Chapter 18 Flashcards
(21 cards)
Muckrakers
- writers who exposed corruption and abuses in politics, business, politics, meatpacking, child labor, and more, primarily in the first decade of the 20th century
- their popular books and magazine articles spurred public interest in reform
Ellis Island and Angel Island
-reception center in NY harbor through which most European immigrants to America were processed from 1892-1954
Fordism
-early 20th century term describing the economic system pioneered by Ford Motor Company based on high wages and mass consumption
Scientific Management
-management campaign to improve worker effieciency using measurements like “time and motion” studies to achieve greater productivity; introduced by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1911
Industrial Workers of the World
- radical union organized in Chicago 1905 and nicknamed the Wobblies
- its opposition to World War 1 led to its destruction by the federal government under the Espionage Act
Federal Trade Commission Act 1914
-established the FTC to enforce existing antitrust laws that prohibited business combinations in restraint of trade
Child Labor
-In the early twentieth century, more than 2 million children under the age of fifteen worked for wages
Mexican Immigration
-As Mexicans arrived in the United States, most became poorly paid agricultural, mine, and railroad laborers, with little prospect of upward economic mobility
American Standard of Living
- A new concept that came about from the maturation of the consumer economy
- the idea that mass consumption came to occupy a central place in American society and its future
Rerum Novarum
-Pope Leo XIII’s powerful statement of 1894 that criticized the divorce of economic life from ethical considerations, endorsed the right of workers to form unions, and repudiated competitive individualism in favor of a more cooperative vision of the good society
“New Feminism”
-Women’s emancipation movement in the social, economic, cultural, and sexual spheres
Birth-Control Movement
- A reform movement espousing the idea that right to control of one’s body included the ability to enjoy an active sexual life without necessarily bearing women
- Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger were the leaders of this movement
Society of American Indians
- Founded in 1911, the Society of American Indians was a reform organization typical of the era
- It brought together Indian intellectuals to promote discussion of the plight of Native Americans in the hope that public exposure would be the first step toward remedying injustice
“Effective Freedom”
-An idea put forth by John Dewey that freedom was a positive, not negative concept – the ‘‘power to do specific things.’’
Maternalist Reform
-Policies such as mothers’ pensions designed to improve the living standards of poor mothers and children
Mueller vs. Oregon
-A famous brief citing scientific and sociological studies to demonstrate that because they had less strength and endurance than men, long hours of labor were dangerous for women, while their unique ability to bear children gave the government a legitimate interest in their working conditions
Workmen’s Compensation Laws
-Laws enacted to benefit workers, male or female, injured on the job
Coal Miner’s Strike of 1902
-A paralyzing strike that was ended when President Roosevelt threatened a federal takeover of the mines
Pure Food and Drug Act
- First law to regulate manufacturing of food and medicines
- prohibited dangerous additives and inaccurate labeling
Roosevelt and Conservation
- A federal policy to conserve natural resources
- Under Roosevelt’s leadership, millions of acres were set aside as preserves and national parks were created
Federal Reserve System
-A system of twelve regional banks overseen by a central board empowered to handle the issuance of currency, aid banks in danger of failing, and influence interest rates so as to promote economic growth
