Period 6 (1865- 1898)

Question 1

Economies of scale

Answer 1

as more and faster machines became available to manufacturers, businessmen discovered that their cost per unit decreased as the number of units they produced increased.

Question 2

What was the downside of economies of scale?

Answer 2

required employees to work as efficiently and repetitively as machines- Ford’s assembly line production

Question 3

corporate consolidation

Answer 3

profits continued to increase by large margins, government did not enforce regulations

Question 4

holding company and what it led to

Answer 4

owned enough stock in various companies to have a controlling interest in the production of raw material, the means of transporting that material to a factory, the factory itself, and the distribution network for selling the product. led o monopoly- complete control of entire industry

Question 5

horizontal and vertical integration

Answer 5

horizontal integration created monopolies- Standard Oil created by Rockefeller, several smaller companies within the same industry are combined to form one larger company
vertical integration- allows other companies in the same industry to survive and compete in the marketplace- one company buys out all factors of production, from raw materials to finished product

Question 6

As businessmen became more powerful, public resentment increased and the government responded with laws to restrict monopolies, which were weakened by the courts. What is an example of this?

Answer 6

Sherman Antitrust Act- law that forbid any “combination or conspiracy in the restraint of trade”

Question 7

Andrew Carnegie and his beliefs

Answer 7

steel mogul, promoted a philosophy based on evolution- argued that in business, as in nature, unrestricted competition allowed only for the “fittest” to survive- SOCIAL DARWINISM

Question 8

Gospel of Wealth

Answer 8

Carnegie asserted that great wealth brought with it social responsibility- Gospel of Wealth

Question 9

How did manufacturers cut costs?

Answer 9

hired women and children, as well as newly arrived immigrants. a lot of poverty

Question 10

What did advances in mass transportation allow for?

Answer 10

allowed middle class to live in nicer neighborhoods and commute to work. As a result, immigrants and migrants made up he majority of city populations

Question 11

Prejudice against Southern and Eastern European immigrants was widespread, resulting in what?

Answer 11

many immigrants settling in ethnic neighborhoods, usually in tenements.

Question 12

political bosses and political machines

Answer 12

helped the poor find homes and jobs, apply for citizenship and voting rights, but in return expected community members to vote as instructed

Question 13

Widespread misery in cities caused the creation of what

Answer 13

labor unions, such as Knights of Labor

Question 14

What were the goals of the Knights of Labor?

Answer 14

1. 8 hr workday
2. equal pay for equal work for men and women
3. child labor laws
4. safety and sanitary codes
5. federal income tax
6. government ownership of railroad and telegraph lines

Question 15

American Federation of Labor

Answer 15

formed as a confederation of trade unions- most refused to accept immigrants, blacks, and women among their memberships

Question 16

settlement houses

Answer 16

founded in poor neighborhoods, became community centers, provided schooling, childcare, and cultural activities

Question 17

yellow journalism

Answer 17

sensational reporting

Question 18

Postwar economics forced many farmers to sell their land, which wealthy land-owners bought and consolidated into larger farms. This forced landless farmers into what?

Answer 18

sharecropping- crop lien system designed to keep the poor in constant debt, borrowed what they needed to buy seed and tools, promised a portion of their crop as collateral. Huge interest rates guaranteed that they would never overcome their debts.

Question 19

Jim Crow laws

Answer 19

laws that enforced discrimination and segregation

Question 20

Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer 20

Supreme Court ruled that the role of the federal government was not to maintain social equality, established that “separate but equal” facilities for the different races were legal

Question 21

Transcontinental Railroad

Answer 21

former farmers, immigrants, freed slaves, and Civil War veterans worked to make Lincoln’s vision a reality

Question 22

What changes did railroads bring?

Answer 22

transformed depot towns into cities by connecting them to civilization, easier and faster travel meant more contact with ideas and technological advances from the East, accelerated Industrial Revolution

Question 23

Turner’s Frontier Thesis

Answer 23

American frontier was gone and with it, the first period of American history. Argued that the frontier was significant in shaping the American character, defining the American spirit, fostering democracy, and providing a safety valve for economic distress

Question 24

Homestead Act

Answer 24

federal government offered 160n acres of land to anyone who would cultivate the land and live there for 5 years

Question 25

With many families and corporations heading West, government and conservation groups sought for added protection of natural resources. What is an example of this?

Answer 25

The US Fish Commission studied, monitored, and preserved wild fisheries

Question 26

Sierra Club

Answer 26

one of the first large organizations devoted to conservation in the United States

Question 27

Dawes Severality Act

Answer 27

broke up Native American reservations and distributed some of the land to the head of each Native American family, required the family live on the land for 25 years, after which the land was legally theirs and they were American citizens

Question 28

Ghost dDance Movement

Answer 28

practiced religion in attempt to stop federal expansion in the West
Wounded Knee Massacre- Gost Dancers were murdered

Question 29

Why was this period called the Gilded Age

Answer 29

America appeared to have entered a period of prosperity, with a handful of families having amassed unprecedented wealth, but the affluence of a few was built on the poverty of many
American politics looked like a shining example of representative democracy, but there was corruption and patronage with political machines

Question 30

In response to the outcry over widespread corruption, what did the government do?

Answer 30

imposed railroad regulations, set up Interstate Commerce Act to supervise railroad activities and regulate unfair and unethical practices

Question 31

What were the Farmers’ Alliances and what did they become?

Answer 31

movement organized to help farmers, allowed women to be politically active. Became the People’s Party, the political arm of the Populist movement

Question 32

What was the People’s Party platform?

Answer 32

called for solidarity with industrial workers, opposition to immigration to help American workers, and trying to earn more support for Eastern laborers

Question 33

Tariff of Abominations

Answer 33

higher tariffs, hurt farmers nad laborers

Question 34

McKinley Tariff

Answer 34

raised the level of duties on imported goods

Question 35

Examples of imperialism in this period

Answer 35

taking over Hawaii, Cuba, Philippines

Question 36

How was imperialism justified?

Answer 36

belief that the United States had a moral obligation to civilize those not of European descent- “white man’s burden”

Question 37

Open Door Policy

Answer 37

policy for all Western nations hoping to tradd with Asia

Question 38

scalawags were

Answer 38

white Southerners who supported Republican policies during Reconstruction

Question 39

The passage of the Pendleton Act was a direct result of the

Answer 39

assasination of James A. Garfield, replaced spoils system

Question 40

Why was Japan outraged by the American annexation of Hawaii?

Answer 40

nearly half of its residents were of Japanese descent