History Unit 11 Industrial Growth and the Rise of Big Business Flashcards
How did the civil war encourage growth in production
Weapons food railroads Natural resources fuel industry Coal Timber Oil wells (whale oil dies out)
What was the gilded age
Era with extreme social issues Industrialism Immigration Urbanization Political corruption Native Americans Covered by growth of wealth for the rich
Thomas Edison
Lightbulb, –> more work time in factories
Alexander Graham Bell
1876
Where do the Union Pacific and central Pacific railroads meet
Promontory Summit Utah (1869)
Connects east and west
Stimulates cross country shipping industry
Corporations
Business owned by many different investors
Low risk for investors
Only the $ they invest
How was money used with corporations
Access to capital
Find new technology
Infrastructure allows for plants across country
Monopolies
Businesses that control an entire industry
Destroy competition, set prices
Andrew Carnegie
Poor Scottish immigrant Founder of Carnegie steel Bessemer process Believed in social Darwinism Sells for $40 million (1901) Gave most $350 million to charity Vertical integration (owns all phases of production reduce costs for work)
John D. Rockefeller
Creates standard oil
Uses vertical and horizontal integration
Creates trusts
Owns thousands of oil refineries
Social Darwinism
Term develops in 1870s
“Survival of the fittest” –> natural selection
Applied to capitalism by entrepreneurs
How is social Darwinism applied to business
Only the strongest companies will survive
Justifies harsh marketplace
Leads to the death of small, weak companies, will not survive
How did social Darwinism change views of rich and poor
Rich-earned gods favor
Poor-lazy, inferior, earned their fate
How did government policies deal w capitalism
Protective tariffs
Laissez faire
How did the government respond to capitalism
Congress: Interstate commerce commission - 1887 Regulated railroad commerce Sherman Antitrust Act -1890 Seldom enforced Beginning of a trend of government regulation
Impact of Industrialism
US dominates exports of grains, steel, textiles
More railroad track than the rest of the world combined
Growth of cities
