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Gilded Age
This stack contains terms and definitions about the Gilded Age.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Alexander Graham Bell | He patented the telephone in 1876. After securing the patent, he worked with financiers and businessmen to create the National Bell Telephone Company. |
| Thomas Edison | He invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879. He registered 1,093 patents over his lifetime and ran a world-famous laboratory in Menlo Park. |
| Captains of Industry (Robber Barons) | Business leaders who contributed positively to the country in some way. Some businessmen were believed to exploit workers and bend laws to succeed. Many of them grew rich from the railroad industry. (Gould, Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt) |
| Andrew Carnegie | He led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. His first company was the J. Edgar Thompson Steel Works. He wrote a famous essay called "The Gospel of Wealth". |
| John D. Rockefeller | He created the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. He built an oil monopoly by ruthlessly eliminating most of his competitors. By 1879, the Standard Oil Company controlled nearly 95 percent of all oil refining businesses in the country. |
| J.P Morgan | He was an investment banker. His most notable investment, and greatest consolidation, was in the steel industry, when he bought out Andrew Carnegie in 1901. He created the U.S. Steel Corporation, which became the country's 1st billion-dollar firm. |
| Great Railroad Strike of 1877 | Railroad workers in West Virginia spontaneously went on strike and blocked the tracks because of a massive pay cut. Railroad workers all over the country joined in and committed acts of vandalism. The strike lasted for 45 days (much violence took place). |
| Haymarket Strike | A labor protest in Chicago, which turned violent when someone in the crowd threw a bomb at the police (one died and the other was left injured). 7 anarchists were arrested and charged with murder. |
| Homestead Strike | (labor conflict) An industrial lockout and strike which occurred in Pennsylvania. Strikers fought detectives hired by the factory's management. (3 Pinkertons, and 6 workers died). |
| Social gospel | This philosophy stated that all Christians, whether they were church leaders or social reformers, should be as concerned about the conditions of life in the secular world as the afterlife. (social changes were encouraged). |
| settlement house movement | A movement where women worked to create settlement houses in urban centers where they could help the working class, and in particular, working-class women, find aid. Their help included child daycare, evening classes, libraries, etc). |
| Political machines | This phrase referred to the process by which every citizen of the city, no matter what their ethnicity or race, was a ward resident with an alderman who spoke on their behalf at city hall. |
| social Darwinism | Herbert Spencer's theory, which held that society developed much like plant or animal life through a process of evolution in which the most fit and capable enjoyed the greatest material and social success. |
| Gilded Age | A period of transformation in the economy, technology, government, and social customs of America. Mark Twain coined the phrase in a book he co-authored with Charles Warner called "The Gilded Age: A Tale Of Today" (1873). |
| Stalwarts | a group that strongly supported continuation of the current spoils system. (Roscoe Conkling was the leader). They were a faction of the Republican Party. |
| Spoils System | This system gives the president power to practice widespread political patronage. People could be appointed to government jobs for loyalty to the president. Level of experience or skill did not really matter. |
| Civil Service Reform | Arthur signed into law the Pendleton Civil Service Act , which was the 1st significant piece of anti-patronage legislation. This law created the Civil Service Commission. |
| Mugwumps | A significant portion of the Half-Breeds who chose to break from the traditional Stalwarts-verses-Half-Breeds debate and form their own faction because of the corruption of James Blaine. |
| the Grange | Also known as the "Patrons of Husbandry". This organization was created to assist farmers in the many problems they faced. |
| Populist Party | Formed by the Farmers' Alliance, this party is more widely known as the "People's Party". This party nominated James Weaver as its presidential candidate. |
| Coxey's Army | Businessman Jacob Coxey led a march of unemployed Ohioans from Cincinnati to Washington, DC, where leaders of the group urged Congress to pass public works legislation for the federal gov. to hire unemployed workers to build roads, other public projects. |
| Telephone | Patented in 1876, it greatly transformed communication both regionally and nationally. It rapidly supplanted the telegraph as the preferred form of communication. It increased business through the more rapid pace of demand. |
| Electric Trolley | Invented by Frank Sprague. It worked along the same concept as the omnibus, with a large wagon on tracks, but was powered by electricity rather than horses. Later it was elevated above the streets. |
| Subway | Underground transportation. Boston's subway system began operating in 1897, and was quickly followed by New York and other cities. |
| Skyscraper | It was first built in Chicago in 1885. Many cities could not continue to grow outward, so upward growth was attractive. These buildings were the answer to the problem. |
| Elevator | A company led by James Otis installed it first. This invention made tall buildings more viable. |
| Incandescent Light Bulb (Electric Lighting) | Thomas Edison patented it in 1879. This development quickly became common in homes as well as factories. Permitted operations to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. |
| AC Power | It was developed by Nikola Tesla. It transformed the use of electricity, allowing urban centers to physically cover greater areas. |
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