Industrial America At Work (Quiz May 30)

Question 1

Samuel Morse

Answer 1

sent first telegraph message (1844)

Question 2

Second Industrial Revolution

Answer 2

US became industrial powerhouse after Civil War; inventors & scientists were financially backed by business leaders and the government. Technological advancements changed daily life.

Question 3

Daily Life in 1865

Answer 3

• increase in indoor lighting (more accessible)
• work day determined by setting/rising of the sun
• candles & oil for light when affordable
• ice available, but expensive
• mail from East Coast took 10 days to reach Midwest
• US had highest standard of living in world by 1900 (growing industrial productivity = amt. goods/services created in given time period)

Question 4

Patent

Answer 4

license giving inventor exclusive rights to make, use, or sell invention for set time period; 500,000 issued by Patent and Trademark Office of government by 1860

Question 5

Edwin L. Drake

Answer 5

1858; sent by PA Rock and Oil Company to drill using steam-powered engine; struck oil 1859

Question 6

Refineries

Answer 6

separated crude oil into parts: kerosene, gasoline (byproduct later used in automobile)

Question 7

Thomas Edison

Answer 7

wanted to create affordable in-home lighting; developed filament in lightbulb, not actual lightbulb; developed idea of central power station (power plants)

Question 8

George Westinghouse

Answer 8

improved lighting for long distances (home usage now more practical)

Question 9

General Electric & Westinghouse Electric

Answer 9

formed to help spread use of electricity; factories used electricity to make processes more efficient (electric sewing machine) and home electricity improved daily life (refrigerator)

Question 10

Communication

Answer 10

immigrants in the 1900s communicated w/ families in homeland more easily than in past; Morse Code in telegraph = communication revolution. Western Union Telegraph Company = several telegraph companies

Question 11

Alexander Graham Bell

Answer 11

came to Boston from Scotland; invented talking telegraph (1876), set up American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) which built long-distance telephone lines

Question 12

Railroads

Answer 12

post-CW America valued railroads over steam-powered ships, but train travel was expensive, dangerous, had no turn signals, and had unreliable brakes. Often funded by federal government (huge loans + land grants for Central Pacific & Union Pacific), but those were less efficient than railroads built in private sectors. 1870, carried goods & passengers coast to coast, but still problematic

Question 13

Transcontinental Railroad

Answer 13

railway from coast to coast; formerly stopped at Mississippi River, but was later extended to reach all the way to California.

Question 14

James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railroad (1880s & 1890s)

Answer 14

lower rates & higher profits

Question 15

Railroad Workers

Answer 15

built from each end, then met in the middle– usually Irish in East and Chinese in West

Question 16

Importance of Railroads

Answer 16

noisy, dirty, uncomfortable
- iron rails later replaced by steel; tracks became standardized
scheduling issues were rampant bc time differences
- 1883, adopted national system of time zones
revolutionized business & industry in US
- faster transport for goods, lower production costs, creation of national markets, model for big businesses, stimulation of other industries (iron=>steel)

Question 17

Henry Bessemer

Answer 17

Englishman who, working separately from William Kelly of Kentucky, developed a new processes for steelmaking, in which carbon was added to molten iron, and from which impurities were removed to create a lighter, stronger, more flexible substance: steel. The Bessemer process (1865) made the removal of impurities cheaper and easier, and allowed for mass production. Steel led the way to a new age of building, and the Brooklyn Bridge (John A. Roebling, German), which was built with steel, became a symbol of this age. On May 24, 1883, electric light bulbs were strung along the bridge.

Question 18

Robber Barons

Answer 18

name suggests that business leaders built fortunes by stealing from public

• drain country of natural resources
• persuaded public officials to bend laws their way
• drove competitors to ruin

Question 19

Captains of Industry

Answer 19

served nation in positive way

• increased supply of goods
• expanded markets
• raised productivity & standard of living
• built museums, libraries, & universities

Question 20

John D. Rockefeller

Answer 20

formed Standard Oil Company (1870) after building an oil refinery in Cleveland, OH (1863); gave $500+ million to establish charities/institutions that would benefit humanity, founded University of Chicago, and founded Rockefeller Foundation (gave aid to institutions working in public health, arts, & social research). He grew rich from grain/meat partnership w/ Union Army during Civil War (sold them spoiled meat).

Negotiated refunds on transport costs for his oil– no need for storage/insurance, so his oil was cheapest. He wanted to create a giant oil company and own all of his competitors’ refineries, so he practiced horizontal consolidation. He would then place himself on the Board of Advisors for each company.

Question 21

horizontal consolidation

Answer 21

bringing together many firms in the same business (buying out one’s competitors)

Question 22

Andrew Carnegie

Answer 22

convinced by Bessemer that steel would eventually replace iron; Carnegie Steel Plant of Pittsburgh grew into Carnegie Steel Company (1889). He bought all of the companies that completed the phases of production (shipping and rail lines, marketing, insurance, etc.). As his company expanded, the cost of each manufactured item decreased. Believed in Gospel of Wealth (80% of fortune went to some form of education; gave away $350 million) but also in social Darwinism. Argued that success of men like himself made nation better over all.

Question 23

vertical consolidation

Answer 23

controlling the individual businesses that make up the phases of a product’s development in order to make more profits.

Question 24

Gospel of Wealth

Answer 24

message that people should be free to make as much money as they are able, but should also give back to the community upon becoming wealthy

Question 25

Social Darwinism

Answer 25

from Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection (only the fittest survive and reproduce), except applied to society: society should not interfere with people’s pursuit of success– led to government not taxing business profits and not interfering with private business, but also was used an an excuse to persecute/discriminate against minorities.

Question 26

Big Business

Answer 26

operated differently from small business

• large pools of capital amassed from larger profits: necessary to operate large-scale businesses
• wider geographic span w/ help of railroads + telegraph = bigger market
• broader range of operations: companies are able to control all stages of production
• revised owner’s role: owners hired managers instead pf handling affairs personally, since business was too large to do so
• new methods of management: needed own accounting department for balancing books + budget

Question 27

Monopolies

Answer 27

complete control of a product/service by buying out or driving out competitors from business (limited by legislation in 1800s)

Question 28

cartels

Answer 28

loose association of businesses that make the same product; want to limit supply of product to keep prices high (control supply vs. demand, and force a shortage so they can drive up prices and make a larger profit)

Question 29

Legislation vs. Businesses

Answer 29

state laws banned a single company from owning another’s stock (buying out competitors = horizontal consolidation = owning stock); businesses found a loophole

Question 30

Rockefeller Finds A Way To Make More Money

Answer 30

Rockefeller’s lawyer had and idea: Standard Oil + allies combine operations (1882) and turn over assets to Board of Trustees, with each member given a share of the new organization’s profits. Rockefeller controlled the BoT and managed the companies as a single unit.

Question 31

trust

Answer 31

group of separate companies under the control of a single managing board. In Standard Oil’s case, 40 companies joined the trust, but were untouchable by the law since they weren’t officially merged.

Question 32

Sherman Antitrust Act

Answer 32

1890: Congress passed this law to limit the control a company could have over an industry; outlawed any combination of companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce– was ineffective for 15 years, since courts were mostly pro-business and rarely enforced the law