U.S History Module 13 Key Terms

Ellis Island

a location for immigration station for inspection and processing

Angel Island

an island made for isolation; enforces new immigration laws and deals with the threat of disease from new people

Melting Pot

a mixture of people of different cultures and races who blended together by abandoning their native language and customs

Nativism

overt favoritism toward native-born Americans

Chinese exclusion act

banned all entry to all Chinese except students, teacher, merchants, tourists, and gov. officials

Gentlemen's agreement

1907-1908, Japan's gov. agreed to limit emigration of unskilled workers to the United States in exchange for the repeal of the San Francisco segregation order

urbanization

the process by which large numbers of people become permanently concentrated in relatively small areas, forming cities

Americanization Movement

activities that were designed to prepare foreign-born residents of the United States for full participation in citizenship

tenements

narrow, low-rise apartment buildings; very dirty, lacked plumbing and ventilation

Social Stratification

a society's categorization of its people into rankings based on factors like wealth, income, education, family background and power

Mass Transit

the movement of people within urban areas using group travel technologies such as buses and trains

Social Gospel Movement

a religious movement that arose in the second half of the nineteenth century which had the aim of combating injustice, suffering and poverty in society

Settlement houses

organizations that provided support services to the urban poor and European immigrants

Jane Addams

a peace and a leader of the settlement house movement in America

Social Mobility

the movement in time of individuals, families, or other social units between positions that help give the ability and opportunity to advance within a society

Political Machine

a party organization headed by a single boss of small group that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative of a city, county, or state

Graft

the act of taking advantage of your political position or government by taking money or property in dishonest or fraudulent ways

Boss Tweed

American politician that systematically plundered New York City with sums estimated between $30 million and $200 million

Patronage

the appointment or hiring or a person to a government post on the basis of partisan loyalty

Civil service

individuals other than military people who are employed by federal, state, or local government entities.

Rutherford B Hayes

19th president; oversaw the end of Reconstruction, began the efforts that led to civil service reform, and attempted to reconcile the divisions left over from the Civil war

James A. Garfield

20th president; advocated for agricultural technology, an educated electorate, and civil rights for African Americans; proposed civil reforms which were passed by congress in 1883 as Pendleton Cicil Service Reform Act.

Chester A Arthur

21st president; urges Congress to pass civil rights law

Pendleton Civil Service Act

provided that federal government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and that government employees be selected through competitive exams

Grover Cleveland

22nd and 24th president; centered on corruption, civil service reforms and scandals

Benjamin Harrison

23rd president; supported higher tariffs and wins passage of McKinley Tariff Act

Louis Sullivan

architect that designed the 10 story Wainwright Building in St. Louis

Daniel Burnham

designed an unusual building (skyscraper) for NYC, it is 285 ft and built in 1902

Frederick Law Olmsted

landscape architect led the movement for planned urban parks

Orville and Wilbur Wright

bicycle manufactures built engines powerful enough to keep "heavier than air" craft aloft

George Eastman

developed a series of more convenient alternatives to the heavy glass plates previously used

Aschan School

school of American Art led by Eakins's student, Robert Henri

Pragmatism

school of philosophical thought developed in U.S in 1870s by Charles Pierce and William James. Main goal: help reconcile tensions between science and morality and religions

Mark Twain

novelist and humorist (real name: Samuel Longhorne Clemens) that inspired a host of other young authors when he declared his independence of "literature and all that bosh"

Joseph Pulitzer

Hungarian immigrant; bought New York World in 1883; popular inventions such as Sunday edition, comics, sports and women's news

William Randolph Hearst

purchased the New York Morning Journal in 1895 and already owned the Sand Francisco Examiner

Rural Free Delivery (RFD)

system that bought packages directly to every home