Gilded Age Study Guide

1. Homestead Strike: A violent labor dispute in 1892 between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania, resulting in a battle between strikers and Pinkerton agents.

2. Steel Mills: Factories where steel is produced. During the Gilded Age, steel mills were a driving force of industrialization, often associated with harsh working conditions and low wages.

3. Haymarket Riot: A violent confrontation in 1886 in Chicago, stemming from a workers' rally for an eight-hour workday, which ended in a bomb explosion and subsequent deaths, heightening tensions between labor and management.

4. Government Siding with Industrialists: During the Gilded Age, government policies and actions often supported big businesses and industrialists over workers, such as using federal troops to suppress strikes.

5. Working Conditions: During this era, working conditions were often dangerous, with long hours, low pay, and minimal safety regulations in factories, mines, and railroads.

6. Wealth Disparities: The Gilded Age saw significant economic inequality, with industrialists like Carnegie and Rockefeller amassing vast wealth while workers lived in poverty.

7. Monopolies: Large corporations that controlled entire industries, stifling competition. Examples include Standard Oil and U.S. Steel.

8. Labor Unions: Organizations formed by workers to advocate for better wages, hours, and conditions, such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

9. Carnegie: Andrew Carnegie, a leading industrialist who built a steel empire and became one of the wealthiest men of his time, often criticized for his labor practices despite his philanthropy.

10. Homestead Mill: A Carnegie Steel mill in Pennsylvania, central to the Homestead Strike of 1892.

11. Henry Clay Frick: Carnegie's business partner and manager of the Homestead Mill, known for his role in the violent suppression of the Homestead Strike.

12. SCABS: Workers who replaced striking employees, often viewed negatively by unions as strikebreakers.

13. Pogroms: Violent attacks on Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, which drove many Jewish immigrants to the United States during the Gilded Age.

14. Chinese Exclusion Act: An 1882 law that prohibited Chinese immigration to the U.S., reflecting widespread xenophobia and racism.

15. Steerage: The cramped, low-cost section of ships where many immigrants traveled to the U.S.

16. Tenements: Overcrowded and unsanitary apartment buildings where many urban poor and immigrants lived.

17. Jacob Riis: A journalist and photographer who exposed the living conditions of the poor in tenements through his work How the Other Half Lives.

18. Cossacks: A group in the Russian Empire known for their military skills, often associated with repression of uprisings, including pogroms against Jews.

19. Nativism: The belief in prioritizing native-born Americans over immigrants, leading to restrictive immigration policies and discrimination.

20. Xenophobia: The fear or hatred of foreigners, which fueled anti-immigrant sentiment during the Gilded Age.

21. Ellis Island: The main immigration station in New York City, processing millions of immigrants arriving in the U.S.

22. John Wanamaker: A pioneer of department stores in the U.S., who transformed retail with fixed prices and advertising.

23. Party Boss: A leader in a political machine who controlled votes and dictated appointments, often through corruption.

24. World Fair: Large international exhibitions showcasing technological advancements and cultural achievements, like the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

25. Insider Trading: The illegal practice of trading on the stock market with access to confidential information.

26. Pinkertons: A private security agency often hired by industrialists to break strikes and suppress labor movements.

27. Caroline Le Count: An African American civil rights activist in Philadelphia who worked to desegregate public transportation.

28. Populism: A political movement that emerged to support farmers and common people against industrialists and elites, exemplified by the People's Party.

29. Tyrants of the Insider: Likely refers to monopolists or political figures exploiting insider knowledge or power.

30. Donald Trump being populist: Donald Trump has been described as a modern populist for his rhetoric appealing to "common people" and criticizing elites.

31. William Jennings Bryan ("Silver Tongue"): A politician known for his powerful oratory skills and support for free silver in his "Cross of Gold" speech.

32. Yellow Brick Road: A metaphor for the gold standard in The Wizard of Oz, often interpreted as an allegory of Gilded Age politics.

33. McKinley: William McKinley, the 25th U.S. President, associated with pro-business policies and the Gold Standard.

34. Political Machines: Organizations that controlled local governments through corruption, patronage, and the manipulation of votes. Examples include Tammany Hall in New York City.

Let me know if you'd like further clarification on any of these!

4o

You said:

Add Ethnic Enclaves, George Wahington Plunkitt, and why jay gould said " he could pay one half of the working class to kill the other"

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

Here are the definitions for the additional terms:

Ethnic Enclaves:

Urban neighborhoods where immigrants from the same country or region clustered together to preserve their culture, language, and traditions while adapting to life in the U.S. Examples include Chinatown and Little Italy. These enclaves provided support networks but also often became targets of discrimination.

George Washington Plunkitt:

A leader of Tammany Hall, the powerful New York City political machine. Plunkitt is best known for his concept of "honest graft," which he described as taking advantage of opportunities for personal profit that arose while serving the public.

Jay Gould's Quote - "He could pay one half of the working class to kill the other":

This quote reflects Jay Gould's cynical view of class divisions and his belief in exploiting them to maintain control. Gould, a powerful railroad magnate, suggested that by using financial incentives, industrialists could manipulate workers to act against each other, weakening labor movements and strikes. This tactic highlighted the deep economic and social disparities of the Gilded Age.