EOC Key Terms Review: Gilded Age

Industrialization

The creation of large factories to produce goods at a rapid pace. This time period first occurred in England first and began in the United States in the 1800s with the rise of factories in the Northeast.

Growth of Labor Unions

The Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor all fought for the rights of industrial workers. They fought for better pay, shorter working hours, and safer working conditions.)

Free Enterprise System

System that allowed people to decide what they produce, how much to produce, and what price it would go for.

Laissez Faire

Theory that the government should not interfere in the operation of the free market. “Hands off” approach.

Pros of Big Businesses

More efficient in production which leads to lower prices, can hire large numbers of workers, produce goods in large quantities, and have the resources to support expensive research and invent new items.

Cons of Big Businesses

They have an unfair competitive advantage against smaller businesses, can exploit their workers, are less concerned about pollution and more concerned with profit, and have an unfair influence over the government.

Growth of Political Machines

During the Gilded Age, these groups provided people with jobs and were run by corrupt officials. An example would be famous Boss Tweed of New York that ran the Tammany Hall.

Civil Service Reform

The Pendleton Act made it mandatory to give exams to those interested in government jobs, only those that passed were given jobs. This was implemented to stop corrupt officials from giving their friends or families jobs they weren’t able to perform which would hurt the city. (To stop patronage.)

Immigrant Social Issues

Immigrants often lived in poverty and overcrowded tenements in large cities. Many were uneducated and worked in factories.

Children’s Social Issues

Children were often used in factory work, because their small hands allowed access to small workings of machines. This led to many accidents and deaths.

Urbanization

The growth of industrialization led many to come into large cities in search of work. This led to severe overcrowding which led to disease and pollution.

Social Gospel

Movement led by Protestant ministers that called for the abolition of child labor and safer working conditions.

Philanthropy

Industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller gave away millions of their dollars to build libraries and universities.

Interstate Commerce Act

Federal law that prohibited unfair practices by railroads, such as charging higher rates for shorter routes.

Plessy v. Ferguson

1896 Supreme Court case that ruled in favor of having separate facilities for blacks/whites as long as they were equal. Separate but equal.

Electric Power

The invention and perfection of electricity by Thomas Edison led to increased production in factories and made living more convenient.

Telephone

The invention of this device by Alexander Graham Bell made communication across vast distances easy and instantaneous.

Petroleum Based Products

With the increased use of oil due to the rise of automobiles and factories, products such as Vaseline and plastic were based off of oil.

Just In Time

Method of assembly where parts arrive at the precise time in which they are needed in the manufacturing process.

Social Darwinism

The belief that different human races competed for survival just as different plants and animals did in the natural world. This idea was used to justify the health wealth that some people accumulated during the Gilded Age.

American Dream

The belief that if one worked hard, was honest, learned English, and followed the law, they would succeed at making a living in America. (Perhaps making it rich.)

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 Federal Law that restricted immigration to the United States which targeted Asians.

Andrew Carnegie

A man who worked his way up from poverty as a Scottish immigrant to own what would dominate the steel business with the usage of the Bessemer Process.

Jane Addams

Woman who created settlement houses to help immigrants assimilate to America.

Frances Willard

An outspoken voice of the Temperance Movement and Prohibition Movement.

John D. Rockefeller

Man who made his fortune in the oil industry, creating a monopoly with his company: Standard Oil.

Settlement Houses

These houses provided shelter, education, and a place of socializing for immigrants newly arrived to America. It taught immigrants how to be more American so they would be accepted into society quicker.

Americanization

The process of an immigrant learning English, American style of dress, culture, customs, and values. These were taught at settlement houses across America.

Election of 1896

William McKinley (Republican) vs. William Jennings (Democrat). McKinley defeated Bryan. This election ended the Populist party.