08: Industrialization and the Gilded Age Free Online FlashCards

What period is called the Gilded Age?

The Gilded Age generally refers to the 1870s through the 1890s, a period of rapid growth whose apparent prosperity concealed inequality, corruption, and exploitation.

Why was the 1869 transcontinental railroad important?

The first transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, connected the eastern and western United States and accelerated the movement of people, raw materials, and manufactured goods.

What is vertical integration?

Vertical integration means controlling multiple stages of production, such as raw materials, transportation, manufacturing, and distribution.

What did the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 do?

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 declared combinations restraining interstate trade or creating monopolies illegal and established federal authority to challenge concentrated corporate power.

What is nativism?

Nativism is favoring native-born Americans over immigrants, often combined with ethnic, racial, religious, and anti-Catholic prejudice.

What restrictions did the Chinese Exclusion Act impose?

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States and prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens.

Why did industrial cities develop severe public-health problems?

Rapid urban growth outpaced infrastructure, producing overcrowded tenements, inadequate sanitation, contaminated water, epidemics, pollution, and dangerous working conditions.

What did the Knights of Labor seek to accomplish?

The Knights of Labor sought to unite skilled and unskilled workers, including some women and African Americans, and supported an eight-hour day and cooperative ownership.

What triggered the Pullman Strike of 1894?

The Pullman Strike began after the Pullman Company cut wages without proportionally reducing rents; a boycott led by the American Railway Union collapsed after a federal injunction and troop intervention.

What did the Homestead Act offer settlers?

The Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres of public land to settlers who lived on and improved it, encouraging western migration and settlement.

How did the Dawes Act weaken Native nations?

The Dawes Act of 1887 divided communally held tribal lands into individual allotments and authorized the sale of surplus land to non-Native settlers.

What change did the Pendleton Act introduce?

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 created a merit-based system for some federal jobs in response to criticism of patronage, though patronage continued for decades.