1. The Expansion of American Industry
America chapter 13
Test Study Guide

2. Extended Response #1
Were the leaders of business and industry “Robber Barons” or “Captains of Industry”? Explain your answer w/ specific arguments.
Robber Barons:
Got rich by stealing from the American public
Depleted the country’s natural resources
Persuaded gov’t officials and judges to pass laws and make rulings in their favor
Drove competition to failure with unfair business practices
Mistreated their employees: wages, hours, conditions

3. Extended Response #1 (cont)
Captains of Industry
They are responsible for Americans having the highest standard of living in the world
Created new jobs
Increased industrial productivity
Building factories
Investing in new products
Used their fortunes to give back to the community
Built libraries, museums, schools, etc.

4. Extended Response #2
Discuss 4 of the 5 ways business in the era of Big Business differed from earlier business practices in the U.S..
Larger pools of capital
Broader range of operations
Wider geographical span
New methods of management
Revised role of ownership

5. Extended Response #3
Discuss 4 of the 5 ways the railroads aided and impacted other industries in the U.S..
Faster & more practical way to tranpsort goods
Low production costs
Creation of a national market
Serves as a model for other big businesses
Stimulates the growth of other industries

6. Extended Response #4
What major U.S. company practiced vertical consolidation? Who owned it? What company practiced horizontal consolidation? Who owned it?
U.S. Steel
Andrew Carnegie
Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller

7. Short Answer #1
What were two of the three main issues early labor unions fought for?
Better wages
Shorter hours
Safer/better conditions

8. Short Answer #2
Name one of the two inventions that revolutionized communication. Who developed the technology for it?
Telegraph: Samuel Morse
Telephone: Alexander Graham Bell

9. #7
In what ways did the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor differ?
Knights of Labor wanted to represent all workers in the country, skilled & unskilled
KoL included women & African Americans
AFL was a craft union, only representing skilled workers
DID NOT include women & African Americans

10. #8
How did business leaders try to eliminate competition in the late 1800’s?
Forming monopolies or trusts

11. #9
What services did the growing immigrant population provide American industry?
They provided a steady stream of labor and allowed ownership to keep wages low

12. #10
How did Congress try to limit the power of monopolies and trusts in the late 1800’s?
By passing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1890

13. #11
In what ways was communication in America revolutionized in the 1800’s?
Development of the telegraph & Morse Code
Invention of the telephone & construction of long distance phone lines by AT&T

14. #12
What sparked the growth of American industry in the second half of the 19th century?
Investment in invention and innovation
Funding research and development

15. #13
How was Rockefeller able to gain control of much of the oil industry?
Used horizontal consolidation to buy the controlling share of 40 companies in the oil industry forming the Standard Oil trust

16. #14
Why did children continue to work in factories in the late 1800’s and into the early 1900’s?
Families needed their income to survive

17. #15 What is the Bessemer Process? What industry did it revolutionize?
It is a process that enabled steel to be mass produced.

18. #16 Why would business leaders be considered “Captains of Industry”?
See extended response #1

19. #17
What were the benefits of expanding the railroads, including the Transcontinental Railroad?
Created a national market
Enabled people to move freely around the entire country
Easier & cheaper to transport goods

20. #18 What were the two tenets of Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth?
People are free to make as much money as they can
Once it is made they should give all that they can back to the community

21. #19 What is Social Darwinism?
The application of the theory of evolution to economics and society
The government should not get involved in economic matters because those who are most able will rise to the top
Don’t tax profits
Don’t interfere with the relationship b/t ownership and workers

22. #20 Who did the government and courts support in early labor disputes?
Big Business – the ownership, not employees!

23. #21
What methods did early labor unions use to try and achieve their goals?
Strikes, riots, boycotts

24. #22 What were some common features of early labor disputes? Violence
Use of the Federal Gov’t to end strikes

25. #23
What effect did mass production have on the price consumers had to pay for goods?
It lowered the price for consumers

26. #24
Why were unions an inevitable side effect of industrialization in the U.S.?
Workers, or any group of people, can only be mistreated and oppressed for so long before they speak up and fight back

27. #25 What was the world’s leading industrial nation in the late 1800’s?
The United States!

28. #26 Why would a business want to form a trust?
To eliminate competition, dominate an industry, and maximize profits.

29. #27
What were the three main areas early labor unions sought to make gains in?
Wages
Hours
Working conditions

30. #28
How did the government contribute to the early struggles of the labor movement?
Passing laws and making rulings that favored big business over the workers
Staying out of the relationship between ownership and its labor force

31. #29 Alexander Graham Bell founded a company in 1865 to build what?
AT&T – long distance telephone lines

32. #30
According to the philosophy of Social Darwinism, what role should the government have in the economy?
None!
Gov’t should not tax a company’s profits
Should not intervene in the relationship between management and the labor force

33. #31
What effect did the Pullman Strike have on government recognition of labor unions?
It set the precedent for the Sherman Act to be interpreted in a way that labeled unions as illegal business combinations that restricted trade.
Was the main reason unions struggled to gain any concessions for their members well into the 1930’s