US History - Industrial Supremecy - Assignments Flashcards
Thomas Edison
1870s: introduction of electricity as source of light and power, invented lightbulb
Designed improved generators
Built large power plants to furnish electricity to whole cities
New Inventions
Mostly in communication, e.g.: 1866: Cyrus W. Field laid transatlantic telegraph cable to Europe, next decade: Alexander Graham Bell developed first telephone with commercial capacity
Automobile
One of the inventions with farthest-reaching impact in US was the car. Two technologies critical for development: creation of gasoline and internal combustion engine
Henry Ford
1906: produced the first Ford cars
General Electric
Fearful of technological competition, created one of first laboratories in 1900, emergence of corporate research and development laboratories coincided with decline in government support for research, helping corporations attract skilled researchers who had lost their traditional forms of support. Also decentralized sources of research funding and ensured that inquiry would move in many directions, and not just along paths determined by government
Taylorism
Many industrialists had new principles of scientific management after its leading theoretician Taylor. Urged employers to reorganize production process by subdividing tasks. Sped up production and made workers more interchangeable. Had to do something in certain time and if not you were fired.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
one of the first, made money from steam ships, american waters, also owned railroads, many cities where they came through he built big houses, built university in railroad town
Limited Liability
Appealing to the public since they only risked the amount of their investments and were not liable for any debts of the corporation beyond that point. Ability to sell stocks to broad public made it possible for entrepreneurs to gather vast sums of capital and undertake great projects.
Andrew Carnegie
rags to riches, poor Scottish immigrant, owned US Steel, treated workers terribly, sells company to J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
Banker
Gustavus Swift
Forged small meatpacking company into a great national corporation
Horizontal Integration
Method of consolidation: combined number of firms engaged in same enterprise into single corporation
Vertical Integration
Method of consolidation: company took over all different businesses on which it relied for its primary function
John D. Rockefeller
Owned Standard Oil, first monopoly
Trust agreement
Arrangement of combining companies, so would get bigger and more productive, less tax
Holding company
Would be formed by trust agreements, purpose is to hold a lot of shares of companies
Social Darwinism
Adaption of Darwin’s laws of evolution and natural selection to human society: only fittest individuals survived and flourished in marketplace.
Gospel of Wealth
Some businessman attempted to temper harsh philosophy of Social Darwinism with gentler, but at the same time also self-serving, idea: people of great wealth had not only great power but also responsibility to use their riches to advance social progress
Philantrophy
The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.
Horatio Alger
Author of over 100 novels, featuring almost always the same story: young poor boy who lives on street. One day his determination and energy catch eye of wealthy man who gives him chance to improve himself. Through honesty, charm, hard work and aggressiveness boy rises in world to become successful man.
His books helped Americans in 1800 and 1900s to believe that everybody could rise with will power and hard work.
Molly Maguires
Emergence in anthracite coal region of western PE. Militant labor organization that sometimes used violence and even murder in its battle with coal operators.
Knights of Labor
mostly in North, willing to take in anyone who worked, skilled or unskilled, black or white, male or female, added members quickly until 1880s, since it take in everybody it was hard to organize, but did organize some national strikes
American Federation of Labor
1881: representatives of a number of craft unions formed Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada. 5 years later changed name to AFL, rival organization of KoL.
Not for everybody, but only association of autonomous craft unions that represented mainly skilled workers.
Samuel Gompers
Leader of AFL, concentrated on labor’s immediate objectives: wages, hours, and working conditions. One of its first objectives was national eight hour workday and called for strike if goal was not achieved by May 1, 1886
Haymarket Bombing
May 1, 1886: in Chicago strike was in progress at McCormick Harvester Company. City police had been harassing the strikers and labor and radical leaders called protest meeting at Haymarket Square on May 1. When police ordered crowd to disperse, someone threw bomb that killed seven policemen and injured sixty seven others. The police fired and killed more people. Conservatives demanded retribution. Chicago officials rounded up eight anarchists and charged them with murder. All eight scapegoats were found guilty after remarkably injudicious trial. To most middle class Americans the Haymarket bombing was alarming symbol of social chaos and radicalism. Anarchism now became code word for terrorism and violence, even though most anarchists were peaceful. Constant obstacle for AFL and other labor organizations and did particular damage to KoL.
Homestead Strike
1890: Carnegie wanted to get rid of Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, a very powerful trade union, and so he repeatedly cut wages at Homestead, one of the corporations three major factories where Amalgamated still had foothold (Homestead plant near Pittsburgh).
1892: When company stopped discussing decisions with union, they called for strike.
July 6, 1892: After violent fighting between strikers and Pinkertons, hired to break strike, strikers won only for shirt time because governor of PE sent state’s entire National Guard contingent and workers resumed to work.
Pullman Strike
ran larger factory company that produced sleeping cars attached to railroad, Pullman was Utopian thinker, built town in Illinois and built houses for his managers and workers, they couldn’t drink, payed better than any other owner, payed them with Pullman money that could only be used in Pullman, Illinois, worked well to 1890s where he couldn’t sell many cars, had to cut wages and raised rents, workers went on strike, Pullman went to governor of Illinois and told him to help him, governor refused, so went to president and had to come up with reason for him to call National Guard, reason was delayed delivery of mail, Pullman wins battle.
George Westinghouse
Invented air break for cars, replaced people with machines, established companies that used his inventions
Yellow Dog Contracts
when you accept a job you had to sign a contract that you wouldn’t join a union organization, still Yellow Dog Contract today
Blacklists
would put the name of workers that didn’t behave on a list so they wouldn’t get a job anymore
Scabs
Union workers used word to describe replacement workers, when there is violence or strike employers employ scabs as replacement, but they couldn’t join picket line, usually employed other ethnics, e.g.: Irish against Polish, last group chosen were African Americans
Picket lines
workers stand in a line together when strike so that nobody can walk through, purpose: announce that they are on strike, let nobody get through to work
Jacob Riis
Danish immigrant and New York newspaper photographer shocked many middle-class Americans with his sensational descriptions of tenement life (originally referred to a multiple-family rental building, but by late 19th century had become term for slum dwellings only) in his 1890 book
Theodore Dreiser
1900: Author of Sister Carrie, exposed one troubling aspect of urban life: the plight of single women who found themselves without any means of support
Tammany Hall
Was a political force in NYC. Associated with Democratic Party. Boss was William M. Tweed, most famous corrupt city boss in 1860s and 1870s whose extravagant use of public funds and kickbacks landed him in jail in 1872.
Boss politics
Abc
F. Olmstead
Architect of Central Park
Daniel Burnham
Architect of Great White City, a cluster of neoclassical buildings in the center of Columbian exposition in Chicago, arranged symmetrically around formal lagoon, became inspiration for “city beautiful” movement that strove to impose similar order and symmetry on disordered life of cities around country
William Randolph Hearst
1914: Most powerful newspaper chain owned by him. Controlled nine newspapers and two magazines.
Joseph Pulitzer
Publisher of yellow press - bad newspaper, had a lot of them and earned lots of money. Created a prize for quality journalism.
Coney Island
Most famous and self-consciously fabulous amusement park and resort on a popular beach in Brooklyn.
Most people found it appealing in part because it provided an escape from genteel standards of behavior that governed so much of American life at the time.
