| A | B |
|---|
| Gilded Age | term used to describe the period from 1877 to 1900 |
| Laissez-Faire | a government policy of not interfering in private business |
| Subsidy | Payment made by the government to encourage the development of certain industries |
| Blue Laws | laws that prohibit certain private activities, such as drinking alcohol on Sundays |
| Civil Service | system of non-elected government workers |
| Munn v. Illinois | 1877 Supreme Court decision that allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their borders |
| Steerage | large open area beneath the ship’s deck, in which many poorer immigrants traveled |
| Quarantine | a time of isolation to prevent the spread of disease |
| Chinese Exclusion Act | law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country |
| Segregation | forced separation |
| Alien | a non-citizen |
| Suburbs | residential community surrounding a city |
| Tenements | crowded apartment building with poor standards of sanitation, safety, and comfort |
| Ghetto | area in which one ethnic or racial group dominates |
| Political Machine | unofficial organization designed to keep a particular party or group in power and usually headed by a single, powerful boss |
| Graft | use of one’s job to gain profit |
| Nativism | movement to ensure that native-born Americans received better treatment than immigrants |
| Temperance Movement | an organized campaign to eliminate alcohol consumption |
| Prohibition | a legal ban on the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages |
| Settlement House | community center organized to provide various services to the urban poor |
| Literacy | ability to read and write |
| Assimilation | process by which people of one culture merge into and become part of another culture |
| Philanthropists | person who gives donations to worthy causes |
| Niagara Movement | organization, founded in 1905 by W.E. B. DuBois and other black leaders, that called for full civil liberties |
| Vaudeville | variety show popular in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s |
| Yellow Journalism | type of newspaper coverage that emphasized sensational stories |
| Ragtime | style of music consisting of melodies with shifting accents over a steady beat |
| Poll Tax | special fee that must be paid before a person can vote |
| Grandfather Clauses | passage that exempts a group of people from obeying a law if they met certain conditions before the law was passed |
| Jim Crow | system of laws that segregated public services by race beginning in the 1890’s |
| Plessy v. Ferguson | 1896 Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation was legal as long as the separate facilities were equal for both races |
| Lynching | illegal seizure and execution of a person by a mob |
| NAACP | National Association for the Advancement of Colored People – organization formed in 1910 to advance the cause of African Americans |
| Department Stores | store that carries a variety of goods and sells in large quantities |
| Rural Free Delivery | free delivery of packages to rural areas, begun in 1896 |
| Mail Order Catalogues | catalogue advertising a wide range of goods that can be purchased by mail |
