The Gilded Age

1. The Gilded Age

2. James Fisk • an American financier that was partnered with Jay Gould in tampering with the railroad stocks. He, like other railroad kings, controlled the lives of the people more than the president did and pushed the way to cooperation among the kings where they developed techniques such as pooling.

3. Jay Gould • an American financier that was partnered with James Fisk in tampering with the railroad stocks for personal profit He, like other railroad kings, controlled the lives of the people more than the president did and pushed the way to cooperation among the kings where they developed techniques such as pooling.

4. Trust • an economic method that had other companies assigns their stocks to the board of trust who would manage them. This made the head of the board, or the corporate leader wealthy, and at the same time killed off competitors not in the trust. This method was used/developed by Rockefeller, and helped him become extremely wealthy. It was also used in creating monopolies.

5. Pool • an economic agreement between CEOs to divide business in a given area and share the profits. This was ineffective due to personal greed, but it did lead the way to Trusts.

6. Cornelius Vanderbilt • a railroad owner who built a railway connecting Chicago and New York. He popularized the use of steel rails in his railroad, which made railroads safer and more economical.

7. George Pullman • the inventor of the Pullman Car, which was a luxurious train car for the rich. These cars helped convince the rich to take the train.

8. J.P. Morgan • a highly successful banker who bought out Carnegie. With Carnegie's holdings and some others, he launched U.S Steel and made it the first billion dollar corporation.

9. Gustavus Swift • He was a meat king that used a trust to get wealthy. It showed that wealth was dominating the common wealth.

10. Phillip Armour • He was a meat king that used a trust to get wealthy. It showed that wealth was dominating the common wealth.

11. Phillip Armour • He was a meat king that used a trust to get wealthy. It showed that wealth was dominating the common wealth.

12. Charles Pillsbury • He was the founder of Pillsbury & Company.

13. John D. Rockefeller • He was the richest man who developed the trust and created Standard Oil Company. He was ruthless in the world of business and controlled the petroleum industry. He influenced other businessmen to use trusts in order to obtain wealth, and he was an example of how the new rich was taking over the place that old patricians once held.

14. William Graham Sumner • He was an advocate of Social Darwinism claiming that the rich were a result of natural selection and benefits society. He, like many others promoted the belief of Social Darwinism which justified the rich being rich, and poor being poor.

15. Acres of Diamonds • This was a lecture written by Russell Conwell that advocated Social Darwinism It justified the rich being rich and the poor being poor and, it called people not to help the poor since it was their fault, thus promoting a laissez faire ideal.

16. William M. Tweed • Democratic boss of New York City in the 1860s; showed corruption in politics when stole $ millions

17. Sherman Anti-Trust Act • This act banned any formations that would restrict trade, not distinguishing between bad and good trusts. The act was a hamper on worker unions, but it showed that the government was slowly moving away from laissez faire ideals.

18. United States v. E.C. Knight Co. • This was a case where the government sued E.C Knight Co. due a violation in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act since E.C. controlled 98% of the sugar refinement industry. The court ruled in favor of E.C. Knight, stating that manufacturing was not subject to the act. This made regulation more difficult.

19. Yellow Dog Contract • an agreement some companies forced workers to take that forbade them from joining a union. This was a method used to limit the power of unions, thus hampering their development.

20. William Sylvis • Leader of the National Labor Union; which was the first national labor federation in the United States, lead to Knights of Labor

21. Samuel Gompers • He was the creator of the American Federation of Labor. He provided a stable and unified union for skilled workers.

22. Great Railroad Strike • A group of railroad workers on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad rose up and began to strike due to wage cuts. This spread up and down the railroad line across the nation. Railroad roundhouse was torched. Their violent acts led them to be suppressed by the government, while damaging the reputation of unions.

23. Eugene V. Debs • He was the president and the organizer of the American Railway Union. He organized the Pullman Strike and helped organized the Social Democratic party.

24. IWW • revolutionary industrial union organized in Chicago in 1905 by delegates from the Western Federation of Mine; unionized the non-unionized

25. Pullman Strike • This was a nonviolent strike which brought about a shut down of western railroads, which took place against the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago in 1894, because of the poor wages of the Pullman workers. It was ended by the president due to the interference with the mail system, and brought a bad image upon unions.