click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Industrial Era
Significant Terms / Figures / Location
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Rural | Of or relating to the country |
Urban | Of or relating to the city |
Laissez Faire | Concept of government not interfering in the workings of economic market |
Natural Resources | Materials in nature that can be used for economic gain; U.S. had an abundance which fueled industrialization |
Manual Labor | Physical work done by people, without machines |
Overproduction | Problem faced by farmers as a result of mechanized farm machinery |
steam engine drill | Invented by Edwin Drake; used to drill for oil |
Bessemer Process | Process of converting iron into steel |
Thomas Edison | American inventor; over 1,000 patents |
Alexander Graham Bell | Inventor; credited with patenting first practical telephone |
George Pullman | Inventor, businessman; created comfortable railroad cars that changed transcontinental travel |
Andrew Carengie | Irish immigramt, wealthy, influential businessman; made fortune in steel industry |
John D. Rockefeller | Wealthy, influential businessman; made fortune in oil industry |
Horatio Alger | American author; his popular 10 cent books (dime novels) featured "rags to riches" themes |
Cornelius Vanderbilt | Wealthy, influential businessman; made fortune in railroad industry |
J.P. Morgan | Wealthy, influential businessman; made fortune in banking and railroads |
Chinese and Irish | Immigrant groups credited with building the Transcontinental Railroad |
monopoly | The market condition that exists when there is only one seller of a product/service; total control |
Interstate Commerce Act | First law passed by Congress calling for regulation of railroad practices/abuses |
standardized time zones | The fast pace of train travel led to scheduling difficulties and collisions, leading to these... |
Promontory Point, Utah | Meeting point for the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad |
Menlo Park, New Jersey | Thomas Edison's research labratory |
Pullman, Illinois | Company town where Pullman Sleeping Cars were manufactured; location of nations first labor strike |
skyscrapers/bridges/barbed wire/farm machinery | New uses for steel in America during industrial boom |
Populist Party | Significant third party formed by American farmers to force change in Washington |
railroad industry | #1 customer of steel industry; first industry to be regulated by government |
specialization | Part of the new, national American economic market due to the railroads; regions specialized in producing certain products |
Pittsburgh | Specialized in steel manufacturing |
Cleveland | Home of Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company |
Sherman Anti- Trust Act | Stated that the creation of monopolies, or trusts was illegal |
Native Americans | Group most negatively affected by railroads and western expansion |
Big Business | Term referring to larger companies in size, power, profits and influence. |
Gospel of Wealth | Essay written by Carnegie; rich have a moral responsibility to give large portions of wealth away. |
philanthropist | Term refers to a person who donates large sums of money to charitable organizations. |
Rags to Riches | To rise from meager beginnings to great wealth and success. |
Robber baron | Negative term for business tycoons in industrial America; greedy, served by own self interest and $. |
Captain of Industry | Positive take on the role and impact of bug businessmen like Rockefeller and Carnegie |
Labor Union | Group of workers who organize in an effort to improve working conditions. |
Samuel Gompers | "Father of Labor Unions"; encouraged many early unions to consolidate and work together. |
"Mother" Mary Harris Jones | Dedicated her life to improving working conditions for women and children; children's march in front of Teddy Roosevelt |
Eugene Debs | Radical union leader who favored socialism |
Child labor laws, 40 hour work week, health insurance, minimum wage, maternity leave, workers compensation, safety codes, paid vacation, overtime | Some of the workers rights earned by early labor union efforts. |
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, NYC | Worst workplace tragedy in NYC prior to September 11th. Led to public outcry for worker safety laws. |
Socialism | Economic theory in which wealth is distributed evenly; favored over capitalism by some radical labor union members. |
Violence | Result of most early labor union strikes; gave unions a bad reputation and hurt early membership growth. |
William McKinley | Republican, Goldbug candidate in 1896; Canton, Ohio - front porch campaign |
Goldbugs | Those who favored gold be the only medal to back up the money supply |
Silverites | Those who proposed both gold and silver to back up the money supply |
William Jennings Bryan | Populist / Democratic candidate in 1896; one of the greatest speakers of the 20th century |
mechanization | the process of adding machines to a process |
specialization | the process of concentrating on and becoming expert in a particular skill |
interdependence | the dependence of two or more people or things on each other |