Unit 6 Vocab Flashcards
AFL
Who: sam gompers
What: american federation of labor
successor to knights of labor
Where: us
When: 1886
Why: knights of labor losing popularity due to haymarket strike
want to focus more on bread and butter issues - wages, hours, conditions
Significance: limited to white male skilled workers -> solves the problem of too much diversity of knights of labor
Bonanza farming
Who:
What: large scale farming technique
companies buy up large amounts of land and industrialize farming process, use monocropping, mostly produced grain
Where: western us
When: late 19th century (1870-1890)
Why: efficient new machinery (john deere, robert mccormick), cheap land from homestead act
Significance: great increase in agricultural production
booker t washington
Who:
What: civil rights activist, created trade school for african americans
atlanta compromise speech - took a more conservative approach to racial integration
- go slow to avoid harsh backlash from white people
- need to prove to white people that black people deserve rights
Where:
When: atlanta compromise in 1895
Why:
Significance: alternative approach from web dubois
chinese exclusion act
Who:
What: federal law banning all chinese immigration to us
Where:
When: 1882
Why: result of anti-chinese movement in california
- didn’t want competition, also just racism
Significance: motivated strengthening of ethnic enclaves in big cities, separation from white society
coxey’s army
Who: jacob coxey
What: march to washington dc with a bunch of men
Where:
When: 1894
Why: wanted public road building projects to provide jobs to unemployed
year of an economic depression
Significance: example of unrest among working people in late 19th century
didn’t cause any real change, but there was publicity
dawes severalty act
Who:
What: federal act which divided land on native reservations between individual natives
if they meet requirements, they can get citizenship
Where:
When: 1890
Why: assimilation to white ideas of land ownership + farming
Significance:
removal of tribal affiliations
gospel of wealth
Who: andrew carnegie
What: book written about philanthropy
idea that rich people have a responsibility to pay it forward and help the poor while they are alive
Where:
When: 1889
Why: moral?
Significance: important ideas for philanthropy
pro business, captains of industry
haymarket square riot
Who: knights of labor, uriah smith stevens
What: union strike at mccormick harvesting machine company led to police violence which led to violence from anarchists which led to more police violence
Where: chicago
When: 1886
Why: desire for better working hours
Significance: effectively ended the knights of labor
caused widespread hysteria and anti-union sentiment
people changed to the american federation of labor
homestead act
Who: lincoln signed it into law
What: pay a small fee and get 160 acres of land
only requirement is that you stay on the land for 5 years and improve it
Where:
When: 1862
Why: to encourage expansion! yeoman farmers
Significance: greatly increased western migration
kind of taken over by companies who get a bunch of land and sell it for a profit, as it is really hard for individual farmers to get started
gave african americans the opportunity to own land, but most weren’t successful
horizontal integration
Who: john d rockefeller - standard oil
What: aquiring your competitors to make a monopoly over a specific area of industry
Where:
When: standard oil founded 1870
Why: monopolies! gain control over the market
Significance: used by rockefeller to control the oil industry
hull house
Who: jane addams
What: social settlement house
included childcare, longer term temporary housing, community, teaching new skills
Where: chicago
When: late 19th century
Why: to help immigrants
Significance: e xample of how aid to impoverished immigrants in late 19th century was done mostly by individuals, not on a government level
interstate commerce commission
Who:
What: federal regulatory agency made to limit the harmful effects of RR monopolies
Where:
When: created in interstate commerce act 1887
Why: attempt to supervise railroad companies and minimize price gouging by monopolies
Significance: not super successful overall
the commission was led by RR company owners and supporters, wo not much was actually done to hurt RR companies
indemnity zone clause
Who:
What: land granted to railroad companies which is not used for railroads can be used or sold by the companies at a profit
Where: pacific railway act
When: 1862
Why:
Significance: RR companies take advantage of it and claim they need more land that they really do so that they can sell the leftovers
jacob riis
Who:
What: creator of how the other half lives - book describing the horrible living conditions of factory workers in nyc
Where: nyc
When: wrote book 1890
Why: aim to expose the horrors of lower class life to disconnected rich people
Significance: motivated legislation to help improve tenement house conditions
john d rockefeller
Who:
What: founder of standard oil company
created first big us business trust
considered the richest american ever
Where:
When:
Why: gained prominence through standard oil monopoly
Significance: wrote gospel of wealth, spread idea that rich people should be philanthropists
knights of labor
Who: uriah stevens
What: first national american labor union
Where:
When: 1869
Why: wanted to include as many people of possible, very diverse
Significance: diversity made it difficult to manage different groups’ differences
