Big Business and Immigration

Trusts

Giant corporations

Captains of Industry

Owners of giant corporations during the 1900s

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Created a RAILROAD empire
Nicknamed the Commodore

Albany Bridge

Only railroad that lead into New York, Owned by Vanderbilt

John D. Rockefeller

Created an OIL empire, Standard Oil , monopoly, philanthropist, formed trust in NYC, distributed dividends (profit) to stockholders, called son his "greatest fortune"

Standard Oil Company

Controlled 90% of US oil, guaranteed a uniform quality of oil, Refined oil turned into gasoline and kerosene, supplied Tom Ford's cars

Philanthropy

Helping others by giving away money to causes they believe in

Tom Scott

President of the Pennsylvania Railroad

Andrew Carnegie

Created the STEEL empire with the help of the Bessemer Process, protégé of Scott (Pennsylvania Railroads), built bridge across Mississippi R., first defense contractor (warships), philanthropist, said they were "bees that made most honey, ate the most honey, yet contributing the most to the hive"

Bessemer Process

A process for making steel efficiently, patented in 1856, developed by Bessemer and Kelly

St. Louis Bridge

First steel bridge that connected the East and West of the Mississippi River

Homestead Strike

Strike at Andrew Carnegie's steel plant against Henry Frick

J.P. Morgan

Created the INVESTMENT BANKING empire, merger, funded Thomas Edison's research on electricity, his home was the first to be lit w/ electricity, formed United Steel Co. (1st billion $ co.), philanthropist

Morganization

Morgan's strength- Combining rival companies, which reduced competition, workers, and pay but also increased worker hours and profit

Thomas Edison

Inventor who was funded by Morgan to research electricity, believed in direct current, believed alternating current was too dangerous

Edison Electric Light Company

Funded by Morgan to light up thousands of homes in Manhattan

Alternating Current (AC)

Generated more power and effective than Direct Current (DC) but more dangerous, Pushed by Tesla

Tesla

Worked under Edison and encouraged the idea Alternating Current (AC) for electricity but turned down, funded by Westinghouse

Westinghouse

Funded Nikola Tesla's research on electricity, created air braking system for trains

General Electric Company

Formed when Morgan bought most of Tesla's patents when Westinghouse couldn't fund him anymore

United Steel CO

Controlled 60% of Steel, First billion dollar company, Bought by Morgan from Carnegie

Rockefeller Foundation

Advanced public health for decades

Mark Twain

American Writer who called the growth of corporate America as the Gilded Age

Gilded Age

A period where it was glittering on the surface but corrupted underneath, writen by Twain and Warner

Robber Barons

Negative term used to describe Captains of Industry because of the fact that they used ruthless practices to destroy competition and took advantage of workers.

Spencer

English philosopher and sociologist who applied the theory of natural selection to human societies (1820-1903)

Social Darwinism

developed by Spencer, takes the same idea as Darwinism (Natural Selection in society) "Survival of the fittest"

1896 Presidential Election

Election R-McKinley (funded and pushed by the captains of industry), D-Jennings Bryan (Appealed the common workers), McKinley won

Unions

Formed in the late 1800s, people went on strikes but easily replaced by desperate workers.
Most did not include recent immigrants, African-Americans, or women

Scab

Negative term for workers who refused to go on strikes or replacement workers

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Ellis Island

Immigration processing center that open in New York Harbor in 1892, which replaced Castle Garden. 5/6 people who entered were allowed in, 40% of Americans have ancestry who came through Ellis Island, "Isle of Hope"/"Isle of Tears"

Angel Island

immigrant processing station that opened in San Francisco Bay in 1910

Great Plains

The grassland extending through the west-central portion of the United States

Natural World

Powerful spirits that controlled events believed by Plains Indians

Sitting Bull

Hunkesni or Slow
Earned the name Tatanka Iyotanka after a fight with the Crow

The Bozeman Trail

ran directly through Sioux hunting grounds in the Bighorn Mountains

Treaty of Fort Laramie

the treaty requiring the Sioux to live on a reservation along the Missouri River

Red River War

war between Kiowa and Comanche; General Sherdian ordered to destroy the village killing all men and kidnapping women and children

The Dawes Act

broke up the reservations and gave some of the reservation lands to individual Native Americans to farm

The Battle of Wounded Knee

Brought the Indian Wars to an end, Seventh cavalry slaughtered

Latimer

African American inventor of the carbon filament improving the light bulb

McCormick and Deere

used steel to create mechanical farming equipment such as reapers and plows

Gesner

Discovered how to distill the fuel from oil or coal

Drake

first person to use steam engine to drill for oil, petroleum industry pioneer, "black gold"

Pullman

built a factory for manufacturing sleepers and other railroad cars on the Illinois prairie, driven by profit motive

Pullman Palace Car Company

company creating sleeper cars that made long-distance travel more comfortable

Central Pacific Railroad

Owned by Crocker; Employed thousands of Chinese immigrants; laid railroads on Sierra Nevada mt. range

Union Pacific Railroad

Hired Irish immigrants and desperate Civil War veterans

Promontory Point

Where Central Pacific and Unions Pacific met

Dowd

proposed that the earth's surface be divided into 24 time zones, American would be in 4

Flagler

Purchased and built railroad lines to link Florida, including the Florida Keys to the rest of the country

Credit Mobilier

A construction company formed by stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad

Granger Laws

A set of laws designed to address railroad discrimination against small farmers, covering issues like freight rates and railroad rebates.

