Progressive & Industrial/Economic Growth

Push Factor- a condition that drives people from their homeland

Pull Factor- a condition that attracts people to move a new area

Acculturation- process of holding on to old traditions while adapting to new culture

Immigrant- a person who enters another country in order to settle there

Muckraker- a journalist who exposed corruption and bad business practices in the late 1800s and early 1900s 

Monopoly- a company or group having control of all or nearly all of the business of an industry

Progressive- a reformer in the late 1800s and early 1900s who wanted to improve American life

Chinese Exclusion Act- 1882 law that barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States

Nativist- an American who sought to limit immigration and preserve the country for native-born, white Protestants

Tenement- a small apartment in a city slum building

Strike- the refusal by workers to do their jobs until their demands are met

Trade Union- association of workers in a specific trade, or line of work, forms to gain higher wages better working conditions

Triangle Fire- fire in 1911 at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City that killed nearly 150 workers 

Sweatshop- workplace where people labor long hours in poor conditions for low pay

Capitalism- an economic system based on private ownership of property, a market economy, and the goal of making a profit, or income, from the use of one’s property

Scarcity- a shortage, lack, or insufficient supply

Moving Assembly Line- method of production in which workers stay in one place as products pass along a track or moving belt

Progressive- a reformer in the late 1800s and early 1900s who wanted to improve American life 

Urbanization- the movement of population from farms to cities

Federal Reserve Act- a 1913 law that set up the Federal Reserve System to regulate the nation’s financial sector 

Referendum- a process by which people vote directly on a bill
Federal Trade Commission- (FTC) is a government agency created in 1914 to ensure fair competition

NAACP- (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) an organization founded in 1909 to work toward equal rights for African Americans

Vaudeville- a type of variety show made popular in the late 1800s that included comedians, song-and-dance routines, and acrobats

Yellow Journalism- a style of newspaper reporting that emphasizes sensationalism over facts

Realist- a writer or artist who aims to show life as it is

Suffrage- the right to vote

Conservation- seeks to prevent the waste of natural resources, and maintain a quality environment for future generations

Inflation- a rise in prices and a decrease in the value of money

Vigilante- a self-appointed enforcer of the law

Transcontinental Railroad- a railroad that stretches across a continent from coast to coast

Exploit- a striking or notable deed; spirited or heroic act

Social Reform- an organized attempt to improve what is unjust or imperfect in society

Trust- a new type of industrial organization