Industrial America

Question 1

What event marked the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution?

Answer 1

1844 Samuel Morse sent telegraph message

Question 2

What was the Second Industrial Revolution?

Answer 2

Years after the Civil War, US became an industrial powerhouse because inventors and scientists backed by business leaders ushered in a technological revolution that changed people’s daily lives.

Question 3

Daily Life in 1865

Answer 3

Indoor lighting started to exist, but rise and set of sun determined day. Candles and oil lamps lit when affordable. Ice was available but expensive. Mail from east took days to reach Midwest.

Question 4

Patent

Answer 4

License that gave an inventor the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention for a set period of time.
1860: the government’s Patent and Trademark Office issued 500,000 patents.

Question 5

By ####, US standard of living was:

Answer 5

1900

Highest in world

Question 6

US had growing industrial productivity:

Answer 6

Amount of goods and services created in a given time period

Question 7

Thomas Edison

Answer 7

Had a goal to create affordable in home lighting. Developed light bulb 1880, refined the filament to make it practical for home use.
Also developed the idea of a central power station and power plants arose.

Question 8

George Westinghouse

Answer 8

Improved lighting so it could be sent over long distances, practical for home use.

Question 9

Companies like what and what were formed to help…

Answer 9

General Electric and Westinghouse Electric spread the use of electricity

Question 10

What was possible now that factories had electricity?

Answer 10

Electric sewing machine

Question 11

What was possible now that homes had electricity?

Answer 11

Refrigerator

Question 12

Oil used to be… But the new idea was…

Answer 12

Used to be taken from whale fat or seeped in large pits. New idea was to drill oil.

Question 13

Edwin L Drake

Answer 13

In 1858, PA Rock and Oil Company sent Drake to drill for oil using steam powered engine. He struck oil in 1859.
Oil refineries, which transformed crude oil into kerosene, sprang up. It’s byproduct gasoline later used for automobiles.

Question 14

Alexander Graham Bell

Answer 14

Bell came to Boston from Scotland and invented the talking telegraph in 1876. Set up American Telephone & Telegraph Company which built long distance telephone lines.

Question 15

What was the company formed by several telegraph companies?

Answer 15

Western Union Telegraph Company

Question 16

Transcontinental Railroad

Answer 16

Railway extending from coast to coast. Prior travel stopped at Mississippi River, now went to California.

Question 17

Railroads gave a big boost over:

Answer 17

Steam powered ships

Question 18

Problems with train travel

Answer 18

Costly
Dangerous
No signals
Unreliable brakes

Question 19

Who worked on the railroads?

Answer 19

Irish in the east, Chinese in the west, met in the middle

Question 20

Railroads built with federal aid were _______ than private railroads

Answer 20

Less efficient

Question 21

James J Hills’s Great Northern Railroad had ______ rates and _______ profits.

Answer 21

Lower rates

Higher profits

Question 22

When was the national system of time zones adopted?

Answer 22

1883

Question 23

Importance of Railroads

Answer 23

Key in revolutionizing business and industry in US

1. Faster means of transporting goods
2. Lower costs of production
3. Creation of national markets
4. Model for big business
5. Stimulation of other industries

Question 24

What industries exploded because of railroads?

Answer 24

Steel, oil, meat packing, grain, lumber

Question 25

New process for making steel developed by:

Answer 25

Henry Bessemer of England and William Kelly of Kentucky

Question 26

Steel produced by:

Answer 26

Melting iron
Adding carbon
Removing impurities

Question 27

Bessemer Process made it ______ and _______ to remove impurities

Answer 27

Easier

Cheaper

Question 28

Steel is what than iron?

Answer 28

Lighter
Stronger
More flexible

Question 29

Bessemer Process allowed for:

Answer 29

Mass production of steel
New age of building began
Brooklyn Bridge by John A Roebling was a symbol of this with its electric light bulbs

Question 30

Robber Barons

Answer 30

Suggests business leaders built their fortunes by stealing from the public.
Drained country of national resources, persuaded public officials to bend laws their way, drove competitors to ruin

Question 31

Captains of industry

Answer 31

Served nation in a positive way.
Increased supply of goods, expanded markets, raised productivity, raised standard of living, built museums/libraries/universities

Question 32

John D Rockefeller

Answer 32

1863: built oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio
1870: formed Standard Oil Company
Horizontal Consolidation: bringing together many firms in same business by buying competitors

Question 33

Rockefeller’s charity

Answer 33

Gave over $500 million to establish charities and institutions to benefit humanity.
Helped found UChicago
Founded Rockefeller Foundation to give aid to institutions working in public health, art, social research

Question 34

Andrew Carnegie

Answer 34

Bessemer Process convinced Carnegie that steel would replace iron.
1889: Carnegie Steel Plant in Pittsburgh grew into Carnegie Steel Company and eventually US Steel.
Vertical Consolidation: bought all phases of production, including shipping and rail lines. As company expanded, prices decreased.

Question 35

Carnegie donated ##% of his fortune to ________, gave away $?

Answer 35

80% to education

$350 million

Question 36

Social Darwinism

Answer 36

Based off of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, only the fittest survive so society shouldn’t interfere with private business. As a result, the government didn’t tax business profits.

Question 37

Gospel of Wealth

Answer 37

By Carnegie

People should be free to make as much money as they can, give it away if you’re lucky enough to make it.

Question 38

Big Business

Answer 38

Different from earlier forms because:

1. Large pools of capital: necessary to operate such a business
2. Wider geographic span: with help of railroads and telegraph
3. Broader range of operations: controlling all stages of productions
4. Revised role of ownership: businesses so large owners hired managers
5. New methods of management: needed an accounting department

Question 39

Monopolies

Answer 39

Complete control of product/service by buying out or driving out competitors. By the late 1800s government passed laws to limit.

Question 40

Cartel

Answer 40

Despite laws to limit monopolies, political leaders refused to attack business leaders. Companies formed cartels: loose association of businesses that make same product. Idea= limit supply of product and keep prices high.

Question 41

State laws prohibited one company from _____ ______ of another or _______ ___.

Answer 41

Owning stock

Buying out

Question 42

Trust

Answer 42

Rockefeller’s lawyer had idea: Standard Oil and allies agreed to combine operations in 1882.
Agreed to turn over assets to Board of Trustees, promised a share of profits of new organization. Board controlled by Rockefeller, managed 40 companies as a single unit called a trust. Didn’t officially merge=didn’t violate laws

Question 43

Sherman Antitrust Act

Answer 43

1890
Outlawed any combination of companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce. Ineffective for 15 years because courts were mostly pro-business and enforced infrequently.