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Ch. 18
vocab/pom
36
History
Undergraduate 1
01/01/2008

Additional History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Definition
had made a fortune in the shipping business, invested in the train systems
Controlled the New York Central which would control 4500 miles of track from New York to Michigan
Term
New York Central
Definition
A series of railroads from NYC to albany to buffalo to Michigan that consisted of 4500 miles of track organized by Cornelius Vanderbilt in the 1860's and 70's
Term
Jay Gould
Definition
the dominant system builder of the Southwest. He built lines from Kansas to Denver and St. Louis
Term
George Westinghouse
Definition
created the air brake in 1869 which allowed all the cars to be braked together, formerly each car had to be braked separately.
it meant increase in the size of trains and the speeds at which trains could travel. the sleeping train became common
Term
Bessemer Process
Definition
Created by Henry Bessemer and William Kelly created a mixture of iron with carbon, silicon, and manganese that made steel inexpensive and easily producible
Term
William Kelly
Definition
From Kentucky, helped create the Bessemer Process
Term
Mesabi Region
Definition
The iron fields around lake Superior, enormous iron concentrations...could be mined with steam shovels, almost like gravel
Term
Alexander Graham Bell
Definition
Invented the telephone in 1876 who had studied acoustics after an interest in education of the deaf
Term
American Telephone and Telegraph Co.
Definition
a consolidation of over 100 local phone companies, dominated the telephone industry which consisted of over 800,000 phones by 1900
Term
Thomas Edison
Definition
after trying to create a phone to compete with Bell's, Edison researched electricity and created the incandescent lamp or electric lightbulb in 1879. He created the Edison Illuminating company
He also created the first movies/motion pictures
Term
J.P. Morgan
Definition
J. Pierpont Morgan, a successful banker from NY, helped to save many of the failing railroad companies/reorganized bankrupt ones. He had men sitting on the boards of many, many RR companies.
He also bought Carnegie Steel Company to create United States Steel, the "world's first billion-dollar corporation."
Term
Rebates
Definition
secret reductions below the published rates...given to large shippers in order to capture their business
Term
Andrew Carnegie
Definition
Rose to wealth through many hardworking jobs and good investments. He created the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works that made steel from what was considered by other manufacturers as waste. Led to the Carnegie Steel Company which dominated the Steel industry. J.P. Morgan bought his company in 1901.
Term
Standard Oil Company
Definition
of Cleveland, founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller was the major oil refiner. by '79 he controlled 90% of the nation's oil refining capacity. It received a 10% rebate from the RRs, forces small independents out of business
When it grew out of state, it was turned over to 9 trustees and stockholders bought shares in the company.
Term
John D. Rockefeller
Definition
created Standard Oil Co., tough, imaginative, bold. He was an organizer, knew little of petroleum. wanted competition to join him
He was worth over $800 million by 1892
Term
Trust
Definition
defined as a fiduciary arrangement for the protection of the interests of individuals incompetent or unwilling to guard them themselves, became a synonym for monopoly after Standard Oil's duplicity was revealed during a NY investigation in 1888
Term
Department Stores
Definition
Stewarts in NYC, John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, and Marshall Field in Chicago...stressed low prices, efficient service, and money-back guarantees. would advertise heavily
Term
Henry George
Definition
A california Journalist published Progress and Poverty in 1879, an attack on the uneven distribution of wealth in the U.S. labor was the only source of capital. proposed a property tax that would confiscate this "unearned increment"-allowing individuals to keep this wealth caused the growing disparity between rich and poor. his "single tax" would be the only tax-never adopted, gained attention
Term
Edward Bellamy/Looking Backward 2000-1887
Definition
written in 1888, a novel about the economy in 2000 being completely socialized with all economic activity carefully planned. the ideal socialist state would arrive without violence-everyone would realize that nationalization was essential
Term
Henry Lloyd
Definition
Wrote Wealth against Commonwealth in 1894, denounced the Standard Oil Company...also denounced the application of Darwin's concept of survival of the fittest to economic and social affairs, condemned laissez-faire policies as leading directly to monopoly
Term
Marxists
Definition
