History Standard 3 Vocabulary Flashcards
Captains of Industry
Business leaders whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributed positively to the country in some way
Robber Barons
A name used to identify wealthy entrepreneurs who were known to be crooked in their business dealings
Andrew Carnegie
Controlled the steel industry
JP Morgan
Controlled banks, insurance companies, and various stock market operations
Henry Ford
Founder of Ford Motor Company and invented the famous Model T car, also introduced several innovations, including the moving assembly line
John Rockefeller
Founder of Standford oil and nation’s first trust (monopoly)
Collective Bargaining
Process in which employers negotiate with labor unions about hours, wages, and other working conditions
Labor Unions
Organizations of workers that represent the collective interests of laborers in negotiations with employers
Laissez-faire
Lenient, as in the absence of government control over private business
Philanthropy
The act of voluntary giving by individuals or groups to promote the common good
Political Machines
Organizations linked to a political party that often controlled local government
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
1890 law banning any trust that restrained interstate trade or commerce
Social Darwinism
The belief held by some in the late nineteenth century that certain nations and races were superior to others and therefore destined to rule
Strikes
Organized stoppage of work conducted by laborers in order to impose bargaining power against employers
Monopolies
Exclusive control by one company over an entire industry
16th Amendment
Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived
17th Amendment
Established the direct election of United States senators in each state
18th Amendment
Prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol
19th Amendment
Guarantees American women the right to vote
Farmers Alliance
Network of farmers’ organizations that worked for political and economic reforms in the late 1800s
Interstate Commerce Act
Act passed in 1887 that gave Congress the authority to regulate the railroad industry
Muckrakers
Writers who uncover and expose misconduct in policies or business
Populist Movement
Movements of the late 19th century that wanted to limit the power of corporate and financial establishments (rural)
Pure Food and Drug Act
1906 law that allowed federal inspection of food and medicine and banned the interstate shipment and sale of impure food and the mislabeling of food and drugs
Tenement Housing
Multistory buildings divided into apartments to house as many families as possible
Federal Reserve Act
1913 law that placed national banks under the control of a Federal Reserve Board, which runs regional banks that hold the reserve funds from commercial banks, set interest rates, and supervises commercial banks
Pacific Railway Act
Legislation to encourage the construction of a transcontinental railroad, connecting the west to industries in the northeast
Assimilation
The process in which individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society
Chinese Exclusion Act
1882 law that prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers
Nativism
Belief that native-born white Americans are superior to newcomers
Buffalo Soldiers
A regiment of black soldiers, their purpose was to support the U.S. expansion into the west and acted as shock troops for the U.S. army
Dawes Severalty Act
Attempted to foster Native American assimilation into American society. Tribal lands were divided into farming parcels and given to individual families
Exodusters
African Americans who migrated from the south to the west after the Civil War
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Key figure of the railroad industry
Gilded Age
Term coined by Mark Twain to describe the post-Reconstruction era which was characterized by a facade of prosperity
Capitalism
Economic system in which private individuals or businesses own capital goods
Overproduction
The supply of manufactured goods exceeds the demands; excess of production over consumption
Bimetallism
Backing money with both gold and silver so that more money could be in circulation
Upton Sinclair
A novelist and muckraker who exposed the conditions in the meatpacking industry in his novel The Jungle
Progressive Movement
Interested in furthering social and political reform, curbing corruption caused by political machines, and limiting the influence of large-scale corporations (urban)
Ellis Island
Island in New York Harbor that served as an immigration station for million of immigrants arriving to the U.S.
Sweatshops
Small factories where employees have to work long hours under poor conditions for little pay
Jane Addams
A pioneer social worker in America, as a feminist and an internationalist, she created the first settlement house in the U.S., Chicago’s Hull House
Carrie Chapman Catt
American women’s suffrage leader who campaigned for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which gave women the right to vote in 1920
Alice Paul
A women’s rights activist who also campaigned for the 19th Amendment and organized the Silent Sentinels protest group, she served as the leader of the National Woman’s Party for 50 years
Vertical Integration
System of consolidating firms involved in all steps of a product’s manufacture
Horizontal Integration
System of consolidating many firms in the same business
