Gilded Age Reforms, Nativism, and Socioeconomic Transformation

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering key terms, legislation, key figures, and concepts from the Gilded Age, industrialization, urban reform, and westward movement.

Nativism

The practice of favoring native-born people over foreigners, exemplified by the government passing laws such as the National Origins Act to set immigration quotas.

National Origins Act

A government law that set immigration quotas for certain countries, reflecting nativist policies.

Settlement House

A community center built in urban cities with high levels of poverty to help assimilate immigrants and provide assistance to the needy.

Hull House

A settlement house in Chicago created by Jane Addams that provided different types of help to immigrants and the urban poor.

Pendleton Civil Service Act

An 1883 law created to fix the spoils system by establishing a government commission that awards civil service jobs based on a merit system requiring tests.

Spoils System

A political practice that created a situation where many government jobs were filled by people who were unqualified.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country to lower the number of Chinese laborers and open up jobs for U.S. citizens, especially on the West coast.

Dawes Act

A law that broke up Native American reservations and assigned private land to Native Americans to assimilate them into landowners and alter their cultural beliefs about land ownership.

Sherman Antitrust Act

A law that made it difficult to form and maintain monopolies and trusts, promoting a free market economy (capitalism).

Interstate Commerce Commission

A government commission created to regulate railroads and tax shipments made across state lines, marking a step away from a laissez-faire economy.

Push Factors

Reasons why people leave their native country, such as famine, religious persecution, and political oppression.

Pull Factors

Reasons why people want to come to the United States, such as democracy, economic opportunity, and freedom of religion.

Electricity

An industrial innovation that enabled factories to stay open late into the night, directly affecting factory workers.

Tin Pan Alley

A movement/location where musicians produced and sold sheet music, establishing a national audience for popular music.

Jane Addams

A reformer who recognized the hardships of immigrants and the poor in the U.S. and established Hull House in Chicago.

Andrew Carnegie

A captain of industry associated with Carnegie Steel who wrote 'The Gospel of Wealth' advocating for wealthy individuals to assist those in need.

The Gospel of Wealth

A book written by Andrew Carnegie asserting that wealthy people in the country have a responsibility to help those in need.

Homestead Act

A law rooted in Manifest Destiny that gave 160 acres of government land to anyone willing to settle in the West and farm it for 5 years.

The Gilded Age

A historical period named as a metaphor for the U.S. looking pretty and prosperous on the outside but being ugly and full of societal issues on the inside.

Transcontinental Railroad

A major transportation system that fostered the growth of the U.S. by creating Western towns and new economic markets.

Klondike Gold Rush

A population movement driven by vast landmass and hidden resources in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon that attracted individuals seeking wealth.

Americanization

A official government policy aimed at assimilating Native Americans and immigrants into U.S. culture.

Mechanization of Farming

The adoption of new farming technologies that caused an overproduction of crops, lowering sales prices and leading to debt for farmers.

Political Machines

Powerful organizations that took control of city governments by exchanging favors for votes, resulting in widespread political corruption like election fraud and intimidation.

Monopolies and Trusts

Business structures formed under a laissez-faire economy where a few owners exercised complete control over certain products, raising prices on consumers.

Labor Unions

Organizations formed by workers in response to poor working conditions to negotiate for improved wages and safer working environments.