Chapter 17: The Rise of Industrial America 1865-1900 Flashcards
Trunk Lines
The major route between large cities; smaller branch lines connected the trunk lines with outlying towns
~Vanderbilt (“Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt) used his millions to merge local railroads to the New York Central Railroad
Crédit Mobilier
Insiders gave stock to influential members of Congress to avoid investigation of the profits they were making from government subsidies for building the transcontinental railroad
~As high as 348%
Union Pacific
Railroad company chartered to build the eastern half of the transcontinental railroad
~Was to build westward across the Great Plains starting from Omaha, Nebraska
Central Pacific
Railroad company chartered to build the western half of the transcontinental railroad
~Took on the formidable challenge of laying track across mountain passes in the Sierra Nevadas by pushing eastward from Sacramento, California
Southern Pacific
Another transcontinental railroad constructed across the West
~Tied New Orleans to Los Angeles
Northern Pacific
Another transcontinental railroad constructed along the West
~Connected Duluth, Minnesota with Seattle, Washington
Jay Gould
A speculator who went into the railroad business for quick profits and made millions by selling off assets and watering stock
Watering Stock
Inflating the value of a corporation’s assets and profits before selling its stock to the public
Pools
An attempt by railroaders to increase their profits
~Competing companies agreed secretly and informally to fix rates and share traffic
JP Morgan
Banker who moved in to take control of the (now) bankrupt railroads and consolidated them
~With competition eliminated they could stabilize rates and reduce debts
~Created regional railroad monopolies
William Vanderbilt
Inherited his father’s (Cornelius Vanderbilt) transportation empire
Henry Bessemer/William Kelly
Discovered that blasting air through molten iron produced high-quality steel
~Able to produce large quantities of steel
Andrew Carnegie
A shrewd business genius who gained leadership of the fast-growing steel industry
~Began manufacturing steel in Pittsburgh and soon outdistanced his competitors by a combination of salesmanship and use of the latest technology
~Employed a business strategy known as vertical integration
~Carnegie Steel climbed to the top of the steel industry
Vertical Integration
A company would control every stage of the industrial process: from mining raw materials to transporting the finished product
U.S. Steel
The first billion dollar company and the largest enterprise in the world
~Controlled over 3/5 of the nation’s steel business
John D. Rockefeller
Founded a company that would come to control most of the nation’s oil refineries by eliminating its competition
~Applied latest technologies and efficient practices
~His company Standard Oil Trust controlled 90% of the oil refinery industry
Standard Oil
Rockefeller’s oil refinery company who owned the monopoly on oil refineries
~Able to keep prices low for their consumers due to the monopoly
Trusts
Consists of the various companies acquired all managed by a board of trustees the main company controlled
Horizontal Integration
Where former competitors were brought under a single corporate umbrella
Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
Prohibited any “contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce”
~Unable to stop the development of trusts
United States v. E.C. Knight & Co. (1895)
Court ruled that the Sherman Anti-Trust Act could not be applied only to commerce, not manufacturing
~The U.S. Department of Justice secured few convictions until the law was strengthened in the Progressive Era
Laissez-Faire
If a government kept its hands off the economy, businesses would be motivated by their own self-interest to offer improved goods and services at low prices
Herbert Spencer
Influential Social Darwinist who thought Darwin’s survival of the fittest should be applied to the marketplace
~Englishman
~Concluded that the concentration of wealth in the hands of the “fit” was a benefit
William Graham Sumner
American Social Darwinist who taught at Yale
~Argued that help for the poor was misguided because it interfered with the laws of nature and would only weaken the evolution of the species by preserving the unfit
Gustavus Swift
Used refrigerated railroad cars and canning to change the eating habits of Americans
~Mass produced meat and vegetable products
Horatio Alger
Author who publicized the growing class distinctions by romanticizing the American dream
~Each Alger novel portrayed a young man of modest means who became rich and successful through honesty, hard work, and a little luck
~Rags to Riches stories like Andrew Carnegie’s were unusual
Black List
Tactic used by employers to defeat the Unions
~Names of pro-union workers circulated among employees
Yellow Dog Contracts
Tactics used by employers to defeat the Unions
~Workers being told, as a condition for employment, that they must sign an agreement to not join a Union
Great Railroad Strike (1877)
Railroad companies cut wages to reduce the costs
~Strike that spread across 11 states and shut down 2/3 of the country’s rail trackage
~First strike to be put down using federal troops; violent
~Employers addressed some of the worker’s demands while others took a hard line by busting worker’s organizations
National Labor Union
First attempt to organize ALL workers in all states
~Championed the goals of higher wages and the eight hour day
~Wanted equal rights for women and blacks, monetary reform, and worker cooperatives
~Lost support after unsuccessful strikes of 1877
~Won stand on 8 hour day
Knights of Labor
A second national labor union which began as a secret society in order to avoid detection by employers
Terrence v. Powderly
Led the Knights of Labor, took the union public
~Opened its membership to all workers, including Africans and women
~Advocated a variety of reforms:
1. Worker cooperatives to make each man his own employer
2. Abolition of child labor
3. Abolition of trusts and monopolies
Haymarket Square (1886)
The place where protesters threw a bomb into a sea of police officers, killing 7
~Bomber never found
~Led to decline of unions due to the view that they were radical
American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Concentrated on attaining practical economic goals
~Did not advocate a reform program to remake American society
Samuel Gompers
Led the American Federation of Labor
~Went after the basics of higher wages and improved working conditions
~He directed his local unions of skilled workers to walk out until the employers agreed to negotiate a new contract through collective bargaining
Henry Clay Fricke
The manager of Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Plant near Pittsburgh
~Precipitated a strike in 1892 by cutting wages by nearly 20%
~Used the weapons of the lockout, private guards, and strike breakers to defeat the steel workers’ walkout after five months
Homestead Strike (1892)
Strike at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Plant
~Set back the union movement
Pullman Strike
Manufacturers of the sleeping cars
~Caused by Pullman’s announcement of lower wages
~The boycott tied up railroad transportation across the country
Eugene V. Debs/In Re Debs (1895)
The American Railroad Union leader/Supreme Court approved the use of court injunctions against strikes
~Gave employers major power to break the unions
