UNIT 4 & 5 SYLLABUS
The West & The Gilded Age 1860-1900
Name:
Goal 4: The Great West and the Rise of the Debtor (1860-1896) - The learner will
evaluate the great westward movement and assess the impact of the agricultural revolution
on the nation.
 4.01: Compare and contrast the different groups of peoples who migrated to the West and describe the problems
they experienced
 4.02: Evaluate the impact that settlement in the West had upon different groups of people and the environment.
 4.03: Describe the causes and effects of the financial difficulties that plagued the American farmer and trace the rise
and decline of Populism.
 4.04: Describe innovations in agricultural technology and business practices and assess their impact on the West.
Goal 5: Becoming an Industrial Society (1877-1900) - The learner will describe innovations
in technology and business practices and assess their impact on economic, political, and
social life in America.
 5.01: Evaluate the influence of immigration and rapid industrialization on urban life.
 5.02: Explain how business and industrial leaders accumulated wealth and wielded political and economic power.
 5.03: Assess the impact of labor unions on industry and the lives of workers.
 5.04: Describe the changing role of government in economic and political affairs.
Date
Topic
10/1
Introduce West
10/2
Watch Glory
10/3
Problems Native Americans Faced
Finish Vocabulary Flashcards
10/4
Problems Farmers/Populists Faced
Finish Vocabulary Flashcards
10/7
Problems in Industry & Big Business
Finish Vocabulary Flashcards
10/8
Problems that Workers & Immigrants Faced
Finish Vocabulary Flashcards
10/9
Problems in the Cities & in Politics
Finish Vocabulary Flashcards
10/10
Problems African Americans Faced (Jim Crow)
Unit 4 & 5 Vocabulary Flashcards Due
Flashcard Quiz
Finish Vocabulary Flashcards
10/11
Unit 4 & 5 Cornell Notes Due
Finish Cornell Notes
Finish Test Corrections
Unit 4 & 5 Test
Homework
People (pink)
1.Roles of Women on the Frontier-women were treated as equals to men; many Western states gave women the right
to vote before it became a law Ex: Wyoming
2.Roles Chinese & Irish Immigrants on Frontier- worked on the RR’s
3.Chief Joseph-Nez Pierce Tribe leader—“Where the sun sets, I will fight no more forever”—surrendered to US
Gov. because of the effect fighting had on the tribe’s women and children
4.Sitting Bull-Lakota Sioux leader at Battle Little Big Horn
5.Buffalo Soldiers-black soldiers who fought in West, in Spanish American War, WWI & WWII
6.William Jennings Bryan-Represented the Populists in the Election 1896
7.Jacob Riis-wrote about the harsh life living in tenement houses
8.Frederick Law Olmstead-designed Central Park
9.Robber Barons-people who made money off of corrupt business practices during the Gilded Age
10.Andrew Carnegie-Robber Baron—RR’s & Steel monopolies—Carnegie Steel Company
11.John Rockefeller-Robber Baron—Standard Oil Company monopoly
12.J. P. Morgan-Robber Baron—Banking & Investments; created US steel by combining Carnegie Steel with another
steel company
13.Cornelius Vanderbilt-Robber Baron—RR monopoly
14.Horatio Alger-wrote rags-to-riches novels
15.Samuel Gompers-led American Federation of Labor
16.Eugene Debs-led American Railway Union and later led the American Socialist Party
17.Boss Tweed—leader of Tammany Hall political machine
18.Thomas Nast-political cartoonist who criticized nativists and political machines
Literature/Supreme Court Cases (yellow)
19.Helen Hunt Jackson’s Century of Dishonor-about cruelty and injustice to Native Americans
20.Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee-about cruelty and injustices to Native Americans
21.Andrew Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth-give money away to help your community; called philanthropy
22.Plessey v Ferguson 1896-established Separate but Equal
Wars (Orange)
23.Sand Creek Massacre 1864-US Calvary killed everyone
24.Battle of Little Big Horn 1876-Custer’s 7th Calvary fights Sitting Bull’s people—Custer’s Last Stand
25.Wounded Knee Massacre 1890-End of Indian Wars—Indians dancing Ghost Dance and told to stop and put
down their weapons—shot fired—result many Native American women and children shot
Laws/Policy (green)
26.Homestead Act 1862-meant to bring people West—150 Acres if you lived there for 5 years
27.Morrill Land Grant Act 1862-gave money to start agricultural colleges such as Texas A & M, NC State, A& T
28.Dawes (Severalty) Act 1887-meant to Americanize Native Americans
29.Interstate Commerce Act (ICC)1887-regulated trade between states---very weak
