APUSH period 6

• What scandal involved the Union Pacific railroad and Credit Mobilier?

  Credit Mobilier Scandal
• What did the owners of the Union Pacific railroad do in the Credit Mobilier Scandal?

  They hired themselves and inflated costs
• Who did the owners of Credit Mobilier bribe?

  Congressmen and the Vice President
• What are political machines and who was Boss Tweed?

  • Political machines: party organizations recruiting members for incentives
  • Boss Tweed: leader of the Tweed Ring, involved in corruption
• What was the financial impact of Boss Tweed's actions in NYC?

  Scammed $200 million from NYC
• How did Thomas Nast contribute to exposing corruption?

  He used cartoons to reveal Tweed's corruption
• What was the Panic of 1873 caused by?

  Stock market crash in Europe
• What was a significant effect of the Panic of 1873 on railroads?

  Many railroad companies went bankrupt
• What caused the money debate during this period?

  Over speculation in railroad bonds
• What is hard money defined as?

  Gold coinage
• What is soft money defined as?

  Greenbacks or silver coinage
• Why did farmers and debtors support soft money?

  They wanted inflation to ease debt repayment
• Why did creditors support hard money?

  They wanted deflation to protect loan value
• What were the characteristics of politics during the Gilded Age?

  • Patronage: jobs granted for votes
  • Political corruption and scandals
  • Influence of political machines
• What triggered the Great Railroad Strike of 1877?

  Wage cuts by railroad presidents
• What was the outcome of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877?

  Federal troops crushed the strike
• What did the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 reveal about labor movements?

  Exposed their weakness against government intervention
• What was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?

  Legislation prohibiting Chinese immigration
• What were the conditions for Chinese immigrants during this period?

  Faced prejudice and worked in deadly conditions
• What did the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 ban?

  Patronage in federal jobs
• What was the purpose of the Pendleton Civil Service Act?

  To appoint federal jobs based on exams
• What was a consequence of the Pendleton Civil Service Act?

  Politicians pandered to wealthy businesses
• What did the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 do?

  Boosted tariff rates to highest peacetime level
• Who was hurt by the McKinley Tariff Act?

  Farmers and rural populations
• What was the Homestead Strike about?

  Workers striking against wage cuts by Carnegie Steel
• What measures did Frick take to suppress the Homestead Strike?

  Fortified the plant and hired Pinkerton detectives
• What was the outcome of the Homestead Strike?

  The union was ultimately crushed
• What did the Homestead Strike demonstrate about labor relations?

  Showed power imbalance between laborers and employers
• What conditions led to the growth of the Populist Party?

  Decline in crop prices and political corruption
• What was the significance of the Pacific Railway Acts?

  Facilitated railroad expansion in the U.S.
• How did railroads cheat the public?

  Through stock watering and bribery
• What was the outcome of Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad Company v. Illinois?

  States lost power to regulate railroads
• What did the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 aim to achieve?

  Regulate railroads for public interest
• What was the significance of the Interstate Commerce Act?

  First large-scale attempt to regulate business
• What were some new inventions during the Industrial Era?

  Cash register and stock ticker
• Who were key figures in the Industrial Era?

  Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan
• What is vertical integration?

  Controlling all steps in manufacturing
• What is horizontal integration?

  Buying out competitors to form a monopoly
• What is Social Darwinism?

  Justification of wealth based on natural selection
• What is the Gospel of Wealth?

  Article by Carnegie on rich helping poor