downfall with being associated with the haymarket square riot, people switch to the american federation of labor
munn v illinois
Who: oliver kelley, founder of grange agricultural organization
What: supreme court case, victory for illinois
Where: illinois
When: 1877
Why: attempt to help out farmers hurt by price gouging
illinois created legislature to limit price gouging due to pressure from the grange agricultural organization
munn and scott company was found guilty from this law but appealed for it being unconstitutional
Significance: state has right to reculate railroad rates and monopolies
exception to the trend at the time of big businesses usually winning in the supreme court
new immigration
Who:
What: immigrants from south and east europe
mostly unskilled single men
planned for it to be temporary -> don’t really try to assimilate, instead form ethnic enclaves
Where:
When: late 1880s, after civil war
Why:
Significance: change from old immigrants who were mostly from german and ireland before civil war
pacific railway act
Who:
What: federal act which provided federal support to companies building the first transcontinental railroad
Where:
When: 1862
Why: after civil war, congress is mostly republican and supports the american system (internal improvements)
Significance: indemnity zone clauses allowed railroad companies to take advantage of it to make a profit
plessy v ferguson
Who: homer plessy
What: supreme court case over legality of racial segregation
Where: louisiana
When: 1896
Why: idea that if accommodations are equal, segregation doesn’t technically violate constitution
Significance: segregation is constitutional if separate areas are equal
example of discrimination towards african americans being allowed to continue after the civil war
allowed jim crow laws
in practice segregated areas weren’t really equal
pullman strike
Who: president cleveland
What: strikes and boycotts protesting a wage decrease for pullman palace car company workers
some strikes led to more people striking in solidarity
Where:
When: 1894
Why: low wages
destruction of private property -> federal government steps in
Significance: most systematic use of troops by federal government against unions
unions lose some public support due to being portrayed badly by the media
in re debs supreme court case confirms that what the federal government did was legal
sherman antitrust act
Who: john sherman
What: gives federal government power to prosecute monopolistic practices
Where:
When: 1890
Why: attempt to prevent monopolies from restricting trade or reducing competition
Significance: outlaws the creation of monopolies
ultimately undermined by us vs ec knight supreme court case
single tax
Who: henry george
What: idea that federal government should only tax income from unused land and nothing else
Where:
When: 1879
Why: equality, less taxes for normal people
Significance: would act as an income tax! idea that rich should be taxed more than poor
social darwinism
Who: charles darwin (by name)
What: idea that “survival of the fittest,” an idea associated with charles darwin, also applies to humans and societies
Where:
When: popular in late 19th century
Why:
Significance: used in class context - rich people deserve to be rich, poor people deserve to be poor
also used for racism
social gospel
Who: washington gladden
What: protestant religious movement
we should help the people who need it before focusing on converting them
Where:
When: late 19th century
Why: catholic church has been doing a better job at helping needy people, while protestants were more focused on money and getting donations
Significance: example of how efforts to help immigrants and lower class people was limited to smaller institutions and individuals, not on a government level
thorstein veblen
Who:
What: wrote the theory of the leisure class
Where:
When: 1899
Why:
Significance: critiqued social class system
pro lower classes, against upper class
united states vs ec knight co
Who: ec knight company
What:
Where:
When: 1895
Why: government tries to punish ec knight for monopolistic practices under sherman antitrust act, but loses the case
ec knight co only dominates one part of economy, so it is ok
Significance: undermines sherman antitrust act - it violates the 14th amendment
part of trend of supreme court cases during late 19th century mostly benefiting big business
vertical integration
Who: andrew carnegie
What: creating a monopoly by buying up all the steps to produce a product
Where:
When: late 19th century
Why: aim to control the market for steel
Significance: carnegie does this with us steel to create biggest steel company in the world
wabash case
Who: illinois
What: limits state government’s power to restrict railroad companies
Where:
When: 1886
Why:
Significance: led to creation of interstate commerce act
example of how supreme court cases in late 19th century favored big businesses
web dubois
Who:
What: black activist
change requires agitation and protest
Where:
When: late 19th and early 20th centuries
Why: conditions are so bad for us right now. we should not try to be peaceful about it
Significance: contrast with booker t washington, who took a more peaceful and slow approach to racial integration and achieving equality
wounded knee
Who:
What: massacre of lakota natives by federal government
federal troops deployed to stop ghost dance
Where:
When: 1890
Why: westward expansion
Significance: result of ghost dance - religious movement among native americans, last bit of home for removal of white settlers
last major armed conflict between us and plains indians
