Gilded Age study guide

1. Gilded Age

An era of industrial and urban growth marked by political corruption and little regulation of big corporations

2. Tenements

poorly built, overcrowded housing units. (Low-cost inner-city apartments that housed the urban poor in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.)

3. New Immigrants

Immigrants arriving after 1890, mainly from southern and eastern Europe.

4. Nativism

Prejudice by native-born Americans who blamed immigrants for social and economic problems.

5. Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Law that barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States.

6. Social Darwinism

Application of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” to society to justify wealth inequality and class distinctions.

7. Patronage

Political practice of rewarding supporters with government jobs or contracts.

8. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

Created in 1887 to regulate businesses involved in interstate trade, especially railroads; had limited power at first.

9. Granger Movement

Farmers’ organization promoting cooperatives to avoid broker fees and advocating for social and educational improvement.

10. Populist Party (People’s Party)

Formed in 1892; called for free silver, income tax reform, railroad regulation, and direct election of senators.

11. Panic of 1893

Economic depression following railroad bankruptcies; led to widespread unemployment and worker unrest.

12. Second Industrial Revolution

Late 1800s wave of technological advancements including steel, electricity, and telecommunication growth.

13. Standard Oil

John D. Rockefeller’s corporation that dominated the oil industry through horizontal and vertical integration.

14. Monopoly

A company so powerful it controls an entire market for a product or service.

15. Trust

Arrangement giving a person or corporation control over another company’s assets without direct ownership.

16. Holding Company

Corporation created to own and manage other companies’ stock instead of producing goods itself.

Carengie Steel

Andrew Carnegie’s company that led the U.S. steel industry.

J.P. Morgan & Company

Investment bank that merged and financed major U.S. corporations using European capital.

19. Laissez-Faire

Economic philosophy advocating minimal government interference in business.

20. Knights of Labor

Nationwide labor union in the 1880s promoting labor reforms; open to skilled and unskilled workers.

21. Haymarket Riot (1886)

Violent labor protest in Chicago that followed a bombing, resulting in deaths and anti-labor sentiment.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Founded in 1886; a union of skilled workers focusing on wages, hours, and working conditions.

23. Homestead Steel Strike (1892)

Labor strike at Carnegie Steel’s Homestead plant; violent clash between strikers and private security forces.

24. Pullman Strike (1894)

Nationwide railway strike by the American Railway Union; ended when federal troops intervened.