricity; invented the practical incandescent light bulb and electric power system

Nikola Tesla

Made key contributions to alternating current (AC) electrical systems used in modern power grids

Corporate Consolidation

Rise of large corporations/trusts (e.g. Standard Oil, Carnegie Steel, railroads) dominating industries

Knights of Labor

Early labor union that emerged to advocate for workers' rights

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Labor union that emerged after the Knights of Labor to fight for better conditions

Immigration (Gilded Age)

Massive influx of European immigrants provided cheap labor for industry

Robber Barons

Term for powerful industrialists/financiers who amassed enormous wealth (e.g. Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan)

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of Standard Oil; dominated the oil industry through vertical integration; one of richest people in history

Andrew Carnegie

Steel magnate who revolutionized steel production; known for philanthropy (libraries, education)

J.P. Morgan

Powerful financier/banker who consolidated and stabilized the financial industry, funded major projects

Monopolies and Trusts

Large corporations controlling vast segments of the economy, raising concerns about unfair practices

Telephone

Patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, revolutionizing long-distance communication

Air Brake

Invented by George Westinghouse; made train travel safer

Pullman Sleeping Car

Innovation that made train travel more comfortable

Henry Bessemer

Developed the Bessemer process, revolutionizing mass steel production

Standard Oil

Rockefeller's company that led development of the oil industry (refining, pipelines, tankers)

Phonograph

Edison's device (patented 1877) for recording and playing back sound

Typewriter

Invented by Christopher Sholes in 1867; simplified writing/documentation

Mechanical Refrigeration

Developed by Carl von Linde; revolutionized food preservation and cold storage

First Skyscraper

The Home Insurance Building in Chicago, completed 1885, made possible by steel frames and elevators

Suburban Growth Causes

Driven by overcrowded/polluted cities, better transportation, rising incomes, and desire for social prestige

Streetcar Lines

Transportation improvement that made commuting from suburbs to city center practical

Homestead Act of 1862

Government policy encouraging westward expansion/suburban settlement via land offers

Working Hours (Gilded Age)

Typically 10–16 hours a day, six days a week, with no standard workweek regulations

Wages (Gilded Age)

Often low, especially for unskilled laborers; poverty was widespread

Child Labor

Children as young as 6–7 worked in factories/mines for far less pay than adults

Workplace Safety (Gilded Age)

Virtually nonexistent regulations; high risk of injury or death in factories, mines, construction

Job Security (Gilded Age)

Minimal; workers could be fired without cause, and unions were often suppressed

Employee Benefits (Gilded Age)

No health insurance, retirement plans, or paid time off existed for workers

Sweatshops

Cramped, unhealthy workplaces with very low pay, common in garment manufacturing

Labor Reform Outcome

Labor struggles eventually led to the 8-hour workday and right to collective bargaining

Thomas Edison (inventor)

Inventor/entrepreneur known for the light bulb, phonograph, and motion pictures; founded General Electric

Henry Ford

Revolutionized the auto industry with mass production techniques; founded Ford Motor Company

Susan B. Anthony

Prominent women's suffrage activist who helped secure voting rights for women

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court case that upheld racial segregation under "separate but equal," legalizing Jim Crow segregation until overturned by Brown v. Board (1954).

Ida B. Wells

Black journalist/activist who led a national anti-lynching campaign, exposing lynching as racial terror rather than punishment for crime.

Booker T. Washington

Founder of Tuskegee Institute; advocated vocational education and gradual economic progress, urging short-term accommodation with segregation ("Atlanta Compromise," 1895).

W.E.B. Du Bois

Harvard-educated scholar, co-founder of the NAACP; demanded immediate civil/political equality, criticized Washington's accommodationism, edited The Crisis.

Jane Addams

Founded Hull House (1889) in Chicago, a settlement house serving immigrants; advocated labor/social reform; won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Henry Ford

Industrialist who pioneered the moving assembly line (Fordism) and introduced the $5 workday to cut turnover and boost worker purchasing power.

Eugene Debs

Labor leader and five-time Socialist Party presidential candidate; helped found the American Railway Union; imprisoned for opposing WWI.

Frederick Taylor

Engineer who developed "scientific management," using time-and-motion studies to maximize industrial efficiency and output.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Radical labor union ("Wobblies," founded 1905) that sought to unite all workers, including unskilled/immigrant laborers, into "One Big Union."

