industrialization study guide - the hw helperthehwhelper.com/rokdownloads/eighth...

Daniel Nissim Copyright Daniel Nissim 2005/2006 Industrialization Study Guide G3

Industrialization Study Guide

Vocabulary

Haymarket Affair: This was an event taking place in Haymarket square in Chicago. The McCormick Harvester Company locked out striking union members. Union members and strikebreakers fought and got hurt/ one was killed. At a protest meeting in the Square, a bomb exploded killing many and injuring many. The effect was that union leaders were arrested. Union opposition increased and membership into unions decreased. Monopoly: They were a business in control of an industry. Monopolies were illegal, but some were formed with trusts. They were good for the business in control, but the other businesses despised the monopoly. Gilded Age: This era was disguised with the great successes of many like Rockefeller and Carnegie, but there were many who were diving deeper into poverty and the corruptness of politics. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Knights of Labor: It was a federation made up of workers from several different industries. They unique characteristic of this federation was that it was the first major union that allowed women and African Americans as members. The Railroad Strikes helped strengthen them. Samuel Gompers: Founder of AFL (American Federation of Labor) and president for 37 years. Social Darwinism: Survival of the fittest. In industry, only the best business stay alive, the others crumble. Business Cycle:

The economic ups and downs in times of growth. Good times called

booms or expansions. They reach their peak or highest point. People are


buying more and some invest in business. The result is business and industrial growth. Bad times call busts or contraction. They reach their trough or low point. Spending and investing decrease in this time. Industries have to lay off workers and then make fewer goods. Some businesses may shrink while others close. This is known as a depression. Sweatshops: Places where work is done by small businesses whose workers labor long hours under poor conditions for low wages. Children and women also are workers. The conditions may be the sweatshop is too crowded, or too cold, or too hot. Anarchy: The absence of a government. Socialism: All members of a society are equal owners of all businesses and they share the work and profits made. AFL (American Federation of Labor): This group focused on improving working conditions by using strikes, boycotts, and negotiations. They won shorter working hours and better pay for its members. Its founder was Samuel Gompers who was also president for 37 years. Promontory Point, UT: On May 10, 1869, the final tracks were laid down, signifying the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. This point connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. Andrew Carnegie: Was the leader in the steel industry. He tried to beat his competition in the steel industry by making the best and product. He went out to control all the processes related to the manufacture of steel. He bought the mines that supplied his iron ore. He bought the ships and railroads that carried that ore to his mills. His company was the leading steel industry in the US from 1889 to 1901, when he sold it to J.P. Morgan, the nation’s most prominent bankers. He gave money to universities and also built hundreds of public libraries. He donated about 350 million dollars. John D. Rockefeller: He led the oil industry. He built his first refinery in 1863. He decided the best way to make money was to wipe out his competition and control the industry. He wanted to have a monopoly. He bought many other refineries and also made secret deals with railroads to carry his oil at a lower rate than his competitors’ oil. He also built and purchased his own pipelines. In order to control the industry, he made a trust, the Standard Oil Trust, in 1882. By 1880, the trust controlled 95% of all oil refining in the US, which enabled him to set a high price for oil. He was the only one to buy from and the public had to accept the price. He made millions and gained the reputation of being a robber baron.


Trusts: A legal body created to hold stock in many companies often in the same industry. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust was the first. Mother Jones: Early union activist (1870s) who wanted to improve working conditions. Eugene V. Debs: He was the American Railway Union president. He was the main man in the big strike against the use of Pullman cars. He later got put in jail for this. Interstate Commerce Commission: In 1887, made to regulate the railroad industry. Companies kept their rates secret and always kept on changing them. The commission was created to keep one rate given to all. This helped farmers because freight costs were cheaper. Corporation: A business owned by investors who buy part of the company through shares of stock. Advantages:

• By selling stock, a corporation can raise large amounts of money • A corporation has a special legal status and continues to exist after its

founders die. Banks are more likely to lend a corporation a loan. • A corporation limits the risks of its investors, who do not have to pay off

the corporation’s debts. Examples • Rockefeller’s Oil corporation • Carnegie’s Steel corporation • •

The transcontinental railroad expanded from the Atlantic Ocean to the

Pacific Ocean. The railroad and locomotives would settle the west, open new markets for eastern manufacturers, bring relief to over-crowded eastern cities, and spread democratic values. The two parts were the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. Irish immigrants worked on the Union Pacific, which started westward from Omaha, NE. The Chinese immigrants worked on the Central Pacific, which started eastward from Sacramento, CA. It was a very dangerous construction process. Dangers included disease, NA raids, summer heat, freezing winter temperatures, and lawlessness. It was finished on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point, UT.