Interstate Commerce Act

Established the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) - Supervises railroad activities

Laissez-faire capitalism

Allows companies to conduct business without intervention by the government, "to let do"

Vertical Integration

Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution

Horizontal Integration

Type of monopoly where a company buys out all of its competition. Ex. Captains of Industry

Sherman Antitrust Act

Passed by Congress in 1890 which made it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries

National Labor Union (NLU)

Formed in 1866 by H. Sylvis (ironworker)

Colored National Labor Union (CNLU)

Led by Isaac Meyers
Created because NLU refused to admit African Americans

Noble Order of the Knights of Labor

In 1869 Uriah Stephens focused his attention on individual workers

Craft Unionism

Included skilled workers from one or more trades

Cigar Makers' International Union

Led by Samuel Gompers

The American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Gompers as its president was able to reach written agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions

The American Railway Union (ARU)

Led by Debs (became socialist after reading Marx' works), this union supported the Pullman strike.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) or the Wobblies

Headed by "Big Bill" Haywood, welcomed African Americans

National Reclamation Act

encouraged the irrigation of arid land and created new farmland in western states.

Melting pot

a mixture of people of different cultures and races who blended together by abandoning their native languages and customs

Anglo-Saxons

Germanic ancestors of the English, superior to other ethnic groups

Hall

founder of the Immigration Restriction League, said "new immigrants" caused problems, "old immigrants" were desirable

The American Protective Association

A nativist group founded in 1887, launched vicious anti-Catholic attacks, and many colleges, businesses, and social clubs refused to admit Jews, influenced passing of literacy tests

Kearney

Workingmen's Party, headed anti-Chinese movement in California, wanted to rid cheap Chinese labor

Chinese Exclusion Act-

banned entry to all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials

Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907-1908,

Agreed to limit the emigration of unskilled workers to the US in exchange for the repeal of the San Francisco segregation order

The Immigration Act of 1917

Barred immigration from India, Indochine, Afghanistan, Arabia, the East Indies, and other small Asian countries

Immigration Restriction League

Pushed literacy test as a requirement for admission

Emergency Quota Act

Limited the number of immigrants entering the US; Favored the older Anglo-Saxon and Northern European stock; 3% of the size of each nationality group that had been living in the US

City dwellers

Immigrants who streamed into the US and cities during the 19th century

The Americanization Movement

was designed to assimilate people of wide-ranging cultures into the dominant culture

Social Stratification

organization of people into social classes by wealth EX: New York City

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union

Many immigrant women joined this union and went on series of successful strikes

Mass Transits

innovations in transportation systems designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes

Scavengers

Private contractors were hired to sweep the streets, collect garbage, and clean outhouses

The Settlement House Movement

Emphasized social change through a moral-ethnical code rather than religious doctrine

Social Gospel Movement

preached salvation through service to the poor;
Gladden was one of the founders

Settlement Houses

Community centers in slum neighborhoods that provided assistance to people in the area especially immigrants; Stover and Coit founded settlement houses in the US

Jane Addams and Chicago Hull House

One of the most influential members of the movement

Locust Street Social Settlement

Established by Janie Porter Berrett in Hampton Virginia

Social Mobility

the ability of families or individuals to move into a higher social class

The Political Machine

a party organization that recruits members by dispensing patronage

Political Boss

representative for or head of the political machine; gained votes for their parties by doing favors for people.

Tammany Hall

Helped Immigrants with Naturalization (Attaining full citizenship)

Graft

Illegal use of political influence for personal gain

Kickbacks

Taking illegal payments for services made.

Boss Tweed

Head of Tammany Hall leading the Tweed Ring, group of corrupt politicians that defrauded NYC

Patronage

Practice of giving government jobs to people who helped a candidate get elected;
Also known as the Spoils system by Jackson's administration

Civil Service

Government administration;
Believe by reformers that jobs should go to the most qualified

Garfield

20th President; independent presidential candidate, Ohio Congressman, shot by Guiteau, leading Arthur to become pres

Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883

authorized a bipartisan civil service commission;
Appointments to federal jobs through a merit system based on candidates' performance