APUSHch17 Flashcards
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Made millions from steamboat business, and used the money to merge local railroads to the New York Central Railroad.
Union and Central Pacific
These railroad companies were chartered to work together to create the first transcontinental railroad. One was to begin in Omaha, Nebraska, and end in California. Irish men were the main labor force. The other began in California and Chinese men laid the tracks.
rebates
Developed in the 1880s, a practice by which railroads would give money back to its favored customers, rather than charging them lower prices, so that it could appear to be charging a flat rate for everyone.
J. Piermont Morgan
Banker who took over railroads during the depression of 1893. Improved railroading systems by: taking them over, reorganizing their administration, refinancing their debts, and building system alliances. Also founded US Steel Corporation.
William Vanderbilt
Son of Cornelius Vanderbilt, He took over his father’s railroad company and doubled the family fortune. Was known for his greed. Responded to critics, “The public be damned.”
Andrew Carnegie
Scottish-born industrialist who developed the U.S. steel industry; his is a rags-to-riches story as he made a fortune in business and sold his holdings in 1901 for $447 million. He spent the rest of his life giving away $350 million to worthy cultural and educational causes.
vertical integration
Practice in which a single manufacturer controls all of the steps used to change raw materials into finished products
John D. Rockefeller
An American industrialist and philanthropist, in 1870, Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company and ran it until he retired in the late 1890s. Often forced rival companies to sell out by drastically lowering his own prices. At one point he controlled 90% of the oil business. He became the world’s richest man and first U.S. dollar billionaire.
horizontal integration
A technique used by John D. Rockefeller. Horizontal integration is an act of joining or consolidating with ones competitors to create a monopoly. Rockefeller was excellent with using this technique to monopolize certain markets. It is responsible for the majority of his wealth.
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
A federal law that committed the American government to opposing monopolies, it prohibits contracts, combinations and conspiracies in restraint of trade.
United States v. E.C. Knight
1895 Supreme Court case-ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could only be applied only to commerce, not to manufacturing. As a result, the U.S.Department of Justice secured few convictions until the law was strengthened during the Progressive Era
gospel of wealth
The idea that wealth is God-given and that those who have wealth are obligated to carry out projects of civic philanthropy for the benefit of society
Samuel F.B. Morse
Invented the telegraph which allowed faster communication over longer distances. He also developed Morse code
Alexander Graham Bell
He was an American inventor who was responsible for developing the telephone. This greatly improved communications in the country.
Thomas A. Edison
Established lab at Menlo Park, NJ for the purpose of inventing new technologies (first modern research lab); introduced concept of mechanics and engineers working on a project as a team rather than as lone inventors. He invented the light bulb in 1879. He also invented or improved: generators, voltage regulators, electric meters, and insulated wiring. Phonograph, mimeograph, microphone, motion picture camera and film, battery, etc
George Westinghouse
Inventor responsible for the manufacture of the rail car air brake system, also worked with electricity and developed alternating current
Sears, Roebuck, Montgomery Ward
Large mail-order companies used improved rail system to ship everything from hats to houses ordered from their thick catalogs known as the “wish book.”
Horatio Alger
Popular novelist during the Industrial Revolution who wrote “rags to riches” books praising the values of hard work
scab; lockout; blacklist; yellow dog contract; injunctions
Tactics used for defeating unions:
Scab
worker who refuses membership in labor union; employee who works while others strike; person hired to replace striking worker
Lockout .
withholding of employment; used by employers to hinder union organization; literally locking employees out of workplace
Black list
list of persons or organizations that have incurred disapproval or suspicion or are to be boycotted or otherwise penalized.
Yellow dog contract .
agreement b/w employer and employee where employee agrees not to join union; prohibited by federal law
Injunction
A court order prohibiting a party from a specific course of action
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
A violent but ultimately unsuccessful interstate strike, which resulted in extensive property damage and many deaths. The first major interstate strike in us history. The panic of 1873 caused railroad lines to cut wages which caused workers to walk off the job and block the tracks- it eventually turned violent. Federal troops finally quelled the violence. After workers turned violent the public began to blame them for the looting and violence and they lost all sympathy
National Labor Union
1st major union, wanted higher wages, 8 hr workday, equal rights for women and blacks, monetary reform, and worker cooperatives. Won the 8 hr workday, but lost support after the depression in 1873 and the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
Knights of Labor; Terence Powderly
Begun in 1869 as a secret society, went public in 1881. Led by Powderly, advocated abolition of child labor, worker cooperatives, and abolition of trusts and monopolies. Did not support strikes. Membership dropped after Haymarket bombing.
Haymarket Bombing (1886)
Chicago was the site of the first May Day labor movement; Anarchists were there who advocated the violent overthrow of all government; labor violence broke out and when police tried to disperse the meeting, someone threw a bob and killed 7 officers; 8 anarchist leaders tried and 7 sentenced to death; public opinion turned against labor, which it saw as “radical and violent”
American Federation of Labor; Samuel Gompers
Founded in 1886, Samuel Gompers as president. Went after basics of higher wages and better working conditions. Told wokers to walk out until employer agreed to negotiate.
Homestead Strike (1892)
It was one of the most violent strikes in U.S. history. It was against the Homestead Steel Works, which was part of the Carnegie Steel Company, in Pennsylvania in retaliation against wage cuts. The riot was ultimately put down by Pinkerton Police and the state militia, and the violence further damaged the image of unions.
Pullman Strike (1894)
Strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company in the company town of Pullman, Illinois in 1894 when wages were cut by 1/3 and those who asked to bargain were fired. American Railway Union under Eugene V. Debs got involved, the strike caused rail cars to stop. By attaching federal mail cars to the Pullman cars the company made it a federal offense to obstruct the mail; this was supported by the US attorney general who swore to keep the railroads running. The strike was crushed by court injunctions and federal troops two months later.
Eugene V. Debs; In re Debs
Leader of the American Railway Union, he voted to aid workers in the Pullman strike. He was jailed for six months for disobeying a court order after the strike was over. Supreme Court approved use of court injunctions against strikes which gave employers a very powerful weapon to break unions; Debs later turned to the American Socialist Party in 1900
