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U.S. HistoryFall Exam Review2010

TimelineReconstruction 1865-1877Rebuilding after Civil Warreconstructing the South and the nationGilded Age 1877 1900Riches covering up poverty/corruptionU.S. Imperialism 1890 1915ishManifest DestinyExpanding/acquiring territorySpanish-American WarProgressive Era 1890-1920Making progress as a nation by cleaning up the messes of the Gilded AgeReforms, new laws, womens rights, African-American rights

Business cycle cycles where the economy grows then contracts (boom & bust)Laissez-faire belief that government should not interfere in business hands off - policy during Gilded AgeNativism movement discriminating against immigrants favoritism of native born Americans restrict immigration (hmm..is there any nativist thinking today?)Social Darwinism survival of the fittest in business or success government shouldnt interfere in business - Jim Crow discriminatory statutes & practices against African-Americans segregation in public placesPoll Tax a tax a person had to pay before they could vote used to discourage voting by African-AmericansGrandfather Clause special laws that protected white voting rights.referendum process that allows citizens to reject or accept a law passed by the legislatureConstitutional Amendments15th gave African American males the right to vote16th gave Congress right to levy income tax17th provided for direct election of U.S. Senators18th prohibited manufacture and sale of alcohol19th Granted women full suffrageRecall procedure that allows voters to remove an elected official from office before the next election.Initiative a way citizens can put a proposed new law on the ballot by collecting voters signatures on a petitionEconomies of scale as production increases cost of each item produced decreasesLand speculators people who would buy up large plots of land hoping the price would increase and they would make huge amounts of $$$$Gilded AgeCirca 1877-1900

Era of tremendous industrial growthRobber barons/ captains of industryLarge groups of immigrantsLarge gap between super-rich and poor (mostly poor)Political corruptionUrban growth tenement livingUnsafe working conditions child laborgild covered all the corruption, poverty, unsafe working conditions, etc.

Vertical Consolidation

Carnegie invested in steel Quickly prospered and was able to buy out companies that performed all the phases in steel production

Coke fieldsIron ore depositsSteel millsShipsRailroadsALL purchased by CarnegieCarnegieSteel CompanyHorizontal Consolidation

Rockefeller cut production costs, set lower prices and was able to undersell his competitorsExpanded his business by trying to buy out all other oil refineries

Independent Oil RefineriesPurchased by RockefellerStandardOilCompanyMonopoly when the production of an item or supply of an item is controlled by a single owner, factory, corporation etc. no competition

Trust when a group of companies join together under a board of trustees limits competition (a new kind of monopoly) ex: Rockefeller Trust (Standard Oil)

Cartel an association of businesses that make the same product they can control the market by limiting the supply keeps the price high aka. - price fixingBoomers settlers who raced to claim land in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in 1889

Sooners - - settlers who sneaked into Indian Territory early & illegally to stake a land claim (boooooo)Graft pay off to a city official to gain favors a major way political machines (aka Boss Tweed) made money in the Gilded EraVice immoral or corrupt behaviorCorruption misuse of political power for personal gain like paying off a politician for favors. (Boss Tweed was corrupt)Bessemer Process a process that made steel stronger and easier to produce led to huge industrial growth

4. How did the growth of railroads effect the development of the West? opened up more land for settlement provided for transportation of goods to markets5. Morrill Land Grant provided ways for settlers to get land - $ from sale of land to build colleges (A&M)6. Homestead Act provided ways for settlers to get land 7. Manifest Destiny the idea that it was the destiny/fate of the U.S. to spread across North America (this idea is going to lead to U.s. imperialism)TCRR 1st railroad to extend from coast to coast the government gave loans and land grants to companies to build the railroadWhat made possible the American industrial growth in the late 1880s? Technological advances, abundance of workers (immigration)What revolutionized American communications in the late 1880s? Telephone and telegraph Critics of powerful industrialists during the Gilded Age referred to them as Robber BaronsThe goal of the Sherman Antitrust Act was to do what? Encourage competition, outlaw monopolies and trustsAccording to the theory of Social Darwinism the government should do what? Leave business alone -

14. How did industrial growth affect the distribution of wealth in the U.S.? Huge gap between the rich and the poor most $ in the hands of a few wealthyWhy did many children work in factories during the late 1800s? Families needed the childrens wages to surviveHow did Andrew Carnegie gain control of the steel industry? Vertical consolidationEmployers used what types of tactics in their attempts to crush labor strikes? Yellow dog contracts, scabs, fear

19.As a result of the Pullman Strikes for the next 30 years the government did not recognize the rights of the unions to exist20.Between 1860-1900 14 million immigrants come to the U.S. Why? To have a better life, opportunity21. Children had to work in the factories in the 1880's. why? Families needed income to survive22. Labor unions were created in the 1800's because why? Poor working conditions in factories23. What was a major incentive in the settling of the West? Cheap land1824. What drew many new immigrants to the West? gold & land

25. Describe the lifestyle of homesteaders? harsh & difficult 26.Many agreements between Native Americans and the federal government fell apart why? Differing concepts of land ownership1926. The Interstate Commerce Act was passed to do what? regulate railroad rates & practices

27. The challenges and hardships of settling the Great Plains led settlers to do what? return home to the east

28. Most African American Exodusters migrated west for what reason? to escape racial violence in the south 2029. One way the government sought to change Native Americans was by doing what to them? assimilation30. Frederick Jackson Turners thesis held that the frontier meant what? it helped create the strong, individualistic American spirit31. As American settlers moved west in search of land, what happened to many Native American nations? they were pushed off of their land & violence erupted between settlers, Federal Governmentand Native Americans 2132. What were the major beliefs of the Republican Party during the Gilded Age? The Democratic Party? The Populist Party?

Republican party- gold standard, high tariffs, and limits on immigration Democratic part- increased money supply, lower tariffs, and higher farm prices Populist party ( Western Farmers)- free silver, increased crop prices, 8 hour work day, and government ownership of railroads

2233. Why did farmers favor inflation? to increase crop prices

34. William Jennings Bryan lost the election of 1896 because he could not do what? carry the industrial and urban centers35. During the late 1800s, the port of entry for the majority of immigrants was where? New York City36. What attracted many Asians to the United States in the late 1800s? a chance for a better life37. Why did many immigrants support city political machines? political machines provided them with jobs2437. The Pendleton Civil Service Act was passed to do what? to do away with the spoils system so that those seeking Government jobs must take a test to show they are qualified.

38. In the 1890s, immigration patterns shifted dramatically, with most immigrants now coming from which areas? Southern & Eastern Europe2539. The main objective of the nativists was to do what? restrict immigration

40. prohibitionists and purity crusaders both worked to do what? stop the sale/consumption of Alcohol