APUSH Period 6 Study Guide (1865-1898)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the economic, political, and social aspects of US history during Period 6 (1865-1898).

Gilded Age

A period of astronomical economic growth, technological innovation, and manufacturing speed (1865-1898) that was simultaneously masking deep-seated political corruption and the exploitation of children, women, and immigrants.

Social Darwinism

The ideology that individuals at the bottom of the social structure are there because of their own shortcomings and poor choices, while the rich succeeded due to hard work.

Gospel of Wealth

The belief that the wealthy achieved their status through hard work but possess a responsibility to help the poor succeed.

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

The first federal authority to regulate railroad trade and freight prices, asserting the government's right to regulate trade between states.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

A federal law intended to prevent the formation of monopolies and regulate corporate consolidation.

Corporate Consolidation

The process where monopolies or big companies purposely outcompeted smaller ones to take hold of all business in an industry, leaving a handful of elites like Rockefeller and JP Morgan at the top.

Political Bosses

Powerful company elites who dominated Gilded Age politics and gained votes through their influence over company workers.

Spoils System

A political practice that was removed and outlawed during the Gilded Age in favor of Civil Service Reform.

Unions

Groups of workers that banded together to negotiate workplace issues; they were made illegal during this period and often associated with violence, such as the Knights of Labor during the Haymarket Square Riot.

People’s Party (Populists)

A political party advocating for progressive ideas like shorter workdays and a graduated income tax to combat the negative aspects of economic growth.

Spanish American War

A conflict resulting from the explosion of an American ship near Cuba, which ended Spanish colonial rule and gave America control over Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.

Ford’s Assembly Line

A production method characterized by repetitive, unskilled work that promoted faster production but caused a loss of identity among workers.

Crop-lien system

A system of sharecropping in the South where poor farmers borrowed land and supplies from landowners, often leading to permanent debt that essentially legalized slavery.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

A Supreme Court ruling that established the doctrine of 'separate but equal' in legal discrimination.

Jim Crow Laws

State laws that mandated racial segregation, functioning as black codes under a new name.

Booker T. Washington

An educated black man who encouraged African Americans to educate themselves and assimilate to white society to earn respect.

Homestead Act

A government initiative that gave away Western land at very cheap prices to encourage expansion and development.

Turner’s Frontier Thesis

The idea that the West represented an economic escape and an assurance of democracy; it warned that the end of the Frontier could put democracy in danger.

Tariff Debate

A political disagreement where Republicans in the North supported high tariffs to protect American businesses, while Democrats in the South and West supported low tariffs to help struggling farmers.

Silver vs. Gold Currency

The debate between Western debtors who favored silver for its lower value on the dollar and Eastern creditors who favored gold to keep the value of debt high.

Settlement Houses

Community centers, such as the one founded by Jane Addams, designed to help immigrants with education and assimilation into American society.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

A law that banned Chinese immigration into the United States.

Dawes Severalty Act

A law providing land distribution to Native American families, which failed as many were forced to sell their land to speculators due to poverty.

Carlisle Schools

Assimilation schools where Native American children were taken from their families to learn white customs.

Ghost Dance

A religious movement found as a source of comfort for Native Americans during the period of their displacement to reservation lands.