1 of 6

Unit 7

​

Gilded Age & Progressive Era

​

1877-1920

​

​

2 of 6

Vocabulary: Terms

Term

Definition

Gilded Age

time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Western United States.

Bessemer Process

a cheap and efficient process for making steel, developed in the 19th century.

Progressivism

a group of reform movements that focused on urban problems, including workplace problems, poor sanitation, and government corruption.

Industrial Revolution

time of transformation from an agricultural to industrial society.

3 of 6

Vocabulary: Terms

Term

Definition

Nineteenth Amendment

allows for women to vote in the United States.

Tenement Housing

small, rundown apartments in major cities at the turn of the 20th century.

Square Deal

President Theodore Roosevelt's three-part domestic program; conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection.

Sherman Antitrust Act

law making monopolies illegal in the United States.

4 of 6

The Gilded Age

​

1877-1900

01

5 of 6

Captains of Industry

The Captains of Industry included the likes of John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan. As entrepreneurs, they were willing to take risks, and in doing so, created unimaginable wealth and power.

  • Captains of Industry were fueled by ideas such as Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and laissez faire economics (no government regulations in big business).
  • In time, big businesses created monopolies, in which they had full control over industries.

6 of 6

Vertical Integration

Big businesses of the Gilded Age used a concept of vertical integration in order to mass produce, and in the process, have an enormous profit margin.

  • The vertical integration process would involve acquiring raw materials, to manufacturing, to the final delivery of the finished product.
  • For manufacturing businesses, the extensive railroad network and Transcontinental Railroad would allow for nationwide distribution.