New South
A term that describes the economic shift from an exclusively agrarian society to one that embraced industrial development, particularly in the southern United States, following the Civil War. It emphasized modernization and diversification of the economy.
Convict Lease
A system of penal labor practiced in the Southern United States, where prisoners were leased to private parties, such as plantation owners or corporations, as a cheap labor force. This practice often led to harsh and exploitative conditions.
Vertical Integration
An economic strategy where a company controls multiple stages of production within the same industry, from raw materials to finished goods, to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Horizontal Integration
A business strategy where a company acquires or merges with other companies at the same level of production within an industry, often to reduce competition and increase market share.
Corporation
A legal entity that is separate from its owners, with its own rights and liabilities. Corporations can raise capital by issuing stock, and they provide limited liability to their shareholders.
Trust
An arrangement where multiple companies are managed by a single board of trustees, often to reduce competition and control prices within an industry. Trusts were common in the late 19th century and led to calls for antitrust regulations.
Sherman Antitrust Act
A landmark federal statute passed in 1890 aimed at curbing monopolies and maintaining competition in the marketplace by prohibiting business practices that restrained trade or commerce.
Laissez-faire
An economic philosophy of free-market capitalism that opposes government intervention in business affairs. It advocates minimal regulation to allow natural market forces to operate.
Social Darwinism
An ideology that applies the concept of "survival of the fittest" to society and economics, suggesting that individuals or groups achieve advantage over others as the result of genetic or biological superiority.
"The Gospel of Wealth"
An article written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 that argued that the wealthy have a moral obligation to distribute their wealth in ways that promote the welfare and happiness of the common man.
Gilded Age
A term used to describe the late 19th century in the United States, marked by rapid economic growth, industrialization, and ostentatious displays of wealth, but also characterized by widespread social problems like poverty and corruption.
Jim Crow
A series of laws and social customs that enforced racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans in the Southern United States from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century.
Plessy v. Ferguson
A landmark 1896 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine, legitimizing many state laws re-establishing racial segregation.
Billion Dollar Congress
The 51st United States Congress (1889-1891), which was noted for its lavish spending and was the first to appropriate a billion dollars in its annual budget. It was criticized for its fiscal policies and perceived wastefulness.