Industrialization

1. Industrialization U.S. History Unit #9

2. People who invest money in a product or enterprise in order to make a profit. Entrepreneurs fueled industrialization in the USA in the late 1800s, funding inventors and establishing new businesses. Entrepreneurs

3. Taxes that made imported goods cost more than those made locally. To encourage the buying of American goods, Congress enacted protective tariffs in the late 1800s. Protective Tariffs

4. Laissez-faire - Economic policy which allows businesses to operate under minimal government regulation. • Patent – A grant by the federal government giving the inventor the exclusive right to develop, use and sell an invention for a set period of time. Laissez-faire / Patent

5. Thomas Edison – One of history’s greatest inventors; In his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey Edison produced more than 1,000 patented inventions, including the light bulb and motion pictures. • Bessemer Process – Developed by Englishman Henry Bessemer in the 1850s; Method of purifying iron, resulting in strong, but lightweight, steel. Thomas Edison/Bessemer Process

6. Bridges in which the roadway is suspended by steel cables. Suspension Bridge

7. In 1884, delegates from 27 countries divided the globe into 24 time zones, one for each hour of the day, to enable railroad lines to accurately predict times of arrival and departure. Time Zones

8. Systems of turning out large numbers of products quickly and inexpensively; these systems depend on machinery to complete tasks previously done by hand. Mass Production

9. Industrialization touched every aspect of American life, from the way businesses and farms operated to the kinds of products Americans used. By the 1880s, American exports of grain, steel, and textiles dominated international markets. With almost as many miles of railroad track as the rest of the world combined, the United States could easily transport goods where they were made or grown to ports where they could be shipped around the world. • Massive changes in industry altered how Americans lived and worked. Even farms became mechanized, meaning that fewer farm laborers were needed to feed the nation. Out-of-work farmers and their families moved to urban areas to find work, especially in the increasingly industrial North. Many moved to manufacturing centers that had sprung up around growing factories or industries. The mass production of goods meant that these new urban dwellers had easy access to supplies, yet they faced higher costs of living and performed repetitive work in factories. Closure Question #3: Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement: “The late 1800s was a time of great progress for all Americans.”

10. Answer the following questions based on what you have learned from Chapter 13, Section 1: • Would you characterize all of the government’s policies in the late 1800s toward business as laissez faire? Explain your answer. • How did the system of patents encourage innovation and investment? • Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement: “The late 1800s was a time of great progress for all Americans.” Closure Assignment #4

11. A form of group ownership in which a company is owned by a number of people who buy a percentage of the company, known as a stock. Corporation

12. Monopoly – Complete control of a product or service. A monopoly is achieved when one corporation buys out its competitors or drives them out of business. • Cartel – An agreement among corporations to limit the production of a product in order to keep prices high. Monopoly / Cartel

13. Oil Entrepreneur and the world’s first billionaire; Rockefeller established his company, Standard Oil, as the producer of over 70% of all oil in the United States through the use of vertical and horizontal integration. John D. Rockefeller

14. Horizontal Integration – Business practice of consolidating many companies that produce similar products into one giant corporation. (Merger) • Vertical Integration – Business practice of gaining control of many different businesses that make up all phases of a product’s development. Horizontal Integration / Vertical Integration

15. Steel tycoon, Multi-Millionaire and Philanthropist; The son of working-class immigrants, Carnegie began work at the age of 14 and gradually worked his way up, first through railroad investments and later in the steel industry. He represents the “Rags to Riches” idea believed by capitalists. Andrew Carnegie

16. Robber Barons – Derogatory term used to describe shrewd entrepreneurs because of their capacity to harm the poor, forcing smaller companies out of business, paying workers low wages, and charging consumers high prices. • Captains of Industry – Positive term used to describe entrepreneurs who established successful business that provided jobs for the growing labor-force, used efficient business practices, supported the development of technology, and made charitable donations to establish universities, museums, and libraries. Robber Barons / Captains of Industry

17. Belief that Charles Darwin’s biological idea of “survival of the fittest” should also be applied to social and economic issues; Social Darwinists believe that wealth is a measure of one’s inherent value and those who had it were the most “fit”. Social Darwinism

18. Established in 1887 to oversee railroad operations; the first federal organization ever set up to monitor American business operations. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

19. Passed in 1890, the act outlawed any trust that operated “in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states.”; however, for more than a decade the provision was seldom enforced. Sherman Antitrust Act

20. Answer the following questions based on what you have learned from Chapter 13, Section 2: • Why did business leaders create new forms of ownership like monopolies, cartels, and trusts? • How accurate is it to describe business leaders like Rockefeller and Carnegie as both “robber barons” and “captains of industry”? • What does the fact that government regulation of business was not very successful at first tell you about the relationship between government and big business? Closure Assignment #5

21. Sweatshops – Small, hot, dark, and dirty workhouses in which workers, usually immigrants, labored 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for low wages. • Company Towns – Isolated communities located near workplaces and owned by businesses and rented to employees. Sweatshops / Company Towns

22. Negotiating as a group for higher wages or better working conditions; one form of collective bargaining is a strike, in which workers stop working until certain demands are met. Collective Bargaining

23. Leader of the Knights of Labor, a labor union established in 1869 which included all workers of any trade, skilled or unskilled, black or white. Powderly assumed leadership of the Knights in 1881 and encouraged boycotts and negotiation with employers. Terrence V. Powderly

24. Samuel Gompers – Founder of the American Federation of Labor in 1886; the AFL was a craft union, and only skilled workers devoted to specific crafts or trades could join. • The AFL focused on very specific workers’ issues, such as wages, working hours, and working conditions. Samuel Gompers / American Federation of Labor (AFL)

25. Haymarket Riot – Begun as a peaceful protest as part of a campaign for an 8 hour workday at Haymarket Square in downtown Chicago on May 4th, 1886; A bomb exploded in the middle of the protest, killing dozens of policemen and protesters. The Knights of Labor were blamed for the riot and membership in unions nationwide declined. • Homestead Strike – Steelworkers strike at a Carnegie Steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1892. The workers protested a wage cut by holding the factory hostage. A standoff ensued between the workers and the Pinkertons, a private police force hired by Carnegie. Several strikers were killed and wounded in the standoff, and in November the strike was discontinued. Haymarket Riot / Homestead Strike

26. Leader of the American Railway Union and organizer of the Pullman Strike in 1894; imprisoned for 6 months for his role in the strike, Debbs became a convert to Socialism while in prison. Eugene V. Debbs

27. American Railroad Union nationwide strike which took place in 1894; the strike began in response to a wage cut ordered by George Pullman, owner of the Pullman Palace Car Company. Supporting Pullman, President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops to end the strike, setting a precedent of government opposition to labor unions. Pullman Strike

28. Answer the following questions based on what you have learned from Chapter 13, Section 3: • What does the prevalence of child labor in the 1800s tell you about how society viewed children at the time? • Why were employers generally opposed to labor unions? • Why did the major strikes of the late 1800s lead to a backlash against labor unions? Closure Assignment #6