1870-1900 History U.S.

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Laissez-Faire

this was a philosophy created in 1776 by Adam smith that advocated minimal government regulations of business.

Adam Smith

smith was the father of modern economics. He was against mercantilism and,in his book, the wealth of Nations, Smith advocated a laissez-faire policy of leaving business alone.

Robber Barons

this is a nickname for entrepreneurs who monopolized industries and overcharges the consumer. They included J. Pierpont Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, big bussiness tycoons.

Horizontal consolidation

a way to control some business by monopolizing one necessary of the biusiness

Vertical consolidation

the process of monopolizing the whole business by controlling all of the parts from the raw materials to the finished product.

stock watering

it refers to the practice of inflating claims about the assets and profiability of a company to increase the prices of its stocks and bonds

pools

in a pool,competitors of a cretain product agree to raise prices collectivly so they can receive huge profits

holding companies

they were formed in response to the Sherman Antitrust Act. They consisted of one company owning the majorty of stock in a large number of companies.

Trusts

In a trust, the board of directors in one company controls the competing company by being on the other company's (BoD), thus get rid of competition. To do this, a big company owns much stock in its rivals and is able to pick and influence them

Interlocking Directorates

A company places people into positions of power, and influences the competing company through these people. One of the most prominent interlocking directorates was J.P. Morgans.

Long and Short haul, rebates

Corruption of the railroads was so bad that companies often charged a higher rate for a shorter haul then for a long haul. They also gave rebates or favors to big companies such as Carnige steel

Bessemer Process

process of strengthining iron by forming steel. It rid the iron of all impurities (slag) and carbonized the iron into steel

Mesabi Range

located in the lake superior-Minnesota region, the Mesabi Range produced much of the iron ore in America

Henry C. Frick

He was the first to make a million dollars by selling coke( a coal residue)

George Westinghouse

He was the inventor of the automatic air brake in 1872. It was a break that would activate all the brakes in the train at once.

Thomas A. Edison

Probably the most versatile inventor in American history, Edison received thousands of patents for his inventions. Some of his most famous inventions ate the Phonofraph and the incandescent light bulb.

Alexander G. Bell

Bell, a teacher of the deaf invented the telephone.

Big Four

They were four multimillionaires who monopolized the railroads in California. They were Leland Stanford, Colis Huntington, Charles Crocker , and Mark Hopkins, Railroad tycoons.

Union and Central Pacific

these were two of the many railroads owned by the big four of California. They were operated by grenville Dodge and were later sold to the big four.

James G. Hill, Great northern Railroad

Hill was the only railroad builder who built a railroad without government subsidies . Called the Great National Railroad

Cornelius Vanderbilt, New York Central

Vanderbilt was the most prominest multimillionaire in the east, He controlled most of the Eastern railroads and the name of his railroad was the New York Central

John D, Rockefeller, Standard Oil

He started out with a refinery in Pittsburgh and turned it into an oil company with a monoply onf 90% of Americans oil. He practiced Horizontal consolidation by only controling the refinerys.

Andrew Carnegie

a multimillionaire who controlled a 25% of the steel industry with his company. Carnigie Steel.

J. Pierpont Morgan

As the most influential and powerful banker in America J.P. Morgan was the symbor of power and arrogance for financial capitalism. He was on many boards directors because he could provide loans that the companies needed

Morgan Bond Transaction

J.P. Morgan and August Belmont agreed to lend the government $62 million in exchange for a special discount on U.S. bonds with the money the U.S. government restored its gold supply while morgan and belmont made a large profit selling bonds to the public

Gustavus Swift, Philip Armour

these two controlled the monoply of meat packing. With the improvements of railroads, the inventions of the tin can, and the refrigerated box car , Swift and Armour became top names in meat packing.

James Duke, American Tobacco

Named after president james buchanon, James B. Duke controlled 93% of the tobacco business. This percentage was the most comprehensive monoply in America.

Jay Cooke

Cooke was an extremely rich financial genius of the Civil War. He owned a new york banking firm called Jay Cooke and company. Its failure in 1873 helped begin a depression

Elbert Gary, U.S. Steel

1901 When Carnegie Steel sold out its interists to a group of financers headed by Elbert Gary and J.P. Morgan, they formed U.S. steel. Gary later bought the company from Morgan

Windom Committee 1874

A senate committee, the wimdom committee reccomended that the U.S. government build railroads to compete with private lines and thus force private lines to keep their rates down

cullow Committee 1886

A senate committee, this committee disclosed that railroads were guilty of pooling tatics and reccomended immediate federal government regulationsof the railroads.

Interstate commerce Act 1887

it stated that trusts or monoplies were illigal. It created the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce the measure and required railroads to post their rates pubicaly. It also prohibited rate discrimination.