U.S. History Test 10 Flashcards
Social Darwinism
Derived from Darwin’s theory of natural selection, the belief that society should do as little as possible to interfere with people’s pursuit of success
Oligopoly
A market structure dominated by only a few large, profitable farms
Monopoly
Complete control of a product or service
Cartel
Loose association of business that make the same product
Vertical consolidation
Process of gaining control of the many different businesses that make up all the phases of a product’s development
Economies of scale
Phenomenon that as production increases, the cost of each item produced is often lowered
Horizontal consolidation
The process of bringing together many firms in the same businesses to form one large company
Trust
A group of separate companies that are placed under the control of a single managing board
Sherman Antitrust Act
Law passed by Congress in 1890 that outlawed any combination of companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce
Piecework
System in which workers are paid not by the amount of time worked but by the number of items they produce
Sweatshop
Factory where employees work long hours at low wages and under poor working conditions
Division of labor
Way of producing in which different tasks are performed by different persons
Socialism
An economic and political philosophy that favors public (or social) instead of private control or property and income
Craft Union
A union for laborers devoted to a specific craft
Collective bargaining
Process in which workers negotiate as a group with employers
Industrial union
Union that organizes workers from all crafts in a given industry
Scab
Negative term for a worker called in a by an employer to replace striking laborers
Anarchist
A radical who opposes all government
Haymarket Riot
1886 labor related violence in Chicago
Homestead Strike
1892 stricken in Pennsylvania against Carnegie steel
Pullman Strike
1894 railway workers’ strike that spread nationwide
Push pull factors
Events and conditions that either push people to move elsewhere or strongly pull them to do so
Pacific Railway Acts
Laws passed in 1862 and 1864 giving large land grants to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads
Morrill Land grant act
Passed by Congress in 1862, this law distributed millions of acres of western lands to state governments in order to fund state agricultural colleges
Land speculator
Person who buys up large areas of land in the hope of selling them later for a profit
Homestead Act
Law that gave 160 acres of land to citizens who met certain conditions
Exoduster
An African American who migrated to the West after the civil war
Great Plains
Vast grassland between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains
Nomadic
People who move their homes regularly
Reservation
Federal land set aside for Native Americans
Battle of Little Bighorn
Sioux victory over the army troops led by George Custer
Ghost Dance
A Native American purification ritual
Massacre at Wounded Knee
Shooting of a group of unarmed Sioux by army troops
Assimilation
Process by which people of one culture merge into and become a part of another culture
Dawes Act
Law that divided reservation land into private family plots
