HISTORY - Unit 5 - Gilded to the Progressive Era - 1890-1917

Gilded Age

A time of great wealth for some but many social problems for others.

Robber Barons

Wealthy business leaders who often exploited workers.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that Americans should expand westward.

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court case that upheld segregation laws ('separate but equal').

Segregation

Racial separation in public spaces.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A law limiting Chinese immigration due to nativist feelings.

Tenements

Crowded apartments where many immigrants lived, often in poor conditions.

Progressive Era

A movement to address social issues created by industrialization and urbanization.

Unions

Groups formed by workers to fight for better conditions.

Suffrage

The fight for women's right to vote.

Prohibition

The movement to ban alcohol.

Muckrakers

Journalists who exposed social problems and corruption (e.g., Jacob Riis and Upton Sinclair).

Jane Addams

Founded Hull House to help immigrants.

John Muir

Advocated for the environment and conservation.

Native Reservations

Land set aside for Native Americans.

Trail of Tears

Forced removal of Native Americans from their lands.

Assimilation

Efforts to integrate Native Americans into American society, often at their cultural expense.