Midterm SAQs
"We accept and welcome...the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial, but essential for the progress of the race."Andrew Carnegie, Gospel of Wealth, 1889"The struggle for the survival of the fittest...as well as the law of supply and demand, were observed in all ages past until Standard Oil company preached cooperation, and it did cooperate so successfully." John D. Rockefeller, Interview given around 19172. Using the excerpt, answer a, b, and c. a) Briefly explain ONE significant difference between Carnegie's point of view and Rockefeller's point of view on the role of competition in industrial development. b) Briefly explain ONE specific example from Carnegie's career that supports his view on competition. c)Briefly explain ONE specific example from Rockefeller's career that supports his view on competition.
Although Carnegie and Rockefeller had different views and methods for business, they both achieved major success. Carnegie believed that competition was a necessity for achieving success. Rockefeller believed that if his company started cooperating and working together then they would be more efficient. Carnegie implemented and refined the strategy of vertical integration. Carnegie controlled every level of the industrial process, therefore competing with other countries to keep a hold of every level. The business tactic known as horizontal integration was first brought into use by John Rockefeller. He brought former competition under his umbrella and they worked together.
During the years 1870 to 1900, labor and management battled for control over wages and working conditions. Answer a, b, and c. a)Explain ONE governmental policy or practice that contributed to this conflict. b)Explain ONE cultural or intellectual movement that contributed to this conflict. c)Provide ONE new piece of outside evidence and explain how it supports your response in either Part A or Part B.
During the 1870s to 1900s time period the government took a laissez-faire approach to management and labor conflict. The Social Gospel stated that the upper segments of society had an obligation to help the poor. the non-involvement of the government, and the advantageous business leaders tempted the laborers to strike back. Some examples of the results of this are the government sending in troops to break up the Great Strike of 1877 and the Pullman Strike.
a)Briefly explain ONE specific example of how government promoted the growth of railroads in the United States before 1900. b)Briefly explain ONE specific example to support the argument that the growth of railroads proved a turning point in the development of the U.S. economy. c)Briefly explain ONE significant effect of the overbuilding of the railroads in the 19th century United States.
During the late 1800s businesses and railroads were booming and taking advantage of the governments minimal regulations on them. In fact, the government helped the growth of railroads by providing free land grants and free land. Railroads also promoted other industries because they needed steel and coal and provided transportation throughout the country for other industries and materials. In the early 19th century the overbuilding of railroads caused spaces between the tracks so it was less efficient and then they needed to implement trunk lines.
"You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country....Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." William Jennings Bryan, Cross of Gold Speech. July 8, 189610. Using the excerpts, answer a, b, and c. a)Identify & explain why a specific group of people would have supported the ideas of William J. Bryan. b)Identify & explain why a specific group of people would have opposed the ideas of William J. Bryan. c)Explain why William Jennings Bryan received support from Populists when he was a Democratic candidate for president in 1896.
Farmers were the ones who would have supported William J. Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech and his "free silver" campaign. Farmers sought inflation of the money supply so that more money would be available to them for credit, prices for their crops would rise, and debts would become easier to repay. William gained most of his support from debtors and farmers, or the populists party. A group that would have opposed the ideas of William J. Bryan is the Republican Party, because they basically saw it as a "get out of jail free card" for the populists party. William recieved support from the Populists when he was a Democratic candidate in 1896 because he campaigned for "Free silver."
a)Briefly explain ONE business practice that caused or influenced the antitrust movement from 1865 to 1900. b)Briefly explain ONE example of an antitrust effort from 1865 to 1900. c)Briefly explain ONE reason why antitrust efforts were generally unsuccessful before 1900.
One business strategy that caused the antitrust movement was horizontal integration. It was implemented by Rockefeller, who had a monopoly which the government was against so they decided to start placing regulations. One example of an antitrust act is the Sherman Antitrust Act. It prohibited contracts in the form of trusts that restraint trade or commerce, but it didn't prove to work out as planned. Antitrust acts were generally a failure before the 1900s. The government didn't have enough power to enforce the stopping of trusts, like in the Supreme Court in "United States versus EC Knights CO" when they ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act only applied to commerce and not manufacturing. the Justice Department was unable to secure convictions against trust titans.
"[Frederick Jackson] Turner insisted that the presence of regional difference was no cause for concern. The varied regions complemented one another and together composed a varied, but nonetheless functional and united, nation. .. He began his best known essay on the topic, 'The Significance of the Section in American History' with the claim that the post-frontier United States was now 'more like Europe, and our sections more and more becoming the American version of the European nation.' He closed the essay with the powerful assertion that 'we must shape our national action to the fact of a vast and varied union of unlike sections.''' David M. Wrobel, historian, "Regionalism and Sectionalism in American Historical Writing," 20105. Using the excerpt, answer a, b, and c. a)Briefly explain ONE significant regional difference in the South that supports the writer's view of "a vast and varied union of unlike sections" during the period from 1865 to 1900. b)Briefly explain ONE significant way that the West and North regions "complemented one another" during the period from 1865 to 1900. c)Briefly explain ONE reason why Turner was concerned about the closing of the frontier that is not described by Wrobel in the excerpt.
