Gilded Age Review Sheet
1. What was the Pacific Railway Act and how did it help build the transcontinental railroad? It provided grants to
Pacific & Union Railway to complete the railroad
2. What city and island did the majority of immigrants land at during the late 1800’s? New York, Ellis Island
3. What positive did political machines do for immigrants? Provided them jobs
4. Immigration shifted from the Old Wave: England, Ireland and France to them coming from where? Southern &
Eastern Europe
5. Why is this time period known as the Gilded Age and where did that name come from? Age of
corruption but appeared to be good for all of society. Name came from a novel by Mark Twain.
6. Immigration led to extreme urbanization. What were their living conditions and where did the immigrants live?
Poor conditions in tenements & slums
7. What caused the following problems: nativism, Sweatshops, Political machines, Tenement dwellings,
Xenophobia, Low wage: immigration
8. What are political machines and explain why they were positive or negative? Unofficial city organization to
keep a particular party or group in power. They were corrupt.
9. The Populist Party wanted a different standard than the gold standard. What was that standard and why did they
want it? Silver standard to help the farmers
10. Explain nativism and its purpose. Extreme hatred for foreigners & they wanted to limit immigration
11. Why should African American be educated rather than have a vocation. They should be educated to be leaders
and aid in civil rights movements.
12. Explain segregation. What court case made this issue continue to legal? A separation of white & African
Americans/ Plessy v Ferguson
13. Explain the difference in WEB Dubois and Booker T Washington’s stance on how African Americans were to
gain respect and get ahead. Dubois believed they should be educated and be leaders – follow your dreams
without being limited by your skin color& Washington believed they should gain economic status through
working within society.
14. What is the NAACP and why was it created? Civil rights organization to fight discrimination in court
15. What are Jim Crow laws? How were they continued in this country? Laws creating segregation through
separate equal
Gilded Age Review Sheet
16. Why did the government begin to regulate businesses during the Gilded Age? They were corrupt.
17. Explain the effects of immigration and increased industrialization. Cities grew (urbanization)
18. Provide an example of legislation passed due to nativism. What ethnic group did nativism predominantly target?
Chinese Exclusion Act/ Asians
19. On the East Coast immigrants would have landed at __Ellis Island__________ and on the West Coast it would
have been __Angel Island___________________
20. What was the result of urbanization? Rich got richer & poor got poorer
21. Who was Thomas Nast and what two political figures did he make famous? Political cartoonist who created
Republican Elephant & Democratic Donkey
22. What is the melting pot? When immigrants bring their ideas & culture & melt it into American culture.
23. The following are examples of: Overcrowding cities, Air pollution, Lack of city resources, Lack of water
population growth.
24. What were the forms of entertainment in the 1800’s? vaudeville, circuses
25. What jobs did women perform as they moved to the work force? Education, healthcare
26. What does NAACP stand for? National Association for Advancement of Colored People
27. Why did people enjoy the amusement park, vaudevilles, circus and other forms of entertainment in the late 1800s?
inexpensive entertainment