Chapter 5 Flashcards
Expansion, Industrialization, and Reform
Form of transportation joined in 1869 that linked the nation by railway from east to west
Transcontinental Railroad
Parcels of land set aside by the federal government for the Native Americans
Reservations
The site of the last major conflict between Native Americans and US soldiers. The battle occurred at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota in 1890 and resulted in US soldiers killing many Native Americans, most of which were unarmed and many which were women and children
Wounded Knee
Law passed in an attempt to assimilate Native American to US society by abolishing tribal organizations and dividing up reservations for the purpose of allotting land to individual Native American families. It failed because most Native Americans did not want to assimilate nor did they want to farm
Dawes Act
Invention by Thomas Edison that enabled factories to remain open longer and helped increase US production
Light Bulb
Developed the first alternating current system in 1886. Combined with the invention of an alternating current motor, this innovation allowed businessman to build and locate factories wherever they wanted rather than being limited to areas with waterfalls or accessible deposits of coal necessary for generating motor
George Westinghouse
Process of producing goods in large numbers so as to sell more, thereby charging less and still making profit
Mass Production
Innovative industrialist who revolutionized the auto industry with a more efficient assembly line and mass production techniques that made automobiles more affordable
Henry Ford
Naturally produced resources, such as oil, coal, iron ore, water, lumber, etc., which helped the United States become an industrialized nation
Natural Resources
Name used to describe businessmen who dominated the railroad industry and eventually used to refer to leaders in other industries as well
Robber Barrons
Key figure in the railroad industry, he greatly helped the railroad industry when he extended his New York Central railroad to reach Chicago, Illinois, thereby allowing travelers to go from New York to Chicago without having to transfer trains multiple times
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Capitalist who made his fortune in oil and founded the nation’s first trust in the form of the Standard Oil Company
John D. Rockefeller
Business started by John D. Rockefeller that was the United States’ first trust
Standard Oil
A business arrangement under which a number of companies unite into one system, effectively creating a monopoly as it destroys competition
Trust
Markets in which there is only one supplier of a product and no market competition
Monopolies
Man who truly came to dominate the steel industry through monopolies and vertical integration. He was also a great philanthropist and eventually the richest man in the world for a time
Andrew Carnegie
Finance capitalist who eventually exercised control over banks, insurance companies, and various stock-market operations and formed US Steel after purchasing Carnegie’s steel interests at a price that made Carnegie the richest man in the world
JP Morgan
Arrangement under which directors of one company served as directors for other companies also, allowing them to control entire industries and increase their economic gains as limited competition
Interlocking Directorates
Taxes on imports designed to protect US business
Protective Tariffs
Idea based on the observations of famous scientist and put forth by Herbert Spencer that life is about “survival of the fittest.” Many capitalists and industrial leaders of the early 20th century appealed to this idea to justify laissez-faire capitalism
Social Darwinism
Phase that comes from writer Mark Twain, and refers to the individual age as a time in which it appeared that a thin layer of prosperity was covering the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society
Gilded Age
An economic system in which means of production (factories, machines, and so on) are privately owned. Producers provide goods and services in response to market demand
Capitalism
A grade or level of subsistence and comfort in everyday life enjoyed by a community, class, or individual
Standard of Living
Business increased profits in the United States and began to invest in other countries
International Markets
As urban populations increased, so did this. Poorer citizens, immigrants, other “common people” gradually won greater say in their government
Democracy
Paper money
Greenbacks