(6:2) The Age of the Railroads (Quizlet - Reading)

Professor C. F. Dowd

In 1869, to remedy this problem, Professor C. F. Dowd proposed that the earth's surface be divided into 24 time zones, one for each hour of the day

Granger Laws

In 1871 Illinois authorized a commission "to establish maximum freight and passenger rates and prohibit discrimination." Grangers throughout the West, Midwest, and Southeast convinced state legislators to pass similar laws, called ______________.

different rates

In addition, they charged different customers _______, often demanding more for short hauls—for which there was no alternative carrier—than they did for long hauls.

Credit Mobilier

In one of the most infamous schemes, stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad formed, in 1864, a construction company called ________.

Interstate Commerce Act in 1887.

In response to public outrage, Congress passed the _______ in 1887. This established the right of the federal government to supervise railroad activities and established a five-member Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) for that purpose.

Grangers

In response to these abuses by the railroads, the __________ took political action. They sponsored state and local political candidates, elected legislators, and successfully pressed for laws to protect their interests.

united nation

In spite of these difficult working conditions, the railroad laborers helped to transform the diverse regions of the country into a ________________.

Interstate Commerce Commission

It was not until 1906, under President Theodore Roosevelt, did the________ gain the power it needed to be effective.

existence

New towns and communities also grew up along the railroad lines. Cities as diverse as Abilene, Kansas; Flagstaff, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; and Seattle, Washington, owed their prosperity, if not their very ___________, to the railroads.

20 times

Noon in Boston, for example, was almost 12 minutes later than noon in New York. Travelers riding from Maine to California might reset their watches _____________.

self-serving corruption

Pullman created his company town out of the desire for control and profit. In some other railroad magnates, or powerful and influential industrialists, these desires turned into ________________.

led to a violent strike in 1894.

Pullman hoped that his tightly controlled environment would ensure a stable work force. However, Pullman's refusal to lower rents after cutting his employees' pay _______.

services and facilities

Pullman residents lived in clean, well-constructed brick houses and apartment buildings with at least one window in every room—a luxury for city dwellers. In addition, the town offered __________ such as doctors' offices, shops, and an athletic field.

land grants and loans

Rails made local transit reliable and westward expansion possible for business as well as for people. Realizing how important railroads were for settling the West and developing the country, the government made huge __________ to the railroad companies.

James Garfield

Testimony implicated such well-known and respected federal officials as Vice-President Schuyler Colfax and Congressman _____________, who later became president.

Chinese Immigrants

The Central Pacific Railroad employed thousands of ________________.

private industry

The Grangers also helped establish an important principle—the federal government's right to regulate ____________ to serve the public interest.

interstate commerce

The Grangers' triumph was short-lived, however. In 1886, the Supreme Court ruled that a state could not set rates on _______ railroad traffic that either came from or was going to another state.

maximum railroad rates

The ICC had difficulty regulating railroad rates because of a long legal process and resistance from the railroads. The final blow to the commission came in 1897, when the Supreme Court ruled that it could not set ___________.

Irish Immigrants

The Union Pacific hired ____________ and desperate, out-of-work Civil War veterans to lay track across treacherous terrain while enduring attacks by Native Americans.

U.S. Congress

The ________, however, didn't officially adopt railroad time as the standard for the nation until 1918.

Iron, coal, steel, lumber, and glass

The growth of the railroads influenced the industries and businesses in which Americans worked. ________ industries grew rapidly as they tried to keep pace with the railroads' demand for materials and parts.

Europe

The nearby town that Pullman built for his employees followed in part the models of earlier industrial experiments in ___________.

debt

The railroads also entered into formal agreements to fix prices, which helped keep farmers in their _______.

railroad workers

The railroads brought the dreams of available land, adventure, and a fresh start within the grasp of many Americans. This romance was made possible, however, only by the harsh lives of _______________.

Munn vs. Illinois

The railroads fought back, challenging the constitutionality of the regulatory laws. In 1877, however, in the case of __________, the Supreme Court upheld the Granger laws by a vote of seven to two. The states thus won the right to regulate the railroads for the benefit of farmers and consumers.

George M. Pullman

The railroads helped cities not only grow up but branch out. In 1880, for example, ________ built a factory for manufacturing sleepers and other railroad cars on the Illinois prairie.

both visionaries and profiteers.

The rapid spread of railroad lines also fostered the growth of towns, helped establish new markets, and offered rich opportunities for _________________.

pocketed the profits

The stockholders gave this company a contract to lay track at two to three times the actual cost—and ____________. They donated shares of stock to about 20 representatives in Congress in 1867.

The Panic of 1893

Their financial problems played a major role in a nationwide economic collapse. ______ was the worst depression up to that time: by the end of 1893, around 600 banks and 15,000 businesses had failed, and by 1895, 4 million people had lost their jobs.

overhead

Though linked in space, each community still operated on its own time, with noon when the sun was directly ______________.

four zones

Under Dowd's plan, the United States would contain _______: the Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones. The. railroad companies endorsed Dowd's plan enthusiastically, and many towns followed suit.

basic needs

Whereas New England textile manufacturers had traditionally provided housing for their workers, the town of Pullman provided for almost all of workers' _____________.

accidents and diseases

_______________ disabled and killed thousands of men each year. In 1888, when the first railroad statistics were published, the casualties totaled more than 2,000 employees killed and 20,000 injured.

Golden Spike

A _________ marked the spanning of the nation by the first transcontinental railroad.Other transcontinental lines followed, and regional lines multiplied as well. At the start of the Civil War, the nation had had about 30,000 miles of track. By 1890, that figure was nearly six times greater.

$23 million

A congressional investigation of the Credit Mobilier, spurred by reports in the New York Sun, eventually found that the officers of the Union Pacific had taken up to __________ in stocks, bonds, and cash.

to the brink of bankruptcy.

Although the ICC presented few problems for the railroads, corporate abuses, mismanagement, overbuilding, and competition pushed many railroads ________________

Republican Party

Although these public figures kept their profits and received little more than a slap on the wrist, the reputation of the ____________ was tarnished.

to drink alcohol

As Richard Ely observed, however, the town of Pullman remained firmly under company control. Residents were not allowed to loiter on their front steps or _______________.

entire country

As part of a nationwide network of suppliers and markets, individual towns began to specialize in particular products. Chicago soon became known for its stockyards and Minneapolis for its grain industries. These cities prospered by selling large quantities of their products to the _____.

social and economic unrest.

As strong a unifying force as the railroads were, however, they also opened the way for abuses that led to _____________________.

seven

As the 20th century dawned, _______ powerful companies held sway over two-thirds of the nation's railroad tracks.

Promontory Point

By 1856, the railroads extended west to the Mississippi River, and three years later, they crossed the Missouri. Just over a decade later, crowds across the United States cheered as the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads met at _____ on May 10, 1869.

trade and interdependence.

By linking previously isolated cities, towns, and settlements, the railroads promoted ________________.

J. P. Morgan and Company

By the middle of 1894, a quarter of the nation's railroads had been taken over by Large investment firms such as _________ reorganized the railroads. As the 20th century dawned, seven powerful companies held sway over two-thirds of the nation's railroad tracks reorganized the railroads.

land grants

Farmers were angry with railroad companies for a host of reasons. They were upset by misuse of government _____, which the railroads sold to other businesses rather than to settlers, as the government intended.

Farmers Organization

Farmers were especially disturbed by what they viewed as railroad corruption. The Grangers—members of the Grange, a ______ founded in 1867—began demanding governmental control over the railroad industry.

international conference

Finally, on November 18, 1883, railroad crews and towns across the country synchronized their watches. In 1884, an _____________ set worldwide time zones that incorporated railroad time.