Deck 19: Production and Consumption in the Gilded Age

Question 1

Which group would have been least likely to get jobs in trades such as construction and restaurant service?

A) immigrant women
B) non-English speakers
C) African Americans
D) immigrant men

Answer 1

African Americans

Question 2

As American cities grew during the Gilded Age, __________.

A) everyone enjoyed a better standard of living
B) few urban leaders did any long-term planning
C) new city departments dealt efficiently with garbage and utility services
D) a lack of transit systems limited outward growth

Answer 2

few urban leaders did any long-term planning

Question 3

With the rapid growth of manufacturing, for working-class people, __________.

A) steady employment was rare
B) wages rose faster than prices
C) the lower class steadily shrank
D) the workplace became steadily safer

Answer 3

steady employment was rare

Question 4

Sears, Roebuck and Company and Montgomery Ward, the great mail-order houses, were in Chicago because it was __________.

A) America's largest city
B) the center of the consolidated rail system
C) the place where most consumer goods were manufactured
D) positioned to take advantage of transport on the Great Lakes

Question 5

By 1900, the United States was __________ in the world in terms of productivity.

A) first
B) second
C) third
D) fourth

Question 6

The main demand of the strikers gathered at Haymarket Square in Chicago was __________.

A) an eight-hour workday
B) collective bargaining rights
C) workers' pensions
D) police protection of union leaders

Question 7

The Haymarket Square meeting took place the day after __________.

A) Mayor Harrison had banned all union meetings
B) a railroad strike stopped all trains leaving the city
C) police had killed four strikers
D) President Cleveland sent in the National Guard to maintain order

Question 8

The most significant development shaping the American economy after the Civil War was the __________.

A) growth of the arms industry
B) growth of the meatpacking industry
C) decline in the railroads
D) emergence and consolidation of large-scale corporations

Question 9

Before writing The Gospel of Wealth, Andrew Carnegie had made his fortune in __________.

A) electric power generation
B) railroads
C) steel production
D) banking

Question 10

The "gospel of wealth" __________.

A) justified the ruthless behavior of entrepreneurs like Rockefeller
B) held that "greed is good"
C) held that God always helps the poor
D) advocated a strong welfare system

Question 11

The most important result of the Sherman Antitrust Act by 1902 was to __________.

A) break up the Standard Oil trust
B) inhibit the formation of trade unions
C) bring thousands of new firms into the market
D) clog the courts with unnecessary cases

Question 12

Which financier was popularly known as the "worst man in the world"?

A) Andrew Carnegie
B) Jay Gould
C) George Eastman
D) John D. Rockefeller

Question 13

The largest labor organization in the nineteenth century was __________.

A) the National Labor Union
B) the American Federation of Labor
C) the Knights of Labor
D) the International Workers of the World

Question 14

The long-term goal of the Knights of Labor was to __________.

A) strengthen industrial capitalism and private property rights
B) make America an economic and political democracy
C) abolish private property
D) exclude women from any role in the economic sphere

Question 15

John D. Rockefeller's horizontal combination was so successful that he controlled what percentage of the nation's oil refining by 1882?

A) 50 percent
B) 75 percent
C) 80 percent
D) over 90 percent

Question 16

The cheapest labor for unskilled jobs such as woodworking and garments was usually __________.

A) new immigrants, especially women
B) migrants from the farms
C) southern African Americans
D) former skilled craftworkers

Question 17

In 1900, the greatest concentration of manufacturing in the United States was in the __________.

A) South
B) Northeast
C) far West
D) Mississippi River valley

Question 18

By 1890, approximately what fraction of the population lived in cities?

A) one-third
B) one-half
C) three-fifths
D) two-thirds

Question 19

The AFL considered a strike __________.

A) a last resort if negotiations failed
B) to be a worker's right in response to any slight by management
C) unacceptable under any circumstances
D) only useful for unskilled workers

Question 20

One result of the respect accorded the AFL was that in 1894 __________.

