USH Unit 5 Study Guide

Tammany Hall

A Democratic political organization in New York City, founded in 1789 as a fraternal benevolent society and associated especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s with corruption and abuse of power.

Thomas Nast

A German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was the scourge (burden) of Democrat "Boss" Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine.

In His Steps

A book by Charles M. Sheldon. It is a Christian novel about the events that ensue when a preacher challenges his congregation to ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?"

Holding Company

A company created to buy and possess the shares of other companies, which it then controls.

Injunction

A judicial order that restrains a person from beginning or continuing an action threatening or invading the legal right of another, or that compels a person to carry out a certain act.

Comstock's Law

A law that defined contraceptives as obscene and illicit, making it a federal offense to hand out birth control or materials used for abortion through the mail or across state lines.

Political Machine

A political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses (usually campaign workers), who receive rewards for their efforts.

"Bully Pulpit"

A public office or position of authority that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issue.

Jay Gould

A railroad tycoon (executive, financer, speculator, developer) and a robber barron. He gained control of the Erie Canal and caused a financial panic in 1869 when he attempted to corner the gold market.

Frederick Taylor

An inventor, engineer, and the father of scientific management theory in the early 1900s- a relatively new method of improving efficiency, in which experts looked at every step of a manufacturing process to find ways to reduce time, effort, and expense.

Pools

Defensive alliances of competing firms that agreed to divide market, establish prices, and place profits in a common fund.

Wabash Case

Supreme Court decision that severely limited the rights of states to control interstate commerce. It led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Arbitration

The use of an arbitrator (an independent person or body) to officially settle a dispute.

Pragmatism

Underlying philosophy of the Progressive Movement. Truth dependent on use to person that holds it- what is true for reform is what the reformer finds applicable.

Gilded Age

pg 480, 483, 519, 529 Refers to the period of the last decades of the nineteenth century. An era in which excessive extravagance and wealth concealed mounting social problems, government corruption, and poverty. American society had "a rotten core covered with gold paint".

Boss William Tweed

pg. 420 A state senator. He was the leader of a band of NYC Democratic politicians that was involved in a scandal. The scandal plundered millions of dollars from the city's treasury.

Horatio Alger, Jr.

pg. 437, 483 In 1868, this man published his first novel called Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York. Told the story of a poor boy who rose to wealth by working hard. Called the "rags to riches" idea, which depended on capitalism.

J.P. Morgan

pg. 438, 444 A wealthy industrialist who supported research laboratories where inventors (like Thomas Edison) could experiment with products and methods that might bring corporations future profits.

Bessemer Process

pg. 439 In the 1850s in England, a man named Henry developed a process for purifying iron, resulting in strong, but lightweight, steel. American industries quickly adopted this process because strong steel made many innovations possible.

Andrew Carnegie

pg. 443, 445, 449, 458 In 1848, him and his poverty-stricken family immigrated to the US. His money began to grow and he was soon a very wealthy investor and a steel tycoon. This is a "rags to riches" story. Established many charitable organizations. Used vertical integration. He wrote Wealth in 1889. His ideas became popularly known as the "gospel of wealth".

John D. Rockefeller

pg. 444-446, 458, 551 He was the world's first billionaire. An oil tycoon that made deals with railroads to increase his profits. Used horizontal integration until law prevented it, then he started using trusts and vertical integration.

Vertical Integration

pg. 445, 447 Many businessmen used this process to increase their power by gaining control of the many different businesses that make up all phases of a product's development. Allowed companies to reduce costs and charge higher prices to competitors.

Trusts

pg. 445, 549 When companies assign their stock to a board of trustees, who combine them into a new organization. The trustees run the organization, paying themselves dividends on profits. The companies receive trusts certificates. They limited competition and raised prices.

Horizontal Integration

pg. 445-446 Many businessmen used this process by creating a giant company with lower production costs. They consolidated many firms in the same business. Rockefeller used this method.

