Chapter 24 Flashcards
How did the government help railroad companies?
Granted them acres of land
Withheld land from other industries for the railroads
How did cities rise?
Railroads transported supplies and food to support big populations in one area
Paddies
Irishmen that worked on the Union Pacific Railway
Indians vs. Railroad Workers
Often as railroads expanded Westward, they would come into contact with Indians and fight eachother
The Big Four
Chief financial bankers of the Central Pacific Railroad
Used two construction companies to gain profit
Stayed clean by not bribing politicians
What workers did the Central Pacific use?
Chinese
Great Northern Railroad
Thought by James J. Hill
Ran from Duluth to Seattle
Understood that in order for a railroad to be successful the land around it had to be successful, so he built up agriculture
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Offered superior railway service at lower rates
Used steel rails
What factor spurred the most industrialization?
The railroads
How did railroads impact the West?
Transported miners and supplies to the mines
Transported farmers to their fields
Destroyed the enviornment
Time zones
Previous to railways, each town had its own time zone based on the sun’s position
The railways made “standard times”
Jay Gould
swindled money out of the railroads
manipulated the system
Stock watering
railroad stock promoters made lines look better than they actually were
sold stocks and bonds far in excess of the railroad’s actual value
Pool
An agreement to divide business in a given area and share the profits
Originated in the railroads
What did the depression of the 1870s cause?
Farmers to demand a change of railroad aristocracy
Wabash Case
Individual states had no power to regulate interstate commerce
made the federal government in control of big business
Interstate Commerce Act
Prohibited rebates and pools
Required the railroads to publish their rates openly
Forbade unfair discrimination against shippers (cannot charge more for same travel based on company)
Pros and Cons of Interstate Commerce Act
Con: Most of the time federal government did not persecute businesses
Pro: allowed competing businesses to resolve conflicts in peaceful ways
Red letter law
The Interstate Commerce Act gave the federal government the daunting task of regulating business in the future
Mesabi Range
Iron ores found in Minnesota
Became the cornerstone of the steel industry
Immigration
provided a labor force
Interlocking directorates
Used by JP Morgan
Placing officers of his own on the boards of other companies
William Kelly
American maker of iron kettles
Discovered the Bessemer process, before Bessemer
Blow cold air on red-hot iron to make them white-hot
Why was America so good at making steel?
- Abundant coal for fuel and iron for smelting
- Lots of immigrants for work force
- Little government regulation
Morgan and Carnegie
Morgan was going to go into steel pipe tubing
Carnegie threatened to do the same
This forced Morgan to buy out the competition
Carnegie made $350 million
United States Steel Corporation
Established by Morgan after he buys out Carnegie
America’s first billion dollar corporation
Kerosene
Drilled by Edmund Drake in PA
Used for oil lamps
What sparked the need for oil?
the lightbulb made oil lamps obsolete
this made cars the main demand for oil
Who often led the anti-trust movements?
Old-money conservatives
They did not like the “new money” tycoons that made money through trusts
Spencer and Sumner
Social Darwinists
Believed that social classes owed nothing to each other
Millionaires were just “survivors of the fittest”
Reverend Russell Conwell
Delivered “Acres of Diamonds” sermon that argued that poor people are only poor because they did not work hard
He actually made lots of money off of this sermon
Plutocracy
Government by the wealthy
14th Amendment
Under the 14th amendment, often times corporations were granted the same rights as citizens
Easy states
Industrialists tried to create states where restrictions on big business was limited
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Forbade combinations in restraint of trade
Failed to distinguish between good and bad trusts
Contained many loopholes
Unforeseen consequence of the Sherman Act
Was used to stop labor unions that restrained trade
James Buchanan Duke
Used machine-made cigarettes to stimulate industry in the South
Made American Tobacco Company
Henry Grady
Editor of Atlanta newspaper
Tried to argue that the South should industrialize and beat the North at their own game
Railroads and the South
Railroads favored the North and charged the South more
Coal out of Birmingham was charged more no matter what direction it was being shipped
Cotton and the South
The South decided to consolidate the cotton industry and bring mills down to the South
Mills were the first time that Southerners got steady wages and jobs
Piedmont Region
What was the south mainly?
Agricultural
Standard of living
Rose significantly during this time
Change in time
Before people mainly lived by the clock of nature (farmers)
Now people had to adhere to strict time rules placed by companies
New jobs for women
Stenographers and telephone operators
Gibson Girl
Women now portrayed as more independent and athletic
the “new women”
Injunctions
Corporations can get the court to order the strikers to go back to work
What boasted the labor movement?
The Civil War
Labor was valued since so many were dying
National Labor Union
1866-1877
Attracted skilled and unskilled workers
Did not allow colored people or minorities
Ended due to 1870s economic depression
Knights of Labor
members had to be discreet and secretive
One big union that accepted all types of workers
Wanted better wages, hours, and safety standards
Terence Powderly
Irish American that led strikes for the 8 hour workday
John P. Altgeld
Governor of Illinois
Took a bold stance by pardoning those involved with Haymarket Riot
End of the Knights of Labor
After the Haymarket Square Riots, the Knights of Labor were seen as anarchists
Skilled vs. unskilled workers
Unskilled workers could easily be replaced
Skilled workers held all the power since they could not be easily replaced
Samuel Gompers
Leader of the American Federation of Labor
Down to earth
wanted simple changes
American Federation of Labor
Composed of many different skilled worker unions
not one big union, but a combination of lots of little unions
“Trade agreement”
Idea to implement all union labor?
Labor Day
Made an official holiday in 1894
shows how the labor movement is rising
