Unit Test: The Gilded Age

What is the meaning of the term “Gilded Age?”

• Many craftsmen’s “gilds” were established in the US, similar to those in the Middle Ages.

• Mark Twain used this term to describe the time period in American history when many social problems masked by a thin layer of gold that made things look better than they actually were.

• A “gild” is a form of government similar to a democracy, and Mark Twain was making a comparison between the two.

• None of the above.

What does “Melting Pot” mean and how is it related to the Gilded Age?

• The blending together of cultures in America due to high immigration numbers in the late 19th century.

• A term once used for New York City because the “heat” of so much political chaos in the late 19th century made people feel like the city government was “melting.”

• The summer of 1886 when major heatwaves swept the East Coast and the West.

• The fall of 1890 when severe wildfires swept across the South burning crops and “melting” the agricultural economy.

Nativism was —

• A movement to fully include indigenous groups in American society.

• New immigrants’ loyalty to their “native” country, such as Ireland, Poland, or Italy.

• An anti-immigrant movement during a period of high immigration in the late 19th century.

• None of the above.

During the Gilded Age, Ellis Island was—

• A detention center for immigrants from Asia who were denied entry into the U.S. due to their race.

• A processing center for incoming European immigrants arriving in New York.

• The main port of entry for white immigrants from South America.

• Not a real island, rather a description of an Irish immigrant neighborhood in New York.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was:

• a law that banned Chinese immigrants from entering the United States

• a treaty that encouraged Chinese immigration to the United States

• a law that granted citizenship to all Chinese immigrants

• an agreement to increase trade with China

In this political cartoon from 1904, the octopus represents the Standard Oil corporation. Why was an octopus a good symbol of that company?

• Most of their oil wells were in the Gulf of Mexico, so a sea creature represented their geographical location.

• Octopuses are gentle creatures, much like Standard Oil’s business practices.

• The octopus has always been the traditional symbol of the oil industry.

• An octopus has many arms that can grab lots of things all at once and Standard Oil had its “hands” controlling political figures in Washington, D.C. as well as other oil companies.

Urbanization is the —

• Development of suburbs outside cities.

• Growth of cities.

• Return of population numbers to rural areas.

• Growth of immigrant populations, specifically, in cities.

John D. Rockefeller was most closely associated with—

• Standard Oil

• The Union-Pacific Railroad

• U.S. Steel

• General Electric

Emma Lazarus’ famous poem is describing—

• Sacagawea’s role in making the Lewis and Clark Expedition a success.

• The Statue of Liberty welcoming immigrants to the United States.

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s influence on the women’s rights movement.

• Harriet Beecher Stowe speaking to crowds of free Black women in New York.

Which of the following is NOT true of Alexander Graham Bell?

• He founded General Electric in 1885 to sell his new invention, the incandescent lightbulb.

• He created the first practical telephone.

• He founded AT&T.

• He was born in Scotland.