The "Captains of Industry" vs. "Robber Barons" debate—what they mean

pg. 446-447 Captains of Industry: Powerful business leaders that served the nation positively through increased productivity, expansion of markets, providing more jobs, or acts of philanthropy. Robber Barons: American capitalists who acquired a fortune in the late nineteenth century by ruthless means. They squeezed many small businesses out of the competition. People: Gould, Morgan *Carnegie and Rockefeller were both

Laissez-Faire

pg. 447-448, 458 These policies were when the government allowed businesses to operate under minimal government regulation. Example: Interstate Commerce Commission was created to oversee railroad operations.

Social Darwinism

pg. 447-448, 588 Yale professor William Graham Sumner + Herbert Spencer applied the natural selection theory to the world of American capitalism and called it this. Said that wealth was a measure of one's inherent value and those who had it were the most fit. People used this to justify many beliefs + conditions. Could also be the belief that life consists of competitive struggles in which only the fittest survive. Felt that certain nations/races were superior to others and therefore they could rule over inferior people.

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

pg. 448, 457, 549, 572, 575, 578 The federal government slowly became involved in regulating trusts by, in 1890, the Senate passing this act. It outlawed any trust/monopoly/practice that operated in restraint of trade or commerce among several states, such as price fixing. The provision was seldom enforced.

Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

pg. 448, 535, 571 The US Senate created this to oversee railroad operations. The ICC monitored railroads that crossed state lines. Congress reviewed railroads' transactions for any hint of unfairness. By 1900, the Supreme Court had stripped away most of the ICC's power. However, the Hepburn Act passed in 1906 gave the ICC strong enforcement powers.

"Gospel of Wealth"

pg. 449 Andrew Carnegie said that people had the right to accumulate as much wealth as they could, but they also had the responsibility to give it away. His ideas were known as this.

Samuel Gompers

pg. 450, 454, 458 This man was a poor English immigrant who had worked his way up. In 1886, he formed the American Federation of Labor, a craft union-- a loose organization of skilled workers from many local labor unions.

Company Town

pg. 451, 456 Many laborers, esp. those who worked in mines, were forced to lived in isolated communities near their workplaces. The housing in these communities were known as these + were owned by the business & rented out to employees.

Terence Powderly

pg. 453 In 1881, he took on the leadership of the Knights. Before this, he was a railroad worker and a mayor in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He continued to pursue ideological reforms meant to lead workers out of the bondage of wage labor.

Collective Bargaining

pg. 453 In the 1820s, this was when factory workers tried to gain more power against employers by using this technique, or negotiating as a group for higher wages/better working conditions. One form of this was the strike.

Socialism

pg. 453 In the 1830s, this movement spread throughout Europe. It is an economic and political philosophy that favors public control of property and income. Believe that society at large should take charge of a nation's wealth. The wealth should be distributed equally to everyone. Karl Marx and Friedrick Engels were part of this ideology.

Knights of Labor

pg. 453, 454-455, 525 In 1869, Uriah Smith Stephens founded this labor union. Included all workers of any trade + functioned largely as a secret society. Terence V. Powderly took charge in 1881. By the 1890s, after many failed strikes, the union largely disappeared.

Strike

pg. 453-457, 571 This is a form of collective bargaining (negotiating as a group for higher wages or better working conditions). It's when workers agreed to cease work until certain demands were met. Examples are: Railroads, Haymarket Square, Homestead, and Pullman.

Craft Union

pg. 454 A loose organization of skilled workers from local unions devoted to specific crafts or trades. The American Federation of Labor was this.

"Bread and Butter Trade Unionism"

pg. 454 Because of its narrow focus on workers' issues, the American Federation of Labor was often called a "______ ____ ________" union. The labor class was united by simple issues.

American Federation of Labor

pg. 454, 458, 578 In 1886, Samuel Gompers formed this craft union, a loose organization of skilled workers from many local unions devoted to specific crafts or trades. Gompers set high dues for membership and focused on wages, working hours, and working conditions. Called a "bread and butter" union. Not very successful in gaining members.

Homestead Steel Strike

pg. 454-455 In 1892 a steel plant here in Pennsylvania cut workers' wages and the union called a strike. Henry Frick called in the Pinkertons police force. When a protestor tried to assassinate Frick, the strike was called off.

