Unit 3

Question 1

William “Boss” Tweed

Answer 1

(1823 – 1878) A powerful politician from New York who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He is best known for his leadership of the New York City Democratic Party, running the Tammany Hall political machine, and for being convicted of stealing millions of dollars of taxpayer money.

Question 2

Cronyism

Answer 2

Awarding political positions to personal friends.

Question 3

Nepotism

Answer 3

Awarding political positions to family members.

Question 4

Patronage

Answer 4

Awarding positions to political supporters.

Question 5

Tammany Hall

Answer 5

A Democratic political machine that dominated New York politics from the late 1840s to the early 1950s. Tammany Hall grew powerful through its support of Irish immigrants and the poor.

Question 6

How the Other Half Lives

Answer 6

A book of photographs taken by Jacob Riis. It showed the terrible living and working conditions in the slums and tenements of New York City in the 1880s.

Question 7

Grantism

Answer 7

A term invented in 1872 by Charles Sumner, a U.S. senator. It referred to all of the dishonorable things that happened during the term of President Grant.

Question 8

Crédit Mobilier

Answer 8

A company formed by the Union Pacific Railroad to build railroads. Union Pacific gave stocks in Crédit Mobilier to congressional representatives to gain their support. This was against the law.

Question 9

Wright Brothers

Answer 9

Orville and Wilbur. These men built the first working airplane, which successfully took flight in 1903.

Question 10

Thomas Edison

Answer 10

(1847 – 1931) An important American inventor. He is most famous for improving the electric lightbulb and inventing the phonograph.

Question 11

Samuel Morse

Answer 11

(1791 – 1872) An inventor who contributed to the development of the telegraph. He also helped invent a rhythmic code for communication, which became known as Morse code.

Question 12

patents

Answer 12

The official right to use an invention given by the government.

Question 13

Jane Addams

Answer 13

(1860 – 1935) A founder of the U.S. settlement house movement, in which wealthy people supported efforts to improve the lives and neighborhoods of poor people. She was against war and spoke against U.S. involvement in World War I. In 1931, she became the second woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Question 14

Jacob Riis

Answer 14

(1849 – 1914) A Danish immigrant and reporter who used photography to show the poor living and working conditions of people who lived in the slums of New York City.

Question 15

Henry Ford

Answer 15

(1863 – 1947) An industrialist who revolutionized the automobile industry by cheaply mass-producing cars and making them affordable for the general public. He raised workers’ wages so that they could afford the cars they were making.

Question 16

assembly line

Answer 16

A manufacturing process of machines and workers in which a product passes from one operation to the next in a direct line until it is completed.

Question 17

Alexander Graham Bell

Answer 17

(1847 – 1922) An inventor and innovator who patented the telephone in 1876. He and his supporters formed the world’s first telephone company in 1877. Later in his life, he also contributed to groundbreaking work in hydrofoils and aeronautics.

Question 18

Slums

Answer 18

Parts of cities that suffer from poverty, poor housing, and overcrowding.

Question 19

Ku Klux Klan

Answer 19

An organization formed in the South after the Civil War. The Klan used violence and fear, mostly against blacks, to uphold the belief that white people are better than other races. The Klan still exists today, and many people consider it to be a terrorist organization.

Question 20

Industrial Revolution

Answer 20

The period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when significant technological developments caused the economy to shift dramatically from being agricultural and artisan-based to relying more heavily on manufactured products.

Question 21

Gentlemen’s Agreement

Answer 21

A set of agreements made between 1907 and 1908 with the government of Japan. Japan agreed not to allow its citizens to emigrate to the United States unless they or their relatives already had homes there. In return, the United States promised that the Japanese in America would be treated more equally. The purpose of the agreement was to slow immigration from Asia but remain on friendly terms with Japan because of the trade relationship between the two countries.

Question 22

Emigrate

Answer 22

To move to a new country to live.

Question 23

Chinese Exclusion Act

Answer 23

A federal law that allowed the U.S. government to stop Chinese people from immigrating to the United States.

Question 24

Assimilation

Answer 24

The process by which a minority group becomes more like the majority group. American Indians and immigrants were encouraged, and sometimes forced, to give up their way of life to live as white Americans did. One of the ways immigrants and American Indians assimilated was by learning to speak English.

Question 25

trust

Answer 25

A company that is formed by a group of companies in order to control an industry. The trust consists of a board of directors that controls the companies’ activities, including setting prices and market conditions.

Question 26

Second Industrial Revolution

Answer 26

Also called the “Technological Revolution,” referring to the period between the mid-1800s and 1914. It took place in Western Europe, Japan, and the United States. It included the use of electricity, the internal combustion engine, and advances in the chemical, steel, and oil industries.

Question 27

Robber Barons

Answer 27

The richest business owners during the Second Industrial Revolution. They built their companies from nothing into powerful controlling monopolies.

Question 28

Pacific Railway Act

Answer 28

A law passed in 1862 that called for the building of a railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. The law gave millions of acres of land to railroad companies. The companies sold some of this land to farmers and ranchers.

Question 29

monopoly

Answer 29

A situation in which a company has enough control over an industry to be able to affect prices and availability of products.

Question 30

land grants

Answer 30

Land that is given by a government to a person or organization.

Question 31

Laissez-faire

Answer 31

Allowing business and industry to run without government control.

Question 32

Knights of Labor

Answer 32

An important labor union formed in 1869. It supported equal pay for women, an end to child and convict labor, and other improvements for workers.

Question 33

John D. Rockefeller

Answer 33

(1839 – 1937) An American businessman who became very rich in the oil industry. He founded the Standard Oil Company, which operated as a monopoly — that is, without much competition. He used much of his wealth to pay for research in medicine, education, and science.

Question 34

Interstate Commerce Act

Answer 34

The federal law enacted in 1887 to regulate the monopolistic practices of the railroad industry. The law required railroad shipping rates to be “reasonable and just,” and prohibited price discrimination against farmers and small businesses

Question 35

free enterprise

Answer 35

An economic system in which private businesses can operate and compete in an open market for the purpose of making a profit.

Question 36

corporation

Answer 36

A business formed by many shareholders who each own a part of the company. Shareholders split the profits based on their level of ownership.

Question 37

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Answer 37

(1794 – 1877) An American businessman who became very rich in the shipping and railroad industries. He gave money to churches in the New York City area, as well as $1 million to a university that was later named after him in honor of the gift.

Question 38

Andrew Carnegie

Answer 38

(1835 – 1919) An immigrant from Scotland who became very rich in the U.S. steel industry. He used much of his wealth to build libraries, schools, and colleges in the United States and other countries.