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The Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in 1848 by James Marshall sparked a massive wave of westward migration. -
Social Gospel
The Protestantism movement used the application of Christian values to try and solve social problems such as inequality, crime, and alcoholism. -
Vertical Integration
This was a process that took all phases of manufacturing and combined them into one. It was pioneered by Andrew Carnegie and helped with controlling production. -
Characteristics of the New South
The period is also characterized by civil and social upheaval; farming hardships and exploitative labor practices led to the emergence of labor unions, and Jim Crow laws allowed racism to flourish under the guise of a policy known as "separate but equal." -
Telephone
An invention that changed the way America and other countries worked. It revolutionized the way that we communicate and employed several female workers in this new industry. -
Tuskegee Institute
It was a school for young African Americans to help them learn to achieve economic independence and helped bring racial equality. -
Federal Restrictions on Immigration
A law was passed in 1882 that prevented Chinese immigrants from coming over to the United States and working, it was the first act that excluded an entire ethnic group. It also took away Chinese immigrants' right to citizenship in the U.S.
Causes: Nativism against non-WASP grew, and even labor unions disliked immigrants for taking lower wages and being hard to unionize.
Effects: Under these laws, criminals, convicts, the insane, the sick, anarchists, and foreign workers are under contract. -
Social Darwinism
The idea of Darwinism in evolution-survival of the fittest-but applied to the American economy where it was believed that the wealthy had won the competition and that they didn't owe anything to the poor. This was also applied to entire nations and races saying that some were more at a predisposition to be superior than others. This theory provided justification for things like the Spanish-American war. -
Hull House
A settlement house founded by Jane Addams who aimed at providing a home for immigrants, and children born into the slum and fought for Child Labor laws to be put into place. This house inspired many others to be created across the country, although it often had a poor reputation associated with it. -
The Closing of The West
In the west, there were no apparent tracts of land without settlers. This news was a distinguished event in American history; the frontier represented danger because of the Natives who lived in the region but also freedom and opportunity. -
Panic of 1893
An economic depression that came from railroad companies overextending themselves and caused several bank failures. It was brought to an end when England had a food supply shortage which caused the U.S. to be involved in the trade. -
Cross of Gold speech
A speech that was given by William Jennings Bryan at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Bryan supported free silver, which he thought would make the United States prosperous. He famously stated that "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold". Because of this speech, he was put on the Democratic presidential nomination. Brought division in the nation on the monetary standard -
US Steel
After Carnegie sold his company in 1900 for approximately 400 million to a new steel combination headed by JP Morgan. The new corporation, United States Steel, was the first billion-dollar company and also the largest enterprise in the world, employing 168,000 people and controlling over 3/5th of the nation's steel business -
American RR Association
Divided the United States into four different time zones, and became the standard time for Americans.