Haymarket Riot

pg. 454-455 On May 4th, 1886, many workers mounted a demonstration for an eight-hour work day. They gathered here in Chicago. Dozens of people were killed. Effects: -Knights of Labor died off as people shied away from radicalism -Employers became more suspicious of union activities

Pullman Strike

pg. 454-457 In 1893, this Palace Car Company laid off workers and reduced wages w/o decreasing the cost of company towns. The workers turned to the American Railway Union led by Debs. The ARU called for a nationwide strike called this. The President sent in troops and ended the strike. Debs was imprisoned. Effect: -Employers used the courts to limit the influence of unions

Pinkertons

pg. 455 A private police force known for their ability to break up strikes. Were brought in by Henry Frick to intervene in the Homestead Steel Strike. Killed and wounded many strikers here.

Eugene V. Debs

pg. 455-458 He led the American Railway Union, an industrial union that grouped all railroad workers together rather than separating them by the job they held. Led the Pullman Strike, but was imprisoned. By the end of the 1800s, he became a Socialist. He helped organize the American Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World.

Industrial Workers of the World

pg. 457 In 1905 Eugene V. Debs helped found this, or Wobblies. It was a radical union of unskilled workers with many Socialists among its leaders. In the first few years, they led a number of violent strikes.

Steerage

pg. 466 By the 1870s, steamships made the trip across the Atlantic much safer and faster; however, most immigrants traveled in this part of the ship with the worst accommodations. Located on the lower decks with no private cabins. Illness spread quickly.

Tenements

pg. 476 Most urban workers lived here: low-cost multifamily housing designed to squeeze in as many families as possible. The housing was unhealthy and dangerous. Jacob Riis wrote about it in his book How the Other Half Lives.

Frederick Law Olmstead

pg. 476 Philadelphia hired this landscape engineer to design Fairmount Park. He also designed NYC's Central Park and similar parks in Detriot, Michigan; Washington, D.C.; and Palo Alto, California.

How the Other Half Lives

pg. 476, 550-551 An influential muckraker, Jacob Riis, turned his camera on the unsafe conditions of tenement buildings. In 1890, he published this book that shocked the nation's conscience and led to reforms.

Jacob Riis

pg. 476, 550-551 This man was an influential muckraker and a photographer for the NY Evening Sun. He turned his camera on the crowded, unsafe, rat-infested tenement buildings where the urban poor lived. Between 1890-1903, he published several works, including How the Other Half Lives, that shocked the nation's conscience and led to reforms.

Prohibition

pg. 527, 558, 578, 676-678 Women's movements often supported temperance movements, the effort to ban alcohol. In 1919, the states ratified the 18th Amendment, which forbade the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol in the US.

Susan B. Anthony

pg. 527, 559-561 She was originally involved in the temperance movement and joined the fight for women's right to vote in the 1850s. The Susan B. Anthony Amendment became law as the Eighteenth Amendment in 1918. She worked closely with Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Progressivism

pg. 548-549, 579-580 The movement that believed new ideas and honest, efficient government could bring about social justice. Believed that industrialization and urbanization had created troubling social and political problems like corrupt government. The people of this movement came from many different social classes (mostly middle-class) and backgrounds. Pragmatism was the underlying philosophy of this. These ideas brought lasting reforms that still affect society today.

Muckraker

pg. 550-551 These were socially conscious journalists and other writers who dramatized the need for reform. They were too fascinated with the ugliest side of things. People were horrified by these stories. Lincoln Steffens, Jacob Riis, and Ida M. Tarbell were very influential.

Ida M. Tarbell

pg. 551 She wrote A History of the Standard Oil Company in McClure's Magazine, which reported that Rockefeller used ruthless methods to ruin his competitors, charge higher prices, and reap huge profits.

Upton Sinclair

pg. 551, 556, 572 He wrote the Jungle in 1906 and related the despair of immigrants working in Chicago's stockyards (meat-packing plants) + revealed the unsanitary conditions in the industry. Instead, popular outrage focused on the threat of spoiled meat.

The Jungle

pg. 551, 556, 572 Upton Sinclair wrote this book in 1906 and related the despair of immigrants working in Chicago's stockyards (meat-packing plants) + revealed the unsanitary conditions in the industry. Instead, popular outrage focused on the threat of spoiled meat.

