Gilded Age

Key terms matching: Gilded Age through Progressivism


1. Gilded Age

  • A period from the 1870s to 1900 characterized by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and economic growth but also marked by political corruption, income inequality, and social unrest.

  1. Monopolies/trusts

  • Single companies control entire industries, eliminating competition. Legal entities where companies combine under a board of trustees to dominate markets and reduce competition (e.g., Standard Oil Trust).

  1. Vertical integration

  • A business strategy where a company controls every step of production, from raw materials to distribution. Used by Andrew Carnegie in the steel industry.

  1. Horizontal integration

  • A strategy where a company buys out competitors to monopolize an industry. John D. Rockefeller used this in oil refining.

  1. Laissez faire

  • An economic philosophy advocating minimal government interference in business. It dominated U.S. policies during the Gilded Age.

  1. Vanderbilt

  • Vanderbilt was a railroad tycoon who consolidated railroads into major networks, such as the New York Central Railroad.

  1. Rebates

  • Secret discounts offered by railroads to large shippers like Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, disadvantaging smaller businesses.

    1. JP Morgan

  • A powerful banker who financed industrial consolidations and created U.S. Steel in 1901 by merging Carnegie Steel with other firms.

Carnegie

  • Andrew Carnegie was a steel magnate who used vertical integration to dominate the steel industry and later became a philanthropist (e.g., libraries).

Bessemer process

  • A process that made steel production faster and cheaper by blasting air through molten iron, enabling mass industrialization.

Rockefeller

  • John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil, used horizontal integration, and became one of the wealthiest men in history.

Otis

  • Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator, which allowed for the construction of skyscrapers during urbanization.

Bell phones

  • Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, revolutionizing communication worldwide.

Edison, electric

  • Thomas Edison invented practical electric lighting (the incandescent bulb) and established power systems that electrified cities.

Sears Roebuck

  • A mail-order company that brought consumer goods to rural Americans through catalogs during the late 19th century.

Swift refrigerated cars

  • Gustavus Swift developed refrigerated railcars to transport perishable goods like meat across long distances.

National Labor Union

  • The first national labor federation in the U.S., founded in 1866, advocated for an eight-hour workday and better wages but dissolved after 1873.

Great RR Strike 1877

  • A nationwide strike against wage cuts during an economic depression. It turned violent and highlighted tensions between laborers and industrialists.

Knights of Labor

  • A labor union open to all workers (including women and minorities) that sought broad social reforms but declined after the Haymarket Riot.

Haymarket Riot

  • A labor protest in Chicago turned violent when a bomb exploded, leading to anti-labor sentiment and the decline of the Knights of Labor.

AFofL

  • focused on skilled workers and practical goals like higher wages and better working conditions.

Homestead Strike

  • A violent strike at Carnegie Steel over wage cuts. It ended with federal troops intervening and weakened union power in steel mills.

Pullman Strike

  • A nationwide strike against wage cuts at Pullman Company. Federal troops broke it up, leading to violence and deaths.

New immigrants

  • Immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe who arrived in large numbers between 1880–1920, often facing discrimination and poor living conditions.

Tenements

  • Overcrowded apartment buildings in urban areas where many immigrants lived under unsanitary conditions.

Chinese Exclusion Act

  • The first U.S. law restricting immigration based on race or nationality, targeting Chinese laborers due to nativist fears.

Tammany Hall

  • A political machine in New York City led by Boss Tweed that controlled local politics through corruption and patronage.

Jane Addams

  • Founder of Hull House in Chicago, she worked to help immigrants assimilate and advocated for social reform during the Progressive Era.

Transcontinental RR

  • Completed in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah, it connected the East and West Coasts, facilitating trade and westward expansion.

Homestead Act

  • Provided 160 acres of free land to settlers willing to farm it for five years, encouraging westward migration.

Grangers

  • An organization of farmers advocating for regulation of railroads and grain storage fees during the late 19th century.

