Topic 10 Social Studies Test Flashcards

Lode

Rich vein of gold or silver

Rail Network

System of connected railroad lines that lets more people go more places

Consolidate

To combine; companies grew more powerful by consolidating

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad that connected the East and West coasts of America

Vigilantes

Citizens who took the law into their own hands when there wasn’t enough official law enforcement

Cattle Drives

The herding or moving of cattle; usually to railroad lines

Sod House

A house built out of soil held together by grass roots

Homestead Act

Law that allowed settlers to claim land out west as their own

Cow Towns

Places where cattle drives ended and cattle were delivered to railroad stations

Teepee

A tent made by stretching buffalo hide over long poles.

Vertical Integration

Practice in which one company controls all the steps in turning raw materials into finished products

Bessemer Process

The cheapest way to make strong steel using oxygen found in limestone

Trusts

Powerful groups of large companies within a single industry run by a single board

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

1890 law that banned the formations of trust; not well enforced

Sweatshop

Workplace with long hours in poor conditions for low pay

AFL (American Federation of Labor)

Organization made up of trade unions representing skilled workers

Transatlantic Cable

Communication line that connected America and Europe

Andrew Carnegie

Used vertical integration to make millions in the steel industry

J.P. Morgan

Millionaire who bought struggling companies and combined them

John Rockefeller

Created Standard Oil Trust and made millions

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Made millions in railroads and shipping; helped build the nation’s transportation system

Samuel Gompers

Founder and president of the American Federation of Labor

Mother Jones

Strong advocate against child labor

Thomas Edison

“Wizard of Menlo Park”- invented light bulb and power plant and hired teams of inventors

Elijah McCoy

Invented a self-oiling device for steam engines

Gustavus Swift

Invented refrigerated railcar; transformed meatpacking industry

Christopher Sholes

Invented the typewriter, changing how people wrote and did business

Geronimo

Apache warrior who raided the U.S. for over 10 years

Chief Joseph

Leader of the Nez Perce; tried to lead his people to Canada

Quanah Parker

Last chief of the Comanche; resisted white settlement but later adapted to the reservation

Colonel Custer

Defeated in the Battle of Little Big Horn

Colonel Ranald Mackenzie

Led campaigns against Native American tribes; destroyed much of their supplies and resources

Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)

Known as “Custer’s Last Stand”; Native American forces led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated U.S. troops led by Colonel George Custer

Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

Colorado militia attacked and killed over 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho, mostly women and children, despite the tribe trying to surrender