Settlement House Movement

pg. 552 Progressives wanted to created these, community centers that provided social services to the urban poor. Jane Addams led this movement + she opened Hull House in Chicago.

Social Gospel

pg. 552 Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist minister, thought that Christianity should be the basis of social reform. He blended ideas from German socialism and American Progressivism to form this. Response to Social Darwinism.

Jane Addams

pg. 552, 559, 567, 575 Became a leading figure in the settlement house movement. She opened Hull House, a settlement house in Chicago. Fought for women to have the right to vote. She nominated Roosevelt as the Progressive Party's candidate for the 1912 election.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

pg. 552-553 In 1911, a fire at this factory in NYC shocked Americans and focused attention on the need to protect workers. Many could not escape and 146 were killed. Progressives intensified their calls for reform.

Florence Kelley

pg. 553, 558, 561 She led to effort to help children and advance their education in the early 1900s. Also believed that women were hurt by the unfair prices of goods they had to buy to run their homes. In 1899, she helped found the National Consumers League, which made labels for safe foods. Led NAWSA to support the war effort.

Direct Primary

pg. 554 Robert M. La Follette established this, an election in which citizens themselves vote to select nominees for upcoming elections.

Robert M. LaFollette

pg. 554-555 This Republican-Progressive reform governor from Wisconsin established a direct primary, an election in which citizens vote to select nominees for elections. Nickname was "Fighting Bob".

Referendum

pg. 555 A political reform that allowed citizens to approve or reject laws passed by a legislature.

Initiative

pg. 555 A political reform that gave people the power to put a proposed new law directly on the ballot in the next election by collecting citizens' signatures on a petition. Voters could pass laws instead of waiting for elected officials to act.

Woodrow Wilson

pg. 555, 566, 576-579 He was a Democrat President that was a white supremacist. His plan looked like Roosevelt's New Nationalism called New Freedom. He placed strict government controls and corporations + brought reforms to the White House. He attacked the "triple wall of privilege"- tariffs, banks, trusts.

Theodore Roosevelt

pg. 555, 569-575 When he became President in 1901 at 43 years old, he ushered in a new era: he brought reforms to the White House. He became President because McKinley was assassinated. He was charismatic, energetic, and smart. He called his new program the Square Deal, and its goals were to keep the wealthy and powerful from taking advantage of small businesses and the poor (trust-buster). He protected national parks with the help of Gifford Pinchot. After Roosevelt left, Taft took over, who did not continue his policies. Roosevelt began speaking about New Nationalism (program to restore the gov's trustbusting power). He ran against Taft in the election of 1912.

17th Amendment Created: 1913

pg. 555, 578 With this amendment, voters could now directly elect senators in each state, not state legislators.

Muller v. Oregon

pg. 558 A 1903 Oregon law capped women's workday's at 10 hours. 5 years later, in this case, the Supreme Court reviewed this law. The Court agreed with Lawyer Brandeis when she said that long working hours harmed women.

18th Amendment Created: 1919

pg. 558, 578 This amendment outlawed the production, selling, and transporting of alcohol in the US. The work of the Women Campaign for Temperance led to this.

Carrie Chapman Catt

pg. 559, 561 She re-energized the national suffrage effort in the 1890s. She traveled around the country urging women to join the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1900, she became NAWSA's president. Promoted her "winning plan". Led NAWSA to support the war effort.

NAWSA

pg. 559, 561-562 Carrie Chapman Catt traveled the country urging women to join this association and in 1900 became the president of it. Catt and Kelley led this group to support the war effort.

National Women's Party

pg. 560-562 In 1917, Alice Paul formed this Party, which used public protest marches. Became the first group to march with picket signs outside the White House. Some also went on hunger strikes.

Alice Paul

pg. 560-562 She was a social activist who fought for women to get the vote in elections. In 1917, she formed the National Women's Party, which used public protest marches. They marched with picket signs outside the White House + some went on hunger strikes.

