Term
| What did business leaders think about the government not interfering with businesses? |
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Definition
| Business leaders thought that it was a very good idea to leave the businesses alone because it allowed them to be individuals and self-reliant. Novels were published to promote very wealthy businessmen coming from nothing. Also, the business leaders believed that emphasizing people to work hard and improve their work ethic would lead to a more successful society. Without government interference, the businesses could compete in an open market. |
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Term
| How did social critics feel about the government leaving businesses alone? |
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Definition
| Social critics did not think it was fair to the working class if the government did not regulate businesses. Instead of capitalism, Karl Marx believed that a communistic system would be more beneficial to keep society fair and equal. In this system, property could not be owned by any individual and property and production is owned by everyone. However, all of the needs of the people would be provided equally regardless to social status. |
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Term
| How did entreprenuers get their initial capital to start their business and how did it help both parties? |
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Definition
| Many entrepreneurs began to offer stock and urge more people to buy stock to begin their business. Any business with stock holders is a corporation. These corporations would have to give a percentage of their wealth to stock holders in repayment of investing in their company. The corporation is able to make heaps of money, satisfy stock holders because they would not be responsible if the company is in debt and can become very wealthy by trading stock, and the corporation becomes stable because it will continue to survive regardless of who the stockholder is. |
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Term
| What were trusts? How did they help businesses? |
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Definition
| Some businesses formed trusts. A group of companies can give their stock to a “common board of trustees.” The companies become one, but it limits overproduction and reduces competition. Sometimes, a monopoly is formed which is an industry that has no competition and can control the price and quality of their good or service. |
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Term
| What did Andrew Carnegie do to create his monopoly? |
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Definition
| Andrew Carnegie bought stock in bridges, iron, oil, railroads, and telegraph lines that flourished and allowed him to get the money he needed to start his investments in the steel industry. In addition, the stories of the entrepreneurs who started these industries provided inspiration to Carnegie. Carnegie also discovered that buying his raw materials at high quantities and producing larger amounts would lower production expenses and boost his profits. Vertical integration was how he could create his monopoly. He controlled every part of the process from the raw material to the finished product. He could control the prices and eliminate competition. |
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Term
| How did John D. Rockefeller create his monopoly? |
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Definition
| Rockefeller also used vertical integration to refine, transport and store his oils, but he used horizontal integration to expand his industry. He controlled almost the entire supply of oil throughout the country. He could control the prices and drive people out of business. |
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Term
| How did businessmen, in general, create monopolies in their industry? |
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Definition
| Overall, the men created monopolies to make their fortune. They took advantage of the no-government-interference acts and began building their companies to eventually fix prices and take out competitors. |
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Term
| How did new styles of marketing and advertising change the common person's buying options? |
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Definition
| Brand names, packaging, colors, and unique logos helped businesses to create more attractive advertising methods and make consumers buy more. Magazines, newspapers, roadside billboards, and catalogs allowed people to easily see products they wanted to buy and go out and buy them. Catalogs, however, allowed people to mail-order a good, pay for it, and then receive the product by mail. More varieties of goods were able to be offered to consumers and more in a smaller amount of space were offered in department stores. Women were often chosen to work there to create a more homelike environment. |
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Term
| Who is Horatio Alger, Jr.? |
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Definition
| He published a popular novel series that promoted individualism through society. Wrote the Luck and Pluck series based on “rags-to-riches” theme. Typically about poor children who increase their social status and gain money through hard work and determination. |
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Term
| Who is Cornelius Vanderbilt? |
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Definition
| Gained control over the New York Central Railroad and other lines that connected them to New York City. Controlled lines between Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Toledo. Bought small lines to connect and make more effective routes. Controlled more than 4,500 miles of RR. Estimated fortune: more than 100 million. |
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Term
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Definition
| Designed and manufactured a sleeping railroad car. People could travel longer distances more comfortably. Built sleeping cars, dining cars, and luxurious cars for wealthy passengers. Built a company town next to factory, but controlled daily life in the town. Workers became unhappy with this. |
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Term
| Why did common people in America want trusts to be banned? |
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Definition
| People of America wanted trusts to be banished because if an industry has no competition, they could start to decrease quality and increase prices because they have no motivation to do otherwise. The government passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 to ban monopolies and trusts that restricted the market. |
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Term
| How were African Americans treated in the work force? |
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Definition
| African Americans were discriminated against and could barely hold factory or industrial jobs. Cigar factories were where some African Americans, both men and women, could work. Still, they only had about 7,400 southern blacks in 1891 working in industry. Though some could be skilled workers, they still could mostly only have dirty, dangerous work. |