A) the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was repealed
B) Labor Day was made a national holiday
C) the Labor and Republican parties merged
D) Samuel Gompers was appointed as secretary of labor

Question 21

Where would members of the urban middle and working classes be most likely to meet?

A) in church
B) at a baseball game
C) at an amusement park
D) in a saloon

Question 22

High schools in the late nineteenth century __________.

A) had fewer students than before due to industrial jobs
B) concentrated on serving the middle class
C) were discouraged by the NEA from offering a classical education including Latin and Greek
D) concentrated on vocational training

Question 23

The new middle class of the Gilded Age was composed __________.

A) mainly of "new immigrants"
B) largely of doctors, lawyers, and teachers
C) almost exclusively of white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants
D) almost exclusively of Irish Catholics and German Lutherans

Question 24

In the typical company town of the southern Piedmont, workers were __________.

A) given shares in the company
B) taken care of "from cradle to grave"
C) constantly supervised and controlled by the company
D) often convict labor

Question 25

Thomas Alva Edison's laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, was one of the first to be devoted to __________.

A) improving worker efficiency
B) industrial research
C) solving environmental problems
D) fighting diseases

Question 26

African American workers in the New South __________.

A) were limited to the lowest-paying unskilled jobs
B) made the same wages as their white counterparts
C) were guaranteed equal opportunity by law
D) benefited as new opportunities opened for unskilled labor

Question 27

Industrial production in the New South __________.

A) returned very few profits to Southerners
B) moved the South toward a "new slavery"
C) successfully challenged northern industry
D) stimulated the development of a less racist society

Question 28

New machinery such as the mechanical cigarette maker __________.

A) allowed greater production with fewer workers
B) was often too expensive to justify the investment
C) shortened the working day and raised wages for workers
D) was welcomed by industrial workers as it made their jobs safer

Question 29

What unique custom did New Yorkers on Fifth Avenue develop to show off their riches on the New Year?

A) inviting the poor to their homes for parties
B) leaving their curtains open
C) moving furnishings into the parks for the day
D) taking expensive presents to tenement dwellers

Question 30

Central Park, the first planned public urban park in the United States, opened in 1858 in __________.

A) Chicago
B) Boston
C) New York City
D) Philadelphia

Question 31

Middle-class children in the late nineteenth century __________.

A) often had to work to maintain the family lifestyle
B) had more leisure to creatively play
C) were more regimented than before
D) were treated much the same as working-class children

Question 32

The fastest-growing area of the textile industry in the later nineteenth century was in __________.

A) New England
B) the southern Piedmont
C) East Coast cities
D) the Midwest

Question 33

Two symbols of middle-class status in the Gilded Age were the __________.

A) sewing machine and typewriter
B) wine cellar and parlor bar
C) telephone and radio
D) bicycle and piano

Question 34

The main factor that promoted economic growth during the second industrial revolution from 1871 to 1914 was __________.

A) more skilled workers
B) application of new technologies
C) better business organization
D) scientific management of the workplace

Question 35

The "self-improvement" movement mainly affected the urban __________.

A) working class
B) upper class
C) middle class
D) new immigrants

Question 36

Vertical integration is to the control of production of a product as horizontal combination is to control of __________.

A) the market for a product
B) the labor force
C) transportation of raw materials
D) the volume of production

Question 37

The proponents of a "New South" envisioned the South as __________.

A) a vast agrarian area supplying needed cash crops
B) an area of sturdy yeoman farmers
C) the primary supplier of raw materials to northern industry
D) an area that promoted industrial development and welcomed northern investors

Question 38

The United Fruit Company was to vertical integration as this company was to horizontal combination.

A) U.S. Steel
B) Sears, Roebuck and Company
C) Standard Oil
D) American Tobacco

Question 39

The "good roads" about which southern politicians bragged were mainly built by __________.