19th Amendment Created: 1920

pg. 560-562, 578 This amendment stated that the right to vote shall not be denied based on sex. Gave women the right to vote in all elections. Many of the women's associations played a big role in allowing this to happen.

Square Deal

pg. 570 When Roosevelt became president, he convinced Americans of the need for change and to push through his reform proposals. He called his program this, and its goals were to keep the wealthy and powerful from taking advantage of small business owners + poor. Used trust-busting + Hepburn Act to enforce this.

Trustbusting

pg. 571-572, 574-575, 578 A person or agency employed to enforce antitrust (controlling trusts) legislation. Roosevelt became known for him doing this. He believed that if a big business bullied small outfits or cheated consumers, only then were they a bad trust.

Gifford Pinchot

pg. 572, 574-575 Led the Division of Forestry in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He proposed that forests be preserved for public use. He wanted forests to be protected so trees would be made into good lumber. His ideas came to dominate American policies toward natural resources. When Taft became president, he was fired.

Meat Inspection Act of 1906

pg. 572, 578 Provided federal agents to inspect any meat sold across state lines and required federal inspection of meat-processing plants.

Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906

pg. 572, 578 This act placed controls on other foods and medicines other than just meat (like federal inspection of their stuff + their plants). Also banned the interstate shipment of impure food and the mislabeling of food and drugs. Created the FDA.

Newlands Act of 1902

pg. 574, 578 Congress passed this in 1902, which gave the federal government the power to decide where and how water would be distributed. Provided for federal irrigation projects by using money from the sale of public lands.

William Howard Taft

pg. 574-575 This Secretary of War became President after Roosevelt served 2 terms. He was America's largest president. He passed untrustworthy acts, dropped the line b/t good and bad trusts, brought lawsuits against too many corporations, and fired Pinchot. Republicans nominated him for the election of 1912 against Roosevelt.

Ballinger-Pinchot Affair

pg. 575 President Taft infuriated Roosevelt + Progressives when he fired U.S. Forest Service Head Gifford Pinchot for publicly criticizing Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger. This is the name of the feud b/t P and B.

Bull Moose Party

pg. 575, 583 A former Progressive political party in the US founded by Theodore Roosevelt during the presidential campaign of 1912. This was when the Republican Party split.

New Freedom

pg. 576-577 The Democrat Woodrow Wilson became president and shaped his ideas into a program called this. His plan looked much like Roosevelt's New Nationalism (placing strict government controls on corporations). Attacked the triple wall of privilege-- tariffs, banks, trusts.

Progressive Income Tax

pg. 577 This is when wealthy people pay a higher percentage of their income than poor people. The Underwood Tariff Act of 1913 included a provision to create this, which the recently passed 16th Amendment gave Congress the power to do.

Federal Reserve Board of Governors

pg. 577-578 The Federal Reserve Act placed national banks under these people's control, who set up regional banks to hold the reserve funds from commercial banks. They also set the interest rate that banks pay to borrow money from other banks, and supervise banks to make sure they are well run.

Federal Reserve System

pg. 577-578 The act of placing national banks under the control of a Federal Reserve Board, who set up regional banks to hold the reserve funds from commercial banks. Helps protect the American economy from having too much money end up in the hands of one person/bank.

16th Amendment Created: 1913

pg. 577-578 This amendment gave Congress the power to create a graduated income tax. A graduated income tax means wealthy people pay a higher percentage of their income than poor people.

Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914

pg. 578 Congress passed this act in 1914 which strengthened earlier antitrust laws by spelling out those activities in which businesses could not engage (meant to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act). Also protected labor unions from being attacked as trusts. Workers could organize more freely. Enforced by Federal Trade Commission.

Josiah Strong

pg. 588 A religious missionary who wrote his best-selling work called Our Country. Said that the presence of immigrants represented a fundamental problem in the US. He argued that Americans had a responsibility to spread their Western values. Believed in Social Darwinism (fittest being whites).

Anarchist

pg. 649 Members of a radical political movement.

Scientific Management

pg. 661 A relatively new method of improving efficiency, in which experts looked at every step of a manufacturing process to find ways to reduce time, effort, and expense. Created in the early 1900s by Frederic Winslow Taylor.