The Gilded Age: Industrialization, Immigration, and Inequality (1865-1898) Glossary

A labor federation (1886) organizing skilled craft workers under Samuel Gompers, focused on practical economic gains.

A positive term for the same industrialists, emphasizing their contributions to economic growth, innovation, and philanthropy.

The first federal immigration restriction based on nationality (1882), barring Chinese laborers.

An 1887 law dividing tribal lands into individual allotments, resulting in massive loss of Native American land.

The period from roughly 1865-1898 of rapid industrialization, extreme wealth inequality, and political corruption. Term coined by Mark Twain.

An 1892 violent labor conflict at Carnegie Steel plant, broken by Pinkerton agents.

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South after Reconstruction.

An early labor organization (1869) open to all workers regardless of trade, race, or gender.

An 1896 Supreme Court ruling that separate but equal facilities were constitutional, legalizing segregation.

A political movement of farmers and workers demanding reforms to challenge corporate power and economic inequality.

An 1894 nationwide railroad strike broken by federal troops, with leader Eugene Debs jailed.

A derogatory term for wealthy industrialists who built fortunes through monopolistic and exploitative practices.

A community center in immigrant neighborhoods providing education and social services, exemplified by Hull House.

An ideology misapplying evolutionary concepts to justify economic inequality and oppose government intervention.

Completed 1869, it connected the East and West coasts, transforming commerce and western settlement.