APUSH Chapter #16 Vocabulary

Social Gospel

A belief of religious doctrines, those that advocated social gospel believed that those that believed in churches should directly discuss economic and social problems. The movement was mainly lead by Washington Gladden, and primarily taught the poor to become more successful in the industrialized world.

Wounded Knee massacre

A massacre of 1890 was fueled when Sioux, Indian Chief, left the reservation in protest of the death of Sitting Bull. The last major incident of the Great PLains, the US army killed 150 sioux Indians at the massacre.

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie is a main example of vertical integration. Immigrating from Scotland at thirteen, Carnegie worked the majority of his youth in a Pennsylvanian textile factory until hired by Thomas A. Scott as a telegraph operator. By the Civil War, Carnegie was promoted to Pennsylvania Railroad's main management positions. Holding such authority, during the Great Depression, Carnegie sought out to starting a vertically integrated steel company. This vertically integrated company allowed for a monopoly on the steel industry and economic success.

vertical integration

As shown in the 1873 Carnegie steel company example, vertical integration is a business or corporation that holds control over every phase of the process of the business. Starting with raw materials to transportation, manufacturing, and distribution, the company controls every aspect of its economic process. Vertical integration allows for the formation of a economic monopoly. Thus, due to vertical integration, Carnegie soon after forming the corporation held dominance in the steel industry.

horizontal integration

As shown in the 1880 Rockefeller oil company example, horizontal integration, horizontal integration (or horizontal expansion) is the act of buying out competing oil refineries. However, in the Rockefeller oil example, Rockefeller soon established a vertically integrated monopoly like Carnegie. Thus, his business took charge of the drilling, refining, storage, and distribution of oil.

Knights of Labor

Formed in 1869, the Knights of Labor was the first major American labor union. Also referred to as Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was extremely popular in the late 1800s. This great popularity, of approximately 700,000 individuals allowed for many organized strikes and settlements with hundreds of employers across the United States.

Social Darwinism

Social Darwinism, advocated by much of the upperclass in the post Civil War era, is a theory comparing the studies of Charles Darwin to the social and economic class of humans. Essentially, it was a belief that encompasses the idea that those that were rich were rich and those that were poor were poor due to the natural selection of the social class and society. This theory of Social Darwinism allowed the formation of a basis for many people who supported the laissez faire style of economy.

Dawes Act

The Dawes Act is yet another example of the Americans betraying and harming the Indians. Essentially, the act divided the land of all the tribes into small parcels and then distributed a small amount of the land to Indian families, leaving the rest to be auctioned to white farmers. In turn, Indians who accepted the farms would become American citizens. The Dawes Act was not successful, and instead caused more harm than gain.

Gospel of Wealth

The Gospel of Wealth was an essay written by famous Andrew Carnegie. The essay addressed the aspects of social darwinism; Andrew Carnegie was a great advocator of philanthropy. Essentially, Carnegie made social darwinism less harsh by his belief that it was a common belief to give back to the community and give the poor money. However, Carnegie executed this through education which was not beneficial to those in the working class because they never had time to take advantage of the offer. In addition, the Gospel of Wealth states that great wealth brought lots of responsibility and was the most efficient result of capitalism.