Farmers’ Alliances

  • Regional organizations that sought to address farmers' economic issues through cooperative buying/selling and political advocacy.

Ocala Platform

  • A platform calling for reforms like direct election of senators, lower tariffs, a graduated income tax, and government control of railroads.

Munn v Illinois

  • Supreme Court decision allowing states to regulate businesses like railroads if they affected public interest.

Wabash case

  • Overturned Munn v. Illinois by ruling that states could not regulate interstate commerce; led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

FJ Turner Frontier Thesis

  • Argued that the American frontier shaped national character by promoting democracy and individualism but warned its closure marked a new era.

Little Big Horn

  • Battle where Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Sitting Bull defeated Lt. Col. George Custer and his troops, a significant Native American victory.

Ghost Dance

  • A Native American spiritual movement that prophesied the end of white expansion and the return of traditional ways.

Wounded Knee

  • A massacre where U.S. troops killed over 150 Lakota Sioux, effectively ending Native American armed resistance in the West.

Sitting Bull

  • Hunkpapa Lakota chief who led Native American resistance against U.S. government policies, including at Little Big Horn.

Helen Hunt Jackson

  • Author of "A Century of Dishonor" (1881), which criticized U.S. Indian policy and advocated for Native American rights.

Dawes Act

  • Aimed to assimilate Native Americans by breaking up tribal lands into individual allotments and encouraging farming.

Assimilation

  • The policy of integrating Native Americans into mainstream American society by adopting white cultural practices.

Allotment 

  • The process of dividing tribal lands into individual parcels often resulted in Native Americans losing land to white settlers.

Boarding school movement

  • A system of off-reservation schools designed to assimilate Native American children by removing them from their cultural traditions.

Conservation v preservation

  • Conservation: Wise use of natural resources (Theodore Roosevelt).

  • Preservation: Protecting nature from human use (John Muir).

Henry Grady New South

  • Vision promoting industrialization and diversification of the Southern economy after the Civil War.

13th, 14th, 15th Amendments

  • 13th: Abolished slavery (1865)

  • 14th: Granted citizenship to former slaves (1868)

  • 15th: Gave voting rights to African American men (1870)

Presidential Reconstruction

  • Lincoln and Johnson's lenient approach to readmitting Southern states to the Union after the Civil War.

Congressional Reconstruction

  • Radical Republicans' stricter policies for Southern readmission, including military occupation and expanded rights for freedmen.

Hiram Revels

  • First African American U.S. Senator, elected from Mississippi in 1870 during Reconstruction.

Jim Crow Laws

  • State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States from the 1870s to the 1960s.

Sharecropping

  • A system where farmers worked land owned by others in exchange for a share of the crop, often trapping them in a cycle of debt.

Compromise of 1877

  • Ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops from the South in exchange for Hayes becoming president.

George Washington Carver

  • African American scientist who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion.

Plessy v Ferguson

  • Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Booker T Washington

  • African American educator who advocated for gradual progress through education and economic self-reliance.

Atlanta Compromise

  • Booker T. Washington's speech advocating for African Americans to accept segregation and discrimination in exchange for economic opportunities

WEB Du Bois

  • African American intellectual who opposed Washington's accommodationist approach, advocating for full civil rights and higher education.

Ida B Wells

  • African American journalist and activist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the 1890s.

Gospel of Wealth

  • Andrew Carnegie's idea that the wealthy were morally obligated to use their money to benefit society.

City Beautiful Movement

  • Urban planning movement of the 1890s and 1900s that sought to improve cities through beautification and monumental grandeur.

Social Gospel

  • A Protestant movement applying Christian ethics to social problems like poverty, inequality, and child labor.

NAWSA

  • Formed in 1890 to fight for women's right to vote, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

WCTU

  • Organization founded in 1874 that advocated for prohibition and women's rights. (Temperance Movement)

Ashcan school of art

  • Early 20th-century artists who realistically depicted everyday urban life, often focusing on poor and working-class subjects.

