Key Concepts in U.S. History: Gilded Age to Modern Era

Gilded Age

Derogatory label for the late 19th-century era (circa 1870-1890) implying a shiny gold-plated surface masking deep social and political problems

Trust

Corporate arrangement combining several companies under common control to limit competition and create monopolies

Horizontal Integration

Business strategy of acquiring or merging with competitors in the same industry to consolidate market power

Vertical Integration

Business strategy of owning all stages of production (from raw materials to distribution) to cut out middlemen and reduce costs

Robber Baron

Nickname for a Gilded Age industrialist who amassed great wealth (e.g. Rockefeller, Carnegie) often by ruthless means, inspiring both admiration for innovation and fear for harsh business practices

Social Darwinism

Belief applying survival-of-the-fittest concepts to human society, used in this era to justify wealth disparities and limited aid to the poor

Yellow Journalism

Late-19th-century sensational newspaper reporting (e.g. Hearst vs. Pulitzer) that exaggerated stories and stirred public emotion to boost circulation

Knights of Labor

Large national labor union founded in 1869 that organized both skilled and unskilled workers and campaigned for broad reforms; it declined by the 1890s

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Federation of craft labor unions founded in 1881 by Samuel Gompers, focusing on skilled workers and achievable economic goals like higher wages and better hours

Haymarket Affair (1886)

Violent clash at a Chicago labor rally where a bomb exploded, killing police and workers; the incident led to a backlash against unions

Homestead Strike (1892)

Armed labor conflict at Carnegie Steel's Homestead, PA plant where striking steelworkers and Pinkerton guards fought, marking a major defeat for unions

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

Federal agency created in 1887 to oversee and regulate railroad rates and practices after courts restricted state regulation, marking the first government intervention in business

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

First federal law to ban monopolistic business combinations; it outlawed trusts that restrained trade and was used to break up powerful corporate combinations

Spoils System

Practice of assigning government jobs to loyal supporters of the winning political party rather than on merit

Progressivism

Broad reform movement (c. 1900-1917) that responded to the problems of industrialization and urbanization by seeking government action on issues like worker safety, public health, and political corruption

Muckrakers

Reform-minded journalists and authors in the early 1900s who exposed corruption, unsafe conditions, and social injustices (e.g. Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell) to spur public demand for change

Social Gospel

Religious movement of this era advocating that Christians should apply biblical ethics (e.g. compassion, charity) to solve social problems like poverty and inequality

Settlement House

Community center in a poor urban neighborhood (late 19th-early 20th century) where reformers provided education, healthcare, and other services to immigrants and the urban poor (e.g. Jane Addams's Hull House)

16th Amendment (1913)

Constitutional amendment authorizing a federal income tax, giving the government a direct revenue source to fund reforms

17th Amendment (1913)

Constitutional amendment requiring the direct election of U.S. Senators by voters (rather than selection by state legislatures) to reduce corruption

19th Amendment (1920)

Constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote; it completed the progressive-era push for political equality (no voter discrimination by sex).

Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)

Federal law that prohibited the sale of adulterated or mislabeled food and medicine, creating standards to protect consumers.

Black Tuesday (1929)

The October 29, 1929, stock market crash on Wall Street when panic selling wiped out billions in value, marking the start of the Great Depression.

Great Depression

Severe worldwide economic downturn of the 1930s caused by the 1929 crash; in the U.S. it featured massive unemployment, bank failures, and widespread poverty.

Hoovervilles

Makeshift shantytowns erected by homeless Americans during the early 1930s; named derisively after President Hoover, whom many blamed for the crisis.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

1933 New Deal program that provided outdoor work (e.g. planting trees, building parks) for unemployed young men to conserve natural resources.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

New Deal agency (1935) that employed millions of unemployed Americans to build public works (roads, schools) and also funded arts projects (writers, musicians).

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

New Deal public works agency (1933) that built dams and power plants in the Tennessee Valley to control flooding, generate electricity, and create jobs.

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

1933 law that paid farmers to reduce crop production in order to raise agricultural prices and support farm incomes.

National Recovery Administration (NRA)

1933 agency that brought industry leaders together to create "fair competition" codes with minimum wages and prices; it was later declared unconstitutional.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

1933 government corporation insuring bank deposits (up to a limit), created to prevent bank runs by guaranteeing individual accounts.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

1934 federal agency established to regulate the stock market, requiring transparency and banning unfair practices to protect investors.

Social Security Act (1935)

Law that created a federal system of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, providing a safety net for retirees and the jobless.

Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act, 1935)

Law guaranteeing workers the right to form unions and bargain collectively; it created the National Labor Relations Board to enforce these rights.

Dust Bowl

Severe 1930s drought and dust storms on the Great Plains (farm belt) caused by soil erosion and poor farming practices; it devastated agriculture and drove many families from their land.

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

Massive Allied amphibious invasion of Normandy, France, that established a Western front against Nazi Germany and eventually led to the liberation of occupied Europe.

GI Bill of Rights (Servicemen's Readjustment Act, 1944)

Law providing returning WWII veterans with benefits like low-cost mortgages, tuition for college or vocational training, and unemployment pay, to ease their transition to civilian life.

Bretton Woods Conference (1944)

International meeting where the Allies agreed on a postwar economic order, fixing exchange rates to the U.S. dollar and creating the IMF and World Bank for global stability.

United Nations (1945)

International organization formed after WWII to promote peace and cooperation; the U.S. was a founding member and it aimed to prevent future global wars.

