Rise of Industrialization Flashcards
(56 cards)
Homestead Act
1862 Act that granted Americans land for a small fee and accelerated settlement of the American West
Transcontinental Railroad
Continuous railroad line that connected the Eastern US and the West and reduced travel and shipping costs. Constructed between 1863 and 1869.
Yellow Fever
1878 epidemic that resulted in 5000 fatalities and an economic crisis in Memphis
Compromise of 1877
Unwritten deal that settled the 1876 presidential election and ended Reconstruction. Gave Republican Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in exchange for removing troops from the South.
Jim Crow Laws
State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the South from the end of Reconstruction to 1965
Benjamin Pap Singleton
African American activist and leader of the “Exodusters”
Exodusters
Group of 50,000 African American freedmen who migrate from the South to Kansas in 1879 to escape poverty and racial violence
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896 landmark US Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation. Established the “separate but equal” doctrine.
Gilded Age
Era of rapid economic growth and industrialization from the 1870s to about 1900.
Boss Tweed
Gilded Age American politician and leader of the Democratic Party political machine, Tammany Hall. Later convicted of corruption and embezzlement.
Thomas Nast
Gilded Age political cartoonist, known as the “Father of the American Cartoon”, who often criticized “Boss” Tweed and the Tammany Hall political machine.
Spoils Sytem
When a political party gives government jobs to its supporters, friends, and relatives.
Pendleton Act
1883 federal law that mandated federal government positions should be awarded based on merit, instead of the spoils system.
Interstate Commerce Act
1887 federal law designed to regulate the railroad industry against unfair and unreasonable pricing. Made the railroad industry the first to be federally regulated.
Alexander Graham Bell
Credited with inventing and patenting the first telephone and co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
Henry Bessemer
English inventor and creator of the Bessemer Process which made creating steel cheaper.
Andrew Carnegie
Creator of US Steel and became one of the richest Americans in history. Wrote the “Gospel of Wealth” that called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society.
Thomas Edison
American inventor of the lightbulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera who established the first research lab
JP Morgan
American banker and financier who dominated Wall Street finance during the Gilded Age
John D. Rockefeller
American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Standard Oil Company. Widely considered the wealthiest American of all time.
Nikola Tesla
Inventor best known for his design of the alternating current (AC) electricity supply system that delivers electric power homes and businesses
Cornelius Vanderbilt
American businessman who ruled the railroads and shipping industry. Founded Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Madam CJ Walker
African-American businesswoman and philanthropist who became the first female self-made millionaire in America.
Push Factors
Negative aspects of a place that lead people to decide to leave that place
