Chapter 6 Essays For Test

Section 1

Why did the nation’s industrial productivity rise in the late 1800s. 1. Due to new technology, the great increase in inventions, and the investments to fund them.

How did inventions such as the light bulb and the telegraph change daily life in the late 1800s? 3. They extended the usable hours of the day, allowed for efficient long distance communication, and made possible the creation of entirely new industries.

4. What were the advantages of building the transcontinental railroad 4. What were the advantages of building the transcontinental railroad? 4. Reduce cost and increase efficiency of transportation; facilitate commerce; create national markets; stimulate other industries, like the steel industry.

How did the system of patents encourage innovation and investment? 6. By giving inventors and investors ownership of their ideas and creations, and the resulting profits.

Section 2

How did the theory of social Darwinism affect the governments relationship to big business? 1. Social Darwinism encouraged government to take a hands-off approach toward big business because of the belief that society should not interfere with people’s successes.

Why did the Sherman Antitrust Act seek to stop big business from forming trusts? 4. Public concerns over large trusts led Congress to attempt to stop trusts from limiting industrial competition and from restraining interstate commerce.

Explain why you view the nation’s early industrialists as either “robber barons” or “captains of industry.” 6. Industrialists increased the availability of goods, provided jobs, and endowed cultural institutions. However, many were ruthless and corrupt, stopping at nothing to gain control over the competition.

Section 3

Why did the American work force grow in the late 1800s? 1. Two population shifts occurred; farm to city and immigrants arriving in the United States. Both groups sought work in the factories.

Why did children work? 4. Their income was often vital for family survival; no laws existed to prohibit child labor at this time. Families had no insurance for illness or unemployment.

Section 4

Why did socialism appeal to some Americans in the late 1800s? 1. The gap between rich and poor was vast. Socialism seemed to offer a political and economic philosophy which favored the public at large, rather than a few wealthy individuals.

How successful were labor unions at the end of the century? 4. Labor unions had only limited success at that time. They brought many of labor’s pressing issues to light, but often met with violence and government opposition during strikes.

How did the goals of socialism and the labor movement differ? 5. Socialists hoped to see all Americans share equally in the nation’s wealth. The labor movement worked mostly within the free enterprise system, attempting to attain fair treatment for workers.