U.S History Study Guide

Bessemer Process

A method for producing steel by blowing air through molten iron to remove impurities, leading to a cheaper and more efficient production of steel during the Industrial Revolution.

J.P Morgan

An influential American banker and financier who played a key role in the reorganization of several major railroads and the creation of General Electric and U.S. Steel.

Henry Ford

An American industrialist best known for revolutionizing the automobile industry with assembly line production methods, making cars affordable for the average American.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

A prominent American business magnate who made significant contributions to the transportation industry, particularly in railroads and shipping, and was a key figure in the development of the New York Central Railroad.

Taylorism

A management theory developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor that analyzes workflows to improve efficiency, particularly in industrial production. It emphasizes standardized tasks and specialization of labor.

Assembly Line

A manufacturing process in which parts are added in a sequence to assemble a finished product efficiently, often involving standardized tasks and specialized labor.

Corporation

A legal entity formed to conduct business, distinct from its owners, allowing for limited liability, the ability to raise capital through stock issuance, and perpetual existence.

Limited Liabilty

When a company goes down and you only have to pay what you invested back

Holding Company

A company that owns a controlling interest in one or more other companies, primarily to manage its investments and control operations without directly engaging in production.

Horizontal intergration

a business strategy where a company acquires or merges with competitors operating at the same stage of the supply chain within the same industry.

Trust

A trust is a legal arrangement where a person or company holds and manages assets on behalf of someone else

New Immigration

a foreign-born individual who has recently arrived in a new country with the intention to settle, work, or study.

Chinese Exclusion Act

the first major U.S. federal law to ban a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States

Homestead Strike

a violent and historic labor dispute between the Carnegie Steel Company and its workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania

Navitism

organized opposition to immigration, driven by fears that newcomers threaten the nation's economic stability, cultural norms, and political structure

Urbanization

the massive population shift from rural, agricultural areas to cities and metropolitan regions

Progressivism

left-leaning political and social philosophy focused on improving society through government reforms, social justice, and economic equality.

Muckrakers

investigative journalists, writers, and photographers during the Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) who exposed corruption, corporate monopolies, and social injustices in American society.

Upton Sinclair+ The jungle

Published in 1906, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is a landmark muckraking novel exposing the exploitation of immigrant workers and the unsanitary conditions in the Chicago meatpacking industry. Intended to promote socialism, it instead horrified the public and catalyzed landmark federal food safety regulations. [1, 2, 3]

Philippines American War

the United States chose to annex the Philippines as a colonial territory rather than grant it independence,

Great Migration

the mass movement of approximately six million Black Americans from the rural Southern United States to urban centers in the Northeast, Midwest, and West

Committee on Public Information

As America’s first large-scale propaganda machine, the committee shaped how the war was perceived on the home front. Its defining characteristics include

Gilded

Pretty on the outside, underneath is ugly

Social Gospel

a Protestant religious movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that applied Christian ethics to societal problems

The Settle House movement

community centers established in poor, urban immigrant neighborhoods during the late 1800s and early 1900s

Square Deal

President Theodore Roosevelt’s domestic reform program aimed at helping ordinary citizens. It rested on the "Three C's": control of corporations (trust-busting), consumer protection (safe food and drugs), and conservation of natural resources.

Pure Food Act

Labels+ safety of products