The making of America: impact of big businesses, cities and mass migration. Flashcards
big businesses: how were these big businesses (co-operations) different than traditional businesses?
larger.
run by a board of shareholders rather than a single person or family.
big businesses: what were small scale farms replaced with and what were they?
bonanza farms.
owned by wealthy investors in the east.
big businesses: what event in 1886-7 led to big businesses being bale to buy up smaller struggling businesses?
harsh winter that killed off millions of cattle.
cotton & tobacco factories: in the south when did the number of cotton mills double?
1880 and 1900.
cotton & tobacco factories: how did the south become a major producer of cotton cloth in the USA?
now could support their cotton growing industry.
cotton & tobacco factories: tobacco and cigarette production increased drastically. by what date did the american tobacco company control 90% of cigarettes and what percentage of tobacco production?
1904.
75%
cotton & tobacco factories: what did the growth of southern cotton factories mean for plantations?
slow return of the demand for them.
cotton & tobacco factories: what was the economical effect of the increase in cotton production?
decrease in cotton prices.
most cotton pickers couldn’t make ends meet by 1900.
cotton & tobacco factories: what kind of jobs were the new job opportunity’s in cotton and tobacco factories like for white southerners?
generally low skilled and low paid.
fossil fuels & extractions: what lead to a huge demand for resources such as coal and iron?
growth of factories and railroads.
fossil fuels & extractions: what did the law passed in 1872 allow?
companies to set up mines for little cost and put a few restrictions on their activities.
fossil fuels & extractions: who was mining too costly for, so who took all the opportunities?
small companies.
huge mining operations.
fossil fuels & extractions: how much did coal production in the south increase from 1875 to 1890?
increase x10.
fossil fuels & extractions: discoveries of what brought companies such as? to west?
copper, tin, lead and silver.
anaconda.
fossil fuels & extractions: in Butte, Montana what is the cost of the copper and silver extracted every month?
a million dollars.
fossil fuels & extractions: why was the discovery of copper and silver recently important?
vital for use in cables as conductors. new electrical age.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- what was the impact on the environment and why?
huge areas of forest cut down to create support for mine shafts. toxic chemicals leached into the water.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- who did the environmental impacts impact as well?
indigenous peoples.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- why was it dangerous for people- especially the people mining?
at 1000m underground, worked in temperatures above 35 degrees.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- why were mine shaft dangerous?
poorly constructed and could collapse as well as others.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- why did many miners die of lung disease?
no breathing equipment.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: by when had small scale farming died out ont he plains?
1880’s.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: how big was an average farm?
10,000 acres.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: how many people worked on them and were they well paid?
250.
low paid.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: what type of person were the owners who profited?
eastern capitalists.
investors.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: what event drove small business out of bonanza cattle ranches and why?
1866 oversupply of cattle. drop in beef prices, driving out small companies.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: what event and when killed off millions of cattle?
harsh winter in 1886.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: why was the harsh winter a good opportunity for bigger businesses?
bigger ones able to weather the storm and brought up smaller ones as they collapsed.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: by what date were most ranches int he west owned by just a handful of people?
1900.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: impact- what couldn’t employed workers afford and what did many hope?
homestead.
would eventually save enough to buy their own land.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: impact- what made it impossible for small scale farms to survive?
farms had best land, water, resources and railroad links.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: impact- what did many struggling small farm owners do?
gave up and moved into cities.
became wage workers for a distant farm owner.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: impact- why did farming and ranching have massive impact on the environment?
used up limited supplies of water in the west, forcing many indians off the land onto reservations.
dry farming techniques eventually made some land unusable.
migration & experiences: why did migrants want to move to america?
recovered economy and hope of achieving the american dream.
migration & experiences: where were the migrants coming from at this time?
central eastern and southern Europe.
migration & experiences: in 1890’s how many migrants came from italy?
600,000.
migration & experiences: what was the name of americas main immigration station?
ellis island, new york.
migration & experiences: in what ways were migrants treated badly once they arrived in america?
some cities experienced anti-immigration violence.
businesses offered desperate migrants lower wages.
migration & experiences: why were white people pushed out of their jobs and by who?
migrants offered jobs for lower wages so were in favour pushing out white workers.
migration & experiences: why could they face prejudice?
difference in culture and beliefs.
migration & experiences: in 1887 what association was set up and what was their goal?
american protective association set up to protect protestant americans from the dangers of catholic, jewish and budhist immigrants.
migration & experiences: why was the situation worse for Chinese immigrants in the west?
1870’s anti-Chinese riots led to many murders and part of Tacoma being burnt to the ground.
migration & experiences: how much of the population of san fransisco did chinese immigrants make up but what weren’t they legally allowed to do?
10%.
live outside of chinatown.
migration & experiences: what act was passed in 1882, who did it affect and how did it affect them?
chinese exclusion act.
limited number of chinese workers entering america.
chinese.
