heimler apush unit 6

Bessemer Process

A process for making steel more efficiently, patented in 1856, allowed for mass production of railroad tracks

Laissez-faire economics

economic system where government should not interfere in the marketplace

Great Railroad Strike

1877 A large number of railroad workers went on strike because of wage cuts. After a month of strikes, President Hayes sent troops to stop the rioting.

Haymarket Square Riot

A demonstration of striking laborers in Chicago in 1886 that turned violent, killing a dozen people and injuring over a hundred, public starting viewing labor unions as radical and violent

Knights of Labor

labor union that sought to organize all workers and focused on broad social reforms, powerful voice for laborers but eventually failed because of the Haymarket Square Riot

American Federation of Labor

Successor to the Knights of Labor as the largest union in the country. It was an association of craft unions with over a million members

American Protective Association

An organization created by nativists in 1887 that campaigned for laws to restrict immigration

Indian Appropriations Act

1851 - The U.S. government reorganized Indian land and moved the Indians onto reservations.

Sioux Wars

lasted from 1876-1877 in response to the Indian Appropriations Act, the Sioux tribe took up arms against settlers and soldiers, lost

Ghost Dance Movement

1890 The last effort of Native Americans to resist US domination and drive whites from their ancestral lands, came through as a religious movement.

Dawes Act

1887 law that distributed reservation land to individual Native American owners similar to the homestead act, forced assimilation rather than violent suppression

Political Machine

Urban centers of power based on networks of political and economic loyalty, corrupted urban politics ex. NYC Tammany Hall

Hull House

example of a settlement home designed as a welfare agency for needy families, provided social and educational opportunities for working class people in the neighborhood, improved some of the conditions caused by poverty

Social Gospel

Christian faith practiced as a call not just to personal conversion but to social reform in urban communities

Patronage

party practice of winning elections by giving federal jobs and contracts to loyal supporters

Pendleton Act

reform measure that established the principle of federal employment on the basis of open, competitive exams and created the Civil Service Commission (regulate employment of civil servants)

How did the expansion of railroads affect the economy?

created an interconnected national economy, led to consumerism as goods became more widely available

Panic of 1893

Sharp economic downturn that began when the railroad industry faltered during the early 1890s followed by the collapse of many related industries, allowed large corporations to consolidate a majority of industry

Andrew Carnegie

dominated the steel industry through vertical integration (acquired all complementary business ex. mining operations, distribution to increase power)

John D. Rockefeller

Established the Standard Oil Company, the greatest monopoly known in history, through horizontal integration (deliberately hurting rival businesses in order to buy them out, taking over entire industry)

Gospel of Wealth

1889 book by Andrew Carnegie, called on those who accumulated wealth to share their riches for the betterment of society, promoted philanthropy

Social Darwnism

the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the "survival of the fittest," justified racism, nativism, and big business dominating the economy

Labor unions

an organized association of workers to improve wages and working conditions, used strikes to take advantage of large numbers

Where did most immigrants to Eastern US arrive from during this period?

Northern European (Ireland from Irish Potato Famine, Germany from failed democratic revolution)

How did labor unions react to increased immigration?

nativist backlash, perceived immigrants as competitive threat in workforce bc willing to work for lower wages

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law that prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers, prompted by nativists and labor groups

Homestead Act

1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.

reservation system

introduced in 1870, forced nations to live on barren land, it confined people so they could not support themselves in their accustomed way.

National Grange Movement

Grangers were organized farmers who eventually acquired enough political power to lobby for regulations and reform of railroads. Railroad companies exploited farmers through unfair shipping rates and competition for land ex. Interstate Commerce Commission/Act to regulate railroad rates

What role did women play in reform movements during this period?

fought for voting rights on a larger/national scale, increased support for the women-led temperance movement ex. NAWSA, Women's Christian Temperance Union, Anti-Saloon League

The New South

After the Civil War, southerners promoted a new vision for a self-sufficient southern economy built on laissez-faire capitalist values, industrial growth, and improved transportation. Henry Grady played an important role.

Plessy v. Ferguson

a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal, white supremacists claimed innocence under "separate but equal" and the 14th Amendment

How did black activists respond to post-civil war developments?

Muckrakers attempted to bring awareness of lynching and racism to public (Ida B. Wells), key leaders for civil rights continued to push for black self-sufficiency (Booker T. Washington), some sought refuge in Africa (led by Henry Turner)

Populist Party

U.S. political party formed in 1892 representing mainly farmers (speaking for the people), favoring free coinage of silver, increased income tax, labor reforms, and direct elections (limited power of political machines in voting booths)

Pacific Railway Act

1862 legislation to encourage the construction of a transcontinental railroad, land grants to railroad companies

Communications technology

Samuel Morse's telegraph 1844, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone 1876, transatlantic cable for international market

Exoduster Movement

African Americans who migrated from the South to the West after the Civil War. Between 40,000 and 70,000 former slaves left the South for Kansas.