AP U.S. History ©2017
Period 6 Part 2 Study Guide
The “Gilded Age”
1. What factors led to the rise of America as an industrial superpower by the end of the 1800s?
2. Identify the “captains of industry” who led American business in the late-1800s and describe how they increased their wealth and power.
3. Describe the social theories that developed as business leaders increased their wealth during the Gilded Age of the 1870s-1880s.
4. How did Congress respond to the public demands to regulate big business in the late-1800s?
5. What social, political, and economic factors led to the formation of labor unions?
6. Describe how labor unions tried to meet the social, political, & economic needs of workers.
7. Describe the results of efforts made by labor unions to improve the lives of American workers.
8. Why was America called a “melting pot” in the late 19th century?
9. Where did most immigrants come from before 1890? Where do most come from after 1890?
10. What were some of the results of foreign immigration?
11. What actions were taken to reduce foreign immigration?
12. What were some of the results of urbanization in the late-1800s?
13. What were political machines and what impact did they have?
14. What was patronage and what legislation was passed to eliminate it?
Words to know:
1. Haymarket Roit 2. Chinese Exclusion Act 3. Chief Joseph
4. Dawes Act 5. Frederick Jackson Turner 6. Transcontinental Railroad
7. American Federation of Labor 8. Gospel of Wealth
9. Horizontal vs. Vertical Integration 10. Trusts
AP U.S. History ©2017
Period 6 Facts to Know!
1. What process revolutionized production in the steel industry during the late-1800s?
2. During the Gilded Age, what economic policy enabled business leaders to conduct their affairs
with almost no government regulation?
3. Which invention did Thomas Edison develop that changed American life in the late-1800s?
4. Which invention improved communication in the United States during the late-1800s?
5. How did the “captains of industry” enlarge their businesses during the Gilded Age?
6. What industry was Andrew Carnegie in?
7. What industry was John Pierpont Morgan in?
8. What business structure was used by John D. Rockefeller to eliminate competition in the oil
industry?
9. What social theory was used during the Gilded Age to justify the accumulation of great wealth?
10. What belief did Andrew Carnegie promote when he donated funds to libraries & schools?
11. What act did Congress pass to regulate the railroads?
12. What legislation was passed to prevent big business from forming monopolies?
13. What term refers to the alleged ruthlessness and exploitation used by American business
leaders during the late-nineteenth century?
14. What factors resulted in the rise of labor unions during the late-1800s?
15. What was the primary method that business leaders used to stop strikes?
16. What tactics did business leaders use to prevent workers from forming labor unions?
17. What event led to the downfall of the Knights of Labor?
18. Who founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)?
19. What tactics did the American Federation of Labor use in order to achieve its basic goals?
20. What term describes the effect of the assimilation of immigrants during the nineteenth and
early-twentieth centuries?
21. Where did most immigrants to the United States come from before 1890?
22. Where did most immigrants to the United States come from after 1890?
23. What were some of the results of mass immigration to America in the late-1800s/early-1900s?
24. What term describes the opposition of native-born Americans to foreign immigration?
25. Which legislation was a result of rising nativism in the United States during the late-1800s?
26. What were some of the results of urbanization in the late-1800s and early-1900s?
27. Which social reformer was known for her work in settlement houses for the urban poor?
28. How did political machines acquire control of state and local politics during the late-1800s?
29. Who was the most infamous boss of the Tammany political machine?
30. What act was passed to eliminate patronage and the corruption caused by the spoils system?