first socialist book in America was Laurence Gronlunds' the Cooperative Commonwealth
Daniel De Leon, leader of the Socialist Labor. The People-excoriated American labor unions, ran for governor of NY in 1891
Term
Industrial Workers of the World/"The Wobblies"
Definition
Term
National Grange
Definition
group dedicated to provideing social and cultural benefits for isolated rural communities...won control of a number of state legislatures in the west and south...established reasonable maximum rates and outlawed unjust discrimination
Term
Munn v. Illinois
Definition
involved a grain elevator whose owner wouldn't comply with a state warehouse act....significance: any business that served a public interest, such as a railroad, was subject to state control-legislatures might fix maximum charges
Term
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad v. Illinois
Definition
decided that although Illinois declared it illegal to charge more money for a more popular stop than one farther away, supreme courts said illinois couldn't regulate interstate shipments
Term
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
Definition
the act organizing, made rebates, drawbacks, the long-and-short-haul evil, and other practices illegal as well as monopolistic counterparts. railroads were required to publish schedules of rates and forbidden to change them without due public notice. created ICC, the first federal regulatory board to supervise affairs of the railroads, investigate complaints, and issue cease and desist orders when the roads acted illegally.-not greatly effective
Term
United States v. E.C. Kneight Company
Definition
1895-The sugar company hadn't violated the law by taking over a number of important competitors
but in cases in 1898 and 1899, ruled that agreements to fix prices or divide markets violated the Sherman Act
Term
The Sherman Antitrust Act
Definition
created in 1890, anything (like a trust) that was in restraint of trade or commerce among several states, or with foreign nations was declared illegal-fines of $5000 and a year in jail, those suffering losses could sue in federal courts for triple damages
loosely worded
Term
Knights of Labor
Definition
founded in 1869 by PHiladelphia garment workers headed by Uriah S. Stephens-successor Terence V. Powderly supported political objectives that had no direct connection with working conditions-rejected the idea that workers must resign themselves to remaining wage earners, helping working people advance up the economic ladder into the capitalist class
welcomed blacks, women, and immigrants as well as unskilled workers and artisans
8 hour day because increased leisure would give workers time to develop more cultivated tastes and higher aspirations-later demanded higher wages
secret organization initially, then discarded; organized strikes but were poorly planned-couldn't control local groups
Term
Haymarket Square Riot
Definition
a striker was killed while protesting the McCormick Harvesting MAchine Company, there was a protest meeting on May 4 at Haymarket Square. policemen intervened and someone threw a bomb into their ranks. seven policemen were killed and many others injured
Term
American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Definition
organized labor suffered at the Haymarket Square Riot. Knights were replaced by the AFL, combination of national craft unions in 1886. chief leaders Adolph Strasser and Samuel Gompers of the Cigarmakers Union originally wanted utopian social reforms later fought for higher wages and shorter hours
accepted that most workers would remain wage earners all their lives, tried to develop a sense of common purpose and pride-paid dues, employers' liability, and mine safety laws
Term
Samuel Gompers
Definition
president of the AFL from 1886 to 1924, encouraged workers workers to make intelligent use of the ballot; bread-and-butter issues...membership passed the million mark by 1901 under his leadership
Term
Eugene V. Debs
Definition
head of the American Railway Union, defied a federal injunction to end the walkout during the Pullman Strike, he was jailed for contempt and the strike was broken. His union promised not to handle trains with Pullman cars during the strike
Term
Pullman Strike
Definition
strike in 1894 at George Pullman's Palace Car Factory outside Chicago, workers walked out in protest to wage cuts. members of the American Railway Union convinced it to not handle trains with Pullman cars...tied up trains running in and out of Chicago...ended when Debs was jailed. President Cleveland sent troops to preserve order
Term
George Pullman
Definition
owned the Palace Car Factory outside of Chicago where the Pullman strike occurred in 1894. he cut wages and insisted on holding the line on rents in the town of Pullman, fired leaders of a delegation that called on him to remonstrate
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