Chapter 16: Big Business and Organized Labor, 1860-1900

Identify the impacts that the innovations that occurred prior to and during the Second Industrial Revolution had on economic growth after the war.

- Applying the scientific method to industrial processes - The improvement in steel enabled the transportation revolution and the construction of skyscrapers. - Modern transportation and communication infrastructure - This came about with the completion of the transcontinental railroads, improvements in steamship technology, and the connection between the United States and Europe via telegraph cables. - Creation of electrical power - This enabled rapid urban development; it greatly increased the speed, power, and efficiency of machinery. Further, it aided in the construction of taller buildings.

Identify the impacts of the innovations of the Second Industrial Revolution.

- Electric Motors - allowed factory owners to locate factories wherever they wished - Investment Banks - allowed railroads to raise capital by selling shares of stock to investors - Sewing Machine - allowed clothing to be mass produced

Just as technological innovations were critical to the economic growth of the late nineteenth century, so too were innovations in finance and business organizations. Match the financial and business terms below with their definitions.

- Monopoly: business that grows so large that it effectively controls an entire industry - Trust: an arrangement that gives a person or corporation the legal power to manage another person's money or another company - Corporation: legal entity that separates the ownership of an enterprise from the management of its operations and affords shareholders the protection of limited liability - Holding Company: owns a majority of the stock in other companies, but produces nothing itself - Shares Of Stock: financial instrument representing partial owners of a company

Identify the following locations on the map.

- Nevada -The Chinese did much of the labor on this half of the first transcontinental railroad. - Idaho - This is where the two halves of the first transcontinental railroad meet - Wyoming - This was the location of America's first National Park. - Co Territory - This was the long of the two halves of the first transcontinental railroad.

Order the following events that contributed to the organized labor movement in the late nineteenth century.

- The Knights of labor emerge - The Haymarket Riot erupts - The American Federation of Labor forms - AFL passes the knights of labor in total membership - The American Railway Union organizes the Pullman Strike

Order the following events that led to the dominance of the Standard Oil Company.

-The Standard Oil Company gains more than 90 percent of the oil refining market in the United States. -Rockefeller creates the Standard Oil Trust to circumvent anti-monopoly legislation. -The Supreme Court of Ohio orders that the Standard Oil Trust be dissolved. -Rockefeller brings his entire industrial empire under the direction of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, a gigantic holding company.

Identify three examples of how innovation changed the nature of work in the decades following the Civil War in the picture below.

All clickable areas

Following the Civil War, the American economy prospered. Identify the factors that contributed to this advantageous economic circumstance in the United States.

All the above

Following the Civil War, the American economy prospered. What combination of factors created this advantageous economic circumstance in the United States?

All the above

Identify the factors that impeded the growth of labor unions.

Correct Answer(s) - A majority of the workforce was made up of immigrants who spoke different languages. - Most elected officials supported business owners over workers. - There was a trust problem within unions, as they were made up of various ethnic groups that distrusted each other. Incorrect Answer(s) - Workers were never able to engage in strikes due to a series of laws enacted in the early part of the nineteenth century.

Identify the various issues that encompassed the controversial "woman question" in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Correct Answer(s) - the issue of women's enfranchisement - the liberation of some women from the home Incorrect Answer(s) - the ability of well financed, upper-class women to run for public office - the freeing of some women from social and character requirements forced upon them

Carnegie Steel Company used vertical integration to become the largest industrial company of its time. Identify the various elements of a vertical integration business model.

Correct Answer(s) - A vertically integrated corporation owns all the businesses required to perform each step in their production. Incorrect Answer(s) - Vertical integration is the process of developing partnerships between otherwise unassociated businesses in a particular industry to increase efficiency and profit for all parties involved. - The most dominant corporation in a particular industry either buys out its competitors or forces them out of business with the end goal of constructing a monopoly. - The system of vertical integration promotes workers from laborer positions to management positions, so managing executives may have a strong understanding of the company's production process.

During the late nineteenth century, Big Business grew at a staggering rate. During this time, the largest businesses began engaging in national and international commerce, which subsequently increased their power and influence. Identify some of the repercussions that resulted from the growth of Big Business.

Correct Answer(s) - Big Business interests used their newfound influence to corrupt American political institutions at the federal, state, and local levels. - The emergence of a few big corporations in a specific sector of the economy frequently resulted in price fixing. - Corporations, entities that sold shares of partial ownership in exchange for capital, became more common as the concept of limited liability emerged. Incorrect Answer(s) - The expansion of Big Business increased competition throughout the economy and lowered prices for consumers.

Analyze the image below. What does it reveal about the conditions in which children worked during the early twentieth century?