Interstate Highway System

Nationwide network of limited-access highways begun in the 1950s (Eisenhower era); built for commerce and defense, it connected cities coast-to-coast and transformed travel

Containment

Cold War strategy (late 1940s onward) of preventing the spread of communism worldwide, as first articulated by diplomat George F. Kennan

Truman Doctrine (1947)

U.S. policy pledging support (economic and military) to countries (initially Greece and Turkey) resisting communist pressures, marking America's commitment to contain Soviet influence

Marshall Plan (1947)

U.S. program of massive financial aid to rebuild war-torn Western Europe after WWII, intended to stabilize economies and prevent communist takeovers

Iron Curtain

Churchill's 1946 metaphor for the division of Europe into Eastern (communist) and Western (democratic) blocs under Soviet influence

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1949)

Military alliance of the U.S., Canada, and Western European nations created to provide mutual defense against Soviet aggression

NSC-68 (1950)

Top-secret National Security Council report urging a major U.S. military buildup and more aggressive Cold War stance to counter the Soviet threat

Korean War (1950-1953)

Conflict in which United Nations (mainly U.S.) forces repelled North Korean (and later Chinese) invasions of South Korea, ending in an armistice that kept Korea divided

McCarthyism

Early 1950s Red Scare led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, characterized by aggressive investigations and accusations of communist subversion with little evidence

HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)

Congressional committee (est. 1938) that investigated alleged communist influence in Hollywood and the government during the Cold War

Sputnik (1957)

First Soviet satellite in Earth's orbit, whose launch shocked the U.S. and triggered the American space race

Bay of Pigs (1961)

Failed CIA-backed invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro exiles; its defeat embarrassed the Kennedy administration and pushed Cuba closer to the USSR

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

13-day Cold War confrontation when the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba; a tense standoff that ended with a Soviet withdrawal of the missiles

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

Congressional resolution (following alleged North Vietnamese attacks) granting President Johnson authority to use military force in Vietnam, leading to major escalation of the war

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Supreme Court case that declared racially segregated public schools unconstitutional, overturning 'separate but equal' doctrine

Little Rock Nine (1957)

Integration crisis in which President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort nine African-American students into a previously all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas

Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)

Year-long boycott of city buses in Montgomery, Alabama to protest segregated seating, sparked by Rosa Parks's arrest and led by Martin Luther King Jr.; it succeeded in desegregating the bus system

Freedom Rides (1961)

Integrated bus trips through the Deep South by civil rights activists testing and challenging federal bans on segregated interstate travel; riders often met violent resistance

March on Washington (1963)

Massive civil rights rally in Washington, D.C. where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech, pressing for passage of civil rights legislation

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Landmark federal law banning segregation in public facilities and outlawing employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Law prohibiting racial discrimination in voting (e.g. literacy tests) and authorizing federal oversight of elections in areas with histories of voter suppression.

24th Amendment (1964)

Constitutional amendment banning the poll tax in federal elections, removing a barrier that had prevented many poor (especially Black) citizens from voting.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

1960s student-led civil rights organization that coordinated sit-ins, freedom rides, and voter-registration drives in the South.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Civil rights organization founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr. and other ministers to conduct nonviolent protests and voter-registration drives in the South.

Black Power

Slogan and movement (from the late 1960s) advocating racial pride, economic empowerment, and self-defense among African Americans; popularized by figures like Malcolm X and the Black Panthers.

National Organization for Women (NOW)

Feminist group founded in 1966 by Betty Friedan and others, campaigning for women's equality in the workplace, education, and political life (including abortion rights).

Title IX (1972)

Federal law forbidding sex discrimination in any educational program receiving federal funds, greatly expanding women's opportunities in academics and athletics.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Proposed 1972 constitutional amendment that would have guaranteed equal legal rights regardless of sex (it passed Congress but was never ratified).

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide by ruling that women have a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy during the first trimester.

American Indian Movement (AIM)

Activist group founded in the 1960s by Native Americans demanding greater tribal self-determination and respect for treaty rights (notably occupying Wounded Knee in 1973).

Stonewall Inn (1969)

Site of a New York City police raid on a gay bar that sparked several days of protests; widely considered the start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.

Great Society

Lyndon Johnson's sweeping domestic agenda (mid-1960s) aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice; programs included Medicare, Medicaid, federal aid to education, and civil rights laws.

War on Poverty

Component of the Great Society launched in 1964 that funded programs like Head Start, Job Corps, and food stamps to help the nation's poor.

Affirmative Action

Policies (from the 1960s onward) designed to increase opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups (women and minorities) in education and employment, often by giving preferences or quotas.

Counterculture

1960s youth movement (often called 'hippies') that rejected mainstream values in favor of communal living, psychedelic drug use, free love, and rock music.

Stagflation

Unusual economic condition of the 1970s marked by stagnant growth and high inflation occurring simultaneously.

Deindustrialization

Late-20th-century trend of declining manufacturing in the old industrial Northeast/Midwest (the 'Rust Belt') as factories closed or moved, often to lower-wage regions.

Sunbelt

Region of the South and Southwest that experienced rapid population and economic growth after 1945, shifting political and industrial power away from the Northeast.

Deregulation

Policy (beginning in the 1970s) of removing government controls from industries (e.g. airlines, banking) to promote competition and efficiency.

Reagan Revolution

Shift toward conservative policies after 1980, emphasizing tax cuts, reduced government spending, and free-market ideology as promoted by the president.

Supply-side economics

1980s economic approach (commonly called Reaganomics) combining large tax cuts with deregulation, under the belief that encouraging investment and production would spur growth.