US.04, 05, 06, 07 Flashcards
period of gross materialism and blatant political corruption in U.S. history during the 1870s
Gilded Age
an American politician most notable for being the boss of Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that played a major role in the politics of New York City in the late 1800s.
Boss Tweed
political cartoonist and a critic of Democratic Representative “Boss” Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine
Thomas Nast
sham construction company chartered to build the Union Pacific Railroad by financing it with unmarketable bonds.
credit mobilier
the practice of a successful political party giving public office to its supporters.
spoils system
establishing a merit-based system of selecting government officials and supervising their work.
Pendleton Act
making the railroads the first industry subject to Federal regulation. Congress passed the law largely in response to public demand that railroad operations be regulated.
Interstate Commerce Act
inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with inventing and patenting the first practical telephone.
Alexander Graham Bell
inventor and engineer who developed the first process for manufacturing steel inexpensively (1856), leading to the development of the Bessemer converter.
Henry Bessemer
American industrialist who amassed a fortune in the steel industry then became a major philanthropist.
Andrew Bessemer
American inventor and businessman who has been described as America’s greatest inventor; mostly remembered for inventing the light bulb.
Thomas Edison
known for reorganizing businesses to make them more profitable and stable and gaining control of them. He reorganized several major railroads and became a powerful railroad magnate. He also financed industrial consolidations that formed General Electric, U.S. Steel, and International Harvester.
J.P. Morgan
founder of the Standard Oil Company, became one of the world’s wealthiest men and a major philanthropist.
John D. Rockefeller
made dozens of breakthroughs in the production, transmission and application of electric power. He invented the first alternating current (AC) motor and developed AC generation and transmission technology.
Nikola Tesla
Shipping and railroad tycoon a self-made multi-millionaire who became one of the wealthiest Americans of the 19th century.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
