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Time Period 6 Key Terms
The significance of the time period from 1865 to 1980 (Time Period 6) covers the modernization of the United States through large scale industrialization and the rise of big business, to migration and immigration, all the way to new cultural and intellectual movements which lead to intense debates over citizen’s rights in relation to race and gender. -
AFL
The American Federation of Labor was a union formed in 1866 to try to change American Society by lessening the days of the work week and increasing wages. -
Purchase of Alaksa
The United States bought Alaska from Russia..which was an immense 586,412 square miles of land! We bought it for about 7 million dollars and we bought it in order to end Russia's presence in North America, AND to make sure the US could access the Pacific. -
Granger Movement
This was the time when a group of different agricultural groups workd to increase the political and economic power of farmers during an increasingly industrial time. -
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism is how higher ups in society would apply the biological thoery of evolution to specific races of humans. Darwin’s theory of natural selection was then related to society, and specifically in economics and business in America. It was almost like a fake "scientific" excuse to be racist. Social Darwinism was embraced by the nation’s wealthy upper class in the late 19th century to justify their accumulation of wealth and power. -
2nd Industrial Revolution
The second industrial revolution was marked by new and more efficient industrial processes, and new ways producing steel. One of these ways was through the invention of the Bessemer process which enabled the mass production of steel. The steel industry was further revolutionized in this time period and more and more people started dwelling in cities. -
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that eventually triggered the Great Depression. It was caused by a result of over-expansion in the industry and the railroads and a drop in European demand for American farm products and a drop off of European investment in the US. -
WCTU
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was a reform union lead by protestant women who used a religious platform to demand better housing and better living condition for the urban poor. -
Vertical Integration
This was the concept of having one company own multiple stages if the production process that would normally be owned by separate companies. It was made by elite people to eliminate the middle man and in turn, get their businesses more money. This system was made famous by Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first immigration law that excluded an entire ethnic group. It also excluded Chinese people from gaining citizenship in the U.S. This act was solely to reduce the number of Chinese people in America. -
Pendleton Act of 1883
The Pendleton Service Reform Act is a US Federal Law passed by congress to make it illegal to fire or demote people for political reasons. Basically jobs are awarded by merit and not opinion. -
Wabash vs. Illinois
A Supreme Court decision that denied the states to regulate interstate rates for railroads. It led to the Interstate Commerce Commision. -
Dawes Act of 1887
President Grover Cleveland signed this into law in order to divide tribal reservation land up between Native Americans. Any of this surplus of land was then offered to white settlers. -
Hull House
A house where immigrants would come to live and learn English and how to get a job. Hull House was the first Settlement House. -
NAWSA
The National American Woman Suffrage Association was a group formed to advocate for the right of American women to vote. It eventually helped to pass the 19th amendment. -
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
This was a US antitrust law which regulated enterprises in order to protect the public in case the market failed. -
Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee was a Massacre that happened on 12/29/1890 in South Dakota where US soldiers killed about 300 native Sioux peoples. It is seen in history as the final clash between federal troops and the Sioux. -
Forest Reserve Act of 1891
This was a law passes in 1891 that allowed the President of the United States foes to set aside forest reserves from the public. It set aside land for National Forests/parks in order to reserve lands. -
Ellis Island
This was an immigration station for Europeans who were immigrants coming into New York City. It was in the New York City Harbor. It was the door that European immigrants passed through to enter the United States. -
Panic of 1893
This panic was a serious economic depression that affected every sector of the economy in the United States. It lead to the election of president McKinley. -
The Anti-saloon League
The leading organization of lobbying for prohibition in the early 20th century. It eventually helped to pass the 18th amendment.