One major regional difference in the South was legal segregation. The doctrine of "separate but equal" and segregation limited the participation of African Americans. The North and West were connected by transcontinental railroads and complemented each other in trade. the resource-rich West provided a seemingly unlimited flow of natural resources from its mines and forests to the manufacturing centers in the Northeast. The ranches and farmers of the West provided livestock and grains for Northern food processing centers. The closing of the frontier was of Turner's concerns, because he believed that open lands acted as a safety value to relieve the discontent in society.
"The wisest man my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist of folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercises of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house." Booker T. Washington, Speech at Cotton States and International Exposition, Atlanta, September 18, 18957. Using the excerpt, answer a, b, and c. a)Briefly explain ONE form of discrimination that African Americans experienced in the South that Booker T. Washington was trying to address in this excerpt. b)Briefly explain ONE educational idea or practice of Booker T. Washington's that would support the point of view in the excerpt. c)Briefly explain ONE way that Booker T. Washington's thinking was compatible with the "New South" movement.
The Niagara Movement advocated political protest against discrimination and violation of the civil rights of African Americans. W.E.B. Dubois was one of the founders of the Niagara Movement, so the movement reflected his belief in immediate political action to secure equal rights for African Americans. Dubois argued that equal civil and political rights were a prerequisite to economic progress. Booker T. Washington advocated accommodation and a gradual approach based on economic development. African Americans faced societal prejudice and discriminatory practices in education, employment, and housing across the nation in the early 20th century. In the South, they were denied the right to vote, serve on juries, and participate in politics.
Source: 1896, The Granger Collection, NYC Using the cartoon, answer a, b, and c. a)Briefly explain the point of view of the artist about ONE of the following. Western FarmersNew York's Wall Street b)Briefly explain ONE development in the period from 1865 to 1900 that supported the point of view of the artist c)Briefly explain ONE development in the period from 1865 to 1900 that challenged the point of view expressed by the artist
The author illustrated the belief that western farmers were the real producers that fed the economy, while Wall Street and eastern bankers were the ones who took the profits. Support for this point of view includes the gold standard that benefited the wealthy and bankers, while the limited money supply hurt farmers and debtors, high tariff policies hurt consumers and farmers while lack of competition enriched eastern corporations, and unfair railroad rates targeted western producers and helped eastern investors. Support against the point of view includes the arguments that the problems of the farmers were mostly the result of international markets that reduced the price paid for farmer products, the impact of natural forces such as bad weather, and the poor business decisions made by farmers such as overproduction and borrowing too much money.
Source:Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1882. Library of Congress(Refer to Canvas if you don't know the image) Using the cartoon, answer a, b, and c. a)Briefly explain the cartoonist's point of view on immigration. b)Briefly explain ONE specific cause of the anti-immigration sentiment in the period from 1865 to 1900. c)Briefly explain ONE change in federal immigration policy from 1865 to 1900 that either supported or opposed the cartoonist's viewpoint.
The cartoon opposes the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and "closing the Golden Gate" to the Chinese. It also argues that unlike hard-working Chinese Immigrants, other immigrants largely from Europe that were welcomed brought radical ideas such as socialism and communism that caused discord. The anti-immigrant sentiments had diverse causes. One of them being Nativist movements, such as the American Protective Association, which was openly prejudiced against Roman Catholics and reform-minded immigrants. An action of Congress that opposed the point of view of the cartoon is the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned all immigration from China.
a)Briefly explain ONE change in the South between 1877 and 1900 that reflected the policies of the New South agenda. b)Briefly explain ONE way the Southern economy did not change during this era. c)Briefly explain ONE factor that kept the South from making more progress during this period.
The mechanization of agriculture reflected the policies of the new south agenda as farms became like factories, with expensive machinery, and farmers who had to keep up with the new industry. The farmers remained poor, and many were forced into sharecropping. The South lacked to industrialize and railroad rates were high, causing an even bigger lack of industry which led to the Souths failure for progress during the late 1800s.
"Looking Backward" by Joseph Keppler. Puck Magazine, January 11, 1893(Refer to Canvas if you don't know the image) Answer a, b, and c. a)Briefly explain the message intended by the cartoonist who created this image. b)Provide ONE piece of evidence from American history that would have motivated the cartoonist to create this image. c)Explain ONE reason for the increase in immigration in the 1890s.
The message intended by Joseph Keppler is that the old immigrants should be "looking backward." The old immigrants were trying to deny the New immigrants of the same opportunity that they once recieved. The Old immigrants are denying them the opportunity that led to their success that they are newly portrayed with in the image in front of their old pre-immigration shadows. The Geary Act(basically the Chinese Exclusion Act continued) that was passed one year previous to the creation of this image was most likely the authors motivation behind it. One reason for increased immigration is that America was starting to be seen as the land of opportunity because of the success achieved by some of the Old immigrants. City's were also starting to grow larger which lured in more immigrants.
