Unit 6 Vocab Quiz Flashcards
Railroads
nation’s first big business
Vanderbilt
American business magnate and philanthropist (Vanderbilt University) who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After sucess in the inland water trade, he invested in the rapidly growing railroad industry, most importantly the New York Central Railroad.
Transcontinental railroads
built over the last third of the 19th century, it created a nationwide transportation network that united the country by rail, creating the world’s first transcontinental railroad when it opened in 1869. Helped open up unpopulated interior regions of America to exploration and settlement that would not otherwise have been feasible; formed the backbones of cross-country passenger and freight transportation networks.
Andrew Carnegie
a Scottish immigrant industrialist who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He is often identified as one of the richest Americans ever, and with his money he built a leadership role as a philanthropist.
Vertical Integration
an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is owned by that company.
- Holding company
a kind of company is created to own and control diverse companies. Pioneered by JD Rockefeller, JP Morgan also managed such a company that orchestrated the management of companies it acquired in various industries, such as banking, rail transportation, and steel.
Us Steel
founded by financier J. P. Morgan and his attorney by combining 3 companies, including Andrew Carnegie’s Carnegie Steel Company, for $492 million ($14.16 billion today). At one time, U.S. Steel was the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world
JD Rockefeller
an American oil industry business magnate and philanthropist, who is considered to be the wealthiest American of all time by virtually every source, and—largely—the richest person in modern history
Horizontal Integration
the process of a company controlling production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain. A company may do this via internal expansion, acquisition or merger. The process can lead to monopoly if a company captures the vast majority of the market for that product or service
Standard Oil Trust
an American oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world of its time
JP Morgan
an American financier and banker who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation in late 19th and early 20th Century United States. When he died, however, his personal fortune, relatively “small” to his business endeavors, which has led historians to believe he was merely an American point man for international banking, likely the Rothschild’s that his father worked for. This prompted John D. Rockefeller to say: “and to think, he wasn’t even a rich man.”
Second Industrial Revolution/Technological Revolution
was a phase of rapid industrialization in the final third of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th
Bessemer Process
a steel-making process, now largely superseded, in which carbon, silicon, and other impurities are removed from molten pig iron by blasts of air
Thomas Edison
an American business man who made his fortune off of patenting inventions.
George Westinghouse
an American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the railway air brake and worked with Nikola Tesla to become a pioneer of the electrical industry
Sears, Robuck
an American department store chain founded in 1886 which uniquely contributed to consumption with their famous mail order catalog (Amazon prime of its day).
RH Macy
Formed one of the first large scale department stores that has a business model of carrying many products under one roof. From the beginning, Macy’s logo has included a star, which comes from a tattoo that Macy got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship
Credit Mobilier
scandal of 1872-1873 damaged the careers of several Gilded Age politicians. Major stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad formed a company, the Crédit Mobilier of America, and gave it contracts to build the railroad. They sold or gave shares in this construction to influential congressmen
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
was the first Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts
Railroad strike of 1877
sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval. At the time, the workers were not represented by labor unions. The city and state governments organized armed militias, aided by national guard, federal troops and private militias organized by the railroads, who fought against the workers. An estimated 100 people were killed in the unrest across the country
Knights of Labor
he largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the workingman, rejected socialism and anarchism, and demanded the eight-hour day. The Haymarket bombing largely discredited the organization
Haymarket bombing
It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; scores of others were wounded.
American Federation of Labor
A national labor association that focused on using the skill from a craft as negotiation leverage, and formed as an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor
Samuel Gompers
founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and served as the organization’s president from 1886 until his death in 1924. He promoted thorough organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages
