APUSH Chapter 24 Vocabulary

Rebate

A given reduction in the rate of a fee; a secret rate given from one company to another. Historical Significance: When John D. Rockefeller had to ship his oil around the nation, he made a deal with the railroad companies. He would exclusively use their railroad if they agreed to give him cheaper rates in the form of rebates. This was unfair to smaller businesses who had to pay higher prices for transportation.

Trust

A mechanism by which one company grants control over its operations, through ownership of its stock, to another company. Historical Significance: The Standard Oil Company became known for this practice in the 1870s as it eliminated its competition by taking control of smaller oil companies.

American Federation of Labor

A national federation of trade unions that included only skilled workers, founded in 1886. The AFL's membership was almost entirely white and male until the middle of the twentieth century. Historical Significance: Led by Samuel Gompers for nearly four decades, the AFL sought to negotiate with employers for a better kind of capitalism that rewarded workers fairly with better wages, hours, and conditions.

Closed shop

A union-organizing term that refers to the practice of allowing only unionized employees to work for a particular company. Historical Significance: The AFL became known for negotiating closed-shop agreements with employers, in which the employer would agree not to hire non-union members.

pool

An agreement to divide a business in a given area and share the profits. Historical Significance: Railroad kings entered into these defensive alliances and agreements to protect their precious profits. They shunned the crude bloodletting of cutthroat competition and began to cooperate with one another to rule the railroad dominion.

National Labor Union

(1866-1872) This first national labor organization in U.S. history was founded in 1866 and gained 600,000 members from many parts of the work-force, although it limited the participation of Chinese, women, and blacks. Historical Significance: Once of the earliest national-scale unions to organize in the Americas or Europe, it aimed to unify workers across locales and trades to challenge their ever more powerful bosses. The organization devoted much of its energy to fighting for an eight-hour workday before it dissolved in 1872.

Standard Oil Company

(1870-1911) John D. Rockefeller's company, formed in 1870, which came to symbolize the trusts and monopolies of the Gilded Age. By the turn of the century it had become a target for trust-busting reformers, and in 1911 the Supreme Court ordered it to break up into several dozen smaller companies. Historical Significance: By 1877 Standard Oil controlled 95% of the oil refineries in the U.S. It was also one of the first multinational corporations, and at times distributed more than half of the company's kerosene production outside the U.S.

Haymarket Square

(1886) A May Day rally that turned violent when someone threw a bomb into the middle of the meeting, killing several dozen people. Eight anarchists were arrested for conspiracy contributing to the disorder, although evidence linking them to the bombing was thin. Four were executed, one committed suicide, and three were pardoned in 1893.

Interstate Commerce Act

(1887) Congressional legislation that established the Interstate Commerce Commission, compelled railroads to publish standard rates, and prohibited rebates and pools. Railroads quickly became adept at using the Act to achieve their own ends, but the Act gave the government an important means to regulate big business.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

(1890) A law that forbade trusts or combinations in business, this was landmark legislation because it was one of the first Congressional attempts to regulate big business for the public good. At first the law was mostly used to restrain trade unions as the courts tended to side with companies in legal cases. In 1914 the Act was revised so it could more effectively be used against monopolistic corporations.

Social Darwinists

Believers in the idea, popular in the late nineteenth century, that people gained wealth by "survival of the fittest." Therefore, the wealthy had simply won a natural competition and owed nothing to the poor, and indeed service to the poor would interfere with this organic process. Some social Darwinists also applied this theory to whole nations and races, explaining that powerful peoples were naturally endowed with gifts that allowed them to gain superiority over others. This theory provided one of the popular justifications for U.S. imperial ventures like the Spanish-American War. Historical Significance: This theory was used to justify the wealth and power of American millionaires, and to oppose the idea that upper class citizens should do anything to help those in the lower class.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Having made his millions in steamboating, he daringly turned, in his late sixties, to a new career in railroading. Offering superior railway service at lower rates, he amassed a fortune of $100 million. Historical Significance: He helped popularize the steel rail, which was a significant improvement to old railroad tracks.

John D. Rockefeller

Nicknamed "the oil baron," He formed the Standard Oil Company in 1870, and by 1877, he controlled 95% of all the oil refineries in the company. Historical Significance: He mastered the strategy of horizontal integration, which simply meant allying with competitors to monopolize a given market.

Alexander Graham Bell

One of the most ingenious inventions was the telephone, which was introduced by this inventor in 1876. Historical Significance: American was suddenly turned into a nation of "telephoniacs," as a gigantic communications network was built on his invention.

Samuel Gompers

The creator of the American Federation of Labor, this colorful Jewish cigar maker was born in a London tenement, removed from school at age ten, and was brought to America when thirteen. Historical Significance: He was elected president of the AFL every year except once from 1886 to 1924. Promoting a "pure and simple" unionism, he sough better wages, hours, and working conditions. He adopted a down-to-earth approach, soft pedaling attempts to engineer sweeping social reform. A bitter foe of socialism, he shunned politics for economic strategies and goals.

Leland Stanford

The eighth Governor of California, he was a distinguished member of the Republican party who later became the president of the Central Pacific Railroad, and he was a noted member of the "Big Four." Historical Significance: He was the president of the Southern Pacific Company and later, of the Central Pacific Railroad. He and the other members of the Big Four were the chief financial backers of the Central Pacific Railroad, which was expanded to meet the Union Pacific Railroad near Ogden, Utah in 1869.

Thomas Edison

The most versatile inventor of all, he created wondrous devices in his "invention factory" in New Jersey. He created the phonograph, the mimeograph, the dictaphone, and the moving picture. Historical Significance: He is best known for his perfection in 1879 of the electric lightbulb, which turned night into day and transformed ancient human habits as well. People had previously slept an average of nine hours a night; now they slept just a bit more than seven.

Interlocking directorates

The practice of having executives or directors from one company serve on the Board of Directors of another company. Historical Significance: J.P. Morgan introduced this practice to eliminate banking competition in the 1890s.

Vertical Integration

The practice perfected by Andrew Carnegie of controlling every step of the industrial production process in order in increase efficiency and limit competition. Historical Significance: Carnegie integrated every phase of his steel-making operation. He combined into one organization all phases of manufacturing from mining to marketing. His goal was to improve efficiency by maknig supplies more reliable, controlling the quality of the product at all stages of production, and eliminate middlemen's fees.

Horizontal Integration

The practice perfected by John D. Rockefeller of dominating a particular phase of the production process in order to monopolize a market, often by forming trusts and alliances with competitors. Historical Significance: The Standard Oil Company consolidated and concerted the operations of the previously competing enterprises. This allowed Rockefeller to corner virtually the entire world petroleum market.

Knights of Labor

The second national labor organization, organized in 1869 as a secret society and opened for public membership in 1881. After the mid-1880s their membership declined for a variety of reasons, including the Knights' participation in violent strikes and discord between skilled and unskilled members. Historical Significance: The Knights were known for their efforts to organize all workers, regardless of skill level, gender, or race. They campaigned for economic and social reform, including producers' cooperatives and codes for safety and health. They waged a determined campaign for the eight-hour stint, the ordinary workday was then ten hours or more.

J. Pierpont Morgan

This "banker's banker" had made a legendary reputation for himself and his Wall Street banking house by financing the reorganization of railroads, insurance companies, and banks. He agreed to buy out Andrew Carnegie "the steel king," for over $400 million. Historical Significance: He pioneered the tactic of interlocking directorates, the practice of having executives or directors from one company serve on the Board of Directors of another company. He launched the United states Steel Corporation in 1901 and it was America's first billion dollar company, worth $1.4 billion.