Margaret Sanger

Birth control advocate who opened the first US birth control clinic (1916) and founded what became Planned Parenthood, defying Comstock-era obscenity laws.

Theodore Roosevelt

President (1901–1909); "trust-buster" who distinguished "good" vs. "bad" trusts, pushed conservation, later ran on the 1912 "New Nationalism" platform.

The Jungle

Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel exposing brutal conditions in Chicago's meatpacking industry; led to the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.

Angel Island

Immigration station in San Francisco Bay (opened 1910); main entry point for Asian immigrants, who faced long detentions/interrogations under exclusion laws.

Muckraker

Term (coined by Theodore Roosevelt) for investigative journalists exposing corporate corruption and social injustice to spur reform.

New Freedom

Woodrow Wilson's 1912 platform emphasizing breaking up monopolies and restoring free market competition rather than regulating big business.

Federal Reserve Act (1913)

Created the Federal Reserve System, the US central bank, to regulate currency, banking, and credit.

New Nationalism

Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 platform calling for strong/strict federal regulation (not breakup) of big business, distinguished between “good” and “bad” trusts, paired with social welfare reforms (8 hr work days, child labor, min wage, etc)

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

Supreme Court case upholding limits on women's working hours based on their supposed physical vulnerability — protective but reinforced gender stereotypes.

William H. Taft

President (1909–1913); pursued more aggressive court-based trust-busting than Roosevelt but alienated progressives, splitting the GOP in 1912.

Queen Liliuokalani

Last reigning monarch of Hawaii; overthrown in 1893 by American businessmen backed by US Marines, paving the way for the annexation of Hawaii in 1898.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized, exaggerated newspaper reporting (e.g., Hearst's New York Journal) used to inflame public outrage over Spanish actions in Cuba and push the US toward war in 1898.

USS Maine

US battleship sent to Havana Harbor that exploded in February 1898, killing about three-quarters of its crew; blamed on Spain by the American press and used as a rallying cry for war.

Spanish-American War

1898 war in which the US defeated Spain in about fifteen weeks, gaining Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines and securing Cuban independence under US oversight.

Rough Riders

The 1st US Volunteer Cavalry, led by Theodore Roosevelt, who won fame (and made Roosevelt a national celebrity), SPAM war (Cuba)

Teller Amendment

1898 congressional resolution promising that the US would not annex Cuba and would leave control of the island to its people after the war with Spain.

Platt Amendment

1901 amendment restricting Cuban sovereignty by giving the US the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and maintain a naval base (Guantanamo Bay); a condition of ending US military occupation of Cuba.

Open Door Policy

1899 policy proposed by Secretary of State John Hay calling for equal trading access to China for all Western powers, aiming to prevent China from being carved into exclusive spheres of influence.

Panama Canal

Canal across Panama secured after Roosevelt backed a 1903 Panamanian revolution against Colombia, granting the US control of the Canal Zone to build a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific.

Roosevelt Corollary

1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine asserting the US right to intervene preemptively in Latin American nations to correct financial or political "wrongdoing," justifying repeated US interventions in the Caribbean.

Big Stick Diplomacy

Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy approach ("speak softly and carry a big stick") emphasizing a strong navy and the credible threat of force to project American power abroad.

Dollar Diplomacy

Foreign policy strategy (used by Roosevelt and expanded under Taft) of using American loans and investment, rather than military force, to extend US economic and political influence in Latin America.

Moral Imperialism

Justification of US expansion as a civilizing, uplifting mission — framing intervention and control over "weaker" nations as an act of moral duty rather than pure self-interest.

Anti-Imperialist League

Organization founded in 1899 (members included Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, and Jane Addams) that opposed US annexation of the Philippines and other imperial ventures as contrary to American democratic ideals.

American Exceptionalism

The belief that the United States has a unique, providential mission or destiny setting it apart from other nations, often used to justify expansion and intervention abroad.

Annexation of Hawaii

US annexation of the Hawaiian Islands in July 1898, sought for their strategic Pacific location (Pearl Harbor) and economic value, following the earlier overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani.

Treaty of Paris (1898)

Treaty ending the Spanish-American War; Spain ceded Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the US (Philippines for $20 million) and relinquished claims to Cuba.