APUSH16: The Gilded Age
Standard Oil
American oil-producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company started by Rockefeller that became one of the first and largest multinational corporations and was eventually ruled as an illegal monopoly by the Supreme Court
Crazy Horse
Cheyenne leader who defended tribal land in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory
Looking Backward
Edward Bellamy's 1888 utopian novel which advocated for socialism without actually using the word
Progress and Poverty
Henry George's 1879 book that advocated the introduction of a "single tax"
Ghost Dance
Indian cultural revitalization campaign that involed singing, dancing, and religious observances
Comanche
Indian empire centered in modern-day New Mexico and Colorado that dominated the Great Plains and Southwest, acting as an equal to the Spanish, French and American government until the 1870s
Terence V. Powderly
Irish-American leader of the Knights of Labor
Gospel of Wealth
Protestant preachers' way of supporting a "liberty of contract" outlook
Sitting Bull
Sioux leader who defended tribal land in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory; strong opponent of reservation system; eventually imprisoned and became part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
General Custer
US General who died in Little Bighorn
International Harvester
a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacture that became a large multinational corporation
Carlisle School
a boarding school that aimed to "civilize" Indians
Credit Mobilier
a corporation formed by an inner ring of Union Pacific Railroad stockholders to oversee the line's government-assisted construction, enabling participants to sign own contracts, charging exorbitant prices
Tweed Ring
a corrupt Democratic political machine which plundered tens of millions of dollars from New York, creating private welfare programs for the city's immigrant poor in exchange for votes
A and P Stores
a famous line of grocery stores
Gilded Age
a name for the era of American history from 1870-1890, characterized by remarkable expansion, corruption, corporate dominance, and oppressive treatment of those left behind economically
Whiskey Ring
a scandal, exposed in 1875, involving diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among government agents, politicians, whiskey distillers, and distributors, that defrauded the federal government of millions of tax dollars
standard gauge
a standardized measurement for the distance separating two railroad tracks that made it possible for trains of one company to travel on another company's tracks
Homestead Act
allowed a settler to acquire as much as 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years, improving it, and paying a nominal fee of about $30; encouraged western settlement
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
allowed for monopolies to be broken up because they restrained trade; vague language made it impossible to enforce; set precedent that Congress would regulate the economy to a certain extent
alternating current
an engineering feat that overcame many of the challenges of using electricity for commercial and industrial purposes, especially over long distances
Little Bighorn
battle in which Indians killed General Custer and 250 Americans
Kansas Pacific Railroad
became essential in transporting cattle from Texas
national brand
brands that were recognized across the United States as a result of mass production, mass distribution and mass marketing
Dawes Act (1876)
broke up land of nearly all tribes into small parcels to be distributed to Indian families, with the remaining land auctioned to whites; also granted American citizenship to those who "civilized"; benefited whites and destroyed Indian culture
US v. E. C. Knight Co. (1985)
case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could not be used to break up a sugar refining monopoly, since Congress could regulate commerce, but not manufacturing
Elk v. Wilkins (1884)
case that decided that the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments did not apply to Indians
Lochner v. New York (1905)
case that voided state law that established ten-hour day/sixty-hour week for bakers; Court decided that it interfered with the right of contract between the employer and employee, therefor infringing upon individual freedom
"overwhelming labor question"
controversy surrounding the treatment of blue-collar workers after Reconstruction
bonanza farms
covered thousands of acres of farmland and employed large numbers of agricultural wage workers
standard time zones
created in 1883 to create a system of standardized times across the country
Civil Service Act (1883)
created merit system for federal employees, with appointment via competitive examinations rather than political influence; indirectly resulted in politicians' dependence on donations from business interests
"How the Other Half Lives"
critique of the upper class that offered a shocking account of living conditions among the urban poor, complete with photographs of apartments in dark, airless, overcrowded tenement houses, written by Jacob Riis in 1890
"Sunshine and Shadow"
critique of the upper-class that opened with an engraving that contrasted department store magnate Alexander Stewart's two-million-dollar mansion with housing in the city slums, written by Matthew Smith in 1868
Social Gospel
denominational religious leaders' insistence that freedom and spiritual self-development required an equalization of wealth and power and that competition mocked the Christian ideal of brotherhood; led to anti-poverty programs
"solid South"
describes the electoral support of the Southern United States for the Democratic Party candidates from 1877 to 1964
"The Theory of the Leisure Class"
devastating critique of an upper-class culture focused on conspicuous consumption, written by Thorstein Veblen in 1899
Social Darwinism
