Immigrant/ Industry Social Studies Review

Labor Union

An organization of workers that collectively work together to improve things like their wages, benefits, and working conditions.

Settlement House

A community center established for immigrants and poor people. This center provided things like social services and educational opportunities. 

Free Enterprise System

An economic model where business or individuals control the means of production (driven by profit of competition), with minimal government intervention.

Monopoly

When a company has complete and total control over a product in the market. They almost always take down other businesses which leads to higher costs of certain products.

Tenement

An apartment building (usually overcrowded, cheap, and poorly built) that housed many immigrants and low-income workers.

Laissez-faire

An economic philosophy that opposes government intervention in business affairs.

Capitalism

An economic system characterized by private ownership and which the free market alone controls the production on goods and services.

Trust

A business arrangement where a group of corporations transfer their shares to a single set of trustees, allowing the trustees to control multiple companies in an industry to eliminate competition.

Strike

An organized work stoppage by employees to protest about their grievances (usually done for better working conditions, higher pay, or more benefits from their employer).

Persecution

The systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group.

Nativism/nativist

A person who is born to a certain country and thinks immigrants are below them (against the process of naturalization).

Quota System

A policy that limits how much of something can come into a country (immigrants, goods, etc.)

Naturalization

The process of getting citizenship for a country you weren’t born in/aren’t from.

Push Factors

Reasons why someone would want to leave a country (prosecution, unfair government, slavery).

Pull Factors

Reasons why someone would want to enter a country (better job opportunities, better pay, freedom of religion).   

Assimilation

The process by which a group adopts the customs, values, and culture of the dominant group (usually happens when someone moves to a different country).

Discrimination

The act of treating a group differently than another group.

Gentlemen’s Agreement (1907)

Restricted Japanese immigration to the United States.

Refugee

Someone who has been forced to flee their home country and has crossed an international border to seek safety.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

U.S. federal law that suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years and prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens.

Ellis Island

Island between New York and New Jersey. This is where immigrants would get processed before they stepped on U.S soil. 

U.S Citizenship

Can be obtained by being born here, taking the Civics Test, or having parents (at least 1) from this country.

Andrew Carnegie

Monopolized steel (business was around $480 million back then, now it is around $309 billion)

J.P Morgan

Monopolized banking and finance (business was around $1.8 billion)

John D. Rockefeller

Monopolized oil (business was around $1.4 billion at his death, today is worth around $435 billion)

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Monopolized shipping and railroads (business was worth around $105 million, today is worth around $3.1 billion)

Robber Baron

A person who uses ruthless and unethical business practices, such as exploiting workers and engaging in monopolistic trusts.

Captain of Industry

Business leaders who have significantly influenced their industry through innovation, expansion, and job creation (uses ethical ways).

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Fire that occurred in NYC because of a match/cigarette that was dropped. The doors were locked so that the workers didn’t protest with the Union Workers.This fire took 146 lives of factory workers.