11.2 Study Guide Flashcards
Bessemer Process
Inventor, Henry Bessemer, created the Bessemer process, making it possible for the U.S. to be one of the world’s major producers of steel.
Why did immigrants live in tenements?
Because there was a lack of affordable housing in overcrowded cities.
List the effects of the growth of railroads
- The growth of food supply available
- Increase in monopolies
- The ability to locate factories and farms far from customers
Effects of new forms of mass transportation
Wealthier Americans were able to move away from the inner cities to the suburbs.
Why did cities need to be built near waterways?
Before the mid-1800s, water power ran factories so they were built near rivers.
Why did immigrants mainly live in urban areas?
Because of jobs
Factories were filled with what type of worker?
Unskilled workers who provided labor for the factories.
What type of wage were immigrants that worked in factories given?
Mostly low wage jobs
Where were immigrants to the U.S. coming from after 1880?
Most were now coming from Non-English speaking countries from Eastern and Southern
Europe (included Italy, Poland, and Russia).
Who helped to industrialize the American economy?
Immigrants
Americanization
When immigrants became assimilated to American culture through a legal and educational process.
What was the largest economic change in the U.S. between 1820-1890?
Large Scale manufacturing
Describe the living conditions of the cities
- Crowded
- Unsanitary
- No garbage or sewer systems
How did Political Machines win the votes of immigrants?
Immigrants needed housing and jobs, which political machines often provided for them. Immigrants paid for these favors with their votes.
What was the main purpose of trusts?
To eliminate business competition.
How would trusts drive out smaller businesses?
By lowering prices.
Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Trust through mergers and buy-outs, making it one of the largest trusts in America.
Populist Party
Made up mainly of low-income farmers from the South and West.
Goals of the Populist Party
- Have the government issue more paper currency and silver coins to increase inflation.
- Change voting laws from public to private.
- Change election laws from the state legislature choosing representatives to the voters having direct elections.
List the benefits of trusts
Lower retail prices, the availability of items that were once luxuries
Why was the Northern Securities Company considered a trust?
J.P. Morgan combined the stock of several railroads in order to dominate service from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean.
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Used to break up monopolies, especially railroad monopolies.
What label did Roosevelt give himself?
Trustbuster
List the reasons why the United Mine Workers went on strike in 1902.
In the Spring of 1902, the United Mine Workers called a strike of the anthracite coal miners who demanded a 20% pay raise, to reduce their workday to 8 hours, and to win the mine owner’s recognition of their union.
