Period 6 Flashcards
laissez faire
Economic liberalism that believes in unrestricted private enterprise and no government interference in the economy.
Social Darwinism
The application of ideas about evolution and “survival of the fittest” to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.
JP Morgan
An influential banker and businessman who bought and reorganized companies. His US Steel company would buy Carnegie steel and become the largest business in the world in 1901
John D Rockefeller
Established the Standard Oil Company, the greatest, wisest, and meanest monopoly known in history
Andrew Carnegie
A business man that increased his power through by gaining control of the many different businesses that make up all phases of steel production development.
Horizontal Integration
A technique used by John D. Rockefeller. It is an act of joining or consolidating with ones competitors to create a monopoly. Rockefeller was excellent with using this technique to monopolize certain markets. It is responsible for the majority of his wealth.
Vertical Integration
Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution. Company took over all different businesses on which it relied for its primary function (Carnegie Steel came to control not only steel mills but mines, railroads, etc)
Robber baron
Refers to the industrialists or big business owners who gained huge profits by paying their employees extremely low wages. They also drove their competitors out of business by selling their products cheaper than it cost to produce it. Then when they controlled the market, they hiked prices high above original price.
Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890
First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions and was not enforced by the courts
Panic of 1893
Serious economic depression beginning in 1893. Began due to rail road companies over-extending themselves, causing bank failures. Was the worst economic collapse in the history of the country until that point, and, some say, as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Knights of Labor
1st effort to create National union. Open to everyone but lawyers and bankers. Vague program, no clear goals, weak leadership and organization. Failed because of the Haymarket Square Riot
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
A violent but ultimately unsuccessful interstate strike, which resulted in extensive property damage and many deaths. The first major interstate strike in us history. The panic of 1873 caused railroad lines to cut wages which caused workers to walk off the job and block the tracks- it eventually turned violent. Federal troops finally quelled the violence. After workers turned violent the public began to blame them for the looting and violence and they lost all sympathy
Haymarket Square 1886
Demands for an 8 hour working day in Chicago. Demonstration by a group of anarchists cause a crowd of 1,500 people. Bomb exploded & police opened fire. Anarchists were tired on court.
Caused public to view all unions as violent and dangerous
Jane Addams
the founder of Hull House, a settlement house which provided English lessons for immigrants, daycares, and child care classes
pioneered the social work career
American Federation of Labor
1886; founded by Samuel Gompers; sought better wages, hrs, working conditions; skilled laborers, arose out of dissatisfaction with the Knights of Labor, rejected socialist and communist ideas, non-violent, strikes
Chinese Exclusion Act
(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate. American workers felt threatened by the job competition.
Dawes Act
1887, dismantled American Indian tribes, set up individuals as family heads with 160 acres, tried to make rugged individualists out of the Indians, attempt to assimilate the Indian population into that of the American
Also included social assimilation practices like boarding schools that took children and taught them “American” practices
Ghost Dance Movement
The last effort of Native Americans to resist US domination and drive whites from their ancestral lands came through a religious movement known as the Ghost Dance. In the government’s campaign to suppress the movement, the famous Sioux medicine man sitting Bull was killed during his arrest. Led to Massacre at Wounded Knee.
Gospel of Wealth
This was a book written by Carnegie that described the responsibility of the rich to be philanthropists. This softened the harshness of Social Darwinism as well as promoted the idea of philanthropy.
Grange Movement
A movement for social and educational organization through which farmers attempted to combat the power of the railroads in the late 19th century
Also backed many political candidates
Did not last long because it was not well organized
Holding companies
A company that owns part or all of the other companies’ stock in order to extend monopoly control. Often, a holding company does not produce goods or services of its own but only exists to control other companies. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914 sought to clamp down on these companies when they obstructed competition. (733)
Interstate Commerce Act
Established the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) - monitors the business operation of carriers transporting goods and people between states - created to regulate railroad prices
J.P. Morgan
An influential banker and businessman who bought and reorganized companies. His US Steel company would buy Carnegie steel and become the largest business in the world in 1901, philanthropist
Little Big Horn
General Custer and his men were wiped out by a coalition of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, Custer’s Last Stand
National Woman Suffrage Association
Organization formed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, and others to promote the vote for women
Populist Party
Founded 1891 - James B. Weaver, problem was overproduction, called for free coinage of silver and paper money, national income tax, direct election of senators, regulation of railroads, and other government reforms to help farmers
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
(1815-1902) A suffragette who, with Lucretia Mott, organized the first convention on women’s rights, held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Issued the Declaration of Sentiments which declared men and women to be equal and demanded the right to vote for women. Co-founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony in 1869.
Social Darwinism
19th century of belief that evolutionary ideas theorized by Charles Darwin could be applied to society.
Stated that the strongest businessmen would survive and that it was natural law that the “weak” would fail
Also thought that laissez faire was needed because it did not interfere with the “natural order”
This idea was used to justify the wealth of billionaires
Ida B. Wells
African American journalist. published statistics about lynching, urged African Americans to protest by refusing to ride streetcars or shop in white owned stores
Was also a part of the NAACP
Women’s Christian Temperance Union
This organization was dedicated to the idea of the 18th Amendment - the Amendment that banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol. The pres of the company was Frances Willard.
political machines
Corrupt organized groups that controlled political parties in the cities. A boss leads the machine and attempts to grab more votes for his party. Target immigrants
Social Gospel
A movement in the late 1800s / early 1900s which emphasized charity and social responsibility as a means of salvation, taught religion and human dignity would help the middle class overcome problems of industrialization
Booker T. Washington
African American progressive who demanded that African Americans better themselves individually to achieve equality.
Established the Tusk
