Chapter 6: Industrialization Flashcards
Bessemer process
• was a new, innovative way of making steel developed by Henry Bessemer
• was used to make barbed wire, railroads, factories, machines, & much more
? made it easier & quicker to mass produce steel, which increased industrialization
Inventions
• Thomas Edison invented the light bulb & created General Electric Power Company
• Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone
? helped create more jobs, improved working conditions, & increased production of items
Transcontinental Railroad
• Irish & Chinese immigrants employed to build railroad that connected entire country
• time zones were made for consistency on trains
? helped industrialization by providing transportation to move mass amount of goods to factories & consumers
Interstate Commerce Act
• Granger laws that protected farmers from unfair rates from railroads were ruled invalid because state laws couldn’t control interstate commerce
• act gave power to federal gov to supervise railroads & the Interstate Commerce Commission was created
? act capped railroad rates, causing railroad companies to go bankrupt
Andrew Carnegie
• a Scottish immigrant that became rich from investing in stock & making steel
• used vertical & horizontal integration to monopolize the steel industry
? was one of the richest people in the US & controlled most of steel industry
Vertical & Horizontal Integration
• vertical integration is when you buy out your suppliers so you can control prices easier
• horizontal integration is when you buy out your competition which then allows you to increase prices
? allowed businessmen, like Carnegie & Rockefeller, to monopolize their industries
Social Darwinism
• created by Herbert Spencer & is derived from Charle’s Darwin’s “Theory of Evolution”
• belief that the wealthy worked hard and earned their money and the poor weren’t trying hard enough & gov shouldn’t intervene and help
? was a new belief that justified why some people are wealthy & why some are poor
John D. Rockefeller
• started “Standard Oil Company” & monopolized the oil industry
• would sell oil for less than production cost, buy out competition, then jack up prices higher than original cost
? became one of the wealthiest men in the US & helped fund many foundations, schools, & hospitals
Sherman Antitrust Act
• made it illegal to form a trust that interfered with trade between states/other countries
• if businesses violated act, they could organize into single companies
? act didn’t define “trust” so it was hord to prosecute businesses
Knights of Labor
• organized by Uriah Stephens & supported equal pay fo equal work & a shorter workday for suffering laborers
• unlike other organizations, it was open to all workers, no matter their race, gender, or skill level
? even though they began to decline, it encouraged many other organizations & unions to form
American Federation of Labor
• organized by Jewish immigrant, Samuel Gompers
• used collective bargaining & strikes as major tactics, unlike Knights of Labor
? won higher wages & shorter work weeks for workers & encouraged more unions to organize
Homestead Strike
• president of Carnegie Steel, Henry Clay Frick, wanted to cut wages, so steelworkers called strike
• strike was successful for about 6 months, but ended due to loss of support
? was a major loss to steel workers that would take 45 years to recover from
Pullman Strike
• after Panic of 1893 & economic depression, the Pullman Company had cut wages & fired employees, resulting in strike
• Pullman refused to negotiate with strikers & ARU boycotted Pullman trains
? many strikers were fired &/or blacklisted so they couldn’t get a railroad job again