Sherman Antitrust

  • First federal law to prohibit monopolies and trusts, though initially ineffective due to narrow court interpretations.

US v EC Knight

  • Supreme Court case that limited the government's power to break up monopolies under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Pendelton Civil Service

  • Established the civil service system, replacing the spoils system with merit-based government hiring.

Gold v Silver v Greenback, bimetallism

  • Debate over monetary policy: gold standard, silver coinage, or paper currency (greenbacks). Bimetallism proposed using both gold and silver.

Panic of 1873

  • Economic depression triggered by the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, lasting until 1879.

Panic of 1893

  • Severe economic depression caused by railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing, which set off a series of bank failures.

Populists Parry 1892

  • Third party formed by farmers and laborers, advocating for government ownership of railroads, graduated income tax, and free silver.

Coxey’s Army

  • A group of unemployed workers who marched to Washington D.C. to protest the government's inaction during the 1893 depression.

Election of 1896

  • William McKinley (Republican) defeated William Jennings Bryan (Democrat/Populist), marking the end of the Populist movement.

Muckrakers

  • Progressive Era journalists who exposed social ills and corporate/political corruption (e.g., Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell).

Taylorisms

  • Scientific management theory developed by Frederick Taylor to increase industrial efficiency through standardized tasks.

16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Amendments

  • 16th: Allowed federal income tax (1913)

  • 17th: Direct election of Senators (1913)

  • 18th: Prohibition (1919)

  • 19th: Women's suffrage (1920)

Secret Ballot

  • Voting method that ensures privacy, adopted in the U.S. in the late 19th century to reduce voter intimidation and bribery

Lochner v NY

  • Supreme Court case that struck down a law limiting bakers' working hours, exemplifying the Court's pro-business stance.

Muller v Oregon

  • Supreme Court case upholding a state law limiting women's work hours, recognizing a state interest in protecting women's health.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

  • Deadly factory fire in New York City that spurred labor reforms and workplace safety regulations.

Square Deal

  • Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program balancing the interests of business, consumers, and conservation.

Trustbusting

  • The breaking up of monopolies, notably pursued by Theodore Roosevelt under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

T Roosevelt

  • 26th President (1901-1909), known for his "Square Deal" domestic policies and conservation efforts.

Taft

  • 27th President (1909-1913), continued Roosevelt's policies but was less aggressive in trustbusting.

Wilson

  • 28th President (1913-1921), implemented the "New Freedom" agenda of progressive reforms.

The Jungle

  • Novel by Upton Sinclair exposing unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry, leading to the Pure Food and Drug Act.

FDA

  • Federal agency created in 1906 to regulate food safety and pharmaceuticals.

Election of 1912

  • Four-way race won by Woodrow Wilson, with Theodore Roosevelt running as a Progressive (Bull Moose) Party candidate.

New Nationalism v New Freedom

  • New Nationalism (Roosevelt): Stronger federal government regulation of the economy.

  • New Freedom (Wilson): Breaking up trusts to restore competition and limiting federal power.

Underwood Tariff

  • Significantly reduced tariff rates and implemented a graduated federal income tax.

Federal Reserve

  • Central banking system created to stabilize the nation's monetary and financial system.

Clayton Antitrust Act

  • Strengthened antitrust laws and protected labor unions from being considered illegal combinations.

Federal Farm Loan Act

  • Established a system of land banks to provide low-interest loans to farmers.

Child Labor Act

  • attempted to regulate and reduce child labor, but was later ruled unconstitutional.

Niagara Movement

  • Civil rights organization led by W.E.B. Du Bois, a precursor to the NAACP.

NAACP

  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded to advance justice for African Americans.

Alice Paul

  • Suffragist who organized more militant tactics like parades and hunger strikes to advocate for women's voting rights.

Margaret Sanger

  • Nurse and activist who promoted birth control and founded organizations that became Planned Parenthood.