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AP US History terms

Terms in this set (51)

Gilded Age
A name for the late 1800s, coined by Mark Twain (sarcastically because of the corruption) to describe the tremendous increase in wealth caused by the industrial age and the ostentatious lifestyles it allowed the very rich. The great industrial success of the U.S. and the fabulous lifestyles of the wealthy hid the many social problems of the time, including a high poverty rate, a high crime rate, and corruption in the government.
patronage
(politics) granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877, also known as the Corrupt Bargain,[1] refers to a purported informal, unwritten deal that settled the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election and ended Congressional ("Radical") Reconstruction. Through it, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden on the understanding that Hayes would remove the federal troops that were propping up Republican state governments in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana.
Homestead Strike
1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company. Ten workers were killed in a riot when "scab" labor was brought in to force an end to the strike.
Rutherford B. Hayes
19th president of the united states, was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history
James A. Garfield
20th president, Republican, assassinated by Charles Julius Guiteau after a few months in office due to lack of patronage
Chester Arthur
Appointed customs collector for the port of New York - corrupt and implemented a heavy spoils system. He was chosen as Garfield's running mate. Garfield won but was shot, so Arthur became the 21st president.
Grover Cleveland
22nd and 24th president, Democrat, Honest and hardworking, fought corruption, vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and civil service reform, violent suppression of strikes
William Jennings Bryan
United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)
J. P. Morgan
Banker who buys out Carnegie Steel and renames it to U.S. Steel. Was a philanthropist in a way; he gave all the money needed for WWI and was payed back. Was one of the "Robber barons"
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad Company v. Illinois
1886 - Stated that individual states could control trade in their states, but could not regulate railroads coming through them. Congress had exclusive jurisdiction over interstate commerce.
Interstate Commerce
commerce between two or more states which can be regulated by the federal government
vertical integration
absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution
horizontal integration
absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in the same level of production and sharing resources at that level
trust
term generally used to describe any large scale business operation inspired by horizontal integration
interlocking directorates
the consolidation of rival enterprises, to ensure harmony officers of a banking syndicate were placed on boards of these rivals
Standard Oil Company
Founded by John D. Rockefeller. Largest unit in the American oil industry in 1881. Known as A.D. Trust, it was outlawed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1899. Replaced by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.
Social Darwinists
Theorists who applied Darwin's theory of natural selection to human society, arguing that poorer and weaker segments of society desrved their fate; survival of the fittest
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by the United States federal government. However, for the most part, politicians were unwilling to refer to the law until Theodore Roosevelt's presidency (1901-1909).
National Labor Union
1866 - established by William Sylvis - wanted 8hr work days, banking reform, and an end to conviction labor - attempt to unite all laborers
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; demanded an end to child and convict labor, equal pay for women, a progressive income tax, and the cooperative employer-employee ownership of mines and factories
Haymarket Square
Labor disorders had broken out and on May 4 1886, the Chicago police advanced on a protest; alleged brutalities by the authorities. Suddenly a dynamite bomb was thrown that killed or injured dozens, including police. It is still unknown today who set off the bomb, but following the hysteria, eight anarchists (possibly innocent) were rounded up. Because they preached "incendiary doctrines," they could be charged with conspiracy. Five were sentenced to death, one of which committed suicide; the other three were given stiff prison terms. Six years later, a newly elected Illinois governor recognized this gross injustice and pardoned the three survivors. Nevertheless, the Knights of Labor were toast: they became (incorrectly )associated with anarchy and all following strike efforts failed.
American Federation of Labor
Federation of craft labor unions lead by Samuel Gompers that arose out of dissatisfaction with the Knights of Labor
closed shop
a company that hires only union members
Andrew Carnegie
Creates Carnegie Steel. Gets bought out by banker JP Morgan and renamed U.S. Steel. Andrew Carnegie used vertical integration by buying all the steps needed for production. Was a philanthropist. Was one of the "Robber barons"
John D. Rockefeller
Was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy.
Samuel Gompers
United States labor leader (born in England) who was president of the American Federation of Labor from 1886 to 1924 (1850-1924)
New Immigrants
Refers to the immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who came primarily during the age of Industrialization in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
settlement houses
a welfare agency for needy families, combated juvenile delinquency, and assisted recent immigrants in learning the English language and in becoming citizens. Jane Addams of the Hull House Settlement in Chicago
Tuskegee Institute
Booker T. Washington built this school to educate black students on learning how to support themselves and prosper
land-grant colleges
Are institutions of higher education in the United States that have been designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890
pragmatism
(philosophy) the doctrine that practical consequences are the criteria of knowledge and meaning and value; a philosophy which focuses only on the outcomes and effects of processes and situations.
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
militant suffragist organization founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
This organization, founded in 1874, worked alongside the Anti-Saloon League to push for prohibition. Notable activists included Susan B. Anthony and Frances Elizabeth Willard.
World's Columbian Exposition
1893; World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World
Jane Addams
the founder of Hull House, which provided English lessons for immigrants, daycares, and child care classes
Booker T. Washington
African American progressive who supported segregation and demanded that African American better themselves individually to achieve equality.
W. E. B. Du Bois
fought for African American rights. Helped to found Niagra Movement in 1905 to fight for and establish equal rights. This movement later led to the establishment of the NAACP
Horatio Alger
Popular novelist during the Industrial Revolution who wrote "rags to riches" books praising the values of hard work
Battle of the Little Bighorn
a battle in Montana near the Little Bighorn River between United States cavalry under Custer and several groups of Native Americans (1876); Custer was pursuing Sioux led by Sitting Bull; it was a disastrous defeat
Battle of Wounded Knee
The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as The Battle at Wounded Knee Creek, was the last major armed conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the United States, subsequently described as a "massacre" by General Nelson A. Miles in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Dawes Severalty Act
Bill that promised Indians tracts of land to farm in order to assimilate them into white culture. The bill was resisted, uneffective, and disastrous to Indian tribes
mining industry
during the late 1800s, mining became a big industry needed to get raw materials
Homestead Act
Land given out by the government. Throughout the 19th century homesteads were sold for a cheap price, as well as given away by the homestead act of 1862. Many of these homesteads were also purchased by businesses and railroads using families to claim the land.
mechanization of agriculture
The development of engine-driven machines, like the combine, which helped to dramatically increase the productivity of land in the 1870s and 1880s. This process contributed to the consolidation of agricultural business that drove many family farms out of existence
Populists
followers of the political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite
Pullman strike
in Chicago, Pullman cut wages but refused to lower rents in the "company town", Eugene Debs had American Railway Union refuse to use Pullman cars, Debs thrown in jail after being sued, strike achieved nothing
fourth party system
a system that required coalition building in the second round of the two-round, single0member district system. when there are four parties in politics at the time
Gold Standard Act
the monetary system that prevailed between about 1870 and 1914, in which countries tied their currencies to gold at a legally fixed price
Frederick Jackson Turner
American historian who said that humanity would continue to progress as long as there was new land to move into. The frontier provided a place for homeless and solved social problems.
Jacob S. Coxey
a wealthy Ohio quarry owner turn populist who led a protest group to Washington D.C. to demand that the federal government provide the unemployed with meaningful work (during the depression of 1893). The group was arrested and disbanded peacefully in D.C. movements like this struck fear into American's hearts
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