Terms & Names: Chapter 20

Thomas Edison: Inventor, created modern light bulb. Helped create AC current to send electricity over long distances.

American Federation of Labor (AFL): Organized skilled workers by craft. Prejudiced against immigrants and blacks. Had limited success. Headed by Samuel Gompers.

Samuel Gompers: President of the AFL. Business unionism. Elected President for every year that he was alive.


J. P. Morgan: Skilled investment banker. Helped create the United States Steel Corporation.

Henry Ford: Created the Model T Ford, responsible for Ford creation, and much of the American middle class. Created the automobile society that the US would become. Adopted Taylorism effectively in the form of scientific management and assembly lines.

Model T: Affordable and reliable car made by Ford. Very accessible by the whole nation.

Andrew Carnegie: Fashioned the US Steel Corporation with the help of J. P. Morgan, the biggest merger in steel. Created the “Gospel of Wealth” philosophy. Funded music halls, colleges, and many libraries.

United States Steel Corporation: Created in 1901 by Morgan and Carnegie, largest steel corporation in the US, controlled 60% of the country’s steel making capability. Injured or killed many immigrant workers.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW): Union that many immigrants joined because they were rejected by the AFL and other unions. Wanted to do away with organization by craft, and create “one big union”. Anti- collective bargaining.

“Big Bill” Haywood: Head of the IWW, created it in 1905. Frequented Greenwich village, where he was idolized as a working class hero.

Ludlow Massacre: 1913, in Ludlow, Colorado. Private security and militia broke up a UMW strike. The strikers set up tents in front of the mine, police fire into one of the tents and killed 66 people.

Scientific Management: An effort to apply scientific principles and techniques to management strategies. Pioneered by Taylor and Ford.

Fredrick Winslow Taylor: Chief engineer at Midvale Steel Co., helped to create scientific management with the “Principles of Scientific Management” (1911) Taylorism influenced many corporations.
Gospel of Wealth: Spread by Carnegie, any income above necessities goes into helping the community.

Nickelodeon: Movies that lasted about 15 minutes and cost a nickel. Very popular with poor and immigrant workers, who had little time, money, or English abilities.

Theda Bara: Actress, first modern sex symbol. Starred in Cleopatra.

Greenwich Village: Neighborhood in lower Manhattan that was a haven for radicals and free thinkers. Center of Feminism and class warfare.

Margaret Sanger: Feminist Social Activist. Promoted birth control, and women’s sexuality for pleasure and sexual release. Was taken to court for spreading her message through the mail.

Social Darwinism: Belief that applied the forces governing the natural world to those of the rules that govern human society. Those who succeeded were the strongest and best. Thus, the rich and powerful Anglo Saxons were superior.

“New Immigrants”: Immigrants after 1880, many from Italy, Russia, Slavic Europe. They were regarded as inferior, even though they were very similar to the old immigrants. This was partly because of their different languages and religion. Most came as a temporary solution, and to send money home. They came for the better economic situation, or for freedom from religious persecution, and did not see the US as a permanent home.

Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire: 1911, fire broke out on the top floor of the factory. There were no fire escapes and the owners locked the doors to keep the employees working. 146 died in the flames.

Theodore Roosevelt: Athletocentric and sexist old bastard. Propagated the Strenuous Life philosophy, influenced many with this. Also believed that it was only men who should be athletic, and women should be devoted to reproduction, and all have at least 4 children.

“The Strenuous Life”: Belief that people should be athletic and outdoorsy. This reflected the public dissatisfaction in the regimented corporate world. Ended up empowering women.

John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron who never flaunted his wealth, but used incredibly cutthroat methods, gaining him a lot of hatred in the public eye. He tried to counteract this by becoming a philanthropist, and spent $500 million for such causes. He donated to the University of Chicago, Medical research Center, etc. etc. He was still criticized for this, some believing it was just to exert his control in such areas.

Union Mine Workers: Union that participated in the AFL. Allowed blacks, even in positions of leadership. Staged the strike that became the Ludlow massacre.

Cla Na Gael: ???

“Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald: Boston city councilor, state congressman. Senator, mayor of Boston. Traded jobs for votes and favors. I didn’t really get this part.

Patrick Kennedy: Also a big time politician in Boston. John Kennedy’s grandfather.

Madame C. J. Walker: An old black woman who made a successful business selling hair and skin lotions. Demonstrated self help and sufficiency, not sure why she is so important.

“Separate Spheres”: Belief that women and men should operate in different areas of life. I. E.: Men, the outdoors and work; Women, home and such.

Feminism: Movement in the second decade of the twentieth century for female freedom and equality. Threatened conservatives, who believed that all of this toleration meant that the country was getting too far away from its roots. ...Read more