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Term
| Why did women and children suddenly start working more in the 1870's to 1890's? |
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Definition
| Women had to begin working to make more money for their family. Female workers doubled from 1870 to 1890. Children also doubled at this time for the same reason. Money was desperately needed for families and working was the only way to get it. |
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Term
| How were children treated in the work force? |
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Definition
| Children who worked were treated horribly. They often worked for 12-hour periods (usually at night) for mere pennies per day. However, children were not the only ones who worked long hours for low wages, everyone in the industrial force had the same conditions. Because there were such long hours of work, fatigued workers were commonly still on the job. This created safety hazards on top of the already dangerous conditions. 30,000 railroad workers were killed or injured on the job in 1881, but employers felt no responsibility and made no effort to improve working conditions. |
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Term
| How were people who lived in company towns treated? |
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Definition
| Most of the time, people who lived in company towns did not receive their paycheck as actual U.S. currency. Rather than money, they receive their paycheck in “scrip.” Scrip is paper money that can only be used to pay rent to the company or to purchase items at a company store. Typically, prices at the company stores were much higher than at a regular store. Workers usually had to spend their entire wages on vital items needed to live. |
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Term
| What was the Knights of Labor? Who was Terrence V. Powderly? Who was Mary Harris Jones? |
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Definition
| The Knights of Labor recruited workers who were often not allowed in other unions and workers who generally felt that labor rights were not sufficient enough. Terence V. Powderly became its leader in 1879 and welcomed more types of people into the organization. Before Powderly, the Knights of Labor were mainly a white male admitting organization. Terence V. Powderly expanded the membership quickly by attracting workers who couldn’t belong to other unions. Skilled, unskilled, and women workers were allowed to join. Mary Harris Jones became a leader in the organization. The organization arranged strikes, marches, and demonstrations under Mary Harris Jones. Her actions were seen as motherly in her own mind, so she gained the nickname of “Mother Jones.” Though she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, people supported her being released and she eventually did. African Americans were not allowed to join until 1883, but though 60,000 joined, many believed that white workers were taking potential jobs for them. Chinese workers were not allowed because white Americans thought they were stealing their jobs. After 15 years of fighting for temperance, an 8 hour work day equal pay for equal work, and no child labor, Powderly had 700,000 memberships by 1886. |
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Term
| What did businesses do about strikers? |
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Definition
| Businesses called police to deal with strikers. The police urged the strike to become violent and some strikers and police men became wounded or sometimes even killed. |
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Term
| What happened at the Haymarket Riot? |
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Definition
| At the Haymarket Riot, 40,000 Chicago workers stroke against McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. They wanted an 8 hour work day. Anarchists became the leaders of the strike and on May 3rd, the police came to break up the strike. Two of the strikers died. The next day, a meeting was called and a small amount of people came out peacefully. However, 200 policemen arrived and a bomb exploded in the crowd of police. Guns were fired by the officers and 60 of them were wounded. 7 police men and 1 civilian died. 8 of the anarchists were arrested for conspiracy, all were found guilty, and 4 were hanged. |
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Term
| What was the result of the Homestead Strike? |
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Definition
| 16 deaths were resulted from the Homestead strike when the 300 guards hired to protect the steel plant clashed. |
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Term
| What happened at the Pullman Strike? |
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Definition
| The Pullman strike happened because George Pullman lowered wages, but kept rents and prices at stores the same. Eugene V. Debs, head of American Railway Union, supported the strike. The Pullman workers urged ARU members to not work on or ride trains that had Pullman sleeping cars. Since the rail workers obeyed, the rail traffic stopped in the Midwest. The rail companies turned to the government for assistance. Threatening the strikers because they prevented U.S mail from being delivered, ARU strikers still ignored the order. They were sentenced to jail. Grover Cleveland, President, placed federal troops in Pullman to restore factory operations. However, the Pullman strike failed and the ARU was destroyed. |
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Term
| What did the employers do after the strikes? |
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Definition
| Employers made up blacklists to alert other businessmen who the union supporters were. These people had huge difficulty finding jobs. Yellow-dog contracts were also made up to force job applicants to promise not to join the union. Lockouts were issued when the other techniques wouldn’t work. Then, the employers would hire nonunion strikebreakers, usually African Americans or others who couldn’t get help from unions. |
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Term
| What is the Great Upheaval? |
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Definition
| 1886; the year of 1,500 strikes with 400,000 workers. Violent labor strikes and confrontations that resulted in many injuries and deaths. |
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Term
| What is the American Federation of Labor? |
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Definition
| Union started after worker activism declination. Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886. Organized independent craft unions into a group to advance skilled workers rights. |
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Term
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Definition
| Head of American Railway Union (ARU); supported Pullman strike |
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