Topics 6.6-6.9 Flashcards
Cornelius Vanderbilt
A business tycoon who amassed a fortune in the steamboat business and who helped to consolidate many small rail lines under the New York Central Railroad
Pools
An informal agreement between a group of leaders to keep their prices high and competition low
J.P. Morgan
A banker who financed the reorganization of railroads, insurance companies, and banks
Andrew Carnegie
A Scottish-American industrialist who led the expansion of the steel industry
John D. Rockefeller
An American industrialist who founded Standard Oil
Monopoly
When a business owns or controls all of their competitors
Trust
An organization or board that manages the assets of other companies
Horizontal integration
One company takes control of all its competitors
Vertical integration
One company controls all stages of making a product
Holding company
A company created to own and control diverse companies
Laissez-faire
“Hands off” economics
Social Darwinism
“Survivial of the fittest”: The strongest in biology, sociology, and economics will prevail
“Self-made men”
The idea of rags to riches and the concept of working your way into wealth through determination and hard work
Protestant work ethic
Material success was a sign of God’s favor and a reward for hard work
“Iron law of wages”
Raising wages would only increase the working population, and the avaliability of more workers would in turn cause wages to fall, resulting in a cycle of misery and starvation
Collective bargaining
The process by which management and union representatives negotiate the employment conditions for a particular bargaining unit for a designated period of time
Railroad strike of 1877
A group of railroad workers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began to strike due to wage cuts, and soon, the strike spead across the United States
Craft unions
Unions focused on one type of work
National Labor Union
The first attempt to organize all types of workers in all tates, founded in 1866
Knights of Labor
Founded in 1869 and went public in 1881 as a union open to all people, including women and African Americans
American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886 to aid skilled workers
Homestead strike (1892)
A violent strike at the Homestead Works in Pittsburgh following a lockout over the decision to cut wages by nearly 20%
Pullman strike (1894)
A strike by railroad workers upset by drastic wage cuts, eventually stopped by President Cleveland
“Pushes”
Factors that motivated people to leave their home countries
“Pulls”
Factors that drew people into immigrating to the United States
“Old immigrants”
Immigrants that came from northern and western Europe who spoke mostly English and were Protestant
“New” immigrants
Immigrants who came from southern and eastern Europe who didn’t speak English and practiced a variety of different religions, causing them to face discrimination
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Ended the immigration of the Chinese to the United States
Streetcar suburbs
Communities that grew along transit routes leading to an urban center
Ethnic neighborhoods
Neighborhoods of immigrants of the same nation formed to maintain their languages, cultures, places of worship, and social clubs
American Protective Association
The largest anti-Catholic organization of the 1890s
Ellis Island
An immigration center in the New York, opened in 1892, where many European immigrants passed through
Political machines
Groups of politicians that welcomed immigrants to gain their loyalty for future elections
“Boss”
The top politician of a political machine who commanded the group
Settlement houses
A house where immigrants came to live, often established by reformers
Melting pot
The mingling of diverse groups in the United States, including the idea that these groups should be “melting” into a single culture or people
