Period 6 Flashcards
Free Enterprise System
“Social Darwinism helped popularized idea of free market, no gov intervention in econ
Nativism
Immigrant haters
Populism
aka the peoples’ party, 1891-1896, a group (farmers and workers) that advocated a variety of reform issues, including free coinage of silver, income tax, postal saving, regulation of banking/railroads, and direct election of US senators
Assimilation
smaller ethnic groups are absorbed into larger ones
Bureau of Indian Affairs established boarding schools where Indian children dressed in non-Indian clothes, new named, white ways of education, americans taught immigrants nenglish, culture, citizenship
Vertical Integration
company’s avoidance of middlemen by producing its own supplies and providing for distribution of its product, Carnegie used for steel company; when one controlled every phase of business (transport, manuf, distribute)
Horizontal Integration
process by which a corporation acquires or merges with its competitors, Rockefeller used by buying out competing oil refineries
Monopolies
one company has complete control over a resource, no competition
Trusts
companies combined to limit competition; i.e., legal devices where affairs of several rival companies managed by single director, short lived, formed in response to the Great Depression 1873-1897 to ruthlessly compete with fellow businesses, “pools” also formed in response to Great depression; divided markets between competing firms and fixed prices
Segregation
the legally or socially enforced separation of African Americans from whites, as well as the separation of other ethnic minorities from majority and mainstream communities, legalized by Plessy v. Ferguson, also affected Chinese; chinese schools established, lynching
New South
Atlanta Constitution editor Henry W. Grady’s 1886 term for the prosperous post-Civil War South he envisioned: democratic, industrial, urban, and free of nostalgia for the defeated plantation South. was not successful till 1900s
Redeemers
democrats claimed to have “redeemed” white south from corruption, misgovernment,and northern/black control, emerged after failure of populism, coalition of merchants, planter, and business entrepreneurs who dominated south’s politics moved to undo as much as possible of Reconstruction, slashed state budgets, taxes, and public facilities closed, harsher laws
Industrialization
agriculture to manufacturing, federal government activelty promoted, rapid expansion of factory production + mining + railroads; by 1913 US produced ⅓ world’s industrial output, 1890 ⅔ worked for wages, NY= skyscrapers, Pittsburgh=center of iron+steel manuf
Social Gospel
Ideals preached by liberal Protestant clergymen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; advocated the application of Christian principles to social problems generated by industrialization, Rauschenbusch, freedom & spiritual self devel required equalization of wealth and power, competition mocked christianity, originated to reform protestant churches-appeal to poor, worked w/ knights of labor
Social Darwinism
Application of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection to society; used the concept of the “survival of the fittest’’ to justify class distinctions and to explain poverty. used to be used to justify slavery, gov should not interfere with poor, giant corps deserved all money
Gospel of Wealth
Written by Carnegie, stated that rich are obligated to help the poor
Expansion
capitalism dramatically penetrated trans-Mississippi West, Frederick Jackson Turner lectured “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” - portrayed West as empty space before white settlers (in reality, dispossession of Native Amer essential) also West improve condition life but in reality not just paradise of small farmers; landlords, RR, mining companies utilized MX migrant + indentured labor, Chinese long term contracts, and African Amer slaves until civil war end
“Free Silver”
unrestricted minting of silver money, populist and jenning bryan supported
Labor Unions
organization formed to fight for better working condition/money/shorter hours
Knights of Labor
founded 1869 Uriah Stephens, tactics- supported reform & preferred boycotts, membs- welcomed all who worked for wages except alcohol sellers, lawyers, bankers, labor organization of workers who assaulted understanding of freedom according to Social Darwinism and liberty of contract; bc of unrestrained economic growth and political corruption, ordinary Americans lost control of own economic livelihood and government
American Federation of Labor
A federation of trade unions 1881, skilled, white, native-born workers;long term president Samuel Gompers. Came about with the death of Knights of Labor, reflected shift away from broad reformist past to more limited goals (became less inclusive), homestead/pullman strikes proved going against big corps was suicidal, unions should not seek econ independence + pursue Knight of Labor’s dream of creating “cooperative commonwealth”, instead should negotiate w/ employers for better pay and conditions for members, abandoned Knights’ ideal labor solidarity (restricted membership to skilled workers, small minority of lab force), excluded black, women, new euro imms, membership centered on small sectors of econ (printing &building construct(small comp busin)) rather than what dominated econ, closed/union preference shop- hire union membs
