1. The Gilded Age and Progressive Era Review Guide – Answers Major Themes, Vocabulary, and Identifications for the Test

2. Corporations Businesses which are owned by shareholders and created in order to make profits. The value of a corporation is to the owners. They are able to control a stake of a company, while minimizing their risk as investors and virtually eliminating any liability they may have for the company. Corporations sole purpose is to make money for its shareholders; hence, they may occasionally engage in practices which are driven by the profit motive instead of humanitarian or environmental concerns.

3. Thomas Alva Edison The inventor of the light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture machine, and the battery cell, among other things. He also managed to turn most of his inventions into businesses, meaning he was critical to the creation of the Edison Electric Company, the Hollywood Film Industry, the record industry, and a host of other successful business plans.

4. Alexander Graham Bell He was the inventor of the telephone and the founder of the Atlantic Telegraph and Telephone company. The son of Scottish immigrants, he was an extraordinarily hard working inventors. The first words he ever transmitted via telephone were to his longtime assistant. He stated, “Mr. Watson, come here! I want you!”

5. The Wright Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright revolutionized travel on December 17 th, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, NC. It was there that the first flight was accomplished. It took the United States government years to recognize the inventors’ accomplishment; yet, within just a few decades, there were commercial airlines operating on a daily basis.

6. Henry Ford & the Assembly Line Henry Ford was not the inventor of the automobile. It was already established in Europe, and American inventors like the Duryea Brothers and Ransom Olds had already begun producing their versions of the horseless carriage before Ford entered the game. But in the early 20 th Century Henry Ford began to mass produce his automobiles, which used the internal combustion engine, and could be mass produced using assembly line methods.

7. Henry Bessemer and the “Bessemer Process” Henry Bessemer was an Englishman who invented a method to purify iron into steel. Iron, when rendered from ore, might still prove to be brittle if it was riddled with imperfections; however, by superheating iron ore and blasting the molten element with oxygen, the imperfections could be burned off, producing a stronger, purer version of iron.

8. Andrew Carnegie & The Gospel of Wealth: Philanthropy The original “Man of Steel,” Andrew Carnegie created a vast empire by using the Bessemer Process to produce steel. He was born the son of a poor Scottish immigrant, but his life was a rags to riches success story. His steel company would provide the materials needed to build the railroads, provide the I-beams for skyscrapers, and even bolster the Brooklyn Bridge. At the end of his life, after having made well over $400 Million in the Steel Industry, Carnegie gave away his entire fortune to philanthropic causes. He encouraged others to do so as well, writing an article called “The Gospel of Wealth.”

9. John Pierpont Morgan J. P. Morgan was the king of investment banking and he funded some of the most important, productive, and successful corporations in all American history. He even bailed out Wall Street in the late 1890s. He was perhaps the only person in America who could purchase Andrew Carnegies company – the United States Steel Corporation – when he sold it at the turn of the Century.

10. John D. Rockefeller Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company began as an organization to refine crude oil into kerosene. He was famous for his strict quality control and the excellence of the products that he sold. By the 1880s, though, the electric light bulb had begun to eat into his profits. When the automobile began to be mass produced, he quickly converted his operations to produce motor oil and gasoline. Thus, his fortune continued to grow. Rockefeller was also well known for using brutal tactics to run his rivals out of business. Theodore Roosevelt eventually sued his company for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and it was broken apart!

11. Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt was the central figure in the consolidation of the railroads in the United States during the 19 th Century. His efforts began in New York, but he was so successful in acquiring properties that he controlled most of the rails East of the Mississippi River before his retirement. He was also a philanthropist – he donated the money which was used to establish Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

12. Laissez-Faire Economics This is a French expression which, roughly translated, means “hands off!” In the 19 th Century, many Americans believed that the government should not intervene in the nation’s economic affairs at all. No regulation of businesses would allow the free markets to determine prices, wages, and productivity. Today, we see a need for government regulation to promote the rights of workers and consumers.

