American History Unit 2

Question 1

Haymarket Affair

Answer 1

a violent clash in 1886 between union supporters and Chicago police that divided and weakened the labor movement

Question 2

Homestead Strike

Answer 2

an 1892 Carnegie Steel plant workers’ strike that was broken by the state militia and resulted in the union being shut out of the plant for four decades

Question 3

labor union

Answer 3

a group of workers organized to protect the interests of its members

Question 4

Pullman Strike

Answer 4

an 1894 railway workers’ strike that was broken by federal troops, weakening the labor movement

Question 5

socialism

Answer 5

a political theory that advocates ownership of the means of production, such as factories and farms, by the people rather than by capitalists and landowners

Question 6

strike

Answer 6

a labor action in which workers refuse to go to work

Question 7

sweatshop

Answer 7

a small factory where employees work long hours under poor conditions for low wages

Question 8

tenement

Answer 8

a run-down apartment building

Question 10

collective bargaining

Answer 10

negotiations between employers and employees concerning wages, working conditions, and other terms of employment

Question 11

child labor

Answer 11

the practice of using children as manual laborers

Question 12

anarchist

Answer 12

a person who rejects all forms of government

Question 13

American Federation of Labor

Answer 13

a national labor organization, founded in 1886, that consisted mainly of skilled workers and focused on higher wages and shorter workdays

Question 14

vertical integration

Answer 14

a corporate expansion strategy that involves controlling each step in the production and distribution of a product, from acquiring raw materials to manufacturing, packaging, and shipping

Question 15

trust

Answer 15

a set of companies managed by a small group known as trustees, who can prevent companies in the trust from competing with each other

Question 16

social Darwinism

Answer 16

an idea, based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, that the best-run businesses led by the most capable people will survive and prosper

Question 17

Sherman Antitrust Act

Answer 17

an 1890 federal law that outlawed trusts, monopolies, and other forms of business that restricted trade

Question 18

philanthropist

Answer 18

a person who gives money to support worthy causes

Question 19

monopoly

Answer 19

a company that completely dominates a particular industry

Question 20

laissez-faire

Answer 20

the idea that the free market, through supply and demand, will regulate itself if government does not interfere

Question 21

factors of production

Answer 21

land, labor, and capital

Question 22

horizontal integration

Answer 22

a corporate expansion strategy that involves joining together as many firms from the same industry as possible

Question 23

corporation

Answer 23

a company recognized by law to exist independently from its owners, with the ability to own property, borrow money, sue, or be sued

Question 24

capitalism

Answer 24

an economic system in which factories, equipment, and other means of production are privately owned rather than controlled by government

Question 25

entrepreneur

Answer 25

a bold, ambitious person who establishes a new business

Question 26

capital

Answer 26

any financial asset-including money, machines, and buildings-used in production

Question 27

Bessemer process

Answer 27

a method of steelmaking invented in 1855 that enabled steel to be made more cheaply and quickly

Question 28

transcontinental railroad

Answer 28

a railroad that spans the continent

Question 29

reservation

Answer 29

an area of federal land reserved for Indigenous tribes

Question 30

Populist Party

Answer 30

a political party founded in 1892 calling for policies to help working people, such as government ownership of railroads and coinage of silver

Question 31

populism

Answer 31

a political philosophy that favors the common person’s interests over those of wealthy people or business interests

Question 32

monetary policy

Answer 32

government policy aimed at controlling the supply and value of a country’s currency

Question 33

lobbyist

Answer 33

a person who tries to persuade legislators to pass laws favorable to a particular group

Question 34

Homestead Act

Answer 34

an 1862 federal law that granted tracts of land called homesteads to western settlers who agreed to work the land and live on it for five years

Question 35

gold standard

Answer 35

a monetary policy requiring that every paper dollar in circulation be backed by a dollar’s worth of gold in the U.S. Treasury

Question 36

Exodusters

Answer 36

African Americans who migrated from the South to the Great Plains following the Civil War

Question 37

Dawes Act

Answer 37

an 1887 federal law distributing land to Indigenous individuals rather than to tribes, thereby encouraging Indigenous people to become assimilated

Question 38

Chisholm Trail

Answer 38

the cattle-drive trail from San Antonio, Texas, to Abilene, Kansas

Question 39

assimilation

Answer 39

the absorption of people into the dominant culture