Gilded age quiz Flashcards
The Gilded Age
The period of the late 1800s and early 1900s where the US experienced:
Population growth
Growth in the economy
A lot of political corruption
Wealthy people living very fancy lives
Corporation
a company that sells shares, or stocks, of its business to the public
capital
the manufactured goods or money used to make other goods and services
Monopoly
exclusive control of a good or a service.
no competition means higher prices!
trust
a combination of companies that allow a board of trustees to control prices and competition in a particular industry
Laissez-Faire:
A “hands off” approach to business
This meant leaving business alone!
Philanthropist
An individual who donated sums of their wealth to benefit others, such as donating money to build libraries and schools
Andrew Carnegie:
An entrepreneur and philanthropist who created a monopoly in the steel industry
John D. Rockefeller:
An entrepreneur and philanthropist who created a monopoly in the oil industry
Vertical Integration:
Taking ownership over companies involved in each step of the process
Utilized by Carnegie
Horizontal Integration:
Taking ownership over competing companies in the same industry
Utilized by Rockefeller
Sweatshop
A factory where workers work for very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire:
A tragic fire that occurred in a shirtwaist factory in 1911 that helped raise awareness regarding the unsafe conditions of workers
Labor Union:
workers organizing into groups to fight for better working conditions and protections
Tenement:
A room or a set of rooms forming a separate residence within a house or a block of Apartments.
Collective Bargaining:
when unions represent workers in discussions with management
Knights of Labor:
The first successful effort to organize workers’ groups on a nationwide basis
All workers were able to join
American Federation of Labor (AFL):
Labor union made up of only skilled workers
Samuel Gompers was a leader of this union
Haymarket Square Riot:
occurred on May 4, 1886 when a labor protest rally near Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police
At least eight people died as a result of the violence that day.
history.com
Pullman Strike:
A widespread railroad strike and boycott that severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest of the United States in June–July 1894.
The federal government’s response to the unrest marked the first time that an injunction was used to break a strike.
britannica.com
Homestead Strike:
pitted Carnegie Steel Company, against the nation’s strongest trade union, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers
An 1889 strike had won the steelworkers a favorable three-year contract; but by 1892 Andrew Carnegie was determined to break the union.
His plant manager, Henry Clay Frick, stepped up production demands, and when the union refused to accept the new conditions, Frick began locking the workers out of the plant.
history.com