A) cheap immigrant labor
B) African American convict labor
C) efficient new machinery
D) highly skilled Northerners

Question 40

New immigrants who came to the United States in the late nineteenth century tended to __________.

A) settle in cities where large numbers of their countrymen lived
B) settle in the rural South
C) blend together into a melting pot
D) stay in one neighborhood once they settled there

Question 41

Between 1865 and 1900, the annual production of goods in the United States __________.

A) rose from $2 billion to $13 billion
B) rose from $10 billion to $230 billion
C) fell from $10 billion to $500 million
D) fell from $500 billion to $200 billion

Question 42

What did the "gospel of wealth" and the "gospel of work" have in common?

A) Both saw power as the driving force of progress.
B) Both saw riches as proof of civic virtue.
C) Both affirmed the dignity of production.
D) Both were based on the realities of the preindustrial world.

Question 43

For the most part, southern enterprises mainly produced raw materials for consumption or use in __________.

A) the West
B) Europe
C) the South
D) the North

Question 44

By the end of the nineteenth century, nearly 80 percent of African Americans in the North __________.

A) lived in urban areas
B) lived in rural areas
C) were contemplating returning to the South
D) were employed in industry

Question 45

By what method did businesses gain control of production at every step of the way, from production of raw materials to sale of finished goods, during the last half of the nineteenth century?

A) vertical integration
B) horizontal combination
C) incorporation
D) trust formation

Question 46

Scott Joplin played a key role in __________.

A) segregating professional baseball
B) introducing ragtime music to Northerners
C) promoting vaudeville to the American public
D) breaking down social barriers for immigrants

Question 47

Why was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 passed?

A) to outlaw combinations, which restrained trade and commerce, and to encourage competition among businesses
B) to outlaw trusts and discourage competition
C) to provide a restraint on trade and commerce
D) to provide more rights for unions

Question 48

How did rapid industrialization affect the South?

A) It reinforced the region's status as the nation's internal colony.
B) It diminished the region's status as the nation's internal colony.
C) It led to massive overseas immigration into the region.
D) It undermined existing racial hierarchies.

Question 49

Explain the connection between mail-order catalogs, chain and department stores, and advertising.

Question 50

How did rapid industrial growth change work life and home life for the American working class in the late nineteenth century?

Question 51

At the time of the Civil War, the typical American business was __________.

A) a small family-owned enterprise
B) a multifamily enterprise
C) a large-scale corporation
D) a mammoth international firm

Question 52

What term did economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen use to describe the new style created by the rich?

A) the "Gilded Age"
B) "Social Darwinism"
C) "conspicuous consumption"
D) the "gospel of wealth"

Question 53

How did middle-class and working-class leisure activities compare in the Gilded Age? How would you explain the differences you note?

Question 54

In the 1860s, meatpackers set up one of the earliest __________.

A) assembly lines
B) unions
C) quality control systems
D) unemployment insurance funds

Question 55

What rationale did William Graham Sumner use to argue against welfare programs?

A) Most poor people were inferior and deserved their fates.
B) The poor were just as able to rise into prosperity as anyone else.
C) "Survival of the fittest" meant that the poor were not selfish enough to pursue success.
D) The natural order of equality had to be disrupted by the great fortunes of a few.

Question 56

Urban African American and immigrant women found employment mostly in trades __________.

A) that offered high wages and short hours
B) that had been highly mechanized
C) previously reserved for men
D) least affected by technological advances

Question 57

What factors contributed to economic growth in the half century following the Civil War?

Question 58

By the time he died, Andrew Carnegie had __________.

A) been reduced to poverty
B) given away his massive personal fortune
C) served as an advisor to five presidents
D) fallen into public disgrace

Question 59

You are a labor leader writing a favorable speech on the gospel of work. List your main points and elaborate on them.

Question 60

The majority of the urban population lived in __________.

A) single-family houses
B) tenements
C) the suburbs
D) temporary shacks and structures

Question 61

What virtually destroyed the Knights of Labor?