30.Chinese Exclusion Act 1882-set a max number of Chinese immigrants who were allowed to come to the US
31.Sherman Antitrust Act 1890-first law to try to get rid of monopolies & trusts—very weak
Political Parties (purple)
32.Omaha Platform 1892-Populist platform—bimentallism, getting rid of RR rebates, direct election of senators,
secret ballot
33.Populist Party-made up of farmers & Industrial Workers from the 1880’s-1896; their political beliefs create the
Omaha Platform
34.Political Machines-group of politicians who are able to stay in power because of corrupt practices—Ex: paying
people off to vote for them
Other Important Vocabulary (Blue)
35.Transcontinental Railroad-opens up West for settlement
36.Assimilation-to Americanize Indians (teach them to live like Americans do)Rebates-people who shipped most
goods on the RR’s got the biggest discounts
37.“Cross of Gold Speech” 1896-William Jennings Bryan’s speech criticizing the gold standard saying it was bad for
farmers
38.Barbed wire-ended the open-range system
39.Important Inventions of the Gilded Age & Great West-Steel Plow (John Deere), Windmill, Refrigerated RR car,
Lightbulb (Edison), Telephone (Graham Bell), train airbreaks (George Westinghouse), Airplane (Wright Brothers),
Coca-Cola (Pemberton),
40.Vertical/Horizontal Integration-ways Big Business owners gained monopolies (vertical—buy out same kinds of
companies EX: oil; horizontal—buy out different levels of production process EX: Iron Ore Field, Steel Factories, RR
Companies)
41.Laissez-Faire Capitalism-government stays out of business—this is what allowed Big Businesses to gain
monopolies
42.Tenement House-crowded city apartments with nasty living conditions
43.Ellis Island-place where European immigrants landed in US
44.Sweatshops-factories with poor working conditions
45.Urbanization-settling in the cities
46.Bessemer Steel Process-way to make steel by taking the impurities out of iron
47.Social Darwinism-survival of the fittest
48.Trust-companies of similar products put stock in control of a group of trustees
49.Monopoly-buy out your competition so you make all the money
50.Gilded Age-late 1800’s—time when lots of people got rich, but life for so many others was difficult b/c
lived/worked in poor conditions
51.Important Labor Unions-Knights of Labor; American Railway Union, American Federation of Labor
52.Important Labor Strikes-Haymarket Square Riot, Great Railroad Strike, Pullman Strike, Homestead Strike,
Anthracite Coal Strike
53.Strike-unions refuse to go to work until they get better pay/working conditions
54.Negotiation-peaceful talks between employer and worker/union leader
55.Mediation-peaceful talks between employer & worker/union leader & non-biased 3rd party—not law binding
56.Lockout-Strike Breaking tactic where employer refused to let workers in
57.Scabs-Strike Breaking tactic where employer hires people who are willing to work for less pay—usually immigrants
did this
58.Blacklist-Strike Breaking tactic where your name is put on a list and passed from employer to employer if you were
in a union—they would not hire you
59.Collective Bargaining-when unions organize to negotiate better working conditions with employer
60.Arbitration-peaceful talks between employer & worker/union leader & non-biased 3rd party—this is LAW Binding
61.Yellow-Dog Contract-Employer tactic where a worker agrees to not join a union
62.Closed Shop vs. Open Shop-“closed”-no unions in factories—“open”-unions allowed in factories
63.Tammany Hall-democratic political machine in NYC
64.Credit Mobilier Scandal 1872-under President Grant--Congressmen received profits of RR companies because
they charged more than the RR’s actually cost to build
65.Graft-getting money through dishonest ways
66.Secret Ballot (Australian)-part of the Populists’ Omaha Platform
67.Disenfranchisement-loose right to vote
68.Literacy test-one of the Jim Crow laws –see if you could read/write before you could vote
69.Poll Taxes-one of the Jim Crow Laws—pay before you cold vote
70.Grandfather Clauses-one of the Jim Crow Laws said you could vote if your grandfather could vote before 1867
(before then, African Americans could not vote)
71.De Jure Segregation- Segregation enforced by law
72.De Facto Segregation- Segregation that is done out of tradition
73.Jim Crow Laws-laws to keep African Americans from voting or participating in society
74.Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 1911- broke out in Triangle Shirtwaist factory that killed lots of woman
And set the standard for fire codes & fire exits