Correct Answer(s) - Child laborers suffered high rates of injury and respiratory diseases. - Some children worked in extremely dangerous conditions such as factories, mills, and mines. - Child laborers worked jobs that adults did not. Incorrect Answer(s) - Although child laborers worked long hours, they were well fed and clothed.

Identify the policy priorities of the Republican-led Congress that spurred economic growth following the Civil War.

Correct Answer(s) - Congress implemented the reconstruction policies in the former Confederacy. - Congress advanced policies that supported westward expansion. - Congress enacted commercial and industrial development programs. Incorrect Answer(s) - Congress enacted legislation that incorporated Native Americans into the Union as U.S. citizens.

Identify the policies that the federal government enacted to incorporate the western territories into the national economy.

Correct Answer(s) - Congress passed and implemented the Homestead Act, which created new economic markets by giving land to those who would work it. - Congress provided land grants, loans, and federal subsidies to build the transcontinental railroad. - The Morrill Land Grant Act gave each state land in proportion to the number of members of Congress that represented that state. Incorrect Answer(s) - Congress passed the Morrill Tariff, which increased taxes on imported manufactured goods.

Analyze the following quotation: "It is now pretty generally admitted that women possess the capacity to swallow intellectual food that was formerly considered the diet of men exclusively." What developments in the early twentieth century support the views expressed in the quotation?

Correct Answer(s) - Dozens of women's colleges were founded in the years after the Civil War. - Women's lives extended beyond the home to include new jobs and social organizations, including literary societies. - An increasing number of women gained access to higher education. Incorrect Answer(s) - Specialized math and science classes were offered to women who chose to attend school. - Women were finally allowed to run for public office and make important political decisions alongside male politicians.

Analyze the image below from the Pullman Strike. What does it reveal about the relative power of unions and corporations?

Correct Answer(s) - President Cleveland was willing to use federal troops to break the strike. - Railroad executives thought it necessary to protect railways from violent strikers. Incorrect Answer(s) - Workers and corporations had equal support from the federal government. - American Railway Union President Eugene V. Debs was able to win two major concessions from Pullman.

The development of national railroad networks was a tremendous boon for the American economy. They provided a reliable way to transport goods and people over long distances cheaply, year round. The railroads also had a number of problems, however. Identify some of the problems associated with the railroad industry.

Correct Answer(s) - The rush to build railroad lines caused some railroad companies to ignore dangerous working conditions. - Railroad lobbyists served as a corrupting influence over legislators whose votes they "purchased" with cash or shares in the railroad company. - Some railroad developers put short-term profits over railroad quality. Incorrect Answer(s) - The inability of railroad companies to produce railway lines quickly enough inhibited economic growth.

Identify the ways that large-scale "bonanza" farms were similar to the new practices of the industrial sector.

Correct Answer(s) - They hired hundreds of seasonal immigrant laborers to help during the harvest. - They used the most advanced machinery and the latest scientific research available. - They were owned by corporations Incorrect Answer(s) - They served only the domestic market. - Their managers had little formal education.

The Second Industrial Revolution stimulated economic growth in the decades following the Civil War. Identify the factors that led to the Second Industrial Revolution.

Correct Answer(s) - scientific research into the industrial process - modern transportation and communication networks - electrical power Incorrect Answer(s) - water-powered mills - more efficient farming techniques used on small farms

Identify the examples of laissez-faire economic doctrine during the late nineteenth century.

Correct Answer(s) - the federal government's lack of oversight for the working conditions for wage earners - low level of federal corporate taxes Incorrect Answer(s) - federal subsidies, loans, and land grants for the building of the first transcontinental railroad - Morrill Tariff

This advertisement from Ladies' Home Journal is evidence of which of the following?

Correct Answer(s) - the identification of many middle-class women with the domestic life - the growing importance of marketing and advertising in "every department of life" - the greater availability and variety of consumer items Incorrect Answer(s) - the widespread affliction of neurasthenia

Which of the following quotations support Andrew Carnegie's argument in "The Gospel of Wealth" (1889) that "not evil, but good, has come to the [Anglo-Saxon] race from the accumulation of wealth by those who have the ability and energy that produces it"?

Correct Answer(s) -"I have always regarded it as a religious duty to get all I could honorably and to give all I could." —John D. Rockefeller -"Every good man and woman ought to strive for power, to do good with it when obtained. I say, get rich! Get rich!" —Russell Conwell Incorrect Answer(s) -"The growing wealth and influence of our large corporations, is one of the most alarming phenomena of our time. Our public companies already wield gigantic power, and they use it like unscrupulous giants." —The New York Times -"The public be damned!" —William Henry Vanderbilt

What improvements in transportation and communication promoted the onset of the Second Industrial Revolution?

