Here is link to vocabulary words for Westward Expansion & the Gilded Age:
Laissez-Faire - No government interference with business - "Hands Off" - Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs. LAZY GOVERNMENT.
Monopoly - Exclusive control of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service. A market in which there are many buyers but only one seller.
Dawes Act - Law that attempted to assimilate Indians by breaking up tribal life & giving them individual plots of land to be owners.
Ellis Island - Immigration processing center that opened in New York Harbor in 1892
Assimilation - The process by which different cultures are absorbed into the mainstream culture.
Industrialization - The development of industries for the machine production of goods.
Homestead Act - 1862 law that gave 160 acres of land in the Great Plains to citizens willing to live on and cultivate it for five years.
Great Plains - Vast grassland between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.
Rural - Country/Farmland
Urban - City
Urbanization - The growth and expansion of cities.
Nativism - The belief that native-born Americans are superior to foreigners.
Tenement - Poorly built, overcrowded housing where many immigrants lived.
Steel - A strong, hard metal made of iron and carbon used to build skyscrapers.
Transcontinental Railroad - A railroad line linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, completed in 1869. Railroad connecting the west and east coasts of the continental US.
Reservations - Areas of federal land set aside for American Indians.
John D. Rockefeller - Captain of industry "Standard Oil" that ruthlessly formed a monopoly in oil refineries.
Robber Baron - Belief that rich tycoons made their money at the expense of the well-being of the public.
Captain of Industry - A business leader who expands his industry & leaves a positive mark on the industry and society.
Big Business - Multi-billion dollar companies - railroads, oil, steel
Angel Island -Immigration processing station in the San Francisco Bay for Asian immigrants.
Ethnic Enclave - A small area occupied by a distinctive minority culture (i.e.-Greektown, Chinatown)
Labor Union - A group of workers who organize to improve their terms of employment (shorter hours, better pay, better conditions)
Homestead Strike - Strike at Andrew Carnegie's steel plant in which Pinkerton detectives clashed with steel workers. Workers do not have their demands met.
Carlisle Indian School - Built in Pennsylvania to educate and civilize Indians. Motto = "Kill the Indian and save the man"
Chinese Exclusion Act - 1882 law which banned Chinese immigration.
New Immigrants - Immigrants who came to the US after the 1880s from Asia and Southern & Eastern Europe. Disliked by "old immigrants."
Government Regulation - The act of controlling business behavior through a set of rules or laws
Settlement Houses - Community centers located in the slums and near tenements that gave aid to the poor, especially immigrants.
Social Gospel Movement - A 19th century reform movement based on the belief that Christians have a responsibility to help improve working conditions and alleviate poverty.
Cornelius Vanderbilt - A railroad owner who built a railway connecting Chicago and New York. He popularized the use of steel rails in his railroad, which made railroads safer and more economical. One of the great Captains of Industry.
Manifest Destiny - The belief that the United States was destined by God to extend its boundaries from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Wounded Knee - 1890 confrontation between U.S. cavalry and Sioux that marked the end of Indian resistance
Populist Party - U.S. political party formed in 1892 representing mainly farmers, favoring free coinage of silver and government control of railroads and other monopolies
Gilded Age - Late 1800s to Early 1900s - time of large increase in wealth caused by industrialization
American Dream - the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
Social Darwinism - survival of the fittest, the rich are best equip to lead society, they're innately better
Gospel of Wealth - The belief that, as the guardians of society's wealth, the rich have a duty to serve society; promoted by Andrew Carnegie; Carnegie donated more than $350 million to libraries, school, peace initiatives, and the arts
Andrew Carnegie - Built a steel mill empire; US STEEL
Robber Barons - Refers to the industrialists or big business owners who gained huge profits by paying their employees extremely low wages. They also drove their competitors out of business by selling their products cheaper than it cost to produce it. Then when they controlled the market, they hiked prices high above original price.
Trust - A monopoly that controls goods and services, often in combinations that reduce competition.
JP Morgan - Banker who buys out Carnegie Steel and renames it to U.S. Steel. Was a philanthropist; he gave all the money needed for WWI and was paid back. Was one of the "Robber barons". first billion dollar corporation.
Pendleton Civil Service Act - (1883): Did away with the "spoils system" and made the hiring of federal employees merit based.
Grover Cleveland - 22nd and 24th president, only President to serve 2 non-consecutive terms
Political Machine - a strong party organization that can control political appointments and deliver votes. A city organization that operates by giving favors to immigrants in return for their votes. The politicians that get elected then give kickbacks to the party boss allowing him to get wealthy at the expense of the city.
Political Bosses - Leaders of political machines that bribed citizens in order to receive votes
Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall - New York city's most infamous political machine and it's leader. Controlled city politics.
Effects of Urbanization -over-crowded cities -building of tenements -inadequate sanitation -increased pollution -disease
Causes of Industrialization -technological innovation -abundance of natural resources -large workforce -Agricultural revolution (innovation in technology used for farming)