APUSH Flashcards
subsidy
monetary assistance usually paid to individuals or businesses by government to reduce the costs of purchases
entrepreneur
someone who has an idea/product and assumes the risk of trying to sell that idea/product
patent
exclusive rights to a product granted by the government to the inventor for a limited period of time
capital
money
standardization
making everything the same (like gauges of railroad track)
trunk line
major railway line between large cities
Cornelius Vanderbilt
one of the 1st businessmen to build trunk lines and standardize RR tracks (NY to Chicago)
Bessemer Process
process by which blasted air through molten iron made stronger steel
Andrew Carnegie
steel magnate whose steel company used vertical integration to control every phase of the steelmaking process; became major philanthropist after selling company
philanthropist
someone who gives away their own money to charity
J. P. Morgan
businessman who bought Carnegie Steel in 1900 for $400 million and formed US Steel
US Steel
largest company in the world in 1900; 1st billion dollar company
John D. Rockefeller
formed Standard Oil and utilized horizontal integration
horizontal integration
process by which one company buys out all other companies within the same industry (example: Standard Oil buys up all other oil companies)
vertical integration
process by which one company buys up all other companies RELATED to the production of the parent company’s product (example: Carnegie Steel buys up iron ore mining company, railway company, and steel distributors)
Robber Barons
negative term used to describe rich capitalists who were supposedly “robbing” the common man by making millions off products they sold
Sherman Anti-trust Act (1890)
Prohibited any “combination” or “conspiracy” that restrained trade or commerce; never enforced
laissez faire (“let it be”)
idea that said business should NOT be regulated by govt, BUT instead by laws of supply and demand
Social Darwinism
idea that said rich people were more “fit” of human species; poor people were “unfit”; said welfare would hurt human species by preserving the “unfit”
“Gospel of Wealth”
idea that said God wanted rich to be rich; proof was that He gave them superior work ethic
Samuel Morse
invented telegraph
Alexander Graham Bell
invented telephone
Thomas Edison
invented phonograph, light bulb, generator; set up research facility at Menlo Park, NJ
George Westinghouse
invented air brake
Scientific management/Taylorism
idea that to increase efficiency, large jobs were broken into small steps and workers did one thing ALL day
National Labor Union, 1866
union that tried to unite all workers in USA and won 8 hour day for federal govt employees
Knights of Labor, 1869
union led by Terence Powderley; desired socialist society (more radical); included African-Americans and women
American Federation of Labor
union led by Samuel Gompers; concentrated on wages and working conditions (less radical); skilled, white, males
Haymarket Riot
riot of radical workers in Chicago in 1886 that caused decline in Knights of Labor
Lockouts
pressures workers into accepting management’s offer by locking workers out of job
Blacklists
circulating names of pro-union people so they can’t be hired in industry
Yellow-dog contracts
contract that said workers if workers wanted a job, they couldn’t join union
Pinkerton Guards
private guards hired by management to break strikes by force
Homestead Strike, 1892
strike of Pittsburgh steelworkers in 1892 broken by Pinkerton Guards hired by Andrew Carnegie
Pullman Strike, 1894
strike by sleeping car workers broken because federal govt intervened on side of management
Great Migration (1890-1930)
movement of African-Americans north between 1890 and 1930
Political “machines”
tightly organized groups of politicians in cities that concentrated on getting party members elected and controlling city politics
Boss Tweed
Democratic machine boss in New York City in late 19th century; stole tax money and was exposed by Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast
political cartoonist of late 19th century
Settlement houses
community houses run usually by young Protestant women that provided social services for poor immigrants in cities
Jane Addams
ran Hull House (settlement house in Chicago)
Social Gospel
Applying Christian principles to social problems (God wants you to help the poor)
William Randolph Hearst
newspaper magnate who sensationalized stories to sell papers (practice yellow journalism)
Joseph Pulitzer
newspaper magnate who practiced yellow journalism; major literary prize is named after him
