Chapter 18 Key Terms

Question 1

Gilded Age (1860-1896):

Answer 1

An era of dramatic industrial and urban growth characterized by widespread political corruption and loose government oversight of corporations

Question 2

Tenenments

Answer 2

Shabby, low-cost inner-city apartment buildings that housed the urban poor in cramped, unventilated apartments

Question 3

new immigrants

Answer 3

wave of newcomers from southern and eastern Europe, including many Jews who became a majority among immigrants to America after 1890

Question 4

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

Answer 4

Federal law that barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to America

Question 5

Social Darwinism

Answer 5

the application of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolutionary natural selection to human society; social Darwinists used the concept of “survival of the fittest” to justify class distinctions, explain poverty, and oppose government intervention in the economy.

Question 6

Party boss

Answer 6

a powerful political leader who controlled a “machine’ of associates and operatives to promote both individual and party interests, often using informal tactics such as intimidation or the patronage system

Question 7

Patronage

Answer 7

an informal system (sometimes called the “spoils system”) used by politicians to reward their supporters with government appointments or contracts [the distribution of government jobs and contracts to loyal followers and corporate donors–the so-called spoils of office]

Question 8

Civil service reform

Answer 8

An extended effort led by political reformers to end the patronage system; led to the Pendleton Act (1883), which called for government jobs to be awarded based on merit rather than party loyalty.

Question 9

Mugwumps

Answer 9

Reformers who bolted the Republican party in 1884 to support Democrat Grover Cleveland for president over Republican James G. Blaine, whose secret dealings on behalf of railroad companies had brought charges of corruption

Question 10

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) (1887)

Answer 10

An independent federal agency established in 1887 to oversee businesses engaged in interstate trade, especially railroads, but whose regulatory power was limited when tested in the courts

Question 11

Tariff reform (1887):

Answer 11

Effort led by the democratic party to reduce taxes on imported goods, which Republicans argued were needed to protect American industries from foreign competition

Question 12

Granger Movement

Answer 12

began by offering social and educational activities for isolated farmers and their families and later started to promote “cooperatives” where farmers could join together to buy, store, and sell their crops to avoid the high fees charged by brokers and other middlemen.

Question 13

Farmer’s Alliances

Answer 13

like the Granger Movement, these organizations sought to address the issues of small farming communities; however, Alliances emphasized more political action and called for the creation of a third party to advocate their concerns

Question 14

People’s party (Populists)

Answer 14

Political party formed in 1892 following the success of Farmers’ Alliance candidates; Populists advocated a variety of reform, including free coinage of silver, a progressive income tax, postal savings banks, regulation of railroads, and direct election of U.S. senators

Question 15

Panic of 1893

Answer 15

a major collapse in the national economy after several major railroad companies declared bankruptcy, leading to a severe depression and several clashes between workers and management

Question 16

Money question

Answer 16

late nineteenth-century national debate over the nature of US currency; supporters of a fixed gold standard were generally moneylenders and thus preferred to keep the value of money high, while supporters of silver (and gold) coinage were debtors who owed money, so they wanted to keep the value of money low by increasing the money supply (inflation)