Andrew Carnegie Scottish-born industrialist who made a fortune in steel and believed the rich had a duty to act for the public benefit

arbitration process by which parties to a dispute submit their case to the judgment of an impartial person or group (the arbiter) and agree to abide by the arbiter’s decision

artisan skilled worker, whether self-employed or working for wages






Benito Juarez elected Mexican president who led resistance to the French occupation of his country in 1864-67

Bland-Allison Act 1878 law providing for the federal purchase of limited amounts of silver to be coined into silver dollars

bond certificate of debt issued by a government or corporation guaranteeing payment of the original investment plus interest at a specified future date






caucus gathering of people with a common political interest; for example, to choose delegates to a party convention or to seek consensus on party positions on issues

coalition arrangement by which different groups work together toward some common objective

contraction in the economic cycle, a time when the economy has cased to grow, characterized by decreased production of goods and services and often by high rates of unemployment

cooperative business enterprise in which workers and consumers share ownership and take part in management

corollary proposition that follows logically and naturally from an already proven point

craft union labor union that organizes skilled workers engaged in a specific craft or trade; also called a trade union

Crédit Mobilier company created to build the Union Pacific Railroad; in a scandalous deal uncovered in 1872-3, it sold shares cheaply to congressmen who approved federal subsidies for railroad construction






Danish West Indies island group in the Caribbean now known as the US Virgin Islands; US purchased in 1917

deflation falling prices, a situation in which the purchasing power of the dollar increases






entrepreneur person who takes on the risks of creating, organizing, and managing a business enterprise

ethnicity having to do with common racial, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics

expansion in the economic cycle, a time when the economy is growing as indicated by increased production of goods and services and usually by low rates of unemployment






fixed costs costs that a company must pay even if it closes down all its operations – for example, interest on loans, dividends on bonds, and property taxes






gauge distance between the two rails making up railroad tracks

general strike strike by members of all unions in a particular industry

gold standard a monetary system based on gold; legal contracts typically called for the payments of all debts in gold and paper money could be redeemed in gold at a bank

Gospel of Wealth Andrew Carnegie’s idea that all possessors of great wealth have an obligation to spend or otherwise disburse their money to help people help themselves

graduated income tax percentage tax that is levied on income and varies with income, so that individuals with the lowest income pay taxes at the lowest rates

Grand Army of the Republic organization of Union army veterans

Grange organization of farmers that combined social activities with education about new methods of farming and cooperative economic efforts; formally called the Patrons of Husbandry

Granger laws state laws establishing standard freight and passenger rates on railroads; passed in various states in the 1870s in response to lobbying by the Grange and other groups, including merchants

Great Railway Strike of 1877 series of strikes in American cities triggered by railroad wage cuts; the strikes showed widespread support for the demands of workers

greenbacks paper money, not backed by gold, that the federal government issued during the Civil War






Homestead Act 1862 law that offered ownership of 160 acres of designated public lands to any citizen who lived on and improved the land for five years






industry basic unit of business activity in which the various participants do similar activities; for example, the railroad industry consists of railroad companies and the firms and factories that supply their equipment

inflation prices go up and the purchasing power of the dollar declines

interchangeable parts mechanical parts that are identical and can be substituted for one another






kickback illegal payment by a contractor to the official who award the contract






laissez faire principle that the government should not interfere in the workings of the economy

Land-Grant College Act 1862 law that gave states land to use to raise money to establish public universities that were to offer courses in engineering and agriculture and to train military officers

lobby to try to influence the thinking of public officials for or against a specific cause






mail-order sales business of selling goods using the mails; mail-order houses send out catalogs, customers submit orders, and the products are delivered by mail

Maximilian Austrian archduke appointed by France to be emperor of Mexico in 1864; later executed by Mexican republicans

meatpacking business of slaughtering animals and preparing their meat for sale as food

merchant marine ships engaged in commerce

militia a military force consisting of civilians who agree to be mobilized into service in times of emergency; organized by state governments during the 19th century but now superseded by the National Guard

monetary policy federal monetary policy was extremely limited in the late 19th century, having to do primarily with the nature of circulating currency (gold, silver, paper) and with the relations between the types of currency

Monroe Doctrine Monroe’s 1823 statement that the Western Hemisphere was off-limits for future European expansion

most-favored-nation status in a treaty between Nation A and Nation B, the provision that commercial privileges extended by A to other nations automatically become available to B






National Labor Union federation of trade unions and reform societies organized in 1866; it lasted only 6 years but helped push through a law limiting government employees to an 8-hour workday






old-stock people whose ancestors have lived in the US for several generations

opium addictive drug made from poppies






Pacific Railway Act 1862 law that gave loans and land to the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad companies to subsidize the construction of a rail line between Omaha and the Pacific coast

party convention party meeting to nominate candidates for elective offices and to adopt a political platform

patronage system system of appointment to government jobs that lets the winner in an election distribute nearly all appointive government jobs to loyal party members; also called the spoils system

piecework work for which the pay is based on the number of items turned out rather than by the hour

platform formal statement of the principles, policies, and promises on which a political party bases its appeal to voters

pool agreement among businesses in the same industry to divide up the market and charge equal prices instead of competing

postmaster official appointed to oversee the operations of a post office

prohibition legal ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages

protective tariff tax placed on imported goods for the purpose of raising the price of imports as high as or higher than the prices of the same item produced within the nation

public domain land owned by the federal government






rebate refund of part of a payment

recession/depression recession is an economic contraction of relatively short duration; a depression is an economic contraction of longer duration

robber baron in the late 19th century, an insulting term applied to powerful industrial and financial figures, especially those who disregarded the public interest in their haste to make profits






Santo Domingo nation in the Caribbean that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti; it became independent from Spain in 1865; now known as the Dominican Republic

Senate Foreign Relations Committee one of the standing committees of the Senate; its chairman often wields considerable influence over foreign policy

Social Darwinism philosophical argument, inspired by Charles’ Darwin’s theory of evolution, that competition in a human society produced the “survival of the fittest” and therefore benefited society as a whole; Social Darwinism opposes efforts to regulate competitive practices

speedup an effort to make employees produce more goods in the same time or for the same pay

spoilsmen derogatory term for defenders of the patronage or spoils system

states’ rights political argument that states’ rights, under the Constitution, permitted state governments to violate the civil rights of African Americans; sometimes also cited to justify state opposition to other federal actions

stock exchange place where people by and sell stocks (shares in the ownership of companies); stockholders may participate in the election of the company’s directors and share in the company’s profits






Tweed Ring political organization of William Marcy Tweed, accused of using bribery, kickbacks, and padded accounts to steal money from New York City






vertical integration bringing together into a single company several of the activities in the process of creating a manufactured product, such as the acquiring of raw materials, the manufacturing of products, and the marketing, selling, and distributing of finished goods






Whiskey Ring distillers and revenue officials in St. Louis who were revealed in 1875 to have defrauded the government of millions of dollars in whiskey taxes, with the collusion of federal officials

white supremacy political argument that the white race should control politics and government and that the people of other races should occupy an inferior position

William H. Seward US secretary of state under Lincoln and Johnson, a former abolitionist who had expansionist views and arranged the purchase of Alaska

William Marcy Tweed New York City political boss who used the Tammany organization to control city and state government from the 1860s until his downfall in 1871