doctrine that claimed that evolution was natural in human society, and that government should not interfere; ridiculed welfare programs
Andrew Carnegie
emigrated from Scotland and worked up from a Pennsylvania textile factory worker to a steel industry magnate worth hundreds of millions of dollars, denying fair conditions for his workers; ultimately donated much of his money
ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) (1887)
ensured that rates railroads charged farmers and merchants to transport goods were reasonable and did not offer selective favorable treatment; first federal agency that regulated economic activity, but had little impact
Sears, Roebuck and Co
famous seller of clothing, jewelry, farm equipment and numerous other goods to rural families throughout the country
J. P. Morgan
financier and founder of U.S. Steel who combined eight large steel companies into the first billion-dollar economic enterprise
Knights of Labor
first group to try to organize unskilled workers as well as skilled, women and men, and blacks and whites; involved millions of workers in strikes, boycotts, political action, and educational and social activities
"Boss" Tweed
forged close ties with railroad men and labor unions, winning support from city's immigrant poor by fashioning a kind of private welfare system that provided food, fuel and jobs; ousted in 1970s, but known as urban Robin Hood
BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs)
handled all matters involved Indians; established boarding schools where Indian children were Americanized
Frederick Jackson Turner
historian who gave celebrated lecture "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" in which he argued that on the western frontier the distinctive qualities of American culture were forged: individual freedom, political democracy, and economic mobility; also said that The West acts as an escape for Easterners, preventing social unrest
Nikola Tesla
inventor of the second industrial revolution who emigrated to the United States and developed the electric motor using the system of alternating current
Thomas Edison
inventor of the second industrial revolution who made advancements with the phonograph, lightbulb, electric grid and motion pictures; created first electric generating station in Manhattan
Chief Joseph
leader of Nez Percé tribe who delivered a speech in Washington condemning US policy towards Indians and fought for his people's right to return to their Oregon homeland
"trusts"
legal devices whereby the affairs of several rival companies were managed by a single director; failed as individual firms pursued profits
cowboys
low-paid wage workers that controlled the long drive
open range
method of ranching throughout the southern Middle Border states in which cattle roamed freely
gold standard
monetary system in which paper currency is exchangeable for gold at a fixed rate, keeping inflation low and benefiting the middle/upper classes
the Grange
moved to establish cooperatives for storing and marketing farm output in the hope of forcing the carriers to pay fair prices; succeeded in having commissions regulate railroad practices in some states
greenbacks
paper money issued by the Union during the Civil War; withdrawn from circulation by Republicans throughout the 1870s
Greenback-Labor Party
political party that proposed that the government stop taking greenback money out of circulation, arguing that greenbacks made more funds available for investment; also condemned use of militias against strikes
William Graham Sumner
prominent Social Darwinist and Yale professor that argued that freedom required frank acceptance of inequality and that government existed only to protect "the property of men and the honor of women"
transcontinental line
railroads that spanned the country, transporting products of western mines, farms, ranches and forests to eastern markets and carried manufactured goods to the West
Haymarket Square Riot
rally held in Chicago to protest the killing of four strikers; an undiscovered man threw a bomb, killing a policeman and prompting police to open fire on bystanders and make arrests; martyrs were convicted of carrying out the attack
John D. Rockefeller
rose to become dominant oil tycoon who drove out rival firms through cutthroat competition, price fixing and production quotas; denied his workers the right to unionize; gave away much of his fortune
Middle Border
site of new agricultural empire that produced wheat and corn; included Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas
settler societies
societies in which immigrants from oversea quickly outnumber and displace the original inhabitants; e.g. the United States
barbed wire
steel wire fencing with sharp points invented to keep cattle within certain barriers
horizontal integration
the buying out of similar companies to reduce competition
vertical integration
the controlling of every phase of business from raw materials to transportation, manufacturing and distribution
May Day
the day in which 350,000 workers in cities across the United States demonstrated for an eight-hour day; became an annual date of parades, picnics and protests, celebrated around the world by organized labor
"cooperative commonwealth"
the first book to popularize socialism for an American audience
Great Railroad Strike (1877)
the first national labor walkout; workers protested pay but paralyzing rail traffic, and troops fired on strikers in Pittsburgh killing 20, and prompting workers to burn the city's railroad yards
nation market
the integration of the entire country into a single economy, created as a result of railroads
Wounded Knee
the site of the killing of 150-200 Indians, mostly women and children, at the hands of US soldiers on December 29, 1890
long drive
train ride in which millions of cattle were transported
"single tax"
would replace other taxes with a levy on increases in the value of real estate; would be so high that it would prevent speculation in both urban and rural land