13. Natural Resources in the United States of America: Abundance!  Water  Fertile Land  Lumber  Oil  Coal  Iron Ore  Precious Metals

14. Cheap Immigrant Labor Because of the United States “open border” policies during the late 19 th Century, there was an abundant supply of labor for industries to choose from. Most immigrants arrived in American with little more than the clothes on their backs, and they were willing to work hard for low wages for a chance at the American dream. Industrial leaders took advantage of these workers in order to build their businesses and the infrastructure of the United States.

15. The Gilded Age This is the term for the age during which free market capitalist policies caused a wide disparity between the wealthy elites – industrialists like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan – and the poor working classes, who lived in poverty.

16. Concerns of Unions  Low Wages of Workers  Long Working Hours – No Leisure Time  Child Labor  Dangerous Working Conditions  No Health Care or Workman’s Compensation  Immigrants Competed for Jobs

17. Goals of Unions 1. Higher Pay for Employees 2. The Eight Hour Work Day – Leisure Time 3. End Child Labor 4. Improved Safety Standards 5. Workman’s Compensation for Injuries 6. Pensions 7. Restrictions on Immigration

18. The Knights of Labor This was America’s first labor union, founded in 1869 by Terence V. Powderly and Uriah Stevens. This union was open to all members: man and woman, black and white, skilled and unskilled. There most important goals were higher pay, safer working conditions, and the eight hour work day.

19. The Haymarket Square Riot In May of 1886, the Knights of Labor had organized a major labor strike against the McCormick Harvesting Company in Chicago, IL. During the strike a rally was held at Haymarket Square in downtown Chicago. Late in the evening, as the rally was dying down, police officers arrived to disperse the remaining crowd. From out of nowhere, a group of anarchists lobbed an explosive device into the police officers gathering. As a result of this tragedy, the Knights of Labor became associated with violence and anarchy and they were branded radicals. The union soon lost membership, strength, and influence.

20. American Federation of Labor Established in 1886 by Samuel Gompers, the American Federation of Labor took over as the leading labor union in America as the Knights of Labor fell into decline. Their goals were similar: Higher Pay The 8 Hour Work Day Safer Working Conditions Collective Bargaining Rights

21. The Homestead Strike When Andrew Carnegie slashed his employees wages in 1892, his workers went on strike from the Homestead Plant, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Rather than negotiate, Carnegie ordered strikebreakers be hired to take the jobs of these men. When striking employees confronted the “scabs” who had come to take their jobs, violence broke out for a period of days. Eventually, the Pennsylvania State Militia and a group of Pinkerton Agents put down the strike using violent force. Carnegie’s reputation always suffered as a result.

22. The American Railway Union Eugene V. Debs was the leader of this labor union, which advocated for goals similar to other unions but specific to the railroads. By supporting smaller companies when they went on strike, a huge union like that of the railroad workers had the ability to shut down the entire American economy, as they did in 1894 during the Pullman Strike.

23. The Pullman Strike of 1894 Eugene V. Debs ordered his workers to support a small strike at an important company in 1894: the Pullman Palace Car Co. George Pullman had slashed his employees wages after the Panic of 1893, and they went on strike. Debs ordered his men not to load or unload any train car with Pullman cars attached, which caused massive disruptions to trade in the United States in the summer of 1894. Eventually, President Grover Cleveland ordered in the US Army to force the men back to work.

24. International Ladies Garment Workers Union Women who labored in the garment industry were confined to sweatshop conditions for long hours. The air in these sweatshops was polluted with filaments and caused emphysema and other lung diseases. More frightening still, the overcrowded buildings were fire hazards. The ILGWU worked to improve conditions; however, in 1911, one of the most horrific tragedies in labor history took place when over 150 women were burned to death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. In the aftermath of the fire, the company was assigned no liability at all. In fact, they cashed in an insurance policy on their building and were able to build a new factory. None of the families of the women who perished received any benefits whatsoever.