A) the Haymarket affair in Chicago
B) the rise of the AFL
C) their discriminatory policies and failure to admit African Americans and immigrants
D) their rejection of women as members

Question 62

Southern agricultural tradition included the practice of using the labor of __________.

A) all family members
B) only the head of the household
C) adults over the age of eighteen, allowing children to attend school full time
D) immigrant workers instead of native-born Americans

Question 63

Why did many New England mill owners move their operations to the South?

A) great potential for economic profit
B) lack of raw materials in the North
C) opportunity to help rebuild the South
D) lack of suitable factory sites in the North

Question 64

The American Federation of Labor concentrated on organizing __________.

A) highly skilled wage earners
B) unskilled workers
C) immigrants
D) women

Question 65

Which of these was a common complaint of Piedmont millworkers about community life?

A) lack of privacy
B) lack of goods and supplies at the company-owned store
C) lack of religious services
D) binding multiyear contracts

Question 66

The Piedmont region surpassed New England and came to lead the world in __________.

A) yarn and cloth production
B) tobacco cultivation
C) steel production
D) shipping and insurance

Question 67

By the end of the nineteenth century, the AFL represented what percentage of American workers?

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 70 percent

Question 68

As the amount of open space decreased, which of these typically claimed the best sites in the urban landscape?

A) factories
B) tenement buildings
C) small shops
D) hospitals

Question 69

Which occupation was added to the ranks of the middle class during the second half of the nineteenth century?

A) clerks
B) teachers
C) doctors
D) ministers

Question 70

Which of these groups had the most experience with urban life when they arrived in America?

A) East European Jews
B) the Irish
C) the French
D) Italians

Question 71

Which statement summarizes how immigrants, in letters to people in their home countries, described their experiences in American society?

A) The riches of America can be acquired only through hard work, and the undertaking is not for the weak.
B) One can live so much better and far more easily in America, and the cultural life far surpasses that at home.
C) The close quarters of suburbs allow groups from the same country to maintain their cultural traditions in America.
D) The riches of America and the wages make it possible to live like kings, even for those at the bottom rung of the ladder.

Question 72

Why did the new middle class embrace "culture" such as museums and public libraries?

A) for self-improvement
B) to impress neighbors
C) to patronize public institutions
D) for access to upper-class amenities

Question 73

Ragtime was created by African American and Creole bands, but it was first promoted by ________.

A) German immigrants
B) Mexican Americans
C) Cuban Americans
D) Irish immigrants

Question 74

Which statement best describes the gospel of work?

A) The gospel of work affirmed the dignity of production and the importance of individual initiative.
B) The gospel of work promoted the idea that riches were the result of hard work and proof of civic virtue, two factors that are essential in a democracy.
C) The gospel of work endorsed the idea that livelihoods were made by producing for one's own consumption, so individual initiative was of primary importance.
D) The gospel of work stated that welfare programs resisted the natural order.

Question 75

What was the most important source of urban growth in the late nineteenth century?

A) immigrants
B) African Americans
C) white farm workers
D) union laborers

Question 76

The term "Gilded Age," coined by Mark Twain, refers to what aspect of the period following the Civil War?

A) the ostentatious display of wealth
B) the development of suburbs
C) the passion of the period's politics
D) the new railroads

Question 77

What percentage of North Carolina mill operatives were sixteen years of age or younger?

A) 25 percent
B) 5 percent
C) 60 percent
D) 95 percent

Question 78

What development helped eliminate the problem of waste from horsecars?

A) electric trolleys
B) skyscrapers
C) water and sewer systems
D) suburbs

Question 79

By the end of the nineteenth century, what percentage of manufacturing took place in cities versus the countryside?

A) 90 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 65 percent

Question 80

Discriminatory practices fell hardest on what group of workers?

A) Chinese
B) Germans
C) Italians
D) the Irish