The transcontinental railroad a big impact on society. This railroad united the country. It increased eastern and western economics. It encouraged western settlement. It weakened NA control over the land because many bison were killed. People could now live near non-water regions. Finally, it created standard time (time zones).

Factors for Industrial Growth

• Plentiful natural resources • Growing population • Improved transportation • High immigration • New Inventions • Investment Capitol • Government Assistance

The Bessemer steel process worked magic for the steel industry. William

Kelly and Henry Bessemer developed a process of using less coal, meaning less expensive. This was more efficient and the steel output increased 500 times!!! Tons of steel was sold and it was used for columns, railroad tracks, and barbed wire.

Working conditions were cruddy. There was no safety equipment,

cramped factories, no heat, you had to sometime use your own tools, and the work was boring and repetitive. The reason for unionizing is that they would be heard. There would be a much greater effect if they all banded together compared to them loosely connected. They could get better working conditions, shorter hours, and better pay.

Robber Baron: Someone who makes money with dishonest methods. This means that sometimes they had to break the law. Like Rockefeller, some robber barons created monopolies, which were illegal. They would bribe officials, crush competition, and pay small wages to workers. Robber Barons controlled an industry. Other corporations in that industry don’t do as well, while the robber baron makes all the money. Captains of Industry: Business leaders who gain wealth through fair ways. They serve the nation in a positive way. They build factories, which create jobs and make products. They donate the money they make (philanthropy). Andrew Carnegie was a captain of industry. Strikes! Railroad Strike of 1877- The economic depression in 1873 led up to the big railroad strike of 1877. The B&O railroad had declared a wage cut of 10%!!! That day of the cut, the workers in West Virginia refused to work. The strike fever caught on and many other railroad workers began to strike. In several cities, state militias even battled angry mobs. Within two weeks, President


Rutherford B. Hayes called in federal troops to end the strike. Dozens were killed. This strike gained national attention. Many people began to join the Knights of Labor. Homestead Strike- When Andrew Carnegie reduced wages in his mills in Homestead, Penn. In 1892, many were upset. The company responded by locking out union workers from the mills and announcing that it would hire nonunion labor. They hired armed guards to protect their new workers. On July 6, a battle broke out that left 10 dead. After 4 months, the strike collapsed, further weakening the union. Pullman Strike- In 1894, when Pullman Car Company cut workers’ pay 25%, mayhem broke loose. When rent was deducted from their pay, workers took home basically nothing, and that is when workers refused to handle Pullman Cars. Eugene V. Debs, the American Railway Union president, led the strike. At the end, President Grover Cleveland called in the federal troops to end the strike. Debs was put in jail. These strikes are all very similar. First off, a pay cut started them all. When companies lowered wages, workers reacted negatively and went on strike. Second, to end each of them, some sort of government/troops had to step in. This shows how violent these strikes were.

Cause and Effect of Big Business

Causes • Railroad boom lowers the cost of shipping • New inventions make businesses more efficient • Nation has rich supply of natural resources • Small firms merge to form giant corporations

Growth of Big Business


Effects • Steel and oil become giant industries • Monopolies, cartels, and trusts dominate major

industries • Factory workers face harsh working and living

conditions • Labor unions grow


Historical Context Timeline

1860

• Confederacy formed • Civil War Starts

1861

Homestead Act 1862

• Lincoln Assassinated • 13th Amend (Slavery) • Civil war ends

1865

Civil War

1867 • Reconstruction Acts • Grange formed

Abe Lincoln becomes president

1869 Transcontinental RR finished at Promontory Pt., UT

1870 14th Amend (Voting)

1875 NA Conflicts

1876 Centennial Exposition

New Inventions

1877 • Reconstruction ends (Comp 1877)

• Hayes President

1879 Thomas Edison’s Light Bulb

1887 Dawes Act

1889 Oklahoma “Rush” (Last Territory)

1890 Populist Party formed

1892 Homestead Strike

1894 Pullman Strike

1900


Inventions and Inventors

Thomas Edison- Invented light bulb in 1879. Alexander Graham Bell- Invented telephone in March 1876, with the help of his assistant, Thomas Watson. Samuel Morse- Developed telegraph in 1835.

Westward Expansion #1

Land

Industrialization/Big Business #2

Immigration #3

industrialization study guide - the hw helperthehwhelper.com/rokdownloads/eighth...

Documents