Correct Answer(s) -The completion of the transcontinental railroads and the improvements in steamship technology helped connect American goods to global markets. -The laying of telegraph cables between the United States and Europe improved the rate of communication more significantly than any previous invention. Incorrect Answer(s) -Improvements to the U.S. military's cavalry troops enabled the expansion of the United States westward through Native American territory. -The invention of the metal movable-type printing press greatly increased the availability and affordability of newspapers across the United States.

Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller both forced their workers to labor for long hours nearly every day of the year in dangerous and uncomfortable working conditions. Their labor practices contributed to the creation of their private fortunes, and they gave very little back to the community in the form of philanthropic donations and charitable works.

False

Individuals who identified themselves as women were in solid agreement regarding their desire to enter into the public world.

False

Skilled and unskilled workers enjoyed similar pay during the Gilded Age, as there was no clear disparity between the two types of work.

False

To the degree that a partnership existed between Big Business and the federal government following the end of the Civil War, all regions of the nation were universally supportive of such a partnership and the government policies that developed as a result of it.

False

Complete the passage below describing the strategies that the Standard Oil Corporation employed to circumvent state regulations against monopolistic practices.

In the 1870s, Standard Oil bought out so many of its competitors that state lawmakers drafted legislation to inhibit its monopolistic practices. In response, John D. Rockefeller organized the Standard Oil Trust. This practice enabled larger corporations to control smaller businesses without a direct ownership stake.

Why was the American Federation of Labor created, and how did it deviate from other labor organizations?

It was a federation of craft unions that focused on concrete economic gains—higher wages, shorter hours, better working conditions—and avoided utopian ideas or politics.

Complete the passage below describing how the Second Industrial Revolution affected the roles of women in American society.

New inventions enabled women to work in a wider variety of fields. Business offices changed in response to the invention of the typewriter. Women were thought to be better suited than men to perform this kind of clerical office work and were hired in large numbers and paid less than their male counterparts. In addition, inventions such as the sewing machine created new jobs for women, but unlike positions in business offices, these jobs forced women to work long hours in sweatshops as a result of the technological innovation. Both these technologies helped the economy grow by increasing the productivity of labor and by expanding the labor market.

Complete the passage below describing working life in post-Civil War America.

Post-Civil War America witnessed a rising standard of living for most people. While the wealthy accumulated more wealth, others were also becoming better off. A new class of "white collar" professionals emerged, women's opportunities for work expanded, and the number of attorneys, physicians, and professors rose dramatically.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, what was the nature of the relationship between the Republican-led federal government and Big Business?

The U.S. government and large corporations became increasingly close allies following the end of the Civil War.

Complete the passage below describing the role that government played in building the colossal Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan fortunes.

The development of such massive fortunes as those of Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller required a great deal of business prowess and individual genius, but it took more than that. To become one of the tycoons of Big Business required government support. To ensure the prosperity of their enterprises, corporations purchased government influence by lobbying. In return, the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government adopted laissez-faire economic policies. This meant that the government did not impose significant corporate taxes or meaningfully monitor the working conditions of wage laborers.

Complete the passage below describing the formation of unions in the nineteenth century.

The increase in the size and power of corporations galvanized efforts to build a national labor union. The Civil War created opportunities for workers with a particular skill to form "craft unions," which grew in size and popularity. The connection of such groups did not occur until the National Labor Union convened in 1866. The organization was primarily concerned with reforming state and local laws to improve working conditions, and often failed to devote the appropriate attention to wages and work hours.

John D. Rockefeller implemented a business strategy known as horizontal integration to grow his Standard Oil Company. What was the central foundation of this business practice?

The most dominant corporation in a particular industry either buys out its competitors or forces them out of business with the end goal of constructing a monopoly.

Workers and corporations had equal support from the federal government. American Railway Union President Eugene V. Debs was able to win two major concessions from Pullman.

There were serious consequences for women who sought to escape the "cult of domesticity" and to better establish themselves in the public world. Some women who did so contracted a psychological and physical disorder called neurasthenia. This affliction usually included insomnia, hysteria, headaches, depression, and constant fatigue. This disorder plagued both sexes, but disproportionately affected college-educated middle-class women.

Analyze the advertisement below. Improvements in industrial processes resulted in the mass production of consumer goods during the latter half of the nineteenth century, and in turn drove a dramatic rise in corporate expenditure on advertising.

True

The Knights of Labor included an unprecedented proposal within their platform that called for equal pay for equal work done by men and women.

True

What late-nineteenth century development led to a growing class-consciousness in the United States?

the growing gap between the rich and the poor