25. Goals of Progressives Progressives sought to expose important problems in society and encourage society – and societies government – to solve the problems. They were largely concerned with: Poverty Working Conditions EnvironmentalismCorrupt Governments Expanding Voting Economic Fairness TemperanceTrustbusting

26. The Commission System and City Managers These were both ideas to prevent corrupt local governments from continuing to take bribes and kickbacks in order to buy votes. Under these systems, there would be strict accountability regarding financial issues and more responsive agencies to address the needs of the people.

27. The Wisconsin System – Power to the Voters!  Direct Primary System  Direct Primary System – allows the voters to select the candidates who run for office, increasing voter participation in the nomination process.  Initiatives  Initiatives – allows voters to suggest laws. Simply write out the proposition you want voted on, collect the requisite signatures, and create a ballot initiative.  Referendum  Referendum – Voters can determine whether they will approve or deny an act of the local legislature or city council – often used for public bond issues.  Recalls  Recalls – If the voters find that an elected official has violated the laws or the public trust, they may organize a recall election to oust him or her from office.  The 17 th Amendment  The 17 th Amendment – This national rule allows for the direct election of Senators. Previously, Senators were elected by state legislatures.  Secret Ballots  Secret Ballots – Believe it or not, secret ballots were not common in the 19 th Century. Today, when you vote, it is a private decision and no one can intimidate you about your ballot choice either before or after you vote.

28. Progressives and Muckrakers hated child labor and wanted it outlawed. How the Other Half Lives  Jacob Riis wrote about this in his photo essay, How the Other Half Lives. The Jungle  Upton Sinclair criticized child labor in his novel, The Jungle.  Florence Kelley and Horace Mann both advocated for compulsory education laws, which would require children to go to school not to work.  All labor unions also opposed child labor.

29. Progressive Amendments  16 th Amendment  16 th Amendment – The progressive income tax – higher tax rates for wealthy people and high earners; lower rates for the working poor.  17 th Amendment  17 th Amendment – Provides for the direct election of Senators in popular elections.  18 th Amendment  18 th Amendment – The Prohibition Amendment, which ban the manufacturing (distilling, brewing) of alcohol, the transportation of alcohol, and the sale of alcohol.  19 th Amendment  19 th Amendment – Women gained the right to vote in all national elections with the passage of this amendment.

30. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act This 1890 law was passed in order to allow the government to sue companies who were engaged in anti-competitive practices like trusts and monopolies. Although it was the law in 1890, it was not commonly enforced until the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, who used the law to sue companies like Standard Oil Company.

31. Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal The Square Deal was President Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program formed upon three basic ideas: 1. Conservation of natural resources, for example the creation of natural parks and agencies to act as good stewards of the nation’s resources. 2. Control of corporations to prevent anti- competitive practices, trustbusting by strictly enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. 3. Consumer protection laws, like the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

32. William Howard Taft Taft was a trustbuster, as well, using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in order to break apart anti-competitive businesses. In four years as the President of the United States, Taft broke up more businesses in violation of the law than Theodore Roosevelt had in seven years!

33. Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom Woodrow Wilson was Elected President in 1912. In many ways, he carried on the economic and social reforms which Progressives had started in the years prior to his Presidency. While he was in office: 1. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act was passed to tighten up loopholes. 2. The Federal Reserve Act was passed. 3. Prohibition went into effect. 4. Women gained suffrage

34. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act This law was simply an addition to the Sherman Antitrust Act which allowed the government to act more aggressively against trusts and monopolies. By closing the loopholes in the original law, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act allowed the government to break up trusts and monopolies.

35. The Federal Reserve Act The Federal Reserve Act created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States of America, which issues federal reserve notes – US Dollars – and sets lending rates across the nation. The move was meant to bring greater security to banking in the United States.

36. Thomas Nast’s “Who Stole the People’s Money” Thomas Nast was a political cartoonist who famously exposed the corruption in the Tammany Hall ring with this political cartoon. “Boss” Tweed, the notorious political boss who ran the system of kickbacks, bribes, voter fraud, and embezzlement, would eventually end up in jail.